written by Ingles Dietitian Leah
McGrath
QUESTION: A friend of mine is coming over for lunch for her birthdayy. . She has diabetes. Should I s a sugar-free cake?
ANSWER: The best way to handle this is to talk to your friend and see what her preference is. It is important to remember that “sugarr--free” does not mean carbohydrate-free or calorie-fr carbohydrates will still raise the blood sugar of someone w/ diabetes.
If you would like to serve a dessert with fewer carbohydrates, suggest buying or making an angel food cake and top it with fr fruit and whipped cream. Or you might ask your friend would like for dessert.
or lunch erve her friend ber that free and w/ diabetes. ydrates, I’d with fresh what they ay ecreasing al, take mpensate for
If your friend has had diabetes for some time, they may treat. They may ask for a smaller portion, plan for it by decr other carbohydrates (bread, rice, pasta, fruit) in their meal, more insulin or plan to walk/exercise after a meal to compensate the additional carbohydrates.
Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN Ingles Market Corporate Dietitian @InglesDietitian
Leah McGrath - Dietitian
On the Cover:
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are at a crossroads — a crossroads that will lay bare tribal leadership’s priorities, from local initiatives and out-ofstate business ventures. Because of that, the upcoming chief and vice chief elections may be as important as any in recent memory. The Smoky Mountain News is here to break down the races. (Page 8)
News
Hardister seeks important labor post............................................................................6 Groups file intent to sue Forest Service over forest plan......................................10 Commissioners continue work toward a skatepark................................................11 Waynesville unites against anti-trans hate after false allegations........................12 County to lease Higdon Property to school system..............................................13
Opinion
What would a library be without ‘outside influences’? ..........................................16 Life lessons learned this summer..................................................................................17
A&E
Inspiration in lineage: Cherokee art exhibit bridges generations, cultures......18
Exquisite writing and interesting stories......................................................................27
Outdoors
Downstream fish populations explode following mill closure..............................28
Notes from a plant nerd: A lily so superb..................................................................34
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The 2024 Primary Election is only seven months away and with a spate of seats up for grabs, candidates are already putting in the work to be in position for statewide office come March 5. One of them, a young six-term Republican House representative from Guilford County named Jon Hardister, hopes to apply his skills to one of North Carolina’s most pressing concerns.
Hardister grew up in Greensboro, son of a banker dad who started a mortgage company and a residential builder mom who’s now retired.
In high school, he was fascinated with American history, became a news junkie and began doing some outside reading on contemporary politics. Attracted to the Republican Party’s ideals of upward mobility and free markets, he cast his first vote in the pivotal 2000 Presidential Election.
After graduating from tiny Greensboro College with as a political science major, Hardister went right to work for the mortgage company, did some real estate investing and then decided he wanted to take his experience, his education and his enthusiasm to the North Carolina General Assembly by running for a seat in 2010.
He got smoked by 11 points, losing to perennial Democratic powerhouse Pricey Harrison in a heavily Democratic district.
“I enjoyed the process of being a candidate and meeting people and learning about their concerns and ideas,” Hardister said. “They say either you hate being a candidate or you love it, and in my case, I really enjoyed it. Fast-forward to 2012, the districts
changed, I ran again and I was able to win.”
Hardister’s first few terms were in a solidly Republican district, but that advantage has dwindled over the past decade. His most recent win came in a district that he estimates is now a D+2.
“I chalked that up to just hard work, having a great team and then being effective at communicating with everybody and treating people with respect,” he said. “That’s something that I’ve always tried to do is respond to all the calls and emails that come in our office and listen to people, treat them with respect and try to conduct myself and conduct our office in a professional manner.”
Now in his sixth term representing Guilford County, Hardister couldn’t get much higher in House leadership; he serves as majority whip, vice chair for appropriations and chair of the education appropriations committee.
On Jan. 4, Hardister announced that rather than seek a seventh term, he’d run for Labor commissioner after Republican incumbent Josh Dobson — a former fourterm McDowell County representative — announced halfway through his first term that he wouldn’t seek reelection. He cited a desire to prioritize family time and private sector work, according to the Carolina Journal.
“That caught everybody off guard, including myself, and that’s when I started thinking that we need someone in that office who understands business, who understands the private sector, who understands government,” Hardister said. “At the risk of sounding immodest, I thought, ‘Well, that’s me.’” Dobson apparently agrees; last month,
he endorsed Hardister, saying Hardister “has the experience and skills necessary to continue the success I’ve been a part of since taking office in 2021.”
But as with most council of state offices in North Carolina, most voters really don’t have any idea what North Carolina’s Labor Commissioner actually does. In fact, most probably think the commissioner’s sole duty is putting their picture into elevators across the state — a clever move popularized by Dobson’s Republican predecessor, longtime commissioner Cherie Berry.
“She reached legendary status in large part because of that,” Hardister laughed. “But the department covers a lot more ground than simply having a picture in an elevator.”
The North Carolina Department of Labor is statutorily responsible for ensuring the “health, safety and well-being” of the state’s workers and does so by managing more than 300 employees within its constituent bureaus, including a boiler safety bureau, a wage and hour bureau, an employment discrimination bureau and yes, an elevator and amusement bureau among others.
Although many of those bureaus are meant to address problems or safety issues within the state’s workforce, two other bureaus are growing in importance as major investments from large corporations continue to pour into the Old North State.
Those investments will likely continue especially as North Carolina was named by CNBC as the top state for business in the country, for the second year in a row.
The apprenticeship and training bureau promotes efforts to meet the demand for
high-skill workers, while the education, training and technical assistance bureau provides training to employers and employees in high-risk occupations.
“The Labor Department plays a role in workforce development, because the commissioner serves on the board of the community college system, which is something that I’m very passionate about,” he said.
Hardister sees a larger role for the community college system in bolstering that development, especially with more and more advanced manufacturing operations coming to the state.
That’s the motivation behind one of his main campaign pledges — to establish what he calls the “first-ever Workforce Enhancement Task Force” within the department.
Made up of appointees from community colleges, the private sector, public schools, think tanks, trade associations and universities, the task force’s main objective will be to come up with ideas on how the General Assembly can ensure North Carolina has the workforce it needs to remain the best state in which to do business for many more years to come.
He sees the task force as being divided into three regions — mountain, central and coastal — to address the specific workforce needs in each area.
Hardister isn’t the only 2024 candidate talking about workforce, signaling a growing recognition in the state’s halls of power of its importance; Republican contender for lieutenant governor Hal Weatherman told The Smoky Mountain News back in March he’s also focused on the issue.
Critical to the department’s role in ensuring the “well-being” of the state’s workforce is trying to find solutions to the state’s affordable housing crisis; major corpora-
tions will have a hard time finding workers if those workers — even those who are employed in high-skill, high wage jobs — can’t afford to live in safe, clean conditions near their place of employment.
“I can use the Triad as an example of this. We have a lot of companies coming in to Guilford County, and we’re very fortunate. We have companies that are expanding like HondaJet, Toyota is opening up a major battery manufacturing facility, there’s other companies coming in and bringing thousands of jobs. We have the workforce, we have schools like UNC-G, A&T, Guilford Technical Community College,” he said, “but we don’t have enough housing. The supply is just not there.”
With his family background in the mortgage and construction
“I don’t know if there’s a perfect solution to it, but here’s what I do know — we have to figure out how to build more houses.”
— Jon Hardister
industries, Hardister has some ideas. They involve money — and time. Generally, the longer a project takes, the more expensive it will be, and permits, inspections and impact fees all add up and end up being passed on to the buyer.
He thinks that streamlining the process, from start to finish, could help unclog the supply pipeline.
“I don’t know if there’s a perfect solution to it, but here’s what I do know — we have to figure out how to build more houses,” Hardister said. “It has to be both multifamily and single-family, rental properties, properties that are available for purchase, you just have to have more of that on the market. That has to be our objective.”
Recently, Hardister visited the town of Canton, where a perfect storm of workforce and housing problems are conspiring to create major headaches for town leaders long into the future.
During a July 13 governing board meeting, Hardister had the chance to learn more about the recent closing of Pactiv Evergreen’s Canton paper mill and hear directly from elected officials.
“Without feedback, you can’t solve problems like this. We’re dealing with a situation where you’ve got paper mill facilities in a floodplain, you’ve got displaced workers, you have the topography that makes housing challenging,” he said. “The Workforce Enhancement Task Force, I think, is the best service the Department of
The Haywood 4 Good community wellness program announced that registration is open for the fall 2023 program.
Participants may register through the end of December. One randomly selected participant will win an Instant Pot. Participants must register by Aug. 31 to be entered in this drawing. This innovative program encourages participation in a variety of wellness activities. Participants may complete all activities safely at home or in an outdoor setting. Participation is free. Participants may register individually; however, teams are encouraged to offer motivation and accountability. For each activity, participants earn challenge points. Participants who track their challenge points can win prizes during the program.
Unlike traditional weight loss or heart health challenges, Haywood 4 Good focuses on the physical, mental, spiritual and community wellness of participants. Challenges for August address eating local, managing stress and couch to 5k training for the September Power of Pink 5k.
Those interested may register by visiting and completing the sign-up information.
Additionally, for assistance with a creating Challenge Runner account, participants
Labor could provide.”
Although the 2024 elections are still a ways off, they promise to be entertaining with North Carolinians voting for a president, a governor, every member of the General Assembly and the entire council of state.
Council of state races — including the secretary of state and departments of the state auditor, treasurer, public instruction, attorney general, agriculture and insurance — don’t often get the notice that high-profile races do, but they’re critically important to how the state functions.
Dobson won his 2020 race with one of the lowest vote totals in more than 15 years, largely on the coattails of President Donald Trump’s slim 1.34% victory over challenger Joe Biden.
Hardister’s fate — along with everyone else who runs for a council of state office — will depend greatly on how the presidential and gubernatorial races shape up, but that doesn’t mean he’s powerless to boost his chances.
“I’m prepared to serve. I have a strong work ethic, and I’m a good listener. That’s what I bring to the table. I’m prepared in the sense that I have the private sector background and also the experience working in state government,” he said. “You have to be smart enough to know that you don’t know everything. You have to have good judgment. You have to listen and learn. I’ve done that as a legislator, and I’ll do that as labor commissioner.”
should go to healthyhaywood.com.
For more information about Haywood 4 Good, go to facebook.com/haywood4good. Interested individuals may also call 828.452.6675.
Haywood 4 Good is sponsored by Haywood Health and Human Services Agency, the Healthy Haywood Wellness Action Group and Haywood Regional Medical Center.
No parking tag is required to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Friday, Aug. 4, during a fee-free day celebrating the anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act.
Passed on Aug. 4, 2020, the act provides funding to make enhancements in national parks and other public lands, helping to preserve them and offer opportunities for recreation, education and enjoyment into the future.
Aug. 4 is one of three remaining fee-free days recognized throughout the National Park Service this year. Parking tags will not be required for National Public Lands Day Sept. 23 or Veterans Day Nov. 11. Park rangers will continue their parking enforcement efforts on fee-free days, such as issuing warnings and citations for vehicles parked in marked no parking areas.
As voters ponder the ballot for executive offices within the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians next month, they’ll be looking at a list of familiar names.
Incumbent Principal Chief Richard Sneed and Vice Chief Alan “B” Ensley are running for re-election, but both will face stiff opposition from challengers who are quite familiar with tribal government. Michell Hicks, who served three consecutive terms as principal chief from 2003 to 2015, hopes to unseat Sneed in his first election campaign since he declined to stand for reelection eight years ago. Meanwhile, Big Cove Tribal Council Rep. Teresa McCoy, who has spent a total of 22 years in that office, is challenging Ensley.
“This is, in my mind, a race about records,” Sneed said at the conclusion of a July 27 debate with Hicks. “Because you as the citizens of this tribe have the unique benefit of knowing both of us and knowing there’s no surprise. There’s no surprise. You know what you’re going to get with me, you know what you’re going to get with Michell.”
Sneed then spent the next three minutes listing out the accomplishments he wants voters to think of when they consider his record — including more than $200 million spent on local projects like community centers and healthcare facilities, getting Kituwah and Cooper’s Creek into federal trust and creating an adult immersion learning program for the Cherokee language. He also touted the tribe’s response to COVID-19 and his efforts to diversify tribal revenues through the creation of LLCs.
But Sneed’s record on the LLCs is at the center of the uphill battle he faces to secure re-election. Some voters are concerned that the tribe has overextended itself with out-ofstate business commitments while sidelining projects important to the local economy. Recent Tribal Council sessions have featured frequent references to the tribe’s apparently troubled financial situation, with representatives saying that no uncommitted funds remain. Despite the field of six candidates vying for the office of principal chief in June’s Primary Election, Hicks pulled 41.8% of the vote — nearly double Sneed’s 21.8% share.
Though Hicks has not held elected office for eight years, he also has a record to defend. The tribe prospered financially under his watch, with both profits and facilities continually expanding at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and the Valley River Casino in Murphy opening shortly before his term ended. A referendum vote allowed
alcohol sales there in 2009, and in 2012, the tribe reached an agreement with the state to green-light table games, both of which were key inflection points in the casino’s upward trajectory.
But Hicks also had his share of controversies. His administration was criticized for its allegedly liberal use of tribal credit cards, and in 2014, he introduced a controversial budget ordinance — challenged in a lawsuit that was dismissed due to lack of standing — that gave backpay and raises to himself and other elected officials. In 2007, he issued an executive order requiring The Cherokee One Feather to remove the anonymous “Rants and Raves” portion of its opinion section, subsequently removing the erstwhile editor.
The ”race about records” statement could also apply to the vice chief’s race. Both Sneed and Ensley have held their roles for six years after being sworn in following the impeachment and removal of former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert. At the time, Sneed was serving his first term as the elected vice chief and Ensley was nearing the end of 22 years representing Yellowhill on Tribal Council. Since 1987, McCoy has also spent a cumulative 22 years on Tribal Council, some-
Michell Hicks
Hicks was elected to the office of principal chief three times — 2003, 2007 and 2011 — before declining to stand for re-election in 2015. Since then, he founded the business consulting firm Chief Strategy Group, where he’s the president. Prior to entering politics, Hicks was the tribe’s executive director of budget and finance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western Carolina University and an associate degree in accounting from Southwestern Community College, and he has been a Certified Public Accountant for more than 20 years.
Sneed has served as principal chief for six years.
After winning the 2015 election for vice chief, he was sworn in to replace former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert following his removal by impeachment and then won
times opting to sit out for a term or to run for executive office instead.
Both Sneed and Ensley received a vote of confidence from their constituents when they sought to retain their appointed offices during the 2019 election. Sneed took 55.1% of the vote against McCoy, who ran against him in that race, and Ensley buried challenger Jim Owle with 65.2% of the vote.
But much has changed in four years. Because only two candidates filed to run for vice chief, McCoy and Ensley did not go before voters in the Primary Election this June. But if the chief’s primary is any indication, the tribe’s current executives will face a tough battle at the ballot box.
Like the rest of the world, the EBCI has weathered a global pandemic and is navigating the societal fallout of measures taken to quell it. At the same time, it has watched its casino monopoly disappear. Temporary gaming facilities are already up in Kings Mountain and Bristol, Virginia, and permanent structures more capable of competing
election in 2019. Prior to the 2015 election, Sneed spent 11 years as an industrial arts teacher at Cherokee High School, 14 years as a pastor and owned Cornerstone Automotive for five years. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served four years.
Ensley represented Yellowhill on Tribal Council from 1995 to 2017, when he was appointed to the role of vice chief to fill the vacancy left when Sneed was sworn in as principal chief. He is an alumnus of Cherokee High School and worked in the family logging business prior to entering politics.
McCoy was first elected to represent Big Cove on Tribal Council in 1987, and since then she has held the seat for 22 years. A graduate of Cherokee High School, she also attended Southwestern Community College and Western Carolina University for three years.
with Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos are only a matter of time.
Unlike town and county governments, the tribal government does not tax and spend. Casino revenues, not taxpayer dollars, fund the array of services offered to tribal members. Sneed has made revenue diversification a hallmark of his administration, setting up multiple LLCs charged with pursuing a variety of moneymaking enterprises on the tribe’s behalf, ranging from hospitality and property management to out-of-state gaming and cannabis.
But word has spread that the tribe is now in financial hot water due to the hundreds of millions of dollars it has pledged to further these enterprises and to complete numerous community projects benefiting its local members. Hicks has sharply criticized Sneed for allowing this situation to play out on his watch.
“We’ve, again, got more money than we’ve ever had, but we’re questioning where’s that next dollar coming from,” Hicks said during the debate. “Because you know what? Yeah, we have diversified. But you know what? We’ve also overcommitted.”
LLC-led economic diversification projects over the last four years include $324 million to purchase the Sports Illustrated Resorts brand and construct associated resorts, a 49.5% stake in a $55 million horse racing facility in Kentucky, $110 million to develop a 200-acre property as a roadside stop along Interstate 40 near Sevierville, a 49.5% stake in a $650 million casino project in Danville, Virginia, $250 million to purchase Caesars Southern Indiana Casino operations in Indiana and $31 million toward launching a cannabis enterprise on the Qualla Boundary. That list is by no means complete.
Sneed, however, maintains that his administration has been “very fiscally responsible.” While the total operating budget has grown, in an interview he said that over the last two years his office has cut out $85 million in “wasteful spending” and pointed out that he has slowly backed off on what percentage of projected casino revenues the budget should count on. The 2020-2021 budget was based on 80% of casino projections, and the 2023-2024 budget is expected to count on 73% of projections.
“I do what is necessary, and I do what is right for the long-term financial wellbeing of the tribe,” Sneed said. “And I, again, point to, from day one, submitting the most fiscally conservative budget in the history of this tribe. Right now, if the two casinos took a 20% hit in revenue, we would not have to do any cost containment. We would not have to cut jobs, programs or services.”
Meanwhile, Sneed said the Hicks administration had engaged in the dangerous practice of budgeting based on 100% of casino revenues. During the
debate, Hicks — who did not return multiple requests for an interview — denied that charge. In response, Sneed read off a list that he said came from the EBCI Department of Finance stating that, from 2009-2012, the tribal budget was based on 98-100% of casino projections.
“I have no further response other than that those numbers are not accurate,” Hicks replied. “It’s a moot point.”
Fact-checking the candidates’ financial claims is difficult because the tribe’s public records law has been interpreted as guaranteeing release of such records only to tribal members, not to non-enrolled members of the media. The Smoky Mountain News has never been permitted to see a copy of the approved budget.
Sneed said that the tribe’s current lack of unrestricted cash is partially because revenue from tribal levy — akin to a sales tax — is being used to fund Qualla Enterprises, the cannabis business. Federal regulations prevent the tribe from using gaming dollars for that purpose, but using tribal levy dollars displaces funds that were going toward other programs. Sneed also pointed to Tribal Council spending decisions. Over the past decade, he said, Council has approved $700 million worth of projects, far more than the tribe’s capacity to execute — especially with interest rates much higher than they were a few years ago. For that reason, Sneed has put the brakes on projects that were until recently expected to move forward soon.
“[Hicks] can criticize that if he wants, but had we not done that, I guess he would be criticizing the really high interest rate we would have been paying,” he said.
But Sneed’s opponents say the situation is much more dire than that. Hicks decried the fact that millions of dollars are sitting in tribal coffers but collateralized in loans, and therefore unusable.
“We can’t access it,” he said. “Guess who owns it? The bank does. That’s the issue.”
Tribal debt was also an election issue in Hicks’ last campaign in 2011. At that time, the tribe owed $57.2 million on the Cherokee Central Schools complex and $10.8 million on the Sequoyah National Golf Club, and was on the hook for $8.9 million for a series of loan guarantees. Opponents also wanted to peg the $650 million line of credit for the casino expansion project then underway on Hicks, but his administration said that because the tribe was not legally liable for the casino’s debt, that figure should not be lumped in with tribal debt. At no time in his tenure, Hicks said, was the casino allowed to collateralize tribal dollars.
McCoy is running against Ensley, not against Sneed as she did in 2019, but she is running in opposition to the status quo he has created and said in an interview that she hopes to serve alongside Hicks. The tribe is currently paying only interest on some of its loans, she said, charging that Sneed’s administration “has taken us from success to being almost unable to borrow money.” Sneed did not reply to a follow-up question asking
Debates between candidates for all legislative and executive offices up for election this year were held last week, hosted by The Cherokee One Feather. They are available online at bit.ly/EBCIdebates23 and on the EBCI Communications Facebook page.
support quarterly and monthly reports going out to the people and floated the idea of creating a login for online broadcasts of Tribal Council meetings, accessible only to enrolled members.
“We’ve experienced repeatedly that when we do discuss business items on air, you find out that the whole rest of the country is watching,” he said.
whether the tribe is making full principal payments on its loans.
“That can change,” McCoy said. “I have plans, and that’s what I bring to the table.”
McCoy said she would focus initially on projects that promise a fast return and then “openly discuss” projects and plans for longterm returns. But none of those projects, she said, would involve gaming.
“I’m not interested in spending any more of our money, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians money, on gaming,” she said. “That is not diversification.”
Ensley, who did not return multiple requests for an interview, said during the debate that he agrees with the need to “diversify away from gaming” and that the tribe needs to put money back into the town to increase revenues from tribal levy.
“This town lived and grew off the tribal levy, for police, fire and sanitation,” he said. “I think we’ve got to diversify back into young entrepreneurship.”
Sneed has warned that tribal members often have a false sense of normalcy when it comes to the pace and magnitude of returns to expect on business ventures. Casino gaming is one of the most lucrative businesses there is, he said, and the EBCI’s casinos are some of the most lucrative casinos there are.
“We’ve become addicted to gaming revenue,” he said.
But McCoy believes there’s another business opportunity offering large, immediate returns — Qualla LLC. The cannabis enterprise started production of medical marijuana this year, and in September tribal members will vote on a referendum question asking whether they want to legalize recreational use on the Qualla Boundary. Because the state of North Carolina has not yet legalized either medicinal or recreational use, the launch of retail sales has yet to begin. The LLC is looking for a legal way to move product from the production facility at Coopers Creek to the dispensary in Cherokee.
Funding and accountability for Qualla Enterprises has been a contentious issue in Tribal Council chambers, with Sneed saying he wholeheartedly supports the cannabis project in concept while questioning the numbers its leaders have offered and demanding increased transparency with his office. McCoy has no such reservations.
“If you’re looking for a fast return, right
now that’s the only way to do it,” she said. “You grow medicine. You provide 400 jobs. Those empty shops we talk about in town get filled up with those young entrepreneurs who want to have a donut shop, a restaurant.”
The tribe should also look to other ventures as well, she said, including maximizing ecotourism potential at home.
Regarding cannabis, Hicks was more cautious in his comments, saying that the science behind medicinal cannabis is “really intriguing.” Both he and Ensley deferred to the will of the people on the recreational use issue, though Hicks said that geographical parameters should be put in place if the measure passes.
“We need to create parameters that keep this out of the sight and the minds of our children, because I don’t think it sends the right message,” he said.
Throughout the election season — and throughout the tribe’s movement toward economic diversification — transparency has been a key issue. Often, those in office discuss the need for confidentiality when discussing numbers and partnership opportunities with various companies. The tribe is, in many senses of the word, a business. And in the business world, nobody announces a deal until it’s signed and final. Certainly, nobody opens up their books for public inspection.
But the EBCI is more than just a business, and tribal members are more than “the public.” They’re also shareholders in the corporation that is the EBCI — and they want to know how, and why, their money is being spent.
“To me, every enrolled member is a shareholder, and they should be entitled to every bit, 100% of the information that they request at any time,” said Ensley.
None of the other candidates for chief or vice chief disagreed with that assessment, but there was uncertainty about how to carry it out. Certainly, some information is sensitive, or embargoed — an individual “shareholder” might have a right to know, but should the information be broadcast online, for the whole world to see?
During the debate, Sneed said he would
McCoy said she prioritizes free press and open access to information, with the exception of trade secrets and sensitive business negotiations that must be discussed only in closed session.
“I believe in free press,” she said in the debate. “I’m that person. I believe that if you give people the information, they will make the right decision.”
Hicks focused his discussion of the shareholder concept on members’ right to know how any revenues gained from new projects might impact them. Tribal members receive per capita distributions derived from 50% of the revenues from the casinos in Murphy and Cherokee. Though Tribal Council did recently approve a resolution, introduced by Sneed, to explore granting per capita payments from commercial sports betting proceeds, as of now none of the tribe’s other commercial ventures yield per capita distributions.
“There’s no revenue plan for some of these enterprises” Hicks said. “Should have been done up front, and that should have been the chief’s responsibility.”
According to Sneed, the election is about records. But according to Hicks, it’s about something completely different.
“We have to do a better job of listening, and, again, I think that’s probably one of the things I’ve heard the loudest in the community, outside of the financial crisis we’re in, is our community wants their voice back,” he said. “I promise you, you will get your voice back.”
Key dates are coming up regarding registration and voting for the 2023 General Election Sept. 7.
• Registration closes at 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, for the General Election and 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, for the referendum election occurring on the same day.
• Early voting will be held 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, Aug. 7-25, as well as Saturday, Aug. 26, and Monday, Aug. 28.
• Absentee ballot requests must be made by Tuesday, Aug. 15.
For more information, contact 828.359.6361 or visit ebci.com/government/election-board.
Agroup of five conservation organizations has declared its intent to sue the U.S. Forest Service unless it corrects alleged Endangered Species Act violations committed in completing the new PisgahNantahala Forest Management Plan. These conservation groups — consisting of Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, The Wilderness Society, MountainTrue and the Sierra Club, and represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center — say that the plan has “glaring flaws” that threaten the survival of endangered forest bats.
“It is unacceptable that the NantahalaPisgah Forest Plan puts imperiled wildlife at even greater risk of extinction,” said Jess Riddle, conservation specialist for The Wilderness Society. “The Forest Service has blatantly ignored the best available science and shirked its legal duties to protect forest resources at nearly every step of the way in this planning process, leading to a plan that prioritizes logging in the wrong places and trivializes intact mature and old-growth forest habitat.”
The conservation groups say that if the Forest Service does not take “all necessary measures” to rectify the alleged ESA violations, they will sue the agency.
“Our incredibly diverse ecosystems deserve a better plan,” said Josh Kelly, public lands field biologist for MountainTrue. “The people who love and use these forests deserve a better plan. And MountainTrue and our litigation partners are willing to go to court to win a plan that we can all be proud of.”
In February, the Forest Service wrapped up a decade-long process to revise the plan governing the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests for the first time since 1987. The 361page plan lays out the framework for management decisions on the forests’ 1.1 million acres, which contain the highest elevations east of the Mississippi River and a striking diversity of species and landscapes.
The plan was one of the first developed under a 2012 planning rule that emphasized public participation throughout the process. But as it neared its final form, members of the Nantahala Pisgah Forest Partnership, a group of more than 20 organizations that spent years working on a compromise to address their diverse and often competing interests, expressed disappointment that some of its
key recommendations had been omitted. When the final plan came out, SELC and four of the five organizations behind the Intent to Sue issued a joint press release decrying the plan as a failure that “turned a tin ear to legitimate input” and “outright dismisses the need to protect thousands of acres of high-priority areas for rare species.” The groups didn’t promise a lawsuit at that point but explicitly declined to rule it out.
At the heart of the Intent to Sue filed July 25 is the Biological Opinion document the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed after the Forest Service asked it to analyze how the proposed plan would impact six bat species. The Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to consult with the FWS anytime a proposed action could affect a listed species or critical habitat. After analyzing plan impacts on 26 species, the Forest Service concluded that the six bat species were the only ones at risk of impact from the plan.
The Biological Opinion doesn’t analyze the effects of specific plan actions, the FWS wrote, but “is a broad-scale analysis” used to “determine the potential for the revised forest plan direction to jeopardize the affected populations of listed species.”
Four of the species — northern long-eared bat, Indiana bat, Virginia big-eared bat and gray bat — are endangered, and the FWS is considering listing the little brown bat and tricolored bat. White-nose syndrome, a fungus-caused disease that has decimated cave-dwelling bat populations since arriving in North America sometime before 2006, has dramatically impacted five of the six species. In less than a decade, one 2021 study found, it wiped out more than 90% of the northern long-eared, little brown and tri-colored bats in existence. Bats are essential to pest control, plant pollination and seed dispersal. Recent studies estimate that, in the U.S. corn industry alone, bats eat enough pests to save more than $1 billion annually in crop damage and pesticide costs, and that the animals’ insect consumption saves more than $3 billion per year across all agricultural production.
The conservation groups claim the Forest Service “ignored public concerns and the best available science” about the plan’s impact on endangered species and used “misleading and inaccurate information to downplay the impacts.” Those impacts are directly related to the “huge increase in logging in sensitive habitats” contained in the plan, the groups said.
To inform its Biological Opinion, the FWS used outputs from the Forest Service’s Ecological Sustainability Evaluation Model, which predicts how groups of species are expected to fare under various planning scenarios. The tool defines outcomes as poor, fair, good or very good. But the Forest Service apparently did not give the FWS the underlying data behind these rankings, the Intent to Sue states, with the FWS accepting Forest Service conclusions “uncritically.”
However, the conservation groups claim, these conclusions are deeply flawed. They list five examples in which the Forest Service allegedly failed to provide information to the FWS or supplied inaccurate information.
The first example listed deals with the Forest Service’s “inaccurate and illogical assumptions” about how often natural forest disturbances like fires, landslides or storms would occur in the future. Data show that the rate of disturbance increased for each of the last four decades and more than doubled between the first and fifth decade, but instead of assuming natural disturbance levels would continue to increase, the Forest Service assumed that the rate seen by decade over the past 50 years would cycle over the next 200. In other words, disturbance levels in the 2020s would be equal to those in the 1970s and levels in the 2030s would mirror those in the 1980s.
“Not only does the modeling assume no increase in disturbance levels as global climate change continues to intensify — an assumption contradicted in other portions of the Forest Service’s analysis — it also predicts that levels will dramatically drop during the relevant timeframe,” the intent to Sue states.
The document also claims that the Forest Service withheld information about the plan’s impact on mid- to late-aged forests, incorrectly stated that plan impacts from road construction would be negligible, failed to provide information about logging levels on adjacent state and private lands and exaggerated the benefit two of the bat species would incur from the type of clearings likely to be created under the plan.
The Intent to Sue then alleges that, after the Forest Service tipped the scales by supplying the FWS with substandard informa-
tion, it “arbitrarily and capriciously” relied on the resulting Biological Opinion.
“Since the agency put ‘garbage in,’ it could only expect to get garbage out,” the document states. “Second, because FWS’s BiOp is legally flawed and fails to discuss available information that would undercut the opinion’s conclusion, the Forest Service acted unlawfully by relying on the consequently flawed BiOp in its Record of Decision.”
The document goes on to list 17 ways in which the conservation groups believe the Biological Opinion to be flawed.
Several of these alleged flaws have to do with failures to consider where specifically certain species of bats are found in the forest and the cumulative effects of various environmental pressures on these bat populations. Evidence shows that many of these bat species reuse the same areas year after year, so eliminating these key habitats could have “a cascade of negative effects.”
“The BiOp assumes that since the listed bats can still find suitable habitat throughout the forests, where these impacts occur within the forests is irrelevant,” the document says. “That cannot be true; logging around the caves inhabited by the Virginia big-eared bat, for example, could devastate the one major maternity colony in North Carolina.”
The Biological Opinion is also flawed in its conception of short-term and long-term impacts to the bat species, the conservation groups say. Bats live long lives and reproduce slowly, and their populations levels are already dangerously low.
“Dismissing the plan’s impacts to bat habitat as ‘temporary’ fails to account for basic bat biology as well as the imperiled status of the species, violating the best available science requirement,” the Intent to Sue states.
The Biological Opinion also fails to adequately consider how threats like climate change and white-nose syndrome will impact the bats or conservation measures in the plan, the conservation groups say. For example, in other contexts, the Forest Service has recognized that certain tree species that provide important bat habitat could be harmed by climate change. The Biological Opinion references plan goals to promote these species but doesn’t discuss how climate change might impact success.
Representatives from the Forest Service and FWS declined to comment on the pending litigation, but the Forest Service sent a statement encouraging ongoing public dialogue and emphasizing the long, collaborative process used to develop the new plan.
“Diverse opinions and ideas about how to manage the Nantahala and Pisgah are inherent in the complexity of carrying out the Forest Service’s multiple use mission in some of the most visited and biodiverse national forests in the country,” the statement said. “Our commitment is that we will always strive to listen to and convene diverse perspectives to make the best decisions, informed by science, so we can create healthy and resilient forests now and for the future.”
Now that Sylva Pipes is up and running with a temporary half-pipe, commissioners are looking at next steps for the skate community. Should the town expand options at Sylva Pipes making the space a more permanent one, or will it work toward a permanent skatepark at a different location?
“We need to make a decision as to whether we want to move forward with developing that space,” said Commissioner Greg McPherson during a July 24 commissioners meeting. “I think it’s an awesome space, and I think it’s got a lot of potential.”
Sylva Pipes opened with a dedication on June 15, and contains a temporary half-pipe, in addition to a few other features, in the vacant lot behind Motion Makers.
The town began looking into the purchase of a half pipe for the skate community last year while the longer and more expensive prospect of a permanent skatepark played out. A grassroots organization of Jackson County residents, the “Sylva Skatepark Project,” began advocating for the construction of a skatepark over a year ago. Both the Town of Sylva and the Jackson County Commission have been receptive to the group’s endeavors.
The town spent $9,700 on the temporary equipment, now open to skateboarders, which it purchased from OC Ramps, a Californiabased company that sells ramp kits. The town does not pay anything to lease the property from Kent Cranford, previous owner of Motion Makers and current owner of the building that houses the business on Allen Street in Sylva.
“Since we moved into that building eight years ago, I’ve always wanted to do something in the back that would be recreationalminded,” said Cranford after the lease was finalized. “When the town leaders inquired about temporarily locating the skate ramp, it seemed like a good test for that space along with solving a problem for the town and the skateboarders.”
During its July 24 meeting, the town discussed what to do next to keep working toward a permanent skatepark. With the
lifespan of the temporary half-pipe being somewhere in the ballpark of five to 10 years, the board wants to see skatepark construction on track during that time so that the town isn’t left without any amenities for the skate community down the road.
Commissioner Greg McPherson floated the idea of adding to the existing structures, as well as repaving the lot behind Motion Makers to improve the space.
“It’s really nice to have a space right in town so you don’t have to deal with traffic to get out to Mark Watson,” said McPherson.
“It’s a really nice space right by the creek, isolated.”
Mark Watson Park has been tossed around as a possible location for a permanent skatepark in the future. Commissioners also discussed the possibility of a permanent skatepark in the lot that currently hosts Sylva Pipes; however, the lot is located within a floodplain. While temporary structures can be situated there without complications, locating any permanent structures there would be more difficult.
“It’s really not a good long-term spot,” said Mayor David Nestler. “If we had originally set out to build something permanent, we would not have done it right there on someone else’s property. That would be bad long-term planning. It’s a good spot for a short-term solution, but it’s really not a good long term solution to the lack of a skatepark.”
“My advice for the board would be to put our energy into getting the county to put a permanent [skatepark] at Mark Watson. The whole point of this half pipe was a temporary hold over while they got that one planned and built,” said Nestler. “I would really like to stay on that course as opposed to investing more money and time and maintenance into a temporary one that was never really meant to be permanent.”
Commissioner Mary Gelbaugh has attempted talks with the county about working towards a permanent skatepark, which she thinks would be best located at Mark Watson Park.
“I’ve been kind of disappointed honestly. I think that we have a really great space at Mark Watson Park that’s underutilized. I think it’s a recreation park and that would be an asset to address all the demographics in the recreation sector,” said Gelbaugh. “I wish that county commissioners would be a little bit more amenable to thinking about space near the batting cage where the metal
garages are that do not fit the character of Mark Watson Park. I hope that they will open their minds to the concept.”
Gelbaugh and Nestler said they would work toward revitalizing talks with the county about planning for a permanent skatepark, whether it ends up being a project paid for by the county alone, or in combination with the town.
“Part of the discussion, the bargain, I felt like, was that we would set up a temporary skatepark and the county would begin talks of investing in an actual one,” said Nestler. “I feel like we’ve held up our end of the bargain. I think we should try to revitalize those talks with the county, and I’d be glad to help with that.”
Town Manager Paige Dowling cautioned
the board against planning to allocate any money toward additional amenities at Sylva Pipes, or for a permanent park, in part because of all the projects the town currently has going on.
“My caution to the board about the money would be, we have Allen Street, Bryson Park, the bathrooms and Bridge Park, all that will be going on before December hopefully. That’s more projects than we’ve ever had at one time. We’re also looking at a dwindling tax base because of the NC 107 project,” Dowling said. “The only real funds I see that we have is ARPA funds, but with about $400,000 remaining of those, we’ve got all these projects going on or about to go on, so I’d caution the board about taking on any more big expenses right now.”
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“It’s really not a good long-term spot. If we had originally set out to build something permanent, we would not have done it right there on someone else’s property.”
- David Nestler, Sylva Mayor
Claims of indecent behavior involving a transgender person at the Waynesville Recreation Center roiled this tight-knight rural community last week, even after a town investigation found no evidence that any crimes were committed and that one of the allegations was completely unsubstantiated.
But if those allegations were meant to divide, deride or dishearten the people of Haywood County, they’ve proven to be a spectacular failure after a recent meeting of the Waynesville Town Council that will be remembered as a watershed moment for LGBT+ rights in a small Appalachian town nestled right in the heart of MAGA country.
On July 12, Jess Scott, a youth pastor from Clyde, made a now-deleted Facebook post saying that after his teenage daughter had been swimming at the Waynesville Recreation Center earlier that day, she told him a “full grown man” had entered the women’s locker room and changed into a bikini.
Implied in Scott’s post is that the person is transgender, or is a male who identifies as female.
The person at the center of Scott’s allegation has neither come forward nor been identified, but is referred to in previous reports from The Smoky Mountain News as “Jane Doe” (she/her).
Scott never filed a police report, and didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Over the next few days, the allegations gained traction on social media.
On July 18, two more claims of alleged indecency on the part of Doe emerged from the rec center’s unisex sauna, this time from Amy Elizabeth Bumgarner. Bumgarner did file a police report, but didn’t allege any wrongdoing — just that she felt “uncomfortable” with the mere existence of a transgender person.
Bumgarner didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
Some who subsequently reacted on social media were measured and reflective, while others — business owners, right-wing activists and political candidates for Waynesville’s upcoming municipal elections — accepted the internet allegations as gospel truth and responded with a rush to judgement, including dehumanizing language and graphic, violent threats directed at the LGBTQ+ community.
Other right-wing groups, ignorant of North Carolina’s recent history with the LGBTQ+ rights movement, vowed to mobilize and demand that the town and the county pass ordinances regulating access to public facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms.
Republican-sponsored legislation passed in the wake of North Carolina’s disastrous HB2 debacle has reserved the right to regulate such facilities only to the General Assembly, and not to local governments. Contemporary court cases have also affirmed the right of transgender people to use the
facilities that align with their gender identity.
After an investigation by town staff and the town’s police force, Waynesville Town Attorney Martha Bradley announced in a July 23 memo that Bumgarner’s discomfort was not a cause of action and that Scott’s allegations about Doe were not at all supported, despite hours of video gathered from the rec center’s public areas.
In the video, viewed exclusively by The Smoky Mountain News, Doe’s actions at the Waynesville Recreation Center on July 12, July 17 and July 18 are seen to be completely within the law and were actually quite mundane.
She enters. She buys a day pass. She removes her gym shoes, shorts and tee shirt in the pool area to reveal a bikini already present under her clothing. She swims. She chats with a lifeguard. She makes several visits to the sauna and to the gender-neutral family locker room. She holds the door open for a person using a walker. She gets a drink from a water fountain. She puts on her gym shoes, her shorts and her tee shirt and she leaves.
The video shows Doe’s actions did not include, as Scott alleged, entering the women’s locker room, despite Doe being completely within her legal rights to do so.
As the investigation concluded — and some of the inflammatory social media posts began to disappear — there were rumblings within Western North Carolina’s small, fragmented LGBTQ+ community that they would take a strong stand against the lies, the harassment and the hate. They’d quickly get their chance.
Looming over the entire investigation was an upcoming regular meeting of Waynesville’s Town Council, scheduled months ago for Tuesday, July 25 — just two days after the results of the town’s investigation were released.
Generally, such meetings aren’t well-attended by the public at large, especially by the left or the LGBTQ+ community. But they are usually well-attended by the right, some of whom utilize every opportunity to share verifiably false information with Waynesville’s Democrat-majority Town Council during public comment sessions.
Many of the people who regularly spread misinformation at the meetings also spread misinformation about the recent rumors from the town’s rec center.
By the time the gavel struck 6 p.m. sharp, the otherwise boring board room, where the nuances of sewer improvement financing and classic-car drive-ins are often the order of the day, was filled to overflowing with more than a hundred people — lesbian people, gay people, bisexual people, transgender people, queer people, intersex people, allied people.
People.
Those people weren’t there to apologize, or to grovel, or to meekly express their hope for a more just future — they were there to make their demands.
They want the freedom to exercise their constitutional rights like every other American.
“We just want to live in peace and not fear,” said Waynesville resident Hilary Underwood. “Please do not murder or harm us for merely existing.”
They want to thank law enforcement and lawmakers for safeguarding those legal protections.
“We stand with our Republican legislators and with the law,” said Dr. Tera McIntosh, of Clyde. “We’re not here to beg for our God-given rights — we’re here to exercise them without the threat of harm and violence.”
They want those whose false allegations fueled the furor to be held responsible.
“We stand with our Republican legislators and with the law. We’re not here to beg for our Godgiven rights — we’re here to exercise them without the threat of harm and violence.”- Dr. Tera
McIntosh, Clyde
“[I urge] you to seek accountability to the fullest extent that is within your power for those who made false claims, wasted community resources on the investigation of a non-issue based on false information and who communicated clear threats of harm or violence on the basis of gender identity,” said Chelsea White, also of Waynesville.
They want voters to know that some who embraced Scott’s allegations are candidates for Waynesville’s Town Council.
“We’ve got a whole lot going on in this next six months,” said Jesse Ross of Waynesville. “We’ve got elections [coming] and we’ve got people that frankly do not need to be on this council.”
They want to prevent violence against marginalized communities.
“I’m here from Swain County because the rumors and violent threats that we’ve seen over the last few weeks have ripples that will cross these mountains. I encourage you in the strongest possible terms to deal with these things very seriously and where people have been communicating threats, if that is a prosecutable offense, please do so,” said Garrett Lagan, a licensed clinical social worker from Bryson City. “When we spread lies and wind a community up through false allegations it leads to violence, consistently. Please, please, hold those liars accountable for their lies, for attacking this community.”
Lagan’s words were unfortunately prophetic; one day after the meeting, the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office arrested Joseph O’Neal, of Brevard, after O’Neal threatened to shoot up an 18-andover drag show at a private establishment, UpCountry Brewing in Brevard, on July 29.
But perhaps most of all, they want people in this deeply religious corner of the South — people like Jess Scott, the youth pastor from Fines Creek Memorial Baptist Church who made the initial false allegation — to re-examine their commitment to the words of Christ.
“The Bible teaches me that the most important things we ought to do is to love God, love ourselves, and love our neighbors. Trans people are our neighbors too,” said Helen Ryde of Lake Junaluska.
“When aspiring leaders speak unkindly about them, when they make false and harmful allegations about them and when they, whether intentionally or not, incite others to make violent threats against them — this seems about as far removed from how Jesus calls us to live as I can imagine.”
Ryde was one of several speakers from the LGBTQ+ camp who mentioned tolerance as an aspect of their faith. Others offered otherwise.
“It seems to me there’s a bunch of people confused about one book called the Bible. Very, very, very confused,” said David Lovett of Waynesville. “Evidently, they forgot about Leviticus, that tells [that] all of this is completely wrong, and forgot about Noah and the ark, who flooded the Earth and killed everybody on Earth except for those on the boat because of this kind of behavior along with drug addicts and everything else. Evidently, there’s a lot of people who call themselves Christians that need to actually go back and read that book again. You can’t just pick out a little piece here and there.”
Lovett, clad in a “Trump 2024” shirt, was drowned out by laughter but soon resumed his comments.
“The fact is, it is not okay, it’s disgusting,” he said. “And I’ll tell you right now I served my country. I’m perfectly able to protect myself and other people, and I can promise you this — I got five grandchildren and most of those are females. I can tell you right now, some male tries to walk into a bathroom or locker room and begins to change, I can promise you I will defend them to my death.”
At this point, the crowd openly heckled Lovett; when one person said that because Lovett apparently identifies as a man, he wouldn’t be allowed to enter the female locker room to defend it against a transgender person who is exercising their legal rights, he said that a transgender person would never even make it into the bathroom.
The crowd erupted into bedlam, prompting some vigorous gaveling from Mayor Gary Caldwell in an attempt to restore order. Lovett faced the crowd, defiant, and screamed into the din, “There’s no such thing as trans-anything! It’s a made-up mental disorder! You need to get some friggin’ help!”
Police Chief David Adams told the crowd to respect Lovett’s right to speak, and with another officer ushered Lovett back to his seat once he was through.
Elias Hatcher, of Canton, was the only other speaker to voice concern over the laws governing bathroom access.
“I feel for people that truly don’t feel that they’re in the right body, but the fact is that they have a biological body that God gave them and just as a father, I shouldn’t have to worry about that. I think that the staff at the rec center needs to enforce [that] your biological sex is what designates which bathroom to go to or not,” Hatcher said. If you guys want to have all-gender bathrooms, unisex bathrooms, that’s fine. That’s a different thing. I should not have to worry about my daughters being in a space with a man.”
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“The Bible teaches me that the most important things we ought to do is to love God, love ourselves, and love our neighbors. Trans people are our neighbors too.”
- Helen Ryde, Lake Junaluska
Although there was no official business on the agenda related to public accommodations, the town did end up taking several steps to reaffirm its support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Council Member Jon Feichter read a statement from his seat before the public comment session began. Feichter is a native of Waynesville and has been its most unabashed cheerleader, adamantly and repeatedly insisting that the town is the best on the entire planet.
“That said, as I’ve watched some of the responses to the incident that was alleged to have taken place at the rec center, I’d be lying if I said this situation has caused me to doubt whether that’s entirely true,” he said.
Feichter went on to express confidence in the investigation and declare that there is no room in Waynesville for what he called “hateful rhetoric and threats of violence” surrounding the false allegations.
“I’d like to ask everyone to take a step back and do some soul searching on what’s happened here over the past couple of weeks,” he said. “Although my belief in what makes Waynesville great, the people, has been shaken by what’s transpired, deep down I don’t believe this is who we are.”
Council Member Anthony Sutton also issued a brief written statement earlier that day, and read it just before Feichter read his own.
Sutton is Waynesville’s first openly gay member of the governing board. He was elected in 2019 and is currently seeking reelection along with Mayor Caldwell and the other three Council members.
“As a member of the LGBTQ+ Community and Council Member for the Town of Waynesville, I am deeply troubled by the continued vilification of our transgender citizens,” Sutton wrote. “It’s disheartening to see this level of hostility being leveled at such a historically marginalized group of people; and there is no place in Waynesville for these kinds of coldhearted, calloused and libelous attacks.”
Sutton went on to mention his own difficul-
The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) has established a charitable fund to support nonprofit organizations and municipalities impacted by the Pactiv Evergreen closure in Canton.
“We have been working with Haywood County, the Town of Canton, regional funders and many deeply engaged stakeholders to take this step,” said CFWNC President Elizabeth Brazas. “Our expectations are that donations received will be used to support economic recovery and transition. Some shorter-term and immediate needs are already being addressed through other phil-
ties in dealing with those who have a hard time accepting the fact that he’s married to a man. He also thanked the Waynesville Police Department for conducting the investigation without prejudice and in a serious manner.
After public comment, Council Member Chuck Dickson made a motion for the town to “approve, endorse and support” Sutton’s statement. Julia Freeman, the board’s lone Republican, seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
But Dickson wasn’t quite finished, and offered another motion.
“The Town of Waynesville, I do not believe, discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,” he said, “but my motion is that we look at all our policies to make sure that our policies of employment, use of facilities, do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.”
ments against North Carolina’s public accommodations laws — including those made by Lovett and Hatcher — assume that the only reason a transgender person ever goes into a public restroom is for the purposes of child molestation.
A 2022 study by the ULCA School of Law says that in their survey of 964 incarcerated sex offenders, transgender respondents made up only seven-tenths of one percent.
“I hope that every person feels safe in this town. I hope that every grandfather knows that their granddaughters are safe in this town. I hope that every trans man and trans woman feels safe in this town,”
Bradley continued.
nition of “it” as “a person or animal whose sex is unknown or disregarded,” many members of the LGBTQ+ community find the use of that particular pronoun insulting and dehumanizing.
When reached for comment, Reece declined, but did say he might put out a statement at some point in the future.
Stephanie Sutton (no relation to current Council Member Anthony Sutton) is a Republican running for a seat on Town Council in the same November election.
Before the results of the investigation were released, Sutton posted on her campaign Facebook page some words from her friend, local conspiracy theorist and anti-vax proponent Melanie Williams.
- Anthony Sutton, Waynesville Town Council MemberSutton seconded the motion, which also passed unanimously.
Town Attorney Martha Bradley later weighed in, calling the previous two weeks some of the most difficult in her life.
Bradley said she’d had plenty of experience prosecuting child sex offenders in the past, and not one of those cases ever came from a women’s restroom. She also courageously revealed — like several of the speakers earlier that evening — a painful chapter of her own past.
“I personally am a sexual assault survivor, and I can tell you that not one time did that happen in a women’s restroom,” she said. “Like many of you, I also went to church every Sunday, in a deeply religious southern town. I had a few less mountains and a couple more swamps, but I’m grateful that that church never taught me to hate anyone. I’m grateful to have found a town that matches that message.”
Whether implicitly or explicitly, the argu-
anthropic investments.”
In May, CFWNC awarded $150,000 to the Town of Canton to underwrite a full-time recovery officer who will assist the Town Manager’s office with work related to the Mill closure and economic revitalization.
Earlier this month, Dogwood Health Trust announced a $1 million grant to the United Way of Haywood County to support the Canton Mill Closure Emergency Response Project. Dogwood’s funding will provide financial assistance to individuals directly affected by the closure.
“I am moved by how many people have reached out proactively to help and am struck by the level of partnership,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers. “The impact of this closure is felt far beyond Canton and Haywood County. This is not a partisan issue; it’s a community issue. The closing has
“And I can personally guarantee that as long as I’m town attorney I know for a fact that his board and this police department will protect any person whose personal space has been violated. If your granddaughters are inappropriately touched or approached by a man, please tell us. We care. If you are a trans woman in a woman’s restroom, and you were attacked, we care. We want to know, because this is a town that protects itself.”
Yet to be resolved are the concerns over comments made by two candidates for the Waynesville governing board.
Joey Reece, a Waynesville native, Republican and retired DEA agent who very nearly beat out Sutton for an alderman seat in 2019, twice referred to Jane Doe as “it” in a Facebook comment.
Reece is running for mayor against Democrat Caldwell, as are two other candidates, in the upcoming November municipal elections.
While Webster’s dictionary does list a defi-
created difficult situations for so many, but it opens the opportunity for us to plan together for a healthy future and shared prosperity.
CFWNC’s Forward Fund provides yet another tool for continued collaboration.”
CFWNC Senior Program Officer Tara Scholtz will manage grants from the Forward Fund. It will provide proactive grants that enable nonprofit organizations and municipalities to plan, coordinate and increase capacity for collaborative economicrecovery programs and projects.
CFWNC works with families, businesses and nonprofits to strengthen communities through the creation of charitable funds and
“A grown man entering the women’s dressing room at the Waynesville Rec and changing into a bikini with women and young girls present,” reads Sutton’s post. “Can we just think for a minute of how traumatic that was for every female exposed or witness?”
Obviously, Sutton assumed all of Scott’s allegations were true, despite not having any facts to back up that assumption. Sutton later deleted the post.
When reached for comment, Sutton was immediately combative and expressed her distrust for the media, as she’s done in the past.
In a Jan. 6, 2021 Facebook post from Washington, D.C. that shows Sutton wearing Trump memorabilia while present at the insurrection, Sutton states that she “never once witnessed violence, never once!” and that “You are being lied to by the media ...”
More than a thousand people have been charged with various insurrection-related crimes, including crimes of violence, after widely televised reports showed multiple instances of violence — some, directed at law enforcement officers.
In April, Robert Sandford, a Pennsylvania man who pled guilty to assaulting three police officers with a fire extinguisher, was sentenced to more than four years in prison.
Sutton refused to answer any questions over the phone about why she made her post about the Waynesville Recreation Center without gathering any facts and why she later deleted her post.
Instead, Sutton demanded questions in written form. Her demand was rejected.
strategic grantmaking. A permanent charitable resource, the foundation manages over 1,200 funds and facilitated $34 million in grants last year bringing total giving to more than $362 million since its founding in 1978. Learn more at cfwnc.org.
“It’s disheartening to see this level of hostility being leveled at such a historically marginalized group of people; and there is no place in Waynesville for these kinds of cold-hearted, calloused and libelous attacks.”
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF W RITER
After Macon County declared its intent to purchase the Higdon property earlier this year, there was some confusion as to how the property would be used. However, the county commission eventually made clear the space was intended for use by the school system. Now the Macon County Board of Education and the county commission are working toward finalizing a lease agreement.
“Basically, we’re in a position now where the county is offering [the Higdon property] to us on a lease,” said School Board Chairman Jim Breedlove. “We would not be owners.”
In June, the county commission approved an interlocal agreement with the Macon County Board of Education concerning use of the Higdon property. The agreement stipulated that upon closing of the county’s purchase of the Higdon property, the parties would enter into a lease agreement in which the county permits the board of education to use the entire property, buildings and grounds for educational purposes.
Last week, administration from the county and the school system had the opportunity to tour the Higdon property, an 11-acre parcel located across the road from Franklin High School.
“We were able to lay eyes on the inside of the building and walk the grounds, and we had a few of our individuals out there, including Tracy Tallent, who is over our maintenance department,” said Superintendent Josh Lynch. “I asked him to do a quick eyeball assessment of things to consider to help the board make decisions, and he was able to provide a list of items that would need to be investigated and just a little bit more detail so that we can make the most proper decision moving forward.”
That list contains 17 items the board will need to consider for repair or improvement, like new door openings, egress, exit lighting, ramps, ADA compliance, lead paint and asbestos.
“Things of that nature that are concern-
ing that we just really need to have a better understanding on,” Lynch said.
In the meantime, School Board Attorney John Henning has been working with the county attorney to draft a lease that would convey the property from the county to the school system. As it stands now, it would be a 40-year lease in which the county retains fee ownership, but the school system has full use of the property. All systems and upkeep would be the responsibility of the school board.
“I’ve reviewed it. It’s in a form that we use all the time for this purpose,” Henning told the school board. “It’s basically the same one you have for the middle school, when you gave that property to the county.”
Because school boards cannot legally borrow money, they regularly give school property to county governments when financing school construction or renovation.
“You give them the property and they lease it back to you for the term of the repayment,” said Henning. “Here, there isn’t such a thing yet; we don’t have a plan to finance and build anything on it. But now that they have closed on it and own it, they are offering it to you in the terms of that lease.”
Henning said he approves of the conditions of the lease, but that county commissioners have not yet reviewed or approved the document.
“I personally am not ready to take any action until we get a chance to talk to Tracy, advance some of those things. His knowledge of what’s here and what we might be getting into are much greater and much more in line with what we need to know than any of us can possibly comprehend right now,” said Breedlove. “It’s refreshing, commissioners have done what they said they were going to try to do, hopefully we can move forward and go from there.”
The school board plans to discuss the property in further detail with Tallent at an upcoming meeting and review the lease after the county commissioners have given it their stamp of approval.
Macon County Schools administrators have expressed their intent to use the
Higdon property for expansion of Career and Technical Education opportunities. They envision the property as a student-run enterprise for the CTE program. Part of that would involve using the property as a land lab. Currently, Franklin High School students do not have their own animals that they can work with on campus and are limited to a greenhouse. If the program was moved to the Higdon Property, classes could possibly establish a mini farm and hydro-
ponic garden in addition to the greenhouse. Additionally, this would allow space for FHS to offer food sciences courses, something it cannot offer now due to limited space. Administration would like to see the kitchen in the Higdon estate turned into a commercial kitchen that FHS can use for culinary courses. The school system also wants to offer expanded options for students to study tourism and hospitality, a large sector of the Macon County economy.
At the June 27 meeting of the Macon County Board of Commissioners, Chairman Bill Dyar was asked by Leah Gaston and the other two new board members for the opportunity to fully introduce themselves. Chairman Dyar agreed.
I have included part of new board member Mrs. Leah Gaston’s remarks below:
“… And I want to be involved with our library because my family loves and values this local library. It is important that we keep the local and our local library (sic) and our library free of distracting outside influences.”
The local/not-local trope has permeated discussions about the library and its content for close to two years now and perhaps this is the moment to unpack this overladen label.
What constitutes “local?” Is it an idea or thing that has its origins in Franklin, or Macon County, or the three-county region of Macon, Jackson, and Swain which the Fontana Regional Library system serves?
How long must the idea, thing and/or person have existed within the subjective boundaries before it has become assimilated, no longer “outside,” and now worthy of being seen as “local?” Is it a year, the 10 years such as Mrs. Gaston and her husband have been here for? Is it my almost 61 years as a Maconian, as I was born in Highlands in 1962, in a building that my sister later converted to a multi-organization nonprofit center, a place where she started the Highlands Literacy Council about 29 years ago. Or, must one have been here seven or eight generations as such families as the Silers, Corbins, Higdons and others can attest? Or, must one be Cherokee and be able to trace back to a moment prior to the contact with English and Spanish speakers?
Or does the label “local” transcend geographic and chronological boundaries?
Mrs. Gaston implies that we should be vigilant, on guard against the intrusion of “distracting outside influences.”
To the Editor:
After attending the meeting on Tuesday evening at the Waynesville Town Hall, one of the speeches that stuck with me the most wasn’t one I would have expected — it was the dad who said he was afraid for his daughters, and that while he felt for people who believed they were stuck in the wrong bodies, he shouldn’t have to worry every time they went into a bathroom.
Maybe it stuck with me because he didn’t yell or call names (or incorrectly invoke Leviticus). Maybe it was because he clearly hadn’t absorbed a single word spoken by the many people who took the podium earlier. Maybe it was just because I saw a dad who loves his kids in a world he doesn’t always understand.
I went to sleep thinking about him and woke the next morning thinking about him. I posted the following letter to him on my Facebook page and am sending it to you in the hope that it may actually reach him, or someone else like him.
So, now we’re additionally stuck with puzzling out what “outside influences” are. And we are tasked with deciding what is “distracting.” And, if we are “distracted” by these “outside influences,” what are they distracting us from? In other words, what exactly are we supposed to be focused on?
I am honestly baffled by the phrase “outside influences,” whether they be distracting or not, when the phrase is deployed as to best practices in library management.
It’s a library.
And if a library is to have any merit, any value, if it is to live up to its mission of being a collection of intellectual reflection, literary output, reference work and as repository of art, isn’t the summative value of the institution, whether it’s the Greenville
ideological beachhead or province within a province, so to speak.
The Macon County Library, indeed all of the Fontana Regional Library member libraries, have works of history, literature, science and art from every place on the globe. Are we to take these works within the current stacks as “outside influences” to be shunned?
Since the denunciation of the Macon County Library’s and FRL holdings and/or their categorization or shelving started approximately 18 months ago, we have heard “outside,” “outsider” and “outside influences” as epithets sneered in public fora. And within the same accusatory breath, the term “local” has been proffered as some sort of badge of legitimacy, a member of an elite or chosen.
The Macon County Library, indeed all of the Fontana Regional Library member libraries, have works of history, literature, science, and art from every place on the globe. Are we to take these works within the current stacks as “outside influences” to be shunned?
Libraries historically are all about inclusivity. Not exclusivity. The Macon County Library and the Fontana Regional Library have made tremendous strides in the direction of inclusivity. And this expansion of the circle of who counts and what sort of media should be offered by these institutions isn’t “promotion,” rather it is indeed an update to reflect what are the various interests and outlooks of people who live in Macon County and/or the three-county area. Indeed, that has always been the mission of public libraries.
County Library, the Macon County Library, the Vatican Library and/or the Library of Congress, largely dependent on the scope and depth of “outside influences?” It would seem strange indeed to have a general public library which confined its stacks, its curations, to be highly provincial. Even stranger, would be the provincial confinement to only reflect the worldviews, the perspectives, of a select few, some sort of stunted
To the dad with daughters, I’m glad you’re afraid for them. Not because I think they’re in any imminent danger, but because every child — every person — should have someone in their corner, keeping an eye on them, having their best interests in mind, ready to show the world that this person is loved.
You said that night that you cannot look into the heart of every person and know their intent. That is a truth that many of us must consciously live with daily. But if you truly feared for your children’s safety in public, you would simply never allow them to go anywhere without you, including into a bathroom.
A person who enters a bathroom or locker room with the intent of looking at, being looked at, or touching someone inappropriately does not do that because they are transgender or queer. They do it because they are a predator.
Those are not the same thing.
You want your children to feel safe when they go out into the world. You want them to be safe. To step out without fear, to know that
We could argue that our libraries in Macon, Jackson and Swain are now more local than ever and I hope the respective boards will continue to serve the broadest community possible, our community of law-abiding, peaceful citizens, of diverse interests, backgrounds, perspectives and dreams.
(John deVille, Maconian since 1962, checked out his first book at the Hudson Library in 1967. jdeville@gmail.com.)
they will be at best loved, at the least left in peace. I understand you’re afraid — it’s a terrifying world sometimes. Just like you, we only want to feel safe in this place we call home.
Jane Doe, at the rec center, is someone’s child. Someone prays for her those same things that you pray for your children, and if that person isn’t her biological family, then it’s me. It’s the people who showed out last night at the town hall meeting. We will be each other’s protectors just as you are for your children. We will be the person in each other’s corner, keeping an eye on them, having their best interests in mind, ready to show the world that they are loved. And we won’t do it by threatening to shoot anyone who looks at us sideways.
Lots of queer folks are willing to answer questions asked with the intent of learning and growing. Not all, but many. I can connect you with trans and queer people, starting with myself, who are willing to have those conversations if you’re willing to ask sincere questions and listen to the answers. Because community makes the world a lot less scary.
Frances Oka CantonTo the Editor:
Thanks to Scott McLeod for pointing out the inappropriate control Mark Pless wants to have in local affairs. From overruling local decisions for zoning made by local elected officials, to sponsoring bills to make local elections partisan against the wishes of local elected officials and voters, to seeking millions to rebuild Central Haywood High which the elected school board says they don’t need, Rep. Pless has shown himself to be nothing but a power-hungry control seeker.
He even admitted his bills weren’t always for the good of the people: “I do some really bad stuff, and I do some good stuff; it just depends on which side of the bed I crawl out of as to which you get sometimes.” Please contact this worthless legislator and complain, then vote against him when you get a chance. Thank you for reporting on this terrible representative.
Virginia “Ginny” S. Moe WaynesvilleThis summer I’ve been learning several important life lessons.
First of all, I’ve been reminded that mornings are sacred. In college I was a North Carolina Teaching Fellows scholar at N.C. State University. This program was a godsend for future teachers. It provided a full academic scholarship to any of 17 higher institutions in North Carolina. To “pay it back,” students were required to work in a public school setting for at least four years. They unforutaitnly ended the full program in 2011 citing lack of funding as the reason and then brought it back it in 2017 on a smaller scale with only five universities.
Part of the Teaching Fellows program included summer enrichment activities with your cohort. One summer, my group went on a multi-day camping/hiking excursion in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It was the first time I’d experienced this type of backpacking adventure. Growing up, my family wasn’t the outdoorsy type. Our vacation time was often spent at Ocean Lakes Campground in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, or on trips to exciting places such as New York and Hawaii. I loved that my family traveled far and wide, so at the time I didn’t really think much about camping.
Fast forward to the college camping trip. I’ll never forget the way I felt that first morning, waking up in a tent before dawn, stepping outside and witnessing the entire world coming alive before my eyes. The sights, sounds and momentum of Mother Earth rising impacted me on a deep level and I still remember it to this day.
What that backpacking trip taught me and what I’ve realized at various times during adulthood and especially this summer is that the morning is sacred. I go through lengthy periods when I get up well before the sunrise day after day just to experience that special, quiet time before the kids awake, before the phone starts dinging or the neighborhood weed eaters and lawnmowers begin roaring.
It’s during the early morning hours when I work out the confusing thoughts that spiral late at night. It’s during the early morning hours when I journal, read, seek spiritual guidance, listen to the birds and tap into the inner knowing that’s inside of all of us. When compared to the last couple of summers, I’ve been much more intentional this year about getting up early and taking advantage of the mystic wonder of the early morning hours.
This summer has also reminded me that slow and easy often wins the race. By that I mean that the daily grind philosophy doesn’t always get you what you want or bring
additional success or glory. In fact, it often does the opposite.
Think about a cobbler or seamstress from a century ago. Once they finished their orders for the day, they would get paid for their work and be finished. Then along came the industrial revolution where workers were paid based on how much inventory they or a machine could produce during a set number of hours. Granted, I realize there are benefits to a manufacturing economy, but it instilled some hard habits to break within American culture.
Even though much has changed since those days, there is still a predominance toward the eight-hour workday and hustle mentality. Supposedly, the more you hustle the more successful and esteemed you are; but what I’ve noticed about myself is the more I slow down, the more productive and creative I am.
This topic reaches far and wide and I’m not meaning to oversimplify something as complicated as busting up the traditional workday or work week. What I’m getting at is that being mindful, present and intentional, no matter your work, often yields better results and a happier life than the anxietyinducing rat race that has become the modern-day version of the American Dream.
I’ve also realized over the past couple of months that we’re never too old to make new friends or deepen existing friendships. As a species, humans thrive off connection. Modern-day society almost encourages isolation, competition and individualism.
This summer I’ve been participating in a group coaching session with two other women. We’ve been working on many aspects of life including mindset, spirituality and wellness. Most importantly, the three of us have grown very close and been vulnerable with our deepest fears and dreams.
Additionally, I’m learning it’s OK to have a variety of close friends who fill us up in different ways. With some friends I love to talk about parenting, fitness and recipes, while with others its traveling, books, writing or business ideas. Some friends share my interest in the metaphysical and spiritual and some don’t.
At the beginning of this summer, I made a commitment to take it easy and keep my mind open for new possibilities and whispers from the universe. While I haven’t traveled to far-away places this summer, I’ve enjoyed the beauty of the ancient mountains in our own backyard through hiking, visiting waterfalls, riding horses, paddle boarding and simply being outside. By giving myself a break from the world’s expectations, I feel more abundant and joyful than I have in a very long time. And for that, I’m very grateful.
(Suzanna Shetley is a writer, editor and digital media specialist with The Smoky Mountain News, Smoky Mountain Living and Mountain South Media. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com.)
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On any given trip to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, visitors can explore the corridors and see a beautiful collection of pottery, baskets, woodcarvings, masks and other types of artifacts.
However, many objects are not for the public because they are sacred, sensitive or only meant for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian and Cherokee Nation communities.
The MCI directors and staff are actively removing these objects and respectfully relocating them to their proper places. In those pieces’ former places now stand a thoughtprovoking assortment of contemporary art from members of the EBCI and Cherokee Nation communities known as “Disruption”
“Disruption” is more than just an exhibit. It’s a way for the museum and the artist to show works that engage visitors — both community and visitors alike — and invite them to think deeper about present-day Cherokee culture and how it relates to their traditions, history and stories.
With the placement of these contemporary works, the flow of the exhibit’s timeline is “disrupted,” thus compelling the viewer to stop, look, read and question why that particular piece was chosen for that specific display or area.
A recent “Disruption” artist panel made up of five local EBCI community artists — Rhiannon Skye Tafoya (EBCI, Santa Clara Pueblo), Atsei Cooper (EBCI), Jakeli Swimmer (EBCI), Tyra Maney (EBCI, Dine) and Lori Reed (EBCI) — was held.
The artists discussed a wide array of topics, ranging from their personal stories and inspirations to their thoughts and feelings on the importance of positive representation in Indigenous art and the treatment and care of the community’s sacred spaces and artifacts.
The discussion began as each artist introduced themselves, giving their backstory and discussing their chosen medium. As each artist spoke of themselves and their work, it was clear that they cherish deep seeded memories of time spent with parents, grandparents and elders — listening to their stories, making art and learning passed-down traditions.
“I find inspiration in my lineage,” Tafoya said. “I feel like when I come home is when I make the most important art.”
Maney, an artist who works with the museum, resolutely conveyed to the audience that she not only finds inspiration from objects she works with every day but from women within her community and other native communities, leading her to depict the intense femininity of indigenous women.
“Even still today, when you see the representation of native women it’s through
MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women),” Maney said. “It’s through a lot of trauma and tragedy we are a matrilineal society, and our women are strong. They are leaders and we can depict them in those ways, that there is more to them then all this intergenerational trauma.”
Inspiration can come from so much, but the overall message from these artists was that of the extreme importance of their communities, families and ancestral land. A point brought up by more than one artist during the discussion was that of evolution, that native art doesn’t need to be kept in the bubble of the past only to be done in a specific traditional way.
Cultures evolve, grow and mature with the ever-changing waves of social discord. The inevitably of growth and evolution are achievable without losing any meaning and substance. And, in the case of “Disruption,” these traditional roots are embedded within each artist’s practice.
Evolution doesn’t mean the end. It means growth, having places and people from these communities help guide that advancement. This will only encourage others to see the importance of creating work that continues to represent and uplifts what it means to be a Cherokee person living in the present world.
If you would like to tune into the “Disruption” panel, you can do so by visiting the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian website at ebci.com and clicking on the archived live streams.
To see a full list of the artists showing during the “Disruption” show at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, you can visit the exhibits page at mci.org. The “Disruption” showcase will be running until September 2023.
When asked what each artist would like the viewers to take away, more so community members rather than tourists, Swimmer communicated that he hoped that the museum does not revert to catering mainly to tourists and that it — along with the community — will continue to uplift the local artist and help facilitate these changes.
“What I’m advocating is that we are going somewhere else, let’s think what that title (‘Disruption’) means. You have to disrupt the status quo, that was the whole premise of my cartoon page was disrupting, changing and bringing out that we’re not one-sided,” Swimmer said. “We aren’t just one opinion
and not just one person speaks on behalf of us — it’s up to us to disrupt the narrative and get a little uncomfortable at times.”
“When people and community members come through ‘Disruption,’ I want them to be curious. I want them to feel comfortable asking questions. I want community members to feel comfortable enough to take up space,” Cooper added. “We wouldn’t have all this without the struggle of our grandparents and parents. I want disruption to have that space to show that we don’t have to struggle to sell ourselves and our talents. We can uplift each other because we do see so much of that talent within us as a people.”
To disrupt is to grow, to outgrow the box in which we feel most comfortable. That does not come at the cost of tradition and lessons from the past. Sometimes we need to feel uncomfortable. We need to have that pause — the disruption in our lives, to allow something to evolve into something more.
The 32 artists represented in “Disruption” are taking on this role in various ways to contribute to mov-
ing forward, in a meaningful and impactful way that only adds and elevates other community members — now and in the future.
Parking the truck at the intersection of the Appalachian Trail and the Nolichucky River on the outskirts of the small town of Erwin, Tennessee, early Monday afternoon, a hot sun kissed my forehead emerging from the vehicle all while lacing up the ole trail running shoes.
With my girlfriend, Sarah, just a few feet behind me, we headed up the trail and along the Cliff Ridge section overlooking the Nolichucky. An hour or so prior, we’d checked out of a rental chalet in the shadow of the Beech Mountain Ski Resort. Disappearing into the depths of Mother Nature is the only way to decompress and circle back to your true self, especially following a three-day music festival on the slopes of the resort, myself the stage emcee for the event.
About a half-mile into the trek, with a few beads of sweat dripping down my face, it dawned on me that the date on the calendar was July 31. Halfway through the summer already as it feels like we just acknowledged Memorial Day — the unofficial kickoff to our beloved months of warmth and outdoor frolicking. The end of July. Sheesh. Time sure flies by in the midst of summer shenanigans and adventures, as it always seems to do, eh?
I started thinking about all the plans that were initially made and didn’t come to fruition in June and July. There was my 20th high school reunion in Upstate New York at the end of June, a gathering I put together from afar in Haywood County but was unable to ultimately attend due to truck issues and not being able to “safely leave Western North Carolina” until the rack and pinion replaced, as well as an axle bearing and some work on the four-wheel drive components. Over $4,000 later, the truck was returned to me, but in late July.
I was also aiming to be back in the North Country to see my family, of which the act of has become fewer and farther between as the years have gone along. I didn’t go home for the holidays last year, so a summer trip usually has been in the cards around late June into early July to be in attendance for my young niece’s birthday and the annual Fourth of July parade in the small Canadian Border town of Rouses Point, New York. Again, due to the truck being sidelined, fingers crossed I can return home this month, if anything for a short visit.
But, on the flip side, there was the recent trip out to the west. Denver, Colorado, to Whitefish, Montana, and back again.
Although unexpected and not thought of just a few months ago, there Sarah and I were, in a rental car bopping along a 2,000mile journey through the Rocky Mountains. She’d never been north of Denver, while I used to live, work and venture around those parts when I was a rookie reporter 15 years ago. Backwoods hiking. Glacial lake swimming. Century-old saloons. Roadside motels. Cruising the endless prairie.
Atop the Cliff Ridge with the Nolichucky River way down below, Sarah stopped to sit and write in her journal for a little bit. I continued up the AT to get more of a trail run under my belt beyond just the hike itself. Trotting along the trail, I approached another overlook. I noticed a hiker with full gear sitting nearby, taking a moment to stop and check his backpack. I said hello and continued on my way. Circling back to Sarah, we both jogged back down to the truck.
Popping down the tailgate, our sweatdrenched bodies cracked a cold, celebratory beer leftover from the music festival. A moment later, a figure waved to me from the nearby intersection. It was the hiker with the full gear that I’d encountered earlier. He
walked over and introduced himself. His name was Jacob and his cell phone had died. He needed to message his father and tell him he was OK, but a day behind on the AT compared to the original, expected timeline. I handed him my phone to text his dad.
I also handed him a cold beer from our stash. He thanked us for the hospitality. As his phone was charging in my truck, we all gathered around the tailgate, sipping on the beer with gusto and pillaging whatever snacks remained from the festival. Potato chips. Crackers. Hummus. Fresh peaches. A smile of gratitude rolled across Jacob’s face. He was in the midst of a 75-mile solo hike
A one-hour, one-person show, a production of “Every Brilliant Thing” by Duncan MacMillan will be held at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4-5, 11-12, 17-19 and 2 p.m. Aug. 6, 13 and 20 on the Fangmeyer Stage at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
1
Celtic
W/The Carter Giegerich Trio - 2-5 pm
2
The 14th annual season of the “Concerts on the Creek” music series will continue with Tuxedo Junction (rock/pop) at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at the gazebo in Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.
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“Art After Dark” will take place from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, in downtown Waynesville.
Incredible Celtic Folk - Every Sunday
Thursday August 3 rd
Paul Koptak
8pm - 10pm
Blues - Bluegrass - Americana
Friday August 4 th
Adamas Presents Blended Hemp w/ Susie Copeland 8pm - 11pm - Americana
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The “An Appalachian Evening” series will continue with a performance by Terry Baucom’s Dukes Of Drive at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.
Saturday August 11 th
Adamas Presents DEAD NIGHT with the Jerry Berry Band
A Grateful Dead Tribute • 8pm - 11pm
T RIVIA T UESDAYS
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Meadowlark Motel (Maggie Valley) will host Pigeon River Messengers (Americana/indie) at 7:30 Saturday, Aug. 5.
Every Tuesday 7:30pm-9:30pm FREE TO PLAY
Gift Certificate Prizes for 1st & 2nd Place!
and had only consumed dehydrated food up until that point.
What had started out as a quick bite to eat and charge of his phone led to a conversation between the three of us for the better part of the next hour and a half along the banks of the Nolichucky. One of those happenstance interactions that renews one’s faith in the good of humanity, where a stranger can simply cross paths with other strangers and find immediate common ground through genuine conversation and good will.
A recent graduate of Duke Law, Jacob was between jobs and looking to take a little time to hike and ponder along the AT. He had just landed a new gig as a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and was looking forward to this new, unknown chapter of his 30-yearold life. He was excited to “finally put some roots down” after years of wandering, most notably being an extended stint in China teaching English, which included a lifechanging excursion to Tibet.
We traded tales of the road and our own respective journey to the here and now. We shared our current state of mind, of what was in our daily thoughts and what might be just beyond the horizon of the future ahead. We shared deep, personal traumas of our past and how those things helped shaped us into who we are today, for good or ill (but, thankfully, mostly good).
Eventually, we said goodbye to Jacob amid big bear hugs and plans to meet up down the line. With two-honks of solidarity, our truck pulled away and into the rest of summer. Onward.
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
For Jackson County bead artist Maureen Hydaker, sharing her love for beading is a driving force in her making process. Practicing for 35 years, Hydaker has mastered the art of kumihimo braiding and is continually pushing the boundaries of the craft.
Whether this includes stacking multi-colored stone disks on top of each other or creating a whole necklace based on the ocean, the artist’s innovative approach is what she hopes will expand the artistry of beading.
Hydaker prides herself in being a selftaught artist. At an early age, she wanted to be involved in the arts doing macrame and embroidery throughout the 1970s. During this time period, she and her son attended a Grateful Dead concert where she recollects lines of vendors selling beaded earrings and other crafts using beads. This is where she traces the beginnings of her bead making career.
Since then, she explains she is always searching to learn something new. Twentythree years later, while sifting through beadwork books, the artist stumbled upon the braiding technique of kumihimo.
Kumihimo originates from Japan and utilizes several strands of beading cord on a large, wood cylindrical disk with a hole in the middle situated atop small stilts. This type of braiding has become popular for its ability to weave beads into a piece and its diversity.
“When I started doing kumihimo, which I realize now was 12 years ago, there were only pamphlets on it, and now there are 20 books on it. So, kumihimo has just exploded [since then],” Hydaker said.
Hydaker explains that you never know how a work will turn out, due to loading a cord and beads on the stand before starting the braid. Throughout her years, she's made many works that have been pleasant surprises.
In her making space, known to her as the “bead barn,” the artist houses an extensive collection of materials to make her beaded pieces. On one side of the room stands a tall, multi-layered shelf lined with dozens of labeled boxes filled with beads waiting to be assembled. On the other side sits multiple display stands racked with finished works of all colors and shapes imaginable.
“I started buying all these [beads] 35 years ago,” Hydaker said. “And I started buy-
ing all these when I was working. When I retired, I already had this investment in all the beads that I could use.”
While Hydaker prides herself on her entire collection, beads made of tagua especially pique her interest. Tagua nuts, the artist said, are found on palm trees and are used for different purposes, including dying, carving and jewelry making. Several of her storage boxes are dedicated to tagua beads, some dyed intense hues of purple and red,
Chile, Panama, Mexico, Jamaica,” Hydaker said. “It’s been a really fun experience to teach folks when you can’t really communicate through words about how to do something. You see the light go on in their eyes and they run with it.”
Hydaker has taught her love of beading far and wide, but she aspires to educate individuals closer to home.
“I envisioned people coming up [to her making space], picking out stuff and making it, and me teaching them how to make that,” Hydaker said. “That’s why I named my business Bead Here Now, because I want people to come and bead.”
The artist hopes to spark a passion for beading in someone who will continue sharing this art form with others. When reflecting back on her years of making, Hydaker recommends getting started with your undertakings earlier in life rather than later.
“Find your passion and find what you really enjoy and start it early enough to really get to enjoy it over your lifetime,” Hydaker said.
and others carved into animals, such as hummingbirds and snakes. The artist feels these make the perfect centerpiece for the elaborate braided and beaded necklaces she carefully crafts.
Sharing her rich knowledge of beadcraft with others is an important focus of Hydaker’s making process. Most often for her braiding, instead of using the bulky wooden stand, she uses a small foam disk, which she explains is more portable and user friendly. This allows Hydaker to easily teach her making process to people she may know or to curious strangers.
“I’ve now taught people in Ecuador,
Retired from the workforce for 11 years, Hydaker speaks of this as another phase in her being, using this time to push the framework of beading itself.
“There are so many folks who are afraid to retire because they don't know what they’re going to do with themselves. I have never been bored, ever,” Hydaker said. “If there's nothing to do in the house, I’m up here [in the bead barn] and I’m moving ahead and making something new.”
For this artist, constantly pushing yourself to learn and sharing your found knowledge with others is most important in her artistic process and in her life.
(Bead Here Now is open by appointment only. To visit or contact the artist, call 828.293.1492 or text 828.508.5061.)
The Town of Sylva, Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department and Jackson County Chamber of Commerce are proud to present the 14th annual season of the “Concerts on the Creek” music series.
Classic rock/pop oldies group Tuxedo Junction will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at the gazebo in Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.
These events are free with donations encouraged. Everyone is welcome. Dogs must be on a leash. No smoking, vaping, coolers or tents allowed. Bring a chair or blanket. There will be food trucks onsite for this event.
These concerts are organized and produced by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Sylva and the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department. For more information, please contact the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce at 828.586.2155 or visit the Concerts on the Creek Facebook page. A full schedule of dates and performers can be found at mountainlovers.com/concerts-on-the-creek.
The “An Appalachian Evening” series will continue with a performance by Terry Baucom’s Dukes Of Drive at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.
The annual summer concert series offers an ever-changing schedule of bluegrass, folk and old-time mountain music by award-winning artists — quality entertainment for the entire family.
Rich in cultural heritage, the series continues to be a favorite with locals and visitors alike. The concert will be held in the air-conditioned Lynn L. Shields Auditorium.
Baucom has enjoyed a career in music that started in 1970 with Charlie Moore and continued over the years as a founding member of groundbreaking bands like Boone Creek (with Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas), Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, IIIrd Tyme Out and more.
A testament to his influence is evident when you listen to countless younger generation banjo players who use Baucom signature licks and emulate his driving technique.
Baucom has also won more than a dozen awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), including the 2013 IBMA for “Recorded Event of the Year” for “What’ll I Do.” In 2015, Baucom was inducted to the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for students grade K-12. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or go to stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• Altered Frequencies (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.342.8014 or alteredfrequencies.net.
• Angry Elk Brewing (Whittier) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows are free and open to the public. 828.497.1015 or facebook.com/angryelkbrewingco.
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8-10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. 828.631.1987 or balsamfallsbrewing.com.
• Folkmoot Friendship Center (Waynesville) will host The Kingsmen Quartet (country/folk) 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12. Tickets are $20 per person. For a full schedule of events and/or tickets, go to folkmoot.org.
• Fontana Village Resort Wildwood Grill will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 800.849.2258 or fontanavillage.com.
• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will host The Well Drinkers Aug. 4 and Nitrograss (bluegrass) Aug. 11 at Town Square on Main Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a semi-regular acoustic jam with the Main Street NoTones from 7-9 p.m. every first and third Thursday of the month. Free and open to the public. For more information, go to blueridgebeerhub.com.
• Blue Stage (Andrews) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.361.2534 or gm@thebluestage.com.
• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host music bingo 7 p.m. Mondays, karaoke at 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, trivia at 7 p.m., DJ Kountry Aug. 4, Parler Organ Trio Aug. 5 and The Maggie Valley Band (Americana/indie) Aug. 12. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 or boojumbrewing.com.
• Cashiers Live (Cashiers) will host RCA (classic rock) Aug. 19. Tickets are $40 for adults, $12 for kids under age 12. VIP options available. Doors at 6 p.m. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to cashierslive.com.
• Concerts On The Creek (Sylva) will host Tuxedo Junction (classic hits) Aug. 4 and TLQ+2 (rock/pop) Aug. 11 at Bridge Park in Sylva. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Everyone is encouraged to bring a chair or blanket. These events are free, but donations are encouraged. 828.586.2155 or mountainlovers.com/concerts-on-the-creek.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to coweeschool.org/music.
• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host “Music Bingo” 7 p.m. Thursdays, The Mad Hatter (Tom Petty tribute) 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4 and Blue Jazz (jazz/swing) Aug. 5. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.634.0078 or curraheebrew.com.
• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host the “Orchard Sessions” featuring Highbeams (Americana) Aug. 3. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Tickets start at $25 per person. For tickets, go to oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host its weekly “Tuesday Jazz Series” at 5:30 p.m., Tricia Ann Band (rock/country) Aug. 4, Andrew Thelston Band (rock/soul) Aug. 5, Two Armadillos 4 p.m. Aug. 6, Kind Clean Gentlemen 5:30 p.m. Aug. 8, Tuxedo Junction (rock/pop) Aug. 11, Pleasantly Wild Aug. 12 and Paul Edelman (singersongwriter) 3 p.m. Aug. 13. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. 828.454.5664 or froglevelbrewing.com.
• Frog Quarters (Franklin) will host live music on Saturdays 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free and open to the public. Located at 573 East Main St. littletennessee.org or 828.369.8488.
• Groovin’ on the Green (Cashiers) will host Commodore Fox Aug. 11. Shows begin at 6:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. villagegreencashiersnc.com/concerts.
• Happ’s Place (Glenville) will host Doug Ramsey (singer-songwriter) Aug. 3, Blue Jazz Band (swing/jazz) Aug. 4, Joe Owens (singer-songwriter) Aug. 5, Matt Stillwell (country) Aug. 11 and Macon County Line Aug. 12. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. happsplace.com or 828.742.5700.
• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort (Cherokee) will host Marshall Tucker Band (classic rock) 9 p.m. Aug. 25. For a full schedule of events and/or to buy tickets, caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.
• High Dive (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. highlandsdive.com or 828.526.2200.
• Highlander Mountain House (Highlands) will host a Sunday Bluegrass Residency noon to 2:30 p.m. and the “Salon Series” with She Returns From War (singer-songwriter) 8:30 p.m. Aug. 24. Tickets are $25 per person. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to highlandermountainhouse.com.
• Highlands Performing Arts Center will
host semi-regular live music on the weekends. For tickets, go to highlandsperformingarts.com.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host “Trivia Night with Kirk” from 7-9 p.m. every Monday, Open Mic Night every Wednesday and semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.
• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Music Bingo” on Wednesdays and semiregular live music on the weekends. All events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host “Music Bingo” 6 p.m. Tuesdays, trivia 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Open Mic 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host trivia 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Old Time Jam 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Lineside at Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Open to all ages. 828.454.5664 or froglevelbrewing.com.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) “Summer Music Series” will continue with Granny’s Mason Jar (Americana) Aug. 10 and Heidi Holton (blues/folk) Aug. 24. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. For more information, call the library at 828.488.3030 or go to fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
• Meadowlark Motel (Maggie Valley) will host Trivia Thursdays 6:30 p.m., Martin Vee (Americana/folk) Aug. 4, Pigeon River Messengers (Americana/indie) Aug. 5 and “Songwriters Showcase” with Rene Russell, Heidi Holton & Bridget Gossett Aug. 11. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to meadowlarkmotel.com or 828.926.1717.
• Moss Valley (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. Food trucks and beverages available onsite. Bring a lawn chair. Presented by Drake Software.
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host an “Open Mic with Frank Lee” Wednesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the
public. 828.538.0115 or mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.
• Music On The River (Cherokee) will host semi-regular live music on the Water Beetle Stage. For more information, go to visitcherokeenc.com and go to the “Events” tab.
• Nantahala Brewing Outpost (Sylva) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.641.9797 or nantahalabrewing.com.
• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Trial By Fire Aug. 4, Andy Johnson Aug. 5, Eddie Clayton Aug. 11 (solo) and 12 (full band). All shows behind at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. noc.com/events.
• Orchard Coffee (Waynesville) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. 828.246.9264 or orchardcoffeeroasters.com.
the public. highlandschamber.org.
• Sauced (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9585 or saucedwnc.com.
• The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host a “Celtic Jam” 2-5 p.m. Sundays, Paul Koptak (Americana) Aug. 3, Susie Copeland (singer-songwriter/Americana) Aug. 4, Christina Chandler (singer-songwriter) Aug. 10, Celtic Road (Celtic/jam) 4 p.m. Aug. 11 and Very Jerry Band (Grateful Dead tribute) Aug. 11. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 or scotsmanpublic.com.
• SlopeSide Tavern (Sapphire) will host Seth & Sara 6 p.m. Aug. 3. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.743.8655 or slopesidetavern.com.
regular live music on the weekends. 828.743.3000 or theuglydogpub.com.
• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host “Bluegrass Wednesday” at 6:30 p.m. each week. 828.526.8364 or theuglydogpub.com.
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Karaoke with Lori McDonald Aug. 2, J.R. Williams Aug. 3, Toppers Aug. 4, Tricia Ann Band (country/rock) Aug. 5, Blackjack County Aug. 10, Outlaw Whiskey (classic rock/country) Aug. 11 and Wayne Buckner & The Shooting Creek Band Aug. 12. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.
• Pickin’ In The Park (Canton) will host live music Aug. 4 and 11. Local clogging groups will also be onsite to perform. Shows are 6 to 9 p.m. at the Canton Rec Park located at 77 Penland Street. Free and open to the public. Cantonnc.com.
• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Ourway Band (rock/variety) Aug. 12. All shows begin at 6 p.m. at the Gazebo in downtown. Free and open to the public. franklinnc.com/pickin-on-the-square.html.
• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.586.1717 or facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.
• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.369.6796.
• Salty Dog’s Seafood & Grill (Maggie Valley) will host “Karaoke with Russell” every Monday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.926.9105.
• Santé Wine Bar (Sylva) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.631.3075 or facebook.com/thewinebarandcellar.
• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.482.9794 or satulahmountainbrewing.com.
• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will host Soulution (soul) Aug. 5 and Full Circle Aug. 12 at Kelsey-Hutchinson Park on Pine Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to
• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host Chi-Town Transit Authority (Chicago tribute) Aug. 4. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to smokymountainarts.com or 828.524.1598.
• Southern Porch (Canton) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.492.8009 or southern-porch.com.
• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville) “An Appalachian Evening” live music series will feature Terry Baucom’s Dukes Of Drive (bluegrass) Aug. 5 and The Resonant Rogues (Americana/indie) Aug. 12. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or go to stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• The Ugly Dog Pub (Cashiers) will host semi-
• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.926.7440 or valley-tavern.com.
• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m. 828.456.4750 or facebook.com/waternhole.bar.
• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host Seth & Sara Aug. 4, Maggie Valley Band (Americana/indie) Aug. 5, Woolybooger (blues/folk) Aug. 11 and Peggy Ratusz Duo (Americana) Aug. 12. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.743.6000 or whitesidebrewing.com.
• Yonder Community Market (Franklin) will host Kenny Roby (singer-songwriter) 4 p.m. Aug. 27. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to eatrealfoodinc.com.
The Marianna Black Library will continue its “Summer Music Series” with the bluegrass act Granny’s Mason Jar at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the library in Bryson City.
Following in the footsteps of Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Clarence White and Tony Rice, Granny’s Mason Jar brings together the talents of Jared “Blue” Smith (The Blue Revue, Bluegrass Lumber Company) and Aaron Plantenberg (Commonfolk, Big House Radio) to continue the tradition of flatpicking, travis picking, and other traditional acoustic guitar styles. The show is free and open to the public. The library is located in downtown Bryson City at the corner of Academy and Rector. For more information, please call the library at 828.488.3030 or visit fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
The Museum of the Cherokee Indian will be hosting the film “Dadiwonisis/We Will Speak” followed by a Q&A with members of the film's production team after the screening at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at the Chief Joyce Dugan Cultural Arts Center located at the Cherokee Central Schools.
As well, there will be a Cherokee Language concert from artists that contributed to the making of the “Anvdvnelisgi” album, with performers offering a wide-range of music from various genres, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, in the Cultural Arts Center.
“Dadiwonisis/We Will Speak” is a documentary that discusses the preservation of the Cherokee language, the activists and teachers who are working to preserve it and teach Tsalagi to both older and younger generations.
The preservation of Native languages is critical as time goes on fewer and fewer tribal members can speak their language and with the forced attendance of Indian Boarding Schools, the last of which were closed in the late 1970s in the United States.
Many elders within those tribes were forced to speak English and were punished, often severely beaten and abused, when they were caught speaking their languages. Nevertheless, through struggle and forced assimilation, many elders were able to hold onto those verbal traditions, keeping their
languages close to them, and allowing them to pass them down to younger members.
With these efforts, there have been many tribes that have opened and developed adult language schools, and many tribal K-12 schools have immersive language programs for their students.
The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians have created their school, The Kituwah Academy, where generations can come together and make sure that the Cherokee language thrives and grows.
“Through oral traditions, our Cherokee culture has been able to survive for millions of years,” said Shennelle Feather (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Diné, Lakota), education program manager at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. “This event is honoring our language through film and music — two modern ways of sharing stories — and proves that we are still using oral history to teach the world and remind ourselves that we are still here. That our language is not dead, it is living, it is and can evolve just like the people who speak it and have spoken it since time immemorial.”
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required via Eventbrite (search: The Way We Speak with the World: Cherokee Language Film & Concert). For more information, you can visit the museum’s website at mci.org.
A cherished gathering of locals and visitors alike, “Art After Dark” will take place from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, in downtown Waynesville.
Each first Friday of the month (MayDecember), Main Street transforms into an evening of art, live music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors alike.
For more information, go to downtownwaynesville.com.
• Bardo Arts Center’s upcoming exhibition “Spark of the Eagle Dancer: The Collecting Legacy of Lambert Wilson” will open on Tuesday, Aug. 8, at the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum in Cullowhee. The exhibition will host a reception from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30. Free and open to the public. For more information, go to wcu.edu/bardo-arts-center.
• An art reception will be held for Ann Miller Woodford from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. An artist and author, Woodford’s work will be on display in the library throughout August and September. All are welcome. Refreshments will be served. For more information, go to annstree.com.
• “Summer Artisan Market” will be held from noon to 5 p.m. on the second Saturday of every month through September at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) in Nantahala Gorge. Free and open to the public. noc.com/events.
• Call for artists and musicians for the “Youth Arts Festival” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Artists needed to demonstrate, as well as musicians to perform. If interested, email chelseamiller@jacksonnc.org or call 828.631.0271.
• Waynesville Photography Club meets at 7 p.m. every third Monday each month on the second floor of the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center in Clyde. The club is a nonprofit organization that exists for the enjoyment of photography and the improvement of one’s skills. They welcome photographers of all skill levels to share ideas and images at the monthly meetings. For more information, email waynesville-
photoclub@charter.net or follow them on Facebook: Waynesville Photography Club.
• Summer Artisans Market will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month through September at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Artisan vendors and more. For more information, go to noc.com.
• Farmer’s Market (with artisans) will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through October at 117 Island St. in Bryson City. Stop by the old barn by the river for local, homegrown produce, as well as baked goods, jellies and preserves, authentic crafts and more. Food truck, picnic tables and live music. Leashed pets are welcome. Outdoor event. 828.488.7857.
• Haywood County Arts Council (Waynesville) will offer a wide range of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. The HCAC gallery is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. For more information and a full schedule, go to haywoodarts.org.
• Jackson County Green Energy Park (Dillsboro) will be offering a slew of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. For more information and a full schedule, go to jcgep.org.
• Southwestern Community College Swain Arts Center (Bryson City) will host an array of workshops for adults and kids. For more information on the upcoming classes and/or to sign-up, go to southwesterncc.edu/scclocations/swain-center.
• Dogwood Crafters in Dillsboro will offer a selection of upcoming art classes and workshops. For more information and a full schedule of activities, go to dogwoodcrafters.com/classes.html or call 828.586.2248.
A one-hour, one-person show, a production of “Every Brilliant Thing” by Duncan MacMillan will be held at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4-5, 11-12, 17-19 and 2 p.m. Aug. 6, 13 and 20 on the Fangmeyer Stage at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
“Every Brilliant Thing” is an unconventional comedy that serves as a moving depiction of hope, balancing the struggles of life and all that is sweet in it. Actor Erin McCarson gently takes you into the world of a seven-year-old whose mother is struggling with depression and whose father lacks the tools to help her cope.
Her candid and compassionate portrayal grabs your heart from the very start and evokes heart ache, humor and empathy as she hopes that by making a numbered list of “every brilliant thing” that makes life worth living, she can make her mother feel better.
The play lays bare the very definition of hope, that to live in the present you must imagine a future that is better than the past. As she takes you on her journey into adulthood she continues working on the list, aiming to accrue a million brilliant things. McCarson’s connec-
tion with the audience keeps this intriguing show from veering into depressing or sentimental territory.
Before the performance, McCarson will engage with audience members, handing out cards for them to read aloud entries from the list of brilliant things when she speaks its number on stage. She also enlists select audience members onto the stage to improvise roles, directing and playing with them in a most delightful and caring way.
The audience participation is a major part of this show’s charm, ultimately delivering a different show with every performance. But don’t fret, McCarson will only interact with audience members who are comfortable participating in the show.
There is a content warning. While this is an incredibly uplifting show, it does contain subject matter of suicide and depression.
To make reservations, call the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322 or go to harttheatre.org to make reservations online. HART Box Office hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
The “Unto These Hills” stage production will be held at 8 p.m. nightly throughout the summer at the Cherokee Mountainside Theatre.
This decades-old 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 — a place based on traditional Cherokee values and modern sensibilities. Pre-show entertainment begins at 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 7 p.m. For more information on show dates and/or to purchase tickets, go to visitcherokeenc.com and go to the “Events” tab.
The Cherokee Bonfire & Storytelling will be held from 7-9 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through Oct. 31 at the Oconaluftee Islands Park in Cherokee.
Sit by a bonfire, alongside a river, and listen to some of Cherokee’s best storytellers. The bonfire is free and open to the public.
For more information, call 800.438.1601 or go to visitcherokeenc.com.
There will be a contra dance class offered from 6:30-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.
Contra dance is considered the most accessible and sociable of all dances, with participants moving in two long facing lines or in groups, and with frequent partner changes. With its roots in the British Isles and France, contra dance has become a traditional American dance form.
No experience is needed to contra dance. All dances are taught. Beginners’ lessons start at 6:30 p.m., with dancing from 7-9 p.m. No need to bring a partner, but you’re welcome to do so.
You may also bring a closed water contain-
er and snack. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Masks are encouraged, but not required. Please don’t wear perfumes or strong scents.
Suggested donation of $10 per person, which helps pay for the musicians and callers for the evening. First-time attendees and children are admitted free. Caller will be Jennie Inglis, with live music by Late to the Party.
The event is funded in part by The James Edward Hudock Trust and produced by the Arts Council, Friends of Contra Dance in Macon County and the Macon County Public Library.
For more information, call 828.524.ARTS or email arts4all@dnet.net.
• “Peach Jam” will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at Darnell Farms in Bryson City. Food trucks, live music, vendors, bounce houses, kids’ activities, pie eating contests and more. For more information, email hotheadevents@gmail.com.
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, go to waynesvillewine.com.
• “Take A Flight” with four new wines every Friday and Saturdays at the Bryson City Wine Market. Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines. Educational classes and other events are also available. For
more information, call 828.538.0420.
• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. There will also be a special “Beer Train” on select dates. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or go to gsmr.com.
Imagine yourself at one of those jewelry counters that once adorned all American department stores. You’re scanning necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings, some chic, some kitsch, some delicate and quiet as grass, others as brash and loud as a barker at a carnival. Your eyes rove over these condiments of the flesh, gold and silver, copper and glass, all designed to enhance beauty or, in some cases, to call attention to themselves regardless of who wears them.
You’re about to turn away when a bracelet suddenly grabs your attention. There it sits behind glass, and you bend over a bit to study it. Each link in this chain of gems clearly manifests the care and artistry of its creator, the attention paid by the jeweler to symmetry and balance, the clasps holding these tiny bits of stone solidly built but unobtrusive. The style and form proclaim it a true work of art.
Readers shuffling through the stacks of a library or rummaging around the shelves and tables of a bookstore share this experience. They come across bright gems and tawdry bijouterie of paper and print, and depending on their proclivities, return home with their selections. Every once in a while, just like that shopper at the department store jewelry counter, they find a piece of work whose beauty and artistry strikes them as extraordinary.
This blend of accident and good fortune recently tapped me on the shoulder when I opened a collection of short stories, “Banana Taffy and Other Tales of Love, Madness, and Revenge” (Horse and Buggy Press, 2023, 296 pages).
The stout cover, the fine binding, and the quality of the paper and style of print are the work of Durham, North Carolina’s Dave Wofford, book designer extraordinaire. The illustrations that appear throughout
“Banana Taffy” are handprinted linoleum cuts done by the author, Chad Poovey. And Poovey’s stories, like that string of gemstones, match the excellence and grace of these adornments. Here is a style of writing infrequently found in today’s fiction. The words seem carefully chosen, the sentences constructed so as to sing with lithe precision. Here, for instance, is a sample from the second paragraph of the final story in this troupe of tales, a part of the description of the village in which the action unfolds:
“Here all the luck is bad, hope is a delusion, and the future is not a consequence of the present, but merely a repetition of the past. Life is a wheel that spins but does not roll. In fact, the generic dullness of such a village has put a stop to time itself: the same babies, or some exactly the same, have always squalled from the same doorways; the same stray dogs have always crouched in
on the front cover compares them to fables, which is true in terms of their universality of theme and characters. By turns humorous and tragic, they aim to touch the heart and mind.
In the title story, “Banana Taffy,” we follow a monkey rescued from a fire by a man, who then adopts him, teaching him tricks and human customs like eating with a spoon. The mischievous monkey acts as a sort of chaperone for the man and the woman with whom he falls in love, an arrangement which eventually ends in disaster for all three of them. In “Flight,” we encounter Doria Teresa Sandoval, a widower whose hardworking husband has died and whose five children flee from the poverty into which they were born. That title, “Flight,” refers not only to this exodus, but also to the woman’s attempts to capture a swarm of bees whose honey she might sell at market.
In the last story, “The End of the Circle,” from which I took the above passage, a young American Peace Corps worker, the gringo, enters the village intending to help the inhabitants improve their farming practices. Though he fails at that ambition, it is when the gringo receives a “Dear John” letter from his fiancée back home that he decides to remain with the villagers. Reminding us a bit of Conrad’s Lord Jim, he mystifies them by some of his strange ideas, but they come to feel affection for him for the diversions and amusements he brings them.
Some of Poovey’s stories end on a grim note, but in all cases, the mysteries they convey leave us pondering both those conclusions and perhaps even our own lives, which is another mark of good fiction.
We have the launch for the debut novel by Adrienne Moore, who grew up in Jackson County and whose mom, Joyce, ran the bookstore for 23+ years. Adrienne Moore returns to the bookstore she grew up in to present her debut novel, Seven Tears in the Sea Saturday, August 5th at 3 p.m.
828/586-9499 • more@citylightsnc.com
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shadows that never lengthen or recede; the same hunched figures have always waited at the same desvio for a bus that will never arrive.”
I cite this passage at length to give you a real feeling for Poovey’s exquisite, refreshingly formal style.
Moreover, the stories, like good paintings, are worthy of their frames. The blurb
Readers interested in ordering “Banana Taffy” should either do so through their local bookstore or by searching online for horseandbuggypress.com. Here the publisher declares, “we are serious about demonstrating the power, mystique, and aura of print, fine art, and craft based objects.”
In their partnership with Chad Poovey, they succeeded in that ambition.
(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” minick0301@gmail.com.)
serving
The change in temperature likely played a role in the explosion of aquatic life. Data gathered between 2016 and 2018 showed an average temperature difference of 6 degrees in the Pigeon River above the mill and below its discharge point. There were 161 days with a temperature difference greater than 10 degrees and 118 days with downstream water temperatures over 80 degrees.
Most mountain fish species can’t survive in exceptionally warm water, and high temperatures have an especially detrimental effect on reproductive success and on the survival rates of juvenile fish.
“I think the temperature really had to do something really beneficial for them,” Etchison said.
He also noted the precipitous drop in conductivity levels between the May and July samplings. The number indicates how much material is dissolved in the water. A clean, clear mountain stream typically comes in at 10-20, while a body of saltwater will be in the thousands. Most local streams are 50 or less.
BY HOLLY KAYS OUTDOORS E DITOR
When the impending closure of Canton’s paper mill was announced in March, conservation professionals predicted a swift improvement in downstream water quality once papermaking stopped. After a recent round of fish sampling, Luke Etchison, the western region aquatic wildlife diversity coordinator for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Inland Fisheries Division, is surprised to see just how quickly that recovery is unfolding.
“So far it’s hard to believe how much of a difference there’s been,” he said.
In late July, the Wildlife Commission sampled fish populations at three sites downstream from the mill — just below it at Blackwell Drive, midway between Clyde and Canton, and
at the Charles Street bridge in Clyde. When they sampled the same three sites in May, before paper production ceased, they observed 14 species between the three sites, and 157 total fish. July’s sampling yielded double the diversity and a 15-fold increase in fish found — 28 different species and 2,626 fish.
Perhaps the most startling results came from the site between Clyde and Canton, where 13 fish representing seven species were found in May. In July, biologists counted 16 species and 831 individual fish. Of those, 644 were silver shiners. While there might normally be some seasonal variation between May and July observations, a doubling of species diversity is unheard of, Etchison said.
The team found nine olive darters at Blackwell Drive, tying the record in their database for the most found at one time — typically, when the species is present, only one or two are seen at a time. At a site located between Canton and Clyde, there were five mottled sculpin, a coolwater fish species that seems to
be heading into the area now that the mill is no longer keeping the water unnaturally warm.
At both the Canton and Clyde sites, a single brown trout was observed. This is an encouraging sign, but even so, the river is unlikely to become a trout fishery. The habitat might be good enough for a few trout to survive temporarily, but it’s too warm for them to reproduce and survive the warmest summer weather, Etchison said. However, the team did observe juvenile smallmouth bass, which is a good sign for bass anglers.
Overall, there was “an absolute ton” of juveniles from a variety of species. Before carrying out the sampling, Etchison had assumed that improvements to reproduction wouldn’t be observed until next year.
“It just seems like for most species, the ones that we had very few records of, we found a decent amount of juveniles,” he said. “I think everything just had a really good reproduction year, and I think the mill helped a lot with that.”
In May, the Pigeon River below the dam logged a conductivity reading over 600, but now it’s down to 150. That’s a reflection of “less junk that’s getting released into the river,” Etchison said.
“I can’t help but think it’s partially related to the success,” he said, “because conservation fisheries, when their conductivity is too high, they will often have not as much juvenile survival, as high as survival or egg hatching success. I’m sure that translates to some degree.”
Typically, the Wildlife Commission would conduct fish surveys on a body of water like the Pigeon once every year or every couple of years, but the agency is taking advantage of this “one-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to track the river’s recovery. Another round of sampling is planned for early fall, and after that samples will likely take place in June each year.
The river is “not quite out of the woods yet,” Etchison said, but the latest sampling results make him optimistic for its future.
“The improvement gives me hope that we’re going to potentially have the Pigeon be a happy, healthy river way sooner than I expected,” he said.
BY HOLLY KAYS OUTDOORS E DITOR
In response to a July 10 notice of violation accusing Pactiv Evergreen of illegally dumping unused chemicals into the wastewater treatment plant at its now-shuttered Canton paper mill, the company has submitted a letter stating that it acted “on a good faith belief” and that the discharge was legal.
“Importantly, the discharge of the cleaning solution and sanitizer to the WWTP [wastewater treatment plant] during the shutdown, both of which were properly discharged to and treated at the WWTP when used in the normal operation of the mill, did not harm the beneficial bacteria or upset the aerobic treatment processes at the WWTP,” the letter states.
The notice of violation had stemmed from a complaint that the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources received Wednesday, June 5 — three days before the mill shut down for good — alleging that Pactiv Evergreen was illegally disposing of sodium hydroxide solution and calcium hypochlorite. The complaint, which was referenced in the notice but not attached, was accompanied by a photo appearing to show hoses connecting a pair of stacked chemical totes to a floor drain.
In its response, Pactiv Evergreen states that the chemicals in question included 300600 gallons of a cleaning solution containing 10-15% sodium hydroxide, also called caustic soda or lye, and 6,028 gallons of a sanitizer containing 12.5-15.6% sodium hypochlorite, which is commonly mixed with water to form household bleach. The company told DWR that the discharge did not have an adverse impact on the wastewater treatment process and, by extension, on the quality of the water released into the Pigeon River.
The mill said it is not aware of any calcium hypochlorite being disposed of in this manner and that it is not aware of thirdparty contractors disposing of any “raw, unused or virgin materials” through the wastewater treatment system.
The mill’s letter said that during normal mill operations prior to the shutdown, the cleaning solution would be applied to cloth
on different areas of the paper machines, rinsed off and drained to the sewer system, in accordance with the wastewater discharge permit. When the mill began shutdown operations, it returned six unopened totes of the sodium hydroxide-containing cleaning solution to the vendor, but the vendor would not accept the three open, partially empty totes. The mill disposed of these totes through its wastewater treatment system. During the same timeframe, higher than normal discharges of the papermaking byproduct known as black liquor were coming from mill equipment as a result of the shutdown, so pH levels of the waste entering the plant were being monitored carefully.
“The WWTP did not observe any spikes in pH beyond the anticipated spikes associated with the black liquor discharges,” the letter states. “Further, the WWTP complied with all monitored parameters during this period, and no violation of water quality standards was detected.”
The 6,028 gallons of sodium hypochlorite-containing sanitizing solution put through the wastewater treatment system was the remainder in an 8,550-gallon tank at the time of the shutdown. The solution was “slowly drained” to the sewer system and wastewater treatment plant over a 24-hour period starting 10 a.m. May 30, the letter reads. The sodium hypochlorite contained in the solution reacts with organic matter in the wastewater treatment system, so if it were being released in concentrations that would damage the system, a spike in pH would have been observed, reads the mill’s letter. The letter argues that due to the slow discharge rate and high concentration of organic material in the sewer at the time, “we strongly believe that any NaOCl in the sanitizer would have been fully consumed in the sewer before reaching the WWTP.”
“In any case, there was no damage to the beneficial bacteria in the WWTP during this period, and no violation of water quality standards was detected,” it says.
While the more than 6,000 gallons of chemicals estimated to have been released is a significant volume equivalent to more than 90 standard bathtubs, it’s small compared to the more than 18 million gallons of wastewater the plant was processing daily at that time. The mill estimates that the concentration of the sodium hypochlorite solution, by far the more voluminous of the two substances, would have been less than 0.01% at
the time of the discharge.
“This concentration of NaOCL [bleaching agent], which we note is commonly used to treat undesirable pathogens in sewer and wastewater treatment operations, would have no adverse impact on the beneficial bacteria at the WWTP,” the letter states Luke Etchison, the western region aquatic wildlife diversity coordinator for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Inland Fisheries Division, said he did not receive any reports of fish kills around the time the chemicals were dumped. However, he noted that there are many stretches of the Pigeon River that are not readily visible to the public.
The July 10 NOV states that, in a meeting with staff at the paper mill shortly after the shutdown was announced, DWR staff “specifically stated that the dumping, disposal or discharge of unused or virgin chemical products or materials into the NPDES permitted wastewater system is prohibited.” However, Pactiv Evergreen said it did not believe the materials in question to be “virgin chemical products” but rather “process chemicals … analogous to remaining black liquor following the shutdown of the pulping and recovery processes.”
After receiving an email from DWR on June 6 asking about the discharges, the mill responded within an hour. Five minutes later, the mill’s response letter states, DWR replied with a message thanking the mill for its response and saying that there were “no further comments or questions at this time.” However, the following day, the DWR sent a new email saying that the discharge could be a violation of the mill’s wastewater discharge permit.
“While Blue Ridge Paper continues to believe that the discharge … was permitted under the NPDES permit as part of the shutdown operation, given DWR’s position, Blue Ridge Paper has not discharged cleaning solution or sanitizer since receipt of your Wednesday, July 7 email,” the letter states.
In its July 10 NOV, the DWR wrote that Pactiv Evergreen had violated three water quality laws and could be charged a civil penalty assessment of up to $25,000 per day, per violation. In its response, Pactiv Evergreen contested all three alleged violations, restating its belief that the discharge was covered under the permit and reiterating that it stopped discharging the chemicals once it knew that DWR did not consider that to be a covered action.
Since May 2021, the company has received 14 notices of violation from various divisions within the DEQ. Thus far, it has paid $41,819 in penalties levied as a result. Officials with DWR will now consider the mill’s response and decide what happens next.
It’s time to start entering exhibits in the 2023 N.C. Mountain State Fair, coming Sept. 8-17 at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher.
Entries for the gospel singing contest and cooking competitions are up first, on Aug. 11, followed by the clogging championship Aug. 18 and livestock contests and general exhibits Aug. 25. Pageant entries are due by 9 a.m. Sept. 9 and ice cream eating contest entries by 6 p.m. Sept. 13.
“Competitions are the heart of the fair. We provide an opportunity for the community to highlight their many talents,” said Jill Taylor, entry department coordinator. “Exhibitors are encouraged to make their entries early as popular categories can fill up.”
All general exhibit competitions are free to enter and open to any North Carolina resident. Livestock competitions are free for youth, but a fee applies for open shows. There is no cost to enter Caps for Cancer, a new competition in which caps made of animal fiber can be entered for display and judging before being distributed to Messino Cancer Centers.
Exhibitors in outlying Western North Carolina counties can submit their entries using the Pony Express Service option, which allows them to drop entries off at the local extension office by Aug. 25 for delivery to the fair. This option is available in Jackson, Macon, Swain, Cherokee, Graham and Clay counties, and on the Qualla Boundary.
Learn more or enter at wncagcenter.org/p/mountainstatefair/competitions. Registration must be completed online. To receive premiums from winning entries, exhibitors must complete a W-9 form at the time of registration.
The last Zahner Conservation Lecture of the year will focus on the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area of neighboring South Carolina at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.
Tim Lee, who has studied and taught as a naturalist and biologist throughout the Southeast for more than 30 years, will give the talk. For the past 22 years, he has been the
Learn how to pack for an overnight on the trail with a class offered noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at REI in Asheville. The class will cover the best ways to distribute gear in the backpack, what fits best where and the key elements to good backpack fit. Participants are encouraged to bring their own gear and backpack.
Cost is $20 for REI members and $40 for non-members. Space is limited. Registration required at rei.com/events.
Explore the trails of Haywood County with a series of hikes offered this month from Haywood County Recreation and Parks.
• Walk through rhododendron thickets and open areas of wild geranium, blue bead lily and Jack-in-the-pulpit during a 3.5-mile hike Wednesday, Aug. 9, from Sheepback Knob to Hemphill Bald. Guides Jamie and Ruffin will lead this excursion, which has an elevation gain of just 344 feet, meeting at the Ghost Town parking lot at 9 a.m.
• Hike the westernmost section of the Art Loeb Trail with a challenging 11.7mile hike Saturday, Aug. 12. Hikers will ascend the Art Loeb Trail at Camp Daniel Boone and loop back down on the Little East Fork Trail, logging 2,816 feet of elevation gain. Guides Tara and Steve will meet hikers at Jukebox Junction in Bethel at
interpretive ranger/naturalist at Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, located along the Blue Ridge Escarpment. With high average rainfall, diverse topography and miles of streams and rivers, many species found there are rare within the state. Some are found in few other places in the world.
The program is sponsored by Martha and Michael Dupuis, Monte and Palmer Gaillard, and Melanie and Tom Mauldin, and a small reception will follow.
Learn to fly fish this month with lessons offered by Haywood County Recreation. Tommy Thomas will teach a two-day course on casting 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays, Aug. 11 and 18, on Richland Crexek in the Waynesville Recreation Park. No fishing license is required, and loaner rods are available. Registration is $10. Sign up at haywoodcountync.gov/recreation.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to list the green floater, a freshwater mussel found in North Carolina, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
8:30 a.m.
• Celebrate the Year of the Trail Saturday, Aug. 19, with an easy 3.2-mile hike at Bear Pen Gap, a high-elevation trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway that follows an old roadbed. This is a great location for viewing wildflowers and high-elevation birds, with a scenic bald at the end. Tara and Steve will guide this trip.
• Hike from N.C. 215 to Haywood Gap with a 5.5-mile hike Wednesday, Aug. 23, led by Kathy and Phyllis. This easy-tomoderate hike includes road walking, rock hopping across streams and several waterfalls. The group will meet at the HART Theatre in Waynesville at 9 a.m. • Take a moderately challenging 7.5-mile hike from Cataloochee Lodge to Purchase Knob Wednesday, Aug. 30. Guides Phyllis and Vickey will meet the group at Ghost Town parking lot in Maggie Valley at 9 a.m. Hike registration is $10. Sign up at haywoodcountync.gov/recreation.
The mussel was historically found in 10 states and the District of Columbia but is now found in only seven states — Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Its range in North Carolina includes blocks of the central part of the state north across the Virginia line. While the species has strongholds in places, green floaters are rare in nearly 80% of the watersheds where they occur.
The USFWS believes the species is at risk of becoming endangered due to the loss, fragmentation and degradation of its aquatic habitat.
The Town of Waynesville is looking for members to serve on its new Environmental Sustainability Board. The board’s purpose is to provide the town with expert advice and guidance toward its goal of achieving carbon neutrality and net zero emissions by 2050. The board will recommend strategies
Comments on the proposal to list the mussel will be accepted through Sept. 25. A final decision is expected within a year. Submit comments online at regulations.gov using the docket number FWSR5-ES-2023-0012. For best results, type the number into the search box rather than copying and pasting.
that provide cost savings and other benefits to the town, its residents and businesses.
Candidates should be from or significantly connected to Haywood County and have knowledge of energy and transportation efficiency, renewable energy systems, conservation, green building, ecology, environmental science, climate change or forestry and agricultural practices. For more information, or to obtain an application, contact Town Clerk Candace Poolton at cpoolton@waynesvillenc.gov or 828.452.2491.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided not to pursue listing the Venus flytrap as a threatened or endangered species after an evaluation determined that, due to current protections and active management, populations are likely to remain stable into the future.
The Venus flytrap, which is designated as North Carolina’s state carnivorous plant, grows in longleaf pine wetlands in the coastal plain and sandhills of southeastern North
The National Park Service issued a decision and a “Finding of No Significant Impact” for the Gatlinburg Spur
Improvements Environmental Assessment.
The EA looked at alternatives and environmental impacts associated with proposed improvements along the Spur. The project aims to improve the level of service at key intersections in consideration of
Carolina and northeastern South Carolina. It is listed as a state threatened species in North Carolina and its populations are protected. Poaching is a felony.
The FWS found that 98% of known plants occur in healthy populations, with two-thirds of all known plants occurring in the three largest populations. Land protection, management with prescribed fire, voluntary conservation partnerships and working with private landowners to help them manage their land are all conservation tools used to protect the Venus flytrap. Supporting information for the decision can be found at regulations.gov under docket number FWS-R4-ES-20230041.
future traffic volumes and in a manner that keeps the parkway character of the road. Based on the finding, improvements will include replacing the Wiley Oakley and Gum Stand Road bridges, extending acceleration lanes at the Huskey Grove/Flat Branch Road intersection and making various improvements at selected locations throughout the corridor.
Improvements will occur in phases as funding allows. Design for the Wiley Oakley Bridge replacement is scheduled to start in 2023. Documents associated with the project are available at parkplanning.nps.gov/spurimprovements.
The Little River Trail and associated backcountry campsites 24 and 30 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be closed Monday through Thursday each week until Thursday, Sept. 7, as crews complete trail repair and rehabilitation work.
The trail and backcountry campsites will reopen to visitors Fridays through Sundays and on federal holidays. The closure is required while crews use heavy equipment to reestablish the drainage system along the trail, which is part of an old roadbed. Trail crews will open sections of the trail in stages as work progresses.
Take a hike through the old-growth forest at Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest near Robbinsville at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, with Creation Care Alliance and MountainTrue.
This two-hour hike will be spent celebrating the beauty, spirituality and importance of these old forests, and learning more about their importance to the planet and how to protect them. The hike will also include time for prayer and spiritual practice. Afterward, the group will head to nearby Santeetlah Lake for a packed lunch and swimming.
Space is limited. Register at creationcarealliance.org/event.
Learn how to live safely with black bears during a program at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.
Justin McVey, district wildlife biologist for
Break in the new snorkeling site at East LaPorte Park in Cullowhee during an event 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8.
Participants will be able to snorkel with a biologist to discover the fish and other wildlife that call the Tuckasegee River home. The site is one of 10 stops spread across Western North Carolina’s new Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail.
Bring a snorkel and mask or swim goggles — a limited number of snorkels will be available for use. Youth under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. RSVP at dylan.owensby@ncwildlife.org.
the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, will offer the presentation. An expert on bear habitat and behaviors, he will offer examples of how to live harmoniously with black bears. Those present will be entered to win a raffle valued at $20.
The presentation is offered by the Nantahala Hiking Club. Membership not required to attend.
• Sunday - Wednesday 11am - 5pm Bar open until 6pm
• Thursday - Saturday 11am - 8pm
Dinner Menu begins at 5:00 pm
perfect for all walks of life, from families to golf groups to ladies who lunch.We pride ourselves on using fresh ingredients from our gardens and supporting local farmers. The details are priority.
Right now, throughout Southern Appalachia, and especially along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Balsam Gap in either direction, one of the most beautiful and iconic flowers in all of Appalachia is in bloom. And it is stunning, lighting up the roadsides and forest edges with large, orange flowers and stacks of big, green leaves in whorls all up and down the stem, looking like a pagoda.
The plant in question is a lily so superb that it was given the botanical name of Lilium superbum. Today, I am celebrating the beautiful flowers of the Turk’scap lily. Standing tall at 4 to 6 feet, sometimes over 8 feet, this plant is taller than most people. Their flowers nod downwards with large, reddish-brown stamens covered in thick pollen. The flowers are often covered up with butterflies like pipevine swallowtails (Battus philenor) drinking nectar and helping to pollinate this plant, so there will always be plenty to bloom in coming years.
Seven species of lilies are native to North Carolina, with five of them occurring in mountain counties. And while the Canada lily (Lilium canadense), Gray’s lily (Lilium grayii), Carolina lily (Lilium michauxii) and wood lily (Lilium philadelphicaum) are all beautiful in their own ways, the tall stature and large clusters of flowers, often containing 10 to over 25 individual blooms on the same plant, make the Turk’s-cap one the showiest, in my estimation. Luckily this is not a competition, and we can enjoy them all.
1819 Country Club Dr. | Maggie Valley, NC | MaggieValleyClub.com
These are only the answers.
The flowers of Turk’s-cap lilies can be confused with those of other lilies, both native and exotic. They do look similar to the many cultivars, or cultivated varieties, and to hybrids of tiger lilies, which have parentage native to the Asian continent. But, while the flowers of tiger lily tend to face upwards and the plants only grow to 3 or so feet tall, Turk’s-cap’s flowers nod downward and the plants, as already mentioned, are giants.
They can also be confused for one of the other native lilies found in Southern Appalachia, primarily the Carolina lily. The main differences between these two related species are that the Carolina lily grows shorter, usually, and has fewer blooms per stalk, usually. I qualify these traits because sometimes the Turk’s-cap can have fewer flowers and grow shorter, especially when it is a young plant and growing in deeper shade than it prefers.
One fool-proof way to identify the flowers of Turk’s-cap versus Carolina lily is that at the base of each petal of Turk’s-cap there is a green triangle that forms a five-pointed, green star where all the petals meet in the center. You have to look up and into the center of the flower to see it. Luckily, the Turk’scaps are so tall that makes it easy to see into their center. The Carolina lily, however, has petals that are orange all the way to the center. Both species exhibit purple or brown spots along the orange flower petals, as well.
The curved petals of Turk’s-cap are really a type of flower part called a “tepal” which is a portmanteau, a word created by combining two separate words together. In this case, it is a combination of “petal” and “sepal.” A petal is often showy and colorful, and it covers the reproductive parts of a flower. A sepal is a modified leaf that covers and protects the unopened flower bud, and then serves to hold the opened flower from below while it’s in bloom.
No matter the proper terminology, or what you like to call them, the flowers of Turk’s-cap lily are stunning. They make driving the already risky Blue Ridge Parkway even more dangerous, as I crane my neck out the window to ogle them and coo at their superb beauty. So, go check them out at mid to high elevations around Western North Carolina right now. Just be sure to drive slowly. Or better yet, park your car at an overlook, and get out to observe them up close and personal. You won’t regret it.
(Adam Bigelow lives in Cullowhee and leads weekly wildflower walks most Fridays and offers consultations and private group tours through Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions.
bigelownc@gmail.com.)
• The Jackson Arts Market takes place from 1-5 p.m. every Saturday at 533 West Main St. in Sylva with live music and an array of local artists.
• Cowee School Farmer’s Market is held Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m., at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin. The market has produce, plant starts, eggs, baked goods, flowers, food trucks and music. For more information or for an application, visit www.coweeschool.org or call 828.369.4080.
• The Green Energy Park is seeking artists to demonstrate/ provide kid-friendly activities, as well as musicians to perform, for the Youth Art’s Festival slated to take place 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Jackson County Green Energy Park. If interested, contact Chelsea Seaman at chelseamiller@jacksonnc.org or call the office at 828.631.0271.
• Mountain Area pregnancy Services and the WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor work together to provide a casual support group for prenatal and breastfeeding individuals from 1-2 p.m. on Tuesdays at Mountain Area Pregnancy Services, 177 N Main St. Waynesville, NC. All are welcome, registration is recommended. For more information, please call 828.558.4550.
• Chess 101 takes place 3:30-4:30 p.m. every Friday at the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Library. For more information, email Ashlyn Godleski at ashlyn.godleski@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2567.
• The Canton Branch of the Haywood County Public Library Creative Writing Group meets 10:30 a.m. to noon on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. For more information, email Jennifer at jennifer.stuart@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2561.
• Knit Night takes place at 5:30-7:30 p.m. every second Tuesday of the month at The Stecoah Valley Center. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP is recommended: 828.479.3364 or amber@stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• Sylva Writers Group meets Wednesday mornings at City Lights Books. If interested contact sylvawriters@gmail.com.
• David Joy will speak on his new book “Those We Thought We Knew” during at event at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, at the Fangmeyer Theater at HART in Waynesville. Hosted by Blue Ridge Books, tickets are $10. Purchase from Blue Ridge Books.
• Ron Rash will speak on his new book “The Caretaker” during an event at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, at the Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center in Waynesville. Hosted by Blue Ridge Books, tickets are $10. Profits will be donated to the Pigeon Center.
• The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will host a kids’ program about moon exploration on Wednesdays at 3 p.m. Randi Neff will lead these activities focused on NASA’s Artemis program, with aims to one day estab-
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lish a base on the Moon. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. For more information call 828.586.2016.
• Next Chapter Book Club Haywood is a fun, energetic and highly interactive book club, ideal for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The group meets every second and fourth Monday of the month. For more information, email Jennifer at jennifer.stuart@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2561.
• Storytime takes place at 10 a.m. every Tuesday at the Macon County Library. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• Toddler’s Rock takes place at 10 a.m. every Monday at the Macon County Library. Get ready to rock with songs, books, rhymes and playing with instruments. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• Culture Talk takes place at 2 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month at the Macon County Public Library. Travel the world from inside your library. This event features guest speakers and food sampling from the location being discussed. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• Art afternoon takes place at 3:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Macon County Public Library. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• The 17th Annual Franklin Area Folk Festival will take place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center. The event is free. For more information call 828.369.4080.
• The Dazzling Dahlia Festival will take place 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, in Highlands. There will be Dahlia and native plant vignettes all over Highlands, as well as a single bloom competition at the Bascom. For a full schedule of events visit highlandshistory.com.
• Trivia Night is hosted 6:30-8:30 p.m. every Thursday evening at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley. For more information visit meadowlarkmotel.com.
• Paint and Sip at Waynesville Art School will be held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7-9:30 p.m. To learn more and register call 828.246.9869 or visit PaintAndSipWaynesville.com/upcoming-events.
Registration is required, $45.
• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood St. in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. mountainmakersmarket.com.
• Smoky Mountain Event Center presents Bingo Night with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. and games starting at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. For more information visit smokymountaineventcenter.com.
Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, click on waynesvillewine.com.
• A free wine tasting will be held from 6-8 p.m. every Thursday and 2-5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
• Take a trip around the world with four different wines every Friday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 11a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Bryson City Wine Market. Pick from artisan Charcuterie Foods to enjoy with wines. 828.538.0420
• Cooking classes take place at the McKinley Edwards Inn from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights. To reserve your spot call 828.488.9626.
• A glassblowing class, “Pumpkin or Paperweight” will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Jackson County Green Energy Park. Ten spots are available, cost is $60, due at registration. To register for a class, contact the GEP at 828.631.0271.
• “Armor Construction: Gothic Gauntlet,” a class that teaches various techniques involved in constructing armor, will be offered 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, August 5-6, at the Green Energy Park in Jackson County. Cost is $550, space is limited, pre-registration required. For more information or to register, contact the GEP at 828.631.0271.
• Chess 101 takes place from 3:30-4:30 p.m. every Friday in the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Public Library. No registration required, for more information call 828.648.2924.
• Uptown Gallery, 30 East Main St. Franklin, will be offering Children’s Art Classes Wednesdays afternoons. Adult workshops in watercolor, acrylic paint pouring, encaustic and glass fusing are also offered. Free painting is available 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Monday in the classroom. A membership meeting takes place on the second Sunday of the month at 3 p.m. All are welcome. Call 828.349.4607 for more information.
• “Thursday Painters” group will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their own project and a bag lunch. 828.349.4607 or pm14034@yahoo.com.
• Break in the new snorkeling site at Queen Branch in Macon County during an event 1-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2. The site is one of 10 stops spread across Western North Carolina’s new Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail. Free, with loaner snorkels available. Registration is required at mainspringconserves.org/events. The event is weather-dependent. In case of heavy rain leading up to Aug. 2, the water will be cloudy and the event will be rescheduled.
• Jane Eastman and Brett Riggs, professors at Western Carolina University, will present “Archaeoastronomy in Southwestern North Carolina,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Highlands Nature Center. For more information visit highlandsbiological.org.
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tary “The River Runs On” will display the mesmerizing beauty and profound significance of the Southern Appalachian region at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at the Highlands Nature Center. A Q&A session with filmmaker Garrett Martin will follow the screening. Learn more about the film at theriverrunson.com.
• The 22nd annual Talking Trees Trout Derby will take place 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, in Cherokee at the Oconaluftee Islands Park. More than $20,000 in prizes will be awarded over the course of the weekend. Open to ages 3 to 11, entry is free with pre-registration available at cherokeetroutderby.com. For more information contact Lisa Frady with questions at 828.359.6471 or travel@nc-cherokee.com.
• Take a ride at Chestnut Mountain Bike Park in Canton 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 5, with experienced rider Alex Kirby. Youth and adults who are new to mountain biking will be able to pick up skills and confidence on the trails during this free program. Loaner bikes and helmets will be available. Registration required with Haywood County Recreation and Parks at bit.ly/haywoodrec.
• Take a hike through the old-growth forest at Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest near Robbinsville at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, with Creation Care Alliance and MountainTrue. Space is limited. Register at creationcarealliance.org/event.
• The annual Lake Logan Multisport Festival is just a month away, with three tri-sport events coming up in Haywood County Aug. 5-6. Learn more or sign up at www.gloryhoundevents.com/event/lake-logan-multisport-festival.
• Break in the new snorkeling site at East LaPorte Park in Cullowhee during an event 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8. Participants will be able to snorkel with a biologist to discover the fish and other wildlife that call the Tuckasegee River home. Bring a snorkel and mask or swim goggles — a limited number of snorkels will be available for use. Youth under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. RSVP at dylan.owensby@ncwildlife.org.
• A hike from Sheepback Knob to Hemphill Bald will be led Wednesday, Aug. 9, by guides Jamie and Ruffin, hosted by Haywood County Recreation and Parks. Meet at the Ghost Town parking lot at 9 a.m. Registration is $10, sign up at haywoodcountync.gov/recreation.
• The last Zahner Conservation Lecture of the year will focus on the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area of neighboring South Carolina at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.
• Learn how to live safely with black bears during a program at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Those present will be entered to win a raffle valued at $20. The presentation is offered by the Nantahala Hiking Club. Membership not required to attend.
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on
• A free screening of the critically acclaimed documen-
• A two-day course on fly fishing casting will be offered 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays, Aug. 11 and 18, on Richland Creek in the Waynesville Recreation Park. No fishing license is required and loaner rods are available. Registration is $10, hosted by Haywood County Recreation. Sign up at haywoodcountync.gov/recreation.
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NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION Case No. 000376 Coleman J. Ammons, Jack Austen Ammons Jr Oct 26 2023 Administrator 70 Gateway Street Waynesville, NC 28785
NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PROCESS BY PUBLICATION HAYWOOD COUNTY, NC COURT IN THE MATTER OF C. W. Bolick, minor child FILE NO. 19 JT 91
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ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com
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Mountain Dreams Realty- maggievalleyhomesales.com
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