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Western North Carolina’s Source for Weekly News, Entertainment, Arts, and Outdoor Information

June 1-7, 2016 Vol. 18 Iss. 01

Haywood officers now armed with overdose antidote Page 11 Bear bite victim tells his story Page 40

Mountain Radiance

Medical Spa ED ND D N MA E T DE 1TH X E AR NE 1 LE PULDS JU A S PO LE EN

BY SA

CONTENTS On the Cover: High-speed internet access has been a problem facing Western North Carolina for many years. While the Haywood County Economic Development Council is working toward putting together a broadband master plan to increase access and affordability, many residents and businesses in Haywood County have found their answer to high-speed wireless service through Skyrunner based in Asheville. (Page 6)

News Park proposes fee hike for campgrounds ....................................................................3 Forest plan timeline lengthens ........................................................................................4 Early voting for June 7 election ends Saturday ..........................................................5 Shining Rock focuses on year two improvements ....................................................8 Haywood officers now armed with drug overdose antidote ................................13 Canton works through budget priorities ....................................................................12 Canton Main Street paving project is delayed ........................................................13 Jackson tourism signs new marketing contract ......................................................14 Haywood tourism gets new digs in Maggie ............................................................15 Group forms to support Pisgah District ....................................................................17

Opinion Mixing it up in the marketplace of ideas......................................................................24

A&E Drawing the lines to your passion ................................................................................28

Outdoors Bear bite victim tells his story ........................................................................................40

Back Then Halls Cabin built right on state line ..............................................................................55

June 1-7, 2016

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Park proposes fee hike for campgrounds Public comment sought for 25 percent price increase

ple a night when those campgrounds are full.”

Increasing the fee isn’t the only change outlined in the proposal. The National Park Service also wants to add campgrounds at Balsam Mountain, Big Creek and Abrams Creek to the National Recreation Reservation System, meaning that camping there would require advance reservations and payment. The change would allow the Park Service to cut the staff time required to collect fees onsite from its budget.

expressly to fight the fee — launched a lawsuit against the federal government. The issue was finally settled for good last week, with Southern Forest Watch losing the last of its appeals.

With that saga fresh in memory, Smokies staff are quick to acknowledge that they understand fee increases are never popular, saying they’re only proposing this one because it’s necessary.

“While we recognize that fee increases are often unpopular, we are committed to maintaining this ‘crown jewel’ of the National Park Service where visitors can create lasting memories through camping and picnicking in the Smokies,” said Park Superintendent Cassius Cash.

“There’s always going to be people who don’t want to be charged fees for these public lands, but there is a cost to free,” Soehn agreed.

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In fact, it’s possible that the fee increase could give private campground owners a boost, even if only a small one, by closing some of the gap between their prices and those offered by the Park Service.

“I think they’re underpriced now and I think they could become more self-sufficient instead of depending on taxpayer money,” said Michael Smith, owner of Turkey Creek Campground in Almond. “It would be more fair with the private sector, competitionwise.”

Smith charges by the person at his campground — a family of three would pay $32 per night. Tent sites at Ela Campground cost $25 per night during the season. Primitive tent sites at Deep Creek Tube Center and Campground cost $27 per night. Over in Haywood County, tent sites at Creekwood Farm RV Resort are $30 per night.

By contrast, campsites in the Smokies now run between $14 and $23 per night.

The 25 percent increase would bring the cost between $18 and $29 — more inline with the going rate. Not that it’s quite fair to do a direct comparison, Soehn said, because sites in the park tend to be more primitive than those offered outside.

“Sometimes it’s like comparing apples to oranges, but we tried to find the most primitive sites outside the park to match them up to,” Soehn said. “But even the most primitive sites outside the park, they’ll have access to a showerhouse.”

The outcome of the proposal, however, will depend to some degree on feedback received. A public comment period is open through June 27, with open houses scheduled in North Carolina and Tennessee during which park staff will be on hand to answer questions about the proposal.

“How people feel that the fees will impact their desire to camp inside the park is important for us to understand and to be able to gauge what an adverse impact it may be on people who may otherwise camp in the park and now feel that these fees may be too much,” Soehn said. “It’s all part of that public planning process, and it might move the needle one way or the other.”

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Smoky Mountain News

Be heard

■ $14-$23 per night for a family campsite at one of the nine campgrounds in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park under the current fee structure.

■ $18-$29 per night for a campground site in the park if the proposed fee increase were enacted.

■ $32 per night for a family of three at Turkey Creek Campground in Almond.

■ $25 per night for a tent site at Ela Campground in Ela. ■ $27 per night for a tent site at Deep Creek Tube Center and Campground outside Bryson City.

■ $30 per night for a tent site at Creekwood Farm RV in Jonathan Creek.

June 1-7, 2016

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER amping fees could increase in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park if a recently released proposal gains approval.

The fee increases would apply only to frontcountry camping — campground sites that don’t require hiking to reach — not HOST OF FEE INCREASES PAST backcountry camping, and bring prices 25 percent north of where they are now.

Three years ago, the Smokies approved Pavilion rentals would also be included. another change to camping fees — a $4 per “We’re hoping that at that level we can night charge for backcountry camping, restore those seasons that have been shortwhich had previously been free. Throughout ened across the park and also be able to take its journey from proposal to approved polion some of the needed renovations that are cy, the issue was embroiled in controversy. ongoing at sites across the park,” said Dana Soehn, management Busy campgrounds like ROPOSAL MAY assistant for the Elkmont hold up to 2,000 Smokies. people each night when DRAW LITTLE CONTROVERSY With the exception they’re full. NPS photo However, it doesn’t appear that this proof Cataloochee posed increase is headed for the same kind Campground, which of controversy as the backcountry camping had a fee increase in fee. For one thing, frontcountry camping 2011, fees haven’t risen already costs money — the proposal won’t since 2006. But operacreate a new fee, just increase an existing tional costs have, one. The park’s fees are substantially less Soehn said, and the than those charged at private campgrounds park has had to supplein the area, and while local people do use the ment the campground frontcountry campgrounds, out-of-town budget from its general tourists create the bulk of the traffic. funding to cover “That’s not local people, that’s tourists expenses, sometimes coming here paying,” Monteith said. “That’s opting to close campgrounds early or open People who frequented the backcountry, a different world (from backcountry campthem late to cut costs. The 25 percent especially those with roots in parkside coming) as far as I’m concerned.” increase would bring in an estimated munities, felt that the fee formalized an To Brad Walker, chairman of the Swain $400,000 per year in addition to the $1.6 experience that should be free of charge and County Tourism Development Authority, it million collected from campground fees in bureaucracy. Some felt that the fee was just just seems to make sense that camping fees 2015. another chapter in the decades-long story of would rise somewhat — everything else has “I think there’s just a lot of things that the Park Service forcing local people out in gone up in price in the past 10 years, it seems. people don’t always think about that we favor of tourists.

“It’s just the way it is. The costs of things have to pay for in order to operate a camp“They took our land to start with,” said are going up,” he said. “I have nothing ground,” Soehn said. “It seems pretty simple David Monteith, a Swain County commisagainst it or nothing for it really.” to just offer a site in a beautiful place, but sioner whose parents were forced to move Walker doesn’t believe that the proposed there’s a lot more that goes on to make sure twice to make way for the park. “They run increase would negatively impact Swain’s that they (visitors) have clean, safe drinking over 6,000 people off, over 600 jobs, schools, tourism industry — people who are already water and that we’re properly disposing of churches.” planning a vacation wouldn’t likely be the waste so the very special place they’re After the fee was approved, Southern deterred by an extra $3 to $6 per night. camping in is not harmed.”

Forest Watch — a group that formed By law, the fees can be used only for expenses related to operating a campground, but the spectrum of items that fall under that category is quite wide. Camping fees can be used for wastewater treatment, paving and The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is taking public comment through June 27 on a prostriping roads, paying campground staff and posal to increase campground fees by 25 percent and to require online reservations for Big Creek, providing interpretive ranger programs in Balsam Mountain and Abrams Creek campgrounds — except for Deep Creek the park’s other the campground, among other uses. Because campgrounds are already on the online reservation system for at least part of the year. the Smokies doesn’t charge an entrance fee, ■ An open house will be held 5-7 p.m. Monday, June 20, at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, located the park keeps 100 percent of fees collected 4 miles north of Cherokee on U.S. 441. Park staff will be on hand to talk about the proposal and — parks that do charge for entrance have to accept written comments. remit a portion of their camping fees back to ■ Submit comments online at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/grsm. Click on “Proposal to Increase Washington, D.C. Fees at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”

“We really are operating nine small cities,” ■ Email comments to GRSM_Fee_Management@nps.gov.

Soehn said. “Each one of our larger camp■ Mail hard copy comments to Superintendent, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Attn: grounds like Smokemont and Elkmont and Proposal to Increase Fees, 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738.

Cades Cove, they’re sleeping up to 2,000 peo-

By the numbers

Forest plan timeline lengthens More time needed to allow for public input, Forest Service says

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he timeline for a draft forest management plan has been kicked back once more, with the document now expected sometime at the very end of 2016.

“What we’re discovering now is we have a lot more pieces of the forest plan to share, and we want to put all these pieces out to the public in advance of coming out with a formal draft,” said Michelle Aldridge, forest planner.

The new 20-year plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests is taking place under a brand new planning process, which Aldridge says is meant to emphasize transparency and to include opportunities for public input along the way. Currently, the U.S. Forest Service is posting bits and pieces of what will eventually become the draft plan online to allow for public feedback before the formal document is released.

“The goal is that when we actually get to that draft, that people are not surprised,” she said.

When the planning process began in 2014, the idea was to have a draft plan released by June 2015 and to approve the final plan in August 2016. But sharp disagreement in early discussions about habitat management and wilderness designation led the Forest Service to hit pause on the timeline, allowing for stakeholders groups to work through some of those differences before any decisions were made on some of the more controversial parts of the plan.

The new goal became to release a draft plan in fall 2016, but now the planning team is realizing that won’t happen either. The parts of the plan most likely to draw sharp opinion — recommendations for areas to designate as wilderness, for example, and specific shorter-term management goals — are yet to be released. They decided to move the timeline back so that there would be some chance for public feedback between their release and progress on the formal draft.

Smoky Mountain News

June 1-7, 2016

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Views like this one on the Sam Knob Trail in the Pisgah National Forest are important to many people involved in creation of a new management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. Holly Kays photo “The thinking is that if we spend a little bit more time on plan development, it will be smoother and quicker to go between draft and final, and hopefully we’ll have developed a more broadly supportive plan,” Aldridge said.

Toward that goal of getting forest users on board with the process, the Forest Service has opened its planning meetings to public observation. The planning meetings aren’t public comment periods or even formal meetings — they’re essentially work sessions, when the planning team gets together to hash through the particulars of the plan, pulling together their various specialties and public input to make decisions.

They decided to open the meetings after hearing people say they wanted a better understanding of how, exactly, the planning decisions were made.

“As more folks have seen that we’ve got lots of considerations for any one facet of the plan, it’s helped them to understand the thinking,” Aldridge said. “I’m hoping that it helps people to see how we’re considering their input.”

While the Forest Service has released many pieces of the plan so far, it has yet to 347-26

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The U.S. Forest Service planning sessions to create a new forest management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests are now open to the public.

They’re not public meetings designed to take comment or allow public participation — the idea is to give interested people a chance to see how the planning process works and how the Forest Service considers input from the public and its specialists when making a decision.

To attend, email Heather Luczak at hluczak@fs.fed.us to be notified when a meeting is planned. RSVPs to individual meetings are requested.

All forest plan materials are online at http://1.usa.gov/1TI6AEz.

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“We have a lot more pieces of the forest plan to share, and we want to put all these pieces out to the public in advance of coming out with a formal draft.”

post the one-the-ground goals it will be looking to meet over the next 20 years — those sections, called “objectives” could generate a good deal of discussion when they are released, likely in the early part of the summer.

Shortly after the objectives come out, the next step of the wilderness recommendation process will likely be released. Wilderness is a designation that requires Congressional action, placing additional restrictions on land covered so as to preserve its primitive, wilderness characteristics. The wilderness question has sparked perhaps some of the sharpest disagreement of the forest planning process, with wilderness advocates saying that wilderness designation is the best way to protect the forest’s most environmentally valuable areas. Meanwhile, wilderness opponents say that designation keeps the Forest Service from working with a full set of management tools and would impair species like deer and grouse, which require young forest habitat to thrive.

Last year, the Forest Service completed its wilderness inventory, a list of 52 areas that could possibly contain some wilderness characteristics and merit evaluation. This summer, evaluations of those 52 areas will be released.

“That’s not to say those 52 areas will be recommended — definitely not that at all,” Aldridge said. “It’s just that our initial process said we needed to look closer at these 52 areas and talk about whether they contain (wilderness) characteristics.”

After the evaluations are released, the next step, to be released with the draft plan, will be to analyze what the effects would be if the areas were designated as wilderness. The final recommendations for areas to receive Congressional designation will be released at the end of 2017.

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Our bodies need fat, but some are good to consume and some are not. Come to the Eco Forum and listen to Sandi Hawk explain which fats are essential for our bodies, provide some recipes to incorporate the good fats into our meals, where to shop for the good fats and enjoy some samples of foods providing the good fats. She will also discuss supplements and whether we really need them.

Free program. All are welcome to meet and greet at 5:30 p.m. and bring a covered dish to share at 6 p.m.

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Smoky Mountain News

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Haywood County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Management Base will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, at 141 Hemlock St. in Waynesville.

The public is invited to attend. The new building enables the co-location on the same campus of most of the county’s public safety entities, including: the Sheriff ’s Office, all EMS Administration, Emergency Management and 911. The building will serve as quarters for the two Waynesville EMS ambulances. This will enhance cooperation and communications amongst these agencies.

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June 1-7, 2016

beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m.

Wednesday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Although turnout is expected to be abysmal — due largely to the fact that this contest is basically a “do-over” of the March 15 congressional primary, which was moved in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling on North Carolina’s racially gerrymandered congressional districts — that doesn’t mean this ballot is unimportant, especially for Democrats. Republican Congressman Mark Meadows awaits his November opponent; Democrats Rick Bryson and Tom Hill both seek to supplant Meadows, who’s served since 2013.

Jackson County voters will have a referenRick Bryson dum question on their ballot, asking their approval for a sales tax increase of one-fourth of a penny. Funds from the extra quarter-cent would go toward capital projects at Jackson County Schools and Southwestern Tom Hill Community College.

Additionally, Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters will also choose one of four candidates for North Carolina Associate Supreme Court Justice — Wake County Judge Mike Morgan, Davie County attorney Daniel Robertson, incumbent Justice Bob Edmunds or Wake County attorney Sabra Jean Faires.

For more information on early voting or to find your polling location for Election Day, visit the North Carolina State Board of Elections website, www.ncsbe.gov.

news

oters hoping to cast their ballots in advance of the Tuesday, June 7, Primary Election have just a few more days to make it to one of several polling locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon or Swain counties.

One-Stop Absentee Voting has been underway since Thursday, May 26, and will continue through Saturday, June 4.

In Haywood County, ballots may be cast in Waynesville at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center, 81 Elmwood Way, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, voting begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 1 p.m.

Jackson County voters may cast ballots at one of four locations: • In Cherokee, the Wolfetown Gym located at 27 Long Branch Road opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; Saturday, the hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• In Cullowhee, the Cullowhee Recreation Center at 88 Cullowhee Mountain Road is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

• In Cashiers, the Cashiers Recreation Center, 355 Frank Allen Road, is also open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

• In Sylva, the Jackson County Board of Elections office at 876 Skyland Drive is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The Macon County Board of Elections office at 5 West Main Street in Franklin will accept early voters from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Wednesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Swain County offers early voting at the Swain County Board of Elections office at 1422 South Highway 19 in Bryson City

For a Limited Time:

5

news

Skyrunner offers wireless solutions for rural communities

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR elanie Williams was fed up. She could no longer run her web design business from her Crabtree home with the slow DSL internet speed from a cable provider.

“I was working on an e-commerce website for a client and I needed to add 100 products with corresponding images but it was taking about an hour for each photo to upload,” she said. “It was becoming a huge expense because I’d have to go into town to be able to work, and I couldn’t haul all my equipment around with me.”

After struggling with slow internet speeds for about six years with AT&T as her only option, Williams started weighing the option of renting office space in town for her business, Pixels in My Pocket. Then a friend told her about Skyrunner, a wireless provider based in Asheville. A short phone call and one installation later, she had high-speed internet in rural Haywood County.

“The difference with Skyrunner is it has hugely simplified and improved my life and my productivity because now that same project going through Skyrunner, I can now add an image in matter of 60 seconds and I’m not screaming at my computer,” she said.

Williams isn’t the only person dealing with the struggle to get good service while also enjoying a rural family lifestyle. Many residents, whether they are working from home or just wanting to run multiple devices at one time, have discovered Skyrunner through word of mouth.

The company has been around since

June 1-7, 2016

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Skyrunner helps rural neighborhoods get connected Smoky Mountain News

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR t’s hard to believe there are still developed neighborhoods in Haywood County that can’t get internet access or even landline telephone service, but it is a major problem in certain areas.

When Jake Robinson purchased his home a year and a half ago in Mystic Cove, a neighborhood off Newfound Road outside of Canton, he didn’t think he would have any problem getting a broadband connection — after all, he wasn’t on a mountaintop and he was located closer to Asheville than Waynesville. But he soon discovered his options were very limited.

Charter Communication lines didn’t reach far enough to serve Mystic Cove, and AT&T’s ports were full with a long list of 6 future customers waiting for service. AT&T

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1999, primarily serving Buncombe and Polk counties, but now the wireless provider has the ability to serve nine counties in Western North Carolina.

Wireless internet service from Skyrunner has definitely filled a niche in Haywood County where topography and a spread out population make it difficult for providers like Charter or AT&T to offer cable/fiber internet service. While AT&T and Charter Communications can only offer up to 3 megabytes in some of the more rural areas, Skyrunner customers can get more than 60 megabytes with a direct line of sight to a tower.

Customers also experience less interruption in their service during inclement weather.

Here’s how it works — radio technology is able to transmit wireless service through the air from Skyrunner’s towers to small satellite dishes installed on the side of a house or business. There’s really only one requirement — the residence or business needs to have a direct line of sight to one of those towers. The main tower access point in Haywood is on Chambers Mountain.

Skyrunner Vice President Art Mandler said wireless is a good alternative in rural areas where it’s too expensive for cable providers to install fiber to every corner of the county.

“The downside of radio technology is that you have to have direct line of sight, which means there has to be a limited amount of

couldn’t even provide his home with a landline telephone, which forced his family to rely on their smartphones to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot, which can be costly depending on your data plan.

“We were not prepared for that — had we known our decision on buying that house may have been different,” Robinson said.

“We were kind of held hostage for a while until Skyrunner came along.”

Robinson heard about Skyrunner from a co-worker and gave them a call.

Unfortunately, his home didn’t have a direct line of sight to Chambers Mountain where Skyrunner’s tower is located, and Skyrunner couldn’t provide him with individual service.

However, Skyrunner explained how service could be provided to the entire Mystic Cove community if they could find one house with a clear view of Chambers Mountain.

“We worked through our homeowners’ association and came up with a solution to provide extremely high-speed broadband to the community,” Robinson said.

With an 18-member crew, Skyrunner prides itself on being an innovative, “scrappy” start-up company with the “if there’s a

will, there’s a way” kind of attitude.

“Because we’re a smaller organization, we have the ability to manage our network at a more granular level than big organizations can afford to do,” said Skyrunner Vice President Art Mandler.

“If someone has to move, the property immediately becomes more marketable because of the high-speed connectivity — it’s not a perk anymore, it’s a requirement.”

— Jake Robinson

Mystic Cove’s HOA was willing to organize a meeting with Skyrunner to see what their options, as many homes that did have AT&T DSL weren’t satisfied with the service.

Skyrunner came out to Mystic Cove for an assessment and found one home up on a

trees,” he said. “So it doesn’t meet every need out there but it does solve the broadband problem for a lot of people.”

Although fiber connections don’t reach out to every corner, J.J. Boyd, Skyrunner’s senior network engineer, said fiber is still an important part of what they do. Skyrunner can leverage the fiber that is in place in the county to be able to fill in gaps with radio technology.

“Fiber is the backbone of what we do,” Boyd said. “Fiber is great and the combination of radio and fiber is ultimately one of the keys to broadband solutions.”

Cost is the biggest difference between wireless and hard-wired internet service. With the radio technology, Boyd said Skyrunner only needs two low-cost devices to cover 10 miles.

However, if a cable provider wants to cover 10 miles, it would have to run fiber cables for 10 miles, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. With houses few and far between in places like Fines Creek or Bethel, the cost of the infrastructure just isn’t worth the return on the investment for those companies.

“Luckily, more efficient radio technology has come a long way for us to be able to transmit bandwidth that people were only able to get with cable or fiber before,” Boyd said.

Even if an individual home doesn’t have a direct line of sight to Chambers Mountain, Skyrunner could be able to help if someone else in the community has that line of sight. If a community or homeowners association is willing to organize together to pay for the equipment, Skyrunner can run direct service to that one house and relay it to the other homes in the neighborhood with a small satellite on each roof.

Community projects like that have been successful for Mystic Cove in the Newfound community, the Cliffs at Walnut Cove in Asheville and may be a future possibility for Smoky Mountain Retreat in Maggie Valley.

Jon Wood, Skyrunner’s marketing and outreach manager, said a similar community project through a

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hill that had clear sight of Chambers Mountain. With a larger satellite positioned on the roof of that house, it now acts as the “hub” for the community and is able to relay wireless service through radio waves to the other homes that have a small satellite dish on their roofs.

It may not be the most attractive décor, but homeowners say it’s a small price to pay for what they got in return. Mystic Cove residents are now getting download speeds of at least 40 megabytes.

“Skyrunner had it installed around midApril, and it’s been topnotch service to this point,” Robinson said. “We can stream movies and do the usual internet surfing with no disruptions. The customer service has been great, and I’m not an easy person to please.”

Jon Wood, Skyrunner’s marketing and outreach manager, said Mystic Cove would have had to pay upwards of $200,000 for a cable or fiber provider to come in and run the additional fiber lines needed to serve all the houses in the neighborhood.

“Skyrunner has been able to organize with the HOA to offer

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es. About 75 homes in the development now get wireless internet from Skyrunner after experiencing limited service from other providers. The HOA is currently in the process of working with Skyrunner to see if community-wide service similar to Mystic Cove could be a possibility.

Skyrunner is willing to cover the deployment costs and discount the standard installation fee from $199 to $115 if it can get buy-in from at least 20 customers within the community.

Cindy and Roger Dean of Smoky Mountain Retreat said they love their Skyrunner service, which enables them to have an unlimited data plan with laptops, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs all working at the same time.

“We love Skyrunner — definitely faster and more reliable than AT&T,” Cindy Dean said. “Also you can change your plan anytime with a phone call or even suspend service while you are away. You can also change from one plan to another. Also it is a much smaller company with very personable, pleasant service and willing to work with us and make recommendations when asked.”

— J.J. Boyd, Skyrunner senior network engineer

50-50 between residential and commercial clients.

Wood encourages people in Haywood to contact Skyrunner if they are interested in faster broadband service. Skyrunner can help people figure out if they have a direct line of sight to one of their access points or help them figure out a way to organize their neighborhood in order to make the process more affordable.

For more information, call 828.258.8562 or visit www.skyrunner.net.

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR inding a solution to the lack of high-speed internet in rural Western North Carolina has been on the minds of economic development officials for some time now.

It’s complicated and has a lot of moving parts, and local governments are limited in what they can do to solve the problem. While governments aren’t allowed to install cable or fiber to offer service that would compete with private providers, they can assist in other ways.

With a $10,000 grant from the Southwestern Commission, and $10,000 in matching funds from the Haywood Advancement Foundation, the Haywood County Economic Development Council is working toward developing a broadband master plan for the county.

“The study will provide information to help develop a master plan to assist the underserved and unserved areas of our county in obtaining internet connectivity,” said Mark Clasby, executive director of the Haywood EDC. Clasby said the request for proposals for the comprehensive master plan went out last week and proposals from engineering firms are due back to the EDC by July 15.

“We’ve never done anything like this before so we’re anxious to see what we get back,” he said.

Increasing broadband connectivity is something the EDC has been working toward for a few years now. Clasby said the EDC board has been meeting with internet providers and various stakeholders since August 2014, trying to bring better service to the citizens of Haywood County.

The EDC also conducted a survey in 2014 of broadband usage and needs in 2015 to share with numerous broadband providers. The survey results provided the EDC with enough information to draw a map showing where broadband was needed to fill in the gaps.

The survey estimated that 22 percent of respondents had no broadband access and 31 percent said they had only mobile access to broadband. In addition, 97 percent said they would be interested in additional broadband service options and 83 percent said they did not have sufficient speed with their internet service. Considering the rate of poverty in Haywood County, many of the citizens simply choose not to sign up due to the expense of the service.

The study aims to assess the needs in Haywood, identify broadband options, evaluate the county’s current broadband network capabilities, provide a GIS map analysis and recommend a strategy. The EDC is also asking engineering firms to report on current regulations as they relate to governments providing broadband services.

Even though local governments aren’t allowed to compete with private enterprise to provide broadband, Clasby said the EDC could go after grant funding to help providers

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install infrastructure in certain rural areas.

For example, Yancey and Mitchell counties were able to get $25 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission for broadband infrastructure.

After talking to cable providers like AT&T and Charter and wireless providers like Skyrunner, Clasby said it’s clear that Haywood County needs some kind of hybrid service to offer better speeds and rural access.

The limited access to service and broadband availability boils down to two factors – topography and population density. Urban areas like Asheville or Charlotte have the population density providers need to make a return on their infrastructure investment, but places like Haywood and Jackson counties require more miles of cable to be able to reach a limited number of residents.

“When you don’t have 100 people per square block and there’s no guarantee everyone on the block will sign up for it, it’s kind of a chicken or the egg type problem,” Clasby said.

And we’re talking big bucks for cable providers. For example, Clasby said it cost about $500,000 for Carolina Mountain Cable on Jonathan Creek Road to provide service for the Brannon Forest development.

“Broadband internet service is a high capital investment for the providers, and being a rural community with our demographics makes it a challenge,” said Clasby. “But we are committed in making our county have high speed access to the internet for our citizens, it’s a must for our future.”

Clasby said having broadband accessibility is important for the future of Haywood County’s economy because future industry will be technology-based. Without that service, Haywood will have a hard time competing for technology-based jobs. It’s no longer a luxury in today’s economy — it’s a necessity.

“Schools will also be going more digital and kids will need broadband service for their homework,” he said. “Then there are people who want to move to Haywood to work and have our quality of life. They want to live in Crabtree or Newfound but they have to have internet access.”

The late Ron DeSimone, former mayor of Maggie Valley, pushed the broadband initiative several years ago while serving on the EDC. He understood the importance of the service to his community and throughout the county and made it one of his top priorities.

Though he passed away last summer following a construction accident, the EDC broadband committee has continued the effort.

Mark Swanger, chairman of the Haywood County Board of Commissioners, has been working with the committee since its inception, along with Realtor Jim Blyth — a dear friend to DeSimone.

“I am grateful for the progress made towards Ron’s vision, and optimistic for greater broadband coverage in the future,” Swanger said.

Clasby hopes to have a final broadband master plan completed by the end of the year.

Smoky Mountain News

faster speeds at a cost of $2,000 to $5,000,” he said. “That’s an easy decision for these HOAs to do it for pennies on the dollar.”

Mystic Cove HOA paid for the equipment, as it was an infrastructure improvement for the community, and each homeowner paid $99 for the installation of their individual satellite dishes plus the $50 monthly service fee.

Not only has it provided residents with better internet service, but that service will help increase the property values for the entire neighborhood, making it easier for people to sell their homes in the future. It also means potential buyers won’t have the rude awakening Robinson had when he purchased his home.

“If someone has to move, the property immediately becomes more marketable because of the high-speed connectivity — it’s not a perk anymore, it’s a requirement,” he said. “That’s just the way we live in today’s world. In the long-term, everything will be streamed online.”

Smoky Mountain Retreat, a mountaintop subdivision overlooking Maggie Valley, has also benefited from Skyrunner servic-

“More efficient radio technology has come a long way for us to be able to transmit bandwidth that people were only able to get with cable or fiber before.”

Broadband master plan in the works for Haywood

June 1-7, 2016

boom. The company went belly-up when the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, and called Davis to see if he wanted to buy back the assets at a much cheaper cost.

“So really that bubble bursting funded the start-up costs, so it hasn’t been a difficult business to build,” Mandler said. “The enthusiasm for the service has been great and we’ve been able to build pretty much based on cash flow. We never had to leverage a lot to grow the business like others have.”

Skyrunner now has more than 3,500 customers with income pretty much split

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cable provider could run $200,000 because of the cost of installing new cable infrastructure, but Skyrunner is able to offer high speeds for a fraction of the price.

“We’re interested in talking to more communities — there are so many underserved areas with DSL or satellite and many already have a line of sight,” he said.

Skyrunner isn’t the only game in town, but it is one of few. A similar company — Sky Tek Communications — started up a few years ago in Murphy to service Cherokee and Clay counties. The company, which Skyrunner helped get started, already has more than 2,000 customers in that part of the region.

Boyd was actually the founder of 3dB Wireless in Haywood County, which merged with Skyrunner in January 2015. The merger has helped Skyrunner move into serving more people in Haywood County.

“There are 24 other wireless companies in North Carolina — some are mom and pop operations and some are bigger companies,” Wood said. “But we don’t see others as competition — that’s just more people we can bounce ideas off of.”

With Sky Tek offering service in the far west of the region and Skyrunner serving nine counties to the east of the region, Boyd’s hope is that service expands into the middle in the future.

With Skyrunner’s pattern of 30 percent growth every year, that goal shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish in the foreseeable future. So why aren’t there more of these companies moving in to take advantage of the available market? Mandler said it’s because the population is still spread out and the upstart technology is still costly.

Skyrunner had a unique beginning that made the financial burden much lighter.

Don Davis founded Skyrunner in 1999 with the help of local investors, but he quickly sold the business for $1.5 million to another company during the dot-com

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Building a foundation Shining Rock focuses on year two improvements J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR hile Shining Rock Classical Academy students are already out of class enjoying their summer vacation, school leaders are busy assessing the charter’s first year and already planning for students’ return in August.

It’s been a whirlwind first year for Shining Rock as the founding board has dealt with the challenges of finding a suitable facility, implementing a curriculum that’s new to students and most teachers, finding reliable transportation to get kids to class and trying to become an accepted part of the Haywood County community.

Despite all the setbacks and hardships, SRCA Board Chairwoman Nancy East said she couldn’t be more pleased with the charter’s first year.

“Our first year exceeded my expectations in terms of our staff and school families. Our teachers were taking a risk working for a new school, but they jumped in headfirst with a positive attitude, despite facing all the challenges and uncertainties we were confronted with at the start of the school year,” she said.

“They are a joy to know, and their dedication to our school and students inspires me every single day.”

Smoky Mountain News

June 1-7, 2016

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FINDING A FACILITY Shining Rock’s lease on the Wilson Children’s Center at Lake Junaluska expired May 24 — two days before students were supposed to be dismissed. So as teachers packed up their classrooms, students got to enjoy outdoor programming at the Waynesville Recreation Center.

The Wilson Center was SRCA’s last resort to house classrooms last year, and they were happy to work out that deal with the Lake Junaluska Assembly after several failed attempts to purchase property for a permanent site. SRCA leaders agreed the space was cramped, with two teachers often trying to teach two classes in the same space. School Director Ben Butler said there were pros and cons to having up to 40 students and two teachers in a classroom.

“The biggest challenges have been related to facilities. Classrooms were crowded, but students and teachers compromised and worked well together,” Butler said. “The ancillary benefit of shared space is that our teachers have developed very strong teaching bonds that are built upon trust and respect.”

Starting in August, SRCA will have more space and a permanent campus on Lake

funding for capital projects like traditional public schools do?

Team CFA — a national network of charter schools that helps start-ups with curriculum, grant funding and financing — supports SRCA. Challenge Foundation Properties, an extension of Team CFA, has provided Shining Rock a line of credit for facility construction. After the issues with MSpace, CFP increased Shining Rock’s credit limit to $2.9 million in order to purchase the new modular facilities. In the meantime, SRCA’s school board approved hiring local lawyer Burton Smith to help the charter school in recouping its down payment from MSpace for not honoring its contract. The board approved allocating up to $2,500 for Smith’s legal services but didn’t anticipate needing to spend that much before the issue is resolved.

TEST SCORES

Junaluska property right across from the lake on Dellwood Road. The Assembly granted SRCA a five-year lease with an option to renew for another five years — the only catch is the school can’t build any permanent structures. Shining Rock plans to purchase modular classrooms like many other start-up charter schools in the state.

Butler said there would be advantages to teachers and students having more space, but he doesn’t want his staff to lose that team approach to teaching.

“With teachers in their own classrooms, the benefits will be improved management and a more controlled space where teachers can deliver content,” he said. “What we have to guard against is allowing our teachers to become insular… both students and teachers will be more successful when everyone works together to achieve more.”

Tight quarters may have created a tight bond between students and teachers, but East said it’s not a situation SRCA wants to have long-term. Each classroom teacher will have their own classroom next year, with much more space than they’ve had this year.

“Interestingly, many of our teachers have expressed a desire to continue to team-teach as much as possible, since they had such a positive experience with it this year,” she said. “They likely wouldn’t have discovered that had they not been in the situation we were in, so there were certainly silver linings to a less-than-ideal learning environment.”

But purchasing the modular structures has not been a smooth process either. Earlier this year, Shining Rock entered into a lease agreement with MSpace to provide it with several used modular classrooms to the tune

of $360,000 paid out over five years. While Shining Rock has already given MSpace a $50,000 down payment for the buildings, the company is now facing financial difficulties and might have to liquidate all of its assets.

Without a clear response from MSpace about if and when the company would be able to release the modular building to SRCA, the school board decided to pursue other options in the meantime. The board decided to purchase brand new mods from another company instead of waiting for the used mods from MSpace.

Late Tuesday afternoon, SRCA confirmed that the school signed a $925,000 contract to purchase for new modular units from a different company. So how is SRCA paying for these contracts without receiving state

Shining Rock Classical Academy growth Percentage of students who met their year-end growth target on MAP testing.

While the modular mess was disappointing for board members, CFA’s Director of Data and Instructional Technology Kristen Rodriguez recently presented the board with some positive news about SRCA students’ test scores. She gave a report on SRCA’s MAP test results, which show how students performed in math and reading at the beginning of the school year, the beginning of the second semester and at the end of the year.

Students showed gains across the board, but Butler said the scores aren’t where he wants them to be yet.

Kindergarten students came close to SRCA’s goal of having 80 percent of students scoring at or above grade level. About 77 percent of kindergartners scored at or above grade level for math and 79 percent for reading. About 93 percent of fifth-grade students scored at or above grade level in reading, but only 62 percent scored above grade level in math.

Despite the fact SRCA’s students didn’t meet all their goals, Rodriguez said the overall scores were impressive for a first-year charter school, especially a school under CFA’s umbrella.

“Overall we prepared kids for next level,” she said. “This is the best a first-year school has done in our network.”

Butler attributed the lower math scores in most grades to the Singapore math curriculum, which was very foreign to students and teachers during the first year.

“The Core Knowledge Curriculum and Singapore math were new to almost everyone in the school, so the fact that our firstyear scores are good shows how hard our teachers and students worked,” he said.

“However, we are just starting a very long process. My goal for MAP testing is 80 percent proficiency and 80 percent growth.

These are lofty challenges, but I believe we can succeed.”

While they may not have met their goal in the first year, East said she was pleased with the results, considering many students had never been exposed to this new style of teaching and learning.

“Our school is made up of kids who had largely never been exposed to a classical model of learning or the

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ENROLLMENT

PLANNING FOR NEXT YEAR

Projected Wait List 47 30 44 30 48 8 46 11 46 19 48 8 48 12 43 (5 slots available)

have a back-up bus available for every bus on the road, he suggested the board purchase two more buses for next year in case the other two used buses fail.

With a current budget surplus of $80,000 and perhaps even a $124,000 surplus by the end of the fiscal year, board treasurer Torry Pinter said the board might be able to pay for buses out of the current budget. The school board also passed a $2.48 million budget for 2016-17 based on enrollment of 313 students. About $1.7 million will be funded from the state and Haywood County will be contributing $623,000, or about $2,022 per student.

After taking a month off to refocus, East said the SRCA board members would be holding a planning retreat in July where they can map out goals and vision for next year.

“For me personally, I’d say one of my biggest goals is to increase our extracurricular and sports offerings, since I know that’s important to many of our parents,” she said. “I’d like to offer alternative sports as well, such as a rowing team. One of our parents rowed for Princeton and has proven to be a wonderful resource to get us started on that path.”

The school’s focus on outdoor experiential learning is another program East would like to see expanded next year. Students had the opportunity to do a lot of their learning outdoors and on field trips. East would love to take middle-schoolers on a backpacking trip next year.

“There is so much to be learned on a backpacking trip, when you are only carrying the essentials of what you need to survive,” she said. “I see it as a wonderful teaching tool in many ways, especially for that age group.”

When reflecting on the first year, East is reminded of a Japanese proverb that has become a mantra for her through the journey: “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

“When I reflect on all the challenges we’ve faced and how we’ve successfully navigated through them, it’s very fitting,” she said. “My ultimate wish is that our students will learn from our journey too, appreciating that a cause as special as our school is worth putting your heart and soul into, no matter how many times you’re knocked down before you succeed.”

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The SRCA board was already dealing with changes for next year at its last meeting in May. Due to the hold-up in getting the modular units, board vice chairwoman Anna Eason said the school calendar had to be adjusted for next year. SRCA had planned to start classes in early August, but because the modular units probably will not be installed and ready until Aug. 22, classes have been pushed back to Aug. 24.

“The last day of class will now be June 2,” she said. “We only added four days to the calendar even though we started two weeks later.”

Transportation is another issue being worked out. During the first year, SRCA purchased three used buses to transport students to and from school and to field trips. Transportation Director Jerimy Rinker said one of the buses was “smoking like a chimney” and probably wouldn’t be able to run next year. Since the goal is to

Grade K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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June 1-7, 2016

Shining Rock’s enrollment fluctuated a bit during its first year. The state funded 227 students, but SRCA had 223 students on the first day of class, a maximum of 238 during the year, and ended the school year with 226 students. Some of those students moved, while others returned to the traditional public schools.

With the addition of new classroom space this fall, SRCA will add seventh-grade classes to its campus. The school began its enrollment process back in March with a random lottery drawing for classes that had more student requests than space available.

Charter schools are tuition-free and must provide education for all students, but they do have a cap on how many students they can enroll every year based on their charter with the state.

Butler said 132 students were accepted into the lottery and all grades have a waiting list except for seventh grade, which has five openings.

“We are in the process of taking in applications from our new families and will continue to update our numbers as parents confirm,” he said.

Even though the initial numbers look promising, there is no way for SRCA to know how many students it will have until the first week of school. Parents can fill out an application packet and return it to the school, but there is nothing keeping them from changing their mind at the last minute.

With more than 100 students on the waiting list, Butler told the board he doesn’t think SRCA will have any problem being at its full capacity of 352 when it opened its doors in August.

Shining Rock Classical Academy’s projected enrollment for 2016-17

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Core Knowledge Sequence, plus they were exposed to the inherent challenges of being part of a first year school,” East said.

“Because of that, I didn’t have high expectations right out of the gate, but after learning how well we did compared to other schools, I feel confident in our ability to improve them and do even better next year.”

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A College Degree Is Still a Smart Investment Summer is almost over, which means it’s “back-toschool” time. If you have young children, you may be purchasing backpacks, pencils, notebooks and similar items.

But one day, you could be shopping for colleges — and when you do, you’ll find the bill is a little bit higher than the one you get from your local school-supply store. That’s why it’s never too soon to start saving.

Just how costly is college? For the 2014–2015 school year, the average expense — tuition, fees, room and board — was $18,943 at a public four-year school and $42,419 at a four-year private school, according to the College Board. And if recent history is any guide, these numbers will likely keep climbing.

But there’s no need to panic. For one thing, your child may be eligible for loans, grants or scholarships. Still, you will likely end up shouldering some of the financial load, and you may ask yourself if it’s worth it. How much difference can a college degree make in the lives of your children?

Actually, college still seems to be a pretty good investment: The average college graduate will receive about $1 million more in lifetime earnings than the average high school graduate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So when you assist your children in getting to college, you can be reasonably sure that you’re at least helping them start on the path toward a rewarding career.

June 1-7, 2016

How should you put away money for college? Unfortunately, more parents use a general savings account than any other method, according to Sallie Mae’s How America Saves for College 2015 study. These accounts pay little or no interest and offer no tax benefits.

As an alternative, consider investing in a 529 plan.

Contribution limits are quite high, and federal taxes won’t be assessed on earnings used for qualified higher education expenses. (The earnings portion of withdrawals will be taxed, though, and can incur a 10% penalty if the withdrawals aren’t used for qualified expenses.) Furthermore, your 529 plan contributions may be deductible from your state taxes. But 529 plans vary, so be sure to check with your tax advisor regarding deductibility.

Another college funding option is a Coverdell Education Savings Account, which, like a 529 plan, can generate tax-free earnings if the money is used for higher education expenses. You can typically only put in a maximum of $2,000 per year to a Coverdell account, but it offers more flexibility in investment choices than a 529 plan.

You could also consider a custodial account, known as either UGMA or UTMA. You can put up to $14,000 per year into a custodial account without incurring gift taxes, and earnings would only be subject to the “kiddie tax” — that is, the first $1,050 is tax-exempt, the next $1,050 will be taxed at the child’s tax rate, and just the amount over $2,100 will be taxed at your tax rate. However, once your children reach the age of majority (either 18 or 21), they take control of the money and can do whatever they want with it — and their plans may not include college.

Don’t wait too long to begin funding whichever savings vehicle, or vehicles, you choose. Your children may be young today, but before you know it, they’ll be college bound.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

Jack C Bishop Jr, CFP Financial Advisor

Jack Bishop III AAMS® Smoky Mountain News

Financial Advisor

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Moving mountains A rare bright spot in the relentless fight against prescription pill abuse

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER life-saving antidote to reverse drug overdoses is finding widespread acceptance amid the prescription pain pill epidemic.

A program launched two years ago to combat the staggering death toll from prescription pain pill abuse in North Carolina aims to put doses of Narcan nasal spray into the hands of drug users and their friends and relatives at no cost.

“Unfortunately giving medicine out free to help prevent overdose deaths is sad but necessary. It is saving lives,” said Dr. Craig Martin, a psychiatrist based in Waynesville who specializes in addiction.

Paving a path for Narcan hasn’t been

dose crisis — meaning that officers will overlook small amounts of drugs and paraphernalia or probation and parole violations of bystanders trying to help. It applied to underage drinkers reporting cases of alcohol poisoning, as well.

It was a huge milestone, Martin said, and a necessary one. Narcan can revive an overdose victim, but it’s only temporary.

Victims have to get to a hospital right away, and the new law paved the way for help to be sought without fear of criminal prosecution.

But there was an equally big barrier on another front: the logistics of actually getting Narcan into the public’s hands. You needed a prescription for it, and it was unrealistic to think drug users would walk into a doctor’s office and ask for it.

“It is a courageous step to say ‘I have an addiction, I have a chronic disease called ‘substance abuse disorder,’” Martin said.

And there was also the problem of arming people close to a drug user with Narcan, since they’re most likely to be the one administering it.

“The person who has overdosed may not be For prescription pain pill addicts, Narcan nasal spray is a life aware enough to use it,” saver, but making it widely available has been a long, hard road. Martin said. “Opiates Smoky Mountain MCO photo suppress your respiration and you stop breathing.” easy. Advocates had a slew of daunting hurThanks once more to the lobbying dles to clear, from changing laws and public wheels of the N.C. Harm Reduction perception to the sheer logistics of getting Coalition, a new state law created a “standthe overdose antidote into the hands of ing order” for Narcan, giving pharmacists drugs users. permission to dispense the overdose drug But it’s paid off. The N.C. Harm under a standing order from the state withReduction Coalition, which led charge, has out a doctor’s script. funneled more than 26,000 doses of Narcan Meanwhile, an equally big game changto those caught in the clutches of addiction er was in the works in the labs of pharmaand tracked more than 3,000 cases where ceutical companies. Narcan came out in late they were used to counteract an overdose, 2014 with a pre-loaded, single-dose nasal usually given to the victim often by somespray version, as opposed to the injection one close to them. form, making it possible to tuck in purses, Until recently, however, witnesses to a pockets and glove boxes. drug overdose — especially fellow users — “We found some people were reluctant were leery of intervening if their friend’s to use a needle,” Martin said. high took a dangerous turn.

The nut still wasn’t cracked, however.

“Some people weren’t calling 911 The stigma of walking up to a pharmacy because they were afraid they would get counter and asking for Narcan would hambusted and put in jail,” said Martin, the per its widespread use. It was also costly. chief medical officer for Smoky Mountain So the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition Mental Health, a managed care organizaset out to build a network of volunteer parttion serving a 21-county region. ners and advocates who would obtain the That changed in 2013 with state passage nasal spray from pharmacies and, in turn, of the “911 Good Samaritan” bill. It grants dispense it for free within the immunity to those seeking help in an overcommunity. More than 26,000

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Officers add drug overdose antidote to their tool belt

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Smoky Mountain News

enforcement officer in the county has been issued naloxone,” Hollingsed said.

Hollingsed said the death toll alone speaks for itself.

“Since the advent of automobiles, car crashes have always been the leading cause of accidental death in the United States.

Accidental deaths from opiate overdoses surpassed crashes two years ago,” Hollingsed said. “We felt like it was up to us to work with our partners to do something about it.”

A grant from the maker of auto-injection naloxone — known under the brand name Kaleo — covered the upfront cost of 100 doses for Haywood officers last year, as well as replacement doses to last two more years.

Naloxone has a one- to two-year shelf life and must be replaced periodically. It’s unclear where a steady source of funding to continue the program will come from in another two years.

And as demand for the overdose antidote rises — due in part to the growing number of law enforcement agencies starting to carry naloxone nationally, and in part to sweeping programs to hand it out directly to drug users — the cost has been rising exponentially.

The Haywood HealthCare Foundation is prepared to help with the cost of replacement doses in the future if needed.

“We strongly support this effort,” said Ginger Lang, chair of the Haywood Healthcare Foundation. “Law enforcement officers need to have Narcan available in their vehicles as they are often first on the scene of an opiate drug overdose and can act quickly to reverse the overdose and save a life.”

But Hollingsed said the state may ultimately provide funding as well. This year, lawmakers earmarked money in the state budget for the purchase of naloxone for officers and designated the N.C. Harm Reeducation Coalition to coordinate which departments it should go to based on the greatest need.

“The state is starting to provide funding for some of these mitigation issues to decrease opiate overdose in communities,” Hollingsed said.

The N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition keeps a database of law enforcement agencies that carry the overdose antidote, when they started, and how many times they have actually used it. Over the past year, officers have administered it nearly 90 times around the state.

“It has proven many, many times to save lives,” Christopher said.

Consequences can still be dire for a drug overdose victim. Even those saved from death can end up physically and mentally disabled due to irreversible effects on the nervous system.

“Any time your body is insulted like that, there is a chance for lingering harm. That’s why we want to get the drug pushed out there so it can be administered more quickly,” Pressley said.

The naloxone kits have also been issued to fire departments throughout the county.

“In our rural areas, those community fire department guys are closer to the call because they live in the district the call’s coming from,” Christopher said.

Pressley said officers seemed receptive based on the training sessions he led for the police departments and sheriff ’s office.

“It was something new, but once they went through the training, everybody is pretty well comfortable with it,” Pressley said.

A Waynesville police officer used a naloxone dose on an overdose patient last summer, less than two days after getting the kit and going through training on it, Hollingsed said.

When asked about his striking description of a drug user as a “patient,” Hollingsed said his department’s approach is not to villainize the individual user.

“If we find someone who has overdosed on an opiate, whether it is a prescription pain pill or heroin, the individual at that point is a user of this drug and our focus is to save their life number one — and number two, provide substance abuse treatment,” Hollingsed said.

His compassion turns to outrage when it comes to the dealers of these drugs, however.

“It is a priority for law enforcement to put the people victimizing residents of our community behind bars,” Hollingsed said.

June 1-7, 2016

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER aw enforcement officers in Haywood County are pulling double duty in the war on drugs: they’re saving lives as well as fighting crime.

Officers have been armed with doses of a drug called naloxone that brings drug users back from the brink of an overdose death — essentially enlisting officers to stand in as medics until an ambulance arrives.

“A lot of times, and especially out in the county, we may be that first one on the scene,” Haywood Sheriff Greg Christopher said.

Naloxone is something of a miracle drug in the prescription pain pill epidemic. It temporarily restores the central nervous system long enough to get an overdose victim to a hospital, but time is of the essence.

“If somebody’s not breathing, every second we have brain cells that are dying,” Christopher said.

“If we suspect that it is an opiate overdose of some kind, then we can administer this drug to them and it automatically starts to work on them and bring them back around.”

The initiative is a testament to the outreach philosophy shared

by Haywood County law enforcement officers when it comes to opiate addiction struggles.

“If they have an issue or problem with addiction we don’t feel Waynesville Police Chief Bill it warrants a death sentence.

Those who say ‘Well, they’re Hollingsed believes law addicts, just let them die,’ we enforcement should be aren’t going to have that attiintegrated into communitywide tude,” Waynesville Police Chief outreach and awareness Bill Hollingsed said. “Any time we programs that combat drug have an opportunity to save a life, addiction. we will take advantage of that tool.”

Skyrocketing abuse of highly addictive prescription pain pills has besieged Appalachian communities over the past decade.

Haywood County was averaging a dozen overdose deaths from prescription pain pills, hitting a high of 19 deaths in 2013, before starting to come back down, with only half a dozen the next year, credited in part to aggressive community awareness campaigns and proactive treatment programs.

The life-saving function of naloxone has only recently made it into officers’ hands, however.

Medics have carried it for years, according to Jim Pressley, the head of Haywood County Emergency Medical Services. But it had to be injected.

Hollingsed said that wasn’t a real good fit for officers.

“The first kind we got was the old vial and needle and officers weren’t real comfortable with that form,” Hollingsed said.

Now, it comes in nasal spray form or pre-loaded, single dose auto injectors that work like an epi-pen.

“It is easier to store and train on and certainly easier to administer. They don’t even have to worry about keeping up with needles,” said Pressley.

Every Haywood County law enforcement officer — including all four town police departments and sheriff ’s deputies — now carry the auto-injection form.

Haywood County was among the first statewide to embrace the idea of making naloxone standard issue for their officers. Only a handful of other departments in the state gave out naloxone to officers when Haywood adopted the practice last summer.

Today, only 85 local law enforcement agencies statewide — around 18 percent — carry it. While the number grows every month, Haywood still stands out in its commitment.

“We are the only county in the state where every single law

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doses and counting have been distributed this way.

Advocates have also pushed doctors to prescribe Narcan to patients in conjunction with writing opioid prescriptions as a matter of course.

With the proper channels and systems in place, the biggest remaining challenge is money to keep the doses of Narcan flowing into communities.

To that end, Smoky Mountain Mental Health donated $100,000 to the Harm Reduction Coalition this spring for bulk orders of Narcan nasal spray.

“Heroin and opioid addiction is a very real problem throughout the region,” SMMH CEO Brian Ingraham said. “True solutions will take hard work by many people over many years, and this initiative will both save lives in the here and now and pave the way for future efforts.”

The program isn’t without critics, however. Some view Narcan as a free pass for drug users, aiding and abetting the abuse of prescription pain pills. But in realty, that’s not how the psychology of addiction works, Martin said. Having Narcan in their back pocket has no bearing on whether or how much they use, Martin said.

The Harm Reduction Coalition claims that providing health services to drug users brings them out of the shadows and closer to seeking help for their addiction — a storyline that’s played out among drug users who were saved by Narcan and say it was the wake-up call they needed.

“For the health of a whole population, people will get better if the kits are available,” Martin said.

Martin said society needs every tool it can get its hands on to overcome the prescription pain pill epidemic foisted on impoverished Appalachian communities by predatory pharmaceutical companies.

The most reviled, Oxycontin, was such a close cousin to heroin it earned the nickname “Hillbilly Heroin.” But when Purdue Pharma rolled out their miracle pain pill in 2000, they claimed it had essentially no risk of addiction.

“They progressively marketed Oxycontin as being safe and that people wouldn’t become addicted to it,” Martin said.

“Doctors were duped into thinking it was not addictive. It took a while for people to figure it out.”

The maker of Oxycontin has been forced to settle lawsuits with the state of Kentucky as well as the U.S. government for its mischaracterization of the drug’s addictive nature.

Unfortunately, it’s too late for those trapped by its grip.

“You can’t arrest yourself out of this problem,” Martin said. “Addiction is a chronic disease. It starts to change the brain structure.”

To get Narcan nasal spray in Western North Carolina through the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition, email preventionrocks@gmail.com or conner.adams@gmail.com or call or text 919.218.4505.

Or, visit any Rite Aid or Smart Pharmacy in Franklin.

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Canton budget – a tangled web?

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER hen Alderman Zeb Smathers opened the Canton Board of Aldermen meeting on May 26 with an invocation decrying the “venom and negativity” in the national political climate, one could almost interpret it as the ominous foreshadowing of what was expected to be a tempestuous meeting.

But that storm never materialized.

Instead, Smathers — along with fellow board members Carole Edwards, Dr. Ralph Hamlett, Gail Mull, and Seth Hendler-Voss Mayor Mike Ray — began the meeting by dutifully fielding criticism from the Crossroads Hill Water Association regarding ongoing claims that it pays the second-highest water rate in North Carolina for users outside of town limits.

Meat-and-potatoes infrastructure issues like water rates are common in towns large and small, from coast to coast. These issues are especially important in small towns like Canton, where a stagnant ad valorem tax base and heaps of anti-municipal sentiment from Raleigh are making the struggle to attract, retain, and diversify commercial, industrial, and residential investment more challenging

June 1-7, 2016

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each year. In addition, there is the never-ending necessity of infrastructure maintenance, which isn’t exactly small potatoes.

Accordingly, aldermen focused on Canton’s coffers, working through a budget workshop lasting more than three hours as they charted the town’s financial course for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

Town Manager Seth Hendler-Voss took the board, page by page, through a pre-budgeting worksheet that’s most striking feature was the forecast of a $288,000 budget shortfall on revenues of just over $6 million in a town that already has the highest tax rate in Haywood County — 58 cents per $100 valuation.

Notably, as they sifted through the budget, line by line, the most interesting exchanges during the workshop took place between Hendler-Voss and the board when discussing an overlooked piece of the town’s infrastructure badly in need of refurbishment.

At the time this particular piece of infrastructure was commissioned by Canton, it was the state-of-the-art result of a savvy act of political foresight. Functional and attractive and befitting the proud legacy of Papertown USA, it served residents and businesses for about a decade until languishing due to obsolescence and outright neglect.

That infrastructure — digital infrastructure, to be more precise — is the town’s website, www.Cantonnc.com.

Hendler-Voss’ inclusion of a $25,000 line

before the proliferation of smartphones and hasn’t kept pace with yearly advancements in tablet technology.

Corporations considering investment in item for a new website drew questioning any community flee from the slightest suggesfrom the entire board, probably because it tion of instability, incompetence, or obfuscarepresents almost 9 percent of the projected tion; Canton’s website hints at all three, budget shortfall. which is a stark contrast to the reality of a Rehabbing the existing website at a cheap- town that has, as late, taken proactive steps to er cost, Hendler-Voss said, is an undesirable project the image of an attractive community option, as it was originally created on a in which to live, work, and play. Recreation design platform that does not manage con- spending is up, beautification is under way, tent as effectively as newer platforms. and, importantly, Hendler-Voss and board Residents seeking to relocate often begin members have made great strides in managwith a simple Google search, and while ing the town’s general fund more effectively.

Canton’s website does indeed come up at the So the real question is, can Canton afford top of the results, the site itself – although not to spend the money?

Unlike more traditionally recognized bits of infrastructure, digHendler-Voss’ inclusion of a ital infrastructure sometimes doesn’t get the attention it $25,000 line item for a new deserves because potholes and website drew questioning from the pipelines are pressing issues that cause major problems. However, a entire board, probably because it more robust web presence might represents almost 9 percent of the help Canton attract new businesses and residents that could spell projected budget shortfall. the end of budget shortfalls like the one they now face.

As the workshop drew to a close, the profunctional — leaves much to be desired. It has almost 40 different buttons, links, and posed website improvements appeared headdropdown menus on the home page alone ed for the chopping block, but the prophethat can make it difficult for the uninitiated sized storm that never materialized will have to find useful information quickly. Meeting at least one more opportunity to manifest agendas haven’t been updated since January itself — Canton’s next budget hearing is set 2015, and the mobile version of the site is for June 9, and board members have some buggy and unpredictable because it was built tough decisions to make before then.

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downtown Canton will remain a work-inprogress through summer. At best, Canton motorists will be forced to navigate a minefield of manholes on milled streets; at worst, businesses could suffer as motorists avoid downtown or find somewhere else to shop altogether.

“We haven’t had any complaints so far,” said Dara Parker, who’s been waitressing at

Kobe Express on Park Street, since September. “I hope it’s not too terrible.”

Jerry Penland, owner of Penland’s Furniture on Main Street, did not share Parker’s optimism.

“I don’t understand them tearing up the roads if they’re not going to fix them,” he said. “It’s already taken longer than I expected.”

Further delays in the project could affect the town’s plans for this year’s installment of what is perhaps Canton’s best-known attraction — the Canton Labor Day Festival, which is the longest-running event of its kind in the South and dates back to 1906.

Boutique Clothing & Jewelry Smoky Mountain News

Board members were originally told milling on Main Street wouldn’t begin until the town’s Fourth of July festivities were over.

June 1-7, 2016

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER anton Town Board Member and Mayor Pro-Tem Carole Edwards had a hard time concealing her dismay at news that Canton’s downtown resurfacing projects weren’t proceeding according to plan.

“I’m not trying to shoot the messenger,” she said to Canton Town Manager Seth Handler-Voss at the board’s regular May 26 meeting when he informed the mayor and board that WNC Paving would start the job early and finish the job late, possibly as late as mid-August. Board members were originally told milling on Main Street wouldn’t begin until the town’s Fourth of July festivities were over, but now holiday traffic will have to travel down a bumpy road to get to the fireworks on July 5.

The reason for the early start and late finish was even more upsetting to members of the board; the paving company plans to abandon the Canton job midstream to work on a project in neighboring Swain County, and then return to Canton to complete work there.

Hendler-Voss cited the powerful contractor lobby in Raleigh as the reason Canton has little recourse in the matter. WNC Paving was contracted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation to complete the work in downtown.

“Ridiculous,” Edwards said.

Edwards’ and the rest of the board’s outrage stemmed from the fact that much of

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Edwards: Canton paving delay ‘ridiculous’

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Jackson tourism signs new marketing contract Tourist numbers on the increase

AND ENTHUSIASM

“We’re the right size for Jackson County,” Murdy told the board. “A lot of times in our business you send the A-team up to talk and to you (the board) and then you never see them again. The people that you see today are the people who will be doing the work.”

The team started digging in before the contract was even awarded, with account director Chris Van Duyne presenting results of a survey of 675 adults who take at least one vacation per year. The survey aimed to find out how many people knew where Jackson County was, what the place brings to mind and what kinds of activities people seek during a mountain getaway.

With most of Jackson’s visitors coming from within North Carolina, state residents are the “low-hanging fruit” for advertising, Van Duyne said, but the survey showed that not too many people know where Jackson County is. When heading to the mountains, he continued, vacationers are seeking places heavy in outdoor pursuits and opportunities for relaxation, so it’s up to Rawle Murdy to come up with a brand equipped with an “emotional trigger” to show that Jackson is the place to meet those needs.

Rhyne pitched a couple concepts that might fit the bill. For instance, perhaps an ad campaign featuring slogans like, “Big on adventure, small on everything else,” and “Big on charm, small on everything else” — something to show Jackson County as a place that embraces you while offering worldclass recreational opportunities. Breedlove said he was pleased with the concepts and looks forward to seeing a more refined final product, something that will “distinguish Jackson County from every other destination with those common assets,” such as waterfalls, lakes and charming downtowns.

The company has a deep background in hospitality and tourism marketing, and while based in Charleston, many of its top people have roots in the mountains. Bruce Murdy, company president, has a home in Highlands. Jackson’s account representative John Kautz has parents in Franklin, and creative director Patrick Rhyne, himself from Hickory, has a wife from Haywood County.

For Breedlove, a Jackson native himself, those ties are important.

“It really made me have a great comfort level that they weren’t just a big firm from Atlanta or a large city,” Breedlove said. “They get Jackson County.”

The TDA was also impressed by the vigorousness with which Rawle Murdy went after the contract.

“For me what kind of tipped it over the edge was their interest, their aggressiveness in preparing for us,” Jumper said. “They studied us, and their top people came to nearly every meeting.”

Rawle Murdy brought the full team down to the TDA meeting last week where they presented to the full board before receiving a unanimous vote to approve the contract.

Though not all representatives participated in the presentation, four of them were 14 involved in giving the final presentation.

While the TDA seems unified in certainty that Rawle Murdy is the best qualified firm out there to take Jackson’s marketing efforts into the future, the company will be paid more than the Brandon Agency, which currently handles Jackson’s marketing and website efforts.

Jackson will be paying $106,600 for website management, account management and creative work, as opposed to $85,650 with Brandon. The overall agreement, which includes a media budget, is for $380,000 — Brandon cost $375,600 — and it will cost an additional $40,500 to have Rawle Murdy rebuild the tourism website, www.mountainloversnc.com.

However, Breedlove said, while Rawle Murdy is getting paid more, it’s hard to directly compare their numbers with Brandon’s. That’s because the contracts include different services categorized in different ways, but also just because the landscape is changing.

“It’s likely had we stuck with Brandon they would have requested an increase because we’re requesting more work out of all of them (marketing agencies) than we ever

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ourism folks in Jackson County are feeling hopeful after hiring a new marketing firm to spread the word about the county’s hidden wonders.

“They’re thrilled to be working with us and we’re thrilled to have them overseeing our advertising,” Nick Breedlove — director of the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority — said of the firm Rawle Murdy.

“They get us, they know the mountains and to us that’s big.”

Rawle Murdy, based in Charleston, South Carolina, was one of 18 companies that submitted proposals for the contract to manage Jackson’s marketing efforts when the TDA decided to look for alterNick Breedlove natives to its existing contract with The Brandon Agency, based in Myrtle Beach. After reviewing all 18 proposals and interviewing top picks, Breedlove said, the choice was “crystal clear.”

“We’re really excited that so many really good quality people wanted to work with us, and we picked the cream of the crop,” agreed Robert Jumper, TDA board chairman.

Smoky Mountain News

June 1-7, 2016

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REGIONAL TIES

DIFFERENCES IN COST

Jackson County’s outdoor pursuits are one of its main draws for tourists, and the county’s tourism agency hopes a new marketing contract will help bring more of them in. Mark Haskett photo

years of the TDA’s existence, occupancy tax proceeds — and therefore the TDA’s budget — have risen 65 percent, Breedlove said. Last year’s TDA budget of $828,000 correlated with $171.16 million in tourist spending.

“With the tourism boom we’ve seen lately, it’s only natural that we would ask more of our partner agencies,” Breedlove said.

According to a report produced

by Smith Travel Research, during “For me what kind of tipped it the week of May 15 to May 21 occuover the edge was their interest, pancy in Jackson County was up 4 percent compared to the same peritheir aggressiveness in preparod last year — but down 7.2 percent in surrounding counties. ing for us. They studied us, and During the week of May 8 to 14, their top people came to nearly Jackson’s occupancy was up 11 percent over the previous year while every meeting.” surrounding counties experienced a — Robert Jumper, TDA board chairman dip of 3.3 percent.

“I attribute it entirely to our more than the overall contract with Brandon. marketing strategy over the last few years,” But, when you back the media budget out of said Breedlove, who became the TDA’s first that price, however, the jump from $85,650 full-time executive director in January. “We with Brandon to $106,600 with Rawle Murdy have great leadershipp. We have a board that is heavily invested in the success of the TDA.” represents a 24 percent increase.

Breedlove believes that success is on the The TDA’s budget comes from the county’s 4 percent tax on overnight lodging, such as horizon.

“There is so much potential to be capitalthat charged at hotels and motels. The idea is that those funds, which primarily come from ized on right now in Jackson County that we tourists, get plowed back into the marketing wanted to find the right partner to do that,” efforts administered by the TDA. In the four he said, “and that partner is Rawle Murdy.” have,” he said.

The two other marketing agencies the TDA works with — Pineapple Public Relations and INNsights Internet Marketing — got a 30 percent contract increase this year, with the TDA budgeting $94,000 for their combined contracts in 2016-17. The agreement with Rawle Murdy is just 1 percent

he Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will celebrate the grand opening of its new visitor center with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15. What remains to be seen, however, is whether visitors to Haywood County will follow them.

In March — after a search lasting more than a year — the TDA board unanimously voted to leave its home of five years on Main Street in Waynesville for bigger digs in Maggie Valley. The move was not without criticism; the highly visible Main Street location served 25,000 walk-ins last year, while a different location in a Maggie Valley strip mall served less than 7,500.

Another concern is the length of the authority’s new lease — 10 years. Although the authority has the ability to sublease the space to a new tenant in the event of catastrophe, the long duration of the lease affords the authority lower rent over the term of the lease.

“I can tell you it’s going to be pretty amazing,” said Lynn Collins, executive director of the authority, of the new location at 1110 Soco Road. “Our numbers are going to be equal to or surpass what we had last year. The first week we were there, we did not have our sign installed, and we still had 431 visitors.”

Board Member Ken Howle, who is also Director of Advancement for Lake Junaluska,

Haywood County Tourism Development Authority’s new facility is located on Soco Road.

Cory Vaillancourt photo

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shared Collins’ optimism.

“The new location is on a busy thoroughfare, in an ideal location, on the ideal side of the road,” he said. “It will allow people to stop, get good information, and be enticed to stay overnight in Haywood County.”

And judging by the nationwide furor surrounding North Carolina’s controversial Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act — commonly known as HB2 or the “bathroom bill” — Haywood County will need to do plenty of enticing; Howle said that Lake Junaluska has already received one cancellation attributed to the bill.

“It’s a good sized piece of business, but not a huge chunk,” Howle said of the $17,000 loss. “In our overall revenue situa-

tion, it’s not a significant loss, but every amount of lost revenue adds up. We value all business.”

While stopping short of issuing an official statement on HB2, the authority has prepared a response to those who may cite their opposition to HB2 as a reason to cancel travel plans to the region: “Haywood County Tourism Development Authority’s mission is to promote travel to and within Haywood County and we refrain from commenting on public policy.

Haywood County is a welcoming community and we invite you to visit us and experience our beautiful area that borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway.”

Moral Monday coming to Sylva A coalition of organizations led by the Jackson County Branch of the NAACP are coordinating a Moral Monday gathering to be held at 5 p.m. Monday, June 13, at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.

The Moral Monday Movement, a vast non-partisan coalition began 10 years ago and now fights legislation passed by the General Assembly.

Issues include the new restrictive voter suppression law, the state’s refusal to accept federal funding for the expansion of Medicaid, cuts in funding for public education and more.

In addition to Rev. Dr. William Barber ll, president of the NC NAACP, some of the speakers at the event will include Connie Jean Conklin, a middle-aged Sylva resident with physical disabilities, and John deVille, a teacher in Franklin.

Live music at the event will include a performance by nationally acclaimed singer-songwriter David LaMotte. Sylva resident Stella Moore will lead the crowd in singing songs of the movement.

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New Haywood Visitor Center opens in Maggie Valley

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Maggie to hold tax rate steady for 2016-17 Board considers increasing fees to fund services

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR aggie Valley residents and businesses won’t have to worry about paying a higher property tax rate for the next year, but they may see an increase in the fees they pay for certain services.

Maggie Valley is proposing a $3,548,388 budget for next fiscal year. The budget is 3.5 percent higher than last year thanks to modest increases in property and sales tax revenue.

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SOLID WASTE SERVICES

June 1-7, 2016

TO INCREASE In his initial 2016-17 budget presentation to the board of aldermen, Maggie Valley Town Manager Nathan Clark recommended maintaining the 39 cents per $100 of assessed property value tax rate, but did propose a change to the town’s solid waste fee.

Clark said implementing a $5 monthly solid waste collection fee for all residents would generate nearly $60,000 in the first year. The town would net only about $24,000 of that and spend the rest on upgrading its recycling program to offer 95gallon recycling cans for residents.

Board members seemed split on whether they would support implementing a new fee for residents.

“I have no problem recouping costs, but I do have an objection as a resident who can’t access this service,” said Alderwoman Janet Banks.

She added that a $5 fee wouldn’t be fair to residents like herself who can’t put her trash bins out for pickup because she can’t keep them secure from bears and other

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Lunch and Learn coming to Harris

wildlife. She also said it wouldn’t be fair for half-time residents who use the service only for a few months.

Even if people can’t take advantage of the service all year, Public Works Director Mike Mehaffey said the town still had to pay to make the service available to residents all year.

Alderman Mike Eveland didn’t seem to have a problem implementing a new $5 fee for trash and recycling collections. He compared it to the $5 fee Maggie Valley implemented a couple of years ago on all vehicle tags to recoup revenues lost when the state said municipalities couldn’t charge for a business privilege license.

“I pay $5 on my tag now — it really doesn’t matter that much to me,” he said. “For people with a $400,000 house that is nothing. If we don’t do a $5 fee – let’s go up to 44 cents on tax rate.”

SEWER IMPACT FEES TO INCREASE Clark also suggested a slight increase in sewer impact fees for new residential and commercial construction from $6.50 per gallon to $6.75 per gallon. The cost basically breaks down to a per-bedroom price for sewer capacity, meaning the cost would increase from $780 per bedroom to $810 per bedroom. Clark said this is a small increase compared to what a 2015 McGill Engineering study suggested. McGill said Maggie should charge $16 per gallon or $1,920 per bedroom to completely recoup costs, but that would be a hardship to new residential and business growth.

The proposed budget will keep the minimum sewer user rate the same, but proposes an increase to the minimum fee from $4.50 per thousand gallons to $5 per thousand gallons.

“Like modest increases in sewer impact

The next Lunch & Learn session will cover arthritic knees and knee replacements from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, June 3, at Harris Regional Hospital Boardroom in Sylva. The presentation will be given by Dr. Lawrence Supik with Harris Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine. RSVP to Sara Crawford at 828.831.8894. Lunch is included.

will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Cindy Miles and Larry Reeves team up to present the training.

Miles has been a trainer and caregiving specialist for many years and works for the Area Agency on Aging. Reeves served as director for the local Alzheimer’s Association and is now ombudsman for a seven-county area of Western North Carolina.

A $35 fee for a background check and clean record are required to be put on the list.

Call 828.356.2813 or mclaytor@mountainprojects.org to register.

Caregiver training available in Haywood

Scout volunteer receives Girl Scout award

A two-part training program will be offered on Thursday, June 2, at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center, 81 Elmwood Way, in Waynesville.

A caregiver session will be held from 9 to 16 11:30 a.m. and a caregiver employer session

Marcia Tate of Canton was recently recognized by the Girl Scouts of America for going above and beyond her duties as a volunteer Girl Scout leader to receive the Thanks Badge, which recognizes a volunteer who has given truly outstanding service benefitting the total

Maggie Valley budget public hearing • To be held at 6 p.m. Monday, June 13, at Town Hall • Oral and written comments will also be accepted • To see the complete budget proposal, visit www.townofmaggievalley.com or stop by town hall for a hard copy. fees, this slight increase on over the minimum charge provides the sewer fund with additional fiscal stability,” Clark said.

Out-of-town sewer customers could also see a 5–percent increase to their sewer impact fees. The proposed budget recommends establishing an out-of-town commercial sewer impact fee minimum of $2,025.

The minimum in-town commercial sewer impact fee is $1,500.

PLANNING AND ZONING FEES TO INCREASE As planning and zoning projects in Maggie Valley become more complicated and time-consuming for Town Planner Andrew Bowen, Clark thinks the town’s fees should also go up.

Fees were raised slightly in 2014-15 and remained the same in 2015-16, but Clark said the proposed hikes were still in line with similar municipalities. If approved, many of the fees would double — major subdivisions would go from $100 per lot to $200 a lot and minor subdivisions would go from $50 per lot to $100 per lot.

Rezoning fees would only increase slightly — under an acre would go from $200 to $225 and 10 acres or more would go from $500 to $600. council or the entire Girl Scout organization.

Tate’s dedication to the Girl Scout Gold Award resulted in the council’s first National Young Woman of Distinction this year.

Vehicle registration late fees begin July 1 Beginning July 1, North Carolina vehicle owners must pay their annual vehicle registration renewals by the expiration date or face a late fee.

The new fees were passed by the General Assembly last September and require one of three graduated late fees to be assessed on late registration renewals starting in July. The late fees will be added beginning the first day of the month following the expiration date.

Though citizens can still operate their vehicle up to 15 days after their registration has expired without being ticketed, they will be fined beginning the first day of the month

PERSONNEL COSTS Labor costs represent about 33 percent of the overall town budget. Clark didn’t recommend a cost-of-living wage increase for its 22 employees but did suggest a salary increase for employees distributed through the town’s pay class designation. Not all employees will receive the same amount but it will be anywhere from a 1 to 3 percent raise based on employee evaluations. The total cost of the raises will not exceed $27,688.

The town of Maggie Valley will be able to save some money this year on health insurance costs now that town employees are part of the statewide insurance plan, thanks to legislation passed in Raleigh last year.

“On April 1 we joined the North Carolina state health plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage,” Clark said. “Most employees have greatly benefitted from the switch and it saved us $18,000.”

OTHER PROJECTS The town plans to invest about $209,000 next year into the Maggie Valley Parks System. Clark said the plan was to spend $180,000 to enhance Mary Rathbone Rich Memorial Park, which serves as the western gateway to the town on Soco Road. A picnic table with a bathroom, a small unmanned visitor center, walking trail and river deck will be installed. A $25,000 grant from the Tourism Development Authority will help pay for the park improvements.

The town plans to spend about $12,000 to improve its newest greenway park addition — McCracken Corner park off Mooney Cove Road along Jonathan Creek.

Improvements will include parking spots, a series of picnic pavilions and landscaping.

Lastly, the town budgeted $12,000 to add a new picnic shelter and seating amenities to the Town Hall Park.

after the registration expires.

If the registration has been expired for less than one month, a late fee of $15 will be charged. If the registration has been expired for one month or greater, but less than two months, a late fee of $20 will be charged.

Vehicle registration renewals may be paid in person at any license plate agency, by mail, or online at www.ncdot.gov/dmv/online.

Free fans available for Haywood seniors

Free box fans are now available at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center for residents at least 60 years of age or disabled.

Quantity is limited to one per family and the resident must reside in Haywood County and show I.D. Families that received a fan in 2015 are not eligible. Fans will be available until supply runs out.

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June 1-7, 2016

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Helping those in Western NC secure their retirement since 1995.

Get involved The Pisgah Conservancy is looking for dollars and volunteers.

Currently, the group is raffling off a handmade L.T. Dondero bamboo fly rod — tickets are $10, $25 for three or $100 for 15 — with general donations also accepted.

Volunteers able to help with organizational tasks are currently being sought, with more hands-on volunteer jobs likely to be available in the future.

The Pisgah Conservancy is housed at the Cradle of Forestry in America, located along U.S. 276, about 36 miles south of Waynesville.

Donate, volunteer or enter the raffle at www.pisgahconservancy.org.

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Smoky Mountain News

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER hen John Cottingham, then working as — in his words — a “stuffy, corporate lawyer,” walked into the Pisgah District Ranger Office to drop off a donation, he was surprised to learn that there actually wasn’t a way for the Pisgah National Forest to accept donations toward projects.

“You could send a check to the federal government, and some of that would trickle down, but it wouldn’t be very satisfying,” Cottingham said.

But the Pisgah District, one of the mostvisited in the nation, sure could use some help to accommodate its increasing use, Cottingham thought. So he decided to do something about it — organize The Pisgah Conservancy, a fundraising group aiming to support the Pisgah Ranger District.

“There’s been more and more usage over the years and harder usage in some ways — mountain bikers instead of hikers, for instance — at a time when federal support has been diminishing,” Cottingham said. “We think there is an opportunity for private funding to come in and help support the forest.”

Cottingham, who for his part enjoys hiking and camping, envisions The Pisgah Conservancy as having a similar relationship with the Pisgah Ranger District as Friends of the Smokies has with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He’s been talking to the Friends of the Smokies folks as part of his organizational efforts.

Discussion about what The Pisgah Conservancy could look like has been going on for quite a while, with the organization officially incorporating as a North Carolina nonprofit in October 2015 and receiving federal nonprofit status this year. Cottingham, the organization’s executive director, has one employee and an advisory council that pulls together representatives from groups including the Carolina Mountain Club, Trout Unlimited, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Council and the International Mountain Bicycling Association, among others.

Derek Ibarguen, district ranger, is thrilled that The Pisgah Conservancy is now a reality rather than just a concept.

“I’ve been here for about four and a half years, and as soon as I got here I thought, ‘We need an organization like this,’” he said.

It was after Cottingham walked in with the same idea, while also willing to put in the work, that things took off.

“It was great, really exciting to think of an idea, work on it and have it come to fruition,” Ibarguen said. “That’s one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever been involved in.”

The Pisgah Conservancy is currently in an organizational phase, not yet actively working on visible projects. It’s a fundraising organization, and raising money — whether through grants or donations — takes time. So does identifying and prioritizing projects.

“We’ve come up with some ideas that turned out to take longer working through bureaucratic type issues,” Cottingham said.

“What we’re trying to do right now is fall back to more of a bite-sized, short-term project list.”

trated areas. Other goals include addressing watershed improvement, invasive species eradication, habitat improvement, education and litter cleanup.

“I think this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with the community and capitalize on all the passion that’s in the area for the Pisgah District and move us toward a stronger ability to have a sustainable recreation program and protection and enhancement of our natural resources,” Ibarguen said.

Cottingham stressed that The Pisgah Conservancy is a fundraising organization, not an advocacy group, so it won’t weigh in on matters of policy, such as the still-unfolding forest management plan process. Work to craft the plan that will guide the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests for the next two decades began in 2014, and a final plan isn’t expected until 2017. Some aspects of the plan have sparked heated disagreement between different user groups.

Though the new organization won’t chime in on that discussion, Cottingham said, he believes it can help foster understanding between the dissenting parties.

“One of the things that I think has been advantageous about our group to this point is we’ve put a number of user groups around the same table in a very positive type of setting,” Cottingham said.

While those discussions don’t deal with the plan itself, they do include forest management in a more general sense.

“I think often they find there’s more commonality there than disagreement,” Cottingham said.

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Group forms to support Pisgah District

There’s no specific timeline yet, but Cottingham said that the group will start “having an impact on the ground this year.”

Project goals will likely be heavily recreation focused. Recreation is “increasing exponentially,” Cottingham said, “and the support for it isn’t.”

There are a number of dedicated volunteer groups who work on trail rehabilitation, and The Pisgah Conservancy won’t be looking to double up on existing efforts, Cottingham said. Rather, the group will be looking to address projects that go beyond the funding and organizational powers of those grassroots volunteer groups.

For example, say there’s a trail that was just poorly designed in the first place. Rather than have volunteer groups rebuild it again and again, the best thing to do would probably be to relocate it.

But that requires going John Cottingham through the extensive process outlined in the National Environmental Protection Act, having various reviews completed and hiring a trail builder to construct the new route.

“That’s an example of the kinds of things that most of the organizations doing trail maintenance are not set up to do,” Cottingham said.

The Pisgah Conservancy might also, for example, busy itself installing bathrooms at heavily used trailheads to prevent people from answering the call of nature in concen-

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June 1-7, 2016

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Waynesville mulls adding eight firefighters

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER aynesville town leaders will decide this month whether to raise property taxes to hire additional firefighters, and if so, by how much.

The town is considering a plan to add eight additional paid firefighters to its roster at a cost of $500,000 annually. The move would double the number of firefighters on shift at any given time from two to four.

Some aldermen are supportive of the plan. “It is something that is necessary. I don’t think there is an option there,� Alderman LeRoy Roberson said.

Alderman Jon Feichter agreed. “I can say without a shadow of a doubt we need additional firefighters. The question becomes no one wants to raise taxes,�

Feichter said. “The bottom line is the health and safety of our residents. I don’t want to jeopardize that in order to save a little bit of money.�

It takes four firefighters on scene to enter a burning building, according to federal standards. “Whenever there’s a fire, there has to be four people there — two to go inside and two to stay outside — before they can enter the building,� Roberson said.

The town has only two paid firefighters on shift at a time currently, relying on their stable of volunteers to make up the gap. But a decline in volunteer firefighters over the past decade — a trend playing out nationwide — has made it increasingly difficult to respond reliably and quickly with such a skeleton paid crew.

To cover the cost of the additional firefighters, Interim Town Manager Mike Morgan proposed a 10 percent property tax hike — from 44 cents to 48.5 cents per $100 of property value.

The town would have had another option at its disposal to help pay for the additional firefighters if it had gotten on the stick sooner. It could have raised the fire tax on those outside the town limits to help shoulder the burden. “It hasn’t been raised in a number of years,� Roberson said. “They aren’t paying their fair share the way I look at it.�

The town’s fire district extends beyond its own town limits, providing fire protection for adjacent areas. Those outside the town limits don’t pay town taxes, but instead pay a special fire tax in exchange for the fire protection they get. The fire tax is tacked on to their county property tax bills and then remitted to the town. “I expect there will be quite a bit of support in trying to spread the burden across everybody, not just town taxpayers,� Feichter

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Town manager hiring pool narrows The Waynesville town board met Tuesday for a third stab at narrowing down their pool of applicants for the town manager position.

To help with the monumental hiring process, the town board engaged the services of Developmental Associates consulting firm for a fee of $14,000.

The town initially got 42 applicants for the town manager role. The consulting firm took the first whack at winnowing the list. They came up with 19 contenders after scoring and ranking their applications. The town board eliminated another eight to come up with 11 semi-finalists. Another two were eliminated in preliminary interviews.

That leaves nine that the town board planned to sort through this week to arrive at five to seven finalists. “Those people would actually come to Waynesville for a full-blown assessment,� Alderman Jon Fecither said.

The assessment will include interviews and role-playing scenarios by a panel of judges comprised of community members, local government experts and town staff.

The previous town manager was fired four years into the job following a shift in the town board’s composition in last fall’s election. — By Becky Johnson

agreed. “They are receiving the same services.�

However, it’s too late to increase the fire tax paid by those outside the town limits this year. Any changes to the fire tax rate have to be incorporated into the county’s budget. But the window to do so for this year has passed, leaving it up to residents inside the town limits to pay the full freight of the additional firefighters this year should town leaders proceed with the plan.

The fire tax is paid by those outside Waynesville’s town limits but inside its fire district are among the lowest in the county at just 6 cents per $100 of property value. The entire county is divvied up into fire districts, each with its own special fire tax to fund the fire department that serves their community.

The average fire tax rate in the county is 7.5 cents, with some districts as high as 10 cents.

For those who live inside town limits, the cost of fire protection is rolled into their town property tax bill rather than a special fire tax.

@SmokyMtnNews

news June 1-7, 2016

Smoky Mountain News

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Waynesville split over proposed food truck rules

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER n ongoing debate over food trucks and pushcart vendors in Waynesville made its way to the town board last week, but a vote was delayed after it became evident town board members differed on their views.

Postponing a decision will give aldermen more time to contemplate the nuances of food truck rules. It was unclear whether the proposed rules would have passed last week anyway, given divergent views among board members.

The new food truck rules are laxer and more flexible, making it easier for food trucks to make inroads in Waynesville. But the new rules stop short of a food truck free-for-all, namely by limiting how long they can stay in any one spot.

There’s an exception, however, under a clause now known as “Mad Anthony’s paragraph” in honor of a beer bottle shop that wants to make a food truck a permanent fixture on its property.

Debate over the new food truck rules has centered almost exclusively on the “Mad Anthony’s paragraph.” In essence, it creates a loophole on the time limit a food truck can stay in one place, allowing a food truck to become a permanent fixture on a site if it’s connected to the adjoining business.

Alderman LeRoy Roberson was troubled by the Mad Anthony’s clause, fearing it could lead to the proliferation of rag-tag food truck encampments permanently parked around town.

“Question,” Roberson said early in the meeting. “This (loophole) could apply anywhere in town?”

“Yes,” Teague replied. “And that is a concern when you are trying to write legislation for a specific case. Once it is in your ordinance, you have to apply it equally across all business districts.”

Roberson said his concern isn’t the food truck at Mad Anthony’s in particular, which is classy as far as food trucks go and largely hidden from the public street view.

“If it applies just to them, I wouldn’t have a problem with it,” Roberson said.

“But if we pass something like this it applies to the whole town, and that’s what we have to consider.”

The owner of the Mad Anthony’s food truck disputed that notion.

“If the fear is you are going to be overrun with food trucks, it costs too much and there is too much time invested. It is hard, hard work,” Glenna Young said.

While the overhead on a food truck is lower than a traditional restaurant, the margins are also much slimmer.

“Right now we are just struggling to keep our doors open,” Young said.

Alderman Julia Freeman came out in support of the new food truck rules, including the Mad Anthony’s paragraph. But the other 20 two aldermen refrained from staking out

Smoky Mountain News

June 1-7, 2016

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their positions.

Alderman Gary Caldwell simply commended the work that went into crafting the ordinance over the past six months.

“We have a very good and very thoughtful planning board,” Caldwell said.

Alderman Jon Feichter asked a series of questions drilling down on the pros and cons of the new rules, and in particular, trying to understand the loophole that concerned Roberson, and gave town planning staff pause as well.

“In regards to the staff concerns in relation to the Mad Anthony’s clause, can you be more specific in regards to what staff concerns are?” Feichter asked.

“When something is a permanent fixture, when does it become a building structure?”

Teague said.

Mad Anthony’s wants to have it both ways. Food trucks are exempt from state building codes and town design guidelines because they’re mobile. But what if they aren’t in fact mobile? Should they still be exempt? Is it mutually exclusive to act like a permanent structure, yet escape the rules that would otherwise apply by calling yourself mobile?

“That is what is causing staff some concern,” Teague said. “We have to be able to put it in a box.”

Postponing a vote will give the town board more time to weigh the issue, but the new rules couldn’t have passed anyway due to an obscure technicality pointed out by Town Attorney Woody Griffin following the discussion.

Only four of the five town board members were present at the meeting — Mayor Gavin Brown was out due to illness. To pass a new ordinance on the so-called “first reading” would take a supermajority. With the mayor out and with Roberson making his dissent known, the remaining three aldermen wouldn’t constitute the needed supermajority to pass the rules on their first reading anyway, so the issue was tabled until the board’s next meeting on Tuesday, June 14.

WHERE’S THE RUB? The biggest question in the food truck debate has been how long a food truck should be allowed to set up in one spot.

The proposed ordinance would limit food trucks to no more than 180 days in one spot in a calendar year. A food truck could spread out its 180 days in whatever sort of schedule it wants over the course of the year — such as Friday and Saturday nights year round, or seven days a week for half the year — as long as the total days operating in one spot doesn’t exceed 180.

Teague explained the rationale for limiting the duration food trucks can stay in one spot.

“To place one permanently on a site it should comply with state building codes. If

David and Amanda Young, owners of Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden, in front of MA’s Kitchen food truck that serves patrons in the absence of an inhouse restaurant. Becky Johnson photo not, we are essentially allowing a temporary structure that doesn’t comply with state building codes but will become a permanent structure by default,” Teague said.

This stance poses a conundrum for Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop and Beer Garden on the outskirts of downtown, which hopes to make a food truck a permanent fixture on its site.

David Young, the owner of Mad Anthony’s, feels the proposed ordinance is too limiting. Young questioned why Waynesville was having so much consternation with food trucks compared to other communities.

“This is not an unsolvable problem. It is not beyond Waynesville’s ability to negotiate,” Young said.

Young pointed to food trucks that have taken up permanent residence at the Lazy Hiker Brewery in downtown Franklin and Innovation Brewery in downtown Sylva.

Those towns don’t appear to have an issue with food trucks, Young said, questioning why Waynesville seems hamstrung by the prospect of what-ifs.

“I am not sure how big those problems are,” Young said.

Food trucks often crop up in connection with breweries and bars, forging a symbiotic relationship with nightspots without on-site restaurants.

For Mad Anthony’s, a beer garden heavy on outdoor seating, the walk-up food truck window in the back parking lot makes a huge difference in keeping patrons.

“It is part of our kitsch. It is part of our gimmick. People like a wide-open space to drink a beer in and a food truck to grab a hot dog while they’re doing it,” Young said.

But Roberson wasn’t convinced it was kosher to grant a mobile food truck permanent status without imposing all the requirements that apply to permanent structures.

“We still get back to the state requirements of a permanent structure,” Roberson said.

“We are not a permanent structure,” Young responded.

“Not if it is sitting in one spot and not moving at all?” Roberson asked.

Young said there is no stipulation that a vehicle has to move periodically to still be considered a vehicle. As along as it passes annual vehicle inspections, it doesn’t have to be driven to count as a mobile unit, Young said.

Feichter questioned the long-term plan for Mad Anthony’s food truck. He asked Young if he envisioned the food truck as a permanent way of serving food to bar patrons, or if it was a temporary measure until he could put an on-site kitchen in.

“Do you intend to keep this as a mobile unit forever?” Feichter asked.

“If five years from now I was swimming in money, I would love to expand the building and put a full commercial kitchen in, but that is so far down the road,” Young said. “Right now I’m trying to stay afloat and hope we have a good summer.”

But Roberson’s bigger concern was the precedent the town would be setting.

“I appreciate the situation you are in,” Roberson told Young. But, “This applies to the entire town.”

Young said if a food truck set up somewhere with undesirable consequences, the town could deal with that separately and shut them down.

Roberson disagreed. If the town ordinance allows food trucks to set up indefinitely at one location, then the town couldn’t selectively ban them from one spot while allowing them in another.

“Our powers are limited,” Roberson said.

Glenna Young, who helps operate the food truck, said the town should be more open-minded.

“There has to be some room in these ordinances and codes for some creativity, some innovation. There is room there for things that look my food truck,” Glenna Young said.

Freeman came out in favor of the food truck concept as an alternative business model. Entrepreneurs, particularly those like the Youngs who renovated a historic home in the downtown district for their start-up venture, should be encouraged, she said.

“We have to be loose on some of these things to allow these older structures to be used and bring more money into our economy,” Freeman said.

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Another issue that’s surfaced in the food truck debate is whether food vendors should be allowed to set up on public property — be it sidewalks, town parking lots, along the street, or public parks.

The door is left open under the new rules to allow case-by-case permission. A food vendor would have to get approval from the town and most likely pay a fee to set up on public property.

The new rules bar food trucks from public property in the downtown central business district, however. The rationale is two fold.

For starters, food carts and trucks don’t fit with the historic image of Main Street, according to the planning board.

But moreover, it wouldn’t be fair to allow a pushcart peddler to roll in and ride the coattails of downtown’s success without contributing to the special taxing district like all the other merchants do.

The Downtown Waynesville Association has formally objected to allowing food trucks on public property downtown, out of fairness to the bricks-and-mortar businesses that have long underwritten improvement projects to make downtown a desirable destination in the first place.

The ban on food carts on public property in the central downtown area doesn’t sit well with John Catton, however, who hoped to open a hot dog cart in the mini-park at the corner of Main and Depot streets, across from the historic courthouse.

“You have tables there, you have trash cans there. What is it for, just to look at?”

Catton said during the discussion at the town board meeting.

But the Downtown Waynesville Association members view the park and picnic tables as amenities for all to enjoy, not to serve the private business interests of a hotdog pushcart vendor.

Catton countered that a place to grab a hot dog would be a benefit to Main Street commerce, not just himself.

“Why is it such a threat?” Catton said.

“These downtown owners act like they own the downtown with their money solely. That’s not true. This is our community.”

June 1-7, 2016

While Mad Anthony’s situation has dominated the food truck debate, it isn’t the only one prompting the need for an ordinance that clarifies what’s allowed. Until now, the town had no rules specifically addressing food trucks.

There’s a hot dog cart that sets up during lunch hour along South Main Street in Waynesville, a Mexican food truck that sets up outside a Latino bar on weekend nights in Hazelwood, and the “nut man” who sets up in a parking lot at the intersection of Russ Avenue and U.S. 19 during holiday months.

“We are trying to meet a lot of different types of mobile food vendors’ needs and we hope this creates the flexibility they need to work successfully in our town,” Teague told the town board. “At the same time we are trying to meet the requests of Mad Anthony’s to have a mobile food unit parked on a piece of property for an extended period of time.”

There’s an easy work around for Mad Anthony’s: simply move the food truck a few yards from one side of parking lot to the other half way through the year to dodge the 180day limit at a single location.

A food truck can get permits for more than one location simultaneously, allowing it to move around town, as long as it doesn’t spend more than 180 days in a calendar year at any one spot and as long as the town has the schedule of where they’ll be when.

Mad Anthony’s property is technically divided into two parcels, so Young could get two permits — one for each parcel — and move the food truck to the other parcel tech-

nically half-way through the year not violate the 180-day limit at a single location. Young said town staff told him this would fly.

“It is OK to violate the spirit of the ordinance as long as I don’t violate the letter?”

Young asked.

The Mad Anthony’s paragraph — one that appeared to get mixed reviews from town aldermen — was also designed as an attempt to help Mad Anthony’s keep their food truck going in the same site year-round.

The loophole would let food trucks stay in one place permanently, only if that place happens to be on the same site as the commissary used to stock supplies from and do food prep in.

Teague crafted the Mad Anthony’s paragraph as narrowly as she could — allowing permanent food trucks only when operating in conjunction with their commissary, preventing them from setting up shop on a permanent basis in random parking lots.

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Roberson kept coming back to the fear that property owners wanting to dodge the town’s design standards and building codes would exploit the food truck loophole.

“You in essence have built an addition on your building,” Roberson said. But the addition is really just a trailer, and trailers don’t pass muster with the town’s design guidelines for business districts.

“We restrict mobile homes and trailers to certain parts of town and have very distinct guidelines that apply to those,” Teague said.

Other businesses putting in new buildings have to meet design and landscaping guidelines aimed at preserving the town’s character, Teague said. Should food trucks be exempt from those, even if they are acting like a permanent structure?

“We have these design guidelines that we have asked other people to comply with,” Teague said. “You can take a modular building and fix it up and put plantings around it and it can blend quite nicely.”

Teague said she has been exploring another path that would allow Mad Anthony’s to make its food truck a permanent fixture without having to jump through the hoops of a food truck permit. Young could convert the food truck to a full-fledged structure that met the town’s appearance and design standards, as well as state building codes.

“This could happen with some creative engineering and structural enhancements,” Teague said.

“I think would be an onerous and almost insurmountable task for us,” Young replied.

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Bryson City wins small town award In honor of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, the Smithsonian has named Bryson City as one of the “20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2016.”

The top picks this year are all towns under 20,000 in population that are close to national parks. Eighteen states and the Virgin Islands are represented in this year’s list.

“It is always gratifying when a prestigious publication like the Smithsonian confirms what we have known all along — that Bryson City is the quintessential small town vacation destination, “ said Karen Wilmot, executive director of the Swain County Chamber of Commerce. “Our strong relationship with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is mutually beneficial. Together we deliver the complete vacation experience with the combination of natural beauty and small town hospitality.”

Mountain Pediatric holds open house A family-friendly open house event will be held from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Friday, June 3, at Mountain Pediatric Group in Haywood Professional Park in Clyde near Coffee Cup Café.

The open house will feature tours, meet the doctor, teddy bear and doll clinic, car set safety inspections, fire truck, smoke house demonstrations, children’s activities, entertainment, crafts, bubbles, refreshments, kid-friendly recipes, health information and more.

Mountain Pediatric Group offers the full range of services for patients 18 and younger. Dr. James Guerriere is accepting new patients.

828.452.8878 or www.mountainpediatric.com.

Network at women’s luncheon June 2 The Small Business Center at Haywood Community College and The Western Women’s

• The owners of Dixie Mae Vintage Market on Main Street in Sylva will be opening a second location called “Depot 40,” which will be a gift and antiques market on Depot Street in Dillsboro. Applications for antiques booth vendors are being accepted. Call 828.342.2060.

• Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a Business After Hours kick-off from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 2, at the Laurelwood Inn, 58 Highway 107 N. in Cashiers.

Refreshments and door prizes provided. $10 a person. RSVP to 828.743.5191 or info@cashiersareachamber.com.

• Smoky Mountain Cabin Builders has been selected for the fourth ScaleUp N.C. cohort held

by Mountain Biz Works. The initiative, made

Business Center at The Support Center will hold a free “Women’s Business Networking Luncheon – Building Your Circle of Support” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, June 2, in the HCC Creative Arts Building, Room 7105.

The topic — “Building Your Circle of Support” — will feature speakers Tonya Snider of the Support Center and Katy Gould of the HCC Small Business Center. Walk through the how-tos and the importance of building a network of brand enthusiasts; learn tips and tricks from fellow entrepreneurs; and most importantly leave inspired and renewed with the comfort of knowing what resources are available.

Lunch will be provided. Early registration is encouraged.

Visit sbc.haywood.edu or call 828.627.4512.

Library offers class on Google settings A free class on Cloud technology and Google Drive will be offered at 5:45 p.m.

Monday, June 6, and Wednesday, June 8, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

possible with funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration, provides local entrepreneurs with intensive growth strategy development, mentorship, access-to-capital support and a rich network of peer business owners.

• Bryson City Merchants Association will hold its next meeting from 8 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 2, at the Swain County Chamber of Commerce office.

ALSO:

• The Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce is looking for some friendly people to volunteer at the Visitor Information Center. All ages welcome. Call Linda, Diane or Cindy at 828.524.3161 for more information. www.visitfranklinnc.com.

Find out where to control the security and privacy for all your Google apps with special emphasis on email. Learn how to arrange your inbox, and customize your emails. You must already have a Gmail account to participate. Participants will need to have basic computer skills, such as typing and the ability to use the mouse, to be successful in this class.

The class will be led by volunteer Cynthia Gallinger with assistance from library staff member Laura Chapman.

Class size is limited to the first 16 people who sign up.

828.586.2016.

Young Professionals host ladies’ networking event The Haywood Chamber’s Young Professionals have partnered with REACH and Main Street Mercantile to host a ladies’ after hours networking event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at Main Street Mercantile in Historic Frog Level.

Work attire donations will be collected to be donated to REACH to help individuals entering or re-entering the workforce.

828.456.3021.

Drake purchases Caterpillar building Drake Enterprises purchased Caterpillar’s former Precision Seals plant, located at 517 Industrial Park Road in Franklin.

The 101,810-square-foot, general-purpose industrial building and 20-acre lot was placed on the market in March.

“This space presents an excellent opportunity for growth,” said Phil Drake, chairman and CEO of Drake Enterprises. “One of the reasons we chose this building was the availability of fiber internet in the Industrial Park. As we expand operations, high-speed broadband is a necessity.”

Drake’s current plan is to house data storage and servers in the on-site tornado shelter.

• Haywood County Chamber of Commerce welcomed new businesses to the county, including Strick Fitness to Waynesville with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new fitness center is located at 297 N. Haywood Street.

828.734.4985.

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Meaghan Starkes named manager at TD Bank

Meaghan Starkes has been named as the new store manager at the TD Bank in Waynesville.

She is responsible for developing business and customer relations, facilitating operations within the store, and leading and mentoring her team while creating a positive work environment for her associates.

Starkes has 10 years of experience in the banking industry and has held positions with TD Bank since 2007. She is a member of the Haywood Chamber of Commerce and is in the process of accepting a position on the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Western North Carolina Advisory Council.

U.S. Census Bureau is hiring

The U.S. Census Bureau will be hiring about 150 temporary field representatives and supervisors for the Address Canvassing Test, which will be done in Buncombe County this year.

The field staff will be provided with a laptop that contains software necessary to do their jobs, and there will be paid training for those selected to the positions. Those interested in applying should call 1.800.424.6974, ext.

53959, or email atlanta.recruiting@census.gov.

Carolina Junction Power opens new location

Carolina Junction Power Equipment recently moved to a new location at 461 Highlands Road.

“Over the last year we have expanded our business to carry C.F. Moto and Can-am (BRP) ATVs and UTVs. We still carry the same great variety of lawn care and power equipment including Toro, Wright commercial mowers, Cub Cadet, STIHL, Husqvarna, Echo, Shindaiwa and Kohler,” said co-owner Barry Breeden. www.CarolinaJunction.com or 828.369.9655.

unique gifts, books, artisan jewelry and decorative art.

• Fire Moss Pottery recently opened in Cashiers at 107 Lance Road. The gallery specializes in ceramics and functional art.

828.743.5191.

• Haywood County Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m.

Tuesday, June 14, at 27 N. Main St., Canton, for Haywood House Retirement and Assisted Living. 828.276.1004.

• The Maggie Valley Wellness Center, located on Moody Farm Road, has recently added manicure/pedicure services to their specialties. Call Candra at 828.944.0288.

• Gallery Zella in Bryson City recently held a grand opening ceremony. Gallery Zella is located on Everett Street, above O’Neil’s Book Store, and offers 2,500 square feet of original paintings, sculptures and photography plus

• Carpet & More recently opened in Cashiers at 45 Slab Town Road. The business offers a wide selection of carpet, tile and wood flooring, installation, carpet cleaning and rug spa services. 828.707.7212.

Opinion Still free to mix it up in the marketplace of ideas O 24

Smoky Mountain News

Scott McLeod

ver this past Memorial Day weekend I found myself reading essays and columns about freedom, about military men and women and their sacrifices, and how those sacrifices and the freedom we take for granted are so infused into the American psyche.

We do take it for granted, and as the son of a retired serviceman I think freedom is a birthright, or at least it should be. Humans deserve to be free.

And although no one would ever describe me as a conservative, I share the belief with my conservative brethren that society generally works better in direct relationship to how Editor much freedom we provide. Break the shackles of government and society’s expectations and we are, generally, better off.

When I was a teen being raised by a single working mom, freedom meant something totally different than it does now.

At that time in my life, I was just learning to value the lessons of history, literature and politics, and the rebel in me latched onto the notion of freedom as a call to live outside the norms of accepted behavior.

More to the point, my adolescent brain idolized recklessness and rashness. For a few years I did a lot of crazy things, but by college I was, thankfully, a bit more mature and became a pretty serious student. I relished coming to understand the

concepts and ideas and philosophies talked about in lectures, and I began searching class schedules for the professors recommended by other students for their lively classroom discussions. I gave no thought to a career, only my desire to graduate from college with at least a rudimentary understanding of how Western Civilization got to where it is today.

It’s in the post-university world, though, where one’s ideas about freedom go from the test tube to real life. I can distinctly remember when Lori became pregnant with our first. We had not been married long and weren’t trying to have a child, but that’s how things go. Like many parents-to-be, I doubted I was responsible enough to be a husband and father. I was worried about the obligations, of whether I had what it takes to be a dutiful parent and spouse, to be a provider.

During the next few months as I worked through this looming change, it occurred to me that facing these kinds of life events has everything to do with one’s personal concept of freedom: when you choose to take on responsibility, to do the right thing for the right reasons, what seemed a burden becomes liberating. We were going to start a family, our love was strong, and as it turned out having a family just multiplied everything positive in our relationship. There was a lot of uncertainty, but I embraced it instead of fearing it.

I sincerely believe that those few weeks after finding out about Lori’s pregnancy have everything to do with me sitting here today writing this column for The Smoky Mountain News. It was an important turn along the path to becoming what I now refer to as

Vote ‘Yes’ for education sales tax oters in Jackson County will have the opportunity on Tuesday, June 7, to take an important step toward addressing some significant infrastructure problems being faced

by Southwestern Community College and Jackson County Public Schools.

On the ballot, in addition to our district’s congressional candidates, will be a referendum on a proposed one-quarter of one percent increase in the local sales tax. The additional source of revenue would be used to allow SCC to begin tackling nearly $32 million in construction, renovation, and repair projects identified by the college’s recent master plan and to help the county school system deal with its estimated $22 million of infrastructure needs.

As chancellor of Western Carolina University, I strongly endorse the approval Guest Columnist of this proposal. As the leader of an institution of higher education, I have seen firsthand the negative impacts on the quality of teaching and learning that accompany crumbling infrastructure. Faculty and staff do tremendous work in the facilities they have, but think of what they could do with the resources of 21st-century classrooms, laboratories, and other facilities.

Modern-age facilities and related resources will strengthen education in Jackson and surrounding counties, which ultimately will benefit WCU. New students who come to our university from the region — both first-year students from the Jackson County Public Schools and transfer students from SCC — will arrive better prepared for the rigors of a university education. Our College of Education and Allied Professions works closely with our local schools, and improved infrastructure will further their efforts in training future teachers, principals, and superintendents. We have

David Belcher

V

“being my own man.” My aspirations in my career started growa ing, as did my confidence that I could get there.

It would be a little over 10 years later that we started The r Smoky Mountain News. As I write this column, my estimate is $ that it is about the 900th since we started the newspaper in e June 1999 (back in the early days I would often write two a s week when we couldn’t afford a staff ). I’ve been accused by t readers of being stupid, of lying, of ruining reputations, of leading a “band of socialists,” and much, much worse over the d years. But every week I get to write what I want, and 17 years b later we are still here, still pushing papers out the door every l Wednesday, still reading about the death of print and how peo-N b ple don’t want long stories on complicated issues.

When you dig deep, freedom is mostly about responsibility b to one’s self. For me that means trying to do right by my wife f and kids and my extended family, my co-workers here at SMN, m this community and this region. Very simple and very compli- a S cated all at the same time.

So, as I think about my own father, his military brethren i and those who have fought for our freedoms, I can thank them b for the fact that I got to choose my life, that I have the freedom d h to live my dreams. And here’s hoping we’re still around 17 years from now, still calling people out when they need to be called out, still trying to make this place we call home a better i place to live, still free to mix it up in the marketplace of ideas. t (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com.)b s e i

I believe that a vote “yes” is a vote for the good of the students of the Jackson County Public School System, Southwestern Community College, and Western Carolina University. close ties with SCC — through dual enrollment programs, articulation agreements, and collaborative partnerships. Approval of this proposal will strengthen those partnerships and enhance education opportunities in the communities that SCC and WCU serve.

Furthermore, the impact of an additional quarter-cent sales tax on residents of Jackson County would be negligible. For example, a $100 purchase would mean only an additional 25 cents in local sales tax, while a resident spending $1,000 would pay only an additional $2.50 in local sales tax. The impact on Southwestern Community College and the Jackson County Public School system, however, would be tremendous. The extra onefourth of a penny sales tax would generate an estimated $1.2 million annually — all of it to be allocated to our county community college and public school system.

I believe that a vote “yes” is a vote for the good of the students of the Jackson County Public School System, Southwestern Community College, and Western Carolina University. After all, many of the county school system’s students become SCC students, and many SCC students become WCU’s students. Voter approval of the one-fourth of a penny referendum is a minimal, but wise, investment that would pay dividends for years to come for Jackson County, its young people, and its future.

(David Belcher is chancellor of Western Carolina University.)

Sheriffs misrepresented

g To the Editor: l If you value honesty as an important trait for a Supreme Court justice, it should interest you to know g that Justice Bob Edmunds — who is running for reelection on the June 7 primary ballot — has made false d a claims on his campaign website about his endorsements. He claims to have endorsements from sheriffs “all across the state,” including Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher and Jackson County Sheriff C p Chip Hall.

In addition, an ad that ran in The Smoky Mountain News last week, paid for by local Republicans, listed s Christopher and Hall as having made endorsements. i Both Christopher and Hall have been contacted and t W they have no recall of making an endorsement. My speculation is that there are other false claims about i s endorsements on the candidate’s website since it appears that just about every sheriff in North Carolina i t is listed.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Mike Morgan is s perhaps Edmunds’ strongest challenger. Judge Morgan s pledges to “promote society’s well being through a fair s r and impartial administration of justice.”

With 11 current years of trial bench experience as a h Superior Court judge, combined with ten previous years of trial bench experience as a District Court judge h and five prior years of experience conducting hearings as a State Administrative Law Judge, he is unusually seasoned and qualified to capably address the variety of legal matters which come before the Supreme Court.

For honesty in government, I urge you to cast your vote for Judge Mike Morgan.

Myrna Campbell Hawyood County Democratic Party Chair Waynesville

Chris Cox

M

facebook.com/smnews

AMMONS DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT & DAIRY BAR 1451 Dellwwod Rd., Waynesville.

828.926.0734. Open 7 days a week 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Celebrating over 25 years.

Enjoy world famous hot dogs as well as burgers, seafood, hushpuppies, hot wings and chicken. Be sure to save room for dessert. The cobbler, pie and cake selections are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

APPLE ANDY'S RESTAURANT 3483 Soco Road, Maggie Valley located in Market Square. 828.944.0626. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Wednesday and Thursday.

Serving the freshest homemade sandwiches, wraps, and entrees such as country fried steak and grilled flounder. Full salad bar and made from scratch sides like potato salad, pinto beans and macaroni and cheese.

APPLE CREEK CAFE 111 N. Main St., Waynesville.

828.456.9888. Tuesday through Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to midnight. Sunday 11 a.m. to

10 p.m. We are excited to be on Main St. serving lunch and dinner with a full bar.

Our menu includes items such as blackberry salmon, fettuccine alfredo, hand-cut steaks, great burgers, sandwiches, salads and more. Join us for live music every Friday and Saturday nights. Friday 6 to 9 p.m. live piano music. Saturday 6 to 9 p.m. live jazz music. No cover charge.

BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997.

Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slowsimmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts.

Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily.

Brown bagging is permitted. Private parties, catering, and take-out available.

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE 454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Lunch served 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner nightly from 4 p.m.

Closed on Sunday. We specialize in handcut, all natural steaks, fresh fish, and other classic American comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available. We also feature a great selection of craft beers from local artisan brewers, and of course an extensive selection of small batch bourbons and whiskey. The Barrel is a friendly and casual neighborhood dining experience where our guests enjoy a great meal without breaking the bank.

nchbox Café The Lu BREAKFAST & DINNER DAILY SUNDAY LUNCH by reservation

Breakfast Sandwiches Served All Day Daily Specials!

100 SPICEWOOD DR. CLYDE Behind Mountain Medical 828.246.6296 Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-4pm

456.9498 • www.balsaminn.net

Welcome back. To 1932.

Smoky Mountain News

bering to hydrate? Did she get the right editions of her textbooks? Is her roommate ever going to get in at a decent hour? How is the cafeteria food? Does she realize that there are vegetables other than French fries?

“Are you still with me, Dad?” “Huh?” “You kind of drifted off there. I guess it’s an age thing. So, do you still remember your first car?”

Here is something I do not tell her, for her sake and my own. Of course I remember my first car. You never forget your first car, like you never forget your first kiss. Often, these two firsts are related, but let’s get back to the car, a 1972 Buick Electra, which I christened “The Love Boat,” not so much because there was any real “loving” that would be taking place on those voluminous vinyl seats, but because the car was about the same size as the USS North Carolina, the famous World War II battleship.

On the plus side, I felt pretty safe in the car because it was so enormous. If I were hit by a deer or a Volkswagen, it is unlikely I would have even felt the impact. Unless the Germans hit me with a torpedo, I’d probably get home safe in the Love Boat.

On the other hand, the car got about eight miles per gallon, which meant that if I went any farther than to town and back, I’d have to fill her up again, if I wanted to get home at all.

Also, those fancy electric windows had a mind of their own, working or not working at completely random and unpredictable intervals, which could be problematic on days that were either really hot or really cold.

If I was successful in rolling down my driver’s window, there was a very good chance that it might stay down for the next three days before mysteriously deciding to roll back up again.

I got my cousin to put in a sweet Pioneer eight-track tape deck, though I had to keep a matchbook in the ashtray to jam in on top of the tape to get it to play at the right speed.

And then I had to convince my Dad that the matchbook was not for smoking cigarettes (my buddies and I preferred Swisher Sweets cigars), but a crucial stereo component.

I hate to break it to my daughter, but if we are able to track down my old Buick by this time next year, it could very easily end up being her first car as well, based on current budget projections. I have no idea where she’ll find eight-track tapes.

(Chris Cox is a writer and teacher. He can be reached at jchrixcox@live.com.)

Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251

June 1-7, 2016

y daughter is turning 15 this weekend. Every 15 minutes, she reminds me that she will be driving a car in another year. And every 15 minutes, I remind her that so far she has saved exactly $3.78 toward the purchase of her first car.

Because my wife and I are awesome parents, we agreed long ago to match whatever she is able to save by her sixteenth birthday to buy a car. If this were her sixteenth birthday, we would now be scanning used car lots all over Western North Carolina and beyond for the very best car you can find for $7.56. Unless her mother takes her anywhere near a Starbucks today, that Columnist is, in which case our budget might be down to roughly the price of a gas station hot dog.

In that maddening way of teenagers, she is blissfully dismissive of just how little time there actually is in a year.

“Ah, Dad,” she says. “I got this. I’ll probably find a great job this summer. Have you seen those Kia Souls? They are pretty nice, especially the newer ones. I could see myself in one of those.”

“That’s swell, honey,” I say. “Are you going to work this summer as a Wall Street lawyer? Because that’s the job you’ll need to get to be able to afford a new car.”

“Don’t be so negative, Dad. It’s my birthday! I’ll be driving soon, and not too long after that, I’ll be out of here!”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll still see each other at Christmas. I’ll call you sometimes. Mom will probably pester me to death.”

As a teenager, my daughter is prone to sudden vicious fits of exaggeration when she is not being sarcastic or angst-ridden, but in this particular instance, she is exactly right.

When she goes off to college, her mother will in fact drive her completely crazy. If we are somehow able to convince her not to enroll in classes herself a la Rodney Dangerfield in the classic movie “Back to School” so that she can live in the same dorm or at least the same town with our daughter, then she will surely be calling every night for a complete report on all of the day’s events, regardless of how mundane they might appear to be.

This will be followed by a dozen — or perhaps two dozen — questions. Is she remem-

tasteTHEmountains

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Nothing brings back memories like that first car

Come take a wagon ride with us, back to the beginnings of the Ranch. In celebration of our 83rd season, we’ll be serving up “Way Back When” dinners in an authentic re-creation of Mr. Tom and Miss Judy’s first primitive fishing camp. Just call us for reservations, then come join us on June 3 for mountain trout and mountain music. And Cataloochee Ranch enjoy old-fashioned hospitality a mile high.

1 19 Ranch Drive, Maggie Valley, NC 28751 | www.CataloocheeRanch.com | (828) 926-1401

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

LIVE MUSIC TUESDAY NIGHTS! 7-9 P.M. Upcoming Bands: June 7 — Ben Phan June 14 — Ginny McAfee SAGEBRUSH OF CANTON 1941 Champion Dr. Canton

828-646-3750 Sun-Thur 11 AM - 10 PM Fri-Sat 11 AM - 11 PM

CATALOOCHEE RANCH 119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley.

828.926.1401. Family-style breakfast seven days a week, from 8 am to 9:30 am – with eggs, bacon, sausage, grits and oatmeal, fresh fruit, sometimes French toast or pancakes, and always all-you-can-eat. Lunch every day from 12:00 till 2 pm. Evening cookouts on the terrace on weekends and Wednesdays, featuring steaks, ribs, chicken, and pork chops, to name a few. Bountiful family-style dinners on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, with entrees that include prime rib, baked ham and herb-baked chicken, complemented by seasonal vegetables, homemade breads, jellies and desserts. We also offer a fine selection of wine and beer.

The evening social hour starts at 6 pm, and dinner is served starting at 7 pm. So join us for mile-high mountaintop dining with a spectacular view. Please call for reservations.

CHEF’S TABLE 30 Church St., Waynesville. 828.452.6210.

From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday dinner starting at 5 p.m. “Best of” Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine. Set in a distinguished atmosphere with an exceptional menu. Extensive selection of wine and beer. Reservations honored.

CHURCH STREET DEPOT 34 Church Street, downtown Waynesville.

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

CITY BAKERY 18 N. Main St. Waynesville 828.452.3881.

Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Join us in our historic location for scratch made soups and daily specials.

Breakfast is made to order daily: Gourmet cheddar & scallion biscuits served with bacon, sausage and eggs; smoked trout bagel plate; quiche and fresh fruit parfait. We bake a wide variety of breads daily, specializing in traditional french breads. All of our breads are hand shaped. Lunch: Fresh salads, panini sandwiches. Enjoy outdoor dinning on the deck. Private room available for meetings.

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, espresso, beer and wine. Come taste the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more.

Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly. Live music and lots of events. Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m.

Wednesday through Saturday serving freshly prepared small plates, tapas, charcuterie, desserts. Enjoy live music every Friday and Saturday night at 7pm. www.classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter.

COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT 3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley.

828.926.1820 Open Wednesday and Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

FRANKIE’S ITALIAN TRATTORIA 1037 Soco Rd. Maggie Valley.

828.926.6216 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank

June 1-7, 2016

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Come see us at the Historic Farmers Market Grab a bite & take home dinner.

Cottage Pie, Sausage Rolls & More!

Available all week from our kitchen

(828) 452-7837

128 N. Main St., Waynesville

Spicy, Mild or Sweet

Wed. & Sat. in the HART Parking lot

Smoky Mountain News

WaynesvilleCatering.com

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APPÉTIT Y’AL N L BO

REWARDS PROGRAM! 6306 Pigeon Road Canton, NC

Travel to Thailand without leaving Main Street

WINE • BEER • SAKE

(828) 648-4546 MON-SAT: 7 A.M.-8 P.M. SUN: 8:30 A.M.-3 P.M.

207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde

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blueroostersoutherngrill.com

828-456-1997 Monday-Friday Open at 11am

Open Daily 11:30-9:00 Real Local Families, Real Local Farms, Real Local Food

(828) 454-5400

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FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St., Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors. www.frogsleappublichouse.com.

GANKO EXPRESS 1896 S. Main St., Waynesville 828.246.9099 Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Serving a variety of Hibachi, Chinese, Thai and Sushi dishes.

JOEY'S PANCAKE HOUSE 4309 Soco Rd Maggie Valley.

828.926.0212. Winter hours: FridayMonday 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. Joey’s is a family style restaurant that has been serving breakfast to the locals and visitors of Western North Carolina since 1966.

Featuring a large variety of tempting pancakes, golden waffles, country style cured ham and seasonal specials spiked with flavor, Joey's is sure to please all appetites.

Join us for what has become a tradition in these parts, breakfast at Joey’s.

THE LUNCHBOX CAFE 100 Spicewood Dr., Clyde, 828.246.6296 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Serving up scrumptious breakfast, lunch and dinner all made with care in a welcoming environment. Subs, salads, sandwiches and more.

MAGGIE VALLEY CLUB 1819 Country Club Dr., Maggie Valley.

828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine.

Open seasonally for lunch and dinner. Fine and casual fireside dining in welcoming atmosphere. Full bar. Reservations accepted.

PAPERTOWN GRILL 153 Main St., Canton. 828.648.1455 Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Serving the local community with great,

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 828.926.0201 Open Monday-Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m and Sunday 7:30 a.m to 9 p.m. Full service restaurant serving steaks, prime rib, seafood and dinner specials.

ROB’S HOT DOG SHACK 42 Montgomery St., Waynesville 828.707.7033. Open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rob’s serves gourmet hot dogs and has homemade side items. Outdoor and indoor dining, café style restaurant. Locally owned and operated.

Family oriented business.

SAGEBRUSH STEAKHOUSE 1941 Champion Drive. Canton 828-6463750 Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Carry out available. Sagebrush features hand carved steaks, chicken and award winning BBQ ribs. We have fresh salads, seasonal vegetables and scrumptious deserts. Extensive selection of local craft beers and a full bar. Catering special events is one of our specialties. Local acoustic music on Tuesday nights.

SMOKEY SHADOWS LODGE 323 Smoky Shadows Lane, Maggie Valley 828.926.0001. Check Facebook page for hours, which vary. Call early when serving because restaurant fills up fast. Remember when families joined each other at the table for a delicious homemade meal and shared stories about their day? That time is now at Smokey Shadows. The menus are customizable for your special event. Group of eight or more can schedule their own dinner.

SPEEDY’S PIZZA 285 Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.3800.

Open seven days a week. Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Family-owned for 30 years. Serving hand-tossed pizza made to order, pasta, subs, gourmet salads, calzones and seafood. Also serving excellent prime rib on Thursdays. Dine in or take out available. Located across from the Fire Station.

TAP ROOM BAR & GRILL 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville.

828.456.3551. Open seven days a week serving lunch and dinner. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Tucked away inside Waynesville Inn, the Tap Room Bar & Grill has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Full bar and wine cellar. www.thewaynesvilleinn.com.

ITALIAN CUISINE

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Smoky Mountain News

MAD BATTER FOOD & FILM 617 W. Main Street Downtown Sylva.

828.586.3555. Open Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Handtossed pizza, steak sandwiches, wraps, salads and desserts. All made from scratch.

Beer and wine. Free movies with showtimes at 6:30 and 9 p.m. with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Visit madbatterfoodandfilm.com for this week’s shows.

PASQUALE’S 1863 South Main Street, Waynesville. Off exit 98, 828.454.5002. Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.

Classic Italian dishes, exceptional steaks and seafood (available in full and lighter sizes), thin crust pizza, homemade soups, salads hand tossed at your table. Fine wine and beer selection. Casual atmosphere, dine indoors, outside on the patio or at the bar. Reservations appreciated.

MEDITERRANEAN

June 1-7, 2016

JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday through Saturday; Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

scratch-made country cooking. Breakfast is served all day. Daily specials including Monday meatloaf, chicken and dumplings on Thursdays and Friday fish.

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and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley. frankiestrattoria.com

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895 Russ Ave. • Waynesville

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A&E

Smoky Mountain News

Drawing the lines to your passion

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER For Teresa Pennington, it’s a race against time.

“You have one hour to complete this drawing, where I’m usually taking three months on a single piece,” she laughed. “But, I’ve gotten better at it. You just have to be focused, have everything you need right there, and also plan ahead as to what you want to do.”

Sitting in the back of her “T. Pennington” gallery on Main Street in downtown Waynesville, the acclaimed colored pencil artist discusses her strategy for completing a timed piece of art for “Quick Draw.”

A fundraiser for art education and art-related scholarships in the local schools, the annual event Teresa Pennington. will be held on June 4 at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. To date, Quick Draw has raised a total of $112,063 for grants and scholarships.

“Keeping art in the schools is extremely important, which is one of the reasons I love participating in Quick Draw,” Pennington said. “Art enriches peoples’ lives, and there are so many incredibly talented artists living in this area. I couldn’t imagine walking through a home without art, and how empty and bare everything would be.”

Originally from Asheville, Pennington fondly remembers coming to Waynesville as a child. Her affection for the community eventually led her to relocate here. Having no prior experience in art, Pennington crossed paths with her destiny by way of, well, being sick.

“I was pregnant with my son. And I was really sick during the pregnancy, so I quit my job and was bored to death at home,” she said. “I started to take some watercolor and acrylic classes. I did that for awhile, but wanted something more detailed, something that had more defined lines and features.”

Then, one Christmas, a friend gave Pennington her first set of colored pencils. It was as if a lightning bolt had struck her, a sudden epiphany, where now she had a clear vision of what she wanted to do with her life, all from the moment the pencils were into her hands.

“It was the greatest gift I’ve ever received,” she said. “I enjoyed it so much, right from the start. I fell in love with it, and haven’t done anything else since.”

For the first few years, Pennington hit the road, participating in numerous art shows, all the while honing her craft and dazzling folks that just couldn’t believe her extremely detailed drawings were done by colored pencil.

“Nobody did colored pencil, which worked in my favor because it was so unusual,” she said. “And everyone along the way was amazed it was done in colored pencil. But, for me, it’s what I did, and continue to do.”

In 1985, Pennington opened her gallery on Church Street in Waynesville, which is now The Classic Wineseller. Nine years later, she moved around the corner to where she remains today.

A renowned regional artist, Teresa Pennington’s career started early after she was given a set of colored pencils as a gift.

From there, she’s become one of the most sought-after colored pencil artists in the Southeast and beyond.

“Honestly, when I opened the gallery I had no business plan,” she said. “I had $500 in my bank account and all that I knew was that this is what I wanted to do with my life. I was working three jobs and quit them all to open the gallery. My mother was scared to death for me, bless her heart.”

But Pennington persisted, only to become one of the most recognized and sought-after artists in Western North Carolina and around Southern Appalachia. She’s been commissioned by the Biltmore Estate (17 years and counting), U.S. Forest Service, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, and countless other organizations.

“To be able to make a living doing what you love is just phenomenal,” she said. “I never taking anything with this for “I had $500 in granted — I’m very lucky.” my bank And amid her years flourishing as an artist, account and all Pennington also takes a lot of pride and joy in the Church that I knew was Street Art & Craft Show. that this is what With the 32nd annual event this fall in Waynesville (Oct. I wanted to do 8), the storied festival has grown alongside Pennington with my life.” (one of its founders), to — Teresa Pennington where tens of thousands flock to downtown in search of art right from the hands of the some of the finest creative minds in the region.

“The show feels like a child to me, one that I nursed and brought along, only to stand there and see how it’s grown into something really special,” she said.

Pennington emphasizes how blessed she feels to continue to do her work. Looking back at the steps she took to today, it’s quite a serendipitous thing, one that might even put some goosebumps on your arm while perusing her gallery, standing there in awe of just how defined and mesmerizing Pennington’s works are. It’s as if her hands are some kind of camera, sketching down the details of the landscape, only to develop into a finished product, something of artistic splendor and intrinsic value.

“I will keep on drawing as long as I can, even when I’m 85 and still able to hold up a pencil,” she smiled.

Quick Draw at Laurel Ridge The WNC Quick Draw will be from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. The cocktail social will include an hour-long Quick Draw Challenge, silent auction and refreshments. Live artists will be working in the public eye, creating timed pieces, which will then be auctioned off.

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

• 5 to 6 p.m. — Artist Stopwatch Challenge. Hour of live creation. Stroll and marvel at the motivated live-action artists painting to beat the clock. Stroll and 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. 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. The featured item of the auction will be a South African vacation for two.

• 7:30 p.m. — Heavy hors d’oeuvres meet and greet. Meet your artist over delicious food and monitor your silent auction bids.

Tickets are $60 per person. Proceeds go to art education, grants and scholorships in local schools. For more information on the event or to see the roster of artists participating, click on www.wncquickdraw.com.

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD Garret K. Woodward photo

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June 1-7, 2016

So, do you?

Believe? Well, that’s a pretty large question to answer, but not one I’ll shy away from. Living in the belt buckle of the “Bible The “Trail Magic Ale #14” release party will be Belt,” I, for obvious reasons, June 3-5 at Nantahala Brewing Company in cross paths with folks from all Bryson City. walks of life, incredibly different fbackgrounds, and in pursuit of The Jackson County Youth Leadership Council will host the fifth Annual “Spring Into Summer” completely different things. from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at And, of those innumerable Bridge Park in Sylva. encounters, I find myself in the midst of one question that gets Art After Dark will continue from 6 to 9 p.m. posed quite often, to me as a Friday, June 3, in downtown Waynesville. writer, to me as someone open to all the possibilities of the cosmos — “Do you believe?”

The Fines Creek Fire Dept. will hold its 4th Some of my earliest memoannual barbeque from 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, ries as a child were of sitting in a June 4, at 244 Fines Creek Road in Clyde. church pew. Growing up in a The Shady Ladies will host its 13th annual pretty devout old school northshow “Quilt Art By The Shady Ladies” from 10 east Irish Catholic family, it was a.m. to 5 p.m. June 3-4 and noon to 5 p.m. expected we were in attendance June 5 at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in at mass every Sunday. It was also Waynesville. expected that we partake in confession every couple of weeks, in the 1950s and 1960s. There were nuns and also aim for a successful communion, there, too, older ones with strong French confirmation, and marriage ceremony, all as Canadian last names, who always made sure the years went along. you never forgot that a life of sacrifice and, From the age of 4 to 12, I attended maybe, of suffering, was the true path to Catholic school. Saint Mary’s Academy. eternal glory at the right hand of the Lord.

Champlain, New York. I remember the I was never a fan of religion in those building, an enormous, looming stone strucyouthful days. I think now, and did even ture, some three stories high on a hill overthen, that when you push something onto looking the small, quiet downtown. My someone long enough — religion, politics, mother and her siblings had attended there

The best prices everyday! arts & entertainment

This must be the place

etc. — then they will eventually push back.

The more I questioned God in religion, the more I ended up in the principal’s office, which was often, as Sister Kelly and I became “well acquainted” by the time I graduated from there in sixth grade.

As the years wore on, I distanced myself more from the church. I’ve never been a fan of obligation, of obligations of any kind. I didn’t like wearing a stifling necktie to mass.

I didn’t like the priest telling me (and all of us in attendance) that we’d all “burn in hell” if we didn’t watch our step at every moment of the day, every crossroads of our lives. The whole “fire and brimstone” thing never was my cup of tea. If I, or anyone else, were to want “to believe,” shouldn’t we believe in something of progress, of positivity, and of the promise of a better tomorrow?

And in recent years, I’ve found myself in deep thought about those early days, strolling the long corridors of cold concrete walls and 100-year-old creaking wood floors at Saint Mary’s. I think of God, and is he/she/it really does listen, and if I am even worthy enough to make some semblance of a query in their direction high above the restless minds and curious souls of this earth.

Even today, I’m not sure I believe in God, as in a real deal person sitting up on a cloud somewhere above Southern Appalachia. But, in my travels, I’ve come to the conclusion that I do not think that beauty in this world is coincidental. Whether it be a freewheelin’ jazz jam in a Manhattan basement club or when a significant other kisses your cheek when that’s all you’ve ever wanted, the way the forest smells during an all-day hike into isolation, or simply feeling the words spill out of your heart at 3:30 a.m. when every person, critter and bug is asleep, and all you want to do is solve the mysteries that have plagued humanity since we first witnessed the sun rise, only to wonder where that blazing ball of light and energy goes at night.

Maybe there isn’t a God. Maybe there is.

Who am I to say otherwise to those who might think otherwise? We all have our viewpoints, and as such, each should be respected and allowed to flourish in their own sunlight of a new day. All I can say, is that I’ve be in the presence of things I cannot explain, things beyond reason and science, that stop you in the your tracks, if but for a moment, where you find yourself in utter awe and ecstasy within your surroundings.

Besides, what’s the fun in thinking that nothing means nothing? I, for one, awake with the notion that we all have our victories in our own time, and that the only true currency between all of us is the value we place on the golden rule — treat others the way you’d want to be treated.

Awake into the day with a renewed sense of purpose, for you never know just who is watching, mortal or immortal. Life is too short to stand there, pointing at everything and dismissing it as nothing. Sure, acquired logic as you push further down the road is a key component to a good life. But, so is never losing that childlike wonder that there are things so beautiful, physically and emotionally, on this hurtling rock of ours through space, that, surely, it can’t all be for nothing.

Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.

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arts & entertainment

On the beat Joe Lasher Jr.

The Strand welcomes jazz, big band

‘Groovin’ on the Green’ goes country The “Groovin’ on the Green” concert series will host Joe Lasher Jr. (country/rock) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3, at The Village Green in Cashiers.

Other performs include The Freeway Revival (rock/jam) June 10, Bo Spring Band (folk/roots) June 17, Mac Arnold & Plate Full O’Blues (rock/blues) June 24, Jackson Taylor Band (country/rock) July 1, Hurricane Creek (rock/blues) July 8, Colby Deitz Band (Americana/bluegrass) July 22, Miss Kitty & The Big City (pop/rock) July 29, Erica Nicole (pop/country) Aug. 5, The Buchanan Boys (country/rock) Aug. 12, Julie Gribble (Americana) Aug. 19, Rockell

June 1-7, 2016

Kora master to play Bryson City

Smoky Mountain News

Scott (pop/piano) Aug. 26 and Hurricane Creek (rock/blues) Sept. 2.

All shows are free and open to the public. www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

Sean Gaskell will host a performance of the Kora, an ancient 21-stringed West African harp, at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at the Mariana Black Library in Bryson City.

Gaskell will feature traditional songs that are the heart and soul of the Koras musical repertoire in addition to some of his own personal compositions. The Kora roots stretch back to the mid-1700s and feature traditional songs that praise lead-

• Andrews Brewing Company will host Aly Jordan (singer-songwriter) 6 p.m. June 3, Blue Revue (Americana) 7 p.m. June 4, The Pressley Girls (Americana) 6 p.m. June 10 and Megan Saunders & The Driftless (Americana) 7 p.m. June 11. All shows are free. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

• Apple Creek Café (Waynesville) will host an evening of piano music on Fridays and jazz on Saturdays. Both events are free and run from 6 to 9 p.m. 828.456.9888 or www.applecreekcafe.com.

• BearWaters Brewing Company (Waynesville) will host its anniversary party at 5 p.m. June 4 with The Colby Deitz Band at 7 p.m. and Dave Desmelick (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m.

June 10. 828.246.0602 or www.bwbrewing.com.

30

The Blue Ridge Big Band will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville.

With performers from Haywood, Jackson, Buncombe, and Henderson counties, the 18 members of the group share a love of big band music and performing. The Wayne Ebinger photo

concerts include a repertoire with a wide variety of music styles from traditional big band music (Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington) to contemporary jazz (Chick Corea, Chuck Mangione) to Bobby Darin and popular music of the last few decades.

Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at The Strand or at www.38main.com.

828.456.4880. ers of high political status and those who helped expand the Mande Empire.

Gaskell, having studied the Kora over multiple visits to its homeland in Gambia, released his first solo album “Kora Music of West Africa” in 2012. His primary teachers were Moriba Kuyateh and Malamini Jobarteh. He has opened for headliner acts such as Oliver Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits.

This program is free and open to the public.

828.488.3030 or www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

• The Bryson City Train Depot concert series will host The Katts (Americana) June 4 and Frank Lee (bluegrass) June 11. All shows are free and begin at 6:30 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com.

Stecoah announces ‘Youth Talent’ winners The third annual “Mountain Youth Talent Contest” was held at the Stecoah Valley Bluegrass Festival in Robbinsville on Saturday, May 21.

This contest provides an opportunity to discover, develop, and encourage talent in the youth of Western North Carolina and to provide an opportunity for local youth to perform on stage before an audience.

Jackson County 4-H and Catch the Spirit of Appalachia (CSA) co-produce the contest.

Congratulations to this year’s winners: • Youth Vocal: 1st Place: Caleb Turpin (11), Robbinsville • Youth Guitar: 1st Place: Evan Lampkin (9), Franklin • Youth Mandolin: 1st Place: Caleb Turpin (11) Robbinsville • Teen Guitar: 1st Place: Drey Keener (13), Robbinsville • Teen Mandolin: 1st Place: Joshua Jones (14), Robbinsville 2nd Place: Booth Bassett (12), Robbinsville 3rd Place: Drey Keener (13), Robbinsville

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

828.488.8898.

ALSO:

• The “Friday Night Live” concert series at the Town Square in Highlands will host The Tallulah River Band (Americana) June 3 and Southern Highlands (Americana/bluegrass) June 10. Both shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. www.highlandschamber.org.

• The “Concerts on the Creek” series at Bridge Park in Sylva will host The Bobby Sullivan Band (classic rock) June 3 and Sundown (rock) June 10. Both shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.mountainlovers.com.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Steve Fiore (Americana) at 7 p.m. June 4, Puddle Jumpers 7 p.m. June 9, a fundraiser for the Edith Allen Wildlife Sanctuary with ‘Round the Fire (rock/folk) at 5 p.m. (music at 6 p.m.) June 10 and John Emil (steel guitar) 8 p.m. June 11. All shows are free.

828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Joe Cruz (piano/pop) June 4 and 11, and Bob Zullo (jazz/pop) June 10. Both shows are free and begin at 7 p.m.

828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Teen Cello: 1st Place: Booth Bassett (12), Robbinsville • Teen Fiddle: 1st Place: Joshua Jones (14), Robbinsville • Teen Bass: 1st Place: Elijah Bassett (14), Robbinsville • Teen Banjo: 1st Place: Mikel Laws (17), Bryson City • Vocal Group-Teen: 1st Place: Emily Franklin & Booth Bassett (13, 12), Bryson City & Robbinsville 2nd Place: Emily Laws & Mikel Laws (14, 17), Bryson City • Instrumental Group-Teen: 1st Place: Drey Keener & Caleb Turpin (13, 11), Robbinsville 2nd Place: Booth Bassett & Elijah Bassett (12, 14), Robbinsville • Judges Choice Award: Emily Franklin & Booth Bassett (13, 12), Bryson City & Robbinsville • Best of Show: 1st Place: Mikel Laws (17), Bryson City 2nd Place: Joshua Jones (14), Robbinsville 3rd Place: Caleb Turpin (11), Robbinsville

• The “Groovin’ on the Green” concert series at The Village Green in Cashiers will host Joe Lasher Jr. (country/rock) June 3 and The Freeway Revival (rock/jam) June 10. Both shows are free and begin at 6:30 p.m. www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night June 1 and 8, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo June 2 and 9. All events begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will hold community music jam from 6 to 7:30 p.m. June 2. Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer, anything unplugged, are invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen. Free. 828.488.3030.

On the beat

The “Songwriters in the Round” series will continue with Jerry Salley, Irene Kelley and Donna Ulisse at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the Balsam Mountain Inn. The Balsam Mountain Inn began the “Songwriters in the Round” series 15 years ago, and modeled it after similar performances at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe. Balsam’s performers are most often the Nashville-area songwriters who pen lyrics performed by country and western stars. Many performances feature Grammy and CMA award winners, and all include writers of many top-ranked songs.

A buffet dinner is included in the $49 ticket price, and seating begins at 6 p.m. To make a reservation, visit www.balsammountaininn.net or call 828.456.9498.

Cherokee Bluegrass Festival The Cherokee Bluegrass Festival will run from June 2-4 at the Happy Holiday RV Village & Campground, located at 1553 Wolfetown Road in Cherokee.

Among the numerous acts to hit the stage, headliners include The Gibson Brothers (June 2), Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers

Rhonda Vincent & The Rage will headline the Cherokee Bluegrass Festival.

New Presence

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Concerts on the Creek rocks out The seventh annual Concerts on the Creeks series will host The Bobby Sullivan

• Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company (Sapphire) will host a jazz brunch with Tyler Kittle & Friends from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Sundays. 828.743.0220.

ALSO:

• The “Saturday’s on the Pine” concert series at Kelsey Hutchinson Park in Highlands will host Well Strung (bluegrass/Americana) June 11 and Goldie & The Screamers (soul) June 18. Both shows are free and begin at 6 p.m.

• Sneak E Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) will host the “Funk to What?” open jam every Thursday at 8 p.m. 828.586.6440.

• Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host a jazz evening with the Tyler Kittle & Michael Colling Duo (with special guests)

every other Tuesday starting at 7 p.m. with the next performance on June 14. www.soulinfusion.com or 828.586.1717.

• Southern Porch (Canton) will host Bryce Denton (country/rock) at 7 p.m. June 2 and The Ryan Perry Band (country/rock) June 3.

Both shows are free and begin at 7 p.m.

828.492.8006 or www.facebook.com/southernkitchenkandd.

• The Stompin’ Ground (Maggie Valley) is now open for live mountain music and clogging at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

828.926.1288.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Cashiers) will host a “Bluegrass Mix-Up” night at 7 p.m. on Thursdays and a “jazz night” with Tyler Kittle & Friends at 6 p.m. on Fridays.

828.743.3000.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host a weekly Appalachian music night from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays with Nitrograss.

828.526.8364 or www.theuglydogpub.com.

• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host The Hooten Hallers (rock/blues) June 10 and Brother Hawk (rock/blues) June 11. All shows begin at 9 p.m. 828.456.4750.

• The Waynesville Public Library will host Two Armadillos (Americana/folk) at 3 p.m.

Saturday, June 11. Free. www.haywoodarts.org.

Smoky Mountain News

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic with Jimandi at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays, “Funky Friday” with Bud Davis at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Isaish Breedlove (Americana) at 7 p.m. on Saturdays. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com.

The Bobby Sullivan Band will play June 3 in Sylva. Laura Sparks Photography

June 1-7, 2016

• No Name Sports Pub (Sylva) will host The Freeway Revival (rock/jam) June 3, Viva Le Vox & Mike Farrington (swing/blues) June 4, Sam Danner & Lonzo Forrester (Americana) June 5, Brother Hawk (rock/blues) June 10 and Darren & The Buttered Toast (soul/funk) June 11. All shows are free and begin at 9:30 p.m. www.nonamesportspub.com.

• The Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host Dave Stewart (singersongwriter) June 3 and The Ozone Spiders June 4. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.rathskellerfranklin.com.

Courses to Help Arts Businesses Thrive Digitally and IRL 10 a.m. to Noon

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• Salty Dog’s (Maggie Valley) will have Karaoke with Jason Wyatt on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Mile High (rock) at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Andrew Rickman (rock/acoustic) will also perform on Saturdays. All events begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

• The “Pickin’ On The Square” concert series will continue with The Johnny Webb Band (country) June 4 and Ms. Kitty & Big City Band (pop/variety) June 11. All shows are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. A community jam begins at 6:30 p.m. www.franklinnc.com or 828.524.2516.

NEW SPACES:

at Haywood County Arts Council

(June 4), Rhonda Vincent & The Rage (June 3), Gene Watson (June 3), Balsam Range (June 4), The Grascals (June 4), and more.

In advance, one-day passes are $40, and three-day passes for $90. www.adamsbluegrass.com or 706.864.7203.

• Nantahala Brewing Company (Bryson City) will host Fireside Collective (Americana/folk) June 3, Soldier’s Heart (Americana/rock) June 4. Chalwa (reggae) June 10 and The Aaron “Woody Wood” Trio (Americana) June 11. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.nantahalabrewing.com.

• The Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Cherokee) will host a back porch old-time music jam from 1 to 3 p.m. June 4. All are welcome to come play or simply sit and listen to sounds of Southern Appalachia.

Band (rock) at 7 p.m. Friday, June 3, at the Bridge Park Pavilion in Sylva.

Other shows are as follows: Sundown (rock) June 10, Whitewater Bluegrass Company (bluegrass) June 17, Terri Lynn Queen & The Stingers (rock) June 24, Dashboard Blue (rock) July 1, Colby Deitz Band (Americana) July 8, Robertson Boys (bluegrass) July 15, PMA (reggae/rock) July 22, Darren Nicholson Band (Americana/bluegrass) July 29, Buchanan Boys (rock) Aug. 5, Ol’ Dirty Bathtub (Americana) Aug. 12, Porch 40 (rock/funk) Aug. 19, surprise band on Aug. 26, and Erica Nicole (country) Sept. 2.

Concerts are free, with donations accepted. Chairs and blankets are allowed. www.mountainlovers.com or 828.586.2155.

arts & entertainment

‘Songwriters’ welcomes Salley, Kelley and Ulisse

FREE ARTIST WORKSHOPS

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arts & entertainment

On the street the first keg of the 14th Trail www.firesidecollectiveband.com Magic Ale Release at the Tap Room. At 8 p.m. there will be a bottle swap/beer geek party in the brewery, with Fireside Collective (Americana/folk) taking the stage.

On Saturday, beginning at noon there will be a limited bottle release Trail Magic Ale bottles. A portion of the proceeds of the bottle sales will be donated to the Appalachian Trail Ridgerunner Program via the Friends of the Smokies organization.

At 8 p.m. there will also be a performance by Soldier’s Heart (Americana/rock). www.nantahalabrewing.com.

Fireside Collective.

‘Trail Magic’ returns to Nantahala Brewing The “Trail Magic Ale #14” release party will be June 3-5 at Nantahala Brewing Company in Bryson City.

On Friday at 6 p.m. they will be tapping

Sylva springs into summer

Rock/funk act Porch 40 will perform at ‘Spring into Summer’ on June 4 in Sylva.

Smoky Mountain News

June 1-7, 2016

Classic cars overtake Highlands

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The Highlands Motoring Festival will be held June 9-12.

The four-day event will include a welcoming party at the Ugly Dog Pub June 9, a day-long touring drive and the “Motoring to the Beach Gala” June 10, a classic car show and buffet June 11, and the “Cars and Coffee on Main Street” June 12.

The Highlands Motoring Festival will be held June 9-12. www.highlandsmotoringfestival.com www.highlandsmotoringfestival.com or info@highlandsmotoringfestival.com.

Festival celebrates Cherokee life, culture The Cherokee Voices Festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

During the event, there will be continuous performances of dance, storytelling and music. More than 25 live demonstrations of traditional Cherokee arts and crafts will be on hand. The festival is sponsored by the N.C. Arts Council and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

Free.

828.497.3481 or www.cherokeemuseum.org.

Cherishing Appalachian culture, history The 6th annual Appalachian Lifestyle Celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 11, in downtown Waynesville.

During the event, there will be local authors, artisan demonstrations and crafter booths including basket making, blacksmithing, quilting, weaving, wood working, wood carving, pottery, painting and soap making.

Live music will include The Darren Nicholson Band, Michael Reno Harrell, Possum on a Whale, The Radio Hill Boys, Geen &

The Jackson County Youth Leadership Council will host the fifth Annual “Spring Into Summer” from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at Bridge Park in Sylva.

The Main Street event will have numerous activities, games, inflatables, performances and a concert from Porch 40 (rock/funk). The event continues with an 8:45 p.m. showing of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ” at Mad Batter Food & Film.

Additionally, there will be a corn hole competition, a sidewalk-chalk contest and food by Brew Dawgz. Admission is free, though tickets must be purchased for the inflatables. There is an entry fee for the sidewalk-chalk competition. Half of the fee will go to the winner.

The Jackson County Youth Leadership Council is a program of the Jackson County 4H/Cooperative Extension that provides teenagers with opportunities to leave a positive impact on the community by creating, serving, and implementing change.

People of all ages are welcome.

828.586.4009 or heather_gordon@ncsu.edu.

The Sea Notes, Fly By Night Rounders, Miss Haven Bryant, and Jonah Riddle & Carolina Express. The J Creek Cloggers and Fines Creek Flat Footers will once again kick up their heels.

828.456.3517 or www.downtownwaynesville.com.

Cataloochee ‘Way Back When’ dinner The “Way Back When” trout dinner will continue at 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 3, at the Cataloochee Ranch in Maggie Valley.

The dinner showcases a recreation meal, music, storytelling and atmosphere of a 1930s Appalachian trout camp.

Enjoy a wagon ride across the ranch property amid the authentic re-creation of Mr. Tom and Miss Judy Alexander’s first fishing camp.

Cost is $39.95 per person, plus tax and gratuity. The dinner will also be held June 24, July 15 and 29, Aug. 12 and 26, and Sept. 2 and 16.

To RSVP, call 828.926.1401 or 800.868.1401 or www.cataloocheeranch.com.

Cullowhee Youth Lock-In The Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department will be having a “Summer Kick-Off Youth Lock-In” from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday, June 10, at the Cullowhee

Recreation Center.

This is for anyone in grades 4-8. The fee is $10 and will include pizza, snacks, and drinks. Space is limited to the first 30 to register. Activities will include gym games, Wii games, basketball, scooter games, ping-pong, movies, board games, and more.

Registration at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. For more information call Dora at the Parks and Recreation Department at 828.293.3053, extension 2.

Fines Creek BBQ The Fines Creek Fire Dept. will hold its 4th annual barbeque from 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at 244 Fines Creek Road in Clyde.

The proceeds from this dinner go toward the playground being built on the property. If it rains, come on out and enjoy everything without worrying about getting wet, for the big covered shed will keep you dry. The community has been without a playground for the kids for many years.

If you will visit us on a nice sunny afternoon, you will see that the playground is well used.

There will be good food and plenty of bluegrass music and dancing for your enjoyment. Live music will be by Hill Country, Cold Mountain Blue Grass, and The Olde Towne Band. There will also be door prizes.

828.627.8529.

On the street

The Jackson County Genealogical George Frizzell.

Society, City Lights Bookstore, the Jackson County Museum, and the Jackson County Public Library plan to recognize WCU’s Director of Special Collections and Jackson County native George Frizzell.

Frizzell is retiring July 1 and the groups will join to celebrate his over three decades of Appalachian preservation and stewardship. Friends and colleagues throughout the community will share their stories and memories of working with Frizzell, and he will describe his years at WCU. The celebration event will be in the Community Room in the courthouse wing of the Jackson County Public Library on Thursday, June 9. Refreshments will be served beginning at 6:30 p.m. followed by the program starting at 7 p.m.

828.631.2646.

• “Community Day” will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, June 2, at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Depot in Bryson City.

Live music, free lunch, giveaways, and more. www.gsmr.com.

ALSO:

• The Smoky Mountain Shrine Gem’s annual yard sale will be held all day on June 3 at the Shrine Building on Church Road in Franklin. All proceeds go to the Shrine Hospital. 828.342.7535.

• The Junaluska Flea Market will be held from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 11, at the Weldon Gym in Lake Junaluska.

• A bingo night will run at 5:45 p.m. on

The Ole Smoky Antique Tractor Club will host the 21st annual “Tractor Show” 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 3-4 at the Haywood County Fairgrounds in Lake Junaluska. The “Antique Tractor Pull” will start at 10 a.m. Saturday. There will be farm demonstrations, tractor train rides for the kids, “Tractor Olympics,” crafts, and more. Free, with donations accepted. 828.593.8330 or 828.775.5773 or www.haywoodcountyfairgrounds.com.

Thursdays through Sept. 1 at the Maggie Valley Pavilion. Cash prizes and concessions

by Moonshine Grill. Sponsored by the Maggie Valley Civic Association. 828.926.7630.

• A wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m.

June 4 and 11 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. $5 per person. www.papouswineshop.com or 828.586.6300.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. June 4 and 11 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 828.452.0120.

Smoky Mountain News

• The “Kid’s Crew Carnival” will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at The Factory in Franklin. Donut eating contest, free inflatable’s, 25-cent carnival games, face painting, and more. www.thefactory.bz.

Tractor club presents show in Haywood June 1-7, 2016

• The ceremonial Cherokee bonfires will run from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Oct. 1. Spend an evening with the Cherokee people by a roaring fire. Listen as Cherokee storytellers in period dress from the 17th century spin tales of days gone by, myths and mysteries passed down through the ages and talk of the history. Learn Cherokee survival skills and experience the dance. Your hosts will provide light refreshments, which include marshmallows for roasting and drinks. Guests sit by the fire near the Oconaluftee riverside enjoying a unique and entertaining experience. The events are free and open to the public. www.visitcherokeenc.com.

arts & entertainment

Celebration to recognize career of WCU’s Frizzell

• A wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.

June 4 and 11 at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. Free with dinner ($15 minimum). 828.452.6000.

• There will be a “Tasty Tuesday: Winter Seasonals” at 7 p.m. June 7 and 14 at Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden.

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June 1-7, 2016

arts & entertainment

On the wall Menendez to lead ‘Watercolor Seminar’

Waynesville’s Art After Dark

There will be a “Watercolor Seminar” led by nationally acclaimed art instructor Mark Menendez from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City.

Menendez will lead participants in creating a beautiful painting entitled “Golden Meadow,” to which the artist said, “Many

Art After Dark will continue from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 3, in downtown Waynesville.

Enjoy a stroll through working studios and galleries on Main Street and Depot Street. Festive Art After Dark flags denote participating galleries, including the Haywood County Arts Council Gallery and Gifts, Burr Studio, Earthworks Gallery, The Jeweler’s Workbench, Studio SG, Twigs & Leaves Gallery, TPennington Art Gallery, Cedar Hill Studios, Moose Crossing Burl Wood Gallery, and the Village Framer.

• The Haywood County Arts Council will feature a new show, titled “Pollinate, Propagate, Cultivate.” The show, which runs June 3-25, is a partnership with the Haywood County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers, features a “garden” of art. The opening reception will be during Art After Dark. The corresponding garden tour will take place on Saturday, June 18. For more information call the Haywood County Extension Cooperative Service at 828.456.3575.

• Holly Turner will be demonstrating at Twigs and Leaves Gallery. A resident of Lake Junaluska, she carves polymer clay into delicate figurines then adorns them in natural materials. As well, enjoy piano music by Waynesville’s Diane Wolfe and delight in the savory hors d’eurves.

• The Jeweler’s Workbench featured artist for June will be Terry Thompson, who has worked in sterling silver for almost 20 years. She graduated from the prestigious Professional Crafts Jewelry program at Haywood Community College. Her work is mostly in sterling silver with gemstones or cloisonné enamel settings. Painting is a hobby as is apparent in her cloisonné pieces.

• The Village Framer will be hosting an exhibition titled “Cousins under God,” created by local award winning artist Char Avrunin. The paintings of Char’s “precious boys” feature their life from before birth through five years old. www.downtownwaynesville.com or www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.

available. The fee for the seminar is $45. To reserve a space, call 828.488.7843.

Cherokee festival showcases gourd crafts

Gourd artists from around the world will again be “gathering” at the annual Gourd Artists Gathering & Art Festival June 2-5 at Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds.

Throughout the weekend, hundreds of gourd artists will be participating in dozens of scheduled workshops, demonstrations, mini-workshops, presentations and Q&A sessions. Gourd art Instructors and nationally acclaimed artists from around the country have teamed up to provide a wide variety of techniques from their areas of expertise.

In addition to a variety of finished gourd art for sale, many art and craft supply vendors will be on hand with a variety of tools, books, patterns, accessories and other supplies which are used in many art forms, and not only gourd art.

The festival is free and open to the public.

410.392.0003 or www.facebook.com/gourdheads.

times in my travels in the mountains, I catch the sun projecting its warm rays into valleys and hollows. The sun illuminates the fields where the corn has been harvested, creating a spectacular golden glow.”

In this project, Menendez will offer his distinctive approach to watercolor, designed to boost skills in landscape painting. In addition to his unique watercolor method, students will receive a personal explanation of Menendez’s view of color theory.

This seminar is designed for beginner and intermediate artists. There are only 10 spaces 347-71

Diane E. Sherrill, Attorney

Smoky Mountain News

Is a Will Enough?

FREE LUNCHEON SEMINAR

June 15

11:30 AM Best Western River Escape Inn Dillsboro • Reservation Suggested

828.586.4051

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347-39

28 Maple St. • Sylva

First Friday of each Month 6-9 p.m.

May through December

WAYNESVILLEGALLERYASSOCIATION.COM Funded in part by Haywood County Tourism Development Authority • 1.800.334.9036 • visitNCsmokies.com

On the wall

your friendly, local blue box — smoky mountain news

June 1-7, 2016

Dogwood Crafters Co-op in Dillsboro will be offering craft classes for children this summer.

• Leather Stamping will be offered from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 15.

Well-known local leather artists LeeAnne McCoy, Holly McCoy, and Patricia Cowen will lead participants in making a leather stamped bracelet and a key chain. The youth will also learn how to stamp a design on leather and how to dye leather. There is no charge for this class but registration should be completed by Friday, June 10.

• Spa Secrets, a class for mothers and daughters (or grandmothers and granddaughters or other relative) will be held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 29. Girls participating should be fifth grade and above.

This class will introduce "spa secrets,” inexpensive ways to pamper the body like bath salts and exfoliating scrubs. Both moms and girls will make four different recipes. Each person attending is asked to bring four small (6-8 ounce) glass jars with lids to take home their samples. Retired art teacher and commercial artist Joan Marsden will be the instructor. A supply fee of $8 will be charged.

Register by June 22.

• Genealogy for Child and Adult will be held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, July 14. The class is open to children going into third grade and older and a related adult (parent, adult sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle).

The class is appropriate for adopted children also. Each child will go home with a personalized notebook of family traits and traditions.

Joan Marsden will also instruct this class which is designed to introduce children to the fun part of genealogy — discovering links between generations. There is no charge for the class. Registration is due by July 6.

Classes will be held at the Dillsboro Masonic Lodge.

Register by calling 828.586.2435 or emailing junettapell@hotmail.com.

arts & entertainment

Kids craft classes offered in Dillsboro

Shady Ladies quilt show

Even our storytelling is an

outdoor adventure.

Smoky Mountain News

The Shady Ladies, a quilt group in Haywood County, will host its 13th annual show “Quilt Art By The Shady Ladies” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 3-4 and noon to 5 p.m. June 5 at the Folkmoot Friendship Center located in the Historic Hazelwood School in Waynesville.

The newly renovated gymnasium will be filled with over 100 beautiful quilts. Many quilts will be for sale and the boutique will feature quilting-related items made and provided by the members.

Proceeds from the $5 per person admission will be donated to Folkmoot. In addition, each year the Shady Ladies combine their talents to create a quilt to raffle off at the show. This year raffle ticket proceeds will be given to Broyhill Children’s Home and Hospice of Haywood. www.folkmootusa.org.

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arts & entertainment

On the wall • Paint Nite Waynesville will be held at 7 p.m. on Fridays at the Panacea Coffeehouse. Grab a cup of coffee, glass of wine or pint of craft beer and get creative. $20 per person. Group rates available. Sign up at Panacea or call host Robin Smathers at 828.400.9560. paintnitewaynesville@gmail.com.

• The Potter’s Wheel series will feature Susan Coe from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at The Wild Fern in Bryson City. The Wild Fern is hosting several local potters at the studio throughout the year. Stop by to see works from the potter's collection and chat with these talented artists as they create on the wheel and share their unique styles. Susan Easton will be featured on June 18. 828.736.1605 or info@wildfernstudios.com.

• A gala and benefit auction will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. Live entertainment, delicious food and traditional crafts. $25 per person. Proceed benefit the Folk School’s programs. 800.FOLK.SCH or www.folkschool.org.

• The next meeting of the Western North Carolina Woodturners Club, Inc. will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, at the Alternative School in Sylva. The school is located on Skyland Drive. Drive to the back of the school to the woodworking shop. Visitors are always welcome. The club meets the first Tuesday of every month. The club also meets at 6 p.m.

Thursday, June 9, at the Blue Ridge School in Glenville. Drive to the back of the school to the woodworking shop. Visitors are always welcome. The club meets in Glenville the second Thursday of every month March through November.

June 1-7, 2016

ALSO:

Smoky Mountain News

• “Paint & Pour,” an Appalachian Art Farm Benefit, will be held from 6 to 9 p.m.

Tuesday, June 7, at Sneak-E-Squirrel Brewing in Sylva. For more information on the event or to register, contact appalachianartfarm@gmail.com or 828.293.7287.

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• Learn ink drawing and zentangle fundamentals with artist Damaris Pierce from 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, 11 and 18 in East Waynesville. Take one or all, $45 each.

Open to beginners and seasoned artist.

Small groups, all materials included.

Registration and information at www.artoflife.com.

• The Macon County Senior Center’s watercolor class will have works on display during the month of June at the Macon County Public Library. There will be an artist reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the library. reesaboyce@gmail.com.

• The Adult Coloring Group will meet at 2 p.m. on Fridays in the Living Room of the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. An afternoon of creativity and camaraderie. Supplies

Grants available for artists The Jackson County Art Council Board of Directors is currently offering Grassroots Sponsorships to organizations in all cultural disciplines through a competitive application and review process.

In order to receive a sponsorship, organizations must engage highly qualified artists. Activities that will be funded include performances, exhibitions, and artist residencies in schools, classes, workshops, festivals, after school arts programs, and art camps.

The JCAC is the NCAC Grassroots Designated partner for funding art programs in Jackson County. It has for many years been a source of sub-grant funds that supported local organizations in offering high-quality arts programs benefiting a broad cross-section of the county's citizens of all ages.

Contact the Jackson County Arts Council for sponsorship applications at info@jacksoncountyarts.org or 828.507.9820. The deadline for applying is June 30.

are provided, or bring your own. Beginners are welcome as well as those who already enjoy this new trend. kmoe@fontanalib.org or 828.524.3600.

• After-School Art Adventure will be on from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. on Tuesdays at The Bascom in Highlands. For ages 5 to 10, Art Adventure is a class that explores the creative process of drawing, painting, printmaking, clay, sculpture, fiber art, and crafts by utilizing a variety of media. The students will investigate some of the most popular techniques and theories in art history and will be exposed to contemporary as well as folk art traditions. Tuition is $40 for a fourclass package. www.thebascom.org.

• “Stitch,” the community gathering of those interested in crochet, knit and needlepoint, meet at 2:30 p.m. every first Sunday of the month at the Canton Public Library. All ages and skill levels welcome. www.haywoodlibrary.org.

• The films “Race” (June 2-3), “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (June 4), “Hail, Caesar” (June 9) and “Zootopia” (June 10-11) will be screened at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Fridays; and 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays. All screenings are free. www.madbatterfoodfilm.com.

• The “Movies on Everett” summer film series will screen “The Lego Movie” on June 3 and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” June 10. All films are free and start at 8:30 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com.

On the stage

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

Gary Carden.

The summer kicks off with the Broadway musical smash “Legally Blonde the Musical” at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

The production is based on the popular 2001 film that made a star of Reese Witherspoon as the quintessential sorority girl Elle Woods. She enrolls at Harvard Law School to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner. Woods discovers how her knowledge of the law can help others and successfully defends exercise queen Brooke Wyndham in a murder trial. Throughout the show no one has faith in Woods, but she manages to surprise them when she defies expectations while staying true to herself.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. June 2-4, 9-11, and also at 2 p.m. and June 5,12. Special discount tickets are available for the Thursday performances and special discount tickets are also available for all performances for students.

828.456.6322 or visit www.harttheatre.org.

Carden to spin Appalachian yarns Storyteller, playwright, author and artist Gary Carden will host “An Evening of Stories” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 2, at the Swain County Genealogical & Historical Society Library in Bryson City. Carden will also hold a presentation at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at the Canton Public Library.

Carden is an award-winning Appalachian

arts & entertainment

author, playwright and folklorist. He has written several books, including the Appalachian Bestiary, which details some of the creatures featured in Appalachian lore, and Outlander, which tells the story of Horace Kephart.

In recent years, Carden also received the North Carolina Award for Literature, the state’s highest honor, for his body of work, which includes poetry, short stories and plays about the mystical people and places around Western North Carolina.

Both presentations are free and open to the public.

HART presents ‘Legally Blonde’

• Unto These Hills outdoor drama will run at 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday through Aug. 13 at the Mountainside Theater in Cherokee. The acclaimed outdoor drama traces the Cherokee people through the eons, through the zenith of their power, through the heartbreak of the Trail of Tears, finally ending, appropriately, in the present day, where the Cherokee people, much like their newly re-scripted drama, continue to rewrite their place in the world.

General admission tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children ages 6-12 and free for children under age 5. Reserved tickets also available. 866.554.4557 or www.visitcherokenc.com.

ALSO:

A G U A R A N T E E D G R E AT N I G H T O U T June 1-7, 2016

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Smoky Mountain News

JUNE 11 TWO SHOWS

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Books

Smoky Mountain News

The March is filled with unique characters everal months ago, I was invited to join the Senior Citizen Book Club at the Jackson County Senior Citizen Center. I did so and have been delighted by the discussions which take place on the first Friday of each month at 10 a.m.

So far, we have discussed some classics (John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men) and the in-depth study of the Salem witch trials (Witches by Stacy Writer Schiff ). This month’s selection is E. L. Doctorow’s novel, The March, based on General Sherman’s devastating march through Georgia in 1864.

Doctorow fans are familiar with this author’s habit of creating “fanciful” events involving famous personages and creating colorful characters who show up in other novels.

Most notable is Ragtime which became a highly successful Milos Foreman film.

Doctorow blends actual and fictional history with memorable results.

For example, Emma Goldman, the political activist, probably never met Evelyn Nesbitt, the beautiful socialite who was having an affair with Alfred White while she was married to Harry Thaw. But in Doctorow’s fanciful world, all these characters not only meet, they ignite in a series of steamy episodes.

Using characters and their descendants in different works is evident in The March. For example, Coal House Walker Jr., the AfricanAmerican musician in Ragtime, is the grandson of the Coal House Walker in The March who saves Wilma Jones from drowning. Most

Gary Carden

S

notable is the strange and emotionally cold Army surgeon, Col. Wrede Sartorius, who shows up in another Doctorow work, The Waterworks.

Basically, The March deals with the tragic consequences of the infamous march of William Tecumseh Sherman and his 62,000 Union soldiers through Georgia and up into North Carolina. The cast of characters is huge and includes Southern plantation owners, thousands of freed slaves and entire households, who find themselves homeless and having no other option, join the march. Many find their way into the hospital wagons where they watch Wrede Satorius amputate arms and legs with terrifying speed (a leg in 12 minutes, an arm in nine).

This is the fate of Mattie and Emily Jameson, a disenfranchised mother and daughter who struggle to make themselves necessary. Mattie becomes Satorius’ assistant, standing at the operating table passing the surgeon his tools. In time she finds herself in Satorius’ bed. When Satorius discovers that she is a virgin, he offers to “deflower her” with a medical instrument, assuring her that this act will make her future sexual experiences less painful. The operation is successful, but Mattie finds Wrede repugnant and decides to face the future on her own.

As Sherman advances, he witnesses acts of amazing brutality as slave owners struggle to deal with his presence. Often, they drown their own mules and horses to avoid giving them to the invaders. Silverware and antiques are buried. Often, family members load a wagon with food and valuables and simply join the march. An astonishing number of homes are burned; however, Sherman and his officers often occupy the most impressive structures and even carry out an ongoing

New work on National Parks Hiking expert and Asheville resident Danny Bernstein will present her new book at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 3, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey Through the National Parks of the South is an informative guide and personal account of hiking over 70 national parks in the south. In it, Bernstein details the human history of the parks as well as the unique beauty each park offers.

To reserve copies, call 828.586.9499.

Reading program offered at Macon library Readers of all ages will explore all things games, exercise and sports this summer as the Macon County Public Library in Franklin presents “On Your Mark, Get Set…Read” during their summer library program.

Activities will include yoga, karate, soccer, art projects, science and engineering experiments, and more. The program is open and

social life in which they entertain their friends. Cooks are readily given employment and are encouraged to travel with the Army.

When Sherman turns his march toward North Carolina, he announces that there will be less destruction since North Carolina withdrew from the Union “reluctantly.”

Doctorow describes the march as a great dust cloud that engulfs the million-legged marchers and emits the odor of death and destruction that can be smelled for a five-miles radius. The rotting stench of dead horses, mules and human kind is pervasive and all of the nearby rivers and streams are clogged with the dead.

It was disconcerting to learn that armies customarily “purged” their horses and mules as “used up” and were readily replaced by new animals. Fresh food was usually obtained by the “bummers,” foraging units that raided farms for eggs, poultry, pigs and milk.

Sherman and his officers are not depicted as especially bloodthirsty and cruel; however Doctorow implies that the blood lust of the invader is easily awakened. Some plantations are quickly subdued while others turn into shameful episodes of slaughter and pillage, usually sparked by ill-advised resistance.

Soldiers often pillage and loot, carrying away costly heirlooms, much of which is abandoned on the march, or traded to the bands of prostitutes that travel in Sherman’s wake.

Much of the war is seen through the eyes of two “white-trash rebels,” Will Kirkland and Arley Wilcox, who were waiting execution in a Confederate prison (desertion and sleeping on picket duty) who learn to survive by changing sides by simply changing uniforms. In their most outlandish ruse, they become a part of a traveling photographer who, with the assistance of an African-American named Luke, is “immortalizing” the war by filming corpse-lit-

• Acclaimed writer Allison Hedge Coke will be teaching a poetry workshop, “Writing as Freedom and Docupoetics,” June 13-17 and a memoir writing workshop, “The Bird’s Nest: Eco Ethos and Organic Form,” June 18-24. The workshops are hosted by Cullowhee Mountain Arts and held on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. www.cullowheemountainarts.org or call 828.342.6913

ALSO:

free to young people, babies through young adult, with programs, prizes, storytimes, and more. Activities start June 13 and run through Aug. 27. All children can register at the Macon County Public Library.

Children will be awarded prizes for reading (or being read to) 15 minutes per day. For every seven days that your child reads at least 15 minutes (or that you read to him or her), your child will get a prize.

Thanks to a donation from the Fun Factory in Franklin, the grand prize for reading seven weeks is a certificate to the Fun Factory for one free attraction, five video game credits, and a $5 bonus.

Not only can children win prizes, but they can also participate in a variety of different programming. Some examples include karate with Danny Antoine Martial Arts and Fitness Academy, Animal Olympics with the Balsam Nature Center, and Going for Gold with

tered battlefields. The unfortunate Will ends up as a corpse in one of the photographer’s “posed scenes,” and Arly hatches an ill-conceived plan to assassinate Sherman while taking his photograph.

When John Updike reviewed The March, he noted that the novel did not contain a single African-American character who was cruel, brutish or filled with righteous anger.

Such traits were given to such characters as Gen. Kirkpatrick, who develops a love-sick yearning for a prostitute that destroys his career. Certainly, Sherman’s ambition is so intense, it becomes the driving power that fuels the march.

However, this novel contains a generous number of anomalies: characters who are unique due to their radical difference from the norm. Consider Pearl, the black child who is born with white skin and therefore able to pass as white. Her life and her soul are those of an African slave, but her “whiteness” protects her as she masquerades as a Union “drummer boy.” Although she is a child, her experiences in Sherman’s march causes her to ponder her condition, and what it means to be a slave, even as she seems destined to marry a young, white officer.

But, most deviate of all of Doctorow’s anomalies is Albion Simms, a wounded soldier who has a steel spike in his head. The surgeon, Webde Satorius, is fascinated by the grotesque wound and is determined to learn why Albion is still alive ... although he frequently begs for death. Satorious keeps Albion tied in an upright position with the poor man’s hands bound so he cannot commit suicide. And so they travel through the night, with Albion begging the African child, David, the child who tends him, to untie his hands ... and so eventually, he does.

Professor Whizzpop. All the programs are free and you can just pick and choose which programs you want to attend.

Sylva Summer Reading Program The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will start registration for the annual Summer Reading Program on Monday, June 6. Anyone interested can come to the Youth Services Desk on the first floor of the library to register.

The program is designed to keep children and teens excited about reading during the summer months. Each registrant will receive a Reading Log and will win various prizes for each week that they read at least 20 minutes a day. Children from birth to 18 are eligible for the program. Children that are not literate can still participate by being read to by an adult.

The program is completely free of charge, but some programs will have limited participation due to space restrictions. The Jackson County Public Library highly encourages every family to take advantage of this amazing opportunity.

These programs are free and open to the public. The events are co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

828.586.2016 or www.fontanalib.org.

Celebrating OUR 17TH YEAR as the most

ELEMENTAL PERIODICAL on your

June 1-7, 2016

TABLE

Food, Libations & Fun

Smoky Mountain News

Join us Friday 6/3 from 5-7 pm for

144 Montgomery St. Waynesville 39

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Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

Glad to be alive Bear bite victim tells his story

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he sun had not quite set when Bradley Veeder fell asleep in his tent May 10, feeling “tired but happy” after a 17-mile day on the Appalachian Trail.

The 49-year-old Montana native was no stranger to trail life, having more than 20 years’ experience backpacking in places ranging from Wyoming to Oregon to Nepal, and he’d been putting in 15- to 20-mile days ever since starting his A.T. thru-hike April 30. Sound sleep was an important part of the recipe.

T

THE ATTACK But that night near Spence Field Shelter in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park wasn’t to be a slumber-filled evening. At about 10:30 p.m., Veeder woke up to “a sharp pain in my right calf and an agonizing sensation like my calf was being squeezed in a vise,” he wrote in an online account of the incident that cut his A.T. hike short.

It was a bear, he was sure. He sat up, screamed, “No bear! Go away!” and the bear let go. A large hole gaped in the tent wall where his leg had been. Veeder drew his legs up in case the bear tried to bite the same spot again.

Then the tent wall began to bulge, this

time at upper-body level. Veeder punched the bear as hard as he could, shouting, “No bear!

Back off!” But the bear didn’t leave. It went for the vestibule, a compartment at the top of the tent where Veeder’s pack was stored. Again he shouted, and again the bear backed off. The process repeated three more times — the bear attacking the compartment, Veeder shouting, the bear backing off.

Then there was stillness. He cautiously reached up for the compartment zipper, but just as he was about to grasp it the bear attacked again, almost catching Veeder’s hand. He shouted again, and again the bear halted. He could hear it moving away, over to the spot where he’d hung his socks out to dry.

“The bear sniffed loudly at my socks for at least a minute, sounding like a very big dog, before the most vicious attack on the vestibule yet,” Veeder wrote.

The vestibule was becoming badly shredded, he realized, and began to panic.

“Since the smell of my own blood was so strong to myself,” he continued, “the bear must have been driven crazy by the scent.”

The bear attacked the vestibule three more times before silence reigned. Veeder waited for about 10 minutes before deciding he had to move. But the shelter where the other hikers were sleeping was about 200 yards away — a long walk when it’s dark and you’re limp-

Leg bandaged, Bradley Veeder poses with what was left of his tent after a harrowing evening with an aggressive bear. Donated photo

A National Park Service ranger bandages Veeder’s leg. Donated photo ing and an attacking bear seems to lurk in every shadow. Not that there were too many shadows. It was a dark night, and everything was blackness.

“I was sure that the bear would pounce on me from behind, pin me down and start feeding,” Veeder wrote. “I had just seen ‘The Revenant’ a few months before, which left a vivid picture in my mind. I was terribly afraid that I would miss the shelter and get lost, wounded and bleeding in the dark.”

Fortunately, he stumbled upon the trail to the shelter. A female hiker who was camped nearby heard him telling another camper about the bear, and she gathered her things and followed him to the shelter.

“The next morning, her tent was found to have been shredded by the bear, even though it was only about 40 feet from the shelter. The bear must have followed my blood trail from the field,” Veeder wrote.

Safe in the shelter — which had chain link fence across the front — a hiker applied first aid to Veeder’s bleeding leg, and park rangers were told what had happened. They promised to come the next morning and take Veeder out on horseback.

The rest of the night passed with no more bear encounters, but morning light revealed the bear had stayed busy. In addition to the woman’s shredded tent, hikers who went to collect Veeder’s things from his campsite found items strewn throughout a 100-yard radius. The bear had chewed everything Veeder left behind.

SEARCHING FOR INCENTIVE Now back home in Los Vegas, Veeder is at a bit of a loss to explain why the bear targeted him.

It’s extremely rare, almost unheard of, for black bears to attack people without provocation when there’s no food involved, leading to many questions about what Veeder had in the tent with him and how his food was stored.

An experienced hiker and backpacker, Veeder had purchased a top-of-the-line, odor-proof food bag, which held all his food and toiletries. The bag was hung from the bear cables near the shelter as he slept.

“My backpack should have had less residual odor than the typical A.T. thru-hiker’s backpack, because food odors would not have permeated the pack,” he said.

Though, as Bill Lea, a renowned wildlife photographer who’s spent thousands of hours photographing wild Smokies black bears pointed out, “Regardless of nearly every precaution you could possibly take, to a bear’s sensitive sense of smell there are going to be some odors associated with a backpacker and his or her clothes or equipment.”

For that reason, he’s taken issue with the park’s labeling the incident as a predatory attack.

The pack itself contained only a few items when Veeder settled down for the night — an umbrella, a water filter, a down vest, a cell phone, a book and a 1-ounce, unopened bottle of sunscreen. He

F

wrong one.

“I understand we can’t have bears breaking into tents when people are in them,” said Lea after the DNA results came back. “I understand that. But I think that if an animal needs to be eliminated we need to make sure we’re eliminating the right ani-

See farm life firsthand Farms on the ASAP Farm Tour boast stunning views as well as delicious produce. Donated photo

Read the whole story To read Bradley Veeder’s version of the bear encounter that left him bitten and with a shredded tent, visit www.peachpeak.wordpress.com.

mal and not just go out and start shooting — as they did over in Hazel Creek — at the first bear that comes back.”

The Spence Field Shelter is still closed, with park staff continuing to monitor the area for bear activity until leadership deems them to have “exhausted a reasonable search effort,” according to park spokeswoman Dana Soehn. So far, two bears have been captured and DNA tested following the one that was euthanized.

Both tests came back negative, but the bears in question were fit with GPS collars during the wait and were not euthanized.

STILL AN A.T. HIKER

Assistance available for damage from floods Macon County farmers whose operations suffered from flooding Dec. 24 to Dec. 31, 2015, are eligible for help from the Emergency Conservation Program, but the June 14 application deadline is coming up.

The program offers help with removing debris; grading, shaping or re-leveling the land; and restoring permanent fences.

Apply with the Macon County Farm Service Agency office at 189 Thomas Heights Road in Franklin, or call 828.524.3175, ext. 4.

Note that the agency’s hours have changed. The Macon office is now closed Thursday and Friday but open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. In case of emergency after Wednesday contact the Swain County office, 828.488.2684, ext. 2.

June 1-7, 2016

FALL SPORTS GAMES ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING Tuesday, June 7 • 6 p.m. @ Waynesville Rec Center The sports that are available for State Competition in the Fall are as follows: Basketball • Bocce • Golf Roller Skating • Soccer • Tennis All of these sports are possible with volunteers!

Smoky Mountain News

Veeder hasn’t given up on the A.T. Having survived with “minor puncture wounds to my right calf (1 inch to 1.5 inches deep), a very hoarse voice and slightly swollen knuckles on my right hand,” he wrote, he’s now almost healed — able to walk without a limp but also more inclined to bike than walk for the Horses stand ready to carry Veeder out moment. of the backcountry. Donated photo In July, he plans to get back on the trail, this time embarking on a southbound hike incident. It was a 400-pound male, tranquilbeginning on Mount Katahdin in Maine ized in the same vicinity as the attack and and ending at Fontana Dam, where he’d with dental injuries consistent with what started his hike the day of the attack. He’s happened to Veeder’s leg. The animal was feeling good about his chances this time too large to transport out to a holding pen around. and its neck too big to hold a GPS tracker, “I think that I’ll be able to sleep normalso park staff decided to put it down before ly after a few nights on the trail,” he said.

DNA results returned to confirm that it “I’ve had no difficulty sleeping since the was, indeed, the same bear. attack.”

It wasn’t. Ten days after the bear was And, based on the photo he posted of euthanized, DNA results came back negahimself the morning after, holding up the tive for a match. shredded tent and grinning ear-to-ear, he’s The park received a substantial bit of been holding up well during the waking criticism after announcing the negative hours, too. match, with the situation in many minds “If it looks odd to see me smiling,” he echoing one from June of last year, when a wrote in reference to the photo, “I felt such bear euthanized after a 16-year-old backa warm feeling of gratitude to be alive that I packer was pulled from his hammock in the couldn’t possibly have frowned.”

Hazel Creek area also turned out to be the

A behind-the-scenes peek into life on a family farm will be offered up with the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Farm Tour June 25 and 26.

Guided tours, demonstrations and hands-on activities will bring 20 farms in Buncombe, Madison, McDowell and Rutherford counties alive, with a photo scavenger hunt adding to the fun this year as well. The scavenger hunt will ask participations to capture images of 26 items and share on social media.

The farms are organized into six clusters to facilitate easier travel between them.

Passes are $30 in advance through www.asapconnections.org or $40 the day of, with one pass admitting an entire carload. www.asapconnections.org.

outdoors

zipped the pack in the vestibule atop the main sleeping compartment of the tent.

The campsite itself was about 200 yards from the fully occupied Spence Field A.T. shelter, and the flat and breezy field where he camped had been recommended by some A.T. volunteers encountered along the way as a good place to pitch a tent. He’d done so, setting up camp and then walking to the shelter to get water, eat dinner and hang the food bag.

“I’m not a bear expert, so I can only guess (why the bear attacked),” he said.

“My tent was the furthest from the shelter, and a bear would feel most confident seeking prey at the outskirts of the group of tents near the shelter.”

But as to why the bear went for his leg?

His leg was far from the pack, and there was no food in the tent, Veeder said.

“I assume that the bear was put down,” Veeder wrote, “which is unfortunate but necessary.”

Park staff did put down a bear after the

All people that are interested in Coaching, starting up a local sport for our Special Olympics, or assisting athletes in attending the Fall State Tournament will need to be in attendance at this meeting.

WAYNESVILLE

PARKS AND RECREATION 828.456.2030 or email tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov

347-05

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Prowl for owls

A blitz on the biological diversity of Bluff Mountain near Hot Springs will aim to inventory as many species as possible on June 4 and 5.

“This event is a great opportunity for people to hike in a unique and diverse ecosystem, learn from expert naturalists and see our native species and habitats first-hand,” said Josh Kelly, public lands field biologist for MountainTrue, which is organizing the Buff Bio-Blitz.

The area’s range of elevations, landforms and rare habitat types likely house an abundance of rare and common species, but few biological inventories of Bluff Mountain have occurred. The bio-blitz findings will be submitted to the U.S. Forest Service as part of a citizens’ proposal for protective management of Bluff.

Free, with registration at http://bit.ly/bluffmtblitz. Participants should be physically able to participate in moderate or strenuous hikes led by expert naturalists. www.mountaintrue.org.

Seek a sighting of the mountains’ most regal birds with the Owl Prowl at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 9 at Highlands Nature Center.

The night will begin with a presentation by the Carolina Raptor Center featuring live owls, and afterward participants will join members of the Highlands Plateau

Barn Owl. Greg Lilly photo

Cyclists gather for the start of the Gran Fondo Asheville. Donated photo

Cycle for the Smokies Audubon Society to spot owls in the wild.

Free. A collaboration between the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society and the Highlands Biological Society.

828.526.2623.

June 1-7, 2016

outdoors

Discover biological riches on Bluff Mountain

You’re Invited Smoky Mountain News

Mountain Pediatric Mountain P ediatric Group Group Open House Open H ouse une 3 2016 Friday, Friday, J June 3,, 2016 3:30 - 6 p.m. p.m.

3:30 24 Falcon Falcon Crest Crest Lane, Lane, Clyde, Clyde, NC NC 24 Behind Behind Coffee Cof fee Cup Cup Cafe Cafe

James J a mes G Guerriere, u e r rie re , M.D. M . D.

Event Details: • Meet the Doctor • Entertainment

Information • Health Information • Food & Drink

• Teddy Teddy e Bear/Doll Clinic • Car Seat Checks

• Childr Children’s en’s Activities

• Tours To ours

• Fire Fire Truck Truck

About Mountain Group Pediatric Gr oup • Newborn Nursery coverage • Antepartum visits • Birth to 18 years old

C Clinic linic H Hours ours

• Well Child Checks

Monday Friday, p.m. .m .

M onday – F riday, 8 – 11:45 11:45 a.m. a .m . & 1 – 5 p a.m.

8–9a .m. is is reserved reser ved for for newborns newborns Walk-ins Walk-ins are are welcome welcome

• Immunizations • Sports Physicals • Sick Visits • ADHD • High School and Middle School Sports Coverage

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www www.mountainpediatric.com .mountainpediatric.com

Cyclists will take in the beauty of Western North Carolina’s most scenic roads with the third annual Gran Fondo Asheville on Saturday, June 18.

Raising money for Friends of the Smokies, the ride features noncompetitive courses of 30, 60 and 100 miles, with cyclists also having the option to push themselves for short, timed sections, competing to win.

“Cycling in these mountains is challenging but rewarding. In true Gran Fondo style, we have created a festive atmosphere along the route and at the finish,” said Reuben Kline, Gran Fondo National Championship Series President.

The ride begins and ends in downtown Asheville. $55-$110, with prices rising after June 9.

Field limited to 500 people.

Explore Appalachian diversity at Whiterock Mountain

The night will begin with food, games, a silent auction and a photo booth at 5 p.m., with live music by ‘Round the Fire beginning at 7 p.m.

All proceeds will go to the Edith Allen Wildlife Sanctuary, a nonprofit based in Haywood County that gives exotic animals a place to live out their lives after their owners have given up on them as pets. The organization also works to teach people about the responsible ownership of animals other than dogs, cats and livestock.

Admission is free, with a $5 charge for food. David Landt, 828.646.8805 or eawsinc@gmail.com.

Reach the pinnacle of biodiversity with a hike to Whiterock Mountain near Highlands, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, June 10.

One of the most extraordinary sections of the Bartram Trail, the Whiterock Mountain hike is packed with wildflowers, vistas and geologic history, all of which will be explained by the Highlands Biological Foundation, which is leading the hike.

The outing is part of the Foundation’s Friday Forays series of outdoor excursions, which will conclude June 17 with a float trip down the Little Tennessee River. $15 for Foundation members; $35 for nonmembers. Register at www.highlandsbiological.org/forays.

Wildlife Sanctuary Benefit Fundraiser A fundraiser to help wild animals in need will feature food, beer and fun starting 5 p.m. Friday, June 10, at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville.

Mast General to donate proceeds for land conservation Shopping at Mast General Store in Waynesville will help the cause of land conservation on Saturday, June 4.

In recognition of National Land Trust Day, Mast will donate a portion of its sales that day to Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, a land trust, to support ongoing conservation efforts.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturdays.

facebook.com/smnews

June 1-7, 2016

A campaign to fix up an iconic symbol of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park needs support from park lovers — in the form of daily online votes through Tuesday, July 5.

Clingmans Dome Tower, which straddles the North Carolina-Tennessee state line at 6,643 feet, is in the running for a $250,000 grant to correct up to 4 inches of foundation settlement and address deterioration along the stone masonry walls, concrete and flagstone terrace. The tower, completed in 1959, is still structurally sound but needs help now to avoid further settlement of the foundation and prevent the need for a more extensive structural repair in the future.

“Clingmans Dome is a special treasure for the people of North Carolina and Tennessee,” said Friends of the Smokies President Jim Hart.

“Visitors from all over the world flock to this iconic tower and with everyone’s help, we can preserve this magnificent structure for generations to come.”

Each year, more than 600,000 people travel Clingmans Dome Road to reach the visitor station there and half-mile trail to the tower. The highest point in the park, the tower offers views of up to 100 miles distant.

The grant, if awarded, would come from Partners in Preservation, a communitybased partnership of American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The program is embarking on its first national campaign in the program’s 10-year history. In honor of the National Park

Service’s centennial year, the 2016 Partners in Preservation: National Parks campaign will award $2 million in grants to historic sites in need of preservation within national parks units, as decided by popular vote.

The Smokies was one of 20 historic places selected nationwide.

“Please vote daily to help us win the challenge that will enable us to preserve one of most unique experiences in the park,” said Park Superintendent Cassius Cash.

“With these funds, we can help ensure that people have the opportunity to walk to the top of the Great Smokies and take in the view from this historic tower.”

outdoors

Votes needed to restore Clingmans Dome Tower

Clingmans Dome Tower. NPS photo Voting is open through July 5 on www.voteyourpark.org, with each person permitted to vote once per day. www.savingplaces.org/partners-inpreservation.

Learn to be safe on the water with a free certification course in boat safety, 6-9 p.m. June 6 and 7 at Haywood Community College.

Participants must attend both sessions to receive certification. Certifications are required to get permitted for a variety of water-based activities in North Carolina. The course is offered through a partnership between HCC and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

The course will also be offered July 13-14.

No age limit. Registration required at www.ncwildlife.org.

mobile technology to help you get a lot less mobile.

Raft free by helping the hungry Raft for free 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 5, by helping build up the food pantry of Sylva-based United Christian Ministries of Jackson County.

Smoky Mountain River Adventures, the Dillsboro River Company and Tuckasegee Outfitters are all participating, offering free rafting trips to each person bringing in 10 cans of food. www.ucmhelp.com.

Smoky Mountain News

Get certified in boat safety

Log on. Plan a trip.

And start kicking back.

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outdoors

Get outside on National Trails Day Every year, America’s hiking trails get their moment to shine with the American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day. This year’s celebration is June 4, and on that day opportunities to explore Western North Carolina on foot will abound.

WITNESS A TRAIL-BUILDING MILESTONE

Smoky Mountain News

June 1-7, 2016

After 10 years of work, the Carolina Mountain Club will celebrate the grand opening of its 20-mile section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail with official ceremonies, trail maintenance and — what else? — a pair of hikes. All activities will begin at Waterrock Knob, located on the Blue Ridge Parkway 10 miles from Maggie Valley.

■ At 9:15 a.m., a group will embark on a morning of trail maintenance to keep the trail to the top of the knob looking good.

Sign up with Les Love, lesrlove55@gmail.com.

■ An easy 4-mile hike along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail will leave at 9:30

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a.m. Closed-toe shoes required. danny@hikertohiker.com.

■ At 1 p.m., a dedication ceremony involving representatives from CMC and North Carolina State Parks will officially open the new trail section.

■ An easy 2-mile hike will leave from Waterrock Knob on the MST immediately following the dedication. danny@hikertohiker.com.

The new section bridges much of a 30mile gap in the MST’s route through Western North Carolina which, once com-

pleted, will create a 300-mile continuous section of trail from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Stone Mountain State Park. The National Park Service is working to complete the final 7-mile section from the start of the Parkway.

The MST is a 1,150-mile route stretching from mountains to coast in North Carolina, with 600 of those miles currently existing as built trail. In 2002, CMC volunteered to build the section now being opened and began work in 2006 — the undertaking involved nearly 250 workdays with 25,000 volunteer hours worked by 100 different people over 10 years. www.carolinamountainclub.org.

HIKE HARD FOR A VIBRANT VIEW A strenuous 8-mile hike will pay off with a five-star view of Shooting Creek on a National Trails Day outing led by the Building the 20 miles of trail set for grand opening required Nantahala Hiking Club. thousands of hours of hard work by Carolina Mountain Club volThe route will follow unteers. Danny Bernstein photo the Appalachian Trail

from Deep Gap to Raven Rock Overlook, covering 1,100 feet of elevation gain.

A carpool will leave from Franklin at 8:30 a.m. Visitors are welcome, but no dogs. RSVP to Bill and Sharon Van Horn, 828.369.1983.

EXPLORE PANTHERTOWN A 5-mile hike will explore Panthertown Valley beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The hike aims to be fun and casual, exploring the wonders of Panthertown Valley and guided by Friends of Panthertown volunteers.

Space limited. RSVP to 828.269.4453 or friends@panthertown.org. Panthertown Valley is a popular backcountry recreation area in the Nantahala National Forest near Cashiers.

WORK ON THE A.T. Give the Appalachian Trail’s path through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a leg up with the annual Appalachian Trail Work Day. Volunteers will spend the day improving wear and tear on the A.T., receiving a Tshirt and ending the day with a picnic at Metcalf Bottoms.

Organized by Friends of the Smokies, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club and the Smokies park.

Registration is $25. www.friendsofthesmokies.org, 865.577.2604 or phyllishenry@yahoo.com.

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • The ceremonial Cherokee bonfires will run from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday through Oct. 1. At Ocoaluftee Island Park in Cherokee. The bonfires Guests sit by the fire near the Oconaluftee riverside enjoying a unique and entertaining experience. The events are free and open to the public. www.visitcherokeenc.com.

• Sylva Friends of the Library will hold their annual meeting at 5 p.m. on June 2 at the home of Polly Davis.

910.476.2544 or pollybdavis@yahoo.com.

• The Cruso Community Center Thrift Shop and Library open May 27. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesdays through Saturdays. 235.9354.

• Fines Creek Fire Dept. will hold its fourth annual barbecue from 2-8 p.m. on June 4. Bluegrass music, dancing and door prizes. 627.8529.

• Macon County Art Association will honor local veterans by painting their portraits. Submissions for candidates of the “Veterans Portrait Tribute” are due by July 4; submit a clear, good-quality photo and brief biography to Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Community showing and presentation is on Veterans Day in November.

349.4607 or karen@programservices.org.

• The Jackson County Genealogical Society, City Lights Bookstore, the Jackson County Museum, and the Jackson County Public Library will recognize the July 1 retirement of WCU’s Director of Special Collections and Jackson County native, George Frizzell at celebration event at the Community Room in the courthouse wing of the Jackson County Public Library on Thursday, June 9. Refreshments will be served beginning at 6:30 p.m. followed by the program starting at 7 p.m. 631.2646.

• The Jackson County Art Council Board of Directors is currently offering Grassroots Sponsorships to organizations in all cultural disciplines through a competitive application and review process. Contact the Jackson County Arts Council for sponsorship applications at info@jacksoncountyarts.org or 507.9820. The deadline will be June 30.

• Western Carolina University is accepting nominations for the Mountain Heritage Award, an honor bestowed annually on one individual and one organization playing a prominent role in researching, preserving and/or interpreting Southern Appalachian history, culture and issues. Nominations for the awards will be accepted through Thursday, June 30. Nomination letters may be hand-delivered to the Mountain Heritage Center at its new location in the Hunter Library building, Room 240; mailed to Mountain Heritage Center, 1 University Drive, Cullowhee N.C. 28723; or emailed to Pam Meister at pameister@wcu.edu.

• Western Carolina University has a new free outreach program called WCU Road Works that will present theatrical, music, film and visual arts events to organizations and communities throughout the region. The first offering this summer will be a family friendly production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged and Revised.” To book a production, call 227.7028.

• Coloring Club will be hosted on the second Wednesday of the month at 4 p.m. at Canton Library.

Color pencils and color pages supplied. For ages 8 to 108. 648.2924.

• Beginners Chess Club is held on Fridays at 4 p.m. at the Canton Public Library. Ages 8-108 invited to participate. 648.2924.

• Oconaluftee Indian Village is now opened for the 2016 season, located next to the Oconaluftee Visitors Center in Cherokee. Witness the challenges of Cherokee life at a time of rapid cultural change. Tour guides help you

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. explore the historic events and figures of the 1760’s.

Visitors can interact with villagers as they participate in their daily activities. The village also hosts live reenactments, interactive demonstrations, and hands-on Cherokee pottery for kids classes. The village is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. www.visitcherokeenc.com.

• Qualla Boundary Historical Society meets at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Everyone is welcome.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Issues & Eggs is set for 8-9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 1, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. Guest speaker is Tonya Wilson Snider, owner of TenBiz. Topic is “Customer Service is not a Department, It’s an Attitude.”

• Applications to serve an internship at the Cashiers Plein Air Festival are due by June 1. Applicants must be available from July 9-16. Unpaid.

Cashierspleinairfestival.com, click on links and look for “Plein Air Festival Intern Application.” Complete schedule of festival activities also available on the same website. Info: volunteer@villagegreencashiersnc.com.

• A women’s business networking luncheon will be presented by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center and the Western Women’s Business Center at the Support Center from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, at the HCC Creative Arts Building, Room 7105 in Clyde. Topic: Building Your Circle of Support.” Register: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512.

• “Business After Hours” networking receptions and showcases are scheduled for 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, at 58 Highway 107 North in Cashiers. Door prizes, refreshments. $10 for nonmembers; free for members. RSVP: 743.5191 or info@cashiersareachamber.com.

• Mountain Pediatric Group will hold an open house from 3:30-6 p.m. on Friday, June 3, at 24 Falcon Crest Lane in Clyde. Activities, entertainment, fire truck, car seat checks, food and drink, tours and opportunity to meet James Guerriere, M.D. www.mountainpediatric.com.

• A class on cloud technology and Google Drive is set for 5:45 p.m. on Monday, June 6, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Sign up and get more info: 586.2016. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

• A class on Google settings is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Sign up and get more info: 586.2016.

Co-sponsored by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

• Haywood County Visitor Center & Tourism Development Authority will hold a Ribbon Cutting & Grand Opening at 4 p.m. on June 15 at 1110 Soco Road in Maggie Valley. Music and refreshments. RSVP by June 10.

• A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, at Haywood House at 27 N. Main Street in Canton. 276.1004.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • WNC QuickDraw is scheduled for 4:30-9:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. QuickDraw challenge, silent auction and

Smoky Mountain News

refreshments. Live artists create timed pieces in the public eye; items will then be auctioned off. Tickets: $60. Proceeds go to art teaching in local schools. www.wncquickdraw.com.

• Land Trust Day, a “friend-raising” event encouraging new memberships in local land trusts, is Saturday, June 4, at Mast General Store in Asheville and Waynesville.

Mast General Store donates 20 percent of sales that day to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. http://appalachian.org, http://maststore.com.

• “Ms. Patti’s Entertainment Tonight” production will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $10. Proceeds benefit local missions. Available at www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615.

• An Italian-themed evening is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Breaking Bread Café in Bethel. A fundraiser for the Community Table. Reservations required: 648.3838.

• The Smoky Mountain Shrine Gem’s annual yard sale will be held all day on June 3 at the Shrine Building on Church Road in Franklin. All proceeds go to the Shrine Hospital. 828.342.7535.

• United Christian Ministries is holding a series of fundraisers in June to help Jackson County families in need. Dine from 4-9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7, at Sazon on Old Cullowhee Road; from 5-10 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, at Zaxby’s in Sylva; 3-7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, at The Coffee Shop in Sylva; 5-9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21, at Mad Batter in Sylva; and 4-9 p.m. on Thursday, June 23, at Coach’s at the Jarrett House in Dillsboro, and 10 percent of proceeds will support United Christian Ministries.

• The Edith Allen Wildlife Sanctuary, Inc., of Western North Carolina will hold a benefit fundraiser starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 10, at Frog Level Brewing Co. in Waynesville. Live music by ‘Round the Fire band at 7 p.m. Silent auction, photo booth. All proceeds go directly to the care of animals. 646.8805 or eawsinc@gmail.com.

• A gala and benefit auction will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. Live entertainment, delicious food and traditional crafts. $25 per person. Proceed benefit the Folk School’s programs. 800.FOLK.SCH or www.folkschool.org.

• Ladies’ After Hours & Professional Attire Service Project is at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 13, at the Main Street Mercantile. Presented by The Haywood Chamber’s Young Professionals, REACH and Main Street Mercantile. Thin your wardrobe and make a difference in the community. 456.3021.

• A seed money fundraiser is underway to benefit the new Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. The library furnishings fund receives 50 percent of sales receipts for each packet sold directly or 25 percent sold at SowTrueSeed.com; use the code MBL2016. 488.3030, ext. 128, jdelfield@fontanalib.org.

• United Christian Ministries is hosting a rafting fundraiser from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday June 5 in Sylva and Whittier. For 10 cans of food, each person can get a rafting trip from Smoky Mountain River Adventures (586.5285) or Tuckasegee Outfitters (586.5050) in Whittier or Dillsboro River Company (586.3797) in Sylva.

VOLUNTEERS • Community Kitchen of Canton is looking for volunteers to serve this summer. Dates available to serve are June 11, 13, 17, 22, 25, 30 and select days in July & August. 648.0014

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Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings • STAR Rescue Ranch is seeking volunteers to help with horse care, fundraising events, barn maintenance and more at the only equine rescue in Haywood County.

505.274.9199.

• Volunteer Opportunities are available throughout the region, call John at the Haywood Jackson Volunteer Center today and get started sharing your talents. 3562833 • Phone Assurance Volunteers are needed to make daily or weekly wellness check-in calls for the Haywood County Senior Resource Center. 356.2816.

VENDORS • The town of Dillsboro will be hosting arts and craft shows open to vendors from the surrounding region.

Saturday, Aug. 20 — The Dillsboro Summer Arts & Crafts Market showcases local art and fine crafts, with a focus on family and children activities. Application due by June 1. Saturday, Oct. 1 — The 8th annual ColorFest will line Front Street with colorful art and fine crafts. Application due by July 1. Vendors may apply for these shows by downloading an application from the town’s website, www.visitdillsboro.org or directly from www.visitdillsboro.org/specialevents.html. For more information, call Connie Hogan at 586.3511.

HEALTH MATTERS • Participants are being sought for a clinical trial for those overweight with knee pain. Directed by Dr. Kate Queen of Mountain Medical Associates. wecan@wfu.edu or 558.0208.

• National Cancer Survivor’s Day Celebration is scheduled for 11 a.m.-noon on Thursday, June 2, at the Macon Cancer Center in Franklin. Refreshments and activities for survivors and their family members.

277.9706 or dwwillis@shallc.net.

• A two-part training program for caregiver and caregiver employers is scheduled for Thursday, June 2, at the Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. Caregiver session is from 9-11:30 a.m.; caregiver employer session is from 1-3 p.m. 356.2813 or mclaytor@mountainprojects.org.

• Good Fats/Bad Fats will be presented as an Eco Forum by Sandi Hawk at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 3, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall in Franklin.

Meet and greet at 5:30 p.m. Covered dish at 6 p.m.

524.3691.

• A presentation on arthritic knees and knee replacement is scheduled for noon on Friday, June 3, in the Harris Regional Hospital boardroom in Sylva. Lunch will be served. Leading the presentation will be Dr. Lawrence Supik of Harris Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.

• National Cancer Survivor’s Day Celebration is scheduled for 11 a.m.-noon on Friday, June 3, at the Haywood Cancer Center in Waynesville. Refreshments and activities for survivors and their family members. 277.9706 or dwwillis@shallc.net.

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• The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday, June 10, at the First United Methodist Church in Sylva. 800.733.2767 or redcrossblood.org.

• A monthly grief support group sponsored by The Meditation Center meets at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at The Meditation Center at 894 East Main Street in Sylva. Info: www.meditatewnc.org or 356.1105.

• Inner Guidance from an Open Heart will meet from 6-8 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at The Meditation Center at 894 East Main Street in Sylva. Info: www.meditate-wnc.org or 356.1105.

• Dogwood Insight Center presents health talks at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month.

RECREATION AND FITNESS • The second annual Unified Special Olympics vs.

Faculty/Staff flag football game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, June 3, at their stadium in Waynesville. 400.2195.

• Registration is underway through June 10 for a corec volleyball league through the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department. Entry fee: $175.

Games are Tuesday nights starting June 21 at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. Info: 293.3053, ext. 2.

POLITICAL • A lunch-and-discussion group will be held by the League of Women Voters at noon on the second Thursday of each month at Tartan Hall of the First Presbyterian Church in Franklin. RSVP for lunch: lwvmacon@wild-dog-mountain.info or 524.8369.

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE

June 1-7, 2016

• A Moral Monday gathering is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Monday, June 13, at Bridge Park in Sylva. Reverend Dr. William Barber II will speak. 631.3447.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • Western North Carolina writer Monica Collier just released her new book, Unbecoming, a military romance fiction. There will be a party for the new book from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 1, at Books Unlimited in Franklin. www.monicacollier.com.

• Storyteller, author, playwright and teacher Gary Carden will present “An Evening of Stories” at 6:30 p.m. on June 2 at the Swain County Genealogical Historical Society Library in Bryson City.

SENIOR ACTIVITIES

Smoky Mountain News

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

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

• A Silver Sneakers Cardio Fit class will meet from 1011 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Waynesville Recreation Center. For ages 60 and above. Cost is regular admission fee to the rec center or free for members. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• Book Club is held at 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800

KIDS & FAMILIES • “On Your Mark, Get Set, Read” summer library program is underway at the Macon County Public Library 46 in Franklin. Prizes, programs and activities.

• The Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department is having a Summer Kick-Off Youth LockIn for grades 4-8 from 6 p.m.-midnight on Friday, June 10, at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. Wide variety of games and activities. $10 fee includes pizza, snacks and drinks. Info: 293.3053, ext. 2.

• Registration is underway for the Brazil Soccer Camp for ages 7-14 through the Waynesville Recreation Center. Camp options are 9 a.m.-noon or 1-4 p.m. from June 20-24. $160 per camper or full-day camp is $214. Late fee of $10 after June 10. Instruction by TetraBrazil. 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• A Kid’s Crew Carnival is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. on June 11 at The Factory in Franklin. Free donut-eating contest, inflatables and face painting. Quarter carnival games. www.TheFactory.bz.

• Smoky Mountain Sk8way is offering a nine-week summer camp The summer camp is for kids ages 6 to 13 years old with a daily drop in or weekly schedule.

Camp hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with drop off times on Tuesday and Thursdays by 9:30 a.m. to make the bus for field trips. Daily attendance is $30 a day or week 4-5 days $110. The camp staff is made up of local teachers, experienced coaches and returning counselors. For more information, visit www.smokymountainsk8way.com or call 246.9124.

• Registration is underway for summertime swim classes will be offered for children from ages six months to teenagers through Western Carolina University’s Office of Continuing and Professional Education. First session for all levels is Monday, June 13. Cost is $75 for ages 6-up and $44 for children under 6. For info or to register, call 227.7397.

• Kids Introduction to Fly Fishing will be offered to ages 8-13 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 3 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. http://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/EducationCenters/ Pisgah/EventRegistration.aspx.

• Kids Learn to Fish Day is scheduled for 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, through the Jackson County Recreation Department. Guardian must be present.

Register: 293.3053.

• Kids fishing event is scheduled for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Cliffside Lake in Macon County.

Open to kids 15 and younger. Registration onsite.

524.6441, ext. 421, or rmcclure02@fs.fed.us.

• The Jackson County Youth Leadership Council will host its fifth annual “Spring Into Summer” event from 4-8:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Bridge Park in Sylva. Activities, inflatables, games, movie and concert by Porch 40. Heather_gordon@ncsu.edu or 586.4009.

• Eco-Explorers: Stream Investigation will be offered to ages 8-13 from 1-3 p.m. on June 6 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. http://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/EducationCenters/ Pisgah/EventRegistration.aspx.

• The Jackson County Public Library’s annual summer reading program starts Monday, June 6, in Sylva.

Prizes, storytimes, movies, library Olympics, arts and crafts days and Snakes Alive! Program. 586.2016. Cosponsored by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

• A Nature Nuts: Fishing program will be offered to participants ages 4-7 from 9-11 a.m. on June 6 and June 18 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. http://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/EducationCenters/ Pisgah/EventRegistration.aspx.

• A program entitled “Journey Through the National Parks of the South” will be offered from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7, at Asheville REI. RSVP at www.rei.com/learn.

• A kids fishing day event for ages 12-under is scheduled for 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, June 11, at Max Patch Pond on the Haywood/Madison county line.

682.6146 or brandonjones@fs.fed.us.

• Archery classes for ages 8-up are scheduled for 10-

11:30 a.m. and 1-2:30 p.m. on June 11 at Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education near Brevard. www.ncwildlife.org/learning.

• A Week in the Water program is scheduled for ages 8-15 from 9 a.m.-noon on June 13-17 at Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education near Brevard. www.ncwildlife.org/learning.

• BB Gun Shooting Range is available for ages 8-15 from 10-11:30 a.m. or 1-2:20 p.m. on June 14 at Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education near Brevard. www.ncwildlife.org/learning.

• A Leather Stamping class for kids will be offered by Dogwood Crafters Coop from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15, at the Dillsboro Masonic Lodge.

Register: 586.2435 or junettapell@hotmail.com.

Trail Magic Ale bottles will go on sale at noon Saturday. Soldier’s Heart (Americana/rock) performs at 8 p.m. A portion of the proceeds of the bottle sales will be donated to the Appalachian Trail Ridgerunner Program via the Friends of the Smokies organization. www.nantahalabrewing.com.

• The “Songwriters in the Round” series will continue with Jerry Salley, Irene Kelley and Donna Ulisse at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the Balsam Mountain Inn. A buffet dinner is included in the $49 ticket price, and seating begins at 6 p.m. www.balsammountaininn.net or 456.9498.

• The “Railroad Reserve” specialty dinner train will depart at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Depot in Bryson City. Age 21 and over only. 800.867.9246 or click on www.gsmr.com.

KIDS MOVIES • The “Movies on Everett” summer film series will screen “The Lego Movie” on June 3 and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” June 10. All films are free and start at 8:30 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com.

• A family movie will be shown at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Movie stars Kurt Russell as a hockey coach who assembles the U.S. team for the 1980 Olympics. Info, including movie title: 488.3030.

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • The Unto These Hills outdoor drama will run at 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday through Aug. 13 at the Mountainside Theater in Cherokee.

General admission tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children ages 6-12 and free for children under age 5.

Reserved tickets also available. 866.554.4557 or www.visitcherokenc.com.

• Singer-songwriter Heidi Holton will perform at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, in the Community Room of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Presented

by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

586.2016.

A&E FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL EVENTS • The Cherokee Bluegrass Festival is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, June 2-4, at Happy Holiday RV Village and Campground in Cherokee.

Event starts at noon on June 2 and runs until 11 p.m. each day. Performers include IBMA award-winners Flatt Lonesome (Thursday), the Gibson Brothers (Thursday), The Crowe Brothers and Rhonda Vincent (Friday) and Balsam Range (Saturday). Advance adult tickets are $40 per day or $90 for a three-day ticket.

Tickets for children ages 7-13 are $15 per day or $45 for three days in advance. Tickets cost $5 more at the gate. Advance tickets available at www.adamsbluegrass.com. Info: 706.864.7203.

• The Highlands Motoring Festival will be held June 912. The four-day event will include a welcoming party at the Ugly Dog Pub June 9, a day-long touring drive and the “Motoring to the Beach Gala” June 10, a classic car show and buffet June 11, and the “Cars and Coffee on Main Street” June 12. A complete list of events at www.highlandsmotoringfestival.com or info@highlandsmotoringfestival.com.

FOOD & DRINK • The next “Way Back When” trout dinner will be at 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 3, at the Cataloochee Ranch in Maggie Valley. The dinner showcases a recreation meal, music, storytelling and atmosphere of a 1930s Appalachian trout camp. Enjoy a wagon ride across the ranch property amid the authentic re-creation of Mr. Tom and Miss Judy Alexander’s first fishing camp. $39.95 per person, plus tax and gratuity. The dinner will also be held June 24, July 15 and 29, Aug. 12 and 26, and Sept. 2 and 16. To RSVP, call 828.926.1401 or 800.868.1401 or www.cataloocheeranch.com.

• The “Trail Magic Ale No. 14” release party is scheduled for June 3-5 at Nantahala Brewing Company in Bryson City. The first keg will be tapped at 6 p.m. on Friday. At 8 p.m. there will be a bottle swap/beer geek party in the brewery, with Fireside Collective (Americana/folk) taking the stage. A limited release of

• A family friendly production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged and Revised” will be presented at 6:30 p.m. on June 2-3 on the University Center lawn at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. www.wcu.edu.

• The summer kicks off with the Broadway musical smash “Legally Blonde the Musical” at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. June 2-4, 9-11, and also at 2 p.m. and June 5,12. 456.6322 or www.harttheatre.org.

• Country singer Lorrie Morgan will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 3, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $25. www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615.

• North Georgia Community Players will present the Jones Hope Wooten comedy “Doublewide Texas” Friday through Sunday, June 3-5 and June 10-12, at the Dillard (Ga.) Playhouse. Showtimes are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children 10 and under.

706.212.2500. www.ngcommunityplayers.com.

• Sean Gaskell will perform traditional West African music as part of the Summer Music Series at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Gaskell will perform on a Kora, an ancient 21-stringed harp. 488.3030.

• The Little Town Playhouse will present “Play That Mountain Music” at 7:30 p.m. on June 10-11 at the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre in Bryson City.

Tickets: $10 for adults; $5 for ages 6-17 and free for children under six. 226.5637 or visit Little Town Playhouse’s Facebook page.

• The Waynesville Public Library will host Two Armadillos (Americana/folk) at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 11. Free. www.haywoodarts.org.

• The Blue Ridge Big Band will perform at 3 p.m.

Sunday, June 12, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at The Strand or at www.38main.com. 456.4880.

SUMMER SERIES • The “Concerts on the Creek” series at Bridge Park in Sylva will host The Bobby Sullivan Band (classic rock) June 3 and Sundown (rock) on June 10 Both shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.mountainlovers.com.

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• The “Friday Night Live” concert series at the Town Square in Highlands will host The Tallulah River Band (Americana) June 3. Free and begins at 6 p.m. www.highlandschamber.org.

• The “Groovin’ on the Green” concert series at The Village Green in Cashiers will host Joe Lasher Jr. (country/rock) June 3 and The Freeway Revival (rock/jam) June 10. Both shows are free and begin at 6:30 p.m. www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

• The “Pickin’ On The Square” concert series will continue with The Johnny Webb Band (country) June 4 and Ms. Kitty & Big City Band (pop/variety) June 11. All shows are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. A community jam begins at 6:30 p.m. www.franklinnc.com or 524.2516.

• The Bryson City Train Depot concert series will host The Katts (Americana) June 4 and Frank Lee (bluegrass) June 11. All shows are free and begin at 6:30 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com.

• The “Saturday’s on the Pine” concert series at Kelsey Hutchinson Park in Highlands will host Well Strung (bluegrass/Americana) June 11 and Goldie & The Screamers (soul) June 18. Both shows are free and begin at 6 p.m.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • Haywood County Public Library’s Adult Summer Reading program runs through July 31. www.haywoodlibrary.org, 452.5169 or 648.2924.

• The Adult Coloring Group will meet at 2 p.m. on Fridays in the Living Room of the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. An afternoon of creativity and camaraderie. Supplies are provided, or bring your own.

Beginners are welcome as well as those who already enjoy this new trend. kmoe@fontanalib.org or 524.3600.

• Haywood County Arts Council is inviting artist mem-

bers to participate in its annual Artist Member Show.

Download a show contract/inventory sheet from www.haywoodarts.org. Send completed forms to gallery@haywoodarts.org or P.O. Box 306; Waynesville, N.C. 28786.

• A Paint and Pour event presented by Ant Farm is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7, at Sneak-E Squirrel in Sylva. $10 of sales will be donated to Art Farm. Musician Jason Galaydick will perform.

Preregister: http://tinyurl.com/jglc6px.

• An Evening of Stories featuring Gary Carden is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on June 2 at the Swain County Genealogical & Historical Society in Bryson City.

• A Watercolor Seminar led by art instructor Mark Menendez is scheduled for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 11, at the Swain County Center for the Arts. $45.

Reserve a space: 488.7843.

• Gourd artists will be featured in the annual Guard Artists Gathering & Art Festival from June 2-5 at the Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds. 410.392.0003.

• The Shady Ladies quilt group will host its 13th annual quilt show from June 3-5 at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in the Historic Hazelwood School. $5 admission donated to folkmoot. A quilt will be raffled off to benefit Broyhill Children’s Home and Hospice of Haywood.

Info: look for Shady Lady Quilting Group on Facebook.

Info on Folkmoot: FolkmootUSA.org.

• Doreyl Ammons Cain will offer a basics of pastel painting class from 2-5 p.m. on June 4 at the Hooper Homestead in Tuckasegee. Topic is outside wildflower pastel painting. 293.2239.

• Learn ink drawing and zentangle fundamentals with artist Damaris Pierce from 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, 11 and 18 in East Waynesville. Take one or all, $45 each. Open to beginners and seasoned artist.

Small groups, all materials included. Registration and information at www.artoflife.com.

• Paint Nite Waynesville will be held at 7 p.m. on Fridays at the Panacea Coffeehouse. Grab a cup of coffee, glass of wine or pint of craft beer and get creative. $20 per person. Group rates available. Sign up at Panacea or call host Robin Smathers at 828.400.9560. paintnitewaynesville@gmail.com.

• Doreyl Ammons Cain will offer a basics of pastel painting class from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on June 7 at Southwestern Community College’s Jackson Campus.

Topic is outside wildflower pastel painting. 293.2239.

• The Potter’s Wheel series will feature Susan Coe from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at The Wild Fern in Bryson City. The Wild Fern is hosting several local potters at the studio throughout the year. Stop by to see works from the potter’s collection and chat with these talented artists as they create on the wheel and share their unique styles. Susan Easton will be featured on June 18. 828.736.1605 or info@wildfernstudios.com.

• Junaluska Flea Market is from 7;30-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 11, at the Weldon Gym at Lake Junaluska.

• Appalachian storyteller Gary Carden will be featured at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, at the Canton Library.

Presented in partnership with the Haywood County Arts Council. www.haywoodlibrary.org, 452.5169 or 648.2924.

• Summer Arts Series featuring workshops taught by artists in ceramics, painting, mixed media, printmaking, encaustic, book arts, photography and creative writing will be offered from June 12-15 by Cullowhee Mountain ARTS at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

• Acclaimed writer Allison Hedge Coke will be teaching a poetry workshop, “Writing as Freedom and Docupoetics,” June 13-17 and a memoir writing workshop, “The Bird’s Nest: Eco Ethos and Organic Form,” June 18-24. The workshops are hosted by Cullowhee Mountain Arts and held on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. www.cullowheemountainarts.org or 342.6913

• Doreyl Ammons Cain will offer a basics of pastel painting class from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on June 14 at the Cashiers Senior Center. Topic is outside wildflower pastel painting. 293.2239.

• The Jackson Rangers Camp 1917 will hold monthly meetings (except July) at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Barkers Creek Community Center. Members are being sought to participate in honor guard graveside events and honor Confederate soldiers. The Confederate Rose, a ladies auxiliary group that supports active members, meets at the same time and location. 736.6222 or jrcamp1917@hotmail.com.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • An art reception featuring work from the Macon County Senior Center’s watercolor class is scheduled for 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, in the Macon County Public Library’s meeting room. Refreshments and an opportunity to meet the artists.

• The Waynesville Public Art Commission will hold a dedication of its latest public art piece entitled “Waynesville – Always Ready” at noon on Saturday, June 4, in front of the Old Armory Building on Boundary Street in Frog Level. BBQ from Bogart’s served; donations accepted. Artwork was sculpted by Stefan Bonitz.

For info about the commission, call 456.9918.

• An exhibit by artist Rod Whyte will be on display through June 28 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre Rodwell Gallery in Waynesville. www.rodwhytedesigns.com. www.haywoodarts.org.

• The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University is presenting “Vision and Vistas: Great Smoky Mountains” - an exhibition of images of the Great Smoky Mountains that in turn helped inspire the creation of the nation’s most visited national park through June 30. Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays

June 1-7, 2016

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331 Walnut Street Waynesville

828.246.9135 HaywoodHabitat.org

• The Sylva Pool will be in operation through August 21. 586.3565 or 631.2022.

• The Macon County Senior Center’s watercolor class will have works on display during the month of June at the Macon County Public Library. There will be an artist reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the library. reesaboyce@gmail.com.

• Marci Spencer will discuss her book “Clingmans Dome: Highest Mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains” from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, at Bryson City’s National Park Visitor Center and Heritage Museum. www.SmokiesInformation.org or 888.898.9102, Ext. 325, 222 or 254.

• The graduating class of Haywood Community College’s professional crafts program is exhibiting exhibit class members’ best work at the 2016 Graduate Show, which runs through Aug. 7 at the Southern Highland Craft Guild Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville. Work includes clay, jewelry, fiber, metal and wood. The center is open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

• Acrylic paintings by 94-year-old Denise McCullough and photographs by Helen Geltman are on display through August at the Canton Library’s Visual Arts Exhibit. www.haywoodarts.org.

• An exhibition entitled “This is a Photograph: Exploring Contemporary Applications of Photographic Chemistry” is on display at Penland School of Crafts near Spruce Pine.

765.6211 or penland.org/gallery.

• An art exhibition by James Smythe is on exhibit through June 9. at Signature Brew in Sylva.

• New artist and medium will be featured every month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

FILM & SCREEN • Adult movie time, 6:30 p.m. Mondays at Jackson County Public Library. Call for title of movie. 586.2016.

• A classic 1940 romantic thriller will be shown at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 3, at the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Movie is about a young reporter trying to expose enemy agents in London on the eve of World War II> Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. 524.3600.

Outdoors • An Emergency Medical Technician and WMI Wilderness Upgrade for the Medical Prrofessional will be offered June 13-17 – as well as July 11-30 and Aug. 1-5 - in Cullowhee. Register: 293.5384 or main@landmarklearning.edu.

• Spring cleaning day at Big Bear is from 8 a.m.-noon on Friday, June 3. Landscaping.

Bring gloves and tools and meet at Big Bear Shelter.

• The Ole Smoky Antique Tractor Club will host the 21st annual “Tractor Show” 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 3-4 at the Haywood County Fairgrounds in Lake Junaluska. The “Antique Tractor Pull” will start at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Free, with donations accepted. 828.593.8330 or 828.775.5773 or www.haywoodcountyfairgrounds.com.

• Appalachian Trail Work Day is scheduled for June 4. Organized by Friends of the Smokies, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Smoky Mountains Hiking Club and the Smokies park. $25. Register: www.friendsofthesmokies.org.

865.577.2604 or phyllishenry@yahoo.com.

• A blitz on the biological diversity of Bluff Mountain near Hot Springs will aim to inventory as many species as possible on June 4-5.

Register: http://bit.ly/bluffmtblitz. www.mountaintrue.org.

• A birding event will be presented by Highlands Plateau Audubon Society at 7:30 a.m. on June 4 at the Highlands Biological Station. Led by Dr. Barbara Ballentine, an ornithologist and scientist from Western Carolina University.

• A bass tournament is scheduled for Saturday, June 4, at Lake Chatuge near Hayesville. All proceeds support the Jackson County Shop with a Cop program, which pairs children from low-income families with offers for a shopping trip to Walmart to buy gifts for themselves and their families. $60 entry fee per boat, with no more than two adults and one individual under 16 per boat. Info: 586.1384.

• Women’s Introduction to Fly Fishing will be offered to participants ages 12-up from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 4 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. http://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/EducationC enters/Pisgah/EventRegistration.aspx.

• Highlands Plateau Audubon Society will hold a potlock dinner at 6 p.m. on June 6 at the Highlands Civic Center. Following dinner will be a presentation on “Avian Communication”

by Young Harris College’s Dr. Olga Melinkaya, a nest box investigator.

• A Garden Tour: Pollinators program will be offered by Highlands Biological Foundation on 10:30-11:30 a.m. on June 6, at the Botanical Garden at the Highlands Biological Station. www.highlandsbiological.org/forays or 526.2623.

• Boating Safety courses will be offered by

Mountain Realty

Ron Breese Broker/Owner

•Introduction to Fly Fishing will be offered from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 7 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. http://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/EducationC enters/Pisgah/EventRegistration.aspx.

2177 Russ Ave. Waynesville, NC 28786 Cell: 828.400.9029 ron@ronbreese.com

• The Franklin Bird Club will have a bird walk along the greenway at 8 a.m. on June 8. Meet at Salali Lane. 524.5234.

Each office independently owned & operated.

• “Owl Prowl” – an opportunity to look for owls – is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 9 at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands. www.highlandsaudubonsociety.org or 526.1939.

• A Casting For Beginners: Level 1 class will be offered for ages 12-up from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on June 10 at Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education near Brevard. www.ncwildlife.org/learning.

• Danny Bernstein will discuss her new book “Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Jounrey Through the National Parks of the South” from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday, June 10, at Bryson City’s National Park Visitor Center and Heritage Museum. www.SmokiesInformation.org or 888.898.9102, Ext. 325, 222 or 254.

• A Summer kick-off campout organized by Jackson County Parks and Recreation is scheduled for June 11-12 at Ralph J. Andrews Campground. Activities, s’mores, stargazing, nature hike and more. Pre-registration required: 293.3053 or 631.2020. $10 per family (up to five members, $2 for each additional member).

• Sensation: The Five Senses is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.-noon and 1:30-3 p.m. on June 9 at the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah Forest. Part of the “Woodsy Owl’s Curiosity Club,” which meets Thursdays through Aug. 11. $4 per child or $2.50 per adult. Register: 877.3130. www.cradleofforestry.org.

• A cycling ride for beginners starts at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Macon Middle School in Franklin with a goal of working up to an 18mile roundtrip to the waterfall on Ellijay.

Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles.

369.2881 or info@smokymtnbikes.com.

• A cycling ride leaves at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays with alternating starts at Smoky Mountain Bicycles and South Macon Elementary School in Franklin. Rotes vary.

Road bikes only. A no-drop ride. Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles or info@smokymtnbikes.com.

• An easy ride aiming to help people ease into a healthier lifestyle through cycling leaves at 9:30 a.m. Thursdays from the Canton Recreation Park, covering 8-10 miles. Road bikes are preferred. Nobody will be left behind.

A partnership of Bicycle Haywood N.C., the Blue Ridge Bike Club and MountainWise.

Michele Trantham, mttrantham@hotmail.com.

• A 25-mile ride covering the back roads from Sylva to Balsam leaves at 6 p.m. Tuesdays from Motion Makers Bicycle Shop in Sylva. The route includes flat stretches, lots of climbing and a descent on the return of the out-andback ride, which includes 1,600 feet of elevation gain. Organized by Motion Makers, 586.6925.

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Smoky Mountain News

• The films “Race” (June 2-3), “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (June 4), “Hail, Caesar” (June 9) and “Zootopia” (June 10-11) will be screened at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Fridays; and 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays. All screenings are free. www.madbatterfoodfilm.com.

• Fern expert Tom Goforth will demonstrate the wide diversity of fern species native to highlands from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday, June 3, in Highlands. $15 for members; $35 for nonmembers. www.highlandsbiological.org/forays.

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June 1-7, 2016

• A new comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Robert de Niro will be shown at 2 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Movie is about a 70-year-old widower who becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site. PG-13; 2:01. 524.3600.

• The Franklin Bird Club will have a bird walk along the greenway at 8 a.m. on June 1. Meet at Big Bear Shelter parking area. 524.5234. www.SmokiesInformation.org or 888.898.9102, Ext. 325, 222 or 254.

Haywood Community College’s Department of Arts, Sciences, and Natural Resources and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission from 6-9 p.m. on June 6-7 at the Haywood Community College campus, Building 3300, Room 3322 in Clyde. Additional courses are scheduled for July 13-14. No age limits. Preregistration required: www.ncwildlife.org.

wnc calendar

with extended hours to 7 p.m. on Thursdays. www.fineartmuseum.wcu.edu or 227.3591.

michelle@beverly-hanks.com

74 North Main St. • Waynesville 828.452.5809

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wnc calendar

• Beginning bikers can always find help from the folks at Bicycle Haywood N.C., which has members willing to arrange one-on-one instruction. Bob Clark, bobclarklaw@gmail.com.

• A beginner-friendly social ride will begin at 6:15 p.m.

Mondays from the Bent Creek Ledford Parking Lot in Asheville, covering 5 to 8 miles of mountain bike trails.

Organized By Motion Makers Bicycle Shop. 633.2227.

• A training ride for women who know how to handle a mountain bike but want to go faster will start at 6:15 p.m. Wednesdays from the Ledford parking lot at Bent Creek in Asheville. The rides will cover 8 to 12 miles and use more technical trails than the beginner’s ride.

Organized by Motion Makers Bicycle Shop. 633.2227.

• Nantahala Area Southern Off Road Bicycling Association is still finalizing its schedule of spring offroad rides. Up-to-date information will be posted at www.facebook.com/NantahalaAreaSORBA/?fref=ts.

FARM AND GARDEN • Rain barrels are on sale for $90 apiece at the USDA Agricultural Service Center in Waynesville. 476.4667 or info@haywoodwaterways.org.

• The Macon County Community Garden Committee is now taking applications for garden space in the 2016 Community Garden. For an application or info, call 349.2046.

• The Macon County Poultry Club of Franklin meets at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Cooperative Extension Office on Thomas Heights Rd,.

Open to the public. 369.3916.

FARMERS MARKET

June 1-7, 2016

• A community tailgate market for local growers is open from 3-7 p.m. every Wednesday at The Village Green Commons in Cashiers. 734.3434, info@villagegreencashiersnc.com or www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

• Haywood Historic Farmers Market is held from 8 a.m.-noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the parking lot of HART Theatre in Waynesville. 280.1381 or haywoodfarmersmarket@gmail.com or waynesvillefarmersmarket.com • The Original Waynesville Tailgate Market is from 8 a.m.-noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 171 Legion Drive in Waynesville (behind Bogart’s). 456.1830 or vrogers12@att.net.

• The Jackson County Farmers Market will be on Saturdays from 9 a.m.-noon at Bridge Park located in Sylva. Info: 393.5236. jacksoncountyfarmersmarket@ gmail.com or website jacksoncountyfarmersmarket.org.

Smoky Mountain News

• The ‘Whee Farmer’s Market is open from 4 p.m. to dusk every Tuesday at the corner of the N. Country Club Drive and Stadium View Drive in Cullowhee, behind the entrance to the Village of Forest Hills off Highway 107 across from Western Carolina University. 476.0334.

Aug. 1) for the shortest route. www.blueridgebreakaway.com or bobclarklaw@gmail.com.

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings • Franklin Tailgate Market is from 8 a.m.-noon every Saturday at 203 E. Palmer Street in Franklin. Info: collins230@frontier.com.

• The Cashiers Tailgate market is open from 1 p.m.- 5 p.m. on Wednesdays at the United Community Bank on N.C. 107 South. 226.9988 or blueridgefarmers@gmail.com.

• The Franklin Farmers Tailgate Market is from 8 a.m.noon on Saturdays on East Palmer Street across from Drake Software in Franklin. 349.2049 or alan_durden@ncsu.edu.

• Cowee Farmers Market is open from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays starting May 24 at Old Cowee School located at 51 Cowee School Drive. ediescookies@mail.com or www.coweefarmersmarket.com • Swain County Farmers Market will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Fridays starting May 6 through Oct. and Tuesdays starting June 14 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. through Aug. 16 at the barn on Island Street in Bryson City. 488.3848 or Christine_bredenkamp@ncsu.edu.

COMPETITIVE EDGE • Blood-covered zombies will give racers a reason to run at the Zombie 5K and Fun Run, beginning at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at the Kituwah/Ferguson field in Cherokee. The run, now in its second year, aims to raise money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, which is involved in childhood brain tumor research. $15 kids; $20 adults.

• Registration is underway for the WNCC Emory Club’s 5K, which benefits the Global Health Initiative – Imagine No Malaria program. Race is at 8 a.m. on June 16 starting at Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska. $35. Register at imathlete.com. Race-day registration starts at 7 a.m.

• Registration is underway for the third annual Gran Fondo Asheville cycling event, which is Saturday, June 18. Register: www.gfncs.com. increasing $5 day of.

Amorie Gunter, 788.3367.

• The Path to the Breakaway, a group for women 18 and older, meets regularly in preparation for the Blue Ridge Breakaway on Saturday, Aug. 20. Offered by BicycleHaywoodNC. Registration for the race is $41 (by

• The Haywood Waterways Association will present a birding hike along Ivester Gap Trail at 8:30 a.m. on June 4. Leading the walk will be Josh Parris, fish and wildlife management technology instructor at Haywood Community College. $5 donation for nonmembers; free for members. Memberships start at $25. RSVP by June 1 to Christine.haywoodwaterways@gmail.com or 476.4667.

• On National Trail Day, the Nantahala Hiking Club will take a strenuous eight-mile hike, elevation change of 1,100 feet, on the Appalachian Trail from Deep Gap to Raven Rock Overlook on Saturday, June 4. Call leaders Bill and Sharon Van Horn for reservations at 369.1983.

Visitors welcome; no dogs.

• Carolina Mountain Club will offer several events and a pair of hikes on June 4 as part of National Trails Day. Trail maintenance is at 9:15 a.m. (contact: lesrlove55@gmail.com); Easy four-mile hike along Mountains-to-Sea Trail is at 9:30 a.m. (danny@hikertohiker.com); dedication ceremony for a 20-mile section of Mountains-to-Sea trail is at 1 p.m.; and easy twomile hike from Waterrock Knob follows dedication (danny@hikertohiker.com). www.carolinamountainclub.org.

• Nantahala Hiking Club offers an eight-mile hike on National Trails Day, June 4. RSVP: 369.1983.

• A five-mile hike exploring Panthertown Valley starts at 9:30 a.m. on National Trails Day, June 4. Guided by Friends of Panthertown. RSVP: 269.4453 or friends@panthertown.org.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 10.2-mile hike with a 1,500-foot ascent and 2,800 feet of descent at Charles Bunion – Kephart Prong on June 5. For info or reservations, contact leaders Michael and Kathy Cornn at 458.1281 or mcornn@aol.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 7.5-mile hike with a 1,800-foot ascent at Rough Creek on June 8. For info or reservations, contact leader Laura Frisbie at 337.5845 or laurafrisbie@gmail.com.

• A hike of Cataloochee Divide trail is being offered on June 10 by the Waynesville Recreation Department. $8 for members; $10 for nonmembers. RSVP: 456.2030 or in person at the Waynesville Recreation Center. www.waynesvillenc.gov/hiking-opportunities.

• A hike to Whiterock is scheduled for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on June 10, in Highlands. $15 for members; $35 for nonmembers. www.highlandsbiological.org/forays.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have an eight-mile hike with a 1,800-foot ascent at Rainbow Falls and Pretty Place on June 11. For info or reservations, contact leader Bev MacDowell at 684.1000 or bevmacdowellhappy@gmail.com.

• A guided hike to Charlies Bunion and Kephart Prong Trail is scheduled for June 14 in the Great Smoky

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 13-mile hike with a 2,800-foot ascent at Big East Fork, Art Loeb Trail and Shining Creek Loop on June 15. For info or reservations, contact leader Brenda Worley at 684.8656, 606.7297 or bjdworley@gmail.com.

OUTDOOR CLUBS • The Jackson County Poultry Club will hold its regular meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Jackson County Cooperative Extension Office. The club is for adults and children and includes a monthly meeting with a program and a support network for those raising birds. For info, call 586.4009 or write heather_gordon@ncsu.edu.

• The North Carolina Catch program, a three-phase conservation education effort focusing on aquatic environments, will be offered through May 15. The program is offered by the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. Free for members; daily admission for non-members. 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov.

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

• The Tuckaseigee River Chapter No. 373 of Trout Unlimited meets at 6:30 p.m. on second Tuesday of the month at United Community Bank in Sylva. Dinner is $5.

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

• Cold Mountain Photographic Society is a camera/photography club for amateurs and professionals who want to learn about and share their knowledge of photography with others. Must be 18 or older to join.

Meetings are held at 7 p.m. the second Monday of each month in the conference room of MedWest Health and Fitness Center, 262 Leroy George Drive in Clyde. More information at www.cmpsnc.org or info@cmpsnc.org.

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

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

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

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

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Apply in person at 50 N. Main St. Ask for Chris Lowe.

CHILD SERVICE POSITIONS AVAILABLE We are currently recruiting for the following positions in Child Services: • Clinicians for Outpatient Services • Clinicians for Day Treatment Services • Clinicians for Intensive In-Home Services • Qualified Professionals for Day Treatment Services • Qualified Professionals for Intensive In-Home Services Please visit the employment section of our website for further information about any positions listed and apply directly by submitting an application and resume. www.meridianbhs.org

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SYLVA, NC BASED NON-PROFIT Organization is seeking a full time accountant to handle all accounting functions, including general ledger, payroll, accounts receivable and accounts payable Applicants should have accounting education and several years hands-on experience. Good working knowledge of Excel and Word are required. Email resume to: sylvaresume@gmail.com FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Certified Nursing Assistant Instructor- Con. Ed. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com /. Human Resources Office. Phone: 910.678.8378 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu. An Equal Opportunity Employer.

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

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smokymountainnews.com

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Super

54

CROSSWORD

CELEBRITY SYNONYMY ACROSS 1 Swim a few pool lengths 7 Workplace of Colonel Klink 13 Exact model 20 Madison Ave. bigwig 21 Clandestine 22 FDR’s first lady 23 Master of impressions, to Roget?

25 Forbearing 26 Abbr. on a bad check 27 Stately shade tree 28 “Chinatown” director, to Roget?

30 Build 32 The NFL’s Cowboys, on scoreboards 33 The, to Yves 34 “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” singer, to Roget?

42 Paranormal skill, briefly 45 Right-hand page 46 Grow sick of 47 Under state?

50 Wisdom deity 52 Actress who played Peter Pan on Broadway, to Roget?

56 Contestant 57 Dungeons & Dragons is one, in brief 59 Earlier 60 Active people 61 Freddie the Freeloader portrayer, to Roget?

68 Grant’s foe 69 Brick carrier 70 Make jubilant 71 IM offerer

72 Rio’s make 75 “Son of a Preacher Man” singer, to Roget?

79 Keep clear of 82 Daily record 83 Jerry Lewis telethon org., for years 84 Actor Lugosi 85 “My Way” singer, to Roget?

91 Align 93 Of no use 94 One-celled swimmer 96 “- my case” 97 - Schwarz 98 Swimmer with three Olympic gold medals, to Roget?

103 Org. for the 53-Downs 106 The - degree 107 Island south of Sicily 108 “Annie Hall” co-star, to Roget?

115 “- know you?”

116 Game aim 119 Skipped past 120 Former world heavyweight champion, to Roget?

123 Leasing 124 More banal 125 Sean Penn film of 2001 126 Fencing cry 127 Put in groups 128 Kind of skiing DOWN 1 Break of day 2 Lyrical works 3 Bit of a tree 4 Rose of Guns N’ Roses 5 Jazz pianist Oscar 6 Lug

7 1975 NBC debut, briefly 8 Work hard 9 “- boy!”

10 Riga native, old-style 11 “That’s - ask” 12 “Hedda” star Jackson 13 Survey anew 14 Israeli carrier 15 Bloom part 16 Cleo of jazz 17 Intrinsically 18 Bean 19 Intro studio class 24 Some rec centers 29 Foot the bill 30 - plea (say “guilty,” say) 31 “Wild Thing” band, with “the” 34 Take a trip 35 Clock again 36 “Things Fall Apart” writer Chinua 37 Ire. land 38 Gun lobby: Abbr.

39 Heavy load 40 Antelope with a long head 41 Takeoff stat 43 Mark for life 44 Sties, e.g.

48 Bing of opera 49 Quotation book abbr.

51 Bow missile 53 L.A. hoopster 54 Go gray, say 55 - Garros (French Open) 58 Oar’s cousin 62 - Scholar 63 1994 French Open winner Bruguera 64 England’s Isle of 65 Trial VIPs 66 Big Indy inits.

67 Colosseum garments 72 Actor - Ivory Wayans 73 Mistreatment 74 Acclimatizes 75 One trillionth: Prefix 76 Canon camera line 77 Title song lyric after “Hallelujah” 78 Spain locale 79 Dating from 80 “Ars longa, - brevis” 81 Alternative to a steak fry 86 Soldier for 68-Across 87 - Geo 88 “Botch- -” (1952 song) 89 Craggy crest 90 - Speed Wagon (old truck) 92 Pertaining to a road or traveling 95 Carne - (burrito filler) 99 Tense 100 “- be a shame if ...”

101 Kind of daisy 102 Feminist Steinem 104 Siamese fighting fish 105 Moving about 108 Golfer’s cry 109 Eerie sign 110 Baby-sit, e.g.

111 P.O. stack 112 Clark’s love 113 Inner: Prefix 114 Brooklynite, e.g., briefly 116 “What - to think?”

117 - instant 118 Alaska port 121 “The A-Team” co-star 122 Acting-up kid

answers on page 50

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

Answers on Page 50

Halls Cabin built right on state line

C

George Ellison

ertain place names in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have become iconic: Gregory Bald, Thunderhead, Chimney Tops, Jump-off, Mt. Le Conte, Alum Cave, Charlies Bunion, High Rocks, Bryson Place, Cataloochee, Huggins Hell, and more.

Halls Cabin can be added to that list. You can, in fact, add it twice, as there are two well-known sites in the Smokies that go or went by that name.

One was constructed on Bone Valley Creek, a tributary of Hazel Creek, Columnist about 1880 by Jesse Crayton (Crate) Hall and his wife, Mary Dills Hall. The 24-by-17foot structure is still standing.

The Halls Cabin that’s the subject of this column was situated on Big Chestnut Bald (Derrick Knob) smackdab on the North Carolina-Tennessee state line. Constructed about 1882 by Crate Hall, it provided shelter for more than three decades of hunters, fishermen and cattlemen who grazed their animals on the lush grassland the 50’ to 75-acre bald provided.

(Besides the Halls Cabin on the state line

BACK THEN there was also a structure built by the Appalachian Hunting and Fishing Club situated lower down on the Tennessee side, in the general area of where the present day Derrick Knob Shelter is located. It was also sometimes referred to as the Halls Cabin.

Indeed, the entire setting encompassing the buildings and the bald is referred to collectively by the place name Halls Cabin.)

The Halls Cabin on the state line was described by various writers. Most were just passing through. But Horace Kephart, who lived in a cabin not far from the Halls Cabin down on Hazel Creek, hunted there with frequency and even lived in the cabin for an entire summer. In this excerpt from Our Southern Highlanders (1913) he described it as a “hut built many years ago for temporary lodgement of cattle-men herding on the grassy ‘balds’ of the Smokies. A sagging clapboard roof covered its two rooms and the open space between them we called our ‘entry.’ The state line between North Carolina and Tennessee ran through this unenclosed hallway. The Carolina room had puncheon floor and a clapboard table, also better bunks than its mates.”

In an article published in 1904 in “Outing Magazine” titled “Old Sharpnose’ of Bone Valley,” Joseph T. Bowles wrote:

tions, the cabin commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country. Far to the southwest can be seen the outlines of Hang-Over Mountain, limned faintly against the horizon.

To the northwest, the lights of Knoxville, Tennessee, some fortyHalls Cabin. odd miles distant as the crow flies, Donated photo can be seen on clear nights; while against the setting sun the smoke from the lumber mill at Ritter, North Carolina, some twelve miles away, slowly winds its way upward, making grotesque figures against the countless intervening ridges over in the direction of the Tennessee River.

“Wonderful is the view from this vantage point, five thousand feet above the sea-level!” with bunks arranged alongside the walls in the sleeping-room, Halls Cabin is truly an ideal Note: the primary source for this colhunter’s camp. Many a bear has been skinned umn is Ken Wise’s Hiking Trails of the at the cabin, and if the walls could speak they Great Smokies (University of Tennessee would doubtless recount many of the tales of Press, 2nd edition, 2014), 236-238, 481-484. the old bear hunters who have been frequenters Much more than a trail guide, the book is of the cabin for years.” an indispensable compendium of historical information compiled by a librarian at the Bowles provides the following descripUniversity of Tennessee. It makes for good tion of the views to be had from the site: reading whether you’re going for a hike or not.

“On an eminence free from all trees and (George Ellison is a naturalist and writer. undergrowth for several hundred yards on He can be reached at info@georgeellison.com.) either side, with gentle slopes from all direc“The chimney — a two-sided affair — rests right on the line, throwing the kitchen end of the cabin in Tennessee, and the sleeping quarters in North Carolina. Snug and comfortable,

Friday, June 3, 2016 • 6 p.m.—12 a.m.

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