Come out to Franklin Area Folk Festival

The 17th Annual Franklin Area Folk Festival, “A Celebration of Appalachian Heritage,” will be held on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center. Free parking will be designated offsite with a shuttle.

This free event will celebrate all things Appalachian, from live heritage demonstrations, Appalachian crafts, jam sessions that feature old-time mountain music, kids’ activities, Heritage Village, food, textiles and more.

Some additional highlights include special quilts on display (like the famous Cabarras Quilt, The Celebrate America Autograph Quilt, etc.), woodworking and woodcarving, Border Collie demonstrations and more.

New this year, the Heritage Village will come alive with a “campsite” on the field where the Southeastern Civilian Living Historians will share their stories and skills. Returning is the 25th North Carolina Infantry Civil War Camp to help educate people about the life of a soldier and will include firing demonstrations and campfire cooking.

Raffle tickets will be available to purchase a chance to win a reproduction Spiller and Burr black powder revolver made by Pieta.

Kids of all ages are encouraged to play old-fashioned lawn games such as egg races, sack races and tug-o-war. At designated times under the tent, kids can try their hand at various heritage skills like milking the “cow,” corn shellin’ and making heritage crafts. Plus, additional kid-focused activities will be scattered around the grounds with lots of opportunities for hands-on interaction. For more information call 828.369.4080.

Mountain Projects receives award from Mission Health

Mountain Projects, one of 52 regional human service organizations working on North Carolina’s groundbreaking Healthy Opportunities Pilot program (HOP), under the auspices of Impact Health, has been recognized by Mission Health Partners with its 2022 Community Partner Award.

HOP is a federally funded program that serves Managed Medicaid recipients who are struggling with housing stability, food security, transportation, personal safety and toxic stress. Clients are referred to Mountain Projects by healthcare providers, like Mission Health, who determine nonclinical interventions that will improve health outcomes of the patient and their household.

“We are seeing extraordinary results for participants,” said Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects. “The clear lesson of the HOP pilot is that when we invest in a community member’s wellbeing, ensuring they have their basic needs met — they become physically and mentally healthier, along with the rest of their household and the larger community of individuals around them.”

Primary and specialty care providers for Mission Health gather each year to highlight the successes of their network, and Mountain Projects is the first agency outside of Buncombe County to be honored with the Community Partner Award.

The award recognition centered around a complex clinical case with a family of six with multiple critical health issues. Through HOP, Mountain Projects was able to connect the family with healthy housing, basic household supplies and regular food boxes that helped to improve the chronic asthma of two children and diabetes of the mother. Assisting with their basic needs helped the parents’ ability to maintain their employment and their children’s ability to attend school.

Anyone on Managed Medicaid who believes

Sarge’s announces 18th annual dog walk

they may qualify for the HOP program can call 828.452.1447 or email agentry@mountainprojects.org to learn more.

Hear about Tarheels in the Pacific Northwest

Rob Ferguson will present a talk titled “Tarheels in the Pacific Northwest” at the Aug. 3 meeting of the Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society.

In the early and mid-twentieth century, Western North Carolinians migrated to Washington State in such significant numbers that they came to numerically dominate some of the communities along the Sauk and Skagit river valleys in the shadow of the North Cascade mountains.

Following logging work and familial connections, Tarheels sometimes moved out for a few seasons, but most eventually stayed. In the process, these southern mountain migrants brought with them the cultural practices of the

Sarge’s 18th annual dog walk will be held this year on Sept. 23 to give folks and their four-legged friends a chance to enjoy some cooler weather.

Appalachian Mountains such as music and foodways. This presentation tracks that movement from Western North Carolina to the snow-capped mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

Ferguson is an Associate Professor of History at Western Carolina University. He received his M.A. from Western Carolina University and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His book, “Race and the Remaking of the Rural South: Interracialism, Christian Socialism, and Cooperative Farming in Jim Crow Mississippi” was published with the University of Georgia Press in January 2018.

The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Swain County Regional Business Education and Training Center in Bryson City. This is free and open to the public.

Community Table wine tasting event

The Community Table in Sylva announced a brand-new event to be held next month. The wine tasting event will feature “wine guru” Wendy Dunn, who has worked with the organization, along with the Papermill Lounge, to make it happen.

The event will take place Aug. 19 from 6-9 p.m. at 533 West Main St. in Sylva. The cost will be $25 at the door, and people will be able to order and purchase wines should they taste something they like and want to take home.

Franklin welcomes new retirement community

The Franklin Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon cutting celebration for the Gemstone Village located at 150 N. Gemstone Ave. Gemstone Village is a new 55-and-over retirement community just a few miles south of Franklin.

Gemstone Village and Gemstone Village South have something for everyone, two-bedroom twobath and three-bedroom, two-bath manufactured homes, as well as one-level two-bedroom, twobath townhomes offering beautiful mountain views.

Amenities offered include town water and sewer, high-speed internet service, and straightline moving as part of monthly services.

The sales office is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Associates are available on Sunday by appointment only. Call 828.200.4168 for more information or stop by the sales office for a tour.

As before, 99.9 KISS Country’s Eddie and Amanda Foxx will be grand marshals and contest judges. Local favorite MC Jeanne Naber will host the event. Contests will include Best Trick, Best Tail Wag and Best Costume.

Pre-registration for walkers and their dogs will take place Sept. 21 and 22 at Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation in Waynesville. On-site registration will take place at the courthouse immediately before the parade kickoff at 9 a.m. Sept. 23. The walk starts promptly at 10 a.m. Registration is $25 for adults, and $15 for children. Each adult registrant may also register one dog. The price of registration includes a Sarge’s Dog Walk T-shirt. Additional shirts can be purchased for $20. Registration and t-shirts sales go directly to Sarge’s.

Anyone who would like to participate in the Downtown Dog Walk can fill out a registration form at sarges.org/2023-dog-walk-registration-form/.

Anyone interested in sponsoring the Dog Walk or becoming a vendor can fill out this registration form: sarges.org/2023-dog-walk-vendor-and-sponsorship-form/.