Smoky Mountain News | June 12, 2024

Page 11

Bryson City Brewing to join craft beer scene Page 16

CONTENTS

On the Cover:

There are rare occasions where art and science meet to create something beautiful. Such is the case with a new book by James Costa and Bobbi Angell titled “Darwin and the Art of Botany,” which combines the history of Charles Darwin’s documentation of plants with accurate and breathtaking art. (Page 22) A combination of drawings from “Darwin and the Art of Botany.” Micah McClure illustration

News

LGBT candidates look to build on last year’s successes........................................4

Haywood County budget passes without tax increase............................................5

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture visits Cherokee............................................................6

Jackson explores solutions to housing crisis................................................................7 No tax increase for Jackson ............................................................................................9

Swain County to vote on alcohol sales......................................................................10

EBCI Tribal Council approves adult recreational cannabis..................................11

JCPS announces new principal for Smoky Mountain High School..................12 Community briefs..............................................................................................................13

Opinion

Finding meaning in life’s twists and turns..................................................................14

A&E

Bryson City Brewing to join WNC craft beer scene..............................................16

HART presents ‘The Gods of Comedy’......................................................................20

Outdoors

WCU gets grant to study mosquitoes ......................................................................25 Up Moses Creek: ‘When, Wren?’................................................................................26

STAFF

E DITOR /PUBLISHER: Scott McLeod.

info@smokymountainnews.com ADVERTISING D IRECTOR: Greg Boothroyd.

ART D IRECTOR: Micah McClure.

D ESIGN & PRODUCTION: Jessica Murray.

greg@smokymountainnews.com

micah@smokymountainnews.com

jessica.m@smokymountainnews.com Jack Snyder.

D IGITAL MARKETING S PECIALIST Tyler Auffhammer. .

ADVERTISING SALES: Amanda Bradley.

jack.s@smokymountainnews.com

tyler.a@mtnsouthmedia.com

amanda.b@smokymountainnews.com Maddie Woodard.

C LASSIFIEDS: Scott Collier. .

N EWS E DITOR: Kyle Perrotti.

WRITING: Hannah McLeod.

Cory Vaillancourt.

maddie.w@smokymountainnews.com

classads@smokymountainnews.com

kyle.p@smokymountainnews.com

hannah@smokymountainnews.com

cory@smokymountainnews.com Garret K. Woodward. .

ACCOUNTING & O FFICE MANAGER: Jamie Cogdill.

D ISTRIBUTION: Scott Collier. .

. garret@smokymountainnews.com

smnbooks@smokymountainnews.com

classads@smokymountainnews.com

C ONTRIBUTING: Jeff Minick (writing), Susanna Shetley (writing), Adam Bigelow (writing), Thomas Crowe (writing)

CONTACT

Catering is Our Passion!

We Can Cater Everything from an Intimate Get-Together to a Large, Formal Gathering & Everything In-Between!

828-452-7837

294 N. Haywood Street Waynesville

Ingles Nutrition N PIZZA

Notes

written by Ingles Dietitian Leah

McGrath

NIGHT

Pizza often has a bad reputation and is considered unhealthy if you think about it, it’s just bread with sauce, cheese,

– kind of like an open-faced sandwich! As is the case things, if you eat pizza in large quantities, and if your toppings ar higher in calories then your pizza night may not be the best choice.

Some ideas for enjoying pizza with your family:

• Get frozen pizza crust or pizza dough or make your own dough and spread it out thinly on a baking sheet or pizza can also make individual pizzas using dough or if you pr

nhealthy, but and toppings with many ppings are best choice. n pizza za pan. Y Yoou refer use,

• Spread your pasta sauce over the top of the dough or pizza crust.

• Go heavy on the vegetables like spinach, sliced tomatoes, broccoli, zucchini, artichoke hearts, peppers and onions since they are lower in calories.

• Use ground meat and cut up pepperoni to accent --not overwhelm.

• Sprinkle your grated mozzarreella and parmesan cheese - don’t layer it thickly.

• Bake it and cut it into thin slices.

• Enjoy your pizza with a large, tossed salad.

Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN

Ingles Market Corporate Dietitian

@InglesDietitian

Leah McGrath - Dietitian

Adam Bigelow

LGBT candidates look to build on last year’s successes

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT P OLITICS E DITOR

Hoping to build on the momentum of a successful off-year election cycle, even amid violent threats, members of Western North Carolina’s LGBTQ+ community are wary of what might happen in the General Election and are calling for the codification of rights already enjoyed by other Americans.

“Donald Trump wants to pit us against one another, but when you sit down and have a conversation without extremist rhetoric, you realize that people are people,” said Anthony Sutton, a member of the Waynesville Town Council, at an event in Asheville on June 7. “Words have weight, and Trump has demonstrated that he doesn’t care if his words hurt people.”

Last November, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund told The Smoky Mountain News that nationwide, LGBTQ+ candidates had their most successful off-year election in history. More than 500 ran, more than 300 were on official ballots, more than 160 were endorsed by the Victory Fund and more than 150 won.

Sutton was one of them, earning a second term as Waynesville’s first openly gay member of Council. His 2023 campaign was marred by violent anti-LGBTQ+ threats directed both towards him and towards the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, but the threats thus far seem to have had the opposite of the intended effect — at least in Waynesville.

Allegations of illegal activity by a transgender person at the Waynesville Recreation Center last July prompted graphic antiLGBTQ+ social media posts by some, but after dual investigations conducted by the town and the police found no evidence of a

crime, the Town of Waynesville passed a resolution of support for the LGBTQ+ community and pledged to review official policies and materials for possible inadvertent discriminatory language.

Last month, Council approved a permit for the town’s first Pride Month celebration, to be held June 29 in Frog Level, despite minor opposition. At the meeting, a separate pride event was approved for October.

But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for WNC’s growing LGBTQ+ community. In March, Sylva Pride was denied a permit for its fourth annual Pride parade by a 41 vote of the Town Board — despite support from the downtown business community. Although the Board subsequently proclaimed June as Pride Month and a Pride festival will still take place in September at Bridge Park, Pride supporters have vowed to march anyway.

The tense, tenuous state of LGBTQ+ visibility in the region won’t get any better if Republicans nab top offices in this fall’s General Election, according to Amy Upham, executive director of Blue Ridge Pride.

“We see this election as a watershed moment for the LGBTQ+ community,” Upham said. “If hate wins again, I cannot even fathom our world four years from now.”

Upham stressed that she was speaking only for herself when she singled out Republicans Trump, who is a convicted felon, and North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for governor, as potentially problematic for LGBTQ+ people across the state and across the country.

“In appointing three anti-choice judges to the Supreme Court, Trump had a heavy hand in overturning Roe v. Wade. This has opened the door to increased MAGA efforts to limit access to [in vitro fertilization],

which would have a devastating impact on members of our community who hope to have children,” Upham said. “I know — I’m the mother to a child from embryo adoption.”

As recently as May, Robinson expressed support for the state’s so-called “bathroom bill,” passed by the General Assembly in 2016 but subsequently repealed after backlash that included the loss of the NBA AllStar game and nearly $4 billion in investment, according to the Associated Press.

Robinson told The Smoky Mountain News in April that as governor, “we’re going to protect your constitutional rights and protect your absolute right to declare yourself whoever you are, however you are, whether that be your religious preference or your sexual preference,” and that “no law will be passed in this state that will stand in the way of that, and we will protect people’s constitutional rights.”

Despite Robinson’s assurances, LGBTQ+ advocates are not only concerned about laws that could be passed, they’re also concerned about laws that haven’t been passed — like the Equality Act, which Sutton said would codify “critical anti-discrimination protections” for LGBTQ+ people relating to credit, education, employment and housing policy.

“Right now, in North Carolina you could be fired from your job for being a member of the LGBTQ+ community,” Sutton said.

The only way to advance these initiatives is to elect more LGBTQ+ people, and their allies, to positions of power in local, state and federal offices — as happened in 2023.

“In 2024,” Sutton said of the upcoming election, “it is clear what’s at stake — our relationships, our families and the vibrant LGBTQ+ communities that have

in places like

and

Haywood County budget passes without tax increase

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT

P OLITICS E DITOR

Commissioners voted unanimously June 3 to accept Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead’s proposed annual budget which, in spite of inflation, forthcoming debt for a jail expansion and the loss of a major employer last year, contains no tax increase.

The budget had been presented to commissioners at least twice prior to the June 3 meeting, but there wasn’t really much to talk about when it was presented for a vote — Morehead crafted a conservative budget that focuses on critical needs, maintains competitiveness in employee compensation packages, funds technology improvements and manages existing debt.

The ad valorem rate will remain at 55 cents per $100 in assessed property value. Based on taxable property worth $10.26 billion and a collection rate of 98.29%, budgeted general fund revenues should reach $56.5 million. That makes each cent on the tax rate worth just over $1 million.

A state-mandated countywide property reappraisal has been underway for some time but won’t factor into this year’s budget. During the previous reappraisal, some property owners saw the value of their property increase on the order of 20% to 30% — a reflection of the red-hot Western North Carolina real estate market and national trend of skyrocketing housing costs.

For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the 55-cent ad valorem tax rate placed Haywood County in

good company — with other low-tax counties. That year, only 25 of North Carolina’s 100 counties had a lower ad valorem tax rate. By maintaining the 55-cent tax rate for the 2024-25 fiscal year, Haywood County will likely again have one of the lowest ad valorem tax rates in the state.

The fiscal year 2024-25 budget is the second that incumbent Republican Commissioner Terry Ramey has voted on despite still owing taxes of his own. Before his election in 2022, an investigation by The Smoky Mountain News revealed that Ramey hadn’t paid his personal property taxes in nearly 15 years. Ramey first denied the assessments were valid, threatened media for reporting on the unpaid taxes, made multiple false statements about his unpaid taxes at a 2023 meeting, and then finally said he’d pay the taxes.

Ramey subsequently entered a payment plan with the county and eventually paid off the bulk of his unpaid taxes, however, he still owes unpaid taxes from more than a decade ago.

On June 3, Haywood’s elected Tax Collector Sebastian Cothran said the total amount of unpaid taxes by Ramey is now $1,944.10 and growing $6.69 every month due to interest accrued on the principal. State law prohibits maintaining any collection action for tax debts more than a decade old — preventing garnishment of Ramey’s county paycheck — but Cothran said that although Ramey can make payments on the remaining debt, he has yet to make any.

Haywood Meals on Wheels seeks help

After Covid, Haywood Meals on Wheels lost volunteers and was forced to drop meal deliveries to three days per week. The goal is to return to a five-day delivery schedule.

The program requires just a couple hours one day per week from each volunteer. An individual could also coordinate a group of friends, family or coworkers for rotation of a route. There is also a need for substitute drivers for most routes to give regular volunteers time for vacations or appointments.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Cheryl McCracken at 828.356.2442 or Cheryl.McCracken@haywoodcountync.gov. To donate, visit mowhaywoodnc.org or mail a donation to Haywood County Health and Human Services, 157 Paragon Pkwy, Suite 300, Clyde, NC 28721.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture visits Cherokee

BY KYLE PERROTTI

N EWS E DITOR

Last week, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians welcomed Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to the exhibit hall at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino to speak to a delegation of members from tribes across the United States as part of the National Conference of American Indians midyear retreat.

According to its website, the NCAI, founded in 1944, serves as the “unified voice for American Indian and Alaska Native issues.” The nonprofit advocates for policies and initiatives at all levels that are driven by consensus of the organization’s diverse membership. Last week’s event in Cherokee not only provided training and welcomed various speakers, it was also a chance to vote on the future direction of the organization.

Serving under President Joe Biden as Secretary of Agriculture is actually Vilsack’s second go-round in that position as he’d previously served in that role in President Barack Obama’s cabinet. Prior to that, he served two terms as governor of Iowa.

First Vilsack offered some brief remarks, during which he expressed gratitude for being able to speak, the new members of the USDA Tribal Advisory Committee and also Cherokee for hosting the conference. He used the speech to emphasize the value he places on that committee.

“In that capacity, I look forward to the opportunity to get to receive from them additional guidance and help, as we work through the multitude of issues that are important to Indian country,” he said, also specifically mentioning how vital Heather Dawn Thompson, Director of the Office of Tribal Relations has been in that mission.

Vilsack said that Thompson, whom he mentioned several times throughout his time onstage, and her team put together a progress report that he had with him which will guide USDA policy as it applies to tribes, which he acknowledged have vastly different cultures, priorities and issues.

“She suggested that we needed to better integrate indigenous knowledge into the activities of USDA, and to understand and then also to incorporate tribal values, as we not only address tribal priorities, but also the priorities generally, of USDA,” he said. “And finally, she suggested the need for us over time, to support more fully and transparently the notion of tribal self-determination.”

and answered questions. Vilsack noted that while there’s still plenty of work to be done in that area, he also claimed that his office has taken some significant strides.

“I’ll give you one example,” he said. “There are some tribes that work through corporations and institutions that don’t quite fit a statutory definition within our world and other programs, have a donor team went to work and worked with our rural development officials to basically suggest that perhaps there was a way in which we could work around that barrier. So that a program like the community facilities program, which provides grants and loans for a wide array of opportunities, from childcare centers, to hospitals, to schools,

that Vilsack explained by using examples that highlighted tribes from different regions. For example, the USDA establishes certain standards for school lunches, including a requirement for whole grain foods. However, some tribes traditionally don’t eat whole grains and rather eat starchy vegetables, something he said should be acknowledged and accommodated. One of the USDA’s chief priorities in the last few years has been ramping up the country’s meat processing capacity. When it comes to some tribes, this may include fish or buffalo meat, which are not only vital as food products for members of those tribes but also the tribal economy.

To those ends, Vilsack announced a few new USDA initiatives that will be backed with considerable funding, including $42.5 million for meat processing.

But along with touting what Vilsack and some in the crowd may have considered victories, he also highlighted challenges and lofty goals the department holds, including enhancing and increasing the number stewardship agreements. While taking some questions from folks in the crowd, Vilsack acknowledged some of the hurdles, often boiling things down to a matter of resources. While some other cabinet departments have large stables of attorneys, Vilsack noted that isn’t the case for the USDA. For example, the EPA has about four times the number of attorneys. Fewer overall attorneys means fewer attorneys who have in-depth knowledge of treaties. That said, Vilsack argued that his office is still making the effort to improve in that area.

“We have engaged our Office of General Counsel, and done a series of training sessions, webinars and things of that nature to educate those who do exist within USDA, about the importance of maintaining and understanding treaties,” he said. “We have a number of lawyers around the country in regional offices, and many of those lawyers have an understanding and appreciation for treaty rights, but we don’t have as many as we need.”

Ultimately, Vilsack said it all comes down to putting in the effort to understand what unique needs these unique

to community centers, and the leg could essentially be made more readily available. That barrier was taken down.”

tribes have by first listening, then giving tribal members a seat at the table and a real hand in policy decisions.

Such a recognition of self-determination and a respect of sovereignty framed the rest of Vilsack’s remarks to the eager crowd of hundreds, from various tribes across the country, who listened intently as the secretary delivered his remarks

However, to make further strides, Vilsack said that the USDA needs to have a concrete understanding of the over 200 treaties the United States has with different tribes in areas where the USDA has land.

A big theme for the day was food sovereignty, something

“It’s been a priority for the President since day one,” Vilsack said. “It’s been a present priority for me since day one and my return to this job. We’ve certainly appreciated the enormous work that has been done and recognize that we still have a great deal of work to do.”

Along with speaking, Vilsack took questions from audience members as NCAI President Mark Macarro moderated. NCAI photo

Vilsack offered remarks to a large crowd of NCAI members at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino’s exhibition center. NCAI photo

Jackson explores solutions to housing crisis

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF W RITER

The Development Finance Initiative has continued to work on feasibility analyses for affordable housing in Jackson County since its housing needs assessment presented in February showed a dire need for affordable housing. And while there are no quick fixes to the behemoth issue currently plaguing Western North Carolina, DFI is able to offer incremental, long-term steps for Jackson County’s future.

“Solving the housing crisis you have today is not going to happen overnight, and it’s not going to happen with one or two developments,” said Development Finance Initiative Project Manager Sarah VanLear. “It’s a long-term endeavor to pursue the housing priorities that you have.”

The Development Finance Initiative is a program of UNC’s School of Government that works with local governments across the state to meet housing needs. The group is identifying sites that can meet the affordable housing needs specific to Jackson County to conduct high-level site and financial feasibility analysis.

The DFI is undergoing phase one of the project, a site identification process to identify affordable housing development opportunities. This involves stakeholder engagement, a housing needs (market) assessment, site suitability analysis and high-level site and financial feasibility analysis.

“We brought the housing needs assessment to you in February,” said VanLear. “Since then, we’ve been doing our site identification and suitability analyses and then on select sites doing a high-level site and financial feasibility, really to take a look at what are the opportunities and constraints on select sites and then financially what kind of development costs, the potential private sources and the estimated financial gap to be considered to bring about a project on that site.”

The DFI has interviewed over 25 stakeholders, including Dogwood Health Trust, Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, Jackson County Planning Board, Mountain Projects, Southwestern Commission Council of Governments, Southwestern NC HOME Consortium, Nantahala Health Foundation, Tuckaseegee Water and Sewer Authority, Towns of Dillsboro and Sylva and Western Carolina University.

There is overwhelming agreement among stakeholders that the limited housing stock has created pressure for low- to middle-income households for single-person, family and senior households alike. The range of needs means that there is a variety of housing types required to address the problem, including rental and homeownership opportunities, high density apartments and low-density single-family homes.

“What has really struck us is the consistent support for affordable housing development across every sector that we’ve talked to,” said VanLear. “So public stakeholders,

nonprofit, education and private stakeholders. Everyone is feeling this pressure, and everyone is behind affordable housing development to help meet the needs of clients, colleagues, friends and the people they know that are in their personal and professional lives.”

Right now, there are over 2,500 low- to moderate-income households in Jackson County who have housing needs. More than 1,200 of those have severe housing needs, categorized by those that spend more than 50% of their income on housing-related expenses, and/or living in low-quality living conditions.

Housing supply in the county is constrained by seasonal-use units, low quality or off-market sites and student housing.

“These constraints are all acting at once in the same place which is creating a housing market that is really limited and very competitive and leading to low vacancy rates and rising prices,” VanLear said.

On average, the county’s largest municipalities have a vacancy rate below 1%, when typically, a 7% vacancy rate is healthy. Available rentals are affordable to households earning more than $80,000 a year or more. Meanwhile, the average median income for a four-person household in the county is approximately $74,000 a year.

Low-to-moderate-income households are defined as those that make 80% or less of the area median income. This means that a four-person household in Jackson County is considered low-to-moderate income, or LMI, if it is making $58,000 a year or below. About 50% of LMI households in Jackson County make 50% or less of the area median income, or AMI, or under $36,000 a year.

“Households need an annual income of over $163,000 to purchase the average home on the market today,” said VanLear. “That’s 220% of the area median income. I know

That $60,000 price tag was about 80% of the area median income.

“So, in a really short time period, home ownership has become inaccessible to many of your residents,” said VanLear.

Mobile homes make up a third of the naturally occurring affordable housing in the county. However, more than 300 of those units are in a flood zone.

DFI has explored sites for both multi-

looked at all public owned sites to see if there was anything already in the county’s control that would be an opportunity for affordable housing, and looked at other sites that had the potential for site control in the future.

In looking at housing opportunities, DFI considers financial gaps that inhibit development. Financing institutions consider the amount that a rental unit will be able to

“Solving the housing crisis you have today is not going to happen overnight, and it’s not going to happen with one or two developments.”

— Sarah VanLear

this has been a consistent problem through the years but in 2020, three and a half years ago, you needed about $60,000 as a household to buy the average home on the market at that time.”

family rental opportunities as well as singlefamily homeownership opportunities. The DFI looked within municipal boundaries and water/ sewer service areas; considered slope, flood zones and general buildability;

charge for rent, or a developer will be able to charge for homeownership, when determining how much debt they will give an entity to build a housing development.

Market rate housing can expect to charge somewhere close to $2,500 for rent per unit per month following construction, whereas affordable housing developments can expect to charge closer to $700.

“The debt that developers are able to access is limited because they don’t have as much net operating income that they can count on to service that debt. So, there’s a pretty direct correlation,” said VanLear. “In both cases, there’s a gap. Most developers will fill that gap with equity. Folks are willing to invest in those properties based on the potential returns they might get.”

“In the case of affordable housing, that gap still persists, because the equity that you’re able to achieve is also based on that rent you’re able to get, which is a limiting factor,” VanLear added.

One of the options for covering that gap that persists with affordable housing development is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. There are two versions of that program — 9% and 4% tax credits.

“That’s a big factor in filling that gap that exists when you’re creating that affordable housing development,” VanLear said. In the cases of site feasibility DFI is investigating in Jackson County, it has already incorporated accessing LIHTC in its analysis.

For multifamily sites DFI looked at twoacre sites and larger, as well as the eligibility

Funding gaps for affordable housing persist even with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. DFI photo

Debt for housing projects tend to be proportional with the expected payment per housing unit. DFI photo

requirements for the 4% and 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit awards. For single family sites DFI looked at smaller sites, one acre and under.

“We looked mainly at large property owners, and we took that lens because if you’re thinking about the sort of infill development, it’s potentially easier to work with one owner, versus looking at multiple sites with multiple owners,” said VanLear. “That complexity can increase quite immediately when you’re working across a number of different stakeholders.”

DFI also looked at multi-year tax delinquent developed and undeveloped properties to see if there were underutilized parcels that the county could think about putting back into service.

In their work, DFI found sites with a maximum capability of 90 units and estimated development cost of $25 million, with an estimated financial gap of $12 million. Site scenarios had a minimum capability of 60 units with an estimated development cost of $16 million and an estimated financial gap of $1 million.

For single family sites, the idea is that the county would gain site control at fair market value and enter into an agreement with a development partner in order to construct that affordable house.

“We’ve put some kind of baselines in place, we’ve assumed a half-acre lot, we’ve assumed a baseline of an affordable house for a household making 60% of the area median income,” said VanLear. “As you can imagine these numbers change depending on the lot size and household income, there’s some dynamic factors there.”

But baseline estimates show the county investing $25,000 up front into a lot, based on undeveloped plan sales currently in the area. Then, the developer would build a house for just under $300,000. To cover the cost created by allowing residents to purchase that house at an affordable

price, there would be a gap of $170,000, bringing the total estimated gap on the single-family affordable housing property to just under $200,000.

“One of the things I want to mention here is that these are baseline numbers, there are a number of factors that could affect that gap,” said VanLear. “There are federal programs, for example, that lower the overall construction costs. There are other programs that enable equity that the household can actually access, giving them an opportunity to afford more of a mortgage so they can pay a little bit more and that gap would potentially reduce.”

Moving forward, key considerations for suitable sites will take into consideration that Jackson County and its municipalities own less than 1% of land, and approximately 50% of that land is in use. Nearly half of publicly owned parcels intersect with a floodplain.

More than a third of multi-year tax delinquent properties are likely heirs or estate properties.

resort and recreational use areas of the county or near or on nature preserves that are not close to amenities.

Next steps are site-specific predevelopment scopes. That involves identifying sites on which to pursue affordable housing developments, approaching property owners regarding an option to purchase and beginning phase two feasibility analyses to determine development programs and solicit development properties.

“For those properties that are undeveloped and unoccupied there may be an opportunity to utilize currently underutilized properties in the county,” said VanLear.

After looking at large landowners in the county, DFI does not think those represent near-term development opportunities either because those landowners are big institutions like Western Carolina University or the Forest Service, or they’re in parts of the county that are largely

Commission Chairman Mark Letson asked VanLear, “of all the properties you’ve looked at, how many do you think are feasible for next steps, for phase two?”

VanLear said there are three properties they think are feasible for phase two.

“We think there are multiple options for the county to consider,” said VanLear.

Developers are less likely to risk equity for affordable housing projects. DFI photo

No tax increase for Jackson

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER

Jackson County is set to approve its budget next week, funding county operations for the coming fiscal year without a tax increase for residents.

“We strive to include all necessary expenditures without the need to increase the tax rate,” said County Manager Kevin King.

The proposed general fund budget for Jackson County is balanced in accordance with revenues and expenditures totaling $93,803,495. This constitutes an approximate increase of 3.8% over the current FY 2023-24 amended budget.

“I think everybody knows that our bills are not going down, cost of gas is not going down,” said Commission Chairman Mark Letson.

The proposed budget is based on a tax rate of $0.38 per $100 of assessed value, the same tax rate as the current fiscal year. The budget includes a one-step increase for all employees, as well as a 2% cost of living adjustment, all of which will cost the county just over $1 million.

“Even though it is an increase, with inflation and everything, cost of living is needed,” said Commissioner Todd Bryson. “In order to compete with surrounding counties, we have to keep up. Maybe at some point we can get to a place in the economy where we can maybe skip a year or something on the costof-living increase. But our employees do a lot of work and a good job, and they deserve it.”

County Public Schools for the 2024-25 fiscal year. This is an increase of about 2% over the previous budget. In addition, the county will take on the school nurse program as part of the Jackson County Health Department and it will allocate $500,472 for Community Eligibility Program lunches at all schools to be funded from fund balance, to provide all students with free lunch.

“I asked Mr. King to reach out and get some more information,” said Commissioner Mark Jones. “Maybe what’s the cost of a meal, a breakfast or the cost of a lunch? It would help us gauge, do we have enough money, or do we have too much?”

“We were going to make a request to have that billed on a monthly basis, where we have statistics to show,” King told the commission. “You’ve allotted up to the half a million dollars, but maybe they just bill us once a month for the amount of utilization.”

The commission agreed monthly billing would work best for the CEP lunch allocation, in order to get a clearer picture of how much the school system needs.

“Maybe at some point we can get to a place in the economy where we can maybe skip a year or something on the cost-of-living increase. But our employees do a lot of work and a good job, and they deserve it.”

— Todd Bryson, Jackson County commissioner

The budget includes several personnel recommendations. It proposes funding one full-time public information officer. This position was requested by multiple departments and will be part of administrative staff to be used by all departments. Seven full time nursing positions will transfer to the county from Jackson County Public Schools — four RN positions and three CNA positions. One full time housekeeper is recommended for the aquatic center, three maintenance workers and two social service workers.

Capital improvement needs number about $5.7 million in the proposed budget, a number that includes approximately $1.3 million for general equipment and $1 million for new vehicles at the sheriff’s office, maintenance department, transit, environmental health, parks and recreation and social services.

Capital improvements will take about $3.3 million in the upcoming fiscal year budget with upgrades recommended for the Cashiers Library, Cashiers Recreation Center, jail and Sylva Library HVAC systems. The Department on Aging needs painting and staining, and several park upgrades are accounted for.

The county is proposing to allocate $10,106,437 to Jackson

Haywood Farm Bureau awards scholarships

To help fund capital and capital improvements in the school system, 40% of the Article 40 sales tax and 60% of the Article 42 sales tax go to the public schools. The budget also recommends an additional $2.7 million from each sales tax pot to be used for educational purposes.

“These sales tax funds, future grants and available lottery proceeds will dictate the outcome of the public schools’ FY 2025-2029 Facility Capital Improvement Plan,” King wrote in the budget message.

The county will allocate $2.7 million to Southwestern Community College operations, as well as $734,410 for capital outlay.

Fire departments across the county are receiving a 2% increase in their allotments and most non-profits are to be funded at the current FY 2023-24 levels. The Community Development Center will receive increased funding to the amount of $5,000 due to increased operational costs. An increase is also proposed for Community Table, Cullowhee Revitalization and HERE Program. Mountain Projects requested $1.5 million for the Webster Village Partnership which has been recommended to be funded over a two-year period.

“As Jackson County strives to be a leader, it is our responsibility to promote progressive government sensitive to the needs of its citizens,” said King.

A public hearing for the budget was held at commissioner’s June 4 meeting. No members of the public spoke on the topic. The Jackson County Commission is set to consider the proposed FY 2024-25 budget for approval at its June 18 meeting.

Established more than 20 years ago, the Haywood County Farm Bureau scholarship program assists graduating seniors who have a financial need as well as a demonstrated history of community service with the cost of obtaining a college education. Recently, the Farm Bureau awarded scholarships to four students — Emily Ferguson, Taylor Sollie, Jacob Mills and Rylee Shoaf. To be eligible, students must be residents of Haywood County and graduating seniors currently enrolled in a Haywood County high school or in a two or four-year post-secondary school with a GPA of at least 2.5.Students must also be studying some form of agriculture, such as agri-business, environmental engineering, food science, beef cattle or dairy farming, agriculture education, horticulture, landscape architecture, soil science, agriculture technology, ag-mechanic technician, animal science, farm and ranch management, forestry, agriculture journalism, ag-safety and

health, agriculture resource management or other related fields of agricultural study. Haywood County Farm Bureau members or their children are given first consideration. Scholarships may be renewed annually, contingent upon funds available, continued post-secondary enrollment and the student’s good standing as confirmed by a transcript of the previous year’s work. To learn more about the Haywood County Farm Bureau or the scholarship program, contact North Carolina Farm Bureau County Liaison Mandy Stasi at amanda.stasi@ncfbssc.com.

Emily Ferguson (left to right) Taylor Sollie, Jacob Mills and Rylee Shoaf received scholarships ranging from $1,000-$3,500.

Haywood County Farm Bureau photo

Swain County to vote on alcohol sales

BY MARRAH STE. MARIE SMN INTERN

STuesday, May 21, Rogers returned to address the board again, this time joined by Grant Outlaw, owner of Carolina Ocoee, and Darnell. The three came together to explain the importance of on-premises sales to the commissioners.

The same day, commissioners voted 4-1 to add on-premises sales to the referendum. David Loftis was the only opposing vote.

“We don’t want to see bars all over the county,” Loftis said.

wain County Board of Commissioners added a referendum to November ballots that will allow residents to vote on the on-premises or off-premises sale of beer and wine.

Currently, alcohol sales are only permitted in Bryson City with a few exceptions such as resorts. Some business owners outside city limits feel this puts them at a disadvantage.

“You have to get real creative in the privately owned land around here to make a

living,” Nate Darnell, owner of Darnell Farms, said. “There’s a necessity for a business in this region, especially this one county, to be able to compete and survive.”

On April 2, Jessica Rogers, owner of Nantahala General Store, addressed commissioners with this concern and requested they consider allowing alcohol sales throughout the county. Commissioners unanimously agreed to add a referendum that would allow off-premises sales to the November ballot.

However, Swain County business owners felt their request was not fully heard. On

According to The Smoky Mountain Times, Commissioner Phil Carson agreed with Loftis.

Chairman Kevin Seagle feels like that won’t happen.

“I don’t think people will be opening up bars because there’s a lot of red tape in that,” Seagle said. “You have to have a facility that meets the qualifications that the state of North Carolina set to actually serve the alcohol.”

For Seagle and other commissioners the support lies with business owners and not with alcohol.

“I’m not a big alcohol proponent, I think it does more damage than good, but I understand that it’s legal and people will do it whether they do it here or somewhere else.”

For business owners outside of city limits, the opportunity to sell alcohol can keep them on an even footing with Bryson City businesses.

“I think I can succeed, but [selling alcohol] would definitely help,” said Darnell. “I don’t want the people in Bryson City, who I love and respect, to think I’m competing

with them. I want to have the option, or at least have the option for the people in the community to vote whether I will be able to do that.”

Commissioners and business owners agree the most important part of this referendum is that county residents will vote and decide what they want. Seagle believes voting is the reason why he’s not heard any opposition.

“Because it’s going on a ballot, it’s not something we as the commissioners decided,” he said “I think that makes it a little more palatable for people to understand it; it will be voted on instead of five people just making that decision.”

Darnell understands the decision is not easy for some citizens.

“I see the concerns of people, whether it be the dangers of alcohol, religious beliefs or just personal preference. I understand these things and I empathize with them,” Darnell said. “That’s why I like this referendum; it’s what the people in the county want and not with the commissioners as five individuals want.”

Ultimately, the responsibility of alcohol safety falls on business owners, Darnell said.  “I don’t want my farm to become a place where people get drunk and act like a fool. This is a family establishment. Anybody, race, color or creed, is welcome here at any time as long as they’re respectful,” Darnell said. “And if for whatever reason I had alcohol for sale down here and I could no longer provide that service to my county, then I’d stop it.”

BY KYLE PERROTTI

N EWS E DITOR

About nine months after members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians voted overwhelmingly to legalize the sale of marijuana and other cannabis products for all adults, even non-North Carolina residents, over the age of 21, Tribal Council made it official during its June 6 meeting.

The voted was greeted with joyous applause.

But recreational sales won’t begin right away. At a May 30 work session, EBCI Attorney General Mike McConnell said he believed it’ll still be about two to three months before Qualla Enterprises has the capacity to “open the adult use doors.”

Notably, a floor amendment was passed that allows enrolled members with medical cannabis cards to grow up to four plants at their residence. However, a last-minute provision was included in that amendment at the behest of Principal Chief Michell Hicks that prevents people with minor children in the home from growing marijuana, despite the fact that there is nothing prohibiting a person with minor children in the home from purchasing, possessing or using marijuana.

The medical marijuana program, approved in 2021, will still serve those with

EBCI issued cards. The cannabis control board accepts applications from North Carolina residents over the age of 21. The cost for issuance to residents is $100 and $50 for enrolled EBCI members. There are several approved conditions, including anxiety disorder, eating disorders and cancer. Applications can be submitted at ebci-ccb.org.

The tribe expects its cannabis industry to quickly evolve into a cash cow. Neither medicinal nor recreational cannabis is currently legal in North Carolina, Tennessee or South Carolina, and in Virginia and Georgia, only medicinal marijuana is legal. Qualla Enterprises anticipates employing somewhere around 500 people and making enough money by fiscal year 2026 to send the tribe $260 million in profits. It’s also expected to make money for the tribe through generating a tribal levy, akin to a sales tax.

The Great Smoky Cannabis Company dispensary is located at 91 Bingo Loop Road.

File photo

JCPS announces new principal for Smoky Mountain High School

Jackson County Public Schools announced that current assistant principal Joey Robinson has been named the new principal at Smoky Mountain High School. Robinson will step into his new role on July 1.

After announcing the transition of Principal Evelyn Graning to lead Jackson County Early College, the position at SMHS was posted. An eight-member interview team, consisting of five SMHS staff members and district office personnel, convened. Interviews took place this week and the team selected Robinson with the Board of Education approving the appointment.

Robinson is from Lincolnton, North Carolina, and is the oldest with three siblings. He graduated from Lincolnton High School, where he enjoyed playing football for the Wolves and was on the State Championship team in 1993. Robinson attended Western Carolina University, earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Education degree with a focus in English Language Arts. He was a student teacher at Waynesville Middle School and began working there as an eighth-grade ELA teacher following graduation. He spent four years at WMS teaching and coaching football and base-

ball while also earning his National Boards Certification during that time.

Joey Robinson

“We are blessed to have strong candidates who want to take on the role of critical role principal at SMHS.”

— Superintendent Dana Ayers

Robinson next moved to Tuscola High School where he taught ELA, coached multiple sports and served as the assistant athletic director. He and his wife had three boys during his over 14 years at Tuscola, and he was inspired by a former assistant principal, Evelyn Graning, to become an adminis-

Learn about Ukraine in Haywood County

On Thursday, June 13, 2024, David Crane, author, scholar and international prosecutor, will provide insights on the implications of the war in Ukraine on our national security and world safety. Joining

trator. When a teaching position opened at Smoky Mountain High School, he was excited about the chance to work for Mrs. Graning again. After a year and a half in the classroom at SMHS, he completed his administration degree through WCU and was hired as an assistant principal for SMHS in 2021. During his three years as an assistant principal, he enjoyed working alongside the Mustang staff and students and it has become his home.

“We are blessed to have strong candidates who want to take on the role of critical role principal at SMHS. Robinson’s dedication to SMHS is apparent in his interactions with staff and families as well as his intentional focus on growing academic rigor. The interview team and I are confident he is going to lead SMHS with passion and an unmatched commitment to growth in all areas,”

Superintendent Dana Ayers said.

“To be a Mustang is special, and I consider it an honor to have the opportunity to serve in this new role,” Robinson said. “We are blessed with amazing students, staff, and community at SMHS; and I look forward to helping us reach our full potential.”

Crane will be John and Donna Culp, retired Army veterans, who will provide an on-the-ground perspective of their work in Ukraine, as well as Smoky Mountain News reporter Cory Vaillancourt, who will describe the Ukrainian town of Kherson after the Russians were pushed out of the town by the Ukrainian Army.

The discussion will be moderated by

Dr. Steve Wall, the First Vice-Chair of the Haywood Democratic Party, which is sponsoring the event. Attendees to the event will have the opportunity to ask questions and to converse with the panel. The event is free and open to the public. Join the discussion at 7 p.m. at the USDA Service Center at 589 Raccoon Road, Waynesville.

of America has been dedicated to advancing equity, impact and growth across the organization, as well as making a lasting impression on the lives of young people. By creating and supporting one-to-one mentoring relationships, BBBSWNC helps build self-confidence and emotional well-being. With the help of parents, guardians – and a mentor whose influence can last a lifetime – the agency empowers young people to graduate with a plan for their futures.

“Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina’s commitment to creating and fostering positive mentoring relationships is a testament to the individuals within their organization,” BBBSA stated in its award announcement. “Through a shared dedication to meeting the needs of youth in its communities, it continues to empower young people to reach their full potential. We are proud to recognize the agency for its excellence in building brighter futures and championing new possibilities.”

Haywood Rotary Club presents service award

The Rotary Club of Haywood County held its 46th Annual Benefit Drawing May 16 at Laurel Ridge Country Club. The Club also celebrated 45 years of service to the Haywood County community.

During the event, the Club recognized long-time member John Hawkins who passed away in February by presenting its inaugural “John Hawkins Community Service Award” to his wife, Mary.

During 13 years in the club, John volunteered for most every project the club hosted including: United Way Day of Caring, holiday food box delivery, Dr. Seuss Reading project for kindergarten children, school supply drive and food collection project for Haywood County Schools.

Aside from club volunteer participation, John volunteered for other organizations including Mountain Projects, local Veterans association, Long’s Chapel firewood project and Meals on Wheels.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC wins award

For the first time in its 42-year history, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina has been named a Growth Award winner by its national office.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s 2023 Growth Award recognizes the hard work by BBBSWNC leadership and staff to provide high-quality programming for the children they serve, BBBSA stated in its announcement.

The Growth Award recognizes agencies that have demonstrated growth in the number of

youth — “Littles,” in BBBS parlance — and adult mentors — “Bigs” — who are matched through the program, year after year.

“This recognition is a testament to the hard work, passion and unwavering dedication of our staff, volunteers and supporters who tirelessly strive to make a positive impact in the lives of over 625 youth across our region,” BBBSWNC President and CEO Lelia Duncan said. “At BBBSWNC, we believe in the power of mentorship to ignite potential and transform futures, and this award reaffirms our commitment to serving our community and shaping brighter tomorrows for our Littles.”

For over 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters

Jackson Democrats open new headquarters

On June 17, The Jackson County Democratic Party will host an event at Bridge Park in Sylva to inaugurate their headquarters at 500 Mill St. as the 11th official Biden-Harris campaign field office in North Carolina.

James Sonneman, North Carolina Director for the Biden Campaign, highlighted the Jackson County Democratic Party’s reputation across the state as a top-performing, well-organized group that sets an example for the rest of the state as the primary contributing factor for investing in a field office in Sylva.

Special guest speaker Senator Natasha Marcus, candidate for Insurance Commissioner, will be joined by a host of local and statewide candidates and elected officials.

The entire community is invited to welcome the Biden-Harris staffers and learn more about how Democratic candidates up and down the ballot are fighting for public schools, affordable healthcare and the preservation of democracy.

Learn about Macon County in 1830

On Monday, June 17, the series “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture” will present a program, “Counting Souls” presented by Don

Buchanan, based on his novel about the 1830 census in Macon County. It was inspired by the time he spent with his grandfather hearing family tales and finding his family’s names on the census records.

The novel is about people living on the frontier surrounded by the glory of the mountains but struggling to survive. It’s about white settlers, African Americans and Native Americans living side by side, each group trying to retain their humanity against seemingly insurmountable forces. Based on extensive research, the novel offers accurate and fascinating insights into what life in Macon County was like at that time.

The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center at 51 Cowee School Road in Franklin. The lecture series is designed to give people an opportunity to learn more about our local area from many different angles and to enjoy a pleasant, informative evening together.

Groups needed for Camp Ability

For 15 years, Camp Ability has added sparkle to kids' lives that otherwise might have a less than stimulating summer. Kids with a wide range of disabilities participate in “typical” summer camp adventures and get to experience swimming and field trips, sometimes horseback riding or camping.

Kids and adults over the age of 12 have an opportunity to experience life through someone else's eyes. By becoming a buddy, serving as a friend to a camper, learning to give, putting others’ needs above their own and finding a greater appreciation for those that are different from themselves.

A plethora of local churches and other organizations have participated in Camp Ability by providing their venues, preparing meals, donating supplies or recruiting volunteers.

This year, buddies (13 and up) are in high demand. Camp Ability needs groups, teams of volunteers that will experience great reward as they serve together. Camp will be held at Long’s Chapel July 15-29 and July 22-26. Monday, July 15, and Monday, July 22, are training days, and Tuesday through Friday are camp days.

For more information contact the director Jessalyn Rathbone jerathbone@haywood.k12.nc.us.

Our mission is to preepare young men and wo Academic Exce omen to walk with Christ ellence, Small Class Siz t in the 21st century. ze, 4-day School Weekk.

Ellis Morris presents Community Service Award to Mary Hawkins. Haywood Rotary Club photo

Finding meaning in life’s twists and turns

Irecently experienced a visual about worrying. It was a mountain where the highest point is the peak of worry. As a young child, most of us stand at the base with nothing significant to worry about and through life’s twists and turns, we climb and climb until eventually we experience an epiphany or a renewed sense of gratitude where we finally understand that worry is a waste of energy and time. This is when we descend down the other side of the mountain and everyday burdens feel lighter.

Observing my own kids makes me realize how trusting and fearless young people can be. I used to be like that. In my early 20s I backpacked in Europe and there was a span of time where my friend flew back to the states and I was waiting for my sister to arrive. I was on my own in Paris knowing no one and only partially understanding the language, and I was happy as a lark, not a concern in the world.

As I got older and became a parent, life began to feel precarious and fragile, especially after my mom passed away. My tendency to worry and feel fearful or anxious escalated until about a year and a half ago when it hit a peak and I decided I wasn’t going to live in that mental space anymore. I’m not too far past the peak, but I feel like I’m coming down the other side. I’m human so I still worry, but I’ve learned strategies to keep the spiraling in check.

The more wisdom I gain from challenges, the more I understand how fleeting and mystical life is and why there is no point wasting time worrying about everything. In most circumstances, the things we worry about never manifest anyway.

Reaching the mountain’s summit didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a decades-long journey of digging deep into my soul,

No such thing as trans person

To the Editor:

Trans person filmed in WCU bathroom ... that’s false information. There are no trans persons.

Stop misgendering people who claim that they are transgender! That was a man, not a woman who was in the women’s restroom! Giving in to the sick delusions only makes it worse.

You are what you were at birth. Nothing you say or do can change that.

Gino De Neef Franklin

How is it that Trump is embraced?

To the Editor:

“How is it possible, what has lobotomized people who cheer and celebrate the most transparent fraud, the most outrageous liar, the most straitjacket-ready psycho ever visited on the body politic?” Those are the words of

forgiving myself, befriending myself and finding a spirituality that works for me. I’ve learned that a healthy body and clear mind are the two foundations for everything and because of this, I’m extraordinarily particular about what I put into both.

Part of my reawakening story has to do with birds. Last summer I started finding bird feathers everywhere. This was strange because aside from a feather here and there in my life, I’d never really noticed or discovered very many bird feathers. It felt like Mother Nature was placing the feathers for a reason. As I began to find owl feathers, blue jay feathers, woodpecker feathers, and more, I purchased a pack of cards from the Star Seeded Shop in Clyde that offered a spiritual message for each type of bird feather. This became a summer hobby of finding feathers, learning about birds and connecting to each spiritual message. I also became aware and focused when I went on daily walks which made my time outside more enjoyable and intentional. I never used to think much about birds, but now I think of them all the time. It started when my mom passed away. I noticed hummingbirds and cardinals, her two favorite birds, everywhere, as if she was comforting me from afar. Then when I was living in Maggie Valley, I would sit on my front porch and listen to birds which were plentiful and melodious in my neighborhood. This early morning symphony became a healing daily ritual. Fast forward to last summer and my feather-finding adventures. All of this made me realize why so many people are fascinated with birds.

LETTERS

Hal Crowther, longtime journalist and essayist. As I so often am, Crowther will be written off by some people as suffering “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” But are we really, or is it more likely that someone simply neglected to make a burnt offering to the god of common sense.

Here is a former president who has slightly less than 100 felony indictments against him. He's the only president in history to ignite a deadly armed assault on his own Capitol in an attempt to overturn an election he knew he'd lost.

What can I say about Donald Trump that has not been said ad nauseam? “His tweets and his lying, the change of stories, the lack of preparation, he has no principles, none. It's the phoniness and this cruelty, Donald is cruel.” Those are the words of the late Maryanne Trump Barry, his older sister. Mary Trump (his niece) refers to Donald Trump as “the world's most dangerous man.”

Also, have we not heard enough from people who worked in the Trump Administration or those closely associated with him: Mark Esper, Rex Tillerson, William Barr, John Kelly,

A couple weeks ago I found a few crow feathers, then a couple days later, a really pretty woodpecker feather, then two really vibrant turkey feathers. I started thinking about the whole process of birds molting and shedding feathers. One of the reasons for this is to make way for new, stronger feathers.

Pondering the philosophy of molting made me consider that humans need to do the same. Sometimes we need to shed old patterns, relationships, situations, environments, habits, past guilt or regrets, in order to make way for the new.

As we enter the summer season, a time when many animals start shedding and molting, perhaps we should think about what we can shed over the next few months. Maybe it’s something emotional like old baggage or shame from an event that happened long ago. Maybe it’s toxic patterns within a friendship or relationship that can be helped with a little love, compassion or a hard conversation. Maybe it’s a job or career that’s become unfulfilling. Maybe it’s your home. Is it a cluttered mess that’s blocking all that good energy from trying to come in? We all have something to shed.

I always like to view a change in season as a time for renewal. I’m ready to molt and I’m ready to move further away from that space of worry and anxiety. There’s a quote by Kristen Butler that says, “Sometimes you just need to talk to a four-year-old and an 84 year-old to understand life again.” In my vision of the mountain, I see a four-year old on one side of the mountain and an 84-year-old on the other side. Everyone else is somewhere in the middle, and perhaps flying above is a beautiful bird who drops a stunning feather at the moment when we most need it.

(Susanna Shetley is a writer, editor and digital media specialist. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com.)

Mark Milley, John Bolton (the list is virtually endless); and the descriptions of Trump relentless: “a phoney, a fraud, a moron, contemptuous of our democratic institutions and the rule of law, an existential threat to democracy, a consummate narcissist” — and the ever-present underlying truth — “unfit to be President of the United States.”

If those eyewitnesses cannot convince the average voter of Trump's unfitness, I certainly can't. With the possible exception of his niece and his ghostwriter, all these warnings came from conservatives, Republicans, individuals who would ordinarily be on Trump's side of the political divide.

The things that render Trump unfit for office are conspicuously transparent and absurdly obvious to anyone who is paying even marginal attention. In addition to his criminal activities, he is ridiculous, repulsive, crude, infantile and unquestionably unhinged from reality.

Donald Trump lacks any beliefs beyond self-gratification and self-glorification and I say that as a lifelong conservative and an almost lifelong Republican. How the Grand Old Party of Lincoln and millions of seemingly intelligent men and women got drawn into

the orbit of this shameless conman may forever remain the unsolved mystery of the ages.

History teaches us many things and recent history reveals that Germany's Hitler was so thoroughly untruthful that he finally could no longer recognize the difference between lies and truth. And so it is with Trump, and with that handicap he has been able to seduce a large spectrum of our populace into his swamp of lies, distortions and half truths.

Consequently, Trump supporters (while many citizens remain deafeningly silent) are raining death threats on judges, prosecutors, states attorneys general and other elected and honest officials (and their families), anyone who tries to impose justice on or hold the former president accountable. This is the real life 21st Century threat of facism and tyranny.

Will the American electorate wake up in time to save us from ourselves, to rebuild and strengthen the foundations upon which America was conceived and established, in time to save our Republic and democratic form of government from this would be dictator. We will know the answer in approximately six months.

David

L. Snell Franklin

Columnist

Susanna Shetley

JUNE 15•6-8

$200/Adults

CATHEOB / JOLLIFFBA

$10/Kids AND 8pm s

Coming together

Bryson City Brewing to join WNC craft beer scene

Brew news

• Boojum Brewing has opened its latest endeavor, The Red Fox. Featuring a wide variety of Boojum craft ales, the restaurant will also feature live music. Located at 562 Russ Ave. in Waynesville. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. 828.283.8090 or redfoxnc.com

• BearWaters Brewing recently changed its Waynesville outpost to becoming Assembly on Main. Located at 1940 South Main St., the business will feature Furman’s Burgers, craft ales on tap, as well as axe throwing and other activities onsite. Furman’s Burgers will also be available now at BearWaters Brewing in Canton. bearwatersbrewing.com.

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR

It’s a sunny afternoon in downtown Bryson City. The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is pulling into town with numerous locals and visitors alike spilling off the train. A stone’s throw from the tracks is Bryson City Brewing, its coowner Stan Temple gazing happily at the scene unfolding before him.

understand the dynamics of how to work in the mountains. I thought [Mark] was a good match — and it’s been a good match.”

“You know, when I first came to this town, the local entrepreneurs didn’t really work together,” Temple said. “And what excites me now? We’re all becoming friends and working towards combining our resources into opportunities for our community.”

Temple has called Bryson City and greater Western North Carolina home for the last 22 years. A longtime small business owner, one who has specialized in tourism and hospitality for decades, Temple took over the former Nantahala Brewing Burger Bar property on Deep Creek Road and transformed it into Bryson City Brewing.

“The owner [of Nantahala Brewing] wanted to retire, so then I teamed up with a local investor,” Temple said of Bryson City native and storied businessman Mark Fortner. “I didn’t want any outside investors. They don’t

With its onsite brewery operations aimed at once again coming online this summer (and with storied local brewer John Stuart at the helm), Bryson City Brewing has quickly become a bastion of culinary treats, libations and live music.

“It’s about seeing people come here and be thankful for this place,” Temple said of the gratitude he feels for all the blood, sweat and tears put into running an independent business.

A former RC Cola plant, the historic building that houses Bryson City Brewing is a testament to economic growth and development within the rural depths of Appalachia.

“We’re not going anywhere. This is for the long haul — this is our home,” Temple said of his love for the community. “And the people who come here? They really appreciate [Bryson City]. We have this singularity here.”

Originally from Odessa, Texas, Temple bounced around the world, whether it was simply seeing what was just beyond the horizon or his intent and aspirations or merely to wander and soak up the essence of life. Coastto-coast, overseas and anywhere in between.

“There’s a real beauty about living in these mountains,” Temple said of relocating to Western North Carolina following his world travels. “When you’ve been fulfilled with society, you can go up in the mountains and just be by yourself. You can feed that other side of yourself, so then when you come back down, you’re even more enthusiastic about reconnecting with people, their ideas and their stories.”

Throughout his early years, Temple would

often visit Western North Carolina and other corners of Southern Appalachia. He would slowly put down genuine roots into this region with each trip, until finally calling these mountains home later in life.

“This is an exotic, beautiful area and I love living in exotic habitats,” Temple noted. “Living here is similar to where I was living in Hawai’i. We are in a jungle here [in Southern Appalachia].”

Beyond those sauntering over to Bryson City Brewing from the train or from the bustling Everett Street a few blocks away, the property itself has become a beehive of families, friends and those soon-to-become fast friends over a beverage or meal. It’s an image of coming together, whether those known or unknown, which, ultimately, lends itself to human connectivity in the chaos of the digital age.

“This is a family-oriented facility,” Temple said. “And it’s so rewarding when we’re able to entertain people from all over the world who come to enjoy our backyard.”

As the warm sunshine slowly fades behind the ancient mountains. Temple is readying himself for the next rush of people, places and things that’ll once again come alive tomorrow. For him, it’s this deep sense of purpose and passion that fuels this current endeavor, this same attitude at the heart of Bryson City.

“Being able to do what needs to be done and not just ‘doing what you have to do because that’s what you do,’” Temple said. “We’re not in a big rush. We don’t want to push it. We just will feed it, stimulate it and let it grow organically — that’s what I love most about this business and this town.”

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a tap takeover with Hillman Brewing Friday, June 14. 828.246.9320 or blueridgebeerhub.com.

Want to go?

With handcrafted ales soon to hit the taps, Bryson City Brewing is located at 234 Deep Creek Road in Bryson City. The property also boasts a restaurant, backyard activity area and hosts live music regularly. Hours are noon to 10 p.m. (food until 9 p.m.) Monday through Thursday and noon to 11 p.m. (food until 10 p.m.) Friday through Sunday. For more information, call 828.538.0085 or go to brysoncitybrewing.com.

Stan Temple. File photo

Taking over the former Nantahala Brewing Burger Bar property, Bryson City Brewing features craft ales and culinary treats. File photo

File photo

This must be the place

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

‘Some get stoned, some get strange, but sooner or later, it all gets real’

Hello from Room 245 at the Best Western Mountain Lodge in Banner Elk. It’s Sunday morning. Overcast skies and temperatures hovering in the 50s, a far cry from the 75-degrees and sun felt yesterday.

My girlfriend sleeping soundly next to me. One of my best buddies in the next bed. This trio slowly awakening into the unknown day after a wild-n-out Saturday in the depths of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was asked to stage emcee at Beech Mountain Ski Resort as part of its summer concert series.

This past weekend jam-band stalwarts The String Cheese Incident and Americana icons

The Wood Brothers hit the massive stage situated slope-side underneath chair lifts. It always means a lot to me to stand up there in front of thousands of faces and get them all riled up and excited to once again partake in the sacred, ancient ritual that is live music.

Awaken into Sunday morning. Stretch out the limbs and pull back the window curtains. Gaze out upon the somewhat empty hotel parking lot, most of the room renters long gone down that ole road to destinations unknown. Throw on your shoes and head for the breakfast buffet in the Best Western lobby before they shut and lock the dining room doors at 10 a.m.

Some lukewarm scrambled eggs, overcooked sausage, one glass of apple juice and two cups of coffee later, back to the room to pack up and motor to Haywood County via Spruce Pine and Burnsville by U.S. 19E, Interstate 26 East and I-40 West. Gratitude always in tow for a clean bed to sleep in, shower to use, food to eat and a working vehicle to meander around to somewhere, anywhere.

Heading back to Waynesville, my girlfriend was fast asleep in the backseat of the automobile by the time we crossed over the Banner Elk city limits. She and I are coming up on a year-and-a-half together. It’s been quite the wonderful, whirlwind ride, thankfully. I’ve waited a long time for her and we’re making up for lost time with each spur-of-themoment road trip and dinner date night.

My friend was in the passenger’s seat rehashing old tales of his partying days within the previous chapters of his life in Fort

Lauderdale, Florida, and in the suburbs just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Tight s-curve roads like wine bottle openers through Avery, Mitchell and Madison counties. Myself happily indulging in the hearty conversation, all while letting the mind drift.

Thoughts of last Friday night, which was the 25th anniversary party of The Smoky Mountain News. And 12 years for myself at the helm of the arts/culture editor position. I’d estimate better than about a hundred or so folks wandered in and out when all was said and done by the end of the evening — the Boojum Brewing kegs finally tapped, the last of the cheese/fruit platter devoured with gusto, the final goodbyes (for now) between old friends and new ones.

As has now become (somewhat) of a tradition during the SMN birthday party, I corralled the rambunctious crowd, “come gather ‘round” as I’ve got a few words and sentiments to share with y’all. All y’all. Hand me the microphone and let the deep sense of gratitude spill out for all to see and hear — in real time and place, with sincerity to you and yours.

Feelings of what it means to be a community newspaper carefully navigating the oftenchoppy waters of modern day society, of a rapidly changing media landscape in the digital age, of an era of human existence where the lines of truth get blurred and confusing, only leading to more confusion, resentment and anger radiating in seemingly every direction.

As stated many times before, whether in this publication or standing atop a truck tailgate during the anniversary shindig, all of us here at The Smoky Mountain News live and work in your backyard. This is our home, too. And each of us is damn proud to put down genuine roots here. Whether we agree or disagree, respect is the name of the game for every single one of us who digs deep to kick this paper out the door on Tuesday evenings.

It’s a pretty special thing to experience first-hand in life, which is when one simply walks down Main Street in Waynesville and finds themselves in a constant motion of interaction and conversation with familiar and beloved faces. Small business owners. Local officials. Friends made over cold suds at the local watering hole. I’ve always said to new folks to town, “You won’t last long here if you don’t give people the time of day.”

And I mean that will all of my heart and soul. Giving folks the time of day is quickly

HOT PICKS

1

Folkmoot USA will present “An African Cultural Experience,” which will feature Percussion Discussion Afrika and Chinobay at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.

2

The 15th season of the annual “Concerts on the Creek” music series will feature classic rock/country gold act the Whiskey Mountain Band at 7 p.m. Friday, June 14, at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva

3

A special stage production of “The Gods of Comedy” will be held at 7:30 p.m. June 14-15, 21-22, 27-29 and 2 p.m. June 16, 23 and 30 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

4

The 25th annual Taste of Scotland Festival will be held June 14-16 at a variety of locations around Franklin.

5

The annual QuickDraw art fundraiser will once again be held from 4:30-9 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville.

becoming a lost art in our world, but not here in Western North Carolina. People still care about others, whether they fall in line with your politics, religion, ideologies or not. Drop everything and help one another. No questions asked. What matters most is a sense of community and I’ll champion that eternally.

Come hell or high water, you’d be hardpressed to find a more giving, jovial and welcoming group of humans than here in this place, carefully cradled by these mountains and the cosmic magic and grandeur conjured by the rocks, dirt, trees and water of this habitat, by the blood, sweat and tears of those who inhabit it. Handshakes and bear hugs. Apple pies and sweet tea. Old trucks and dirty boots. It’s about leaning in to life as its finest.

For me, personally, this “Damn Yankee” from Upstate New York, this community has embraced me and shown me true friendship and fellowship all through my 12 years wandering and pondering these beautiful mountains of ours. Friendships held tightly that I wouldn’t have otherwise encountered had I decided to take another gig somewhere else. It’s fate and passion as to how and why I ended up here. The gratitude remains. Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.

The Blue Ridge Parkway. Garret K. Woodward photo

‘Concerts on the Creek’

The Town of Sylva, Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department and Jackson County Chamber of Commerce are proud to present the 15th season of the annual “Concerts on the Creek” music series.

Classic rock/country gold act the Whiskey Mountain Band will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Friday, June 14, at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.

The Whiskey Mountain Band met and began rehearsing and refining their signature sound in a cabin on the slopes of Whiskey Mountain, overlooking Lake Chatuge and Hiawassee, Georgia.

The group performs regularly all over north Georgia and western North Carolina, playing high energy classic rock and dance tunes with a touch of blues and country.

“Concerts on the Creek” are held every Friday night from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Everyone is encouraged to bring a chair or blanket. These events are free, but donations are encouraged. Dogs must be on a leash. No smoking, vaping, coolers or tents are allowed. There will be food trucks on site for this event.

For more information, call the chamber at 828.586.2155, visit mountainlovers.com/concerts-on-the-creek or go to the “Concerts on the Creek” Facebook page.

The Scotsman gets the blues

Popular blues/folk singer-songwriter Heidi Holton will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at The Scotsman Public House in Waynesville.

Holton is turning heads with her unique take on one of America’s oldest popular musical traditions: the blues. She began young, leaving Murphy to play in rock bands in Athens, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana, before the blues called and she answered.

She studied under the great Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna) and then disappeared to Alaska’s arctic interior to perfect her craft. She has then moved back to Murphy and is touring around the country.

The show is free and open to the public. For more information, call 828.246.6292 or go to scotsmanpublic.com.

Bryson City community jam

A community jam will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 20, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer or anything unplugged is invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen. The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of the Sawmill Creek Porch Band.

The community jams offer a chance for musicians of all ages and levels of ability to share music they have learned over the years or learn old-time mountain songs. The music jams are offered to the public each first and third Thursday of the month — spring, summer, fall.

This program received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment of the Arts.

For more information, call 828.488.3030.

• Bevel Bar (Waynesville) will host We Three Swing at 8 p.m. every first Saturday of the month and semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.246.0996 / bevelbar.com.

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host “Pub Theology” 6:30 p.m. June 17 and Doug & Lisa June 28. All shows begin at 5 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9320 / blueridgebeerhub.com.

• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host Karaoke Night every Wednesday, Trivia Night 7 p.m. Thursdays, Rossdafareye (Americana/ indie) June 15 and Alma Russ (Americana/folk) 11 a.m. June 22 (upstairs taproom). All shows are located in The Gem downstairs taproom and begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 / boojumbrewing.com.

• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host The Jacob Jolliff Band (Americana/bluegrass) 6 p.m. June 15. 828.369.4080 / coweeschool.org/music.

• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host the “Orchard Sessions” w/Andrew Wooten (singer-songwriter) & Caroline’s Roost 6 p.m. June 20. 866.526.8008 / oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.

Folkmoot LIVE! celebrates African culture

Folkmoot USA will present “An African Cultural Experience,” which will feature Percussion Discussion Afrika and Chinobay at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.

Percussion Discussion Afrika is Uganda’s premier folk-pop band. Folkmoot is partnering with World Bridge Foundation making this United States tour possible for Percussion Discussion Afrika. Chinobay is a Ugandan musician and educator whose original compositions breathe life into the diverse stories of humanity, showcasing his homeland. He will sing and tell stories, all while playing the kora and kalimba.

Doors open at 6 p.m. There will also be a food truck onsite. Donations are welcome. Admission is by the “pay what you can” system. For tickets, go to givebutter.com/43C4ma. You can also purchase admission at the door.

To learn more about Folkmoot, go to folkmoot.org.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Color Machine June 12, Different Light June 14, The Mug Band June 15, Jacob’s Well (Americana) 4 p.m. June 16, Bemi June 21, The Maggie Valley Band (Americana/indie) June 22 and Stomperkitty 3 p.m. June 23. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 / froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host “Monday Night Trivia” every week, “Open Mic w/Phil” Wednesdays, Rene Russell (singersongwriter) June 15 and Andy Ferrell (singersongwriter) June 22. All shows and events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.586.9678/ innovation-brewing.com.

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Music Bingo” on Wednesdays and Shane Meade (singer-songwriter) 4 p.m. June 23. All events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.226.0262 / innovation-brewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host the “9th Anniversary Party” w/The V8s (rock/oldies) 5 p.m. June 15, Joe Lasher Jr. & Kaitlyn Baker (country/pop) 7 p.m. June 15 and Tim Atkins (blues/soul) June 22. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 / lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Music Bingo 6:30 p.m. Mondays and Tim Atkins (blues/soul) June 21. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 / lazyhikerbrew-

Percussion Discussion Afrika will play Waynesville June 13. File photo

Heidi Holton will play Waynesville June 13.

File photo

Whiskey Mountain Band will play Sylva June 14. Donated photo

File photo

On the beat

• Maggie Valley Pavilion (Maggie Valley) will host the Haywood Community Band’s “Marches, Movies & Musicals” celebration 6:30 p.m. June 16. Free and open to the public. haywoodcommunityband.com.

• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host a “Community Music Jam” at 6 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month, Frank Lee (Americana/old-time) 7 p.m. June 13 and Big Bang Boom (children/pop) 11 a.m. June 20. Free and open to the public. All musicians and music lovers are welcome. 828.488.3030 / fontanalib.org.

Cowee School welcomes Jacob Joliff

For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to coweeschool.org or call 828.369.4080. ing.com.

A renowned Americana/bluegrass outfit, the Jacob Joliff Band will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at the Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center in Franklin. A virtuoso musician, Joliff won the National Mandolin Championship in 2012. From there, he held a stint as a member of Yonder Mountain String Band, ultimately departing the group in 2019. In 2022, Joliff was invited by banjo legend

On the wall

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Scott James Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) June 14, Jacob’s Well (Americana) June 15, Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) 5 p.m. June 16, Zip Robertson (singer-songwriter) June 21, Ron Neill (singer-songwriter) June 22 and Bridget Gossett (singer-songwriter) 5 p.m. June 23. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 / mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.

• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Asheville Junction (bluegrass) June 22. All shows begin at 6 p.m. at the Gazebo in downtown. Free and open to the public. franklinnc.com/pickin-on-the-square.html.

• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host Karaoke 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Trivia Night 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Open Mic w/Dirty Dave 6:30 p.m. June 14, Michael Kitchens (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. June 15, Steve Vaclavik (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. June 21 and Madison Owenby (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. June 22. Free and open to the public. 828.369.6796 / facebook.com/rathskellercoffeebarandpub.

• Scotsman (Waynesville) will host Heidi Holton (folk/blues) June 13, Very Jerry Band (Grateful Dead tribute) June 14, Alma Russ (Americana/ folk) June 20 and Second Chance (rock/country) June 22. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 / scotsmanpublic.com.

• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host The Grains Of Sand Band (Motown/soul) 7:30 p.m. June 14. 866.273.4615 / smokymountainarts.com..

• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Jacob’s Well (Americana, free) June 13, Mile High Band (classic rock/country gold) June 14, Second Chance June 15, Brian Ashley Jones & Melanie Jean June 20 (free), Jon Cox Band (country/rock) June 21 and Tricia Ann Band (country/rock) June 22. All shows are $5 at the door unless otherwise noted and begin at 8 p.m. 828.538.2488 / unpluggedpub.com.

• Find more at smokymountainnews.com/arts

• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host its “Maker Series” from 10-11 a.m. Saturday, June 15. Coffee and conversation with local artisans and crafters. For more information, go to coweeschool.org/music.

• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host a “Summer Artisan Market” from noon to 5 p.m. the second Saturday of the month (May-September). Free and open to the public. For more information, visit noc.com.

• “Art & Artisan Walk” (Bryson City) will be held from 5-8 p.m. every third Thursday of the month (May-December) . Stroll the streets in the evening and discover handcrafted items, artwork, jewelry, pottery, antiques and more. Look for the yellow and blue balloons identifying participating businesses hosting artists. Find more information at greatsmokies.com.

• “Art After Dark” (Downtown Waynesville) will be held from 6-9 p.m. each first Friday of the month (May-December) . Main Street transforms into an evening of art, live music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors alike. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, go to downtownwaynesville.com.

• “Spark of the Eagle Dancer: The Collecting Legacy of Lambert Wilson” (Cullowhee) will run through June 28 in the Fine Art Museum

On the table

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a tap takeover with Hillman Brewing Friday, June 14. For more information, call 828.246.9320 or blueridgebeerhub.com.

• Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host a wine tasting with NC wine distributor, Orsini, at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 15, in Waynesville. Admission is $10 per person. No reservation required. To learn more, call 828.452.6000 or go to classicwineseller.com.

• “Flights & Bites” (Waynesville) will be held

Bela Fleck to join his “My Bluegrass Heart” ensemble.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for kids. There will be concessions available onsite for purchase. As well, the Cowee Mercantile/Cowee Coffee will be open during the show.

Jacob Joliff will play Franklin June 15.

File photo

at Western Carolina University. The showcase features works of contemporary Native American art from the collection of one of Western North Carolina’s most notable art enthusiasts, the late Lambert Wilson. This exhibition brings together a selection of baskets, pottery, carving, painting, photography and more. To learn more, go to arts.wcu.edu/spark. The Fine Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

ALSO:

• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host an adult arts and crafts program at 1 p.m. every second Thursday of the month. Ages 16 and up. Space is limited to 10 participants. Free and open to the public. To register, call 828.488.3030 or email vroberson@fontanalib.org.

• CRE828 (Waynesville) will offer a selection of art classes and workshops at its studio located at 1283 Asheville Road. Workshops will include art journaling, watercoloring, mixed media, acrylic painting and more. For a full list of classes, go to cre828.com. For more information on CRE828, email dawn@cre828.com or call 828.283.0523.

• Gallery Zella (Bryson City) will be hosting an array of artist receptions, exhibits and showcases. The gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, go to galleryzella.com or call 517.881.0959.

• Waynesville Photography Club meets at 7

ALSO:

starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop . As well, there will be a special summer wine tasting with small plates at 6 p.m. June 12 ($30 per person) and rosé wine dinner June 17-18 ($78 per person). For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, visit waynesvillewine.com.

p.m. every third Monday each month on the second floor of the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center in Clyde. The club is a nonprofit organization that exists for the enjoyment of photography and the improvement of one’s skills. They welcome photographers of all skill levels to share ideas and images at the monthly meetings. For more information, email waynesvillephotoclub@charter.net or follow them on Facebook at Waynesville Photography Club.

• Haywood County Arts Council (Waynesville) will offer a wide-range of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. The HCAC gallery is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. For more information and a full schedule, go to haywoodarts.org.

• Jackson County Green Energy Park (Dillsboro) will be offering a slew of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. For more information and a full schedule, go to jcgep.org.

• Southwestern Community College Swain Arts Center (Bryson City) will host an array of workshops for adults and kids. For more information on the upcoming classes and/or to sign-up, go to southwesterncc.edu/scclocations/swain-center.

• Dogwood Crafters (Dillsboro) will offer a selection of upcoming art classes and workshops. For more information and a full schedule of activities, go to dogwoodcrafters.com/classes or call 828.586.2248.

• “Take A Flight” (Bryson City) taste four new wines every Friday and Saturday at the Bryson City Wine Market. Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines. Educational classes and other events are also available. For more information, call 828.538.0420.

• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” (Bryson City) will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad . Full service, all-adult, first- class car. Wine pairings with a meal and more. There will also be a special “Beer Train” on select dates. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or go to gsmr.com.

On the stage

HART presents ‘The Gods of Comedy’

A special stage production of “The Gods of Comedy” will be held at 7:30 p.m. June 1415, 21-22, 27-29 and 2 p.m. June 16, 23 and 30 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

Written by the comedic genius Ken Ludwig behind such plays as “Lend Me a Tenor” and “Moon Over Buffalo,” “The Gods of Comedy” is a modern-day farce that transports the ancient Greek gods to the 21st century with uproarious results. Ludwig’s sharp wit and clever writing guarantee a night full of laughter.

The story follows Daph, a young and nervous classics professor, who accidentally

ALSO:

• The Comedy Zone at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino will host Southern Momma through June 26. Doors open at 6 p.m. Dinner and drinks will be served from 67:45 p.m. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to cherokeecomedyzone.com/events.

• Peacock Performing Arts Center (Hayesville) will host semi-regular stage

On the street

‘Conversations with Storytellers Series’

As part of the “Pigeon Community Conversations with Storytellers Series,” social entrepreneur, veteran and visual and performing artist DeWayne Barton will speak at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at the Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center, located at 450 Pigeon St. in Waynesville.

Barton uses creative expression and experience to help protect, promote and expand the dreams and goals of neighborhoods in the Affrilachian region

Upcoming installments of the Pigeon Center series include author/painter Marsha Almodovar (July 11) and author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (Aug. 8).

Tickets are $10 for community members, $7 for seniors 65 and older and $5 for students.

summons Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry and Thalia, the muse of comedy, to help them out of an academic jam.

What ensues is a rollercoaster ride of mistaken identities, magical mishaps and divine intervention that will have you laughing from start to finish. Anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by life’s unexpected twists will find humor and comfort in Daph’s predicament.

To make reservations, call the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322 or go to harttheatre.org. HART Box Office hours are Tuesday-Friday from noon to 5 p.m. HART is located at 250 Pigeon St. in Waynesville.

productions on the weekends. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays unless otherwise noted. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to thepeacocknc.org or call 828.389.ARTS.

• Highlands Performing Arts Center will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. For more information, a full schedule of events and/or to purchase tickets, go to highlandsperformingarts.com.

Art fundraiser for local schools

The annual QuickDraw art fundraiser will once again be held from 4:30-9 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville.

The cocktail social will include an hourlong QuickDraw Challenge, silent auction, refreshments and dinner. Live artists will be working in the public eye, creating timed pieces, which will then be auctioned off.

Proceeds go to art classroom supplies in schools and college scholarships for artrelated studies. QuickDraw’s signature auction for art education features several unique items to benefit art education in schools.

• 4:30 p.m. — Cocktail Social. Register your bidder number and watch artists prep before the shotgun start.

• 5-6 p.m. — Artist Stopwatch Challenge. Stroll and marvel at the motivated live-action artists painting to beat the clock. Chat with demonstrator artists using fiber, clay, metals, glass, wood and more, all process-intensive mediums that

enable them to work and talk. Each demo artist offers a finished original work at silent auction while they showcase techniques on a piece in process.

• 6 p.m. — Breather. Snacks and conversation and live music while artists frame the pieces and set up the auction preview. Live music from pianist Craig Summers. Art teachers show off student works.

• 6:30 p.m. — Live Art Auction. Bid on fresh, original art, ready to hang. Become a collector who saw the artist make it. Team with artists to inspire students and creative classrooms, put supplies on teacher shelves and send kids to college.

• 7:45 p.m. — Dinner and cash bar. Meet your artist over delicious food and monitor your silent auction bids. Tickets are $125 per person. VIP tables and sponsorships are also available. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to quickdrawofwnc.com or call 828.734.5747.

Children ages 12 and under are free. Purchase tickets in advance at pcmdc.org or at the door. Series passes are available at a discount. Refreshments will be available for purchase. Sponsored by Friends of the Haywood County Public Library, The Smoky Mountain News and Janet & Bob Clark.

Cherokee Bonfire & Storytelling

The Cherokee Bonfire & Storytelling will be held from 7-9 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through Oct. 31 at the Oconaluftee Islands Park in Cherokee. Sit by a bonfire, alongside a river, and listen to some of Cherokee’s best storytellers. The bonfire is free and open to the public. For more information, call 800.438.1601 or go to visitcherokeenc.com.

Taste of Scotland Festival

The 25th annual Taste of Scotland Festival will be held June 14-16 at a variety of locations around Franklin.

The festival is a celebration of the heritage brought to the mountains, that of the Scots and Scots Irish, along with celebrating the historic relationships with the Cherokee. Scottish foods, music, clan parade, vendors/crafters, Highland Games competition, herding dog demonstrations and more.

For a full schedule of events, go to tasteofscotland.org.

‘The Gods of Comedy’ will be at HART through June. Donated photo

QuickDraw is a cherished event each year in WNC. File photo

The Taste of Scotland rolls into Franklin June 14-16. File photo

Books, parrots, love and regrets

If Monica Wood’s “How to Read a Book” were a painting rather than a novel, it would be a triptych, one of those threepaneled works of art often hinged together so that it can be closed or displayed open. We open, or unhinge if you will, “How to Read a Book,” and immediately meet Violet Powell, a 22-year-old inmate in a Maine prison. Violet’s crime was driving drunk and on the wrong side of a road, and causing the death of an older woman, a kindergarten teacher.

The second panel belongs to Harriet Larson, a retired teacher who leads a women’s book club in the prison. A widow, and soon to lose her niece Sophie, who is off to study for a graduate degree all the way across the country at Berkeley, Harriet has a great rapport with the imprisoned women, but dreads living alone once Sophie takes off.

Look at the third panel, and we find Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, 44 years on the job, whose wife Lorraine died in the car accident caused by Violet. Frank has picked up a job doing odd jobs and repairs around a local shop, Wadsworth Books. It’s here he meets and is attracted to Harriet, it’s here that Harriet later enters the shop with the newly-released Violet in tow, and it’s here that these three lives collide and then slowly come together.

There is much to love and admire in “How to Read a Book.” Wood deftly handles the entrances and exits of Violet, Harriet and Frank, weaving together their stories, showing how each of them confronts their past, present and future, all the while learning about love, forgiveness and moving on. She also does a fine job of depicting life inside the women’s prison, giving us both humor and pathos in the conversations and literary discussions that take place in the book club.

In addition, Wood shows us the conflicted feelings that each of her three main characters have toward their families. Violet’s sister, Vicki, and the rest of the family essentially disown her after she went to prison, blaming her for the subsequent death of her mother from cancer. Harriet has her ongoing struggles with the headstrong and opinionated Sophie while Frank battles with his daughter Kristy, who’s upset by what she

Will you ‘Bee the Change’?

considers his subdued reaction to Lorraine’s death, unaware that her mother was having an affair and intended to divorce Frank before the fatal car crash.

Readers who enjoy “books about books” will find an abundance of literary references here. The prison book club becomes espe-

note at the end, Wood relates that this part of “How to Read a Book” is not fictional, and like Olivia, we find ourselves astounded by the tasks these parrots can perform and their grasp of language.

My one quarrel with “How to Read a Book” is its negative treatment of Christians. While visiting her mother’s grave, Olivia runs into her sister and her Aunt Pammy. Her aunt is a worn-out stereotype, a fire-andbrimstone Christian who’s all about judgment and nothing about compassion. As if that’s not enough, in this scene we learn that the minister of Aunt Pammy’s tiny church also molested Olivia when she was a young teen. Discussions of religious faith pop up several times in the book, which given the situations of different characters is actually natural, yet despite a general scorn for Christian faith none of them seems possessed of an iota of knowledge regarding the Bible or belief.

cially enamored with Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology,” where the voices of the characters speak from beyond the grave, laying out all their guilts, thwarted loves and ambitions. They also fall in love with the verse of William Butler Yeats, especially his “When You Are Old,” and the poetry of Maya Angelou, and even try their own hand at composing poems.

Of particular interest are the parrots we meet in Wood’s story. Yes, that’s right, parrots. Post-prison, Violet finds work in a university lab with Dr. Petrov, a behavioral psychologist studying avian cognition through parrots, teaching them to identify by human words the shape and color of objects. In a

The intrusion of these scenes and asides into the story were confusing. Were they some sort of anti-Christian squibs? Did the author intend them to mirror today’s religious confusion?

That criticism aside, I highly recommend picking up a copy of “How to Read a Book.” It entertained, it made me think, it gave me some insights into the world around me, including talking parrots in a lab, and it made me understand a little bit more about human nature.

In short, “How to Read a Book” does what all good fiction should do.

(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.)

Author John Kotab will present his latest book, “Bee the Change: If We Protect, Nature Will Provide,” at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

“Bee the Change” is a research novel about the what and why of pollinator protection, set to the pace of a bicycle tour of New York State and the Pacific Coast.

This book will provide travel narratives and word-paintings to satisfy the adventurous soul, as well as interviews to educate and inform how we can heal bee populations and promote their habitats. Readers will learn why bees and other pollinators are so important. For more information, call Blue Ridge Books at 828.456.6000 or click on blueridgebooksnc.com.

Writer Jeff Minick

Where art and science meet

‘Darwin and the Art of Botany’

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER

Charles Darwin was many things, but in the classic sense of the word, he was not an artist. Lacking in the ways of visual art, and with miserably bad handwriting, the scientist eventually enlisted the help of his sons in creating utilitarian illustrations of the plants and animals with which he worked.

However, a new book by James Costa and Bobbi Angell, “Darwin and the Art of Botany,” seeks to infuse Darwin’s work on plants with breathtaking and historically significant botanical illustrations of his day and bridge the oft-perceived gap between arts and sciences.

Bobbi Angell is a scientific illustrator, printmaker, instructor and gardener with more than 40 years of experience in the field. Drawing for botanists at the New York Botanical Gardens and other institutions, Angell has illustrated floras, monographs and new species. Her pen and ink line drawings have depicted several thousand species from areas as diverse as the deserts of the Intermountain West to the tropical forests of Central French Guiana and Greater Antilles. Her projects include lichens of Ohio and the Great Smokies and field guides to vines and climbing plants of Puerto Rico, the wildflowers of Pine Barrens in New Jersey and the Jura mountains of Switzerland.

Over her years of creating botanical illustrations, Angell took a particular interest in climbing plants and vines, which in turn led her to Darwin’s book “Climbing Plants.”

“I was disappointed he had not added beautiful art in the book,” Angell said of Darwin’s work on climbing plants. “I’d gone to Oak Spring Garden Foundation and saw so many beautiful paintings in Darwin’s era and thought it’d be fun to add paintings to Darwin’s chapters of climbers.”

This became the instigating factor for “Darwin and the Art of Botany,” the urge to marry the expansive botanical art of Darwin’s day with his lesser known, but no less expansive work on plant science. After enlisting Costa, a Darwin scholar, for the project and approaching Timber Press, the idea eventually grew from just climbing plants to include examples from all six of Darwin’s books on plants.

“I read through all those books to select 45 chapters,” Angell said.

Darwin is perhaps best known for his work on the theory of natural selection, epitomized in his seminal work “On the Origin of Species,” which is associated with exotic animal species. “Darwin and the Art of Botany,” in addition to infusing Darwin’s work with botanical illustrations, also aims to highlight Darwin’s contributions to botanical research and exploration.

Of the book on orchids, Darwin himself wrote to his friend and collaborator Asa Gray, “you are the very best: no one else has perceived that my chief interest in my orchid book, has been that it was a flank movement on the enemy … It bears on design — that endless question.”

Among his many contributions to the field of botany was Darwin’s coining of the term “circumnutation” for the elliptical movement of plant tendrils and growing shoots, as well as the discovery that heterostyly, a genetic polymorphism between individual plants of the same species, serves to promote outcrossing.

Evolutionary biologist, entomologist and historian of science, Costa is a professor of biology and executive director of Western Carolina University’s Highlands Biological Station where he teaches courses on biogeography, Darwin’s “Origin of Species” and a comparative temperate-tropical ecology field course between Highlands Biological Station and Wildsummaco Biological Station in Ecuador.

Costa has written extensively on Darwin, as well as Alfred Russell Wallace, renowned scientific traveler, founder of evolutionary biogeography and co-discoverer with Darwin of the principle of natural selection. In addition to many academic papers and magazine articles, he has published several books on Darwin and Wallace, including “The Annotated Origin,” and “Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory.”

“Different animal groups became icons associated with Darwin, but ironically, he didn’t necessarily come readily to his insights simply through animals,” said Costa. “They’re iconic, but in a way, not as important as one might assume. And yet the plants, which he had entire volumes dedicated to, were the go-to model group to test these evolutionary questions. But people don’t always connect with plants in an emotional way the way they do with animals.”

Six of the 12 books Darwin wrote and published after “On the Origin of Species” dealt solely with plants, along with approximately 75 research papers. The very first book to follow “Origin” was one on orchid pollination mechanisms.

“How odd, some thought, to follow so sweeping a book as ‘Origin’ with one so narrowly focused,” Costa writes in the book. “But there was a method to the madness: the orchid book signaled the direction his work would take for the next twenty years — a corpus of work that was ‘Origin’ writ large, myriad subjects with an eye to extending and reinforcing the explanatory power of his theory.”

In addition to orchids, Darwin explored cross and self-fertilization, variation, pollination and forms of flowers; climbing plants; insectivorous plants; and plant movement. The new book from Angell and Costa draws on each of these subjects.

The book is split up into 45 chapters on 45 different plants that Darwin spent time studying. Each chapter includes a botanical illustration of the plant in question along with an excerpt of Darwin’s own writing chosen to display his working method and depth of investigation. Alongside Darwin’s writing are explanatory passages by Costa that help to situate the reader and contextualize Darwin’s sometimes dense, technical language.

“If you read the Darwin excerpts in this book, these can be pretty dense,” said Costa. “Even Darwin made fun of himself about these books, and he said that they’re ‘dry as dirt,’ and they’re ‘good for doorstops,’ but they serve the purpose of answering questions in science.”

Flowers and plants have long been the focus of artistic and aesthetic expressions in cultures around the world. But scientifically accurate, botanical illustrations began to flourish during the Renaissance when there was a renewed focus on the medicinal qualities of plants.

The art form was further refined in the seventeenth century as Europeans, especially Spanish, Dutch and French, began exploring the globe, returning with foreign species and creating a new demand for exotic plants across the gardens of the continent. This interest only grew as Britain expanded its own colonial holdings throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Advancements in print-making technology, combined with demand for botanical illustrations meant that the art form reached its peak during Darwin’s lifetime.

In creating this book, Angell was curious to see what botanical paintings would have been available during Darwin’s time and undertook the task of sifting through troves of artwork at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, among other sites.

“In the spirit of encouraging an appreciation of the art of Darwin’s botanical science, it is appropriate to also encourage an appreciation of his subjects and of botanical art itself,” the authors wrote in the book’s introduction. “Drawing upon the stunning botanical painting and print collection of Oak Spring Garden Foundation, we bring these complementary art forms together here for modern readers.”

The Oak Spring Garden Foundation is the estate of the late Bunny Mellon, a talented garden designer and horticulturist as well as a voracious reader and collector of the history of science, botany, horticulture and art.

Today, her library and collections are open to scholars and the estate contains one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of botanical art in the world.

‘Appalachian Apothecary’ lecture is June 20

The Highlands Biological Foundation (HBF) continues its Zahner Conservation Lecture series at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 20. Registered Herbalist Patricia Kyritsi Howell will take the stage to discuss “Appalachian Apothecary: Herbs of Yesterday and Today.” Following the lecture, attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy a small reception.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are famous for their botanical diversity, which includes many plants with a long history of medicinal use by indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans and European colonizers. Even more remarkable is the fact that many of these plants still play an essential role in modern health care. Drawing from her years as a practicing herbalist, Patricia Kyritsi Howell will share stories about their historical uses and explain what recent research confirms about their healing properties.

All are invited to participate in HBF’s free Zahner lectures, which will be held at the Highlands Nature Center (930 Horse Cove Road) on Thursdays through August 15. To preview HBF’s full Zahner lecture lineup, please visit highlandsbiological.org. The Highlands Nature Center is part of the Highlands Biological Station, a multi-campus center of Western Carolina University.

Haywood Soil and Water receives farmland preservation grants

The Haywood County Soil & Water Conservation District is a recipient of three of this year’s N.C. Grange grants to aid in land preservation efforts within the county.

North Carolina currently has the unfortunate ranking of second in the nation, behind Texas, for threat of land conversion to development, as noted in an American Farmland

“They very graciously let us use all the artwork we wanted to use for this project,” said Costa.

In choosing artwork for the book, Angell took into consideration not only the quality and aesthetic of each piece, but also the historical significance.

For instance, the chapter on the North Carolina native Venus Fly Trap contains a copy of the original drawing of the plant by botanist John Ellis, which he sent in a letter to Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy. That original is located at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation.

But the intersection of art and science displayed in the book goes beyond the selection of botanical illustrations from the time that portray the plants Darwin was studying at his home-turnedfield-station just south of London.

The book and its authors seek to assert a deeper message about the place where science and art meet, one that places Darwin firmly among the creative minds of his day, one that grants Darwin a title few may have

Trust’s study, even though it is only ranked 30th in total agricultural acreage. The report projected 1.1 million acres of North Carolina farmland would be converted from agricultural use based on current development numbers with a potential to increase to 1.6 million acres if anticipated development acceleration continues.

The N.C. Grange is a nonprofit organization with a long history of supporting farmers and advocating for North Carolina agriculture. It gives its members a legislative voice and brings people together to serve communities across the state.

ever bestowed on him — that of an artist.

“The two spheres, they’re creative in their ways,” said Costa. “There’s certainly creativity that goes into any kind of artistic composition. But science, there’s a method to it — learning how to ask a question, a scientific question, which ideally then is going to be a testable question. I think I’ve long admired scientists that could think very creatively, often there’s sort of an elegance in the simplicity.”

Costa asserts that the simplicity and elegance of Darwin’s experiments constitute a type of art.

“There is a kind of art and a beauty in the scientific method beyond just the beauty of the organisms,” Costa said. “There is, after all, an art to science — beauty in theory, elegance in experimental design, a satisfying harmony in the consilient resonance of supporting evidence.

The authors write that they “hope [this book] fosters an appreciation of the beauty of some of Darwin’s favorite plants as well as the beauty of the scientific insights they yielded in the admiring hands of that inveterate ‘experimentiser.’”

Bobbi Angell. File photo

James Costa. FIle photo

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WCU gets grant to study mosquitoes

Brian Byrd, Western Carolina University’s mosquito expert and professor in the environmental health sciences program, along with Scott Huffman, professor in WCU’s Department of Chemistry and Physics, have been approved for grant funding from NCInnovation to continue their work in developing tools that utilizes spectroscopy to analyze vibrational signals from mosquitoes.

“Using spectroscopy, we are developing tools that analyze chemical signals from mosquitoes to tell us the species, sex, age of the mosquitoes and if they are infected,” Byrd said. “Using our approach, we can rapidly assess the risk of infection in the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit dengue fever and Zika. There is a similar Aedes mosquito in Western North Carolina that transmits La Crosse virus causing encephalitis in children every year, so this tool gives us a platform to improve risk assessments and opportunities to reduce human disease.”

The grant will go toward developing tools that utilize spectroscopy to anaylze vibrational signals from mosquitos. Donated photo

Currently it takes days or weeks to conduct this type of risk assessment, but the approach Byrd and Huffman are developing will make the work much quicker and more efficient.

The grant approval is conditioned on standard next steps, including executed grant agreements and formal notification to government partners. The funding is part of NCInnovation’s larger mission to unlock the innovative potential of North Carolina’s world-class universities.

NCInnovation helps university innovations advance towards commercialization by supporting university applied research through the critical R&D phase between proof concept and readiness for the private market.

The grant funding approved for Byrd is part of NCInnovation’s larger effort to support the development and commercialization of university research in North Carolina. The campus-to-industry pipeline has been the foundation of American innovation for decades. For more information, visit ncinnovation.org.

Interested in healthy gardening?

Studies have shown that gardening has numerous health benefits for all ages and physical abilities, and mobility issues don’t mean people have to drop their passion. Haywood Extension is hosting a hands-on workshop covering the basics of good body mechanics to help protect and support joints.

The class will be held from 10-11:30 a.m. June 19 at First Baptist Church of Maggie Valley, 3634 Soco Road.

The class is free, but registration is required. Register at haywood.ces.ncsu.edu/upcoming-home-gardening-classes.

Jackson offers rec volleyball league

Jackson County Parks and Recreation is hosting a pair of volleyball leagues open to anyone over the age of 16, one a competitive co-rec league and the other an open volleyball league.

Games are played at the Cullowhee Rec Center starting in July.

Team fee is $275.

For more information, contact the Cullowhee Rec Center at 828.293.3053 or send an email to andrewsherling@jacksoncountync.org.

Big Brothers Big Sisters offers golf discount

Haywood County golfers can take advantage of an offer that will give them discounts at Maggie Valley Club, Springdale Resort, Sequoyah National, Lake Junaluska and Laurel Ridge clubs. All include green fee and golf cart. The golf discount cards are available at 828.273.3601 or Allstate Insurance/The Pressley Group in Waynesville.

File photo

Up Moses Creek

BY B URT KORNEGAY

‘When, Wren?’

Finally, we can go out the back door again. For a month we made a front door detour around an unplanned construction project on the back porch.

only one opening. Our house had more than one.

641 North Main Street, WAYNESVILLE, NC

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Meanwhile, the male, perched on a garden post, sang, “I’m here! I’m here! I’m here!” We’d seen the wren pair build nests in years past, including in the clothespin bag on the line, and in one of my canoes, but the way the male sang this time, you’d think he’d never been a parent-to-be before. With his tail pointed down and his beak pointed up, he sang with his whole body, “I’m here!” He sang the sun up and the sun down, while his mate peered out of the nest and brooded the eggs.

We first noticed something a-buildin’ there when the yard wrens started to fly in with pine needles, moss and leaves and shape them into a nest. The nest was inside a basin of Becky’s gardening tools on a shelf beside the door. Her trowel’s wood handle served as the entrance lintel.

For the wrens it was a convenient spot, protected under the roof. But once the female laid her eggs — five little white ones with reddish speckles — our back door goings and comings became inconvenient. “Go around!” she scolded. Her nest had

Although the eggs were laid in April, our front door detour lasted a February month: 14 days for incubation and 14 for the hatchlings to fledge. Snakes and raccoons didn’t find the morsels — easy to reach on the shelf — and a prowling tomcat didn’t spot the mother and leap. I looked in from time to time when the female was away, and each time I’d see that she’d nudged the eggs into a new configuration, as if she were stirring a pot to make sure the contents received equal heat.

On the 14th day, I found that what had been a cluster of perfectly formed and distinct eggs was now a confused pile of pink pot bellies with skinny necks ending in yellow beaks flanked by dark bulges — the still-closed eyes — and topped with cowlicks of down.

The ungainly contraptions seemed to know just one thing — how to gape for food. At first, they even gaped when my face appeared at the door, showing me their blazeorange mouths.

Both parents came almost nonstop after that with caterpillars dangling from their beaks. Butterflies too. We saw one wren knock down a tiger swallowtail and beat it until its buttery wings lay tattered on the ground. Then it carried the limp body to the young to nourish their growing wings.

Fourteen days from hatching, the chicks were fully formed and feathered. Their glistening eyes were open, black and wild. They filled the nest to overflowing, and when the parents came with food, they craned their beaks —“Me first!”

A beautiful wren. File photo

MarketPlace information:

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Legals

NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION

Case No.24-E-285

Iris Lorraine Schott,

Ancillary Executor of the Estate of Lester Gerald Schott, Jr. County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them before Aug 29 2024, or in bar of their recovery.

Ancillary Executor c/o Thomas M. Caune II 1009 East Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28203

NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION

Case No.2024 E 000324

Michael Grosso, havingutor of the Estate of Philip Carmen Grosso

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Executor 32 Amber Drive Horse Shoe, NC 28742 2024-2025 Recommended Tourism Development Authority Budget

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The Town of Waynesville and NCWorks will host a summer hiring event for youth on Friday, June 14 from 2-5 pm @ Waynesville Rec Center, 550 Vance St., Waynesville. Employers will be hiring 16 years and older for lifeguards, summer camp, cashiers, food service, and grocery. The Rec Center will give away a one day pool/rec center pass job fair attendees!

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Real Estate Announcements

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE

CANCELLATION EXPERTS.

Pets

“WORKING CATS”

Asheville Humane Society has cats available who are best suited to life in a barn/farm, warehouse, etc. Fully vaccinated and spayed/ neutered. (828) 761-2001 adoptions@ ashevillehumane.org

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This newspaper will notvertising for real estate in violation of this law. All equal opportunity basis.

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