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It didn’t matter that Pisgah High School defeated neighboring Brevard 24-10 last Friday night. What mattered most were the kids on the field dressed in red and black, the same colors all across the packed-out stadium bleachers filled with Canton’s finest.
Friday evening was an unforgettable moment for the small blue-collar mountain community of Canton. You see, the game was the first time that Pisgah had been able to play on its home field since a devastating flood ripped through the town on Aug. 17, 2021. Six people lost their lives in the disaster, while thousands of mountain folks had their lives forever altered.
Add to that the recent closure of the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill this past spring. The mill was the economic heart of Canton, where around 1,100 hardworking locals lost
their jobs from a company that was the absolute core and cultural identity of the town since it opened in 1908.
“It’s good to be home in more ways than one — tonight is about celebrating this community,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers.
“These families have been through so much these past few years, so this is about smiles and coming together. We love Friday night lights here — you get hit down, you find a way to get yourself back up.”
Many of those in the bleachers Friday used to work at mill, including Steve Rhinehart, a 16-year employee of Evergreen. Rhinehart had a tear in his eye and was genuinely choked up when the mill whistle blew once again at the start of the game.
“Tonight? It means everything — this is life in a small town at its best,” Rhinehart said in a humbled tone. “There’s not a better or tighter community in the world than
Canton, in my opinion. We’re survivors in this town — we don’t let anything keep us down.”
A 1988 Pisgah graduate, Rhinehart played tight end for the Black Bears. Nowadays, his daughter, McKinley, is a junior at Pisgah and also a member of the varsity cheerleading squad.
“Being back here gives me a sense of knowing that there’s always something to forward to — football is a huge thing for everybody here,” McKinley added. “It’s a huge turnout and great to see everybody again.”
To note, the whistle that was atop the mill, and could heard for miles around at noon each day for decades, was removed last week and found its new home as a permanent addition installed atop the scoreboard at the football stadium.
“The last time the whistle blew was to
mark the end of an era [with the mill closure]. I think tonight’s a reminder of that and of a new start — when that whistle [goes from now on], you’re going to see the community at its best,” Smathers said.
As well, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper came to the game to do the coin toss.
“After a flood, after a devastating mill closing, the people are still here,” Cooper said. “They’re still striving to make a good
life for their families — the people of North Carolina are so resilient and determined.” There was even a moment of silence after each of the six names of those lost in the 2021 flood were read, the names echoing out of the PA system and across the stadium — John Krolak, Frank Lauer, Sr., Judy Mason, Franklin McKenzie, Charlene Mungo and Frank Mungo.
With the whistle blowing for its first time now perched above the stadium, chills rolled up and down of any within earshot. Momentary silence. Deep thoughts and genuine emotions of the town and all it’s been through in recent years, a single sentiment ricocheting around the mountains — we’re all in this together, come hell or high water.
“When you look around and see the caliber of people, the togetherness and the strength of this community, you find a way to keep going,” Smathers said. “And there are tough days ahead. But, I know the character of this community. I have lost so much sleep [over these hard times], but I haven’t lost sleep over the grit and grace of this town — that’s what’s going to
“Tonight? It means everything — this is life in a small town at its best.”
— Steve RhinehartBefore the start of the Pisgah High School football season opener last week, the entire Black Bears team gathered together at the 50-yard line. Garret K. Woodward photo It was a packed football stadium at Pisgah High last Friday night. Garret K. Woodward photo Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers and N.C. Governor Roy Cooper. Garret K. Woodward photo
The appearance of a bright yellow construction crane towering over Pactiv Evergreen’s shuttered Canton paper mill prompted questions from citizens late last week — and more speculation that the site has been or will be sold, but that’s not exactly the case. Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers confirmed Aug. 21 that the crane,
which had arrived on Aug. 17, was there to lower the height of the smokestacks, so that Pactiv no longer has to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Generally, any structure more than 200 feet above the ground must be marked and/or lighted.
— Cory Vaillancourt, Politics Editor
A new collaboration is poised to make a large impact by providing new housing options for Jackson County seniors, low-income families and business professionals. Webster Village, a partnership between Givens Communities, Western Carolina University and Mountain Projects of Sylva, plans to create 211-237 housing units in Jackson County near the Webster community. Preliminary site plans are for three housing clusters that will serve a broad range of residents.
The collaborative project was able to go forward because of financial contributions from Dogwood Health Trust.
Givens Estates will play a lead role in the component of the partnership focused on seniors.
WCU leadership is excited about the project and how it will help new professionals interested in locating in the region.
“Together with our partners at Mountain Projects and Givens Communities, the Webster Village project will provide a central location for multiincome housing in Jackson County for senior citizens and valued members of the community’s workforce,” Brown said. “Our goal is to be part of a project that isn’t specific to only WCU faculty and staff, but one that provides opportunities for adult workers and families who are essential to the growth and sustainability of the region that we serve.”
Webster Village is planned for a parcel located on Cloverdale Road, off Little Savannah Road, near its intersection with NC 116. Donated photo
Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects of Sylva, agreed.
“Each partner brings a unique perspective, and together we present a comprehensive approach with multi-income housing,” Davis said. “The demand for housing exists across all income levels and our approach addresses the housing needs of seniors, professionals and families who haven’t had the opportunity for home ownership.”
Over the past two years, Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood) has made multiple attempts to bring partisan municipal elections to the two counties he represents, Haywood and Madison. Pless says the elections are already all but partisan anyway, and that the change would help voters identify which candidates to support.
Elected officials in his district couldn’t disagree more, but after a hectic day in the General Assembly during which multiple veto overrides and other high-profile issues garnered most of the attention, Pless was finally able to get halfway there.
Now, as one county works to accommodate the changes on short notice, the other holds its breath in anticipation of what may be coming down the road.
Pless introduced a bill in in May 2022 that would have made all elections in Haywood County partisan. His predecessor tried basically the same thing in 2017, without success.
Pless’ bill, which stalled in committee, prompted outcry from nearly all elected officials in the county. Opponents like Waynesville Town Council Member Chuck Dickson maintain that national party platforms have little to do with small-town governance.
This year, Pless went on to introduce a similar bill in the House, on March 2. It omitted Haywood’s elected school board, but expanded to include Madison County’s municipalities.
Again, the bill died in committee after eliciting strong opposition from nearly every elected official that it would have affected, including in Madison County.
But on June 28, Pless was able to get his partisan election language inserted into SB 9, which was first introduced by Wake County Democratic senators Gail Adcock and Sydney Batch on Jan. 25.
Originally, the bill authored by Adcock and Batch had nothing to do with Haywood County or Madison County, but Pless’ partisan proposal was that the Haywood and Madison county municipalities of Canton, Clyde, Maggie Valley, Marshall, Mars Hill and Waynesville would all be required to conduct partisan elections, effective immediately.
The bill would not take effect in the Madison County town of Hot Springs until 2025, because Abby Norton, mayor of Hot Springs, is a federal employee. Per the Hatch Act, she wouldn’t be allowed to run in a partisan election. She told The Smoky Mountain News on March 3 that she felt she was being forced to make a choice between retiring from her job or retiring from politics.
Because it’s a local bill, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper does not get an opportunity to
weigh in on it, so when it hit the Senate floor on Aug. 16, it was do or die for SB9.
“I move that the Senate do not concur on Senate Bill 9,” said Adcock said when the bill came up around 5:45 p.m.
Adcock’s move was unusual in that it was her bill, but her fellow senators supported her motion with a voice vote.
Haywood County was removed from the bill’s text, according to Pless.
“Sen. Corbin wouldn’t allow it to happen. He was insisting that [Haywood County] be pulled out even though he wasn’t in the General Assembly, so we had to sit down and reach an agreement, which is how government works,” Pless said on Aug. 17.
the change to partisan elections. It’s such short notice and a quick turnaround that it’s going to be a challenge administratively, but we have a good staff and lots of help from the state.”
The Madison County Board of Elections held an emergency meeting to order a new filing period, which began at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 18 and will run through the close of business on Aug. 25. All candidates, Ray said, have been notified.
Because of the new legislation, the original candidate filings are null and void, so existing candidates have to re-file with partisan affiliation and pay $5.
As the town of Hot Springs is exempt until 2025, only the municipal elections in Marshall and Mars Hill will be affected.
Qualified residents who didn’t originally file during the July candidate filing period can now join the races as well.
In Mars Hill, aldermanic seats currently held by Larry H. Davis and Stuart Jolley are up for reelection. Both Davis and Jolley are Democrats. During the July filing period, they were opposed by Eddie Bussard and Terry Burnette, both of whom are Republicans.
As of 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 18, none of the candidates had yet refiled, but all of them indicated to Ray that they would. If no other candidates enter the field, a Primary Election won’t be needed because each party may field two candidates for the two seats up for election.
If a Primary Election is needed, Ray estimates its cost at around $3,500.
In Marshall, two aldermanic seats are up for election and only two candidates — the incumbents — filed back in July.
Laura Ponder-Smith, a Democrat, is seeking to retain her seat and will need to refile, but it’s a different story for the other candidate, Mayor Pro Temp Aileen Payne.
Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) then appointed a conference committee to see if a compromise could be reached. The Senate’s side of the committee consisted of Adcock, Sen. Joyce Krawiec (R-Forsyth) and Sen. Phil Berger (RGuilford). Berger also serves as president pro temp of the Senate.
The House’s conference committee included Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford), Rep. Erin Paré (R-Wake) and Pless.
Just two hours after senators failed to concur on the original bill, the conference worked out a slightly different version of the bill, which passed shortly after 8 p.m.
Local bills require the assent of all elected legislators from the affected county to move forward; obviously, Pless was a yes, and apparently Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) was a yes as well.
Hise represents a small portion of eastern Haywood County, which is located at the western end of his sprawling district.
At the beginning of the session, Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin) — who represents the bulk of Western North Carolina and the bulk of Haywood County itself, was recognized by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson as one of several senators who had an excused absence. Social media reports showed Corbin vacationing with family out west.
Corbin, however, was a no on SB9 unless
“I pushed it to the last minute. The only way for the bill to move forward was to remove that [Haywood] part of it. So we removed that part of it and allowed Madison to become partisan.”
Had the Haywood portion of the bill been included, it would have raised some logistical and financial challenges for municipalities, candidates and election workers here, just over 80 days before the General Election is scheduled to take place, on Nov. 7.
Now, Madison County will go it alone, working to comply with the new legislation.
Payne is an unaffiliated candidate, so she can’t simply file for the seat. She needs to gather signatures for a petition to earn her spot on the November ballot.
Ray told Payne on Aug. 18 that she would need to gather the signatures of 1.5% of the Jan. 1, 2023, total of registered voters within the municipality — nine signatures in total.
If no one else jumps into the race, there won’t be a Primary Election at all, but if there is, it will cost the town about $3,000, according to Ray.
In either town, the Primary Election would be held on Sept. 12 — just 27 days after SB9 was passed.
Neither Mars Hill nor Marshall conducts absentee voting, so there’s no hang-ups with those deadlines, however, voter registration closes 25 days before any Primary Election, whether it’s actually held or not.
“We started talking around 9 or 10 the next morning, and we got some guidance from State Board of Elections,” said Jacob Ray, Madison County board of elections director. “We really want to try to publicize
As a result, the last day to register to vote in the partisan municipal elections in Madison County was Aug. 18, which may have stymied some residents who initially thought — correctly — that they had until Oct. 13 to register. Most people aren’t eligible to register to vote on Election Day.
Pless remains adamant that he’ll try again with Haywood County at some point in the future.
Sen. Corbin didn’t return a call for comment.
“The only way for the bill to move forward was to remove that [Haywood] part of it.
So we removed that part of it and allowed Madison to become partisan.”
— Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood)
The effect of short-term rental properties on the availability and affordability of workforce housing has been well-documented in Haywood County.
Now, there are signs that the popular vacation homes are affecting not only the amount of Section 8 properties available but also the local human service agency’s ability to serve Section 8 tenants into the future, which could exacerbate homelessness.
“We need landlords, because we don’t have enough housing for the people living here,” said Amanda Singletary, Section 8 coordinator at Mountain Projects. “Literally, the locals can’t live where their families were born.”
Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 authorized private landlords to receive rental assistance funds on behalf of low-income tenants. In a nutshell, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development earmarks a certain amount of money and number of vouchers to local public housing agencies and human service organizations, like Waynesville-based Mountain Projects, which then administer the funds locally.
“Pre-pandemic, we were funded for about 1,000 vouchers a month. We used to hold steady at issuing about 925 a month,” said Brooke Smith, assistant director of Mountain Projects.
There are two sides to the voucher equation — demand by tenants who qualify for Section 8 vouchers, and the supply of landlords willing to accept Section 8 tenants.
If you’ve ever thought about listing your rental property for rental by Section 8 tenants, now’s the time to act — a critical shortage of Section 8 landlords could affect Mountain
“We started dropping at the end of 2020,” Smith said. “The beginning of 2021 is when we really started seeing the steady decrease. We got to an all-time low in March of 2023 at about 740 vouchers.”
There’s been no decrease in demand from low-income populations, but Smith says there has been a decrease in landlords, and there’s data that suggests she’s right.
The number of available short-term whole-home rentals in Haywood County fluctuates throughout the year but usually peaks in June, according to data from analytics firm AirDNA provided by the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority.
In June 2016, there were just 134 wholehome rentals available in all of Haywood County. By June of 2019, that number had grown to 1,039 and remained close at 1,028 in June 2020.
But as the Coronavirus Pandemic really set in, that number again grew to more than 1,200 by June of 2021 and stayed there through June 2022. That 200-unit increase in short-term rentals correlates closely with the 200 fewer vouchers issued by Mountain Projects each month.
As of May 2023, the number of short-term rentals had grown to 1,707. The reason is simple — it’s money.
In most places, Section 8 vouchers pay 100% of what’s called “fair market rent,” which is a figure calculated by HUD for cities, counties and even zip codes across the United States.
In some places, Section 8 vouchers pay 110%.
In Haywood County, where the housing market is saturated and increasingly unaffordable, Section 8 vouchers pay 120%, in a losing battle to remain competitive.
“We had to appeal and beg HUD to approve us to pay more than what they think
Projects’ future ability to fight poverty and housing insecurity. Call 828.452.1447 and ask to speak to someone in housing about becoming a new landlord. You’ll get a new landlord packet and an appointment for an inspection. Visit mountainprojects.org for more information.
we should be paying,” Singletary said. “That’s still not enough for what landlords in our area are asking for rent.”
The 28786 zip code covers Waynesville. There, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit is $1,040. A quick scan of available longterm rentals in Waynesville shows most landlords can easily earn triple that.
Airbnb whole-house listings in Waynesville for Monday, Aug. 28, average $309 per day, meaning landlords can earn the equivalent of a monthly Section 8 voucher by renting their properties only four nights a month.
In some cases, the supply of Section 8 landlords is decreasing not due to the proliferation of short-term rentals, but rather because of new residents buying up affordable housing and knocking it down.
Nicole Parton has been a housing specialist at Mountain Projects for about two years and does a lot of work in Jackson County as well as in Haywood. In that short time, she’s seen this firsthand.
“We’ve had multiple properties, some of them landlords with multiple units, up to a dozen individual rental units, where we’ve seen Section 8 residents displaced. There was a mobile home park where nine families got displaced,” she said. “Somebody from out of town came in and they just dozed it. They were looking at putting something there, but I don’t think it’s ever been developed. We’ve seen a lot of that.”
Because Mountain Projects can’t do anything about short-term rentals or speculators, they’re currently pushing to increase awareness of the need for more landlords willing to work with Section 8 tenants.
“I’d encourage them to give me a call personally,” said Chad Hall, housing inspector at Mountain Projects. “I’d be glad to come out and do a preliminary inspection and let you know what is needed.”
Another factor in the scarcity of Section 8 landlords is that some who might consider becoming one think that costly repairs and
upgrades will be needed. Hall says that’s not always the case.
“A lot of times I’m finding that it’s not as extreme as they may think,” he said. “We look more at safety, security, those sorts of things.”
Hall says the issues he encounters are often simple, like a leaky pipe or electrical outlets working their way loose in a wall. He doesn’t fail homeowners automatically, but said he works with potential Section 8 landlords to correct problems and minor issues that can become problems.
There’s also the stigma attached to Section 8 tenants.
“Along those lines, our desire is to protect your property from the tenants,” Hall said. “There’s a preconceived notion out there that a lot of the tenants destroy the property.”
Most Mountain Projects Section 8 landlords don’t experience this issue, according to Smith.
Tenants can lose their Section 8 eligibility if they damage property, which would leave many of them with nowhere to turn. HUD also has a mechanism whereby landlords can apply for reimbursement for damages above and beyond a tenant’s security deposit. Smith said it’s because HUD knows that it won’t be able to attract Section 8 landlords if those landlords are left holding the bag for property damage.
If the supply of Section 8 landlords doesn’t pick up in the near future, Mountain Projects could see a permanent decrease in the amount of Section 8 vouchers sent by HUD, who will send those vouchers to other areas where they can be used.
“It’s use it or lose it,” Smith said. “And you don’t get them back.”
“We had to appeal and beg HUD to approve us to pay more than what they think we should be paying. That’s still not enough for what landlords in our area are asking for rent.”
— Amanda Singletary, Mountain Projects
Aconstruction project on the five-lane road in Maggie Valley is aimed at improving pedestrian safety, but some are also pointing out its potential to cause a whole lot of trouble for drivers.
“Out of a concern for pedestrian safety, we’ve created a truly unsafe environment,” said Phillip Wight, longtime Maggie Valley alderman.
He’s talking about a series of pedestrian islands being installed on Soco Road, Maggie’s main drag. Right now, they’re only large rectangular holes in the center lane, marked with orange construction barrels and curbed out with concrete borders, but soon they’ll be elevated sanctuaries for foot traffic looking to cross from one side of the road to the other.
Pedestrian safety has long been a serious issue in Maggie Valley. Even though the speed limit is only 35 miles per hour, the expansive width of the road is an invitation for some to speed. And on busy days during the summer festival season, pedestrians routinely try to cross Soco Road whenever the notion strikes them.
“Everybody wants pedestrian safety when you’re trying to cross a five-lane road and this is the result of that, but it doesn’t make it right,” said Wight. “We need to fix this before it goes any further because it’s just it’s an unsafe environment and we’re going to
have more accidents.”
The pedestrian islands — there are already four, in front of First Baptist, Maggie United Methodist Church, town hall and Joey’s Pancake House — seem to have a calming effect on traffic and give pedestrians a break so they don’t have to play Frogger, but the specific placement of four new islands is what bothers Wight.
“You have to have a buffer so the people in the middle of the road can feel safe. I understand that,” said Wight. “But in the meantime, you’re creating an unsafe environment all the way around for the actual traffic flow and creating a hindrance on our businesses that are already here.”
Heading into Maggie Valley from the west, the first new island is being constructed just east of Moody Farm Road, near the entrance to Parham Memorial Park. While westbound traffic can still make a right to head down Moody Farm Road, traffic turning eastbound from Moody Farm Road to Soco Road may find the island to be an obstruction.
The second new island is just east of the westernmost driveway at Smoky Falls Lodge. That driveway is labeled as the entrance, with the easternmost driveway as the exit, but motorists don’t always respect that designation. Similar to the first island, vehicles taking a left to head east out of the parking lot must avoid the island in the center lane to merge safely into the eastbound lanes of
Soco Road.
“The pedestrian islands look pretty; however, it seems as the surveying wasn’t done realistically. I personally know of multiple accidents that have occurred due to the existing islands especially not being visible at night,” said Twinkle Patel, co-owner of Smoky Falls and a former Maggie Valley alderman. “The new island in front of Smoky Falls is an absolute disaster. You cannot turn into Dollar General or Smoky Falls and Valley Tavern without consciously being aware if there is one car already in the middle turning lane. This needs to be rectified immediately before people are seriously hurt.”
The third new island is just west of the entrance to the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds, and could prove the most problematic because it also sits right in front of the town’s new parking lot on the opposite side of Soco Road.
Drivers heading east, attempting to enter the Festival Grounds, can’t use the center lane to wait for breaks in westbound traffic to begin their left turns. Wight said he was worried that vehicles — especially those with trailers — would end up with their rear ends hanging out into the eastbound travel lane, creating a major backup.
“Now you can’t make some left turns that you were you were able to in the past. On festival days coming in and out of Maggie Valley, you won’t be able to go left,” he said.
“I mean, there’s like five instances right here that’s made this area totally unsafe for moving traffic in the name of safety. It’s an unsafe environment.”
Such a scenario could also jam up both entrances to the town’s parking lot, preventing drivers using the westernmost exit from heading east and drivers using the easternmost exit from heading west — all amid a sea of pedestrians attempting to cross the street from the parking lot to the festival grounds.
This particular island could also cause problems for Cabbage Rose and for Guayabitos, two businesses located on the same side of the street just west of the Festival Grounds entrance. The island would prevent drivers leaving the plaza that houses the two businesses from using the center lane from taking a left out of the easternmost driveway, especially if traffic into the Festival Grounds is heavy.
And it gets worse. Another island just a few hundred feet west of the Festival Grounds island completely blocks the Guayabitos plaza’s westernmost driveway, meaning drivers wishing to proceed east out of the parking lot cannot do so at all — they’ll turn right instead, and then have to make a dangerous U-turn in the middle of Soco Road or turn into another business’s parking lot, then turn F
“Out of a concern for pedestrian safety, we’ve created a truly unsafe environment.”
— Phillip Wight, Maggie Valley alderman
around to proceed east.
“It’s just not right,” said Felipe Martinez, co-owner of the popular Mexican restaurant in the plaza. “It’s not nice for everybody’s businesses, not just our business.”
The island also obstructs the easternmost driveway at Market Square Plaza right across the street — home to some of Maggie Valley’s oldest, most successful commercial establishments. Westbound drivers won’t easily be able to turn left into the plaza at that entrance, while drivers exiting the plaza hoping to turn left and head west won’t be able to do that, either.
Martinez is concerned that there will be accidents there; indeed, as Martinez spoke to The Smoky Mountain News outside his restaurant on Aug. 10, one almost occurred.
“With the interest and the traffic that we get over the weekend with the events, we will definitely have something eventually, you know,” he said, before a white SUV leaving his lot nearly drove right into the construction barrels outlining the future site of the island. “You can see right now this guy, right? if somebody tries to get out of there and somebody is pulling in front just to come in, there is no way to turn.”
Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood) has been at odds with the mayor and the majority of Maggie Valley’s governing board over a number of recent issues. Add this one to the list.
“The way it’s sitting right now, this is not a good plan,” Pless said last week. “I think a walkway over the highway would have been great. I think that would have solved this, but no one ever asked for it. If they had asked for it, then I could have probably found the funding through some infrastructure money to where we could fix this for Maggie Valley and put a couple of places where people could cross. I don’t think you need people crossing a five-lane highway. I don’t care if the speed limit’s 20 miles an hour.”
The problematic placement of the islands was foretold in an SMN story from March 2020, when aldermen were presented with two options to promote pedestrian safety.
One, a “road diet” that would shrink Soco Road from five lanes to three between Fie Top Road and the west end of Moody Farm Road, was deemed unpalatable.
The other option was to install the islands.
“There’s no way to do it without losing a couple of lefthand turns,” Mayor Mike Eveland said at the time. “We’ll look at the basic plan and then look at adjusting it — it’s not going to be met with 100% approval.”
The entire Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen, including Wight and fellow Alderman Tammy Wight, voted in favor of the islands.
“Their problem is, they voted for this and all of a sudden now they don’t like it,” Eveland said when reached for comment on Aug. 21.
Eveland has been consistent by saying
that the plan wouldn’t be perfect, and added that once the project is complete, tweaks can be made if necessary.
According to a municipal agreement between the town and the North Carolina Department of Transportation in November 2022, the total cost of the project is estimated at $2,075,000.
Municipalities can embark on their own infrastructure projects, like the road diet on Charlotte Street in Asheville, but smaller municipalities lacking the labor resources can utilize DOT to administer the project on behalf of the town and to help with the contract, the design and the necessary inspections.
The town was responsible for 20% of the cost, or $415,000, with DOT using federal funds for the other 80%. Maggie Valley’s share of the preliminary engineering was $35,000, leaving a balance of $380,000. Prior to construction, the town was to cut a check for half of that, with the final half, $190,000, due on completion.
Per DOT officials, Maggie Valley has the power to stop the project but would be responsible for all costs associated with the stoppage and with moving or removing the islands.
Alderman Jim Owens said that the islands are the best solution for a longstanding problem in Maggie Valley, and that he’s heard no negativity at all.
“In fact I’ve had several people reach out to me and say, ‘Thank goodness, it was way overdue and we’re grateful it’s getting done,’” Owens said.
He added that some have even said the islands will be good for the elk population that strolls through the valley unpredictably, frequently and without regard to traffic laws. It’s not that the elk will use the islands, but Owens thinks the islands may help slow traffic so motorists can avoid killing them.
Alderman John Hinton said he’s heard a few complaints, but also that more people say it’s a good idea.
“Maybe that’s the price to pay for pedestrian safety. If that’s the end result, I don’t know that I’ve got a problem with that,” Hinton said. “Rather than trash the project, I think we’re better off keeping it and going back and handling any problems once its complete.”
Maggie Valley’s police chief said he’s aware of incidents with motorists running into the existing islands in the past.
“In general, I don’t much care for obstacles being in the way, but there is a safety issue on the pedestrian side as well,” said Matt Boger, who’s been with the department since 2010 and was appointed chief on Aug. 8. “It’s got its plusses. I’m hoping it slows some traffic, but I guess we’ll wait and see.”
Living and working in Haywood County has taken on new meaning for me since I began working with Great Smoky Mountains Association and attending Haywood Chamber events in August 2021. Community is at the heart of this chamber’s many initiatives. Leadership Haywood gave me a wide-eyed view of the opportunities, support, and proactive efforts available in this mountain community. Through attending the various types of chamber events, I consistently gain valuable knowledge while also building meaningful relationships with gateway businesses who see the benefit in connecting with Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”
“I personally know of multiple accidents that have occurred due to the existing islands especially not being visible at night.”
— Twinkle Patel, co-owner of Smoky Falls, former Maggie Valley alderman
The 2023 Mx. Sylva Pride Pageant wasn’t all glitz, glamour, pomp and pageantry, as social media threats and agitated protesters warranted the involvement of law enforcement.
The event — held Sunday, Aug. 13, at the Jackson County Public Library — honored Miss Sylva Pride 2022, Vivica DuPree, who stepped down from the role and celebrated the new Miss Sylva Pride 2023, Josie Glamoure.
The issues surrounding the pageant instigated conversation within Jackson County about the right of the LGBTQ+ community to host events on county property and the role law enforcement plays in protecting that right, as well as the rights of LGBTQ+ people to exist safely in the community.
The pageant, a 21 and older event, took place within rented space at the Jackson County Public Library after the library was closed to patrons. In the days leading up to the event, organizers saw chatter on social media from community members who didn’t want the event to take place. That chatter included multiple threats on Sylva Pride social media pages and other social media pages where individuals within the Sylva Pride organization and queer community were mentioned by name along with their places of employment.
Because some of those threats mentioned protesting the pageant, organizers contacted law enforcement prior to the event to ensure the safety of those in attendance. According to a statement from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Doug Farmer received a call from Sylva Police Chief Chris Hatten on Sunday morning, Aug. 13, the day of the pageant.
Farmer said Hatten shared information that organizers had seen chatter on social media concerning the statue on the library steps.
“After receiving this information, I decided to block access to the top and bottom of the library/ courthouse steps as a precaution,” said Farmer in the statement. “I also called in three deputies on their day off to provide assistance if needed for this event.”
Taking part in some of that internet chatter was Jackson County Commissioner John Smith. In comments on the Jackson County Unity Coalition Facebook page regarding the pageant, Smith said “as a Commissioner I want to say I am not happy this was scheduled on County property. Sheriff Farmer has been made aware of the event, the stairs to the court house will be cordoned off and Deputies present to make sure everyone minds their manners. Seems there is little I can do about this at this point, without naming names, I’ve spoken to some of the other commissioners and they are also not happy about this being put together on County property.”
In another comment Smith said “sadly we continue to let the perverted 1% dictate what is ‘normal’ in this country, and it’s not just in NC or Jackson County. We seem to have lost our moral compass, everyone will have their day to answer. Make no mistake, I have plenty to
answer for, but this perversion is not one of them!”
The statement from the sheriff’s office details the actions of law enforcement, saying deputies arrived at the scene around 5:30 p.m. to take positions at the barricades.
“Shortly after arriving at our positions (two deputies at the top and a deputy and myself at the bottom of the steps) a verbal dispute was overheard near the entrance to the library,” Farmer’s statement reads. “Deputies near the entrance requested I respond to their location. When I arrived near the front entrance there were two men and a female standing talking to
comment to voice their concerns about what they saw as a lack of support from the sheriff’s office throughout the events of Aug. 13.
“I’m here to demand accountability from the public institutions of this county,” said Claire Clark, a queer trans woman living in Jackson County. “Despite the presence of JCSO on the scene and obvious hostility and menace from the people seeking to disrupt the event, it was left to community members to prevent their intrusion into the event space.”
In a recording of the events from Aug. 13, protesters can be heard asking Sheriff Farmer why they aren’t being permitted into the
extend to the whole of the public, not just the parts that benefit from the exploitation and oppression of others. For members of the queer community, Sheriff Farmer’s words cannot help but call that trust into question, especially in light of the long history of homophobic and transphobic violence that have been inflicted on queer people by law enforcement in this country.”
Another speaker at the Aug. 15 meeting described the fear felt by attendees about the possibility of protesters entering the building, even after the sheriff’s office had intervened and moved protesters across the street.
“That period before the sheriff’s department came over and got involved was tense and potentially dangerous,” said Nathan Mann. “I don’t know what would have happened if that man had entered the building.”
“Neutrality was implemented, but poorly,” said Mann. “Sheriff Farmer clearly said at the beginning that he did not like or support what was going on at the library and that he agreed with the aggressive individuals coming to disrupt the event. He said he was required to remain neutral. That was clearly not neutral, and it showed an imbalance of power as well as a sympathy towards bigoted and threatening behavior.”
Ultimately, the speakers at last week’s commission meeting expressed their concern that the sheriff’s office was on scene and helping abate tensions only because the pageant was taking place on county property and that if a similar event were to occur elsewhere and organizers or attendees were in danger, help might have been more difficult to find.
“It was clear that the sheriff’s department was providing the minimum amount of protection because the space was rented. So my question is, what happens at other times when space isn’t rented or owned?” said Mann. “It was made abundantly clear that the sheriff’s department was providing a minimal level of protection at a time and a place because that space was rented. Not because the attendees are human beings and members of our community who deserve safety, protection and respect and dignity.”
two of my deputies. Also on the sidewalk were individuals attending the event. The dispute was the refusal to sell one of the protesters a ticket to the show.”
“After gathering this information, I explained to the protesters that the show can refuse to sell them tickets. Protesters were not happy about this and words were exchanged with some participants of the event. We were able to get the event organizer to get the individuals wanting to see the show inside and the protesters moved across the street and left about 30 minutes later,” said Farmer.
“At no time was anyone’s safety at risk that evening,” Farmer added.
This is where accounts of the evening diverge. At the Aug. 15 meeting of the Jackson County Commission, three Sylva residents who attended the pageant spoke during public
event. The library was closed at the time of the pageant and Sylva Pride had paid for and rented library space for the pageant. After the three protesters made it clear they were there to protest the event, Sylva Pride would not sell them tickets to enter the event space. Sheriff Farmer can be heard on tape backing up that position, informing protesters that the event organizers were not required to sell them tickets.
“I understand, I’m not happy about this either. But we don’t want no problems,” said Sheriff Farmer. “I have to be a neutral party and that’s neutral for your guys, and neutral for them.”
“Now, Doug Farmer is entitled to his opinion just as the next person is,” said Clark. “But public safety is only possible when it rests on a foundation of public trust. That trust must
The events of Aug. 13 come on heels of increased threats and actual violence against the LGBTQ+ community, as well as a slew of legislation from the North Carolina General Assembly that would restrict the rights of the queer and trans people.
In Western North Carolina, issues have arisen around the placement of LGBTQ+ literature in the Macon County Library which has prompted county commissions in Macon, Jackson and Swain counties to take a hard look at the Fontana Regional Library system as a whole. While the Macon County Commission debated pulling out of the three-county library system, it ultimately decided to stay. Now, county managers are recommending a slight change to the governance structure of the system.
In Waynesville, debate has erupted around trans people and the use of public restrooms after claims of indecent behavior involving a transgender
person at the Waynesville Recreation Center proved to be false.
In the North Carolina General Assembly this year, bills have been introduced that would make it unlawful to perform drag entertainment on public property. The General Assembly has passed legislation that inhibits gender-affirming medical treatments, LGBTQ+ instruction in the classroom and requires middle and high school athletes to compete on the team of their sex assignment at birth, rather than the gender they have transitioned to or identify as.
The Town of Sylva has a particularly active and connected LGBTQ+ community relative to other small towns in Western North Carolina. In 2021, Sylva Pride held its inaugural pride parade to celebrate the queer community. The community is supported and held together by several grassroots groups like Sylva Pride, Sylva Queer Support and Education, Sylva Belles Drag, the nonprofit Cornbread and Roses, as well as a multitude of supportive local businesses. These groups not only foster community for LGBTQ+ folks in Western North Carolina today, but also work alongside Blue Ridge Pride and the Western Carolina University LGBTQ archive to uncover and record stories and histories through its oral history project and archival collection.
“American drag pageantry has held a special place within the LGBTQ+ community since its beginnings in the 1880s around Washington, D.C. with a former slave, known simply as ‘the Queen,’ hosting the first drag balls,” said pageant host Beulah Land. “Ballroom culture flourished underground in large cities and in the 1960s, national pageant systems were established by Flawless
Glamoure, was born in Sylva and settled in Asheville after graduating from Smoky Mountain High School and Western Carolina University.
“The events that took place outside of our private event Sunday came as no shock to me, a Sylva native and Smoky Mountain High alumna,” said Glamoure.
Sarbina, an LGBTQ+ activist from New York City.”
“Today, drag pageants occur all over the world and Sylva Pride is so excited to celebrate this history with our community right here in the mountains,” Land said.
This year’s pageant winner, Josie
“Unfortunately, some people cannot begin to understand that queer people are a part of Southern Appalachian history, stretching all the way back to before our forefathers set foot on this land when it was wild and overgrown and being taken care of by our Cherokee brethren. We have been here. We have always been here. We will always be here. We’re just no longer choosing to be silent, to be invisible, or to be complacent. We are queer and we are Southern Appalachian — those two things go hand in hand for us. We are proud to be both and we don’t back down.”
Speakers at the Aug. 15 commissioner meeting called on both the county commission and the sheriff’s office to voice their support for the queer community in Sylva and opposition to hate and bigotry.
“Queer people have every right to exist in this community and to be treated with respect and dignity by other community members and especially by town officials and law enforcement,” said Sarah D’Armen. “I shouldn’t have to come up here and state obvious truths that we are human beings like everyone else — that should be a given. Tonight, I ask for our law enforcement to be held accountable for their responsibility to protect every member of this community and to apologize to the LGBTQ community for their blatant disregard of our safety and dignity. I call on the county commissioners to make a statement in support of the LGBTQ community and against hatred.”
“We are queer and we are Southern Appalachian — those two things go hand in hand for us. We are proud to be both and we don’t back down.”
— Josie Glamoure, Miss Sylva Pride 2023
Elisabeth Biser, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, made her second visit to Canton last week, touring Pactiv Evergreen’s shuttered paper mill and vowing to hold the company accountable for environmental issues that could poison future development of the parcel.
“The immediate issues that we’re looking at currently are the black liquor and fuel oil seeps that are ongoing,” Biser said. “We’re actually working with EPA on the assessment or remediation of that.”
Biser’s comments about Pactiv’s responsibility to clean up its own messes demonstrate the unified front that state officials, including Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein, have made during trips to Canton after the mill’s closure was announced to employees on March 6.
“Step one is to look at the active implications of that ongoing issue,” Biser said. “Next, we’ll take additional steps to do further assessments and see what additional remediation activities need to occur.”
Paper making operations on Pactiv’s 185acre parcel began more than 60 years before the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its associated clean air/clean water regulations. Since the closure of the mill in June, inspectors have been learning more and more about the environmental impacts of the mill’s operations over its 115 years in existence.
If recent history is any indicator, those impacts are not good.
Since May 2021, Pactiv has been issued 14 notices of violation by Biser’s DEQ, including for accidental releases of turpentine and tall oil soap, excessive E. coli levels and repeated emissions of a gritty white dust that settled on nearby homes and vehicles.
Pactiv’s most recent violation, issued on July 10, accuses the company of improperly disposing of chemicals directly into its wastewater treatment system after it had already announced it was leaving town. Pactiv has denied it did anything wrong.
The company has already paid more than $41,000 in penalties associated with the violations — small potatoes for a $6 billion multi-national corporation where the average millworker’s wage is more than twice that figure.
“Notices of violation are what we use whenever there are violations that are observed or are noted,” Biser said. “Those evaluations, I believe, so far have spoken for themselves. We will continue to hold Pactiv accountable as we do all actors in the state.”
Another testament to the consequences of Pactiv’s operations, which straddle the Pigeon River, has recently emerged, but it’s not about what’s in the ground — it’s about what’s in the river.
Officials from the N.C. Wildlife
Resources Commission’s Inland Fisheries Division told The Smoky Mountain News in August that downstream fish populations had “exploded” since the shutdown, including a 15-fold increase in the number of fish in the Pigeon River between the mill and the downstream bridge in Clyde.
The sampling also noted a doubling of the number of fish species found during the sampling process, from 14 prior to the shut-
facility,” said Rep. Mark Pless. “I don’t really have a role in the design or the decision of where it goes. I’m charged with finding the money.”
Pless said he’s been given encouragement from House leadership and that a substantial financial request will be in the budget. But first, Republicans in the House and Senate need to agree on a budget, which is currently overdue by nearly two months.
down to 28 after.
Biser said that environmental monitoring would continue to occur, and that further assessment of Pactiv’s landfills in Haywood County would be needed to ensure they don’t become a problem.
So far, Pless has been successful in bringing taxpayer money into Canton, especially to repair damage from devastating flooding that struck the town two years ago last week.
“I’m optimistic that we’re going to have everything we need to move forward, and if it looks like we’re short, we’ll come back and address that in a few years, because it’s going to take them a while to do that,” he said.
“But I think we’re going to be okay with it.”
That leaves only the wastewater treatment plant to contend with, if the parcel is to be returned to productive use. Since the 1960s, the mill has treated the town of Canton’s wastewater at no cost to taxpayers. An agreement signed at that time stipulates that the mill would have to continue operating the facility two years after any shutdown occurs.
The ticking of that clock grows louder each day. Canton Town Manager Nick Scheuer, along with Haywood County’s Community and Economic Development Director David Francis have been working tirelessly on a solution, which won’t likely happen without help from the General Assembly.
“The biggest thing I’m working on is the money to build a [wastewater] treatment
After a site is selected for the new wastewater plant, which will cost tens of millions of dollars, it will still take years to design and build it, meaning that after the two-year period of Pactiv’s wastewater treatment operations expires, someone’s going to have to pay to keep the treatment plant in operation until the new facility comes on line.
Pless said he’s still not received an operating cost from Pactiv officials.
“I met with Evergreen, I guess it’s been eight weeks ago now or longer, and that was one of the things I asked them. I need to know what it’s going to cost to keep it going because we can’t do without it and if the town of Canton can’t afford it, then I need to look for funding opportunities,” he said.
“I have told them, I don’t need to know six months before you’re going to stop, I need to know ahead of time because I really need to put some things in place to where we’re not surprised like we were with the closure of the mill.”
“I’m optimistic that we’re going to have everything we need to move forward...”— Rep. Mark Pless
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT P OLITICS E DITOR
Six months ago, the eight men gathered on the auditorium stage at Haywood Community College’s Regional High Technology Center were working at Pactiv Evergreen’s century-old paper mill in Canton, looking forward to long and financially rewarding careers there.
On Aug. 16, after 386 hours of training, they became the first class of CDL drivers to graduate from HCC’s truck driving program.
“We had been planning to bring truck driver training to Haywood County and our region for about the past year, but when the mill closure was announced, we really worked to try to fast-track this program for the summer, knowing that the closure would be happening in early summer,” said Shelley White, president of HCC. “We wanted to give this opportunity as we knew it was a great certification that folks could add to their skill set.”
nexus of that rapid response effort; she holds significant experience in workforce development and had been part of a rapid response team in Buncombe County years earlier, saying that she’d witnessed the sadness and uncertainty of job loss eventually give way to hope and opportunity.
The graduation of the new truck drivers marks a significant step towards that goal.
Working in partnership with Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, HCC provided the space and the students, while CCCTI provided the trucks and the instructors. The two schools share the expenses and the revenues from the program.
HCC’s Dean of Workforce Continuing Education Doug Burchfield said the cost of the program is $1,999, plus a few other expenses.
White said HCC was able to use its own funds to start the nine-week program, and that students took advantage of scholarships from the State Employees Credit Union as
The driver shortage comes with an everincreasing amount of freight ferried by truckers across American highways each year. All told, more than a million new drivers will be needed over the next decade to keep up with demand.
The average salary for truck drivers can vary greatly due to experience and other factors, but career website Indeed.com says the average salary in North Carolina is more than $1,500 a week.
That’s nearly $80,000 a year, and not far off from the mill’s average salary of $85,000.
White and graduates were joined by Machelle Baker Sanders, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Commerce, who said her agency had worked in close coordination with HCC, local officials, the NCWorks employment system, the Southwestern Workforce Development Board and Gov. Roy Cooper to bolster regional response to the mill shutdown.
Sanders also expressed gratitude to the U.S. Department of Labor, which in June announced the first $2.5 million installment of a $7.5 million grant to support employment and training services in 11 Western North Carolina counties affected by the shutdown.
Kimberly Staley, USDOL Region 3 administrator, echoed Sanders’ comments about the teamwork that has thus far helped to ameliorate the economic devastation that could have come as a result of Pactiv Evergreen’s actions.
“What I see today is a true testament of the impact and the value of partnership,” Staley said. “Our secretary of commerce just noted, what you see is federal, state and local partnership here really supporting our students and our graduates.”
White said HCC has already begun scheduling new CDL programs for March and October of next year.
Back on March 10 — just a few days after Pactiv Evergreen announced it would shutter its facility, cutting nearly a thousand goodpaying union jobs — local leaders held a press conference in the very same room, focused less on lamentation and more on how to address the needs of soon-to-be unemployed workers.
White and HCC quickly became the
well as from the Haywood Community College Foundation’s Haywood Strong program created specifically for mill employees.
According to an assessment published on March 7 by Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based transportation solutions firm CRST’s chief economist, there’s currently a 64,000-driver shortage in the American trucking industry, which is forecast to grow to 82,000 next year.
“It’s times like the one that we experienced when I think North Carolina really shows up at its best because we come together as one, we work hard, we look out for each other and we pretty much have each other’s back,” Sanders said. “Today is really about hope. It’s about the future. It’s about workforce development and the importance of it. It’s also about providing a lifeline, if you will, to many families.”
“Responding in times of economic crisis is part of the community college’s mission, alongside growth opportunities. We’re also here to respond in the community when critical issues occur, like what happened with the mill closure,” White said. “We’re just glad to be part of the future, part of the solution and helping these folks get back to work and have excellent job opportunities in the future.”
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF W RITER
With the Fontana Regional Library agreement up for its 10-year review, Jackson, Macon and Swain county commissions are taking a look at the document.
“This is a 10-year agreement that does automatically renew every 10 years,” said Adams. “It says that every 10 years it should be reviewed. So what brought this up among managers was, as everybody’s probably aware, there have been conversations in other counties in regards to this regional agreement.”
Earlier this year, after a group of Macon residents complained about the placement of some LGBTQ+ literature, Macon County commissioners debated the idea of pulling out of the Fontana Regional Library system altogether. Ultimately, the county decided to keep its libraries within the system, but commissioners requested that Macon County Manager Derek Roland meet with the county managers for Swain and Jackson counties to begin discussions for potential revisions to the FRL agreement.
Following those discussions, county managers for the three counties suggested one change to the structure of the Fontana Regional Library agreement. As the system operates currently, local library boards have direct appointment authority for the Fontana Regional Library Trustees from each county.
County managers are recommending moving appointment authority for the Fontana Regional Library Board of Trustees from the local county library boards to the boards of commissioners for each county.
“We believe that this ‘direct connection’ between the local governments who are responsible for creating and funding the multi-county library system and the policymaking body for that system will be more reflective of the elected bodies, improve communications and make the services more responsive to all of our citizens,” the managers wrote in a letter to the boards of commissioners.
Jackson County Manager Don Adams presented this recommended change to the Jackson County Commission during its Aug. 15 meeting.
“This isn’t intended to change the system; it’s not intended to rewrite the entire regional system. What it’s intended to do is basically make a more direct connection; we believe this direct connection between the local governments who are responsible for creating and funding the multi-county library system and the policymaking body for that system will be more reflective of the elected boards,” said Adams.
Fontana Regional Library formed in 1944 when the Tennessee Valley Authority sponsored a regional bookmobile to visit the most remote areas of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.
Today, the system offers full library services to rural counties that might not otherwise be able to fund them. By combining cat-
aloging, human resources, finance departments and information technology services for libraries in the three counties, it is cheaper for each county than if they were to provide for each of those departments individually. The regional agreement is renewed every 10 years and can be dissolved or withdrawn from at any time.
“For the most part, the managers, we all agree that the regional system is a valued system, that you have experience in running libraries,” said Adams. “Right now, county governments do not. None of us as individual county governments have direct experience in running library systems themselves.”
In a letter to the boards of commission, the managers made clear they felt that the Fontana Regional Library system has and continues to be an asset to all three counties.
“The three Managers felt the Fontana Library System has positively affected all counties within its membership through providing citizens with convenient access to informational and educational resources for over 75 years,” the letter reads. “We further agreed that the multi-county collaboration was the most efficient and effective way to continue providing library services as it provides opportunities for service and resource allocations beyond the financial and service capacities of the individual county governments and libraries.”
According to Adams, if all three county boards agree to the potential governance change, the managers would then sit down with the Fontana Regional Library board to talk about how to proceed forward with the amendment.
At the behest of Commissioner John Smith, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted to table the issue for further review before deciding.
“I think we need further discussion before we do anything in support of this,” said Smith. “More study on what the actual agreement is, frankly. Maybe we can table that until another meeting before we make a stand.”
Macon County commissioners discussed the recommendation during an Aug. 8 meeting, but did not make a motion to accept the change. During that meeting, four Macon County residents spoke during public comment to voice their opposition to the recommended change.
This year’s race for Wolfetown/Big Y Tribal Council is an unusual one, with the two incumbents having held their seats for less than a year following a pair of special elections in December and March.
During the Primary Election in June, incumbents Andrew Oocumma and Mike Parker finished neck-and-neck in second and third place, both with just over 24% of the vote. Parker edged Oocumma by only two votes. But first place went to Bo Crowe, whose resignation in January triggered the special election that seated Parker. In June, he took 31.8% of the vote amid a field of six candidates. Peanut Crowe, who is Bo Crowe’s brother, came in fourth at 12.4%.
In total, 1,260 votes were cast for Wolfetown Tribal Council in June, with a significant increase expected for the upcoming General Election. During the last election that included a race for chief, in 2019, 1,695 votes were cast for Wolfetown Tribal Council.
The Smoky Mountain News reached out to all four candidates to ask their opinion on a range of issues. None of the candidates responded, though Oocumma and Parker did reply to a more limited questionnaire ahead of the Primary Election that asked candidates for biographical information and their top three priorities should they win the race. Additional information is drawn from previous reporting by SMN and other sources as noted.
Oocumma, 49, was elected to Tribal Council in the Dec. 15 special election that followed Rep. Bill Taylor’s resignation. At that time, he was serving as regional advertising manager for Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos. Prior to that, he was a banker for a major Midwest regional bank and had a career in workforce and economic development.
Oocumma managed teams in the Ohio college system to develop customized training and education for major companies statewide, developed and managed major grant projects to put people back in the workforce, and collaborated with regional leaders to grow central Ohio’s economy. Oocumma holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Western Carolina University.
Top three priorities if elected: Ensure community members are aware of the risks and rewards of out-of-state business dealings before such projects are voted on, see that committee and commission members recuse themselves when voting on matters to which they are personally connected, boost local economic development through increasing activities for youth and tourists, natural resource attractions, revitalizing commercial businesses and exploring bringing back bingo.
Opinion on proposed constitution: During a June 21 work session, Oocumma said that he supported a referendum vote
BBB Scam Tracker has numerous reports of unscrupulous contractors who trick homeowners with supposedly good deals. Homeowners end up with shoddy pavement — or nothing at all — to show for what they paid and, in some cases, have lost more than $8,000.
The scam begins when a contractor leaves a pamphlet or
on the proposed document, but in July he voted with 10 other Council members to delay the referendum so that a new Constitution Convention could work out legal issues with the document.
Ideas to improve economic development and quality of life in Cherokee: In a Primary Election questionnaire response submitted to The Cherokee One Feather, Oocumma suggested using the tribe’s natural resources to “transform what attracts folks to our rivers and mountains and harness it to turn that into profit for the tribe.” Additionally, he said he has been working toward instituting a zoning board or business-driven professional group to drive “the pride we need to re-beautify our business district” and to work with the Department of Commerce to improve visitor accommodations.
Parker, 58, has represented Wolfetown on Tribal Council since winning a special election in March. Previously, he was the EBCI’s destination marketing director. Parker holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and recently completed a master’s degree in project management. Prior to this year’s election, he had served on Tribal Council for a total of 10 years, including appointments as chair and vice chair.
Top three priorities if elected: Work with leadership to develop a strategy for reporting and developing a spending plan for external economic development initiatives such as the tribe’s various LLCs; introduce legislation to develop community design standards for housing and local economic development; and work with leadership to develop dividend policies and revenue distribution to the tribal government and tribal members while ensuring adequate equity to sustain growth.
Opinion on proposed constitution: During a June 21 work session, Parker said that he supported a referendum vote on the proposed document, but in July he voted with 10 other Council members to delay the referendum so that a new Constitution Convention could work out legal issues with the document.
Crowe was first elected to Tribal Council in 2013 after spending 13 years as a tribal employee. He was serving his fifth term when he submitted his resignation letter Jan. 30.
Remaining early voting dates are Aug. 23-26 and Aug. 28, with polls open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Election Day Thursday, Sept. 7, polls will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the following locations: Big Cove Community Center at 8715 Big Cove Road, Birdtown Community Building at 1146 Birdtown Road/ U.S. 19, Big Y Recreation Center at 2641 Wrights Creek Road,
All four candidates participated in a General Election debate hosted by The Cherokee One Feather. Watch it at bit.ly/wolfetownyellowhill23.
At that time, he was serving on the HIP Committee, Qualla Parks and Recreation, the Roads Commission, the Timber Committee and Social Services. He was also Tribal Council’s designated representative to the Cherokee School Board.
Top priority if elected: In a post to his campaign Facebook page, Crowe said that he believes his previous 10 years on Council “can speak for itself” and that he plans on “continuing to work hard for my community and ensuring those same values of my community stand strong.”
Crowe, 51, has been a tribal employee for more than 20 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western Carolina University with minors in Cherokee Studies and Hospital Management.
Top three priorities if elected: As stated on his campaign Facebook page, Crowe aims to invest in the community, support economic diversity that includes bringing family-friendly attractions — such as a water park, community pool, street fairs and festivals — to Cherokee, and collaborate with fluent speakers of Cherokee and those involved in language preservation to come to a consensus on the best way of proceeding to protect the Cherokee language.
Opinion on proposed constitution: In a post to his campaign Facebook page made after Tribal Council decided to delay the constitution referendum, Crowe included the constitution on the list of referenda on which he supports the people having a vote. “We should keep them on the ballot and give our people a chance to have their voices heard,” he wrote.
Path to stabilize and grow tribal finances: On his campaign Facebook page, Crowe wrote that, if elected, he would submit legislation requiring that half of any revenue from gaming investments be distributed to tribal members as per capita income.
Ideas to improve economic development and quality of life in Cherokee: In a post to his campaign Facebook page, Crowe wrote that Cherokee has “not even begun to scratch the surface of developing our community.” He said economic development is a long-term process to secure wellbeing, quality of life and finances. If elected, he wrote, he would prioritize drafting and submitting legislation to bring familyfriendly attractions to Cherokee.
Cherokee County Health Clinic at 328 Airport Road in Marble, Painttown Community Building at 59 Magnolia Lane, Jacob Cornsilk Complex at 60 Snowbird School Road in Robbinsville, Wolfetown Community Club at 12 Burgess Drive off of Wolfetown Road/U.S. 19 and Yellowhill Activity Center at 1416 Acquoni Road. All addresses are located in Cherokee unless otherwise noted. Learn more at ebci.com/government/election-board or contact the EBCI Board of Elections at 828.359.6361 or 828.359.6362.
shows up at the door. They claim they’ve been doing work in the area and just happened to notice the condition of a driveway or sidewalk. Since they’re already working nearby, they offer a discount. If the price is agreeable, they will ask for a large percentage of the fee upfront.
Once the transaction is complete, the scam contractor may disappear altogether. The contact number or email may not work, quickly helping you realize the contact information
was a sham. If you protest, the contractor may use intimidation tactics, such as threatening a lawsuit, to convince you to pay
In other cases, the contractor’s work is shoddy and unprofessional once complete, but the full payment has been made. Reaching the company the contractor allegedly represented is impossible. In any of these scenarios, the chances of getting a refund or the work fixed are slim.
It was an eye-opener for me, that’s for sure.
At the Waynesville Town Board meeting on July 25, a crowd showed up to protest physical, violent threats made on social media against a trans person who made use of the Waynesville Recreation Center. As has been the customary rule for public speaking at Waynesville board meetings, each speaker is asked to state their name and address.
The speaker, who later identified as trans once at the microphone, was worried about physical violence if a home address was read out loud into the public record. After asking, the person was allowed to whisper their address to the town clerk.
Just like that, what I had viewed as for the most part an issue occurring outside our region hit home — the threat of physical violence associated with one’s political, ideological or cultural beliefs. In other words, we’re at a place where people may become afraid to stand up for what they believe.
Recognizing the problem, Waynesville has passed a measure that from now on won’t require speakers to list their address.
“I wanted to make sure everyone felt safe giving their views, no matter what those views are, and not having to worry about people showing up at their house or calling them,” said Alderman Anthony Sutton of his recommendation to change the rules.
To the Editor:
I hope that readers of The Smoky Mountain News have noticed the new series that has been running for the past few months. This series was titled “Smoky Mountain Made” and featured artists of Jackson County. With support from The Smoky Mountain News and the Jackson County Arts Council, we were able to profile 10 working artists living and working in Jackson County. We hope that Smoky Mountain News readers enjoyed learning about the talent in our region. While this initial series was limited to Jackson County, we are hoping to extend “Smoky Mountain Made” to nearby counties. Stay tuned.
Anna Fariello CullowheeTo the Editor:
Republicans hold that “our vote” is actually their vote, as shown by their continuing effort to disenfranchise as many citizens as possible. They lie freely, when it is so obviously untrue, i.e., “The aim of the bill is to improve our elections,” Rep. Grey Mills, an Iredell County Republican shepherding the measure, told House colleagues last week. “All
“The political climate has changed so dramatically over the last six years,” he said. Indeed it has. The fear of reprisals is all too real, especially for those elected or appointed to important positions. Here’s a news item from PBS that occurred in January 2023: “Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, linked a series of drive-by shootings that damaged the homes of local Democratic politicians to a defeated Republican candidate. The case spotlights the troubling rise in extremist violence targeting elected officials across the country.”
If you follow the news, then you’ve heard about crimes like this. It’s a dangerous precedent, and it’s happening across all political ideologies. The incident above was a clear act of violence and intimidation by a person who lost an election. But the threats of violence or potential violence against those who hold different views have been increasing across the country.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, conservative justices had to deal with protestors outside their private homes. I remember a photo from 2022 in USA Today that showed a half-dozen law enforcement officers outside the
of it aims to make our processes on Election Day, during early voting, mail-in ballots ... more efficient and to make it more userfriendly.”(apnews.com/article/north-carolina-elections-absentee-ballots-legislature1c9b1fc9379ff26269b1d03621ea768a).
In fact, our elections were and are fine, and the sole reason Republicans have chosen to lie and generate animosity toward the process, and the good citizens who serve in that process, is that they know their policies are losers in every way, except with their bigbusiness, laissez-faire benefactors (paymasters).
One Republican senator, Tommy Tuberville, is single-handedly hamstringing the defense of our country with his block of military promotions, while, having served zero time in any sort of military service, saying “... there’s noboby more military than me,” (The Tommy Tuberville Foundation’s website said its purpose was “to recognize and support organizations and causes that connect with the beliefs and values of the Tuberville family: assisting our military and veterans …” Incidentally, “Through its first five years, the foundation raised $289,599 but spent just $51,658 on charitable causes, tax records showed.”)
In fact, the foundation has spent in the teens of percent of moneys raised for actual charitable purposes. Reminds me so much of a certain ex-president (the least presidential person ever in history, maybe in the whole
home of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh after he supported the ruling that would severely limit a woman’s right to an abortion. Protestors showed up, and while they were peaceful, the demonstrations forced us to consider what kind of safeguards are in place to protect politicians and judges from those who disagree with them.
Imagine if those who disagreed with a town board or county commission meeting started showing up at your house to protest. Or, as with the person at the Waynesville meeting, you had to live in fear of someone showing up not just to protest but perhaps to actually commit some violent crime. It’s frightening.
Our news editor, Kyle Perrotti, wrote a column a few weeks ago where he discussed several stories he’s covered over the last couple of years where a kind of vigilante justice was threatened. It’s real.
Lay the blame where you want — the emotional fervor often used on social media, the common use of violence-laced rhetoric from politicians, the inability of people to compromise while respecting the views of others — but it’s on the rise and it’s worrisome. For better or worse, I suspect we’ll witness measures like the one approved in Waynesville getting ever more popular over the next few years.
(Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com.)
universe) and his family members, with their self-dealing “charities.”
Republicans are quick to proclaim that their leader is a victim, following his lead to the letter. Their leader’s principal belief is well known, “... say a thing enough times, and they’ll believe it …” They repeatedly trumpet “freedom” and “patriot,” and it turns my stomach to hear their lies and know that a significant portion of the United States’ population has fallen heavily for the lies, aided by the admitted liars, the Republican re-election campaigners known as Fox News
(they sing a different song under oath in a court of law from that of their propaganda broadcasts).
If any of your representatives’ actions (please note what Republicans do, not what they say, for it’s sure to be lies) don’t seem to be in the best interests of America, then please tell them so, and by all means inform yourself and vote for your beliefs. Together we’re strong, divided is what the Republicans want and need the United States to be.
Bil Aylor Swain CountyOnce in a while, something will happen that freezes time for just a moment. Usually, you’re just going about your day, operating on all the assumptions that go with it. When you turn on the bathroom switch, the lights will come on. There are enough eggs in the refrigerator for both of you. Your car will start when it’s time to go to work. Everything is just fine.
Then one day you are on your beach vacation, staying in an adorable rustic bungalow, the kind of place where you shower outside and find a bright green frog the size of a quarter peeking out of your loofa.
It is day four, and the only decisions you really have to make are what time to go set up for another day on the beach and whether this will be one of your “eat out” nights or will you cook spaghetti or chicken Tikka Masala at home. It’s tough, this vacation life, when life’s biggest hassles are the application of sunscreen and trying to keep sand out of your sheets.
Except. On day four, you are packing the cooler with drinks, sandwiches, and crackers while your spouse is packing the trunk of the car with floats and towels, and you decide to eat this one plum you saw just sitting there on the counter before taking off for the beach. But when you turn on the faucet to wash it, there is no water.
And there’s your frozen moment. You stare at the faucet and at the plum underneath it, still purple and still dry, and you turn it on again, as if maybe the problem was with your form. Then you do it three more times, as it gradually becomes real to you that THERE IS NO WATER.
When the moment thaws a little, you do a quick brain scan to determine whether there is any chance in hell that you might know what to do in this situation, some previous “out of water” emergency that you figured out how to fix, maybe by checking a breaker or something.
Nope, nothing.
So you do what you always do in times like these.
“TAMMY!!!!”
In 20 years of marriage, it has long since become clear that Tammy is the fixer in the house, while I am more of your classic “call the man” type. My dad was the same way and so, for that matter, was my mother.
There were no fixers in my home growing up. If something went wrong with anything — the car, the stove, the lawn mower, the dog — what we did was call someone with expertise in that particular area. A mechanic, a repairman, a veterinarian. In short, people who knew what to do.
Also — and this part is just as crucial in terms of my essential worldview, such as it is — I developed my “call the man” philosophy
from a specific episode of “The Andy Griffith Show,” the one where Aunt Bee buys a side of beef and the freezer stops working, so she wants to store the meat at Mr. Foley’s, who is a local butcher, even though she did not buy the meat from him. Andy’s not having it, telling her at least half a dozen times to “call the man” to fix the freezer because he can’t fix it and neither can she. Gomer Pyle comes over to try, but only manages to make things worse.
In our situation, I’m Gomer, staring dumbly at whatever is wrong, like a cow watching a helicopter that won’t fly. But not Tammy.
Tammy grew up in a different kind of house, one where even if you knew the man to call, there was probably not enough money available to pay him, so you better damn well learn to fix it yourself. So that’s what she does.
There is nothing she won’t tackle, which I am sure would include a helicopter if we ever buy one. I’ve seen her fix garbage disposals, refrigerators, laptops, vacuum cleaners, automobiles, iPhones, door frames, faulty locks, warped floors, and dogs. And children. Nearly forgot those.
She’s fixed them up dozens of times, but they’re grown now and off doing their own thing, and now, at this particular moment, we don’t have any water.
Unfortunately, after 15 minutes of troubleshooting, she couldn’t really guess what was wrong with the water at the bungalow, so I called Jerry, the owner, who said the problem was probably an issue with the water pump. He’s an electrician and thought maybe he could explain it to us, but then again we would have to remove the lid from the wiring panel and then snap a hinge, which could be a little dangerous since we would be messing with some very high voltages. I wouldn’t even know how to explain what he told me to our resident fixer.
I was already brainstorming ways to get by for another three full days and nights with no water while Jerry was apologizing for the inconvenience, when Tammy yelled from the pumphouse, “Think I got it. Give it a try now.”
“Hold on just a minute, Jerry.”
I walked over to the sink, turned on the faucet, which seemed to hiss and then spit at me, and then the water poured out. When order is restored, it’s really kind of glorious.
“Never mind, Jerry. Tammy fixed it.”
“She did? For real?” he said, laughing. “Tell her I could just kiss her. That will save me a trip, or an expensive call.”
Tammy popped into the kitchen, grinning. Of course she was. The fixer, taking a little bow.
“Nice having water again, right? You ready to go to the beach?”
I washed that plum and ate it on the way. I said this little prayer: thank you, Lord, for the fixers.
BY KYLE P ERROTTI N EWS E DITOR
Gone are the days of backroom poker tournaments where players peer through a haze of smoke just to see their cards.
Or at least that’s the case now for those who get their high-stakes thrills competing in sanctioned events like the one held Aug. 3-14 at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, an event that paid out millions of dollars across 19 separate tournaments. Hosted by the World Series of Poker, the circuit event offered players in those individual tournaments the chance to win some money, and each victor also earns a WSOP ring and with it an automatic bid for the WSOP Tournament of Champions next year in Las Vegas.
Participation in such tournaments has picked up in recent decades as events have been televised, but the real boom came in 2003, when Chris Moneymaker won a World Series of Poker Championship bracelet after qualifying for the event through an online poker site. His win was proof that anyone can come in and upset the field. It’s competition in its purest form.
No one makes it to the final table by fortune or favor — you have to earn it.
For the 12 days of competition at Cherokee, individual tournaments were held in the event center, normally reserved for world-renowned musical acts. Tables were set up wall-to-wall, and at the beginning of the more popular events, it was hard to find an open seat at most tables.
While people at some of the tables talked and joked, once play began, conversation was
drowned out by the ubiquitous sound of chips shifting and shuffling.
Most players were white males between about 25 and 50 years old, and while there was some racial diversity, female players were few and far between. Some people wore colorful clothes designed to grab attention, and many wore shorts, flip flops and hoodies, looking as though they may have just wandered out of a frat house and into the casino. Somewhere around 10% wore sunglasses and kept their hoods up to obscure their face as though they were trying to fit the infamous Unabomber police sketch.
The biggest and most prestigious tournaments lasted four days and started with over a hundred tables. The stakes felt high from the outset — the stacks of chips may not be high, but it’s still about survival. At most events, people can buy back in if they bust, but only up to a certain point. Some players bought in several times after going all-in early in play. The risk, to those who can afford multiple buy-ins — or “bullets” as they’re referred to by players — is worth the potential reward of building a big stack early.
While most players lost gracefully, there were some — a man who threw a water bottle down, one who yelled a curse word, one walking away as he talked to someone on his phone about how fate had screwed him over — who showed their frustration.
Rare temper tantrums aside, stoicism is evidently a virtue in tournament poker, both at table and once play is done. Down to the final table where hundreds of thousands of dollars could be at stake, people were congenial in victory and defeat.
Throughout the day and into the night, waiters and waitresses roved the area, weaving between tables calling out “coffee, cocktails,
water!” While most players drank water, some had coffee and a few opted for alcohol, even at the onset of play at 10 a.m. During the 15minute breaks every two hours or so, dozens of players would rush outside for a smoke break. While most came back smelling of cigarettes, a few reeked of marijuana.
At the tables, players focused when cards were in front of them, but otherwise, many had their phones out, scrolling through social media or texting. The savviest players used their phones as tools, looking at tables with odds between hands and even sometimes doing quick calculations.
The biggest night of the 12-day run was Monday, Aug. 14, the end of the Main Event. The day started around noon with 19 players on three tables. Within minutes, several were out, brave or foolish souls who made a big grab for chips early on knowing they’d need a healthy stack heading into the final table.
While the casino guaranteed at least a $1.5
After three days of play at the Main Event, it came down to the final table.
million prize pool for the Main Event, with 1,623 entrants, the pool ultimately dwarfed that number at almost $2.5 million.
The three tables were up on the event center stage with the final table looming on a platform behind them. Another tournament was going on below, and often when someone down there would bust out, they’d come up and check out the action. While there were some friends and family of players on hand, most who stuck it out and watched into the night were other players — students of the game.
Within an hour, the field was down to 15, and even though some players were bleeding chips, the mood shifted, and people played a more conservative brand of poker.
With 14 players left, Preston McEwen, the Tennessee man who would eventually win about $175,000, was short on chips and went all-in on an ace-king suited, a great draw. It was looking dire when the flop and turn came, but he caught the king he needed on the river, jumped up from the table and did a brisk lap around the other remain-
ing table letting people know what he’d just accomplished.
Had he lost that hand, his payout would have been only about $25,000, $150,000 less than what he ended up with. It’s those small moments that make tournament poker what it is.
Eventually, 10 players emerged and made their way up to the final table. One player, Billy Kott had about a quarter of the chips. While people could gather beneath the platform where sat the final table, about 20 feet stage right was a giant TV that offered an overhead view of the action and a clear view of the cards.
Players were knocked out one-by-one, and it was usually easy to see it coming. First someone would win a big hand, then the chips dwindle as they wait for their next opportunity. Eventually, they go all-in. Sometimes it’s the right call and someone busts out on a hand they probably should have won, and sometimes they reach.
For a while, McEwen was low on chips, although he had enough to form them into a smiley face, much to the amusement of his friends watching on the TV.
“I knew you’d win once you got the nose on there,” someone shouted after McEwen won a big hand.
Despite having close calls earlier, McEwen survived and made it to the final three against Kopp and Brian Jones. For a brief moment, he was nearing their chip count; however, he ultimately busted out. Either way, the weekend was an overall success for the eccentric and somewhat fratty McEwen, who at one point received a massage for about an hour right there at the final Main Event table. A five-time WSOP ring winner himself, McEwen didn’t win any
of the tournaments, but he made the final table three times during the 12 days at Cherokee and walked away a good deal wealthier than he came in.
On that final night, McEwen’s raucous cohort gave him a round of applause, and as he left, he invited members of the media who travel with the circuit to get some drinks.
“We’ll probably go bowling,” he said.
With McEwen gone, the chip count was about even — Jones had a slight lead with 34 million to Kopp’s 31 million. The two duked it out for over an hour prior to the dinner break, playing fast hands with small pots as Kopp gained the advantage and continued to build on his lead. Not long after the dinner break, Jones got the cards he wanted and went all in ahead of the flop. While the flop offered a chance at a flush, that never materialized, and Kopp, an Ohio native, emerged champion and won just over $375,000. He’s now won three rings, a bracelet and a whopping $1.7 million.
People came from all over to play at Cherokee, including Timothy Carolla, who visited from south of Pittsburgh, about 8 hours away. He made a sort of vacation of the thing and was at the casino for all 12 days of play and won about $5,500 after finishing eighth in one event and another $688 after finishing 218th in the Monster Stack.
Carolla spoke with SMN during a break after the start of the Monster Stack. He said that while he’d played in Las Vegas and Atlantic City before, he was excited to get
the chance to come to the event in the Smokies. He noted how good the competition was.
“My buddy came down last night and asked how the play was, and I said I think it was actually stronger than average, a higher percentage of good players than when I played in Vegas,” he said.
Carolla also said he enjoyed the area, especially the pleasant company of his fellow players, many of whom were regional or even from surrounding counties.
“Yesterday, I was at four tables over 16 hours, and I met the one guy who I think I spent eight hours with, and our game was so much fun. People were really friendly,” he said.
Ebony Bost didn’t start with a great run of luck and finished out of the money in the Ladies Event. However, the next day, she finished third in a nightly tournament and won enough money to buy into the Main Event. She was already there, so why not?
Bost ended up placing 22nd and winning about $15,000; no other woman made it as far in the Main Event. She said she was happy to show people that a Black woman can excel at a game where they’re underrepresented. Bost, an Army veteran who served 23 years, started playing poker during a deployment in Iraq. While she’d played home games and cash games consistently since getting out, she just started playing tournaments in March.
She said she’d initially had no intention to play the Main Event.
“I didn’t think I was ready for that at all,” she said with an ironic laugh.
Bost said she plans on coming back for the next WSOP Circuit event at Cherokee at the end of November. A regional manager for a furniture company, said she loves the mental challenge of playing poker.
“I like tournament play because it’s way more strategic,” she said. “I think that’s why I did well, because I was taking it more seri-
ously.”
Todd Mercer’s popularity among his fellow players is obvious. At the beginning of the Monster Stack event when more players are up and about, several folks gave him high fives or even hugs as they walked by. That admiration is indeed earned — not only is he a nice guy; he’d previously won a Main Event at Cherokee. This go-round, he won a ring in one tournament and finished second in the Monster Stack.
Mercer, 50, only began playing poker about a decade ago. Like most other players, he has a day job, working in sales for a company that builds manufactured homes. While many poker players are numbers wizards who understand odds, Mercer’s greatest strength may derive from the very thing that makes him good at his job — his ability to read people.
Mercer said anyone who is considering getting into high-level poker at any stage in life should simply practice and get in on a tournament to see where they’re at.
“I had a buddy that was kind of at my level where I’m at now when I first started,” Mercer said. “And I was like, ‘man, he’s got rings and he has already made like $500,000, and he’s only like, 25 years old or something.’ But over a few years I just kept playing.”
Like Carolla, Mercer said he loves coming to the area.
“Maybe one day I’ll buy a little place out there on the lake, Junaluska I think it’s called,” he said.
The four WSOP circuit tournaments at Cherokee benefit the casino and the greater local economy.
Players stay at the casino or surrounding accommodations, and those who spend the full two weeks in the area may even patronize other businesses around the region. They are also a boon for the casino as they often get in on cash poker games and other table games like blackjack when they’re not in a tournament. Some even hit up the sports book.
The first WSOP event at Cherokee was a decade ago, and since then, they’ve become a staple. Harrah’s Cherokee Regional Vice President of Marketing Brian Saunooke said the casino welcomes the tournament, and
the more they host the events, the easier the logistics become.
“It’s about as efficient as it can be, but we have to start planning these things months in advance,” Saunooke said. “There were our poker dealers that come in specifically for WSOP, so there’s a whole hiring and badging process that goes along with that, as well as just the logistics of getting the rooms set up for it.”
But no matter how well-planned the event is, it can still tax the staff, especially during otherwise busy times like weekends when there’s a show.
“Having this many team members dedicated to a specific event is a challenge in itself, because we have to keep the entire operation running,” he said. We’ve gotten it as streamlined as we can, and planning takes place early. But there’s still work, so it gets to be a lot on our on our team members. When players have breaks in between, everybody that’s playing wants to eat at that time. I just have these big influxes of guests into the restaurants and things like that. And we’ve added food trucks over the years to help make sure people can get a good quick meal and get back to the games, but there’s always a challenge.”
Many players travel year-round to compete circuit events far and wide. So too do numerous dealers, as well as writers who post live updates on social media and recap tournaments on sites like poker.org.
Dennis Jones is the tournament director for the WSOP Circuit and manages events just like the one at Cherokee. Jones grew up in Texas and technically lives in Louisiana, but he said he spends about 300 days a year on the road. He’s been in the industry for 35 years and has worked with WSOP since 2006.
Like so many others who find their way to some facet of the poker industry, the game is in Jones’ blood — his father was an avid player.
“Not a very good one, but he liked to play,” Jones said.
Jones said poker has come a long way since
he first started playing 40 years ago and noted that once it became mainstream, events began attracting a greater level of talent.
“You have guys out here who graduated from Ivy League schools and MIT, and these are poker guys,” he said.
Jones has a particular love for the circuit events he manages, specifically mentioning how much fun it is to see players of all levels turn out. With the broad fields seen at these events, sometimes a person who’s on no one’s radar, a local even, can come and capture a ring.
“You see a guy who says, ‘this is my first tournament and suddenly I’m at the final table,’” Jones said. “It makes for a good atmosphere.”
Jones enjoys his busy life, which includes managing 15 circuit events every year, plus two months in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker Championship. Jones doesn’t mind the traveling too much in general, but sometimes it’s a pleasure.
“We’re gonna be doing our first time for WSOP in the Bahamas, and we do some events in Aruba,” he said.
While running such a massive 12-day event can seem daunting, like Saunooke, Jones said it’s not too bad once casinos get the hang of it.
“When you’re starting a brand-new event and they don’t have anything and you start from scratch, it’s a process and a lot of work,” he said. “But like here, it’s kind of like you have a checklist and you know what you’re doing and what the schedule looks like. You work with the in-house people Jason Jones and Anthony Johnson here. Jason Jones is the poker room manager, and Anthony’s the assistant. We’ve worked for these guys for 10 years, and they’re like family.”
Some players talked about how much they loved being in the Smoky Mountains, but Jones has the receipts to prove it.
“I bought 7 acres of land up here on the Little Tennessee River that I’m eventually going to retire and build a house on,” he said. “I love the area. It’s beautiful, and the people up here are so great. You know you don’t have all the sarcasm and the negativity that you get at some tournaments. They’re just here to play poker have a good time and enjoy the atmosphere.”
Covered in sweat, I was about three miles into a Friday afternoon run around Lake Johnson on the outskirts of Raleigh. Under a hot August sun, I emerged from the depths of the urban forest and slowly walked over to my truck in the small parking lot.
I noticed the front passenger’s side window of the vehicle was down. I figured my girlfriend, Sarah, had returned from her respective jog before I did. Thus, she was lounging out in the truck waiting for me.
But, as quickly as that thought entered my mind, I noticed a wide swath of broken glass around the open window. A sense of disbelief and dread spilled over me. I peered into the truck and witnessed more broken glass across the passenger’s seat and the center console.
Unlocking the driver’s side, I was able to locate my wallet and smart phone, both hidden very carefully in the truck amid personal protocol I’ve adopted over many years as a runner/hiker leaving valuables behind while taking off down the trail for a glorious jaunt.
I was also able to make sure my laptop was safe and secure in the backseat. Also hidden, it
ous on the other end of the line. He even showed some solidarity to my situation by noting his “truck got broken into the other week, they smashed the driver’s side window” and that it was parked right next to his police cruiser. “It’s pretty crazy out there,” he added.
So, with the interior of the truck covered in broken glass — you’d be surprised how much glass one small window consists of when shattered — Sarah jumped into the back seat of the truck and we tracked down a car wash nearby in hopes of vacuuming up the mess.
An hour later, we’d cleaned up the interior. But, now what about the open window? It was at least a four-hour drive back to our humble abode in Waynesville via Interstate 40 at about 75 miles-per-hour. Not to mention, what if it rains?
After a couple attempts with a small tarp (bought shortly after at Walmart) and a garbage bag (procured from Panacea amid a hasty late afternoon meal before leaving Raleigh), the only solution that actually worked was duct-taping a towel from the backseat to the open window. No drag in the highway wind. No flapping noise, either.
Cruising along I-40 West, the hot August sun was now falling behind the Blue Ridge Mountains as the truck shot past Statesville, onward through Morganton, Marion, Black Mountain, Asheville and Canton. The sky transitioned from bright blue to rich tones of orange and purple, an intrinsic sense of gratitude washing over us.
Even in the midst of our jarring experience, that odd sense of feeling violated, all Sarah and I could do was laugh at the whole thing, to be appreciative that it wasn’t any worse. The laptop was safe. We had our phones and could head-off any more problems associated with the smash-n-grab. But, most importantly, we had each other during this ordeal. We shared this story together and through that, we could move forward.
was untouched. It seemed whoever smashed the window simply reached in and took whatever they could grab in a moment’s notice, which just so happened to be Sarah’s purse stashed underneath her seat.
Grabbing the phone, I called Sarah. She was still out on the trail. I told her what happened and she came trotting back. The purse was long gone. A notification popped up from her bank and dinged on her phone. A $500 purchase at a Walmart nearby was flagged and the credit card declined. She immediately blocked her cards to avoid any other financial setbacks.
Calling the police, I knew a stolen purse and broken truck window was pretty low on the priority list, let alone a waste of societal resources to come out and inspect the scene of the crime. But, nonetheless, I wanted to timestamp the incident, if anything for insurance purposes.
The Raleigh officer was polite and courte-
During the weekend, with my truck covered in a protective tarp in front of our apartment, I was able to schedule an appointment with Safelite to replace the window. Total bill came to $384. Payment straight out of my pocket seeing as my insurance deductible was too high to cover the damage. Figures, eh?
The other kicker with Safelite was that I had to motor over an hour away to Morristown, Tennessee, for an early Monday morning appointment, seeing as if I waited for an opening at the closer shop in Asheville, the truck wouldn’t be seen until later in the week.
Skip to 8 a.m. Monday. Sarah and I caravanned to Morristown. Thankfully, the truck was brought into the garage mere minutes before a torrential downpour entered East Tennessee. Holing up in a local coffee shop, I got to work on assignments for last week’s newspaper — the news never stops, as they say, especially not for broken windows.
An hour later, the truck was ready. Pay the bill. Thank the kind man behind the counter.
Celebrating the life of the late Erica Waldrop, the 3rd annual “YerkFest” will be held from 3-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro.
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A production of the beloved Monty Python comedy “Spamalot” will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 25-26, Sept. 1-2, 8-9, 14-16 and 2 p.m. Aug. 27, Sept. 3, 10 and 17 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
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The “An Appalachian Evening” series will continue with a performance by The Bluegrass All-Stars at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.
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The 14th annual season of the “Concerts on the Creek” music series will continue with Americana/indie outfit The Maggie Valley Band at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, at the gazebo in Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.
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Appalachian/indie singer-songwriter Jackson Grimm & The Bull Moose Party will perform at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, and 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 4, at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville.
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Walk back out into the world of knowns and unknowns. It was then decided to make our way to the Big Creek entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, right off I40 on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line.
Grabbing for our running shoes, Sarah and I aimed to meander up the Midnight Hole trail. As I reached for mine in the backseat of the truck, I found another piece of broken glass that the vacuum didn’t suck up. I decided to keep it as a memento and put it in the glovebox for safe keeping.
A mile-and-a-half up the trail, I stopped at Midnight Hole and admired its natural beauty for the thousandth time, a setting that’ll never be lost on me. Bounding back down the trail to the truck, the vicious storm from earlier in Morristown reached the national park. Cue the torrential rain, thunder and lightning.
Not long into the rain, I was soaked to the bone. Drenched. But, I didn’t care, neither did Sarah. Embrace whatever comes at you, for good or ill, and be appreciative of being aware and immersed in the moment, no matter what comes your way in this wild, undulating universe.
The entire way back to the parking lot, I purposely splashed through every single muddy puddle. I felt like a kid again, that childlike wonder that never leaves those who never forgot what it feels like to explore and ponder. Joyous curiosity of pure heart and soul. I was also thankful that I’d remembered to put up the truck window before I hit the trail, too.
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
The “An Appalachian Evening” series will continue with a performance by The Bluegrass All-Stars at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, 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 airconditioned Lynn L. Shields Auditorium.
Spreading “the good word of bluegrass,” the group features Darren Nicholson (for-
merly of Balsam Range) and Marc Pruett of Balsam Range, with musical legends Audie Blaylock and Reed Jones of Redline.
To note, since its inception in 2007, Balsam Range is one of the most decorated acts in bluegrass music. The band has taken home the following International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) honors:
“Entertainer of the Year” (2014, 2018), “Album of the Year” (2013, 2017), “Song of the Year” (2011, 2015) and “Vocal Group of the Year” (2014, 2015),
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.
Appalachian/indie singer-songwriter Jackson Grimm & The Bull Moose Party will perform at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, and 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 4, at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville.
Grimm marries folk/pop melodies with the lonesome sound of traditional Appalachian music. In a region with a strong music culture, it is no surprise that Grimm’s songwriting is representative of his musical birthplace: Asheville.
His songs run the gambit from an homage to a traditional country waltz in “If Not For You,” an unrequited love song driven by a Beatlesesque melody in “I’d Hold You (But I Don’t Wanna Hold You),” to a drunken party-grass song à la Old Crow Medicine Show in “Last Train Home.”
Both shows are free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 or froglevelbrewing.com.
• 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.
• 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.
• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host music bingo 7 p.m. Mondays, karaoke at 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, trivia at 7 p.m. and Carolina Drifter Aug. 26. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 or boojumbrewing.com.
• Concerts On The Creek (Sylva) will host The Maggie Valley Band (Americana/indie) Aug. 25 and Positive Mental Attitude (reggae/soul) Sept. 1 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.
• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host “Music Bingo” 7 p.m. Thursdays and Dirty Dave (singer-songwriter) Aug. 26. 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 Nicole Witt (singer-songwriter) Aug. 24. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Tickets start at $25 per person. For tickets, go to oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.
• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will host Southern Highlands Band Aug. 25 and Byrds & Crows Sept. 1 at Town Square on Main Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host its weekly “Tuesday Jazz Series” at 5:30 p.m., Jackson Grimm & The Bull Moose Party (American/folk) 5:30 p.m. Aug. 24 and 3 p.m. Sept. 4, 81 Drifters Aug. 25, Krave Amiko Aug. 26, Syrrup 2 p.m. Aug. 27, Kid Billy (of Hustle Souls) 5:30 p.m. Aug. 31, Shane Meade Trio (indie/soul) Sept. 1 and Leman King (singer-songwriter) 3 p.m. Sept. 3. 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 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with Zip Robertson (singer-songwriter) Aug. 26. 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 Emporium Band (funk/rock) Aug. 25 and
Hurricane Creek (rock/blues) Sept. 1. Shows begin at 6:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. villagegreencashiersnc.com/concerts.
• Happ’s Place (Glenville) will host Rock Holler Aug. 25, The Remnants Aug. 26, Doug Ramsey (singer-songwriter) Aug. 31 and Whitewater Heathens Sept. 2. 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 and Train (indie/soul) w/Parmalee 8 p.m. Sept. 1. For a full schedule of events and/or to buy tickets, caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.
• 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 (singersongwriter) 8:30 p.m. Aug. 24. Tickets are $25 per person. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to highlandermountainhouse.com.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host “Trivia Night with Kirk” from 7-9 p.m. every Monday, Open Mic Night every Wednesday and semi-regular 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, “YerkFest” 3-9 p.m. Aug. 26 and Shane Meade (indie/soul) 2 p.m. Aug. 27. 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 and an Old Time Jam 6:30 p.m. Thursdays. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) “Summer Music Series” will continue with 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., Adrianne Blanks & The Oracles (Americana/soul)
Aug. 25, Kevin Dolan & Paul Koptak (singer-songwriter) Aug. 26, Smoky Blue Rain (Americana/rock) Sept. 1 and Andrew Wakefield (singer-songwriter) Sept. 2. 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.
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host an “Open Mic with Frank Lee” Wednesdays, Alma Russ (Americana/indie) Aug. 25, Scott James Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) Aug. 26 and Heidi Holton (blues/folk) 5 p.m. Aug. 27. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.
• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) Aug. 25, Somebody’s Child (Americana) Aug. 26, Asheville Junction Sept. 1 and Regatta 69 Sept. 2. All shows behind at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. noc.com/events.
• Pickin’ In The Park (Canton) will host Running Wolfe Aug. 25 and Rick Morris Sept. 1. Local clogging groups will also be onsite to perform. Shows are 6-9 p.m. at the Canton Rec Park located at 77 Penland St. Free and open to the public. Cantonnc.com.
• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Three Amigos (variety/gospel) Aug. 26. All shows begin at 6 p.m. at the Gazebo in downtown. Free and open to the public. franklinnc.com/pickin-on-thesquare.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.
• Salty Dog’s Seafood & Grill (Maggie Valley) will host “Karaoke w/Russell” every Monday, Andrew Rickman (country/rock) Aug. 25 and Susie Copeland (singer-songwriter) Aug. 26. Free and open to the public. 828.926.9105.
• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will host Continental Divide Sept. 2 at Kelsey-Hutchinson Park on Pine Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host a “Celtic Jam” 2-5 p.m. Sundays,
Rene Russell (Americana/rock) Aug. 24, Celtic Road (Celtic/jam) 4 p.m. Aug. 26, Ben & The Borrowed Band (Americana) Aug. 26 and Borderline Band (country) Aug. 31. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 or scotsmanpublic.com.
• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host Clay Walker Aug. 25. 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.
• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville)
“An Appalachian Evening” live music series will feature The Bluegrass AllStars Aug. 26. 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.
• Swain Arts Center (Bryson City) will host The Legacy Motown Revue (soul/R&B) 6 p.m. Sept. 2-3. Advance tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to swainartscenter.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. 23, Blackjack Country Aug. 24, Mile High (classic rock) Aug. 25, Trial By Fire Aug. 26, TNT Aug. 30, Mountain Gypsy (Americana) Aug. 31, Jon Cox (country/rock) Sept. 1 and Carolina Freightshakers (classic rock) Sept. 2. 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 Bridget Gossett (singersongwriter) 5 p.m. Aug. 25 and Dick Dickerson (singer-songwriter) 2 p.m. Aug. 27. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.
• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host Andy Ferrell (singer-songwriter) Aug. 25, Kid Billy Aug. 26, Amongst The Trees Sept. 1 and Seth & Sara Sept. 2. 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.
Regional blues/folk singer-songwriter
Heidi Holton will perform at 7 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 24, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.
Holton is turning heads with her unique take on one of America’s oldest popular musical traditions: the blues. She began young, leaving Murphy to play in rock bands in Athens, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana, before the blues called, and she answered.
She studied under the great Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna) and then disappeared to Alaska’s arctic interior to perfect her craft. She has then moved back to Murphy and is touring around the country.
The show is free and open to the public. For more information, call the library at 828.488.3030 or go to fontanalib.org/brysoncity.
The Jackson County Public Library will be hosting Western Carolina University School of Music faculty member and pianist Dr. Leonidas Lagrimas at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, in the Community Room at the library in Sylva. Titled “Musical Storytellers,” the recital will feature solo and duet piano masterworks by Bach, Scarlatti, Mozart, Brahms and more. Joining him on the program are three guest classical pianists from Western North Carolina.
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.
Americana/indie outfit The Maggie Valley Band will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, at the gazebo in Bridge Park in downtown Sylva. A blend of old-time mountain, Americana and
This program explores music’s power to connect with audiences through the art of storytelling. Whether you are new to classical music or a lifelong fan, this program has something for everyone to enjoy.
The show is free and open to the public. For more information, please call the library at 828.586.2016 or email at jcpl-adults@fontanalib.org. This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library and the Jackson County Arts Council.
The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (fontanalib.org).
psychedelic indie-folk music, the Haywood County group is fronted by siblings Whitney and Caroline Miller.
The duo has gone through several changes since they first set out on their melodic adventure several years ago.
But what remains is the unbreakable bond of sisterhood, something that’s become a stronghold — and strong suit — in what it will take to break into the next level of their promising careers. 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.
Celebrating the life of the late Erica Waldrop, the 3rd annual “YerkFest” will be held from 3-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro.
Live music at “YerkFest” will be provided by Hotdog Sunrise (4 p.m.), Prophets Of Time (6 p.m.) and Positive Mental Attitude (8 p.m.).
Waldrop passed away in a tragic car accident in January 2021. She was a friend to many in Sylva and greater Jackson County. A shoulder to lean on. A smile to brighten your day.
Waldrop was many things to many people. Of note, she was a social justice warrior who stood proudly at any and all community marches, most recently the Black Lives Matter and Confederate statue gatherings in front of the Sylva
‘Spamalot’ will be at HART on select dates through mid-September. Donated photo
fountain.
She was also a helping hand and the life of the party. If you were passionate not only about life, but what you wanted out of it, she was right there to amplify those aspirations into the universe. She never met a stranger, and was always connecting the dots of people, places and things within any social setting.
“Yerkfest” is free and open to the public. Donations will also be accepted for the Erica S. Waldrop Scholarship, which is given to a graduate student at Western Carolina University who is in the speech language pathology program.
The event is sponsored by the Waldrop Family, Stanberry Insurance and Innovation Brewing.
A production of the beloved Monty Python comedy “Spamalot” will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 25-26, Sept. 1-2, 8-9, 14-16 and 2 p.m. Aug. 27, Sept. 3, 10 and 17 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
The 2005 Tony Award-winner for “Best Musical,” Monty Python’s “Spamalot” is a musical comedy frequently quoted as being “lovingly ripped off” from the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which tells the legendary tale of King Arthur’s quest to find the Holy Grail.
As you’d expect from Eric Idle of Monty Python fame, the musical diverts from more traditional versions of the legend, offering a highly irrever-
A community jam will be held from 67:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.
Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer or anything unplugged is invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen. The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of the Sawmill Creek Porch Band.
The community jams offer a chance for musicians of all ages and levels of ability to share music they have learned over the years or learn old-time mountain songs. The music jams are offered to the public each first and third Thursday of the month — spring, summer, fall.
This program received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment of the Arts. 828.488.3030.
Have a cold beer or wine and walk down memory lane
ent parody of the legend of King Arthur. We can never have too much laughter and this goofy, high-energy musical offers up more laughs than ever.
The show features now-famous songs including “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” “The Song That Goes Like This” and “Find Your Grail.”
At the start, the show begins with a miscommunication between the actors and the narrator, leading into a song about Finland instead of England. From there the show introduces a myriad of characters you’d expect to be in the legendary tale, but with many twists — from modern to absurd.
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.
Multi-platinum country star Sammy Kershaw will hit the stage at the 115th Canton Labor Day celebration, which will take place Sept. 3-4 at Sorrells Street Park in downtown.
The live music will start at noon on both days. Headliners will be Kershaw Sept. 3 and Haywood County bluegrass sensation Balsam Range Sept. 4. Other acts to appear include Unspoken Tradition, The Crowe Brothers, Burnette Sisters, Joe Lasher & Kaitlin Baker and many more.
The Canton Labor Day Festival is a cele-
bration of all things made in Western North Carolina. As the oldest festival of its kind in the south, Canton Labor Day honors the blue-collar workers who power our economy with their bare hands and deliver the products and services upon which we all depend. Tickets are $8 for a two-day pass (purchased at Ingles through Sept. 2) and $5 at the gate each day. Kids ages 12 and under are admitted free.
For more information, a full schedule of events and activities or to purchase tickets, go to cantonlaborday.com.
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.
• “Apple Fest” will kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, at Darnell Farms in Bryson City. Food trucks, live music, vendors, bounce houses, kids’ activities, bobbing for apples contest, dream whips, caramel apple station 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.
A cherished gathering of locals and visitors alike, “Art After Dark” will take place from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, in downtown Waynesville.
Each first Friday of the month (May-December), Main Street transforms into an evening of art, live music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors alike. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, go to downtownwaynesville.com.
The exhibition “Spark of the Eagle Dancer: The Collecting Legacy of Lambert Wilson” will be showcased through Dec. 8 in the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.
The exhibit features over 140 works of contemporary Native American art from the collection of one of Western North Carolina’s most notable art enthusiasts, the late Lambert Wilson.
He devoted his life to supporting and encouraging Native artists, amassed an extensive collection of over 6,000 objects during his lifetime, focusing primarily on artists of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation and sovereign nations of the Southwest.
This exhibition brings together a selection of baskets, pottery, carving, painting,
• Maggie Valley Labor Day Arts & Crafts Show will be held Sept. 2-3 at the Maggie Valley Fairgrounds. The event will feature numerous vendors, food trucks and much more. For more information, go to maggievalleyfestivalgrounds.com.
photography, and more that tell the story of the relationships Wilson built and the impact that he made by dedicating himself to this remarkable collection.
“Spark of the Eagle Dancer” gives visitors a glimpse into this vast collection built over 47 years and features work by 83 artists of various tribal affiliations.
The reception for Spark of the Eagle Dancer will take place from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30, at the Fine Art Museum. This event will include a gallery talk, along with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Free parking is available.
To learn more about the exhibition and reception, please go to arts.wcu.edu/spark. The Fine Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.
one’s skills. They welcome photographers of all skill levels to share ideas and images at the monthly meetings. For more information, email waynesvillephotoclub@charter.net or follow them on Facebook: Waynesville Photography Club.
• 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.
• “Dreams” showcase will run through Monday, Aug. 28, at the Haywood County Arts Council in downtown Waynesville. This exhibit will showcase colorful and dreamy works by over 34 of our local artist members in a variety of mediums including oil, watercolor, photography, needle felting, acrylic, mixed media, glass, quilting and more. The gallery is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. haywoodarts.org.
• Gallery Zella (Bryson City) will be hosting an array of artist receptions, exhibits and showcases. The gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, go to galleryzella.com or call 517.881.0959.
• “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
• 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 or call 828.586.2248.
During the summer, dusk sometimes calls me to the front porch of the house where I live. Unless it’s cloudy, Venus shimmers in the western sky, the air is a little crisp and often smells of cut grass from a neighbor’s lawn, and lights in the houses across the street give off a quiet, pleasant glow. On good days, this time on the porch brings the deep satisfaction of tasks completed. Add a mug of ginger tea and it’s a perfect evening.
Which is a bit like how I feel reading a Nicholas Sparks novel. Previously, I’ve reviewed two of his other books here, and now I’ve just finished up a third, “Dreamland”
(Random House, 2022, 384 pages).
Going through one of this writer’s novels is akin to that porch feeling described above. His books bring a sense of comfort. Even before you start the first page, you can be sure you’ll find good writing, some characters to admire, and some sort of story about love, which many of us can use these days.
In “Dreamland,” 25-year-old Colby Mills, farmer and amateur musician and songwriter, heads south from North Carolina to spend three weeks in St. Pete Beach, Florida, his first real vacation in years. In addition to his time in the sun, he’s also booked to play four nights a week at Bobby T’s Beach Bar, where his popularity with the audience surprises him.
And there he meets Morgan Lee, who along with three friends is staying in a hotel near Colby’s rented condo. The backgrounds of these two vacationers are about as different as we can imagine. Colby never knew his father, lost his mother at an early age, and was raised by the aunt and uncle. With his uncle deceased, Colby helps manage the large farm on which he grew up. Morgan is a daughter of wealthy Chicago doctors, a new graduate of a college music program—she’s studied opera and dance since adolescence—and has her sights aimed on breaking into the Nashville scene as a country-pop singer.
If you’ve previously encountered the novels of this author, then you know what’s on the menu. In a short time, Morgan and Colby have fallen in love, that “if my heart
thumps any harder my chest is going to burst” kind of love. They click musically as well, discovering they make a great team as they work on a couple of songs together.
“Dreamland” is a sweet story, and Sparks, as he always does, makes the attraction of these two young people believable.
But true love often comes with some bumps in the road, and in the case of Morgan and Colby these bumps are the size of gullies. He’s headed back to the farm, and Morgan’s already arranged interviews with
house. Convinced that her husband, an employee of a federal law enforcement agency, might track her down, Beverly disguises herself, avoids the neighbors, and worries constantly about their discovery and her son’s safety.
Until the last few chapters of “Dreamland,” we never understand why Beverly is in the story. There are hints, but these are easily missed. Again, to say more would spoil the ending. I’ll leave it to readers to decide if Sparks’ explanation of Beverly’s place in the story works to their satisfaction.
I’ve already mentioned the pleasures of reading Nicholas Sparks, but one other factor deserves a place in that company. Colby, Morgan, her friends, Colby’s aunt, and other characters all have their eccentricities and quirks, but they’re also the sort of people most of us know in our daily lives. Morgan, for instance, has an extraordinary voice and stage presence, and has received the many advantages of her upbringing and education, yet she’s also like so many other young women her age: vulnerable in certain ways, funny, a bit wary of the world around her, but also up for an adventure.
various people in the music industry in Nashville. It’s a big problem, and becomes even bigger when Colby learns of his aunt’s stroke and races home to her side, but to explain how the problem finally lands on a solution would give away too much of the story.
There is, however, an even bigger glitch in this plot. Tucked between the chapters about this budding love affair are other seemingly unrelated chapters about Beverly, a wife and mother who takes her first-grade son, Tommie, and flees her abusive husband. We follow them on this exodus to a small community, where Beverly rents a run-down
In this way, “Dreamland” provides some blessed relief from the headlines that greet us each morning on our laptops or television sets. This story reminds us that there’s a whole other world besides the catastrophes making the news and the partisanship that divides our country right now. Both worlds are real, but most of the time the vast majority of us live closer to Colby and Morgan’s world than to the other. Some might describe such fiction as escapist, but I’m not buying it. “Dreamland” is as much a reflection of life as reports of the latest riots in Chicago or another uproar over some comment posted on Twitter.
And it’s even better if you have a front porch and some Ginger tea.
(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.)
There will be a joint poetry reading with North Carolina poets Sam Barbee and Michael Hettich at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.
Barbee is the author of four poetry collections, including his most recent entitled, “Apertures of Voluptuous Force.” His poems have appeared recently in Poetry South, Literary Yard, Snapdragon, Asheville Poetry Review and Adelaide Literary Magazine. Also, the online journals American Diversity Report, Verse Virtual, The Voices Project and Medusa’s Kitchen. He is a two-time Pushcart Nominee.
Hettich’s most recent book of poetry, “The Halo of Bees: New and Selected Poems, 1990-2022,” was published in May 2023 by Press 53. His poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared widely in many journals and anthologies, and he has published more than a dozen books of poetry across four decades.
For more information and/or to reserve copies of the books, please call City Lights Bookstore at 828.586.9499.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is one step closer to drafting its new action plan following a series of seven regional meetings.
The Blue Ridge Rising Action Plan has been in the works for a while now, and recently, people at the regional meetings had a chance to weigh in on things they consider most important when it comes to how the parkway impacts their communities. Along with stations explaining the parkways economic benefits, there were several that had lists of suggestions gathered during 30 separate local meetings earlier in the year. Each person got to mark which suggestions they believed were most important.
Of the seven regional meetings, one, an event last week at Lake Junaluska in Haywood County, was held in The Smoky Mountain News’ coverage area.
At that meeting was George Ivey, North Carolina’s development director for the parkway foundation. Ivey talked about the foundation’s vision for this current project, which is funded by a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
“The idea is to find ways to encourage economic development in the local communities, because we really believe that everyone does best when the parkway, the parkway visitor and the parkway communities are all doing well,” he said. “And they feed off each other. If the parkway is in bad shape, you’re going to have fewer visitors on the parkway and fewer visitors to the community. If there’s not good signage on the parkway, those visitors aren’t going to come down to the community. It’s all related to us.”
Ivey said that he thought the 30 local meetings and the other regional meetings went well and that they received valuable feedback. Some of that feedback has varied
between different places along the parkway.
“And then there could have been a good idea that came from Floyd County that people and Haywood County didn’t think of or vice versa, and a chance to kind of think, well, maybe that’s a good approach,” he said.
However, Ivey did note that there were common interests across the board, such as more emphasis on marketing and signage to let folks know what some of the great communities along the parkway have to offer.
“It comes down to creating content and delivering the content electronically and through old fashioned ways of signage, because there’s not great cell coverage on the parkway,” he said. “So you either have to improve the electronic delivery, or improve the signage … if you see a sign that just says Brevard one way and Canton the other way, that doesn’t tell you if there are hotels in either direction or how long to a gas sta-
tion.”
Ivey said he’s learned plenty hosting these sessions but that one of the most remarkable things he’s learned is just how open individual communities are to adopting a regional marketing plan.
Tim Johnson has taken one of the leadership roles on this project for the contractor, Destination by Design, out of Boone. Destination by Design’s job is to coordinate the planning and community engagement processes, consider the feedback and ultimately produce a planning document the foundation can use to implement new strategies.
“We created this method of allowing people to prioritize these various strategies,” he said.
Johnson said he finds this particular project interesting because the Blue Ridge Parkway goes right by Boone.
“We live in a gateway community, we work in a gateway community along the parkway, so it has been interesting just to see what other folks think about it and sort of where their minds are going,” he said. “Of course, at the same time, we’re staying totally objective. We try not to lead anyone in a certain direction.”
Although the data hasn’t been analyzed yet so Johnson couldn’t comment on specific things that an overwhelming majority of people wanted to see, there was one thing that he stuck out anecdotally, and it isn’t too surprising.
“Trails are always something of interest in any planning process we do, so they have
“Doing this with a full cross section of communities has given us more detail but also just more data to back it up so that we can then hopefully go to funders and say this is what people said,” Ivey said.
come out on top, and the marketing and wayfinding have also come out on top,” he said.
Johnson reiterated a point Ivey had made.
“It’s nice to see people not just looking at the parkway in their own county or community; they are now seeing this as a whole region,” he said. I don’t feel like people thought about it that way before.”
Spruce Pine Town Manager Darlene Butler was one of the people who came to the Lake Junaluska meeting to weigh in on the potential elements of the plan. She said she’s excited to see that the Parkway Foundation is taking proactive steps to develop partnerships with the satellite communities.
“I really like the uniting local partners,” she said. “We’ve always thought of the Blue Ridge Parkway as something where the leadership is just somewhere else, you know, not local,” she said. “It’s really good to learn that they’re interested in being partners with communities and then all the communities partnering as well.”
Butler feels as though people in her community have expressed plenty of interest in the parkway and how F
“The idea is to find ways to encourage economic development in the local communities, because we really believe that everyone does best when the parkway, the parkway visitor and the parkway communities are all doing well.”
— George Ivey,NC development director, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
Join Haywood Waterways for its annual “Big Sweep” cleanup event, which will remove tons of trash from local waterways and roadways.
The event will be held Sept. 9, with all cleanups beginning at 9 a.m. and will take place at the following locations:
Pigeon River and around downtown Canton: Meet at Pigeon River Outfitters, 13 Penland St. Pigeon River Outfitters will provide free shuttles around town. Tubes, kayaks and canoes will be provided free of charge on a first come basis.
Town of Maggie Valley: Meet at the town hall, 3987 Soco Road.
Town of Clyde: Meet at the town hall, 8437 Carolina Blvd.
Lower Jonathan Creek: Meet at the pull off on US 276 across from the Exxon, 5279 Jonathan Creek Road.
it can benefit them economically.
“I’ve talked to our chamber and went to the local meetings, and they’re really interested,” she said. “We all grew up with the Blue Ridge Parkway just in our back door. And from the town’s perspective, we have satellite annexations toward the parkway, but we can’t always get people to our contiguous downtown. We’d love to be able to do that.
“I believe we’re in a unique position since we’re kind of in the center,” she said. “Mount Mitchell and Boone are an hour away. But the folks on the parkway are from everywhere and are going just outside our back door. I think businesses are interested in terms of expanding their recreational opportunities.”
One thing Butler noted is that a lot of folks around Spruce Pine want to see improvements, or even more frequent maintenance at facilities along the parkway, many of which around her area she said have deteriorated.
“Our average citizens really would love to see Crabtree Falls back to its glory,” she said. “We’d like to see those facilities manned and returned back to what they used to be.”
Overall, throughout the local and regional meetings, hundreds of people have voiced their opinions on what they would like to see take the spotlight as the parkway foundation considers what will be best for the economies along the 469-mile road. Ivey said a total of about 420 people came out to the 30 local meetings and that the regional meetings were bringing in about
30 people apiece. He added that he expects some way for people to provide electronic feedback to be implemented, as well.
Ivey also said people who are interested will likely be able to view the results of the seven regional meetings at blueridgerising.com in the next few weeks.
Volunteers should be prepared to work in the sun, get a little dirty and possibly wet. Please wear closed-toed shoes, long pants, and bring plenty of water. Trash bags, grabbers, and gloves will be provided. The event is sponsored by Haywood Waterways Association, Town of Waynesville, Town of Clyde, Town of Maggie Valley, Town of Canton, Haywood County Solid Waste, Haywood County Recreation & Parks, Pigeon River Outfitters, NCDOT and Tennessee Valley Authority.
Please RSVP by Sept. 7 to Christine O’Brien at christine@haywoodwaterways.org or 828.476.4667, ext. 1.
Visitors had the opportunity to review suggestions under each category and place up to three stickers on the ones they felt strongest about.
The final step of this phase will include a two-state summit in Blowing Rock in December, where the results of the regional meetings will be discussed by stakeholders from both North Carolina and Virginia.
Haywood County Recreation is hosting a series of events throughout September. Here’s a look at what lies ahead
• Hike to Wayah Bald from the Wilson Lick Ranger Station Sept. 6. The is a moderate to strenuous 6-mile hike. Hikers will meet at 9 a.m. at the Best Buy in Waynesville. The Wilson Lick Ranger Station, built in 1913, was the first ranger station in the Nantahala National Forest. The Wayah Bald Fire Tower offers a great view of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, Tennessee and both North and South Carolinas.
• Yoga Hike to the Middle Prong on Sept. 9. Hike from Old Butt Knob Overlook to a bald in the Middle Prong for some gentle yoga. Meet at Jukebox Junction in Canton at 9 a.m.
•. Hike Black Balsam to Tennet Mountain Sept. 13. Tennet Mountain is one of the highest peaks in North Carolina at 6,040 feet. Take in the views in all directions, with half the hike offering open views. This hike is 6.3 miles with an elevation gain of 1,200 feet and should be considered moderately challenging. Meet at HART Theatre at 9 a.m.
Jackson County Recreation will host a series of events throughout September.
Hike or canoe Bear Lake on Sept. 2. Participants will meet a 9 a.m. Cost is $35 for adults and $20 for youth.
Hike the Oconluftee Trail on Sept. 5. Participants will meet at 9 a.m. The hike is considered easy and should take about
•. Hike on Flat Creek Trail Sept. 16. 5.1-mile out-and-back trail, generally considered easy to moderate with several easy stream crossings and a lot of different varieties of plant life. Meet at the welcome center in Maggie Valley at 9 a.m.
•. Hike to “The Pinnacle” Sept. 23. Extending south from the main ridge of the Plott Balsam Mountains, it stands over 2,500 feet above the valley floor, and is visible from the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway if you look closely. From its peak is a 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains and valley in which Sylva sits. This is a 7-mile hike with an elevation gain of 2,240 feet and should be considered challenging. Meet at the Best Buy parking lot in Waynesville at 8:30 a.m.
•. Hike Pink Beds Sept. 30. Pink Beds is an easy 5-mile loop hike. It is mostly flat trail through the mountain bogs and is one of the first to be managed through modern forestry techniques, hence the nickname “Cradle of Forestry.” Meet at HART Theater at 9 a.m.
two hours. Cost is $7, and the hike is open to anyone 10 or older. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent.
From 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 23, children age 10-14 can participate in archery 101. Cost is $15.
To RSVP, visit jcprd.recdesk.com/community/program. For questions, call 828.293.3053 ext. 9 or send an email to trevorbrown@jacksonnc.org.
Enjoy sunset at Waterrock Knob on Sept. 12. Meet yoga instructor Tara in the Waterrock Knob parking lot at 6:30 p.m. Bring your own mat/towel.
Birding expert and guide Howard Browers will be at the Lake Junaluska on Sept. 14 at 8 a.m. Loaner binoculars are available.
Basic land navigation course taught by search and rescue instructor and team member Steve Kuni on Sept. 21. This is a 6hour class which includes compass reading and learning to orient yourself using map,
The Town of Franklin has modified the basketball court at Memorial Park to include two new pickleball courts.
There are two portable nets which can be moved to the side when basketball is being
compass and technology. Class will be held at 10 a.m. at Allens Creek Park.
Ride Chestnut Mountain trails with an experienced mountain bike instructor on Sept. 16. Meet at Chestnut Mountain parking at 10 a.m. Your instructor will give you some basic instruction and safety reminders prior to hitting the trails. Loaner bikes and helmets available. Ages 11 and up.
This will be the final fly fishing classes of the year with Tommy Thomas. This 2day beginner/intermediate course will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 15 and 22 by Richland Creek at Vance Street Park. Loaner rods are available for casting practice.
played. The town has placed these nets with the hope that individuals will use the equipment responsibly and consider them as an added amenity for the park. Whether it is pickleball or basketball, the court is first come, first served with no reservation required.
Memorial Park is located at 488 West Main St., Franklin and the park hours are from dawn until dark seven days a week.
Western Carolina University’s Highlands Biological Station will be hosting a book signing event to benefit the Highlands Botanical Gardens from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Highlands Community Building.
The featured book, “Darwin and the Art of Botany: Observations on the Curious World of Plants,” was co-authored by Highlands Biological Station executive director Jim Costa and noted botanical artist Bobbi Angell and published by Timber Press.
The event will feature talks and a book signing by Costa and Angell, a silent auction offering native plants and a selection of Angell’s botanical copper etchings, all benefiting the Highlands Botanical Gardens and a reception sponsored by the Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc.
The book grew out of a chance meeting between Costa and Angell. Angell then asked the Oak Spring Garden Foundation if they would be willing to be part of the project before pitching the idea to Timber Press, which is one of the leading horticultural publishers in the nation
People will have multiple opportunities in September to get involved with Friends of Panthertown. Donated photo
Friends of Panthertown has two events coming up in September that will give people a chance to get involved.
On Sept. 1, join Friends of Panthertown and Western Carolina University professor Enrique Gomez for an evening of astronomy and stargazing. This is an opportunity to learn about the science of what goes on beyond our atmosphere. To participate, meet at the Salt Rock Gap trailhead at 8 p.m. People are responsible for bringing their own water and a chair, if desired. Due to the nature of this event, participants are limited to 10.
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 5, Friends of Panthertown will host a volunteer trail work day at Cold Mountain Gap trailhead.
To RSVP, visit https://panthertown.org/events.
The featured book, “Darwin and the Art of Botany: Observations on the Curious World of Plants,” was coauthored by Highlands Biological Station executive director Jim Costa and noted botanical artist Bobbi Angell. Donated photo
Costa and Angell collected writings from Darwin’s six botanical books and a selection of other Darwin books and papers to spotlight 45 fascinating plants, each illustrated with beautiful botanical art from the library at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. Costa, who has written previously on Darwin’s ingenious experiments and how they can be used in science education today, contributed introductions highlighting Darwin’s particular interest in each plant, studies such as the intricacies of pollination adaptations in orchids and other species, how carnivorous plants like flytraps and sundews catch their prey and how vines climb.
“Darwin and the Art of Botany: Observations on the Curious World of Plants” won’t be officially published until October, but attendees of the Sept. 16 event will have access to the early release copies of the book. To register for the event, go to https://highlandsbiological.org/2023-nps.
Long-time Audubon staffer Curtis Smalling has been named interim executive director of Audubon North Carolina.
Smalling is taking the reins after more than 20 years with the organization, where he got his start surveying Golden-winged Warblers in the North Carolina mountains.
Today, he serves as conservation director, in addition to his new interim role, and oversees all aspects of Audubon’s conservation and advocacy work in the state.
“I am excited to help aid our leadership transition, and to continue supporting our amazing staff and chapter network,” Smalling said. “North Carolina is home to an amazing diversity of bird life. When we
work together to protect them, we’re helping to create a better future for North Carolinians too.”
Anyone interested can hear Smalling deliver his “State of the Birds 2023” address at Grandfather Mountain on Aug. 26, as part of the Grandfather Presents Series.
Smalling will speak about the biggest opportunities and challenges for bird conservation in North Carolina. How are emerging social, economic, and ecological realities impacting work and what is Audubon doing, thinking and planning for those realities, at the national, state, and local level? With a new strategic plan just announced, Smalling will discuss Audubon’s vision for bird conservation for the next decade and beyond. But most importantly, he will focus on how you can help birds in your community.
The program begins at 2 p.m. Find more details and registration info at grandfather.com/event/curtis-smalling,
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The N.C. Forest Service is now accepting tree seedling orders for its annual sale.
Conifers and hardwoods are available in units as low as 10 and as high as 100. The Nursery and Tree Improvement program grows about 15 million seedlings each year, enough to plant 30,000 acres of land.
Tree seedlings are available at buynctrees.com or by phone at 888.628.7337. A user-friendly catalog is available at the “Tree Seedlings and Nursery Program” link at ncforestservice.gov.
Seedlings will be distributed from January to March and can be shipped to one of 13 distribution centers statewide for a fee.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation recently welcomed Bronwyn Lance to the nonprofit organization’s Council of Advisors.
Lance is chief of staff to Rep. Chuck Edwards, where she oversees the intersection of policy, press and politics for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district.
For 15 years, Lance was a senior staff member in the Senate, serving as communications director and advisor for five senators and two major committees. She also served as a Senate Republican leadership staff member for Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. She began her career on Capitol
The Safe Passage Fund Coalition is hosting The Crossing, a free event and screening of films highlighting road ecology in Southern Appalachia and beyond.
The event will be held from 6-8:30 p.m. with a social hour from 5-6 p.m. on Oct. 26 at Pleb Urban Winery in Asheville.
Feature presentations will include “Cascades Crossroads” and its follow-up “Cascades
Hill working on the staff of Rep. Charles Taylor, who also represented North Carolina’s 11th district.
Lance served as an editorial writer and member of the editorial board of Virginia’s largest newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot, and for six years wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column for KnightRidder/Tribune and McClatchy-Tribune. She also served as a consultant for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels and Norfolk, Virginia.
Update,” two films which chronicle a project similar to Safe Passage in Washington state. Also featured will be the short documentary “The Search for Safe Passage” presenting efforts being made toward wildlife crossings in the Pigeon River Gorge section of I-40.
The event, which will be emceed by Jeff Hunter of National Parks Conservation Association, features guest speaker Ted Grudowski, award-winning conservation filmmaker and director of the two “Cascades” films. Guests can enjoy a short winery tour, drinks from a cash bar and meals from local food trucks.
Tickets to this free event are limited to the first 230 people to register and show.
• 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.
• 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. All are welcome, registration is recommended. For more information, please call 828.558.4550.
• Indivisible Swain County will meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28, via Zoom. All are welcome. If interested in attending, contact indivisibleswain@gmail.com for a Zoom link.
• The Western Carolina Cribbage Club meets every Monday at 6 p.m. An eclectic group of young and old, male and female. The group supplies boards, cards, pegs and are always willing to help those still learning the finer points of the game. Contact kei3ph@bellsouth.net for more information.
• 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 Youth Arts Festival will take place 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Green Energy Park in Jackson County. Admission is free. Activities include ceramics, chalk art, sewing, wire wrapped jewelry and more. There will be demonstrations on glassblowing, blacksmithing, flame working and raku. For more information visit jcgep.org or call 828.631.0271.
n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.
n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com
• 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 establish a base on the Moon. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. For more information call 828.586.2016.
• Creative Writing Club will take place at 3:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month at the Macon County Public Library. The writing club is intended for ages 8-12. 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.
• Darren Nicholson and Marc Pruett will take the stage with Audie Blaylock and reed Jones of Redline at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at Stecoah. Tickets are $25 and are available by calling 828.479.3364 or online at stecoahvalleycenter.com/artists/all-stars.
• Just Us will play at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Brasstown Community Center for the last show of the Summer Concert Series. Admission is $10, children under 12 are free. For more information call 828.361.3040 or go to brasstowncommunitycenter.org.
• 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.
• Thunder in the Smokies will take place Sept. 8-10, at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. For more information visit thunderinthesmokies.com.
• Smoky Mountain Roller Girls invite the community to put on their pinkest outfit for a Roller Derby Barbie Bout at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Swain County Recreation Center. Tickets are $8 at the door, kids 11 and under are free. Bring your own chair. Follow SMRG on Facebook for more information.
• Haywood Choral Society, directed by Don Kirkindoll, will perform its rescheduled spring concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10, at the Waynesville First United Methodist. Admission is free, donations are welcomed. For more information visit haywoodchoralsociety.org.
• Highlands Porch Fest will take place 1-6 p.m. Sept. 17 in downtown Highlands. There will be free live music from 45 musicians hosted at 14 venues. For more information visit highlandsporchfest.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 Tuesday and fourth Monday of the month. For information visit smokymountaineventcenter.com.
• Zonta Club of Franklin’s third annual Taste of Tuscany, a fundraising effort for Macon County student scholarships, will take place 5:30-8:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Lodge at Cat Creek in Franklin. There will be wine from Slanted Window Wines, beer garden with local brews, music by We Three Sing, food from area restaurants and silent and live auction. Tickets are on sale at zontafranklin.org/.
• “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, 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 four-week Feldenkrais class series focusing on the arms, shoulders and ribs begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center, in conference room A1. Feldenkrais uses gentle movement and directed attention to promote reduction of pain, increase range of movement, improve flexibility and coordination. Cost $60 for the series, $20 per class for walk-ins. To register email Annallys at eetm2023@proton.me or call 505.438.9109.
• A glassblowing class to create pumpkins will take place 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, at the Green Energy Park in Jackson County. Three spots are available each hour. Cost is $65 due at registration. For more information contact 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.
• Wired Wednesday, one-on-one technology help is available at 3-5 p.m. every Wednesday at the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Library. For more information or to register, 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.
Visit
n Complete listings of local music scene
n Regional festivals
n Art gallery events and openings
n Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers
n Civic and social club gatherings
• The exhibition “Spark of the Eagle Dancer: The Collecting Legacy of Lambert Wilson,” will open withe a reception 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30, at the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at the Bardo Arts Center. The exhibition will feature more than 140 works of contemporary Native American Art and celebrate Lambert Wilson’s devotion to supporting and encouraging Native artists. For more information visit bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.
• “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.
• Registration closes Aug. 31 for the Church Volleyball League in Jackson County. Games will be played Monday nights at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. Register at rec.jacksosnnc.org or contact Andrew Sherling with questions at 828.293.3053, ext. 6, or andrewsherling@jacksonnc.org.
• Join the the Hemlock Restoration Initiative 10-11:30 a.m. Sept. 13 for a walk around the Corneille Bryan Native Garden at Lake Junaluska to learn about the efforts to protect hemlocks from Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. Sign up before the event by contacting the HRI office at 828.252.4783 or info@savehemlocksnc.org.
• The inaugural Dahlia Ridge Trail Run will take place Saturday, Sept. 16, at Haywood Community. College. This 5k is a family-friendly walk/run event open to all levels of runners, walkers and hikers. All proceeds will benefit the Haywood Strong Scholarship for displaced mill employees. Online registration is open through Sept. 13. For more information about the race, or to register, search for Dahlia Ridge Trail Run on eventbrite.com.
• ArborEvenings at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville take place 5:30-8 p.m. every Thursday and Friday evening through Sept. 22. Stroll through the gardens, purchase food and beverages, and listen to live music. Free with standard $20 parking fee, and free for Arboretum Society members. For information visit www.ncarboretum.org.
• Camp with the pigs at Misfit Mountain Animal Rescue during a Community Festival 5-8 p.m. (and overnight) Saturday, Sept. 23, at the rescue center in Clyde, at 922 Incinerator Road. There will be live music, food trucks, live art demonstrations and pop-up vendors. For tickets and information visit misfitmountainnc.org.
• Blue Ridge Mountain Drivers offers monthly open water diver scuba certification classes. This is the basic class needed to become a certified scuba diver. Pool sessions are held at Waynesville Recreation Center pool. Prior registration required. Register online at blueridgemountaindivers.com or call 864.710.1567.
The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 copies across 500 locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, including the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. Visit www.wncmarketplace.com to place your ad!
Rates:
• $15 — Classified ads that are 25 words, 25¢ per word after.
• Free — Lost or found pet ads.
• $6 — Residential yard sale ads.*
• $1 — Yard Sale Rain Insurance Yard sale rained out? Call us by 10a.m. Monday for your ad to run again FREE
• $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less)
• Boost Online — Have your ad featured at top of category online $4
• Boost in Print
• Add Photo $6
• Bold ad $2
• Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4
• Border $4
Note: Highlighted ads automatically generate a border so if you’re placing an ad online and select a highlight color, the “add border” feature will not be available on the screen.
Note: Yard sale ads require an address. This location will be displayed on a map on www.wncmarketplace.com
p: 828.452.4251 · f:828.452.3585
classads@smokymountainnews.com
www.wncmarketplace.com
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Furniture
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS FOR SALE Entire bedroom sets, Ethan Allen/Kincaid, $450each including mattresses. 4 available. Oak dining room set $500. All household contents for sale. Waynesville. Call 352-250-5181.
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MOUNTAIN AND ORCHARD VIEWS! Bruce
Cumsky /Realtor®: Lic#: 346183 Cell: 413-329-
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Realty - Franklin 1573 Highlands Rd., Franklin, NC 28734 A gem of a ranch-style home with soaring ceilings and beautiful landscaping. Sited perfectly on a sloping, manicured lawn -
much sought-after Laurel Ridge subdivision. Large, separate 16’x20’ electri-
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vegetable - surround the wide porch with fantastic views. This 2bd/2bath plus sleeping loft features beneath a soaring wood ceiling and a large sleeping loft. Next to the great open LR/DR/Kitchen is a bright, family room overlooking the patio and gardens. Circular, concrete driveway for easy in/out, plus carport, offer ample parking. This property is admired throughout the neighborhood! For full listing: https://www. zillow.com/homes/81Laurel-Drive,-Franklin,NC_rb/211402823_ zpid/? (413) 329-7266 bcumsky@earthlink.net
RV/TINY HOME LOTS FOR SALE RV/Tiny Home Lots for sale. $40k-$50k/ea. Each lot comes with water, power, and septic run to each lot.
Smoky Mountain Living and Blue Ridge Motorcycling magazine — both headquartered in Waynesville, NC — are looking for a full-time advertising sales professional to sell for both magazines over a multi-state area.
Smoky Mountain Living (www.smliv.com) is a bi-monthly magazine covering the people, places and traditions that make the Southern Appalachians a special and more.
Blue Ridge Motorcycling Magazine (www.blueridgemotorcyclingmagazine. com) is a quarterly magazine covering the two-wheeled lifestyle in the Blue Ridge region. Content includes recommended rides, gear and motorcyclefriendly experiences ranging from accommodations to cuisine.
The ideal candidate will be a self-starter and capable of working independently as well as in a team setting. Regular travel is required so applicants must have a valid driver’s license and access to reliable transportation. Mileage will be reimbursed.
reimbursement and more. Contact greg@smokymountainnews.com
Located in Franklin, NC.
Go to our web site for directions and more info. www.TinyMountainEstates.com (828) 200-0161
TinyMountainEstates@ gmail.com
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PUBLISHER’S NOTICE
All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise ‘any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status
or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination’. Familial status includes children under 18 living with parents or legal guardians and pregnant women. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate in violation of this law. All dwellings advertised on equal opportunity basis.
LANDLORDS NEEDED!
Mountain Projects, Inc. is seeking landlords in Haywood and Jackson Counties to partner with our Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program in providing safe, decent and sanitary housing conditions for low-income families in our community. Landlords can expect regular, on time monthly payments plus 12-month lease terms. Please consider supporting our local families in need. For more information call 828.492.4115 or email asingletary@mountainprojects.org
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ANSWERS ON PAGE 34
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