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August 2-8, 2017 Vol. 19 Iss. 10

Cherokee elder honored for service to tribe, country Page 8 Tipping Point Brewing closes in Waynesville Page 22

CONTENTS On the Cover: Public prayer in government has long been a contentious issue, but a recent court ruling has North Carolina municipalities scrambling to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the law while awaiting the challenges and changes that will inevitably come. (Page 4)

News Cherokee elder honored for service to tribe and country ...................................... 8 Election signups end in Jackson .................................................................................... 9 Tribal Council OKs election to fill vice chief vacancy ............................................ 11 WNC counties must diversify or die .......................................................................... 12 Health care upheaval leaves residents with questions ........................................ 14 Mission offers its own health care plan ......................................................................15 Free clinic coming to Bryson City, Murphy .............................................................. 15 Haywood GOP disloyalty proceedings to begin ....................................................16 WCU chancellor’s cancer relapses ............................................................................ 16 Congressman Meadows to hold local meetings .................................................... 16

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Plotting Cullowhee Dam’s future ................................................................................ 34

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The letter and the spirit Local governments wrestle with prayer

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER ublic prayer in government has long been a contentious issue, but a recent court ruling has North Carolina municipalities scrambling to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the law while awaiting the challenges and changes that will inevitably come.

“I think towns that have practices similar to Rowan County will have to keep an eye on how the case progresses,” said William Morgan, Canton’s town attorney for the past three years.

On July 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the Rowan County Board of Commissioners’ tradition of lawmaker-led prayer was unconstitutional.

Citing the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment — “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” — the court held in Lund v. Rowan County that the cumulative effect of repeated and overwhelmingly Christian invocations led to the association of the government with Christianity and could alienate citizens of other faiths.

“It’s pretty clear that we have one approach we know is not OK,” said Frayda Bluestein, a faculty member at the University of North Carolina’s School of Government.

Indeed, some argue that no such religions invocations of any kind ought be given in government settings. But the United States — an overwhelmingly Christian nation, founded

by Christians — has long been supportive of public prayer, within reason.

A 1983 Supreme Court case, Marsh v.

Chambers, reinforced the right of state legislatures to pay chaplains to deliver prayers.

Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote in the majority opinion that the “unique history” of legislative prayer in America and its continued practice was “no real threat” to the Establishment Clause.

A 2014 Supreme Court case, Town of Greece v. Galloway, further defined the issue; Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority said that chaplains could begin town meetings with invocations provided they allow people from all faiths the same opportunity, and that those prayers were not coercive.

Both cases reveal a conservative court bending over backward to accommodate Christian prayer in government regardless of the merit; Burger’s opinion in Marsh basically says that since it’s been going on forever it’s not really a hazard, and Kennedy’s opinion in Galloway says that while the Town of Greece doesn’t have to go out of its way to encourage non-Christian participation, it does have to maintain a modicum of inclusiveness and ensure the rhetoric doesn’t 4 become too sectarian.

Such hearings are usually reserved for matters of extraordinary public concern.

Morgan is also the town attorney in Lake Lure, Siler City, Tryon and tiny Taylortown in Moore County; he’s served in such roles since 1991 and is advising his boards to review their own policies, and keep abreast of the rapidly developing situation.

“Having done this for his many years as I have, at least in this state, it’s been my experience that most towns and probably counties do something similar to the Rowan County way of doing it, so it’s something all municipal governments need to pay attention to, particularly if it goes to the

due to his pagan beliefs and the commissioner-led prayers.

A ruling in Bormuth v. County of Jackson — like Lund, also heard en banc — is expected within weeks. Supreme Court mediation would likely take months or years and no appeal of Lund by Rowan County has yet been filed, so for now, the situation has stabilized.

Morgan is careful to note that neither Lund nor Greece nor anything else prevents board-led prayer, per se, nor does anything to prevent individuals from calling upon a higher being, be it Jesus, Muhammad or Baphomet.

Members of the Canton Town Board of Aldermen/women pray before the July 24 meeting. Cory Vaillancourt photo

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August 2-8, 2017

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The Fourth Circuit’s ruling in Lund says that’s where Rowan County crossed the line.

In Marsh and Greece, guests who were ministers or spiritual leaders gave invocations. In Rowan County, only commissioners did, to the detriment of inclusiveness.

And when they did, they did it in a manner the court held was “pointedly sectarian” in nature and “elevated one religion above all others,” to the detriment of antisectarianism.

The ruling goes on to cite a number of damning instances that demonstrate such practices; video evidence over a period of almost six years shows that 97 percent of the

On July 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the Rowan County Board of Commissioners’ tradition of lawmaker-led prayer was unconstitutional.

Rowan County Board’s prayers mention Christ, Jesus or the Savior.

Only Christians were represented in these prayers, where forgiveness for sin was occasionally asked on behalf of the community; Christianity was averred to be “the only way to eternal life” and prayers for the conversion of the entire world to Christianity were offered.

Rowan “falls outside the tradition of legislative prayer” in Marsh and Greece, according to the 10-5 ruling; the case was heard “en banc,” a legal term that means every judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case, rather than the usual three-judge panel.

Supreme Court,” he said.

Bluestein said one thing justices do agree on is the fact-specific nature of each case — which makes it hard to draw general guidelines regarding public prayer.

“But it does give us some degree of clarity, at lease for the moment,” she said.

There’s a pretty good chance the Supreme Court would have to weigh in on the matter, Morgan said, especially if the ruling in an ongoing Sixth Circuit case conflicts with the Fourth Circuit’s.

In that case, plaintiff Peter Bormuth says he feels unwelcome at his Jackson County, Michigan commission meetings

“I would say in general, no, there’s not a prohibition on calling upon any deity,” he said. “That in and of itself is not the problem — it’s the whole group of facts in any given case. It’s hard to come up with a bright line ruling in a case like this.”

Thus it appears that a commissioner invoking the name of Jesus during a prayer before a government meeting is sufficient separation of church and state, provided it’s not overly demeaning to non-Christians, and provided that it doesn’t happen regularly.

At least, that’s the letter of the law; the spirit of the Establishment Clause, however, is balanced by the First Amendment’s Free Exercise clause prohibiting laws that would prevent religious expression, even by elected officials.

That delicate balance will continue to serve as a source of contention between proponents of a more secular state and faith leaders, unless and until the Supreme Court rules specifically on the letter of the law — commissioner-led prayer — as well as the spirit of it.

In who’s name?

Haywood commissioners asking for trouble in prayer case

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THE LETTER & THE SPIRIT But according to Haynes’ invocation, the Rowan County ruling asking for some semblance of balance against Christian-dominated proselytization is nothing more than a “smothering cloak of spiritual oppression.”

“Now we find ourselves constantly bombarded with voices of those who demand we distance ourselves from you, and so our spirits rise up within us and throw off this smothering cloak of spiritual oppression and political correctness,” he said. “… we laugh at such foolishness and exalt you as the most high God who strides the wind of the Earth.”

One person who was in attendance at the meeting said they thought the invocation was like nothing they’d heard there before, and wholly out-of-bounds in a county government setting, despite being raised Christian.

The source, a county employee, declined to be identified on the record for fear of possible retaliation.

Commissioner Kevin Ensley — who routinely cites his strong Christian faith as an influence on his commission votes — said

Chaplain Jim Haynes gives the prayer at a Haywood County Commissioners meeting last month. Haywood County photo the board would study the issue before deciding how to move forward within the law.

“We can’t tell people what to do in this circumstance,” Ensley said. “Justice Kennedy doesn’t want us to become the ‘prayer police.’”

Next on the calendar came Waynesville’s Board of Aldermen meeting July 25, although the town didn’t have to alter its procedure.

Prayers are not offered in public before Waynesville Board meetings, nor is the Pledge of Allegiance recited; the businesslike Mayor Gavin Brown usually drops his gavel promptly at 6:29 p.m. and proceeds with the business of the town, a practice continued by Mayor Pro Temp Gary Caldwell while Brown recovered from a recent illness.

“I haven’t seen it in my 17 years on the board,” Brown said, adding that a quick perusal of town records dating back to 1967 shows no prayers or Pledge of Allegiances noted in meeting minutes.

Thursday, July 27, was the next test for a Haywood County municipality, and the Town of Canton failed almost as spectacularly as Haywood County did.

Canton — like Haywood County and Rowan County — regularly rotates the invocation amongst board members prior to meetings, but at the board’s last regularly scheduled meeting, the invocation was

instead given by Pastor David Vos of Canton Wesleyan Church, who was asked to do so just prior to the meeting.

“I had about two minutes to think about it,” Vos laughed, saying that it wasn’t hard to come up with a prayer on such short notice.

“It’s always a bit of a challenge, but it’s part of how I pray routinely for town leadership, police officers, firefighters, and so forth,” he said. “It’s kind of part of my daily routine anyway.”

While much more demure than Haynes’ invocation, Vos’ address still ended with “in Jesus’ name we pray.”

Vos said he was aware of the Fourth Circuit ruling but had no qualms about invoking the name of a deity — which is, again, not unconstitutional per se, but is in large doses.

“It’s what I’ve heard in the last year that I’ve been attending these meetings,” Vos said. “I’ve heard that quite often. I didn’t think about it.”

Moving forward, Vos — along with Haywood County governments — will need to think about it, long and hard.

“I’ll probably talk more with the mayor about it, and get his input,“ Vos said.

The Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen has not met since the Rowan ruling was handed down; the next regularly scheduled board meeting is Aug. 14.

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August 2-8, 2017

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER ust days after an important ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on legislator-led prayer, Haywood County and its municipalities quickly moved to comply with the specifics of the ruling, but fell dramatically short in complying with the general principles that underlie the separation between church and state in American Government.

The ruling in Lund v. Rowan County was handed down on Friday, July 14, after arguments before the entire panel of Fourth Circuit Justices was given in March.

Judges held that the overwhelmingly Christian content of invocations given before Rowan County Board of Commissioners’ meetings over a long period of time and delivered only by commission members all added up to the practice being unconstitutional.

Neither commissioner-led prayer nor sectarian invocations are per se unconstitutional, however, according to the Fourth Circuit, the cumulative result of the combination of the two is.

The Haywood County Board of Commissioners was the first local government forced to react to the Rowan County ruling; its second regularly scheduled meeting for July was scheduled for Monday, July 17, only three days after the Rowan ruling was made public.

Whereas commissioners have traditionally opened meetings by delivering non-sectarian prayers, the county sought to comply with that aspect of the ruling by inviting Haywood County Sheriff ’s Office Chaplain Jim Haynes to deliver the invocation.

What Haynes delivered was a two-

minute, over-the-top, fire-and-brimstone sermon that appeared to be a direct, antagonistic response to the Fourth Circuit that didn’t even attempt to comply with the Rowan ruling’s caution against overly sectarian language.

“God of our fathers, Lord of the nations, you’re the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the Earth,” said Haynes in opening his invocation.

Later, he said “We shout Your name — you are Yahweh, Jehovah, the personal God, the great ‘I am,’ the eternal God, the Almighty, the powerful God. You are Jesus, savior, Immanuel.”

It is precisely this kind of language — suggesting the Christian god is superior to all others — that got Rowan County in trouble in the first place.

Another problem with Rowan County’s practice was praying on the community’s behalf — something Haynes did repeatedly.

“We invite You to have Your way in our lives, in our state, in our nation and in this room this evening. We love and worship You and in Your name we pray, Amen.”

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Franklin Town Council does not offer a prayer before starting a board meeting. File photo

Macon governments avoid praying at meetings

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR ith all the controversy and uncertainty about the right and wrong way to do it, the town and county governments in Macon County err on the side of caution when it comes to praying at meetings.

Macon County Commissioners typically call the meeting to order, go around the dais for announcements, stand for a moment of silence and say the Pledge of Allegiance before getting down to business.

It’s not that the Macon County commissioners aren’t religious men — most of them are proud to tell constituents where they go to church and even include it in their biographies on the county website — but having a moment of silence allows everyone to pray or not pray in a fashion they see fit.

The county government has shown its Christian leanings in other ways — like installing “In God We Trust” insignia on the front of the courthouse and on sheriff patrol

August 2-8, 2017

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vehicles. It could have been considered unconstitutional for the county to spend public money on such a project, but the project was privately funded through the U.S. Motto Action Committee. The committee has been approaching every county and town in the state offering to pay for and install the motto on county-owned buildings. Macon and Swain counties have chosen to do it, but Jackson and Haywood counties declined.

The Franklin Town Council skips the moment of silence altogether — the board simply stands for the pledge before opening the meeting up for public comment.

Mayor Bob Scott, who served on the town board for 11 years and is currently in his fourth year as mayor, said a public prayer — or lack of one — has never been an issue during his years of service. For Scott, a prayer of any kind doesn’t have a place in government proceedings.

“Public officials take an oath to uphold a secular constitution and in most cases they

Smoky Mountain News

Public prayer not part of Jackson and Sylva commission meetings

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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ithin recent memory, public prayer hasn’t been part of official meetings of the Jackson County or Sylva boards of commissioners.

County Commission Chairman Brian McMahan, whose first term on the board was from 2002 to 2006, said he’s been coming to meetings since the mid-1990s, and can’t remember them ever beginning with a prayer. Jay Coward, who served on the board from 1994 to 1998 and as county attorney from 2010 to 2015, said the same. Likewise, Eric Ridenour, town attorney for Sylva since 1998, says prayer has never been part Sylva’s meeting agenda in the time he’s been going to meetings.

With so many counties and municipalities around the region still incorporating prayer into their official meetings, it’s hard to say why Jackson and Sylva don’t — whether there was ever a conscious decision to discontinue the practice, or

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are tax-paid positions. I feel (prayer) is inappropriate. We represent everyone, regardless of their religious beliefs or those having no religious beliefs whatever,” he said.

Scott caught some heat from Christians in the community last time he was sworn into office. Instead of following the long-abided

THE LETTER & THE SPIRIT tradition of placing his right hand on the Bible, he placed it on the Constitution. While it made sense for him to get sworn in on the document he’s promising to uphold, some constituents saw it as an attack on Christianity. As a First Amendment advocate, Scott says not having any prayer at the town meeting is a guaranteed way to make sure all people feel included.

“Citizens come before public bodies to talk about matters of the common good and

there is no reason anyone should be compelled to bow their heads in a show of some type of specific or non-specific religious belief at a government function,” he said.

It’s a touchy subject not many public officials want to even bring up much less take a strong stance on, but Franklin Alderman Brandon McMahan says he doesn’t need to pray in public to prove he’s a Christian. For him, religion is a deeply personal and private aspect of someone’s life.

“Personally, I am a practicing Christian. I pray every night for God's guidance in my role as a town councilman, as well as in the other aspects of my life. Before every town council meeting, I say a quick prayer before I leave home, to ask God for guidance,” he said. “It is my belief that this is how prayer should be. It is a personal, private and real conversation between two parties. If members of any board want to pray, it should be done on their own time, in the way they choose.”

Coward no longer represents Jackson County, but he is whether it’s simply never been part of the tradition of those governing bodies. For the attorneys who represent those gov- the attorney for Graham County, Dillsboro and Highlands.

Each of those governments handles the prayer issue in a ernments, however, it’s somewhat a relief not to deal with different way. Graham County’s meetings open with a what has become an increasingly controversial issue. pledge and a prayer. Dillsboro’s begin with a moment of “You do have to walk that fine line in the case law you silence, and Highlands — like Jackson County and Sylva — have to look at, and it can be a borderline issue, so it’s nice just dives right in. not to have to address that,” said Heather Baker, county None of those governments have ever asked Coward for attorney for Jackson County.

However, just because there’s no public prayer at these meetings doesn’t mean that “I know other members of the board are prayer itself is absent. McMahan, for example, said he’ll often have a private time of people of prayer. We just do it in a private prayer before taking his seat in the meeting room. way that’s not incorporated into the regular “It’s important for me personally,” agenda. I think that has worked well.”

McMahan said. “As elected leaders we have very important decisions that affect people’s — Brian McMahan, Jackson commission chairman lives in dramatic ways, and I don’t take it lightly, the role that I’m in. And I’ll be the his legal opinion, he said, and he’s kind of glad that he hasfirst to admit I don’t have all the answers. That’s why I feel n’t had to opine about it. It’s a tough issue, and the wordit’s important to pray for wisdom and guidance.” ing of the First Amendment — and what it has to say about He’s not the only one on the board to do so. public prayer at government meetings — can be difficult to “I know other members of the board are people of understand. prayer,” McMahan said. “We just do it in a private way “I guess they’re all just kind of comfortable with what that’s not incorporated into the regular agenda. I think that they’ve got,” Coward said. has worked well.”

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Elected officials in Swain proud to pray

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THE LETTER & THE SPIRIT “I think the unspoken agreement is that prayer represents free speech” — Rick Bryson, Bryson City alderman

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and elsewhere in government,” he said.

“Congressional sessions are opened with prayer. It is a tradition that we have accepted since the country was founded.”

But the latest ruling from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t rule against prayer — it ruled that the way Rowan County Commissioners were praying violated the First Amendment, which prohibits governments from establishing a religion. The majority of the judges felt that allowing commissioners to lead a Christian prayer at the beginning of the meeting — and inviting spectators to participate — violated The Constitution by excluding people of other faiths.

Even though Rowan County officials argued that audience members were not pressured to participate, a majority of judges found it to be exclusionary and could be considered proselytizing because of language used like “Please pray with me” and "I pray that the citizens of Rowan County will love you, Lord."

This same language is often used when Swain County commissioners pray before meetings. When a court ruling in 2010 said public prayers should avoid evoking the name of Jesus, Swain commissioners said it wouldn’t stop them — even if it meant breaking the law.

An email sent to Swain County’s attorney Kim Carpenter seeking comment wasn’t returned by press time.

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August 2-8, 2017

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR raying in public has never been something politicians in Swain County have shied away from and it’s unlikely the recent court ruling will change that ritual anytime soon.

Before calling any meeting into order, the Swain County Board of Commissioners stand for a prayer — usually led by one of the commissioners themselves. Chairman Phil Carson then calls the meeting to order, the Pledge of Allegiance is recited and then the board gets down to business.

The Bryson City Board of Aldermen also opens each meeting with a prayer and the pledge. Alderman Rick Bryson said the town’s prayer hasn’t been challenged in his four years in office.

“I think the unspoken agreement is that prayer represents free speech,” Bryson said.

He said the measuring stick for public prayer and other references to religion is a community standard type of variable.

While some communities may not feel comfortable with their elected officials offering a Christian-centered prayer before a meeting, it seems like a natural occurrence in rural, majority Christian communities like Bryson City.

“I feel that a community should be allowed to do what it is comfortable with on this issue,” Bryson said. “What works in Bryson City might not work in a more secular community. But in Bryson City, we seem comfortable opening Board of Aldermen meetings with a prayer.”

While Bryson understands the idea behind separation of church and state, he said that isn’t a strong argument against prayer at government meetings considering how often God is included in government functions from the local to the federal level.

“It is hard to argue that prayer is a violation of the separation of church and state because references to God are on our money

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Formed by the mountains

August 2-8, 2017

Jerry Wolfe, a 93-year-old World War II veteran, Cherokee speaker and Museum of the Cherokee Indian volunteer, was recently awarded North Carolina’s highest civilian honor — the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Holly Kays photo

Cherokee elder reflects on 93 years of service to tribe and country

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he Cherokee of Jerry Wolfe’s early memory is a different place than the Qualla Boundary of today.

Wolfe, 93, remembers hills covered in farmland rather than forest, cleared by hand to keep the trees from encroaching on slopes families coaxed to yield the corn, beans and potatoes that fueled them. The weedy edges of fields yielded blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. The woods yielded fuel for winter heat in the log cabins and, when the family ran out of kerosene, knots of pine sap that could ignite to keep the lights on.

Back in Sherrill Cove, part of Cherokee’s Big Cove community, Wolfe lived a 7-mile walk from town on a 500-acre piece of mountain land whose fields his father plowed with a team of oxen.

Or that’s where he lived in the summer, anyway. While school was in session, Wolfe resided in a dormitory at the federally run Cherokee Boarding School. The students stayed there fall through spring, even on weekends. They got Wednesday through Sunday off for Thanksgiving and two weeks for Christmas, but otherwise the school was 8 their home.

Smoky Mountain News

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LIFE AT BOARDING SCHOOL It was an authoritarian type of home.

The students marched everywhere they went — to the dining hall, to the dormitories, to the schoolhouse. Every day began with the raising of the flag, and every day ended with its lowering, accompanied by a bugled taps.

And the discipline was strict, especially when it came to the Cherokee language.

“It was rough,” Wolfe said. “The disciplinarian, he caught us speaking the Cherokee language he gave us a good strapping with a belt for speaking the Cherokee language. We weren’t allowed to speak Cherokee at all.”

Wolfe had it easier than some. His father spoke only Cherokee — no English — but his mother spoke both languages. He knew some English when he came to school. For many students, that wasn’t the case.

About 80 years have passed since those days, with the men who inflicted that discipline long since deceased. It would be easy for Wolfe, now a beloved teller of Cherokee stories and speaker of the Cherokee language, to vilify those men who punished him and his classmates for speaking the language of their ancestors. Who knows — perhaps, if the prohibition against speaking Cherokee hadn’t been so harsh, the language wouldn’t be fighting for its survival to the degree it is today.

But Wolfe isn’t quick to criticize. When asked what he thinks, now, about the prohibition on speaking Cherokee, he takes a

thoughtful pause before giving an answer that attempts to see it from the perspective of the disciplinarians.

“The discipline part was so rugged, but to look at it in the way that they were, they were trying to teach us so we could learn English, to get the Cherokee language out of the way. They wanted us to speak English language because that’s what was used nationwide,” Wolfe said.

But, he continued, that doesn’t make it right.

“They didn’t have to punish us like that,” he said. “They shouldn’t have tried to make us stop using our language, because that’s our language. And so the federal government were going at it in the wrong way.”

GOING TO WAR Even so, Wolfe saw the stoicism and resiliency he’d developed through the challenges of his early years come in handy when the bombs at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, signaled the USA’s entrance into World War II. Wolfe turned 18 two years later and enlisted in the Navy.

“When I went off to the Navy I was used to all that discipline,” he said. “It wasn’t that rugged in the Navy.”

In the Navy, Wolfe was a star student. He went up to Naval Station Great Lakes for training, a drill sergeant yelling commands for the new recruits to execute.

“I was on top of all of it whenever he

started barking out the commands,” Wolfe recalls. “Well, it wasn’t but a few seconds he called me and he said, ‘Hey you, come here,’ and that was me. I walked over and he said, ‘Hey, have you been in the military before? I said, ‘No sir.’ And then he said, ‘Where did you learn to march and how did you learn the commands of the Navy?’ And that’s when I told him that I’d been to boarding school.”

The drill sergeant responded by giving him his own group of people to drill.

Wolfe would eventually be promoted to second class petty officer. He would work on the Queen Mary, the second-biggest ship in the world at the time, and he would sail to Scotland, England and the beaches of Normandy in France, where he would watch from the ship as the infamous D-Day invasion unfolded before his eyes. He found himself transporting a train of soldiers through the madness of New York City as the news hit that Germany had surrendered, and he was aboard the USS Missouri when Japan signed its official declaration of peace there, ending the war.

When it was all over, Wolfe came home to Cherokee and to his soon-to-be wife Juanita, with whom he eventually had seven children.

Wolfe never gave up his proclivity for hard work. He got trained as a stonemason, over the years putting his sweat into “just about every building you see here with masonry or brickwork or blockwork.”

“We worked all summer for that 50 cents. I look back on it now and I think, ‘Gosh, what would happen today if the kids had to go through the same thing we did.’”

— Jerry Wolfe

In the 1960s, he began to share the trade with others following Lyndon B. Johnson’s creation of the Job Corps program, which includes the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center in Cherokee. He worked there for 20 years before retiring.

FORMED BY HARD WORK Even after decades of retirement and 93 years of life, Wolfe is a busy man. He volunteers at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — greeting visitors and hosting story-telling sessions. He’s involved in the community, and for many years he traveled all over the world with Christian mission teams, journeying to Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados and South Africa. He’s more spry than many people in their 60s and 70s, maintaining a persevering, uncomplaining attitude that could well be the result of his upbringing in the mountains and valleys surrounding the town he still calls home.

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Election signups end in Jackson

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Jerry Wolfe stands with Principal Chief Richard Sneed (right) and former N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen (left) after being presented the Order of the Long Leaf Pine last week. Holly Kays photo of the Cherokee Boys Club, an organization that’s still around today, offering on-the-job training to Cherokee youth of both genders.

ORDER OF THE LONG LEAF PINE

Smoky Mountain News

Over the course of his life, Wolfe’s accomplishments have become hard to ignore, spanning storytelling, stonework, military service and fatherhood. But his humble attitude toward it all is easy to see.

For a man who didn’t even finish high school — he left for the Navy before graduation — his list of accolades is impressive.

It’s impressive for any man, of any education level.

In 2013, Wolf was named a Beloved Man of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the first time anyone had worn the title since the early 1800s. It’s a title traditionally reserved for warriors who are too old for battle but highly valued for their integrity, good character and service to the tribe.

Wolfe won the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 2003, the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award from the N.C. Folklore Society in 2010 and received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Western Carolina University in May. And he does have a high school diploma — it was awarded to him when he returned from the Navy.

Now, he has another honor to add to his ever-growing list. Last week, Wolfe was added to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor given in the state of North Carolina. Former N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, bestowed the award in place of Gov. Roy Cooper during a Folkmoot USA performance at the Joyce Dugan Cultural Arts Center Tuesday, July 25, speaking to the accomplishments with which those who know Wolfe are already familiar — his service in World War II, his work to preserve the Cherokee language and culture, his skill as a master stone mason and stickball player, and his status as a spiritual leader of his people.

But through it all, Wolfe maintained his trademark humility.

“I never, ever dreamed of an event like this during my lifetime,” he said.

Correction: In the July 26 issue of The Smoky Mountain News, the article “Election signups extended in Jackson” on page 7 incorrectly stated that the extension applied to all races in Jackson County. The extension in fact applied only to Webster Town Council. SMN regrets the error.

— By Holly Kays, staff writer

August 2-8, 2017

Wolfe remembers being a 12-year-old kid in the late 1930s when a man came to his class at the boarding school and proposed that they all pitch in and grow a garden. The man had gotten permission to use an acre of land by the school and was going to buy all the seeds out of his own pocket.

And he wanted each of the boys to take two days out of their summer to come to school and tend the garden.

“He said, ‘When they mature and get ripe, we’re going to sell those tomatoes, those cucumbers and those corn — we’re going to sell that and we’re going to have some money,’” Wolfe recalls.

And that’s what they did. Wolfe had to walk 7 miles to get to school from his home in Sherrill Cove, and others had to walk even farther. They packaged up the harvest into bundles of vegetables that they’d sell for 15 or 20 cents, working hard all summer to peddle their wares. They’d be long days, and he’d push through without even eating lunch — his mom would send him out with 15 cents, enough to buy a soda or Moon Pie. “When I look back on it now, we didn’t complain about not getting any pay. We didn’t complain about any food, any sandwiches,” Wolfe said. “I’d take my 15 cents and the rest of the guys would have a nickel or a dime. We’d pool our money together.

We’d go down to the store and buy about three watermelons. That’s what we’d have for our lunch.”

Months later, school was back in session Kand Wolfe’s class was gearing up for a shopping trip in Sylva.

“I was thinking, ‘Well, I don’t have any money,’” Wolfe said. “Anyway, just about that time the man that asked us to garden and sell walked in and he said, ‘I brought a little dividend that was left over from selling the vegetables this past summer. Each one of you boys will get an envelope.’”

The boys opened their envelopes to see 50 cents inside. It wasn’t much money for months of work, but they were elated.

“We worked all summer for that 50 cents,” Wolfe said. “I look back on it now and I think, ‘Gosh, what would happen today if the kids had to go through the same thing we did.’”

That summer of gardening was the start

town board; in Forest Hills, three people will run for two seats on the town council.

Both the Dillsboro and Forest Hills seats are for four-year terms.

To vote in the Nov. 7 election, voters must register by Oct. 13. Absentee voting is Oct. 6-31 and early voting is Oct. 19-Nov. 4.

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ackson County will have enough candidates running to fill the seats available following an extended sign-up period for the Webster Town Council.

When election filing closed at noon Friday, July 21, only two people had signed up for three open seats on the board, leading the Jackson County Board of Elections to extend the deadline to noon Friday, July 28.

On July 26, incumbent Danell Moses signed up to run, rounding out the candidate list.

It’s not unusual for extended signup periods to be necessary, especially for smaller municipalities like Webster.

The town has only 262 registered voters within its limits.

Of the nine races in the county’s 2017 municipal elections — the number excludes Highlands, which is mostly in Macon County — only three will be contested. Mayor Lynda Sossamon will run against challenger Danny Allen for a twoyear term as Sylva’s mayor. In Dillsboro, seven people will run for five seats on the

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General Admission: $18

Get tickets online at lakejunaluska.com/concerts or visit the Bethea Welcome Center.

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August 2-8, 2017

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A framed photo of the vice chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians should hang to the right of the photo of Principal Chief Richard Sneed, but the space has been vacant for months as Cherokee has been without a vice chief. Holly Kays photo

Tribal Council OKs election to fill vice chief vacancy

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THE VOTE

LOOKING AT THE LAW The last time a special election was held was in 1997, when then-Vice Chief Gerard Parker resigned under investigation. A special election was called to fill the vacancy, and Bill Ledford won the seat. He later ran for reelection to a full term and won.

The law governing what happens when the vice chief ’s seat is vacated has changed since then. A 2008 version of the ordinance reads, “If the position of the Vice Chief is vacated, the council may elect a successor who shall serve until his successor is elected.”

The current version is a bit different: “If the

position of Vice Chief is vacated, the Council may elect a successor from Tribal Council Representatives, who shall serve until his or her successor is elected the balance of the elected term of office.”

The main difference is that the second version specifies that an appointment of Tribal Council would come from among its own members. However, both versions use the word “may” to describe Tribal Council’s ability to elect a successor. That’s different than the word “shall” used in an earlier section stating that the vice chief “shall” become principal chief if the principal chief ’s office is vacated. Typically, “shall” means that an action is mandatory while “may” implies a degree of flexibility.

A 2012 amendment to the same ordinance clarified that the person filling the vacant position would serve the balance of the remaining term until the next regular election.

So, the ordinance does not say that the seat must be filled by a Tribal Council appointment — but it also doesn’t specify what the other options are for filling it or expressly state that a special election is allowed in that circumstance. 11

Smoky Mountain News

With the deadline looming to either act or leave the tribe unable to pay debts and paychecks, Tribal Council met again July 27.

Payments from the tribe require the signatures of two people — the principal chief and the vice chief. However, with no vice chief in place it’s not possible to comply with that requirement. After Lambert’s removal from office, Tribal Council had passed emergency legislation allowing Sneed’s to be the sole signature on such documents, but the resolution was set to expire at 5 p.m. Friday, July 28.

The July 27 meeting opened at 1:30 p.m., with Chairman Bill Taylor announcing it would begin with a closed-session meeting and immediately clearing the chambers. Tribal Council talked for an hour and a half before coming back into open session at 3:05 p.m.

It took less than five minutes to open the session with a roll call and prayer, bring up the vice chief topic and complete a vote — all discussion took place in closed session.

“Many want to have a special election, and some want to appoint, so at this time I’m going to open up the floor for any moves for a special election. Anyone want to make that move?” said Chairman Bill Taylor, of Wolfetown.

Councilmember Bo Crowe, of Wolfetown, made the move immediately with a second from Councilmember Tommye Saunooke, of Painttown. Councilmember Alan “B” Ensley, of Yellowhill, called the question.

The special election was approved 57-43, with Councilmembers Teresa McCoy, of Big Cove; Richard French, of Big Cove; Albert Rose, of Birdtown, Adam Wachacha, of Snowbird, Ensley, Saunooke and Crowe voting in favor.

Opposed were Vice Chairman Brandon Jones, of Snowbird; Councilmember Marie Junaluska, of Painttown; Councilmember Anita Lossiah, of Yellowhill, Councilmember Travis Smith, of Birdtown; and Taylor.

Following that vote, Council unanimously approved a resolution to extend Sneed’s authority to sign for disbursal of funds

“I think that our people should be relieved that we should have the right to vote for the vice chief,” said Terri Henry, a former Council Chairwoman and Tribal Council candidate from Painttown, after the vote. “We as Cherokee people have a history of voting for our elected officials and Section 2 of the Charter says that those positions will be elected by the enrolled members of the EBCI. I’m an enrolled member like 16,000 other people, and I’m elated that we get to have the vote.”

“I’ve been out in the community and everybody I spoke to, they want a special election, so I’m glad Council voted for the people for once,” added Ashley Sessions, of Birdtown, another Tribal Council candidate who attended the meeting.

However, not everybody felt the same way. Some councilmembers said they believed the decision to hold a special election ran contrary to tribal law.

“We ‘Council’ have been given two legal opinions that stated there were no provisions for a special election, and some of council still voted against the law,” Smith told The Smoky Mountain News via text. “I understand listening to our people and getting there (sic) input, but it’s also our job to educate our people when there are clear laws in our Charter and Governing Documents that dictate what we can and can’t do!”

“After meeting with our legal counsel and the Attorney General I felt like it would be in direct conflict with the Charter and Governing Document to go the route of a special election in this circumstance,” Jones added in an email. “I will always fully support an election process for the People anytime the law allows for it, but in 2012 the laws changed to what they are now and the way things were done in the past are not allowable today.”

McCoy, meanwhile, said that she was “thrilled” at the decision and believes that calling a special election was completely appropriate under the circumstances.

“I’m very proud of the councilmembers who supported doing this for their people,” she said. “I thank them and I hope that our people will remember their good deeds when they go vote in September.”

Councilmember Teresa McCoy, of Big Cove, has announced her intention to run for vice chief in the special election that Tribal Council approved July 27.

“I’ve been asked by so many people to step up in the event this was going to be a vote in the people’s favor,” McCoy said outside the council Teresa McCoy house following the July 27 meeting.

McCoy has represented Big Cove for 20 years but decided not to file for re-election in March — she said she was ready to have more time to travel and be with her grandchildren. However, with the vice chief’s seat now open she plans to run for office one more time.

If elected, she said, one of her top priorities would be ensuring that any more proposed debt is aimed at investing in the Cherokee people rather than in creating more tourism magnets.

“When Tribal Councils start considering and spending more time talking about how to make money for their tribe rather than to alleviate the lack of housing or healthcare issues, then Councils have lost focus on what their jobs are and who they represent,” McCoy said.

This will be the fourth time McCoy has run for vice chief, though she hasn’t won the office before. She said that regardless of whether she wins, she plans to stay involved in tribal politics.

“What I’ve discovered by watching all these brave women in the audience month after month is that you do not have to be elected to lead,” she said.

“Anybody can lead.”

August 2-8, 2017

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER fter months in limbo, the fate of Cherokee’s vacant vice chief seat has been decided — following a narrow vote from Tribal Council, a special election will be held to fill the office.

The 57-43 vote was met by applause from most of those in the sparse crowd gathered for the unadvertised special-called meeting Thursday, July 27.

“They voted right!” said Lori Taylor, a Big Cove candidate for Tribal Council in September’s elections. “Yay! We won. The people won.”

Taylor had been among the roomful of tribal members who chanted “Special election! Special election!” as Tribal Council attempted to swear in then-Vice Chief Richard Sneed as principal chief following Patrick Lambert’s impeachment and removal from the office this May. The commotion in the councilhouse that day had been so great that Sneed’s swearing-in had to be relocated to the less riotous Cherokee Justice Center.

Afterward, attention shifted to how councilmembers would fill the vacant vice chief ’s seat. Would they appoint one of their own to the office, or would they hold a special election in which any tribal member could run?

Tribal Council discussed the issue during a June 15 meeting, the first 50 minutes of which took place in closed session and involved legal advice from the tribal attorney general’s office as well as from Tribal Council’s own legislative counsel. At that time, the consensus was that letting the people vote would be the best solution to the vacancy, but that there was still some uncertainty as to whether a special election would be legal in this circumstance.

Tribal Council agreed to do some further research and then make a decision during the July Tribal Council meeting.

However, the July meeting came and went with no decision.

REACTIONS TO THE DECISION

McCoy to run for vice chief

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Special election coming to Cherokee

through 5 p.m. Dec. 31 or when a new vice chief is sworn in — whichever happens first.

Tribal Council plans to pass a resolution detailing the specifics of the special election, including the date and filing period, during its Aug. 3 meeting.

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Paddlers linger near the Nantahala Outdoor Center, an important part of Swain County’s tourism economy. File photo.

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Diversify or die

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER ike bubbles bobbing atop bathwater, the sectors of Haywood County’s economy are separate but often attached to each other in ways not always readily seen.

Although all the bubbles ebb and swell independently of each other, they also rise and fall with the level of bathwater in the tub.

Likewise, Haywood’s economy is just one subset of the global, national, regional and state economy. Within the state of North Carolina, Haywood economically interacts with many other counties, but especially its neighbors to the west.

Although the health of Buncombe County’s economy is important to Haywood County, just as important is the vitality of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, with which Haywood shares many more similarities than Buncombe.

But despite similar opportunities and shared challenges, there are some critical and distinct variations in this mostly rural, mostly mountainous four-county area.

“We’re all different,” said Ken Mills, executive director of the Swain County Economic Development Commission, which was established in 1991 to both attract and support local industries by con-

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ducting industrial surveys and providing consulting advice.

Mills’ county is perhaps emblematic of the struggles facing such counties; by far the smallest of the four, Swain was again designated as a Tier 1 community by the N.C. Department of Commerce, meaning it is among the most economically distressed in the state.

Jackson and Macon counties are also thusly designated, while Haywood County was controversially moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3 this year, placing it among the least economically distressed counties in the state.

These designations directly influence how much in economic development incentives a county can provide, meaning Haywood’s playing on a slanted table.

But that’s ostensibly for good reason.

Given that Jackson, Macon and Swain counties have lower populations, dealing with the same challenges as Haywood County is that much harder.

“We don’t have a lot of buildable, developable sites,” Mills said, echoing comments made by Haywood Economic Development Council Executive Director Mark Clasby, and probably every economic development planner west of Asheville. “That increases the difficulty of commercial and residential development.”

And as much as Haywood

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REGIONAL ECONOMY SOURCE: N.C. Department of Commerce

16 percent higher than Swain’s and 28 percent higher than Macon’s.

But these rural counties aren’t exactly out of the game just yet. Mills sees encouraging signs in health care as well as in the start-up community, and says one major economic development strategy relies on schools to add value to the county.

“We have a school system that is being

By far the smallest of the four, Swain County was again designated as a Tier 1 community by the N.C. Department of Commerce, meaning it is among the most economically distressed in the state. both reactive and proactive,” he said, referencing the introduction or revival of vocational education in the areas of carpentry, welding and robotics.

Like a lot of economic developers in Western North Carolina, Mills is optimistic, and ready to make lemonade out of lemons.

“We’re healthy even with the demise of ConMet,” he said. “And it’s only about a year until that space opens up for redevelopment.”

August 2-8, 2017

TOTAL WAGES, 2016 (IN MILLIONS) NUMBER OF BUSINESSES, 2016

AVERAGE EMPLOYMENT, 2016

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, MAY 2017

AT A GLANCE

those jobs will move to ConMet facilities in Haywood County.

Jackson County’s manufacturing sector has 33 percent fewer establishments per capita than Haywood County, but Macon has about 4 percent more; both counties have small manufacturing footprints — combined they’re just one-fourth of Haywood’s — and also have average wages 10 to 20 percent lower than in Haywood.

Jackson and Macon do, however, have a much larger trade, transportation and utilities sector than would be expected, complete with salaries comparable to Haywood’s.

Swain’s salaries in this sector are depressed by about 20 percent.

Macon’s ace-in-the-hole is the production of goods, with 35 percent more establishments per capita than in Haywood County, and just 18 fewer, although salaries are between 10 and 20 percent lower than in Swain, Jackson and Haywood counties.

“We still have some manufacturing,” said Tommy Jenkins, director of the Macon County Economic Development Commission.

Macon County’s aging demographics, Jenkins said, contribute to the county’s slightly higher amount of education and health services establishments per capita than Haywood County — 4 percent more, to be exact — but that’s not the case in Swain and Jackson counties, which have 3 and 6 percent less, respectively. Average wages in this sector make Jackson the place to be; they’re 12 percent higher than Haywood’s,

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professional and business services per capita than Haywood County, and Jackson has 14 percent more.

Another area in which Swain seeks diversification is manufacturing. Data regarding Swain’s manufacturing sector is suppressed to prevent people from being able to identify the source — meaning there simply aren’t enough establishments to mask the identity of the companies involved.

Soon, there will be one less; ConMet recently announced it will shutter its Bryson City plant in 2018, affecting 230 employees with relatively high salaries. But in yet another instance of the economic interrelatedness of this four-county region, more than half of

Smoky Mountain News

County struggles with broadband implementation, it generally gets worse the farther west one goes.

“One internet-based business [in Swain County] couldn’t get the connectivity it needed, so he left,” Mills said.

“And he took three jobs with him.”

Haywood’s population base — as well as its proximity to Buncombe County’s relatively sprawling local economy — seem ultimately to make Haywood a more attractive place to live, work and play for many.

N.C. Department of Commerce data from 2016 show that although Haywood County continues to dwarf its western neighbors in almost every economic sector, there are some counties in which workers and business owners can find a better deal.

For comparison, 2016 census figures show Jackson County with a population of 40,000, Macon with 34,000, and Swain with 14,000, compared to Haywood’s 60,000.

One of Haywood County’s most important economic sectors — leisure and hospitality — is and has been thriving, but faces increasing competition from Jackson County; with 150 establishments, Jackson is just 20 behind Haywood and has 12 more than Macon County.

But the real surprise is Swain County; with only 95 leisure and hospitality establishments, Swain’s employment in that sector is almost double Haywood’s, average wages are double and total wages paid is nearly quadruple.

In a related revelation, both Swain and Jackson counties sport a higher average service industry wage than Haywood and Macon do.

Haywood County does, however, run a pretty slim public administration sector, compared to Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, with only about 1,100 employees. Only Macon County has less, but again, the big bucks are in Swain, which boasts the highest average wage and the most total wages paid.

“We’re such a high tourist area, we’re always looking for diversity,” Mills said.

Where Swain falls short is in professional and business services, with 39 establishments, compared to 166 in Macon, 176 in Jackson and 219 in Haywood; Swain’s sector lags per capita compared to Haywood’s by about 5 percent, and the county’s average wage of $27,000 is also far short of Haywood’s $40,000.

Conversely, Macon has 20 percent more

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Up in the air Health care upheaval leaves WNC residents with questions

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR s Republicans in Congress attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and Mission Health threatens to cancel its contract with the largest health insurance provider in Western North Carolina, thousands of people are wondering whether they will be covered and what the cost might be.

Mountain Projects, a local social service agency that has been able to provide health care navigator services since 2013 thanks to a federal grant, has been fielding plenty of calls from clients asking questions the staff doesn’t have the answers to.

“We’ve helped 6,000 people sign up for health insurance since the beginning of ACA,” said Health Care Navigator Jan Plummer. “And we’re getting a lot of calls from people worried about what is going on.”

Those 6,000 in WNC who have health insurance through the ACA Marketplace likely have a plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the last remaining providers offering ACA plans in North Carolina.

Not only are those people wondering whether they should even bother renewing their ACA plan this fall, but they’re also concerned whether the policy will be beneficial if Mission Health Systems in Asheville cancels its contract with BCBS.

August 2-8, 2017

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MISSION VS. BLUE CROSS

Smoky Mountain News

There are nearly 130,000 BCBS patients who have visited Mission hospitals or practices during the last year, which includes patients who have Blue Cross employersponsored coverage, State Health Plan, health insurance exchange plan, Medicare Advantage or Blue Cross as a secondary health plan.

If Mission and BCBS don’t negotiate a deal by Oct. 5, BCBS policyholders will have to pay more out of pocket for services through Mission affiliates because it will be considered out-of-network.

Plummer said she hopes the two companies work out a compromise before the October deadline and the open enrollment period for the Marketplace begins.

“This is something that happens in the negotiation process — I don’t know if it’s really going to happen or if they’re working on a resolution, but Blue Cross Blue Shield has had public service announcements on the radio saying they received a termination notice from Mission so it’s prompted people to call us with their concerns.”

Mission issued a press release July 5 stating it planned to terminate its contract with 14 BCBS of North Carolina “if ongoing negotia-

tions fail to reach an agreement” on reimbursement costs for services. Mission’s notice to BCBS established an Oct. 5 deadline for a new contract or else Mission, its affiliate facilities and physicians will be outside the BCBS network.

“What this means for people with BCBS insurance who need services from Mission is that they’ll be out of network and will have to pay more out of pocket to go to Mission,” Plummer said.

BCBS was quick to fire back at Mission with its own press release stating that the requested price hikes from Mission would not be sustainable and expressed disappointment in Mission’s move to terminate the contract instead of continuing negotiations.

Mission Health recently renewed its contracts with Cigna and Aetna, but if it doesn’t renew with BCBS, it will be the only health system in the state to not be on the BCBS network.

Since the announcement, the public relations battle has heated up — Mission has been buying full page advertisements in newspapers across the region painting Blue Cross as the bad guy with tag lines like “Our mission is to heal the sick, not arm wrestle insurance companies. Yet that’s exactly what Blue Cross is forcing us to do.” The ads also direct people to www.standwithmission.org.

“With 72 percent of the market in our state, Blue Cross has a history of getting what it wants,” the website states. “It has exercised its power by forcing healthcare providers into ‘forever’ contracts that renew automatically, with zero adjustments to the rates we are paid for providing healthcare services.”

BCBS representatives recently spoke about the issue in a presentation to the State Employees Association of N.C. Board of Governors. BCBS officials contended that Mission is already overcharging them for services, and plan to raise prices even more while more than 40 other hospitals across the state have accepted consistent terms with BCBS to help with customer costs and improve quality.

“Mission has stated to Blue Cross NC that they expect and need an increase from us (from our customers) in order to subsidize their sizable Medicaid and Medicare patient base,” the presentation read.

The entire presentation can be seen at

www.seanc.org/assets/10.-Mission-SEANCFinal.pdf.

On the other hand, Mission claims its prices are 23 percent lower than similar hospitals in North Carolina and 7 percent lower than local hospitals in WNC. “Blue Cross has consistently issued yearover-year premium increases to its customers. Yet it has failed to increase what it spends on its members’ healthcare services accordingly,” Mission’s advocacy webpage reads. “We are asking for a modest, singledigit adjustment to Blue Cross’ payment rates as part of a multi-year agreement. We

Plummer also encourages patients to educate themselves on the services provided at other hospitals in WNC outside Mission’s network, including Duke LifePoint hospitals — Haywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva and Swain Community Hospital in Bryson City.

Angel Medical Center in Franklin and Highlands-Cashiers Hospital in Highlands are under the Mission umbrella.

While Mission has been a leader in the region when it comes to cardiac health and services, Harris Regional is working to make the same services available in Sylva. A new

Health care navigators are still helping to walk people through the process of enrolling for plans through the new federal health care exchange all over Western North Carolina. SMN photo wouldn’t be asking for these increases if it wasn’t absolutely necessary for our health system — and Western North Carolina residents who depend on our lifesaving care.”

As for how this change may affect North Carolinians who hold a federal plan with BCBS, Mission’s website directs them to contact BCBS to learn more about the impact.

WHERE TO GET COVERED Even if the contract with BCBS expires Oct. 5, Plummer said BCBS policyholders should still be aware that emergency room services are always considered in network whether it’s at Mission or another hospital.

“If you’re having a stroke and need to get to the ER for medication quickly, don’t hesitate,” Plummer said. “Emergency situations are always in network no matter what.”

Some patients already receiving services through a Mission affiliate may be eligible to continue those services if they meet the Continuity of Care criteria. To be eligible, the patient must be seen by a participating provider prior to the termination taking effect. The patient must be actively being seen by the out-of-network provider for an ongoing special condition and the provider must agree to abide by the BCBSNC requirements for Continuity of Care.

Mission also accepts most other health providers, including Cigna, Aetna, Coventry, United Healthcare, Humana and others.

catheterization lab at Harris is the latest in a series of expansions for the hospital’s cardiology service line, in addition to hiring several cardiologists. Last year the hospital expanded diagnostic, treatment, and monitoring services, as well as echocardiography seven days a week.

Since Mission announced earlier this year its plans to discontinue labor and delivery at Angel Medical in Franklin and consolidate its women’s and children’s practices from Sylva to Franklin, Harris is ramping up prenatal and pediatrics services in both communities.

PREPARING FOR ACA REPEAL On July 28, the U.S. Senate defeated a last-minute bill designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In a surprising move, Republican legislators — Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. John McCain didn’t follow the party-line vote and helped defeat the bill.

“This is a major victory for consumers throughout North Carolina who can breathe a sigh of relief knowing now that their access to affordable, quality coverage is secure for now,” said Brendan Riley, a political analyst for N.C. Justice Center. “Following the vote, President Trump stated that he will ‘let Obamacare implode.’ However, both data and statements from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina show that the ACA’s exchange markets are stabi-

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Free clinic coming to Bryson City, Murphy

Nonprofit system owns for-profit insurance company

Free medical, dental, eye and veterinarian services will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis Aug. 2-10 in Bryson City and Hayesville.

This will be the second time Smoky Mountain Medical Mission has partnered with the Swain County Health Department to bring these free services to the people of Western North Carolina. While the clinics are being held in Bryson City and Hayesville, the services are available to anyone willing to make the drive and wait for hours to be seen.

The clinic is done through the U.S. Department of Defense’s Innovative Readiness Training program. When the clinic came to Murphy in 2014, about 8,000 people and 2,600 cats and dogs received free care.

There are no residency, insurance or income requirements to receive service, but ideally it’s available for those who are uninsured or underinsured. Patients are encouraged to bring a list of their current medications.

In Swain County, the clinic will be held at Swain County High School, located at 1415 Fontana Road, Bryson City. In Clay County, the clinic will be held at Hayesville High School, located at 205 Yellow Jacket Drive.

Registration begins each morning at 8 a.m. People should expect long lines and wait times. Mountain Projects is organizing transportation for Haywood and Jackson residents who want to attend the clinic. For more information, call 828.452.1447.

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Dec. 15.

“We encourage everyone to come in now and get their account ready for open enrollment,” Plummer said. “We’re down to six weeks for open enrollment so we’ll be having information go out to people soon and also a press release on how they can to do it themselves.”

The rules on being able to sign up on the Marketplace after Dec. 15 have become stricter as well — only exceptions are made for people who have lost a job, had a baby, gotten married or divorced, or other lifechanging events.

Plummer encouraged Marketplace policyholders to make sure they’re up-to-date on their premium payments before trying to enroll for 2018 coverage.

“If you haven’t paid them this year and try to re-enroll, you’’ have to pay back the premiums to reactivate your policy and that is something very costly,” she said.

Smoky Mountain News

lizing, so it will take intentional sabotage efforts by the Trump administration to make this prediction a reality.”

Your guess is as good as Plummer’s when it comes to trying to predict what will happen with the Affordable Care Act repeal and replacement efforts in Washington.

However, Plummer said people needed to continue to operate under the assumption that ACA will still be in place when open enrollment comes back around in November.

“The main thing is ACA is still the law,” she said.

Mountain Projects’ health care navigator grant expires Sept. 1, 2018, but between now and then there will still be people available to help you sign up for a plan on the Marketplace website. In previous years, people have had several months to sign up for an ACA plan, but this year’s enrollment period is only six weeks — Nov. 1 through

August 2-8, 2017

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR f Mission Health doesn’t strike a deal with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina by October, the health system may be pushing more Western North Carolina employers to sign up for its own health care plan — Healthy State — to keep their employees inside the Mission network.

After trying to negotiate for an increased rate of reimbursement from BCBS, Mission is threatening to let its contract with the health insurance provider lapse, which means thousands of WNC residents would have to pay higher deductibles and co-pays to see out-of-network providers at Mission.

“Healthy State provides health benefit products and services to self-insured employers utilizing the Mission Health Partners network of about 1,100 physicians, eight hospitals — a collaborative of Mission, community hospitals and independent doctors,” said Jon Yeatman, chief strategy officer for Mission Health.

On its advocacy website, www.standwithmission.org, Mission encourages people to look into signing up for Mission’s Healthy State insurance, which offers a number of group insurance options for selfinsured employers to provide to their employees.

“Mission has long believed that high quality, cost effective care with an excellent patient experience is the core of its mission,” Yeatman said. “Healthy State extends these same values as it offers health benefit solutions to our community.”

Many people probably had no idea Mission — a nonprofit health care system

the federally-controlled ACA arena.

Healthy State was created in response to the business community’s plea for lower health care premiums. Yeatman said the only effective way to do that is to fundamentally redesign how care is being provided.

Policymakers are trying to move from a feefor-service reimbursement model to a valuebased reimbursement model, which Yeatman said is a shift Mission wholeHealthy State, a for-profit subsidiary of Mission heartedly supports and is working Health, a nonprofit health system in Western North toward.

For example, Yeatman said Mission Carolina, provides health care coverage options for is participating in a complete-jointemployers with 26 or more employees. For more replacement program with Medicare information, visit www.healthystate.us. where the payment relates to the entire episode of care (hospital, doctor, and outpatient), rather than just for the hospital said. “The integration of the delivery of care admission. The State of North Carolina has and the financing of care is a trend across also made the decision to eliminate its feethe nation, and Mission has embraced that for-service model and shift its entire concept in a number of channels. For examMedicaid program to an at-risk, insuranceple, Mission is already accountable both based design. clinically and financially for a large portion However, he said Mission has seen little of the underserved community.” interest from insurance companies to make Yeatman says Healthy State was rolled that change. out a year ago, but Mission really hasn’t “The people of Western North Carolina pushed it as it works on building out the need health care options that work to meet capabilities and ensuring the model is operthe needs of their families, as a relatively ating well. Healthy State’s suite of products is new organization, Healthy State is doing suited for employers with 26 or more what it can in the niche that it operates in employees. Yeatman said he would love to be today,” Yeatman said. “We’ll see what the able to offer health care solutions for smaller future holds.” companies, but the business just isn’t there yet — and won’t be for some time.

“Healthy State has been active in the market, we’re largely a business to business service, so most of our work is based on personal relationships and meeting employers where they are,” he said.

Yeatman said Mission is still hopeful it can work out a contract with BCBS that both parties can live with and that Healthy State was not created to be a competitor with BCBS or any other individual or small group insurance market. He said that market was only for insurance companies with large amounts of capital and the wherewithal to enter into — owned a for-profit health insurance company, but apparently it’s been available for more than a year.

“Healthy State was established as a forprofit corporation because of the large capital requirements that may be required going forward, allowing the opportunity for access to broader capital markets,” Yeatman

news

Mission offers its own health care plan

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news

Republican disloyalty proceedings to begin

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER he continuing saga of the Haywood County Republican Party’s attempts to deal with a troublesome member of an antagonistic faction will take a dramatic turn this week, one way or the other.

Monroe Miller is a HCGOP precinct chair and also serves on the party’s executive committee, despite his association with the Haywood Republican Alliance, a splinter group that has shared a hostile relationship with the county party.

A few weeks ago, Miller was served with a notice of a special called meeting of the HCGOP, the purpose of which is to conduct a hearing that could expel him from the party.

“Throughout a good portion of my life, I have honored the following principle — if someone is either elected or appointed to a position of power, and they either abuse that power, or intimidate someone because of that power, I will go after them,” Miller said in a pre-written statement obtained by The Smoky Mountain News.

It’s precisely that attitude that has rankled some executive committee members; last month, Miller reported that the county party had passed a resolution charging him and four others — the so-called “Haywood Five” — with party disloyalty. GOP leaders have contended the resolution did not in

T Congressman Meadows to hold local meetings

August 2-8, 2017

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER Residents in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District will soon have a few opportunities to reach out to their congressman and his staff on the health care issue.

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, recently announced his Fourth Annual Veterans’ Solutions Seminars, which will take place Aug. 3-4 in three locations throughout the district.

Although Meadows won’t be there personally, members of his staff, along with representatives from the Charles George VA Medical Center, the N.C. Division of Veteran’s Affairs and the Veterans’ Affairs WinstonSalem Regional Benefit Office will be on hand to meet with veterans and their families and learn about benefits, disability and health care.

Meadows will, however, be in attendance at his first town hall of the summer, scheduled for Aug. 7 in Flat Rock; Meadows’ Press Secretary Ben Williamson said weeks ago that more town halls for the district are planned, but may not take place if calls for Congress to remain in session until Obamacare is repealed and/or replaced are heeded.

Smoky Mountain News

Veterans Solutions Seminars

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• Thursday, Aug. 3 Haywood County Senior Resource Center 9 a.m. to noon 81 Elmwood Way Waynesville, NC 28786 • Thursday, Aug. 3 Fletcher Town Hall 1 to 5 p.m.

300 Old Cane Creek Road Fletcher, NC 28732 • Friday, Aug. 4 Foothills Higher Education Center 9 a.m. to noon 2128 South Sterling Street Morganton, NC 28655 • Town Hall Monday, Aug. 7 6 to 8 p.m.

Blue Ridge Community College Bo Thomas Auditorium 180 W. Campus Drive Flat Rock, NC 28731

Special Called Meeting of the HCGOP Date: Thursday, Aug. 3 Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Bethel Rural Community Organization Fellowship Hall, 644 Sonoma Road fact charge the members with party disloyalty, but have been unwilling to comment further on the resolution’s content.

While the consequences of that resolution are still unknown — HCGOP Chairman Ken Henson and other party officials haven’t responded to repeated emails over the course of a month — the notice of the Aug. 3 hearing was delivered to Miller.

During the hearing, which will take place at the Bethel Rural Community Organization Fellowship Hall, the executive committee will hear a petition submitted by members of the executive committee July 13 calling for Miller’s removal from the executive committee.

Miller is accused of both party disloyalty and gross inefficiency; he thinks the charges are baseless, vague and part of a witch-hunt due to his criticisms of the HCGOP. “I have shone a bright light of what is happening during these HCGOP meetings,

as I did during Pat Carr’s tenure as HCGOP Chair, where she was later thrown out,” Miller said in his statement.

At the hearing, Miller will be given a chance to respond to and defend himself against the charges. The executive committee will then render a determination of responsibility.

Depending on that decision, Miller could be sanctioned or removed from the executive committee.

In the event he is held responsible, the hearing notice states, “the committee may consider a resolution to ask the NCGOP State Executive Committee to consider further actions, including removal from future service.”

Such a finding of responsibility would require a two-thirds majority of committee members present; implementing sanctions would also require a two-thirds vote, but a referral of the charges to the NCGOP for additional penalties would require only a majority vote.

The meeting will also be held in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, which, according to the hearing notice, requires disciplinary issues to be held in closed session — meaning the meeting won’t be open to members of the public, or even members of the HCGOP who do not sit on the executive committee.

SCC to host STEM forum Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content for K-12 classrooms, and Southwestern Community College will partner to host a forum for stakeholders across the region focusing on the importance of STEM to the residents of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, and the Qualla Boundary, from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Aug. 7, at Southwestern Community College’s Jackson Campus, Burrell Conference Center, 447 College Drive, Sylva.

During this immersive, no-cost forum, area business leaders, regional education leaders and members of the community college faculty will collaborate. Area residents are welcome.

Call 828.339.4265 or email l_parlett@southwesterncc.edu to reserve a seat.

No more blue bags in Maggie Valley The Blue Bag Recycling program in Maggie Valley ended Tuesday, Aug. 1.

Effective this day recyclables will not be picked up unless they are unbagged and in a container. Recycling containers are still available for pick up or delivery by calling Town Hall at 828.926.0866.

If you chose not to take a blue town-issued recycling tote; recyclables will be picked up if they are loose and in a container.

WCU chancellor’s cancer returns A year after a surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor was deemed successful, Western Carolina University Chancellor David Belcher announced that the cancer is back.

WCU’s beloved leader sent out a letter to the WCU community Tuesday, Aug. 1, delivering the news but assuring the campus that he would fight the cancer with everything he has.

“Susan and I are optimistic,” he said of himself and his wife. “We obviously are disappointed that there has been a recurrence, but know that I intend to attack this setback with the same fervor and passion with which I began this unexpected odyssey in April of last year. And — as my leadership team will attest — I am moving forward with the same

dogged commitment and strategic approach that I strive to bring every single day in my job as CEO of our university.”

“If you know David Belcher, you know the type of passion and commitment that he brings to the job each and every day,” added WCU Communications Director Bill Studenc. “I feel safe in saying that he will bring the same level of passion and determination to this new treatment approach.”

Belcher was first diagnosed in April 2016 when the tumor began affecting his speech and expression. Outpourings of support came immediately, and Belcher had surgery a few weeks later to remove the tumor with follow-up treatment to keep the cancer from returning. It wasn’t long before Belcher was back to work, where he typically wore a suit, a smile and a purple baseball cap to cover his post-chemotherapy baldness.

Belcher will soon begin a new treatment

regimen recommended by his medical team at Duke University Hospital. While promising, Belcher wrote, the treatment will require him to be away from campus several days each month. However, with the help of his leadership team he intends to continue fulfilling his leadership responsibilities.

“Over the past year, we have been blessed by an outpouring of love and support from our Catamount family, and it has buoyed Susan and me in this fight,” Belcher wrote in his Aug. 1 letter. “We welcome your warm wishes, your thoughts and your prayers, and we ask for your understanding if our responses to your messages are not as timely as you have come to expect from us.”

Belcher will continue to post updates on his fight against cancer at www.wcu.edu/discover/leadership/office-of-thechancellor/personal-message.aspx.

— By Holly Kays, Staff writer

news August 2-8, 2017

Smoky Mountain News

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Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Supermarket flowers M

Mission’s plea falls on deaf ears To the Editor: Dear Mission Health, I saw your full page ad in the July 19 issue of The Smoky Mountain News. Nice try, but I’m calling you out. When I read your ad I found myself actually applauding Blue Cross and Blue Shield for pushing back against hospital charges and what would, without a doubt, be another rate increase for their customers.

Years ago I started my career as a pharm tech in a hospital in Baltimore. I was promoted to Head Pharm Tech and then Director of Medications Distribution. We were unit dose and I was in the unique position of seeing cost to hospital and charge to patient information.

On the average, between the cost to hospital and charge to patient, was a 200 to 300 percent increase … sometimes higher. I can’t imagine what that ratio is today!

I wish I had a nickel for every story I’ve heard about a $15-dollar Band-Aid or astronomical charges to patients who have actually read their bills. How about the woman that was charged $40 to hold her baby after delivery, billed under Bonding Time. Please tell me why an Epi-pen now costs around $600? After all, epinephrine is an old drug and long past its seven-years trademark rights.

As I am now 64, my doctor suggested some routine tests be done, one of which was

who’ve helped me survive this dark time of my life. The love and compassion of others has carried me through the past 12 months.

Last week a friend shared the song “Supermarket Flowers”

by Ed Sheeran. He sings about taking the supermarket flowers down from the window sill and pouring out her day-old tea. My friend didn’t know this, but when I walked into my parents’ house after she passed, a vase with fresh flowers was still sitting on the counter and her coffee cup was beside the sink.

Sometimes I try to be too tough and refrain from crying, but when I do allow myself to cry, it’s very cleansing.

Columnist This song makes me cry in a way that I need. So, with the date of her death looming ahead, I’ve been listening to this song a lot. And I’ve been crying a lot, but it feels okay to do that.

If you’ve ever lost someone very close to you like a child or parent, you know walking into the empty, quiet house afterward is grueling, heart-wrenching. When I made that entrance, I felt like time was going in slow motion. As I looked around the house exactly as she’d left it, it felt like she’d walk in at any moment and we’d realize it was all a nightmare.

The finality of death seems counterintuitive to the human

Susanna Barbee

y mom loved fresh flowers. It was a fun routine for my dad, sister and I to pick up a bouquet from Ingles or Trader Joe’s or whatever supermarket we happen to be visiting. Her face would light up when we walked in the door holding a rainbow of petals. She would smile to herself while arranging the flowers just the way she liked.

Over the past year in the wake of my mom’s death, I’ve written a lot about her and my grief in this column. As I stumbled along, month by month, trying to remember and forget at the same time, life and work propelled me forward.

Even though my heart felt weak and the world felt heavy, I still arose every day to meet deadlines and take care of two little boys. And it seemed each time I completed one of these columns, my mom or my feelings about her death was somehow woven throughout.

We all process heartache in different ways. For me, writing is healing and therapeutic. Whatever I’m struggling with, getting my thoughts onto a page releases some of the burden.

I could never thank every reader who sent me an encouraging email, prayed for me or hugged me in the middle of Main Street. Many of those individuals learned about my mom through this column. Some had lost their own mom or dad.

And when I meet other people who’ve lost a parent, we don’t say anything, we just embrace with knowing arms, like we’re part of a secret club we never signed up for.

This is the last column I’ll write within the year timeframe of her death, so I felt compelled to honor her and those of you

a cardiac stress test. I called your hospital to get an appointment and asked about the charges. The test was to take about ten minutes. I’d be on a treadmill and connected to a heart monitor. If the doctor was not in the room the bill ran pretty close to $4,000. IF the doctor was in the room, the total cost rose to over $6,000. For ten minutes … really?

In all fairness to you Mission, I realize the costs of supplying state-of-the-art health care.

I also understand that many, many people that do not have health care, even Obamacare, use the emergency room for a case of the sniffles or ailments that warrant a simple doctor’s office visit and you are obliged to treat them. Naturally, the cost of that has to be made up somewhere. Don’t tell me … I know who makes up the deficit.

So don’t whine about arm wrestling BCBS. You’re not a research hospital and you are “for profit.” You’ve already taken OB/Gyn from Franklin (great way to kill a town’s economic growth). I’m seeing ads every day from doctors announcing they will no longer see patients in Franklin, they are moving their offices.

I’m a frustrated consumer. I’m tired of everything in this “trickle down economy” being trickled down to middle class. I’m tired of the blame game. Here’s a thought, how about you and BCBS joining forces and putting some pressure on your suppliers and Big Pharma. Complain about costs there. Ask why a pill that costs 3 cents to make, costs the consumer a hundred bucks or more. Put pressure

persona. By nature, people are adaptive and are skilled problem solvers, but with death, it’s nearly impossible to adapt and it’s a problem with no opportunity for a solution.

As I’ve learned to dance with grief over this past year, I’ve realized something.

When my own heart is completely lost, I can acutely feel the hearts of others. And this altruistic reliance has been such a gift. A lifeline, actually.

The funny thing about grief is that it’s nothing like you expect. Along with the darkness comes light. Along with the sadness comes love. Along with the loneliness comes friendship. Along with the solitude comes a new self-awareness.

Along with the heartache comes strength.

In the song, Sheeran sings, “A heart that’s broke is a heart that’s been loved. Hallelujah, you were an angel in the shape of my mom. When I fell down, you’d be there holding me up. Spread your wings as you go. When God takes you back, I’ll say hallelujah.”

I wouldn’t wish grief on anyone, and I know my personal journey with this complex emotion is far from over, but the concern of others and surprise glimpses of God’s grace continually keeps me afloat when I feel like drowning.

Readers of this column, thank you for being patient with me as I’ve worked through so many feelings on the pages of this paper. I’m not sure what year number two without her will be like, but I feel grateful for having survived year one.

At first glance, a newspaper is merely black on white but for writers and readers alike, the pages are alive and vibrant.

They are an avenue to connect one to another. They have been an avenue to connect me to you and you to me.

And for that, I’ll be forever thankful.

(Susanna Barbee is a writer who lives in Haywood County. susanna.barbee@gmail.com.)

LETTERS on our government to create a truly affordable health care bill. Cause here’s what’s gonna happen. Eventually the whole health care system will implode. Middle class will no longer be able to pay for insurance increases … heck we might even get mad and refuse to pay them.

So please don’t try to make me feel bad for you. Please don’t try to come across as beleaguered victims that just want to heal people.

You are also a “for profit business.” If you were truly transparent, we’d find you do you’re share of inflating costs too. Nice try on the ad … good spin … but it falls flat on this consumer’s ears.

Jeanne Dupuis Otto

High-speed enforcement too dangerous To the Editor: The recent accident involving a state trooper and the elderly couple near Balsam was a tragedy for all involved, and many prayers for the trooper and families of those who lost their loved ones. The trooper was doing his job, but excessive speed is what killed this couple.

I live here and have witnessed personally the state police continually use speeds over 100 mph almost every month in this particular spot. This mile and half of highway is

known as where the state troopers hang out and write tickets. I have called months ago and complained after taking my boys to school and having a trooper blow by me doing at least 120-30 mph. I was about to change lanes, and if I had not been paying close attention that day then this could have been me.

I know that emotions are high right now but a serious discussion needs to take place. A speeding ticket — which is 90 percent plus of these occurrences — should never justify anyone traveling at these speeds, including law enforcement. We do live in the mountains everyone has limited sight traveling and especially at those speeds, whether law enforcement or not.

Living here in the mountains we have curves — and add to that a highway with roads and driveways that are directly off the highway — that spell disaster. Anyone of us who has turned around in the turning lanes — as what happened in this particular accident — we know it can be dangerous.

I have to cross this same highway in a similar fashion everyday from a turning lane to come to my house and, yes, it is dangerous. I support our law enforcement and am thankful for them, but this could happen to anyone of us. This kind of speed kills. Just because the lights and siren are on when doing 100-plus you can not count on the other drivers to know you are there, especially when there is other traffic on a busy highway or road.

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Franklin 4th of July a huge success

Immigration laws need enforcing

To the Editor: I read about the rescue at Yellowstone Falls in the July 26 edition of The Smoky Mountain News. The more I read about the heroic rescue, the angrier I got. I felt like, “Look, sir, you got yourself into this situation because you did something thoughtless, reckless, dangerous, and stupid. Now deal with it yourself.”

His rescue endangered the lives of at least 45 rescuers who could have been seriously injured or killed, and they probably have families who would have been forever impacted and devastated. Undoubtedly there were major expenses involved in this rescue: vehicles, rope riggers, backup equipment, paramedics, ambulance, airlift, etc. I feel the victim and his friends who accompanied him on this adventure should pay the costs involved in this rescue. That’s the least they can do.

The article said: “Yellowstone Falls, located between Skinny Dip Falls and the Lower Falls at Graveyard Fields, isn’t accessible by any official trail, and that’s on purpose …. it is dang near impossible to get down in there and even more difficult to get someone out.”

That tells me that many lives were risked because these people were somewhere they should not have been, and the entire situation could have been avoided had they used a little common sense. People need to realize there are consequences when you endanger the lives of others, and sometimes having to spend their money is the only thing that gets their attention.

Janice Workman Bryson City

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To the Editor: This is in response to Mr. Paul Strop’s letter from the June 7 issue. There is a difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration. The Left’s continued, disingenuous misrepresentation of this issue — another example of which is highlighted by the letter — is what contributes the most to making this issue so “emotional and divisive” in our country. Believe it or

Reckless hikers should pay for rescue

August 2-8, 2017

To the Editor: On behalf of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce, I would like to thank those who helped to make Franklin’s Annual 4th of July Fireworks & Fun Day such a huge success. Businesses donated not only money but products, while others donated their time. These people willingly worked a long, hard day to provide the activities that were offered to the folks of Franklin. To all, we say “thank you.” We also appreciate all the hard work our EMS and police did to help with the traffic and emergency needs.

Thanks to the Macon County Recreation Department and the Macon County Fair Association for allowing us to stage this event in the Recreation Park and the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center.

We here at the Franklin Chamber feel it is an honor to serve our residents and visitors. We look forward to offering even more new and exciting activities in the future. We invite all businesses to join us as we serve those who live in and visit this place we call home, Franklin, North Carolina.

The Staff and Board of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce

not anti-immigrant and anti-illegal immigration are not the same thing.

Stop drinking the Kool-Aid and open your mind, just for a minute, and you might actually realize that. And this is coming from a man who is married to a legal immigrant, one whose family had to go through the legal process to become proud, contributing citizens of this great country.

Picking and choosing which laws should or shouldn’t be enforced — particularly based on political inclination — is not only wrong, but also unconstitutional. If you don’t like the laws, then get your congressional representatives to change them.

Tom Smith Davie, Fla.

opinion

This is a very sad story but we all can learn from this and hopefully our law enforcement will change this practice before another life is taken. Hopefully, the N.C. Highway Patrol will rethink high-speed enforcements on busy highways or roads, especially this one. The point of speed limitations is to protect the public, and highspeed enforcement is doing the opposite.

Something must change before it takes another life.”

Joseph Thomas Haywood County

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tasteTHEmountains We’re open every evening for dinner until 9 p.m.

Join us for tasty burritos, tacos, quesadillas or crepes!

3 E JACKSON ST. • SYLVA, NC

www.CityLightsCafe.com

128 N. Main St., Waynesville

WINE • BEER • SAKE

August 2-8, 2017

Gluten-Free, Vegan & Vegetarian options

NAME THAT SONG TRIVIA! July 25th 6:30 - 8PM Make Reservations Today!

Hours:11:30-9:00

(828) 454-5400 Smoky Mountain News

BlossomOnMain.com

Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251 BLOSSOM ON MAIN 128 N. Main Street, Waynesville.

828.454.5400. Open for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday. Mild, medium, to hot and spicy, our food is cooked to your like-able temperature.

Forget the myth that all Thai food is spicy.

Traditional Thai food is known to be quite healthy, making use of natural and fresh ingredients, paired with lots of spices, herbs, and vegetables. Vegetarians and health conscious individuals will not be disappointed as fresh vegetables and tofu are available in most of our menu as well as wines and saki chosen to compliment the unique flavors of Thai cuisine.

BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slow-simmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts.

Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily.

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

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE 454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Lunch served 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Monday through Saturday. Dinner 5 to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Closed on Sunday. We specialize in hand-cut, all natural steaks from local farms, incredible burgers, and other classic american comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available.

BREAKING BREAD CAFÉ 6147 Hwy 276 S. Bethel (at the Mobil Gas Station) 828.648.3838 Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Saturday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Chef owned and operated. Our salads are made in house using local seasonal vegetables. Fresh roasted ham, turkey and roast beef used in

APPÉTIT Y’AL N L BO

207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde

828-456-1997 blueroostersoutherngrill.com Monday-Friday Open at 11am 20

Real Local Families, Real Local Farms, Real Local Food

our hoagies. We hand make our own eggplant and chicken parmesan, pork meatballs and hamburgers. We use 1st quality fresh not preprepared products to make sure you get the best food for a reasonable price. We make vegetarian, gluten free and sugar free items.

Call or go to Facebook (Breaking Bread Café NC) to find out what our specials are.

CATALOOCHEE RANCH 119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley.

828.926.1401. Family-style breakfast seven days a week, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. – with eggs, bacon, sausage, grits and oatmeal, fresh fruit, sometimes French toast or pancakes, and always all-you-can-eat. Lunch menu every day from 12 to 2 p.m. Dinner becomes a gourmet experience this year with the arrival of our new Chef CJ, whose training and skills include French, Mediterranean, Asian, Middle Eastern and, of course, New Age Southern cuisine. Saturday night will feature an evening cookout on the terrace, with choices such as Korean barbecue and shrimp.

On all other nights of the week, the chef will prepare gourmet plated dinners with locally sourced vegetables, homemade breads, jellies and desserts. We also offer a fine selection of wine and beer. The evening social hour starts at 6pm, and dinner is served starting at 7 p.m. Please call for reservations.

CHURCH STREET DEPOT 34 Church Street, downtown Waynesville.

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

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, espresso, beer and wine.

Come taste the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more. Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly. Live music and lots of events.

Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live

music venue. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m.

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

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

828.926.1820 Winter hours: Wednesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet.

Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

FERRARA PIZZA & PASTA 243 Paragon Parkway, Clyde.

828.476.5058. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 12 to 8 p.m. Real New Yorkers. Real Italians. Real Pizza. A full service authentic Italian pizzeria and restaurant from New York to the Blue Ridge. Dine in, take out, and delivery. Check out our daily lunch specials plus customer appreciation nights on Monday and Tuesday 5 to 9 p.m. with large cheese pizzas for $9.95.

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

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

Monday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley.

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

J. ARTHUR’S RESTAURANT AT MAGGIE VALLEY U.S. 19 in Maggie Valley. 828.926.1817.

Open for dinner at 4:30 to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round.

Children always welcome. Take-out menu.

Excellent service and hospitality.

Reservations appreciated.

WAYNESVILLE’S BEST BURGERS

tasteTHEmountains JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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

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

828.586.3555. Open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Sunday brunch 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Handtossed pizza, steak sandwiches, wraps, salads and desserts. All made from scratch.

Beer and wine. Free movies Thursday trought Saturday. Visit madbatterfoodfilm.com for this week’s shows.

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

828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine.

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

MOUNTAIN PERKS ESPRESSO BAR & CAFÉ 9 Depot St., Bryson City. 828.488.9561.

Open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. With music at the Depot. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Life is too short for bad coffee. We feature wonderful breakfast and lunch selections.

Bagels, wraps, soups, sandwiches, salads and quiche with a variety of specialty coffees, teas and smoothies. Various desserts.

PATIO BISTRO 30 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.454.0070. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Breakfast bagels and sandwiches, gourmet coffee, deli sandwiches for lunch with homemade soups, quiches, and desserts. Wide selection of wine and beer. Outdoor and indoor dining.

SAGEBRUSH STEAKHOUSE 1941 Champion Drive, Canton 828.646.3750 895 Russ Ave., Waynesville 828.452.5822. Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Carry out available.

Sagebrush features hand carved steaks,

Serving Lunch & Dinner at BearWaters Brewing 101 PARK ST. CANTON 828.492.1422 PIGEONRIVERGRILLE.COM

SMOKY MOUNTAIN SUB SHOP 29 Miller Street Waynesville 828.456.3400. Open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. A Waynesville tradition, the Smoky Mountain Sub Shop has been serving great food for over 20 years. Come in and enjoy the relaxed, casual atmosphere. Sub breads are baked fresh every morning in Waynesville. Using only the freshest ingredients in home-made soups, salads and sandwiches.

Real New Yorkers.

Real Italians. Real Pizza.

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

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

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

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

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

VITO’S PIZZA 607 Highlands Rd., Franklin.

828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998. Come to Franklin and enjoy our laid back place, a place you can sit back, relax and enjoy our 62” HDTV. Our Pizza dough, sauce, meatballs, and sausage are all made from scratch by Vito. The recipes have been in the family for 50 years (don't ask for the recipes cuz’ you won't get it!) Each Pizza is hand tossed and made with TLC. You're welcome to watch your pizza being created.

WAYNESVILLE PIZZA COMPANY 32 Felmet Street, Waynesville.

828.246.0927. Open Monday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday noon to 9 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Opened in May 2016, The Waynesville Pizza Company has earned a reputation for having the best hand-tossed pizza in the area. Featuring a custom bar with more than 20 beers and a rustic, family friendly dining room. Menu includes salads, burgers, wraps, hot and cold sandwiches, gourmet pizza, homemade desserts, and a loaded salad bar. The Cuban sandwich is considered by most to be the best in town.

MON.-SAT. 11 A.M.-8 P.M.

34 CHURCH ST. WAYNESVILLE 828.246.6505 Mtwitter.com/ChurchStDepot C facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot

Dine-In ~ Take Out ~ Delivery

An Authentic Italian Pizzeria & Restaurant from New York to the Blue Ridge.

Just to serve you!

Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Saturday 12 p.m.-10 p.m.

Closed Tues.

Sun. 12-9 p.m.

Sandwiches • Burgers • Wraps

NEW LOCATION OPEN! 499 Champion Dr Canton

NOW OPEN SUNDAYS NOON to 8 P.M. Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

243 Paragon Parkway | Clyde

32 Felmet Street

828-476-5058

(828) 246-0927

Country Vittles RESTAURANT

& GIFT SHOP

Featuring a Full Menu with Daily Specials

Smoky Mountain News

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley 828.926.0201 Home of the Maggie Valley Pizzeria. We deliver after 4 p.m. daily to all of Maggie Valley, J-Creek area, and Lake Junaluska. Monday through Wednesday: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. country buffet and salad bar from 5 to 9 p.m. $11.95 with Steve Whiddon on piano. Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11:30 to 8 p.m. 11:30 to 3 p.m. family style, fried chicken, ham, fried fish, salad bar, along with all the fixings, $11.95. Check out our events and menu at rendezvousmaggievalley.com

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

August 2-8, 2017

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

Serving the local community with great, scratch-made country cooking. Breakfast is served all day.

chicken and award winning BBQ ribs. We have fresh salads, seasonal vegetables and scrumptious deserts. Extensive selection of local craft beers and a full bar. Catering special events is one of our specialties.

PRIVATE DINING ROOM AVAILABLE FOR EVENTS Monday-Sunday 7:00-2:00pm Closed Tuesday

3589 SOCO RD. MAGGIE VALLEY

828.926.1820

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A&E

Smoky Mountain News

After 6.5 years in downtown Waynesville, Tipping Point Brewing closed its door last Saturday evening. Owner/brewmaster Jon Bowman (above) will reopen the brewery (under a different name) in Brevard in early October.

Finding a balance Tipping Point Brewing closes, new location set for Brevard

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER It’s 12:15 p.m. Sunday.

On a normal weekend, Tipping Point Brewing in downtown Waynesville would have been open for 45 minutes, its craft beer being poured to numerous local residents and summer tourists. But, this past Sunday, the front doors were locked, with owner/brewmaster Jon Bowman sitting inside. He watched as, oneby-one, confused people try to open the door, looking at their watches, looking around for an answer — one that Bowman holds.

“I never thought I’d be in this position,” he said candidly. “But, I am, and now I understand why this happens.”

What happened the previous night was a bombshell in the Haywood County culinary scene, and also the greater Western North Carolina craft beer industry. Late Saturday afternoon, just as downtown eased into another relaxing summer evening, Bowman turned off the “Open” sign in the front window and

gathered his entire staff. He stood before them and gave the news he’d been keeping to himself for the better part of a year.

“I said, ‘I know some of you haven’t known me that long, you may like or dislike me, but you might hate me in a few minutes,’” Bowman recalled. “About a year ago, I bought my partners out, and I immediately started looking for brewery spaces [in] Asheville, Brevard, Pisgah Forest.”

On the exact six-and-a-half-year anniversary of the Tipping Point opening, Bowman pulled the plug on the beloved brewery, a mainstay in Waynesville for social interaction and innovative craft beer. Bowman noted that plans are already in the works to open another, similar brewery just over the ridge and just down U.S. 276 in Brevard.

“I will say, it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Hands down,” Bowman said. “And everyone took it way better than I thought. I told all of [my employees] I will help do everything I can to get them jobs somewhere else.”

The news has created a ripple effect throughout the community and Haywood County, with as many questions being raised as answers being given by Bowman.

“I’m an avid [mountain biker] who doesn’t get to cycle,” Bowman said. “I’m making a lifestyle change, and getting out of the restau-

rant business. [My] passion is the beer. About three months ago, we found a spot I could not turn down [and] I signed the lease two months ago.”

Located in the Lumberyard Arts District of Brevard, within riding distance of DuPont State Forest (the city and forest both mountain biking meccas), the new (yet unnamed) brewery is expected to open in early October. There will be no food component, just a brewery with a large outdoor space. And Bowman is straightforward and blunt with his reasoning in shut-

ting down the Tipping Point. He simply wants out, of the food business, and also his current state of mind in Waynesville.

“Cycling — that’s my thing. Two to three times a week someone comes in here and says, ‘You been riding?’ And I say, ‘No, I just spent 12 hours in the kitchen, too tired to ride.’ I’m about to turn to 57, am [I] ever going to ride my bike again?” Bowman said. “I’m more excited about getting more into the beer than I am in missing this place. I’m more excited about the future than in retrospect. We don’t have the space to expand our brewery, I want to have a bigger brewery. And I want to get out of having a kitchen. It’s a no-brainer.”

But, what remains is an empty space — physically and emotionally — at one end of the thriving downtown that is Waynesville.

Though other spots of libation and social gatherings have popped up in recent years, the Tipping Point was, for many years, the first place where you went if you just moved to town and didn’t know a single soul, where you went on a first date, where you went to celebrate or to get over your sorrows, where you saw upand-coming musical acts (like 2014 IBMA “Entertainer of the Year” Balsam Range), where you laughed, maybe cried, maybe (finally) won a Wednesday trivia competition, or maybe stopped by for a drink when you came back through town after moving away.

And, regardless of distance, you kept coming back, through the same doors, sitting with those same faces, beverages hoisted high and in celebration of another great time with friends, family, and strangers soon to become fast friends. Though many in the community don’t expect the space to be empty long, the initial and ever-present memories of 6.5 years of the Tipping Point at the heart of downtown Waynesville are permanently soaked into the building’s walls and floors, like spilled beer into the unnoticed cracks of time.

“I’d like to thank all of our loyal customers for their support over the years,” Bowman said. “Thank you, [but] it’s time for me to move on.”

“I’m more excited about getting more into the beer than I am in missing this place. We don’t have the space to expand our brewery, I want to have a bigger brewery.

And I want to get out of having a kitchen.

It’s a no-brainer.”

— Jon Bowman, Tipping Point Brewing

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

Jerry Garcia. Baron Wolman photo

Friday, August 4th at 6:30 p.m.

The Path to Publication Q&A Saturday, August 5th at 3 p.m.

3 EAST JACKSON STREET • SYLVA

828/586-9499 • citylightsnc.com

Smoky Mountain News

HOT PICKS 1 2 3 4 5

Happy birthday, Captain Concerts on the Creek (Sylva) will host PMA Trips. (reggae/fusion) at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4.

On this day (Aug. 1) some 75 years ago, Jerome Garcia was born in San Francisco. You might Nantahala Brewing Company (Bryson City) will not recognize the name Jerome, host The Get Right Band (rock/soul) at 8 p.m. but a lightbulb may click on Saturday, Aug. 5. when you remember him by his Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will nickname: Jerry. host Brother Bluebird (Americana) at 7 p.m.

I was 9 years old the first Saturday, Aug. 12. time I ever heard about the mythical pop culture icon that The Waynesville VFW Post #5202 will host its was Jerry Garcia. Lead singer “Summer Jam” Aug. 12. Live music all day, and guitarist for The Grateful including McKenna (noon), Amos & The Mixx Dead, Garcia was a hero of mine (1 p.m.), Rebel Smoke (2 p.m.), Steel Creek as kid, still is, and probably in (3:30 p.m.) and John Wiggins (5:30 p.m.). many more ways than I could have realized. Sure, he had his Tunes on the Tuck (Bryson City) will host demons, of which led to his Grandpa’s Music (bluegrass/mountain) at 7 demise. But, what his 9.5 fingers p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5. brought to this world will forever be immortalized as some of the appeared to be everywhere thereafter. I most joyous and cosmic music to ever echo started to see the dancing bear and skull into our infinite universe. with the lightning bolt stickers on the back As a 9-year-old in 1994, I saw a dancing of all kinds of vehicles, with tye-dye shirts bear on the hat of my aunt’s boyfriend. It in seemingly every direction. was during a family dinner one summer I remember going to the now-defunct evening at my grandparent’s camp. He Ames Department Store in the next town brought me over to his old pickup truck over from my parent’s house on the and blasted some of the Dead. I was Canadian border of Upstate New York. entranced. And, it seemed, once I connectGrabbing a copy of “Skeletons In The ed with the Dead and their sound, they

Lawrence Thackston’s New Mystery Friday

August 2-8, 2017

‘We will get by, we will survive’

Bookstore

arts & entertainment

This must be the place

Closet,” it was all I listened to for the rest of that summer. I even asked for a couple of Dead tye-dyes for Christmas, which my parents got for me, to which the old-school French nuns at my Catholic elementary school stood in front of the classroom with a perplexed look when I walked through the door sporting them.

In high school, I got a poster of Jerry Garcia playing guitar at some long forgotten head shop in the nearest city, Plattsburgh.

That poster was on my bedroom door for years, at least until it got rolled up and brought with me to college in Connecticut.

Following graduation, the ragged poster, full of tack holes and ripped corners, was honorably retired to the attic of my parent’s barn, where it remains to this day, covered in cobwebs and dust, and fond memories, too.

The door of consciousness that Jerry & Co. kicked open in my head was only further expanded with the seminal novel On The Road by Jack Kerouac. So, you could imagine my overwhelming sense of pride and pursuit when I read how Garcia’s entire life’s mission was changed when he read On The Road. He looked at Kerouac the same way I did, as the voice of wanting something more, something different than whatever path we are told to walk. We wanted to create our own route. Kerouac was the words for me, with Garcia the soundtrack to my eternal quest in all that is irresponsible enlightenment.

In celebration of his 75th birthday, I threw some Dead tunes onto my stereo and tooled around YouTube, tracking down some clips of Garcia performing live. I felt this feeling of euphoria wash over me, the feeling that everything will be okay, just as long as you always believe in yourself, and also in helping others believe in themselves, too. That euphoric sensation when I listen to the Dead, and when I awaken in the world each morning, has held steady since that first time I heard their magic and power some 23 years ago. That sound of real freedom, of endless creativity and genuine compassion — it is as preserved in my subconscious as it is perpetuated in my daily interactions.

And while on YouTube, I came across an interview Garcia did with CBS “This Morning” in 1989. Interviewer Mark McEwen asked Garcia about what it means that the Dead are 24 years into their musical adventure (originating in 1965).

Garcia replied, with his trademark grin, “I see a large part of my life I’ve spent doing something, which has turned to be more fun than I thought it was going to be, and it’s lasted way longer than I imagined it might, and it’s taken me places that I would have never, ever of imagined. It’s hard to separate myself from the experience. After all, it is my life. For me, it’s 24 years of all kinds of stuff, like everybody goes through, life and death, kids growing up, and the Grateful Dead has been this one constant, continuous source during the whole thing. It’s a big chunk, you know? It stopped being a career or a band or even a family a long time ago. It’s gone way past that by now…”

True that, my brother. True that.

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

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On the beat arts & entertainment

Americana at Marianna

At Haywood Community College, you can do more than sit in a classroom all day.

As part of its “Summer Music Series,” the Marianna Black Library presents an evening of southern roots music from Frank Lee at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the library in Bryson City.

A professional musician, visual artist, and instructor, Lee’s passion for traditional music of the rural south has entertained audiences for almost 30 years. As a founding member of The Freight Hoppers (based out of Bryson City), he has shared this passion with audiences all over the United States and Canada as well as much of northern Europe. He presents a range of old-time music that spans from raw blues from the Mississippi Delta to the hillbilly music recorded in the South in the 1920s.

Lee’s distinctive arrangements of this mostly forgotten music represent the earliest recorded sources of Southern blues and oldtime tunes. With a traditional clawhammer banjo style and a combination of finger-picking and slide guitar, Lee weaves together the common elements between raw country

Frank Lee will play Bryson City on Aug. 10.

blues and old-time tunes, ballads, and spirituals.

This program is free and open to area residents and visitors. Plus, snacks and refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Marianna Black Library.

The library is located in downtown Bryson City at the corner of Academy and Rector. For more information or driving directions, call the library at 828.488.3030 or visit www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

August 2-8, 2017

‘An Appalachian Evening’ STUDENT GOVERNMENT

FALL REGISTRATION

The “An Appalachian Evening” summer concert series will continue with The Bankesters at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Stecoah Valley Center.

The annual bluegrass/mountain music series will also feature The Freight Hoppers (Aug. 12), The Jeff Little Trio (Aug. 19) and The Kruger Brothers (Aug. 26).

Tickets for The Bankesters performance are $15 for adults, students and grades K-12 $10. Tickets are a pre-show dinner are also available for purchase. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

Smoky Mountain News

ENDS THIS FRIDAY.

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NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED!

haywood.edu/registration 828.627.4500 Shenandoah rolls into Franklin Legendary country act Shenandoah will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

Fueled by Marty Raybon’s distinctive

vocals and the band’s skilled musicianship, Shenandoah became well known for delivering such hits as “Two Dozen Roses,” “Church on Cumberland Road” and “Next to You, Next to Me” as well as such achingly beautiful classics as “I Want to be Loved Like That” and the Grammy winning “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart” duet with Alison Krauss.

Today, that legacy continues as original members Raybon and Mike McGuire reunite to launch a new chapter in Shenandoah’s storied career.

“We are really proud of the quality of the material that we have in our catalog and how it’s touched so many people’s lives,” McGuire said. “As far as the future goes, I’m expecting more of the same.”

Tickets start at $24. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 866.273.4615 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com.

On the beat

Lake Junaluska will host two concerts during the first weekend of August at the historic Stuart Auditorium. The Lake Junaluska Singers will give their final concert of the summer on Friday, Aug. 4, with two Broadway stars to hit the stage on Saturday, Aug. 5.

Everyone is invited to attend the two concerts. The concerts are taking place in part to celebrate the annual gathering of the Lake Junaluska Associates, an organization that provides volunteers, financial support and promotion for the programs and facilities at Lake Junaluska.

“Over the last 49 years the Lake Junaluska Associates have contributed $3.5 million to support the capital improvement and mission of Lake Junaluska,” said Jack Ewing, executive director of Lake Junaluska.

“The annual gathering of this amazing group of generous people who love the lake is a highlight of the year for us.”

Each August the Lake Junaluska Associates meet to catch up on group business, honor their members and be in fellowship. Concerts have always been a mainstay of the weekend — especially the Lake Junaluska Singers concert — because many members of the Lake Junaluska Associates

Continuous Overnight Monitoring by Veterinarians and Nurses

biggest shows in Broadway history, including Into the Woods, The Phantom of the Opera and The Scarlet Pimpernel, while Sarah Pfisterer has appeared in over 1,000 performances as Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera as well as a successful turn as Magnolia in Showboat.

According to Chandler, their concert will feature a wide spectrum of music from Broadway’s golden era.

“The unique and special thing about Broadway songs is that they take you on a journey,” Chandler said. “They’re like little playlettes within themselves, and we hope people will leave feeling uplifted by the music of Broadway.”

General admission tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at www.lakejunaluska.com/concerts or at the Bethea Welcome Center.

Smoky Mountain News

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The Lake Junaluska Singers will perform on Aug. 4 at Stuart Auditorium.

August 2-8, 2017

Serving all of WNC

support the Singers through charitable gifts and volunteering.

“The Lake Junaluska Singers will present their final concert of the summer season during the August Concert Weekend,” said Mary Huff, interim director of the Lake Junaluska Singers. “It will round out a stellar season of diverse and artistically challenging music by this top-notch group of young people.”

The Aug. 4 concert featuring the Lake Junaluska Singers continues that pattern of musical diversity by featuring everything from newly-composed sacred anthems to traditional gospel music and spirituals to opera and Broadway gems.

The Singers won’t be the only ones singing a few Broadway tunes. Broadway singers Nat Chandler and Sarah Pfisterer will take on some of Broadway’s most beloved tunes on Aug. 5.

“Every year the Lake Junaluska Associates schedule some amazing entertainment in addition to the Singers,” Ewing said. “This year’s concert featuring Nat chandler and Sarah Pfisterer is no different.

It should be fantastic.”

Nat Chandler has worked both nationally and internationally on some of the

arts & entertainment

Lake Junaluska Singers, Broadway stars

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arts & entertainment

On the beat • Andrews Brewing Company (Andrews) will host Troy Underwood (singer-songwriter) Aug. 11 and Megan Saunders & The Driftless (Americana) Aug. 12. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. There will also be a “Bluegrass Jam with Heidi” at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

• Bogart’s Restaurant & Tavern (Waynesville) will host Bull Moose Party (bluegrass) Aug. 3 and Carolina Blue (bluegrass) Aug. 10. All shows are free and begin at 6:30 p.m.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Speakeasy Night with The 9th Street Stompers (gypsy jazz, $50 per person fourcourse dinner) Aug. 4, Joe Cruz (piano/pop) Aug. 5 and 11, and Jacob Johnson (Americana, $29.99 per person four-course dinner) Aug. 12. All shows are free (unless otherwise noted) and begin at 7 p.m.

828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

ALSO:

• Concerts on the Creek (Sylva) will host PMA (reggae/fusion) Aug. 4 and Tuxedo Junction (classic rock) Aug. 11 in Bridge Park. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m.

828.586.2155 or www.mountainlovers.com.

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host the “Flashback to the 80s” on Aug. 5. Shows are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. www.curraheebrew.com.

• The Cut Cocktail Lounge (Sylva) will host an open mic night at 8 p.m. on Mondays. All welcome. 828.631.4795.

• Groovin’ on the Green (Cashiers) will host The Jackson Taylor Band (rock/blues) Aug. 4 and High 5 (rock) Aug. 11 at The Village Green. All shows are free and begin at 6:30 p.m. www.visitcashiersvalley.com.

• Guadalupe Café (Sylva) will host Folks’ Songs (world/fusion) from 7 to 9 p.m. on Fridays. Free.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night Aug. 2 and 9, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo Aug. 3 and 10. All events are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Nick Prestia & The Upbeats Aug. 4, Andalyn (rock/country) Aug. 5 and Shane Davis Aug. 11. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m.

828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Music on the River (Cherokee) will host AM Superstars (alternative) Aug. 4, Will Hayes Band (country/rock) Aug. 5, Eastern Blues Band (jazz/blues) Aug. 11 and Stereospread (techno) Aug. 12 on the Oconaluftee River Stage. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.visitcherokeenc.com.

• Nantahala Brewing Company (Bryson City) will host Shane Meade & The Sound (rock/fusion) Aug. 4, The Get Right Band (rock/soul) Aug. 5 and Urban Soil (world/rock) Aug. 11. All shows are free and at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.nantahalabrewing.com.

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

828.488.8898.

• The Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will The Bayou Diesel Band (Cajun/Americana) Aug. 12. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. www.noc.com.

• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will host Mountain Dulcimer Group (bluegrass) Aug. 4 and Southern Highlands (Americana/bluegrass) Aug. 11. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. www.highlandschamber.org.

• No Name Sports Pub (Sylva) will host Jonny Monster Band (rock/blues) Aug. 4, Sultry Sirens Variatease Spectacular (cabaret/burlesque, $2) Aug. 5, Karaoke with Chris Monteith Aug. 11 and Tinderbox Circus

Smoky Mountain News

August 2-8, 2017

• Concerts on the Square (Hayesville) will host Modern Vinyl (rock) Aug. 4. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.cccra-nc.org.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Good Direction Aug. 4. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.froglevelbrewing.com.

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Bryson City community jam A community music jam will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer, anything unplugged, are invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen. The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of Grampa’s Music in Bryson City.

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 — year-round. 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.

Sideshow (lo-fi) Aug. 12. All shows are free and begin at 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.nonamesportspub.com.

• The Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Cherokee) will host a back porch old-time music jam from 1 to 3 p.m. Aug. 5. All are welcome to come play or simply sit and listen to sounds of Southern Appalachia.

• Pickin’ in the Park (Canton) will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 4 and 11 at the Recreation Park.

Free and open to the public. www.cantonnc.com.

• Pickin’ on the Square (Franklin) will host Johnny Webb Band (country) Aug. 5 and Tom Floyd Band (rock/variety) Aug. 12. All shows are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. www.townoffranklinnc.com.

• Pub 319 (Waynesville) will host an open mic night from 8 to 11 p.m. on Wednesday with

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic with Susan at 6 p.m. on Thursdays and live music on Friday evenings. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com.

• Saturdays on Pine (Highlands) will host PMA (reggae/rock) Aug. 5 and Fish Out of Water Aug. 12. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. www.highlandschamber.org.

• Sneak E Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) will host line dancing every Friday at 7 p.m. and contra dancing every other Friday at 8 p.m.

828.586.6440.

• Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host Andy Ferrell (singer-songwriter) Aug. 5 and Brother Bluebird (Americana) Aug. 12. All shows begin at 7 p.m.

828.586.1717.

• Southern Porch (Canton) will host Stone Crazy Band (classic rock) from 7 to 9 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 4. 828.492.8006 or www.southern-porch.com.

• The Strand at 38 Main (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic” night from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. 828.283.0079 or www.38main.com.

• Tunes on the Tuck (Bryson City) will host Grandpa’s Music (bluegrass/mountain) Aug. 5 and Boogertown Gap (Americana/Celtic) Aug. 12 at Riverfront Park. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com.

• Waynesville Pizza Company will have an open mic night at 7 p.m. Aug. 7. Free and open to the public. 828.246.0927 or www.waynesvillepizza.com.

• The Waynesville VFW Post #5202 will host its “Summer Jam” Aug. 12. Live music all day, including McKenna (noon), Amos & The Mixx (1 p.m.), Rebel Smoke (2 p.m.), Steel Creek (3:30 p.m.) and John Wiggins (5:30 p.m.). Donations accepted to assist local veterans.

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August 2-8, 2017

The “Songwriters in the Round” series 1992, Womack become known for his long will host David Olney, Scott Miller and working relationship with Will Kimbrough, Tommy Womack starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, starting with their bands the bis-quits (who made one classic album for John Prine’s Oh Aug. 12, at Balsam Mountain Inn. Master craftsman, acclaimed singer/song- Boy label in 1993), and their band Daddy, writer and globe-trotting performer, Olney who have made two albums and enjoy a cult has released more than 20 albums over four following.

Since 1998, Womack has released seven decades, including six live recordings. His music has been prominently featured in ABC- solo albums, the latest being the brand-new TV’s “Nashville” and his stellar songs have been recorded by David Olney.

Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Del McCoury, Tim O’Brien and Steve Young, among many others.

Miller came into the national spotlight in the mid-1990s as leader of the Knoxville-based band The V-Roys; signed and produced

by Steve Earle for his E-Squared label. After releasing two critically acclaimed albums, The V-Roys disbanded. Miller then signed to Sugar Hill Records and released several highly praised recordings with his new backing band, The Commonwealth. Most recently he has recorded and released music through his “Namaste.” He looks forward to the back half of 2016 with new songs from that record to own F.A.Y. Records label.

For his newest album, “Big Big World,” play, in addition to such proven past showMiller tapped Nashville guitarist and produc- stoppers as “Nice Day,” “Vicky Smith Blues” er Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin, John Hiatt). and “Alpha Male & the Canine Mystery Blood.”

The Balsam Mountain Inn began its Miller’s avid fans will realize the title phrase points to the artist’s new musical horizons, Songwriters in the Round series 20 years ago, stretching beyond any of his previous works and modeled it after similar performances at and reflecting his significant growth as a Nashville’s Bluebird Café. Balsam’s performers are most often the Nashville-area songsongwriter.

Singer-songwriter, author, humorist and writers who pen lyrics performed by country Kentucky native, Womack got his start in and western stars. Many performances fea1985 to 1992 with legendary Bowling Green ture Grammy and CMA award winners, and based post-punk and college radio faves, all include writers of many top-ranked songs.

A buffet dinner is included in the $49.50 Government Cheese (who’s story is immortalized in Womack’s cult classic book Cheese price. To purchase tickets, call 828.456.9498 Chronicles). Upon moving to Nashville in or www.balsammountaininn.net.

arts & entertainment

‘Songwriters in the Round’

. . . e l z z u P a s ’ e Lif

Smoky Mountain News

SYLVA BOOGIES ON Popular Jackson County reggae/rock act Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) will perform during Concerts on the Creek at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, in downtown Sylva. The event is free and open to the public. www.facebook.com/oldirtybathtub.

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Sarge’s Dog Walk The 12th annual Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation “Dog Walk” will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville.

The fundraiser, supporting the homeless dogs and cats of Haywood County, is a much-loved community event, bringing hundreds of dogs and their families to walk on Waynesville’s Main Street. The 9 a.m. start time is one hour earlier than past years to beat the heat for the safety of the dogs and their humans. Registration begins at 8 a.m.

The Downtown Dog Walk is one of Sarge’s biggest fundraisers of the year. The scene is a wonderful blend of tail wagging and smiles, as dogs and their humans congregate on the courthouse lawn before the walk.

“This event is not only a fun time for all — it gives the community an opportunity to be a part of helping with the medical costs, supplies, food, boarding, fostering and transporting animals to find their forever homes,” said Felisha Yon, co-chairman of the event.

The Sarge’s Downtown Dog Walk begins and ends at the Haywood County

Courthouse on Main Street in Waynesville.

Following dog walk, there will be contests, including best-dressed dog, best dog trick and best tail-wagging dog.

Registration forms will be available soon at www.sargeanimals.org. There is a $15 fee for each dog walking in the event. This fee includes a dog walk goody bag and dog bandana.

Registration forms also include a Partner’s Pledge Form to allow walkers to gather donations from friends and family.

There will be prizes for people collecting the most money with their teams on the Partner Pledge form. Anyone who collects at least $20 in donations will receive a free official Sarge’s Dog Walk T-shirt.

The official 2017 Downtown Dog Walk T-shirt will be available for $15 for adults and $10 for children. The T-shirts will also be on sale at pre-registration and at the dog walk.

“If you can’t join in that day, you can still help, Yon said. “Sign up to be a virtual walker. Sponsor a Sarge’s foster dog for $15 and a volunteer will walk a foster dog for you.

What a treat for a foster dog to be able to join the fun.”

For information on Sarge’s work to save dogs and cats in Haywood County, visit www.sargeanimals.org, “Like” on Sarge’s Facebook page or call 828.246.9050.

Smoky Mountain News

August 2-8, 2017

arts & entertainment

On the street

Macon Aero Modelers Club

The Macon Aero Modelers Club will be having its annual radio control fly-in fundraiser during “Model Aviation Day” on Saturday, Aug. 12, at the club’s flying field in Otto. The event is to support the Macon County School’s Robotics Team.

Every summer the club picks out a worthy group to support with the proceeds from the day. This year, the flying club is being SMART: (Smoky Mountain Area Robotics Team). The event will not only support the student Robotics program in Macon County, but will also offer the public the opportunity to learn more about radio control aircraft.

Gates open at 10 a.m. and from then till 4 p.m. there will be demonstrations and flying of R/C airplanes, jets, drones and helicopters.

There will be large scale aircraft which are about 25 percent of the size of real airplanes.

At noon, there will be special demonstrations of 3D (aerobatic) helicopters, turbine

powered jets, and a 50 percent scale Yak 54 airplane. Throughout the day there will be flying of scale model war birds, civilian and military aircraft, and the opportunity for those who are interested, to fly airplanes on dual controls with an instructor pilot.

Spectators will also have the opportunity to fly radio control aircraft on simulators.

There will be barbecue plates and hot dogs for sale along with soft drinks. Entry fee is $5 per car. In case of bad weather, the fly-in will be rescheduled for Saturday, Aug. 19, with the same schedule of events.

The Macon Aero Modelers Flying Field is on U.S. 441 South of Franklin, at Otto. At the Otto Fire Department and Post Office, take a left — if going south and if going north a right — onto Tessentee Road. The field is a half-mile from the bridge on Tessentee Road on the left. There will be directional signs along the route.

• The Habitat for Humanity’s shrimp boil fundraiser will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at Holly Springs Baptist Church in Franklin. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for ages 5-11, and free under 5. Tickets can be purchased at Habitat’s Franklin and Sylva ReStores or at the door. Proceeds support Habitat’s mission to build & repair homes in Western North Carolina. 828.369.3716.

• There will be a free wine tasting from 1 to 5 p.m. Aug. 5 and 12 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 828.452.0120.

ALSO:

Banjo legend Raymond Fairchild.

Elevated Mountain grand opening

The “Grand Opening” celebration for Elevated Mountain Distilling Co. will be Friday, Aug. 11, at its facility in Maggie Valley.

There will be a meet-and-greet with Bluegrass Hall of Fame banjo legend Raymond Fairchild from 3 to 4 p.m. The ribbon cutting with be at 4 p.m. Live music will be provided from Shellem Cline at 6 p.m. and The Darren Nicholson Band at 7 p.m. The Blue Ridge BBQ food truck will be onsite from 4 to 9 p.m. Free giveaways, games, and more. Bring lawn chairs.

828.944.0766 or www.elevatedmountain.com.

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• Sneak E Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) will host the Jackson County Corn Hole Association on Monday evenings ($5 buy in, 100-percent payout), Karaoke with Captain Moose from 7 to 11 p.m. on Tuesdays, Trivia at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and a Guitar Hero Tournament at 7 p.m. on Thursdays. 828.586.6440.

• “The Wizard of Oz” train will depart at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. July 28-30 at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot in Bryson City. For tickets, visit www.gsmr.com.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Aug. 5 and 12 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. www.papouswineshop.com or 828.631.3075.

• Free cooking demonstrations will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays at Country Traditions in Dillsboro. Watch the demonstrations, eat samples and taste house wines for $3 a glass. All recipes posted online. www.countrytraditionsnc.com.

• The Cherokee Bonfire & Storytelling will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 28 at the Oconaluftee Islands Park. 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. www.visitcherokeenc.com.

On the street

The Vintage Street Rodders of America (VSRA) will return for the second annual “Smokin’ Rodz in the Smokies” car show from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 11-12 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.

A kick-off party for Smokin’ Rodz is slated at the nearby “Wheels Through Time Museum” on Thursday afternoon from 5 to 7 p.m. There will be a free cook-out for all registered car owners and vendors at the museum that will include free tours.

Dale Walksler, museum owner and star of the “What’s in the Barn” Velocity Channel TV series, will also be there for a meet and greet.

Inside the 40,000-square-foot museum you will view one of the world’s most extensive collections of antique motorcycles and parts including more than 350 bikes dating back to the early 1900s. For good measure, Walksler has thrown in a collection of one-of-a-kind collector and antique cars.

An added celebrity this year will be expert mechanic Sam Memmolo, host of “Two Guys Garage,” “Shade Tree Mechanic” and “Sam’s Garage.” Memmolo will be at the show both days to meet and greet participants as well as conducting an auto electrical seminar.

arts & entertainment

Street Rodders return to Maggie

Franklin barbecue festival Following Friday’s show, there will be a cruise to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort just 16 miles away. As for the Smokin’ Rodz show itself, you can expect more than 100 gorgeous street rods from North Carolina as well as several surrounding states and as far away as Michigan and Florida. Auto parts, a swap meet, crafts, food, T-shirts and other memorabilia will also be for sale on the Festival Grounds at 3374 Soco Road in the heart of scenic Maggie Valley.

Vehicle registration for Smokin’ Rodz is $20 for VSRA members and $30 for non-

members through Aug. 2. Afterwards it’s $30 and $40. Spectator admission is $5 with children under 12 admitted free. Checks made payable to VSRA should be mailed to VSRA, 1024 Mitchell Road, Kingsport, Tennessee, 37663. Host hotel will be the Maggie Valley Inn and Convention Center with special VSRA rates available.

For more information or entry forms visit www.vsra-usa.com or contact VSRA President Jim Bledsoe at 423.571.6430 or streetrod34coupe@yahoo.com. www.visitncsmokies.com.

The ninth annual Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show will be Aug. 1112 at the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center in Franklin.

KCBS Sanctioned BBQ Cookoff for Backyard and Professional teams.

Barbecue vendors will be on the premises to sell great tasting barbecue. Food vendors, crafters, cooking demonstrations and a car show will round out the exciting features of the festival.

For more information and full schedule of events, visit www.mountainhighbbqfestival.com or call 828.524.3161.

August 2-8, 2017

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Smoky Mountain News

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arts & entertainment

On the wall

Jackson County pastel painting The “Creating Art at the Homestead” art workshop will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, in the Tuckasegee Valley.

Facilitated by artist Doreyl Ammons Cain, you will learn the basics of composi-

August 2-8, 2017

• Acclaimed Bryson City painter Elizabeth Ellison’s newest exhibit, “Spirit of Place,” will run through Sept. 4 at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. Exhibit support is provided by The North Carolina Arboretum Society and Smoky Mountain Living magazine. www.smliv.com.

• “Paint Nite Waynesville” will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays (Aug. 3 and 17) at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. Sign up for either event on the Paint Night Waynesville Facebook page (search event: Brush N. Brew) or call Robin Smathers at 828.400.9560. paintnitewaynesville@gmail.com.

Work with metal in Dillsboro

Smoky Mountain News

An “Armor Construction: Spaulders Class” with Brock Martin of WarFire Forge will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 5-6.

Students will learn dishing vs. raising techniques as they are introduced to the fundamental shaping of armor. Fluting and planishing will be explained as well. Basic tools necessary for armor work will be provided and discussed for those interested in pursuing the craft beyond the course.

Leatherwork, riveting, and various accents will be shown and practiced. Students will produce a complete pair of spaulders, wearable to their person. No prior experience required. Cost is $265, materials included.

There will be a “War-Hammer Making Class” with Brock Martin of WarFire Forge from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 12-13 at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro.

In this course, students will be working 30 out a war-hammer from a block of harden-

tion, perspective, color theory and painting spontaneously at this outside painting art workshop. The location is in the Tuckasegee Valley on a farm homestead with a river view, mountains all around, a waterfall and structures from the early days of settling the mountains.

Directions will be supplied to those who reserve their workshop space.

Beginners, those who would like to try their hand at painting with pastels and experienced artists are welcome. All materials are furnished, along with a healthy snack. Contact Doreyl Ammons Cain for reservations at 828.293.2239 or on Facebook. Contact soon as there is a limit of 10 students.

• There will be a “Thursday Painters Open Studio” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at the Franklin Uptown Gallery. Bring a bag lunch, project and supplies. Free to the public. Membership not required. For information, call 828.349.4607.

• A “Youth Art Class” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon every Saturday at the Appalachian Art Farm on 22 Morris Street in Sylva. All ages welcome. $10 includes instruction, materials and snack. appalachianartfarm@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.

ALSO:

Brock Martin.

able steel. Students will work together as well as with instructors to complete their hammer. Expect to learn about metallurgy, misconceptions associated with the art, and how to develop proper technique. After heat treating, tempering, and assembling their hammers, students will test them on a series of unfortunate objects. No experience is necessary. Cost is $315 (materials included), which is due at registration.

Students must wear closed toe shoes (preferably leather), long pants, and cotton

Mortgage agreement fulfilled

Forty-one years have gone into making Dogwood Crafters Cooperative of Dillsboro the successful business it is today. And the coop will set fire to their mortgage agreement from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the 11room shop.

With this completion, Dogwood Crafter’s Cooperative demonstrates their time-honored willingness to cooperate with one another, to make a plan and stick to it, and to do what it takes to accomplish a dream.

“When we opened our doors in 1976, crafts were considered not to be very important,” says Brenda Anders, president of the co-op. “And to some that notion still stands.

Dogwood’s goal is, and has always been, to keep the craft and talent of our parents, grandparents alive and well. We sell items that people living within 175 radius miles of Jackson County have made in their home. By having a crafter’s membership in Dogwood, and with the volunteer staff of our 20 percent

crafters here in the shop to sell those crafts, members are allowed to stay home, produce crafts, have full time jobs, and supplement their retirement checks. Looking to the future, we also offer free classes taught by our crafters every month to those who are interested in learning.”

A second reason to celebrate is to introduce to the public an addition to the landscaping. Mary Nolan was a member of Dogwood for almost 38 years, and with her passing, the cooperative wanted to commemorate her involvement with Dogwood by creating “Mary’s Garden.” The garden is located just to the left of the building.

The cooperative certainly had a great deal of help in accomplishing their goals and during the celebration those people will be recognized. There will also be the well-known hot dogs by John Faulk and Dogwood’s famous homemade cookies.

For more information, call 828.506.8331.

clothing, and should bring a lunch. To register, call 828.631.0271 or visit www.jcgep.org.

Shelton House Crafter Showcase

Eclipse photography at Sylva library

The Shelton House will host the third installment of its “Crafter Showcase Spotlight” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at the Shelton House Barn in Waynesville.

This month’s presenter will be Sage Morgan, an up and coming star in the world of pottery. Originally from California, Morgan came to Haywood County to attend Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program.

Morgan is highly inspired by nature.

Her art reflects this love of nature with clean lines and high contrasts glazes.

Morgan will be demonstrating and discussing her background, inspirations, and techniques on Saturday and will also be offering her pieces for sale at the Shelton House all summer long.

Admission is free and refreshments and appetizers will be served at the event.

828.452.1551 or info@sheltonhouse.org.

The Jackson County Public Library will host a Solar Eclipse informational session at 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Community Room in Sylva.

Retired Western Carolina University professor and photographer Roger Bacon will lead a discussion about the history and science of Solar Eclipses, Solar Eclipse safety, and techniques for photographing the Eclipse, which will be Monday, Aug. 21.

This program is free and open to the public. The event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. For more information, call the library at 828.586.2016. The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org).

On the wall

Waynesville’s ‘Art After Dark’

A pottery piece by Michael Lalone.

Adults $24 Seniors $22 Students $11

The next “Art After Dark” will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, in downtown Waynesville.

Each first Friday of the month (MayDecember), Main Street transforms into an evening of art, music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors.

Participants include Burr Studio, Cedar Hill Studios, Earthworks Gallery, Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery & Gifts, The Jeweler’s Workbench, Moose

Crossing Burl Wood Gallery, T. Pennington Art Gallery, Twigs and Leaves Gallery and The Village Framer.

The HCAC will host their annual “ArtShare” show, displaying donated art from collectors that’s available for purchase. Twigs and Leaves welcomes potter Michael Lalone, who will be hosting a live demonstration. Jewelry maker Ginger Meek-Allen will be at The Jeweler’s Workbench.

It is free to attend “Art After Dark.” www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.

On the stage Shakespeare at HART

• Elvis and Jeff Foxworthy impersonators will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville.

Stewart Chapman (Elvis) and Jamie Simpson (Jeff Foxworthy) will entertain audiences with their unique brand of impersonation. Tickets are $25. The event will also serve as a fundraiser for the Star Ranch Horse Rescue. 828.548.0778 or www.38main.com.

ALSO:

Love and loss, before Facebook p.m. Aug. 13 and 20 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

When her mother, Elaine, passed away a

*Special $16 tickets for all Adults on Thursday, August 10.

Special $8 Tickets for all Students on Thursdays & Sundays.

The Performing Arts Center at the Shelton House 250 Pigeon St. in Waynesville, NC

For More Information and Tickets:

828-456-6322 | www.harttheatre.org This project was supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Smoky Mountain News

few years ago, Lyn Donley discovered to her surprise a stash of love letters — but not from her father. These were from a wide variety of fantastic men that were all in love with Elaine revealing a whole new side to the woman she knew. In the production, Donley will be acting out the story alongside C.J. Deering.

Tickets are $10. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 828.456.6322 or visit www.harttheatre.org.

A stage production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Nights Dream” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4-5, 10-11, 17-19 and at 2 p.m. Aug. 6, 13 and 20 in the Fangmeyer Theater at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

The show is being staged in a way that will bring the outside in, plunging you into the forest as Demetrius, Lysander, Helena and Hermia get lost and the fair Puck makes mischief.

Tickets are $25.68 per person. For tickets, call 828.452.6322 or visit www.harttheatre.org.

The stage production of “The Loves of Elaine” will return to the Feichter Studio at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 11-12 and 18-19 and at 2

August 4, 5, 10,* 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 at 7:30 pm August 6, 13, 20 at 2:00 pm

August 2-8, 2017

The Sylva Photo Club will be presenting “The Study of Light in Photography” by Tony Wu on at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, in the Cullowhee Methodist Church on the Western Carolina University campus.

Photography’s medium is light, and all photographers must use light to create photographs. Light can be hard or soft; direct or indirect; warm or cool; and/or from any direction. Wu will define and identify light in all its forms, and how to use it to create the image and mood you desire. Studying light is the very essence of any photograph and to understand it will help you create better photographs. This is Part One of a two part series.

Part Two is “The Application and Control of Light” and will be presented at a later date.

Wu is a retired professional photographer from Colorado where he had a studio for 14 years specializing in portraits, weddings, commercial and restoration photography. He was past president of the Professional Photographers of Colorado, and has been published in regional newspapers along with the Rangefinder Magazine. He is the founder of the Sylva Photo Club and teaches photography locally.

Share and tell will follow with the theme of “Old, Antique or Abandoned.” Download on a USB any pictures you would like to share. Cost for this program on Aug. 12 is $5 donation for guests (applied to membership for this year).

Annual membership to the Sylva Photo Club is a $20 donation, $10 for students. sylvaphotoclub.wordpress.com, Facebook at “Sylva Photo Club” or sylvaphotoclub@gmail.com.

arts & entertainment

‘The Study of Light in Photography’

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Books

Smoky Mountain News

Searching for the 60s f you are one of those people who thinks that the 1960s hippie culture was only about sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll, then think again, as you need to read Danny Goldberg’s new book In Search of the Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea. Written by someone who was of age and who was there and a participating observer in 1967 at the height of “The Hip Era,” Goldberg has finally given the American Writer public a truly accurate subjective account of the cultural revolution that went on during the 1960s.

As someone who also was there and who embraced the hippie culture during the 1960s and early 1970s, my reading of Goldberg’s book is that it is spot on. It’s not glorified and nostalgic, and certainly not condescending and dismissive as most books written on the 1960s subculture are these days.

Written in clear congenial prose and in a very orderly and organized fashion with great informative and entertaining detail, Goldberg puts his readers through the paces of the various aspects of the 1960s cultural renaissance/revolution and beyond. Starting in 1966 with the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco followed by chapters on the Media, the Music, Mind and Body Consciousness, the Black Power Movement, the Flower Power and Peace Movements, the Psychedelic Revolution, the Viet Nam War, the Yippie movement, the eventual “Death of Hippie” downfall, then an epilogue summary of where things went right and where things went wrong, Goldberg presents us with nothing less than a college course on the 1960s cultural revolution from a perspective which is both personal and highly researched, including a timeline of key events and news for that

Thomas Crowe

I

tions with many of the stars of the 60s counterculture he elucidates the issues and the ironies inherent in that decade beginning with a manifesto from the premiere counterculture newspaper, the Oracle, stating “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for people to cease obeying obsolete social patterns which have isolated man from his consciousness … we the citizens of the earth declare our love and compassion for all hatecarrying men and women.”

The book’s narrative continues with a quote from Allen Ginsberg who says about the Berkeley BE-IN, which more or less launched the hippie movement: “a gathering together of younger people aware of the planetary fate that we are all sitting in the middle of, imbued with a new consciousness, and desiring of a new kind of society involving prayer, music, and spiritual life together rather than competition, acquisition, and war.”

Meanwhile, on the east coast poet-musician Ed Sanders is quoted in the East Village Other In Search of the Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea (New York’s truly liberal

by Danny Goldberg. Akashic Books, 2017. 336 pages newspaper at the time) as saying: “… a generation that fervently believes that important and in previous books written about the various long-lasting changes will occur in the United aspects of the 60s. Goldberg has done his States which would bring free medical care to research and alongside his personal associaera at the end of his book.

Yes, this book is full of the usual suspects, but it is a far cry from the same ole same ole

all … plus an end to war and the growth of personal freedom and good vibes.” And in the July 1967 issue of Time magazine the lead article stated that “Hippies preach altruism and mysticism, honesty, joy, and nonviolence … Their professed aim is nothing less than the subversion of Western society by ‘flower power’ and the force of example.”

With these quotes as a prelude and a foundation for the rest of his book, Goldberg cites Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, Aldous Huxley, Gautama Buddha and St. Francis as models and mentors from the past for the hippie generation. A generation that he describes as one that revealed the exhaustion of a tradition of Western, productiondirected, problem-solving, goal-oriented and compulsive way of thinking. At the time of the now famous quote created by LSD guru Timothy Leary of “turn on, tune in, and drop out,” Goldberg quotes University of Chicago theologian Martin E. Marty saying “In the end it may be that hippies have not so much dropped out of American society as given it something to think about.” But there was another form of communication in 1967 that touched most of us baby boomers more deeply than all of the underground and mainstream papers and TV shows put together, and it usually involved a guitar.

Having worked inside the music industry for almost four decades (1969-2004), Goldberg gives us a backstage pass to the 60s music scene and its countercultural history.

We get to be witness to everything from underground radio to the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco and the West Coast psychedelic rock explosion … to the Monterey Pop Festival and the Los Angeles bands … to the folk and rock scene in Greenwich Village in New York … to London and the famous UFO club and, of course, the Beatles.

It’s all there, including great behind-thescenes stories about the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver

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Powell’s take on marriage

New mystery novel

‘My Mountain Heroes’

Author Mark Powell will present his work Small Treasons at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

With writing that is both devastating and tender, Powell brings his acclaimed eye to an American marriage on the verge of rupture, spinning an all-too-current tale of the world we live in and the world we fear — and how we may not be able to tell the two apart.

Ron Rash said of Small Treasons, “A beautifully written, disturbing portrait of Americans searching for meaning in a violent, fragmented world. What a marvelous novel.”

Powell is the author of four previous novels. In 2009 he won the Chaffin Award for contributions to Appalachian literature. He lives in the mountains of North Carolina where he teaches at Appalachian State University in Boone. www.citylightsnc.com or 828.586.9499.

Award-winning author Lawrence Thackston will present his new mystery-thriller at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Set in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Carolina Cruel is a Southern tale of race, politics, crime, and corruption in which two reporters will make startling connections between an executed mass murderer, the fallout from the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre and the hanging of one of the state’s most prominent citizens. And in their search for answers, they will discover a cruelty so devastating; it will change countless lives forever.

Thackston, author of Tidal Pools, and The Devil’s Courthouse, once again, brings his unique brand of page-turning suspense to the world of crime fiction.

To reserve copies, call 828.586.9499.

Author Matthew Baker will present his work My Mountain Heroes at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

The book, My Mountain Heroes, is the culmination of regional author Baker’s journey through Macon County, documenting the life stories of many of Macon County’s senior citizens. Baker found that, while searching for a good story, he just couldn’t lay down his pen.

He kept visiting until he became close friends with the wonderful people featured in his new book.

It was a race against time, to meet and document the lives of Macon County’s seniors from the Greatest Generation. Baker’s friends experienced the Great Depression and WWII and lived to tell their stories. Their strength and faith was a result of the adversity they endured, a life story that needed to be written and preserve.

828.456.6000 or www.blueridgebooksnc.com.

August 2-8, 2017 Smoky Mountain News

Messenger Service, Moby Grape, Steve Miller Blues Band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, Cream, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Love, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, Lovin’ Spoonful, Johnny Winter, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, MC5, J. Geils Band, James Brown, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, Electric Flag, The Allman Brothers Band, and the list goes on and on … all adding to the counterculture’s consciousness.

In the wake of the Be-Ins and concerts in 1967, it seemed to many in the hip world (including Goldberg) that the force of agape was sufficient to overcome society’s obstacles and that a utopian vision could meaningfully change mass culture for the better. Hence the coining of the term “Flower Power” and all that this moniker implied. Or as Allan Watts put it: “Western man has lost touch with original intelligence through centuries of relying solely on analytic thinking. Now, with psychedelics and meditation, some are reconnecting with original intelligence and giving birth to an entirely new course for the development of civilization.”

During this time the Eastern religions became more popular in America with a plethora of Indian gurus like the Maharishi, Hare Krishnas, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Swami Satchidananda, and books like the I Ching and Autobiography of a Yogi became mainstream among celebrities and the hippie masses alike. And all of this — the music, the psychedelic drugs, the literature, the Eastern spiritual influences — all fed in to hippie politics and in particular the movement against the war in Viet Nam. In looking back on the years of the late 1960s, the feminist and political activist Heather Booth adds: “There always have been people working in particular areas like women’s rights, gay rights, the environment, the peace movement, and civil rights, but in my heart, I always felt like it was one movement and I still do.”

Finally, Goldberg speaks about the end of the hippie era, citing the fateful events of the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, the birth of the Yippie culture and political countercultural perspective, The Weather Underground, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Goldberg goes on to conclude that decades later people began to view the late sixties as a time of superficial trends, like the Roaring Twenties, worth remembering primarily for the interesting music and colorful fashions. But finally and appropriately Goldberg quotes one of the 60s cultural heroes: “Moral and spiritual progress usually takes decades or even lifetimes. Hippie skeptic Kerouac said, ‘Walking on water wasn’t built in a day,’ but he didn’t say it could never happen.” It’s been decades since the 1960s and we could sure use a dose of the values, compassion and consciousness that was created back then.

Thomas Crowe is a regular writer for The Smoky Mountain News and is currently writing a personal memoir on the literary renaissance in San Francisco in the 1970s. He can be reached at newnativepress@hotmail.com

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Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

Plotting Cullowhee Dam’s future Organizations weigh environmental and financial costs of repair and removal

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER early a century old, the aging Cullowhee Dam is at a crossroads — with risk of failure increasing, Western Carolina University must decide whether to renovate the existing structure or remove it completely.

The dam hasn’t been used for power generation since the 1960s, but it creates a reservoir of still water that supplies WCU and the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority.

However, some would like to see the dam disappear, offering increased opportunity for paddlers and allowing fish and other aquatic life to travel freely through a more natural, higher-quality river.

The river conservation group American Rivers is leading that charge, and even though a preliminary estimate put the cost of dam removal at $5-$7 million, the organization isn’t giving up.

“Dam removal is something that we do really well and we’re really great at working in partnership to achieve,” said Mandi Carringer, Western North Carolina river conservation associate for American Rivers. “The price tags don’t scare us.”

The $5-$7 million estimate comes from a July report that Asheville-based McGill Associates completed at the request of WCU and TWSA to look at options for the dam’s future. A 2005 study from Sutton-Kennerly and Associates, also of Asheville, had concluded that the dam had likely been inspected only once in its lifetime and showed evidence of “severe deterioration”; failure would pose a “significant threat to life safety” and a “significant economic and operational loss” to WCU. However, WCU didn’t go through with a full inspection of the dam until now. That’s because the idea of building a river park there started to be discussed at that time and the university wanted to ensure that any decisions about the dam lined up with still-brewing park plans, WCU Communications Director Bill Studenc told The Smoky Mountain News in 2016.

The 2017 study included a full inspection of the dam and preliminary estimates for a variety of alternatives. And while “no action” was listed as one of the alternatives, that’s not likely to be the decision.

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RESULTS OF INSPECTION The inspection revealed an undercut beneath the dam, possibly allowing water to flow underneath it and erode the soil away.

Over time, such an undercut could allow a portion of the dam to slide or turn over. In addition, erosion at the dam’s right wall permits flow around the sidewall during heavy flow conditions — that could result in the

The 7-foot-tall Cullowhee Dam was built in 1930 and is in need of substantial maintenance if it is to continue. Donated photo

The Tuckasegee River is popular with paddlers.

Jackson County TDA photo

from moving water, and therefore it has an impact on what our water intake plants have to do.”

If the water intakes were suddenly drawing from moving water instead of standing water, Byers said, there would likely be some costly unfitting required at the water treatment plant.

There’s also the question of drought. Last year was one of the driest on record, with daily mean flows at the nearest stream gauge below 300 cubic feet per second for most of the calendar year compared to a typical mean of 396 cfs. If Duke Energy hadn’t agreed to release water from the reservoir at Lake Glenville, Jackson County would have found itself in mandatory water conservation until the rain returned.

Even barring future drought, water demand is expected to rise significantly over the coming decades. Current projections show WCU’s demand increasing from an existing 0.28 million gallons on an average day to 0.754 million gallons by 2067; TWSA’s demand is expected to rise from an existing average of 1.111 million gallons per day to 2.116 by 2067.

Removing the dam — at least in the fashion that the study explored — would also remove the small reservoir of water it creates and increase the vulnerability of the water supply. Duke Energy has already said that, were that to happen, it would not be able to supplement the deficit through higher water releases as it did during the 2016 drought.

“If Cullowhee Dam is removed only to find out later the Tuckasegee River does not have enough water flow during certain periods of the year to meet the growing water supply needs of WCU, TWSA and other entities, Duke Energy would not be able to support releasing higher prescribed flows to meet those needs,” reads a March 2017 letter from Duke’s director of water strategy and hydro licensing Jeffrey Lineberger to WCU and TWSA. “In fact, Duke Energy and other signatory parties to the Settlement Agreement are contractually prevented from supporting flow prescriptions which are inconsistent with the Settlement Agreement.”

SEARCHING FOR A SOLUTION

slope and a portion of Wayehutta Road washing away.

So, something has to be done. But what that something is — dam removal, dam renovation or something in between — will depend on the outcome of a follow-up study that American Rivers is soliciting from McGill Associates.

The initial study showed that removing the dam and installing two new water intakes for WCU and TWSA would cost about $7 million, while the preferred alternative — repair-

ing the dam to address safety and maintenance concerns — would cost about $900,000. That’s a big cost difference, and for WCU and TWSA, the outcome of the cheaper project would be more beneficial.

“The reservoir that the dam creates really gives us more drought resistance, and it gives us a better water intake,” explained Mike Byers, vice chancellor for administration and finance at WCU. “The quality of water that we pull from water that’s not moving is much better quality water than what we would pull

American Rivers is hopeful that there’s a solution out there that would free the river while also protecting the quantity and quality of the water supply.

“Having drinking water is very important for American Rivers,” Carringer said. “Even though we do want to see dams removed, we obviously want healthy, resilient communities and we don’t want anything to jeopardize the resiliency of our water supply.”

While obviously invested in protecting the water supply and not desiring to commit to a project it doesn’t have the ability to fund, WCU is supportive of American Rivers’ efforts and on board with taking some time to look at all the options available.

“There’s got to be some crazy

Lake Logan races return to Haywood

A Haywood Community College class teaching 100-year-old techniques to build and restore fly rods is now enrolling, with registration open through Friday, Aug. 25.

By the end of the two-month course, participants will have completed their own 9-foot, five-weight, four-piece graphite fly rod, with an option to bring a rod to restore too. The course will include reel seat and grip mounting methods, thread wrapping techniques, classes on bamboo fly rod restoration and instruction on the importance of rod mapping.

Classes held 7-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays Sept. 12 through Nov. 7.

Instructor is Tommy Thomas. $350 covers tuition and materials. Sign up with Clara Schulte, 828.565.4240 or clschulte@haywood.edu.

PICKLE BALL

Beginners: 9AM to Noon on Mondays & Wednesdays Seasoned: 9AM to Noon on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays Location: Old Armory Recreation Center

Smoky Mountain News

able to move freely throughout the length of the Tuckasegee, and the warmer water and sediment-heavy riverbed now occupying the reservoir below the dam would flow cooler and clearer on its way to the Little Tennessee River.

“What American Rivers would ideally like to see would be to see a whole dam removal that does open up the river for recreation and fish passage and also has a way for us to continue drawing water from it for our community use,” Carringer said.

The organization is currently developing a scope of work for McGill Associates’ follow-up study. That scope of work will determine the cost of the study, but Carringer said American Rivers has the funding to pay for it.

In the meantime, WCU will start planning to fund the $900,000 repair project with an eye cocked toward American Rivers’ continued work on behalf of dam removal.

The money would come from WCU’s existing repair and renovation fund. Last year’s allocation was over $1 million; assuming future allocations are of a similar amount, the repair project would likely be spread over multiple fiscal years to allow WCU to repair the dam while also addressing other renovation needs on campus. Byers anticipates it could be done within two to four years.

However, he’s open to pivoting the plan depending on the outcome of American Rivers’ research.

“We’ve known that we needed to do some work on the dam for many years and done some small things along the way to make sure we’re taking care of business,” he said, “but another six months to find out what a potentially ideal solution would be is definitely worth investing the time.”

Become a rod-building pro

August 2-8, 2017

number out there in the universe that would do that,” Byers said of the desire to free the river while protecting the water supply. “I don’t know how it would happen, but would a billion dollars do it? There’s bound to be some huge number and massive solution that would solve this, and it would just be out of reach — but what if it’s not out of reach? The only way to know is to allow them (American Rivers) time to go check for more expensive alternatives.”

The way Byers sees it, WCU is already in at least $900,000 to repair the dam and address safety issues there. If American Rivers could come up with a plan that got rid of the dam while protecting the university’s interests — and money to fund the difference in price — WCU would be all for it.

“That would be the best-case scenario,” Byers said. “We have as good or better a water source and we’re able to remove the dam and get rid of that maintenance need and free the river.”

Another option in the mix would be to create a notch in the top of the dam to allow paddlers to safely cross it. That’s a solution that the Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor — known as CURVE — had supported toward its goal of turning the area around the dam and Old Cullowhee Road into a river park. But the notch would cost $1 million in addition to the cost of repair, and it wouldn’t provide the cascade of positive environmental effects that American River hopes to achieve with dam removal.

“Dams block the movement of fish and other aquatic species, inundate river habitat, impair water quality and alter the flow regime necessary to sustain river life,” Carringer said.

By removing the dam, fish would be

Close to 400 bicyclists will hit the roadways in Swain, Jackson and Macon counties on Aug. 5-6 as part of the Cycle North Carolina Mountain Ride weekend.

Cyclists will start rolling into Bryson City on Friday afternoon, setting up camp and registering at the Swain County Recreation Park, where all rides will start and finish. Saturday and Sunday offer bike routes of various length and intensity, with Saturday routes traveling west of town to Lakeview Drive, Alarka, Burningtown, N.C. 28 South and Needmore Road. Sunday routes will travel east of town to Whittier, Dillsboro, Cherokee and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some routes will require cyclists to travel parts of U.S. 19 and U.S. 74.

“Our area is building a more robust cycling culture with events such as this, Cherokee’s Remember The Removal ride, the new Fire Mountain Trail in Cherokee and the fleet of mountain bikes that were donated to Swain High School,” said Diane Cutler of Bryson City Bicycles.

Drivers should be cautious and patient, keeping in mind that cyclists have the same rights and must follow the same traffic laws as motor vehicles.

“We’re honored to have Bryson City selected as the host town for this event and appreciate all the business it will

attract for our merchants as well as the recognition it provides for cycling in the region,” said Karen Wilmot, director of the Swain County Chamber of Commerce.

Cycle North Carolina is run by North Carolina Amateur Sports, a nonprofit organization that sponsors sporting events such as the Powerade State Games of North Carolina. Each year Cycle North Carolina hosts a cross-state Mountains to Coast Ride, a Coastal Ride and a Mountain Ride. This is the first year Bryson City has been selected to host the event.

outdoors

Hundreds of athletes and their supporters Canton from 7-10 a.m. On both days, the area will flock to Haywood County over the weekend between Lake Logan and Sunburst on N.C. 215 of Aug. 5-6 to compete in the 11th annual Lake will be extremely congested from 5 a.m. to 2 Logan Multisport Festival, with volunteers still p.m. needed to facilitate the event.

Volunteers are needed on both days to help The festival includes triathlon and half-ironpoint competitors the right way along the race man events, with race routes extending through Bethel, Cruso, Canton, Clyde, Lake Junaluska, Crabtree and Ironduff.

Residents, hoteliers and merchants throughout the county can expect to see cars loaded with bikes and an increased number of people walking the Having recently completed the main streets, with swimming leg, competitors jog traffic impacted durto their bikes. Holly Kays photo ing both mornings of the race.

On Aug. 5, traffic will be especially congestroute, with locations and time commitments ed 7 a.m. to noon in Bethel and Cruso; 7:15varying by post. Volunteers are organized by the 9:30 a.m. in Canton; 7:45-11 a.m. in Clyde; Kids Advocacy Resource Effort in Waynesville, 8:30-10:45 a.m. in Lake Junaluska; and 8-10:45 with KARE receiving a sizable donation in return a.m. in Crabtree and Ironduff. On Aug. 6, races toward its efforts to help kids. To volunteer, call will be concentrated in Bethel, Cruso and 828.465.8995.

Statewide cycling event coming to Bryson City

Cost: $1 per person

WAYNESVILLE

PARKS AND RECREATION For more info please call 828.456.2030

828.456.9207

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outdoors

Last forest management meeting coming to Brasstown The last in a series of open houses seeking input on the developing forest management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests will be held 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, at the Brasstown Community Center in Brasstown.

The meeting is a chance for the public to learn more about and give input on recently released documents outlining the management areas assigned to each area of the forest, dividing the forest into 12 distinct landscapes, and including information on special interest areas the Forest Service has identified.

Comments can also be submitted by Aug. 31 to NCplanrevision@fs.fed.us with the subject line “Spring 2017 material Plan Building Blocks” or by mail to Attn: Plan Revision, National Forests in North Carolina, 160A Zillicoa St, Asheville, NC 28801.

Forest planning documents are online at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/ncprevision.

Travel to the 1700s Brent Martin — naturalist, author and N.C. Bartram Trail Society member — will discuss the history of American naturalist William Bartram’s travels into the Little Tennessee River Valley at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

Bartram made the trip in 1775 and wrote about it in the 1791 publication Travels. The book provides modern Western North Carolinians with one of the most vivid portrayals in existence about what the Little Tennessee Valley was like during the 1700s. It also gives a detailed account and description of the Cherokee village Cowee, along with other nearby Cherokee villages.

Free. Ncbartramtrail.org.

Find a pint for the Parkway A series of special beer releases and events in August and September will raise money for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, from Shenandoah to Sylva.

Find Your Pint, now in its second year, will include 30 breweries and one cidery, with each establishment giving its own unique take on celebrating the connection between beer and the outdoors. Each event will include the release of a new beer honoring the Parkway, with a generous portion of sales donated to the Foundation as it enters its 20th year.

Local participants include BearWaters Brewing Company, Boojum Brewing Company, Frog Level Brewing Company and Innovation Brewing. The series includes a passport program encouraging beer fans to visit each brewery to collect Parkway Beer Passport stickers.

For a full schedule and downloadable passports, visit www.brpfoundation.org/findyourpint.

Probe the mysteries of mountain fens An introduction to the fragile plant communities comprising mountain fens will be the topic of a lecture at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Highlands Nature Center.

Tim Lee, park interpreter and naturalist for the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area in South Carolina, will give the talk “Southern Appalachian Fens: Rare Plant Communities Living on the Edge.” Cataract fens are found only in the Blue Ridge Escarpment region of North and South Carolina and are home to a diversity of plants, including carnivorous pitcher plants and round-leaf sundew. The lecture will introduce listeners to some of

these plants and explore how high rainfall, topography and sunlight make the fens ideal habitat for some plants and uninhabitable for others.

The talk is part of the Zahner Conservation Lecture Series, which offers free lectures every Thursday night through midSeptember. The Aug. 3 lecture will be “Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory,” given by Highlands Biological Station Executive Director Pitcher plant bloom. Jim Costa.

The Aug. 3 lecDonated photo ture is sponsored

by Helen and Russ Regnery and the Aug. 10 lecture is sponsored by Monte and Palmer Gaillard. www.highlandsbiological.org or 828.526.2221.

Smoky Mountain News

August 2-8, 2017

Learn from a bird expert

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A retired ornithologist will present “A year in the life of a bird” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville.

Georgann Schmalz, a former ornithologist with the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, has served five years as president of the Atlanta Audubon Society, produced four CDs of Southeastern U.S. bird songs and accumulated a long list of outstanding accomplishments over her years in the field.

Free. Funded by the Fred A. Moss Charity Trust. 828.389.8401.

Smokies volunteers honored The team of skilled volunteers that organized the mission to connect with the next generation of park users during the National Park Service’s 2016 centennial won the Southeast Regional Group Volunteer Service Award from the National Park Service.

The group of 35 spent more than 2,300 hours in communities around the region to

bring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to people at more than 90 community events, festivals and fairs. Throughout the year, they connected with more than 26,000 people as they raised awareness about park resources, recreational opportunities and inspired people to support national parks.

Parkwide, approximately 2,000 volunteers provide 115,000 hours of service to the Smokies each year. To learn more visit www.nps.gov/grsm/getivolved/volunteer.ht m.

Become part of the garden tour While Western North Carolina is still in the thick of summer 2017, the Haywood County Master Gardeners are already looking for gardens to be part of the June 2018 Haywood County Garden Tour.

Nominations are welcome from people looking to have their own gardens considered or wanting to nominate someone else’s garden. The garden tour is held every two years, showing a diversity of planted landscapes throughout the county.

Sarah Scott, 828.456.3575.

outdoors

Fontana Lake. Donated photo

Spend a night on Fontana An overnight excursion to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s remote southern boundary will embark Aug. 28-29 from Fontana Lake.

This special fundraiser for Friends of the Smokies includes guided hikes, meals, a cocktail reception, accommodations at Fontana Village Resort, a campfire presentation on the historic Hazel Creek area and the chance to meet National Park Service staff and fellow Smokies enthusiasts.

Hikes include a 7.6-mile excursion at Twentymile Loop and a 15.5-mile trek to Hall Cabin, as well as a 5-mile hike along Lakeshore Trail. Dan Pierce, author of Hazel Creek: The Life and Death of an Iconic Mountain Community, will give the campfire presentation.

Proceeds will help fund critical projects and programs in the Smokies. $350 per person or $500 per couple. Space limited. Register by Aug. 18 at hike.friendsofthesmokies.org.

Hike the Pigeon’s headwaters

Prepare for the eclipse

Watch meteors from Waterrock Take in the Perseid meteor shower from Waterrock Knob during an event hosted by the Western Carolina University Department of Chemistry and Physics, 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, through sunrise Aug. 13.

Early morning hours offer the most meteors per hour, though this year’s shower will have some interference from a late-rising moon.

Free, with telescopes available for viewing the moon, planets and various summertime star clusters and nebulae. Participants should dress warmly, as the weather will resemble October more than August at 5,820 feet of elevation.

Waterrock Knob is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 451, about 8 miles north of Balsam. The event will be canceled in case of overcast skies. Enrique Gomez, 828.227.2718.

Smoky Mountain News

A pair of programs next week will help locals get ready to safely view and photograph the upcoming solar eclipse. n Photographer and retired Western Carolina University professor Roger Bacon will lead an informational session at 3 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Bacon will discuss the history and science of solar eclipses, eclipse safety and specific techniques for photographing the eclipse. Free. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. 828.586.2016. n Southwestern Community College physics instructor Matt Cass will give an eclipse talk at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Cass, who is funded as a Smoky Mountain STEM Collaborative leader through NASA, will discuss safe viewing using solar viewing glasses, as well as the mechanics of the solar system that make eclipses possible. Free. 828.524.3600.

August 2-8, 2017

A tour of the Pigeon River’s headwaters will be paired with learning about wildlife during a hike along the Big East Fork Trail 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Aug. 8.

Tanya Poole, southern mountain education specialist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, will join Eric Romaniszyn, executive director of the Haywood Waterways Association, to lead this 2-mile hike through the Shining Rock Wilderness Area near Cruso.

The event is part of Haywood Waterways’ “Get to Know Your Watershed” series of outdoor recreation activities highlighting Haywood County’s natural beauty and water resources. Participants should bring water, a snack and hiking boots for this easy to moderate hike.

Free for HWA members; $5 for nonmembers. Open to ages 7 and up; no pets. Space limited.

Sign up with Romaniszyn at romaniszyne@gmail.com or 828.476.4667.

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Nutrition Facts outdoors

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C U.S. Forest Service personnel (left) and National Park Service staff (right) celebrate their renewed partnership at the Oconaluftee Job Corps Center. Donated photo

Smoky Mountain News

August 2-8, 2017

NPS re-establishes partnership with Oconaluftee Job Corps Center

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For the first time in 10 years, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is operating a career development center aimed at helping youth develop the skills they’ll need to enter the workforce.

The Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center closed in March 2007, at which point the National Park Service operated it, due to health and safety issues related to mold in the dining hall. The students were immediately transferred to other Job Corps Centers to complete their education and vocational training, with the U.S. Forest Service taking over operations in July 2008. The center reopened and new enrollees began arriving in September 2008.

Now, the Park Service is once more a partner in the endeavor after signing an agreement with the Forest Service in July.

“We are fortunate to have the Oconaluftee Job Corps Center in our backyard,” said Park Superintendent Cassius Cash. “This partnership will allow hardworking youth an opportunity to acquire important trade skills as they work alongside park staff. These skills can help them transition into the workforce of tomorrow.”

Students at the center will get on-the-job

training and hands-on experience by working with Smokies staff to protect resources, use prescribed fire, maintain facilities and run administration. They’ll also have the chance to receive important certifications during job training.

“We are truly elated to partner with the National Park Service,” said Oconaluftee Job Corps Center Director Jimmy Copeland.

“This partnership brings education, awareness, and training opportunities to our youth thus creating pipelines for employment and resource awareness in their future. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an integral part of the success of our center and we are excited to work more closely with them in serving our communities.”

The Job Corps Center is inside the park near Cherokee. A nationwide program, the Job Corps is the nation’s largest residential, educational and career technical training program. It prepares economically disadvantaged youth ages 16-24 for productive employment. Centers are associated with national forests and grasslands and operated by the Forest Service under an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Gleaners needed The harvest is rolling in, and Haywood Gleaners is looking for volunteers to help get the leftovers from the field to the mouths of those who need it.

Haywood Gleaners works with producers to identify fields that have recently been harvested.

Volunteers then come pick anything left behind and deliver it to a variety of organizations that help those in need.

Gleans typically begin in August. Volunteers are also needed on Saturdays and Wednesdays to help pick up unsold goods from participating farmers markets in Waynesville and Canton.

To receive email notifications when a glean is announced, sign up at www.haywoodgleaners.org.

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • A “Summer Lights” evening program is scheduled for 9 p.m. each night from Aug. 2-6 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. Projected-light show synchronized to music from the Blue Ridge Orchestra. $18 for adults; $12 for children 5-11. N.C. Arboretum Society members get a $2 discount on each ticket. Ncarboretum.org.

• U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows will hold his fourth annual Veterans’ Solutions Seminar from 9 a.m.-noon on Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center at 81 Elmwood Way in Waynesville. http://tinyurl.com/y7kef46t.

• The Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society’s annual picnic is at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Swain County Regional Business Education and Training Center in Bryson City. “Glimpses of the Past: A Historical Calendar of Swain County” 18month calendars for sale at $20 each.

• Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation will hold its 12th annual Downtown Dog Walk at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, in downtown Waynesville. Registration starts at 8 a.m. Contests for best-dressed dog, best dog trick and best tail-wagging dog. Registration forms at www.sargeanimals.org. $15 fee for each dog. 246.9050.

• A birthday party for Smoky the Bear, who turns 73, is scheduled for 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Cradle of Forestry in America in Pisgah Forest. $6 for ages 16-up $3 for ages 15-under. www.cradleofforestry.com.

• No-cost veterinary services will be provided from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Aug. 8-10 at the Swain County Recreation Ball Fields at 30 Rec Park Drive in Bryson City.

• A barbecue event for on- and off-duty first-responders from 3-7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, at Creekwood Farm RV Park in Waynesville. 926.7977 or 478.256.8969.

• Tickets are on sale now for a train ride following the route of the Southern Railway Murphy Branch Line established in 1891. Ridge will be offered on Saturday, Aug. 12, from Johnson City, Tenn., to Bryson City and back. Tickets: $83-152 for adults; $69-79 for children 2-12. Meals available for purchase. Printable order forms: www.wataugavalleynrhs.org. Info: 423.753.5797 or wataugavalley@embarqmail.com.

• A TED talk discussion on “The Power of Vulnerability” will be offered on Wednesday, Aug. 9, at the Waynesville Library. 15-20 minute talk followed by discussion.

Registration required: 356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net.

• Reservations are being accepted for the induction ceremony for the Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians Hall of Fame, which is set for Aug. 26 at the Southwestern Community College Swain Center in Bryson City. $35 per person includes lunch and weekend admission to the Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians. info@greatsmokies.com or 488.3681.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Open house for Macon Early College is at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 7. Freshman and new student orientation.

• Boating safety courses will be offered from 6-9 p.m. on Aug. 7-8 in Building 3300, Room 3322, at Haywood Community College in Clyde. Participants must attend both evenings. Register: www.ncwildlife.org.

• Discovery Education and Southwestern Community College will present a forum on STEM Education from 9 a.m.-noon on Monday, Aug. 7, at Southwestern Community College’s Burrell Conference Center in Sylva.

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

Reservations required: 339.4265 or l_parlett@southwesterncc.edu.

• The “Grand Opening” celebration for Elevated Mountain Distilling Co. will be Friday, Aug. 11, at its facility in Maggie Valley. There will be a meet-and-greet with Bluegrass Hall of Fame banjo legend Raymond Fairchild from 3 to 4 p.m. The ribbon cutting with be at 4 p.m. Live music will be provided from Shellem Cline at 6 p.m. and The Darren Nicholson Band at 7 p.m. The Blue Ridge BBQ food truck will be onsite from 4 to 9 p.m. Free giveaways, games, and more. Bring lawn chairs. 944.0766 or www.elevatedmountain.com.

• Small business owners can find materials and services to support business growth at Fontana Regional Library’s locations in Macon, Jackson and Swain Counties. Computer classes and one-on-one assistance also available. 586.2016 or www.fontanalib.org.

• A meeting of current and former employees of the Waynesville plant of Champion/Blue Ridge/Evergreen is held at 8 a.m. on the first Monday of each month at BoJangles near Lake Junaluska’s entrance.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • Habitat for Humanity’s shrimp boil fundraiser is from 4-8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, at Holly Springs Baptist church in Franklin. Tickets: $25 for adults; $10 for ages 5-11; free for 4-under. Tickets available at the door or at the Franklin and Sylva ReStores. Proceeds support Habitat’s mission to build and repair homes in WNC. 369.3716.

• Tickets are on for the Cashiers Historical Society’s “2017 Cashiers Designers Showhouse™ that will be held Aug. 12-27 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Monday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. on Sundays. One-day tickets are $40 in advance or $45 at the entrance; multi-day tickets are $70 in advance or $75 at the entrance. Tickets available at www.cashiershistoricalsociety.org. Three newly constructed cottages will be featured.

• A rummage sale will be held from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 11, and from 8 a.m.-close on Saturday, Aug. 12, at First United Methodist Church in Sylva.

Proceeds support the church’s mission work and building fund.

• The Macon Aero Modelers Club will have their annual radio control fly-in fundraiser starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, on Model Aviation Day at the club’s flying field on US 441 south of Franklin in Otto. $5 entry fee per car. Activities and demonstrations. Food for sale. 421.7843 or 371.1427.

• The Ruffed Grouse Society is selling tickets for its 31st annual Conservation and Sportsmen’s Banquet, which is at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19, at the Crest Center & Pavilion in Asheville. Dinner and membership starts at $80; junior membership and dinner ticket is $55 for ages 17-under. 231.7050 or dalepennell@gmail.com.

• Tickets are on sale now for “Spark: An Evening to Benefit Dance ARIS,” presented by the Haywood County Arts Council. Featuring three distinct dance styles, the program will be offered on Aug. 25-26. Tickets: $25 for the performance or on Saturday, $60 for the gala plus performance. director@haywoodarts.org.

VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS • Registration is underway for a volunteer training for REACH of Haywood County. The Training is from 9:30

Smoky Mountain News

a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19, at REACH’s office location at 627 N. Main Street in Waynesville. Anyone who volunteers at a domestic violence agency in North Carolina and wants to work more directly with clients needs 20 hours of training beforehand. Register: 456.7898.

• The Town of Canton is accepting submissions for the 111th Labor Day Festival “A Celebration of All Things Made in Western North Carolina” until 4 p.m. on Aug. 21. Send artist bio, photos and sample of work to: Town of Canton, Attn.: Canton Labor Day; 58 Park Street; Canton, NC 28716. 648.2363.

HEALTH MATTERS • A “Walk With A Doc” program is scheduled for 10 a.m. each Saturday at the Lake Junaluska Kern Center or Canton Rec Park.

MyHaywoodRegional.com/WalkwithaDoc. • The Smoky Mountain Medical Innovative Readiness Training is scheduled for Aug. 2-10 at Swain and Hayesville High Schools. Registration begins at 8 a.m. daily. Medical, dental and optical care for residents ages 2-up who are uninsured, underinsured or in need of quality patient care at no cost.

• Registration is underway for a “Refuse To Be A Victim” program, which will be offered at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, at Haywood County Farm Bureau at 1520 Asheville Road in Waynesville. Designed for women who want the opportunity to be proactive by developing methods to avoid dangerous situations. Led

by Kevin Brooks of the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office.

RSVP by Aug. 8: 452.1425 or Karen.greene@ncfbssc.com.

• Registration is underway for a volunteer training for REACH of Macon County, which also serves Jackson County. Training is from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Aug. 17-18. Anyone who volunteers at a domestic violence agency in North Carolina and wants to work more directly with clients needs 20 hours of training beforehand. Register: http://tinyurl.com/ycj9slfn.

RECREATION AND FITNESS • Yoga will be offered at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 4, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 89 Sierra Drive in Franklin. Covered-dish at 6 p.m. 524.3691 or SandiDonn2@yahoo.com.

• Sign-ups are underway for a Corn Hole tournament fundraiser, which is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Aug. 19, at Bear Waters Brewing Company in Canton.

All funds raised will support Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Haywood County.

• An opportunity the Bellyak (prone paddling/lay-on-top kayaking) will be offered through the Jackson County Parks & Recreation department at 11 a.m. on Aug. 20. $30. Rec.jacksonnc.org or 293.3053.

• Pickleball, a cross between tennis, badminton and ping-pong, will be offered from 9 a.m.-noon on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Old Hazelwood Gym in Waynesville. $3 per visit, or $20 for a 10-visit card.

452.6789 or drtaylor@haywoodnc.net.

• Jackson County Rec Department will have disc golf tournament at 10 a.m. on Aug. 19. Cost is $5 for singles or $10 for doubles. www.rec.jacksonnc.org.

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Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings United Methodist Church, will be the featured speaker at 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 6 in Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska. Part of the Summer Worship Series. The Lake Junaluska Singers will lead worship music.

• The Festival of Wisdom & Grace, with the theme of “Living with Grace” is scheduled for Aug 7-10 at Lake Junaluska. Worship, workshops, professional training and fellowship geared toward those in the second half of life. www.lakejunaluska.com.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • Ben Anderson will hold book signings for “Smokies Chronicle: A Year of Hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park” on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m., at the Waynesville Public Library. parthemore@blairpub.com or 800.222.9796.

• Actress Anne Van Curen will portray Emma “Grandma” Gatewood in “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: A snack and a story” from noon-1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 4, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. http://www.smokiesinformation.org.

• Matthew Baker will present his book “My Mountain Heroes” at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville. 456.6000 or www.blueridgebooksnc.com. Documenting the life stories of many of Macon County’s seniors citizens.

• Award-winning author Lawrence Thackston will present his new mystery-thriller at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. To reserve copies, call 828.586.9499.

• Kentucky author Kim Michele Richardson will hold a discussion on the path to publication at 3 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 5, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. To reserve copies of her books, please call City Lights Bookstore at 586.9499.

• Author Mark Powell will present his work Small Treasons at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. www.citylightsnc.com or 586.9499.

• A workshop led by Asheville mystery author Michael Havelin will be offered from 2-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, at the Waynesville Library. Two-hour presentation on various aspects of the writing process for fiction authors. Havelin has written 14 books. Registration required: 356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net.

SENIOR ACTIVITIES • The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department will hold an organizational meeting for a senior trip to Savannah, Ga., at 6 p.m. on Aug. 2 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Trip is scheduled for Sept. 10-13.

456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov.

SPIRITUAL • The Lake Junaluska Singers will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 4 in Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska.

Tickets available at www.lakejunaluska.com or in the Bethea Welcome Center.

• Rev. Dr. John Ed Mathison, a retired pastor in the

KIDS & FAMILIES • Registration is underway for the Talking Trees Children’s Trout Derby, which is Aug. 4-5 at Oconaluftee Islands Park in Cherokee. Pre-register through Aug. 5 at the Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds.

wnc calendar

• Macon County 4-H will hold a pair of “Stain Glass Art” programs on Aug. 2 for ages 5-8 at Fire & Lights Studio in Franklin. Classes are from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30-4:30 p.m. $6.

• Fontana Fun Day for ages 9-up is from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Aug. 4 at Fontana Village. Part of Macon County 4-H Summer Relief. $12.

• Doll and Me Tea Party for ages 5-18 is scheduled for noon-2 p.m. on Aug. 7 at the Cooperative Extension Office. Part of Macon County 4-H Summer Relief. $10.

• Farm to Table Lunch for ages 9-18 is from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Aug. 9 at the Cooperative Extension Office.

Part of Macon County 4-H Summer Relief. $5.

• Mainspring Conservation Trust will host a “Family Fun: Sun, Snorkel & Snoop” program from 10 a.m.noon on Aug. 12 in the Tuckasegee River. http://tinyurl.com/yap6qnjz.

• A Hike to Black Balsam Knob, part of the Macon County 4-H Summer Relief, is scheduled for 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Aug. 14 for ages 9-18. $5. Meet at Cooperative Extension Office.

August 2-8, 2017

• “Art Beats for Kids” will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on Thursdays at the Charles Heath Gallery in Bryson City.

A new project every week. $20 per child, with includes lesson, materials and snack. To register, call 828.538.2054.

• Stories, songs and a craft are offered for ages zerosix (and caregivers) at 10:30 a.m. each Tuesday at the Canton Library. 648.2924.

• A program called “Imagine,” an art program for children 8-12 meets at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Jackson County Public Library. Program contains art, writing, and drama. 586.2016.

• “Natural Wonders of Macon County,” a program that’s part of the Macon County 4-H Summer Relief, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Aug. 16 at the Cooperative Extension Office. For ages 9-18. $3.

• Rompin’ Stompin’, an hour-long storytime with music, movement and books, is held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursdays at the Canton Library and at 11 a.m. on Thursdays at the Waynesville Library. For ages zero to six. 648.2924.

• A “Youth Art Class” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon every Saturday at the Appalachian Art Farm on 22 Morris Street in Sylva. All ages welcome. $10 includes instruction, materials and snack. For more information, email appalachianartfarm@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.

• Registration is underway for kids’ fishing event, which will be offered from 9-11 a.m. on Aug. 5, at the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville. Presented by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Learn how to cast, put on bait and remove fish from a hook.

Tanya.poole@ncwildlife.org or 329.3472.

• A Junior Forester Program is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, through Aug. 9, at the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah Forest. http://tinyurl.com/y87c3gqn.

• As part of the “Build a Better World” summer reading program, Marianna Black Library will have movies at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, story time for ages 3-5 at 10:30 a.m.on Wednesdays and a summer learning program each Thursday. www.fontanalib.org or 488.3030.

Smoky Mountain News

AND CLUBS • The Canton Library offers a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) program each month. At 4 p.m. on third Tuesday. Children ages 612 are welcome to attend. Please call 648-2924 for more information.

• A Tuesday Library Club for ages 5-12 meets at 4 p.m. each Tuesday (except for the fifth Tuesday on months that occurs) at the Canton Library. Hands-on activities like exercise, cooking, LEGOs, science experiments and crafts. 648.2924 or kpunch@haywoodnc.net.

• “Outdoor Cooking,” a program that’s part of the Macon County 4-H Summer Relief, is scheduled for 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Aug. 15 at Standing Indian. For ages 9-18. $5.

• Woodsy Owl’s Curiosity Club meets from 10:30 a.m.3 p.m. on through Aug. 10, at the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah Forest. Outdoor-oriented activity each day explores a different forest-related theme. For ages 47. $4 per child per program; accompanying adults admitted for $2.50. http://tinyurl.com/yc7u5unk.

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ONGOING KIDS ACTIVITIES

• Rompin’ Stompin’, an hourlong storytime with music, movement and books, is held at 11 a.m. on Fridays at the Canton Library. For ages zero to six.

648.2924.

• Crafternoons are at 2:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month at Hudson Library in Highlands.

• Library Olympics will be held at 2 p.m. on Fridays at Jackson County Public Library. Children age 5 and up get active through relay races, bingo, mini golf.

586.2016.

• Get Moving, a program for children ages 5-12 to encourage children to live a healthy life through exercise and healthy eating, will be held on the first Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. at the Canton Public Library. 648.2924 • Full STEAM Ahead, a program for children ages 5-12 to allow them to explore science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics through fun hands-on activities. Program open to the first 15 participants, at 4 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month at Canton Public Library. 648.2924.

• Wednesdays in the Stacks, “WITS”, a new program for children in grades 3-6, on the third Wednesdays of the month from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Macon County Library. WITS will include lots of fun games, prizes, and hands-on activities. This club replaces book club previous held on the third Thursdays of the month. 526.3600.

• Rock and Read is at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays at Jackson County Public Library. 586-2016.

• WNC Martial Arts will hold karate classes from 67:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at the Old Armory in Waynesville. For more info, contact Margaret Williams at 301.0649 or mvwilliams39@gmail.com.

• Book Buddies for ages 0-3 is from 9:30-10:15 a.m. on Tuesday at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

• Page Pals for ages 3-5 is from 10:30-11:15 a.m. on Tuesday at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

• Story time and kids can make their own piece of art from 10 a.m.-noon every Saturday during the Family Art event sponsored by the Jackson County Arts Council at the Jackson County Farmers Market located at the Community Table, downtown Sylva. On the first Saturday of each month, there is a scavenger hunt with prizes. 399.0290 or www.jacksoncountyfarmermarket.org.

• A Lowe’s Build and Grow session for ages 3-and-up is scheduled from 10-11 a.m. on Saturdays at the Sylva (586.1170) and Waynesville (456.9999) Lowe’s stores. Free.

• Macon County 4-H Needlers club, a group of youth learning the art and expression of knitting and crochet crafts, meets on the second Tuesday of each month.

For information, call 349.2046.

• A Lego Club meet the second Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. at Cashiers Community Library.

743.0215.

• Crazy 8 Math Adventure Club on Tuesdays 3:30 p.m.

- 4:15 p.m. for grades K-2 at the Macon County Public Library. 524.3600.

• Culture Club on the second Wednesday of the month, 1 to 2 p.m. for K-6 graders. Guest speakers, books, photos, crafts and food from different countries and cultures. Macon County Public Library. 524.3600.

KIDS FILMS

• Family Story Time is held on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. at the Canton Public Library. Ages 0-6. Stories, songs, dance and crafting. 648.2924.

• Storytimes are held at 10 and 10:40 a.m. every Thursday at Hudson Library in Highlands.

• A family movie will be shown at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 8, at Marianna Black Library in Bryson

These are only the answers.

• A family movie will be shown at 10:30 a.m. every Friday at Hudson Library in Highlands.

• Fun Friday, everything science, is held at 4 p.m. on Fridays at Jackson County Public Library. 586.2016.

“The Emoji Movie” will be shown on Aug. 2-Aug. 4 at 1 p.m., and 7 p.m., Aug. 5 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Aug. 6 at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m., Aug. 7 at 7 p.m., Aug. 8 at 1 p.m., and 7 p.m., Aug. 9 at 7 p.m., and Aug. 10 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. at The Strand on Main in Waynesville.

Puzzles can be found on page 46.

City. Movie is an animated adventure about Prince John and his slithering minion, Sir Hiss, who are opposed by Robin Hood and his band of merry men.

Info, including movie title: 488.3030.

A&E FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL EVENTS • Art After Dark will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, in downtown Waynesville. Each first Friday of the month (May-December), Main Street transforms into an evening of art, music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors.

Free. www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.

• The 11th annual Lake Logan Multisport Festival is scheduled for Aug. 5-6 at Lake Logan. Triathlon and half-ironman events. To volunteer: 465.8995.

• The 9th annual Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show will be Aug. 11-12 at the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center in Franklin. KCBS Sanctioned BBQ Cookoff for Backyard and Professional teams.

Barbecue vendors will be on the premises to sell great tasting BBQ. Food vendors, crafters, cooking demonstrations and a car show will round out the exciting features of the festival. www.mountainhighbbqfestival.com or 524.3161.

• “Smokin’ Rodz in the Smokies” car show is from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 11-12, at the Festival Grounds in Maggie Valley. Kick-off party is set for 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 10, at the “Wheels Through Time Museum.” Presented by the Vintage Street Rodders of America. Vehicle registration is $30 for VSRA members and $40 for nonmembers. www.VSRA-USA.com, 423.571.6430 or streetrod34coupe@yahoo.com.

• A Blueberry Festival is scheduled for Aug. 12 at the Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds in Cherokee. 497.2717.

• The inaugural VFW Summer Jam is scheduled for noon on Aug. 12 at VFW Post 5202 in Waynesville.

Featuring McKenna, Amos and the Mixx, Rebel Smoke, Steel Creek and John Wiggins. BBQ Plates and Fixin’s, games and activities.

FOOD & DRINK • Tickets are on sale now for the Harrah’s Cherokee Riverwalk 3rd annual Brew BQ followed by a live concert featuring Aaron Lewis (country) at the Event Center. Brew BQ is from noon-7 p.m. on Aug. 19, fea-

turing barbecue and beer from the Carolinas. Tickets: 800.745.3000 or ticketmaster.com.

• “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be presented Aug. 4-20 at HART Theatre in Waynesville. Evening performances at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. matinee performances on Sunday. www.harttheatre.org or 456.6322.

• “The Loves of Elaine” will be performed from Aug. 11-20 at HART Theatre in Waynesville. Evening performances at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. matinee performances on Sunday. www.harttheatre.org or 456.6322.

• Tickets are on sale for the “Galaxy of Stars” performance series by WCU PRESENTS. Featuring artists from around the world at the Bardo Arts Center performance hall in Cullowhee. Season subscription: $125 for general public; $100 for WCU/Southwestern Community College faculty and staff and seniors 65 and older; $25 for WCU and SCC students. Season opens Sept. 7 with the Hillbenders (bluegrass) performing “The Who’s Tommy: A Bluegrass Opry.” Full lineup, info and tickets: bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or 227.ARTS. • Legendary country act Shenandoah will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets start at $24. 866.273.4615 or www.greatmountainmusic.com.

• There will an Elvis and Jeff Foxworthy impersonator at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. Stewart Chapman (Elvis) and Jamie Simpson (Jeff Foxworthy) will entertain audiences with their unique brand of impersonation. Tickets are $25.

The event will also serve as a fundraiser for the Star Ranch Horse Rescue. 828.548.0778 or www.38main.com.

• Tickets are on sale now for a 3 Doors Down performance as a fundraiser for the Better Life Foundation on Oct. 21 at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com or 800.745.3000.

SUMMER MUSIC SERIES • The “Concerts on the Creek” series at Bridge Park in Sylva will host PMA (reggae/fusion) on Aug. 4 and Tuxedo Junction (classic rock) on Aug. 11. Both shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.mountainlovers.com.

• The “Friday Night Live” concert series at the Town Square in Highlands will host Mountain Dulcimer Group (bluegrass) Aug. 4 and Southern Highlands (American/bluegrass) on Aug. 11. Free and begins at 6 p.m. www.highlandschamber.org.

• The “An Appalachian Evening” summer concert series will feature The Bankesters on Aug. 5 and The

• The “Groovin’ on the Green” concert series at The Village Green in Cashiers will host The Jackson Taylor Band (rock/blues) on Aug. 4 and High 5 (rock) on Aug. 11 Free and begins at 6:30 p.m. www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

• The “Pickin’ On The Square” concert series will host Johnny Webb Band (country) Aug. 5 and Tom Floyd Band (rock/variety) on Aug. 12. All shows are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. www.townoffranklinnc.com or 524.2516.

• The “Tunes on the Tuck” concert series will host Grandpa’s Music (bluegrass/mountain) Aug. 5 at Riverfront Park. Free and begin at 7 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com.

• Pickin’ in the Park (Canton) will be held at 7 p.m Aug. 4 and 11 at the Recreation Park. Free and open to the public. www.cantonnc.com.

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• “Music on the River” series will host AM Superstars (alternative) on Aug. 4 and Will Hayes Band (classic country/rock) on Aug. 5 at the Cherokee Welcome Center Kiosk in Cherokee. Shows start at 7 p.m.

359.6490 or travel@nc-cherokee.com.

• “Music on the River” series will host Eastern Blues Band (jazz/blues) on Aug. 11 and Stereospread (techno) on Aug. 12 at the Cherokee Welcome Center Kiosk in Cherokee. Shows start at 7 p.m. 359.6490 or travel@nc-cherokee.com.

• An evening of southern roots music from Frank Lee is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 10, at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Part of the Summer Music Series.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • Waynesville Fiber Friends welcomes fiber artists of every kind: crochet, knitting, cross-stitching and more, from 10 a.m.-noon on the second Saturday of each month at Panacea Coffee House in Waynesville.

276.6226.

• “In the Digital Age, Are Students Learning More?” will be the topic for the Franklin Open Forum, which is set for 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 7, at the Rathskeller Coffe Haus & Pub in Franklin. Open exchange of ideas (dialog, not debate). 371.1020.

• The Franklin Uptown Gallery is calling everyone in the community to show off their creative side for the upcoming “Eclipse Celebration,” which will be Aug. 21. For more information, contact Bonnie Abbott at the Gallery on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 349.4607, all other times at blrabbott@yahoo.com or 743.0200.

• An “Armor Construction: Spaulders Class” with Brock Martin of WarFire Forge will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 5-6 at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Cost is $265, materials included. To register, 631.0271 or www.jcgep.org.

• The “Creating Art at the Homestead” art workshop will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, in the Tuckasegee Valley. Facilitated by artist Doreyl Ammons Cain. Beginners, those who would like to try their hand at painting with pastels and experienced artists are welcome.293.2239 or on Facebook. Limit of 10 students.

• An International Potluck and Book Discussion will be held from noon-2 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 11, at the Waynesville Library. Bring an international dish to share and be ready to talk about books you read over the summer. Registration required: 356.2507.

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• “Unto These Hills” drama will be performed at 8 p.m. nightly through Aug. 19 at 688 Drama Road in Cherokee. A reimagining of the Cherokee Story. http://tinyurl.com/ycm83jwv.

• “Saturdays on Pine” will host PMA (reggae/fusion) Aug. 5 and Fish Out of Water on Aug. 12 at KelsyHutchinson Park in Highlands. All shows are at 6 p.m. www.highlandschamber.org.

Diane E. Sherrill, Attorney

August 2-8, 2017

• The “Songwriters in the Round” series will host David Olney, Scott Miller and Tommy Womack starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at Balsam Mountain Inn. The Balsam Mountain Inn began its Songwriters in the Round series 20 years ago, and modeled it after similar performances at Nashville’s Bluebird Café.

Balsam’s performers are most often the Nashvillearea songwriters who pen lyrics performed by country and western stars. Many performances feature Grammy and CMA award winners, and all include writers of many top-ranked songs.

A buffet dinner is included in the $49.50 price.

456.9498 or www.balsammountaininn.net.

• Concerts on the Square will continue with Modern Vinyl (rock) on Aug. 4 at the town square in Hayesville. www.cccra-nc.org.

wnc calendar

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • Broadway singers Nat Chandler and Sarah Pfisterer will perform on Aug. 5 at Lake Junaluska. Tickets: $18 and available at www.lakejunaluska.com/concerts or at the Bethea Welcome Center.

Freight Hoopers on Aug. 12 at the Stecoah Valley Center. All shows at 7:30 p.m. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com for tickets.

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• The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will hold its 13th annual yard sale from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, at 85 Sierra Drive in Franklin.

510.544.9077.

• “The Study of Light in Photography” will be presented by Tony Wu at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, at the Sylva Photo Club Meeting in the Cullowhee Methodist Church. $5 donation for guests is applied to annual membership, which is $20 or $10 for students. sylvaphotoclub@gmail.com, sylvaphotoclub.wordpress.com or 226.3840.

• “War-Hammer Making Class” with Brock Martin of WarFire Forge from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 12-13 at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Cost is $315 (materials included), which is due at registration. www.jcgep.org.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • Haywood County Arts council “ArtShare” exhibit – a showing of fine works of art. Exhibit runs from Aug. 426. 33rockyknob@gmail.com or 452.0593.

• Anne Fariello “Signs of the Times” exhibit of documentary photography is currently on display at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

• Several exhibitions are on display this summer at the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at the Bardo Arts Center. “Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler” is on exhibition until Aug. 25. “Ancient Forms, Modern Minds: Contemporary Cherokee Ceramics” is on display through Nov. 10. 227.ARTS or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

• “Spirit of Place: Artwork by Elizabeth Ellison” – an art exhibit – will be on display through Sept. 4. at the Asheville Arboretum.

Smoky Mountain News

August 2-8, 2017

• The inaugural Shelton House Crafter Showcase is on display at the Shelton House and the Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts in Waynesville. www.sheltonhouse.org or info@sheltonhouse.org.

• The graduating class of Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts program will exhibit their best work from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through Sept. 24 at the Southern Highland Craft Guild Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville. 627.4673 or haywood.edu.

FILM & SCREEN • “A Trip to the Moon and Beyond” – science fiction silent films of George Melies – will be shown at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Each film will be presented with a live soundtrack featuring musicians Tyler Kittle and Michael Libramento.

• The premiere of “Voiceless,” a film about a recently discharged war veteran, is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Aug. 6 at Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. In the film, the veteran stands against an abortion clinic that was across the street from his church. www.SMPCC.org, www.SMPCCPartners.com, 349.3200 or 293.3600.

Outdoors

• Volunteers are needed to help scientists collect data on songbirds throughout the summer. Dates include: Aug. 2 at Cowee Mound in Macon County and Aug. 4 at Kituwah Mound in Swain County. 736.1217, bigbaldbanding@gmail.com or www.bigbaldbanding.org.

• Gardening at Oconaluftee, a Smokies Service Day, is scheduled for 9 a.m.-noon on Aug. 5. Opportunity to fulfill community service requirements. Sign up: 42 865.436.1278 or logan_boldon@partner.nps.gov.

• “Take in the View with a Ranger” program is held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month on the deck of the Pisgah Inn. Ask questions and learn about the Blue Ridge Parkway’s natural and cultural history.

Rare Plant Communities Living on the Edge” is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands. Sponsored by Monte and Palmer Gaillard. www.highlandsbiological.org or 526.2221.

• Tremont Institute is holding Bird Banding day on Aug. 2 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. http://vimeo.com/220345535. http://gsmit.org/birds.

• A program about safety during the upcoming total solar eclipse is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 11, at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman. $20 for adults, $15 for students/seniors/military and $5 for ages 6-11. Reservations required: www.pari.edu or 862.5554. Info: schappell@pari.edu.

• Biomonitoring surveys of breeding birds is scheduled for 7-11 a.m. on Aug. 2 – weather permitting – at the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Cowee Mount near Franklin. https://bigbaldbanding.org/calendar, bigbaldbanding@gmail.com or 736.1217.

• Franklin Bird Club will have a bird walk along the greenway at 8 a.m. on Aug. 2. Parking is off Fox Ridge Road south of Franklin Flea Market on Highlands Road. 524.5234 or https://franklinbirdclub.com.

• Dr. James Costa, executive director of the Highlands Biological Station, will give a Zahner Lecture titled “Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory” at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Highlands Nature Center at 930 Horse Cove Road in Highlands. 526.2221.

• Birding for beginners and beyond is at 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 5, starting at Founders Park in Highlands. www.highlandsaudubonsociety.org or 526.1939.

• Mainspring Conservation Trust will host a “Family Fun: Sun, Snorkel & Snoop” program from 10 a.m.noon on Aug. 5 in the Tuckasegee River. http://tinyurl.com/y7rnxwbr.

• “A Year in the Life of a Bird” will be presented by retired ornithologist Georgann Schmalz at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville. Birdingadventuresinc.com/articles.

389.8401.

• Cycle North Carolina Mountain Ride Weekend is Aug. 5-6 in Swain, Jackson and Macon Counties. Run by N.C. Amateur Sports. Start at the Swain County Rec Park in Bryson City.

• A Biodiversity Fest is scheduled for noon-3 p.m. on Aug. 6 at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands. www.highlandsbiological.org or 526.2221.

• “John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature,” A PBS American Masters film, will be presented at 7 p.m. on Aug. 8 in the rear meeting room of the Hudson Library in Highlands. www.highlandsaudubonsociety.org or 526.1939.

• A “Mysteries of the Night Sky” program will be offered at 9 p.m. on Aug. 8 at the Highlands Nature Center at 930 Horse Cove Road in Highlands.

526.2221.

• The Tusquitee Ranger District will hold an open house from 3-6 p.m. on August 8 at the Brasstown Community Center. Learn and talk about local issues, district projects and forest plan revision. www.fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/ncprevision.

• The U.S. Forest Service will hold an open house from 3-6 p.m. on Aug. 8 at the Tusquitee Ranger District in Brasstown to talk with Forest Service staff about local issues, district projects and the Nantahala and Pisgah Forest Plan revision. http://tinyurl.com/o7jpv79. NCplanrevision@fs.fed.us.

• A “Mysteries of the Night Sky” program is scheduled for 9 p.m. on Aug. 8 at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands. www.highlandsbiological.org or 526.2221.

• Franklin Bird Club will have a bird walk along the greenway at 8 a.m. on Aug. 9. Meet at the Macon County Public Library parking area. 524.5234 or https://franklinbirdclub.com.

• A presentation on naturalist William Bartram and his travels into the Little Tennessee River Valley in 1775 will be offered at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Led by Brent Martin of the NC Bartram Trail Society. http://ncbartramtrail.org.

• A Zahner Lecture entitled “Southern Appalachian:

• Western Carolina University’s Department of Chemistry and Physics will host a viewing of the Perseid meteor shower from 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, until sunrise on Sunday, Aug. 13, at Waterrock Knob (Milepost 451.2) on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

227.2718.

• Through Aug. 12, Great Smoky Mountains National Park will hold daily Ranger-Guided programs. www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/kidsyouth/index.htm.

• “A Taste of Two Tomatoes: Tomato Tasting and Potluck” is scheduled for noon-2 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 14, at the Waynesville Library. Participants will bring tomatoes they’ve grown along with a dish to share that has tomatoes in it. Sign-up required: 356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net.

• Franklin Bird Club will have a bird walk along the greenway at 8 a.m. on Aug. 16. Meet at the Big Bear Shelter parking area. 524.5234 or https://franklinbirdclub.com.

• A cycling ride leaves at 8 a.m. on Saturdays from South Macon Elementary School. Routes vary with distances typically 15-25 miles. Road bikes only. A no drop ride. Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles, 828.369.2881 or info@smokymtnbikes.com.

SOLAR ECLIPSE • Matt Cass, Southwestern Community College physics instructor, will give an eclipse talk at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 9, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Safety and education. 524.3600.

• An informational session about the upcoming total solar eclipse will be held at 3 p.m. on Aug. 10 in the Community Room of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Let by Roger Bacon, retired Western Carolina University professor. Techniques for photographing the eclipse as well as eclipse history, science and safety will be discussed. 586.2016.

• A program about safety during the upcoming total solar eclipse is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 11, at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman. $20 for adults, $15 for students/seniors/military and $5 for ages 6-11. Reservations required: www.pari.edu or 862.5554. Info: schappell@pari.edu.

• A planetarium show: “Night Sky Overview” will be offered at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, followed by a hands-on eclipse activity at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. 524.3600.

• Presentacion en un planetario en español con Dr. Gomez is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. 524.3600. Planetarium Show in Spanish followed by eclipse overview given by Dr. Gomez (with free eclipse glasses).

• Tickets are on sale now for an opportunity to catch the total solar eclipse, which is on Aug. 21, at Scaly Mountain Outdoor Center’s Total Blackout Party. The event includes music from Group Therapy, Stankgrass and a variety of activities. Entry fee: $20 for adults, $15 for ages up to 18 and free for children four and under. Parking: $5 per vehicle. Scalymountain.com.

FARM AND GARDEN • “More in My Basket at the Market” classes are offered in September at the Cooperative Extension

Service in Waynesville. Learn benefits of shopping at the farmer’s market. Info and to register: 456.3575.

• A Master Gardener Plant Clinic is offered every business day through Sept. 22. 456.3575.

HIKING CLUBS • Carolina Mountain Club will have a 10-mile hike with a 1,700-foot ascent on Aug. 6 at Sam Knob Loop.

Reservations and info: 275.6447 or ejb5711@gmail.com.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take an easy, 2.5mile hike on Sunday, Aug. 6, to Big Laurel Falls and Mooney Creek Falls. Elevation change of 100 feet.

Reservations: 369.6820.

• An opportunity to hike the Big East Fork Trail is scheduled for 9 a.m.-noon on Aug. 8. Free for members of the Haywood Waterways Association; $5 for nonmembers. Membership starts at $25. RSVP: romaniszyne@gmail.com or 476.4667.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a seven-mile hike with a 2,200-foot ascent on Aug. 12 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Info and reservations: 606.3989 or jqs290@gmail.com.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate, five-mile hike with an elevation change of 200 feet on Saturday, Aug. 12, to Lower Whitewater Falls.

Reservations: 743.1079.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate, six-mile hike with an elevation change of 600 feet on Saturday, Aug. 12, to Black Balsam Knob and Tennent Mountain off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Reservations: 954.632.7270.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate-tostrenuous 3.5-mile hike with an elevation change of 500 feet on Saturday, Aug. 12, from Wayah Crest to the top of Siler Bald. Reservations: 772.233.7277.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a five-mile hike with a 1,300-foot ascent on Aug. 13 from Walker Knob Overlook to Little Butt. Info and reservations: 484.9562 or cooper.hs@charter.net.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a nine-mile hike with a 2,400-foot ascent on Aug. 16 at Silers Bald.

Info and reservations: 460.7066 or barbc129@gmail.com.

OUTDOOR CLUBS • The Jackson County Poultry Club will hold its regular meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Jackson County Cooperative Extension Office. The club is for adults and children and includes a monthly meeting with a program and a support network for those raising birds. For info, call 586.4009 or write heather_gordon@ncsu.edu.

• The North Carolina Catch program, a three-phase conservation education effort focusing on aquatic environments, will be offered through May 15. The program is offered by the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. Free for members; daily admission for non-members. 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov.

• An RV camping club, the Vagabonds, camps one weekend per month from April through November. All ages welcome. No dues or structured activities. For details, write lilnau@aol.com or call 369.6669.

• The Cataloochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited meets the second Tuesday of the month starting with a dinner at 6:30 p.m. at Rendezvous restaurant located on the corner of Jonathan Creek Road and Soco Road in Maggie Valley. 631.5543.

• The Cherokee Runners meets each month on the 1st and 15th of the month (if the first falls on Sunday, the group meets on the 2nd), at the Age Link Conference Room. Group runs are being held each Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. starting at the Flame. www.cherokeerunners.com.

PRIME REAL ESTATE Advertise in The Smoky Mountain News

LEGAL NOTICES

MarketPlace information: The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 every week to over 500 locations across in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties along with the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. For a link to our MarketPlace Web site, which also contains a link to all of our MarketPlace display advertisers’ Web sites, visit www.smokymountainnews.com.

Rates:

■ Free — Lost or found pet ads.

■ $5 — Residential yard sale ads, ■ $5 — Non-business items that sell for less than $150.

■ $15 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2.

If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type.

■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad or colored background.

■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold.

■ $300 — Statewide classifieds run in 117 participating newspapers with 1.6 million circulation. Up to 25 words.

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PUBLIC NOTICE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION The Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources (DEMLR) invites public comment on, or objections to, the permitting actions listed below. Persons wishing to comment or object may submit written comments to the address below by the due dates indicated. All comments received prior to the dates will be considered in the final determinations regarding permit issuance. Public comments may result in changes to the proposed permitting actions. All comments should reference the specific permitting actions listed below and the permit number. DEMLR intends to re-issue the following NPDES industrial General Permits. Please note that for some permits below multiple actions are proposed for the same permit over two separate comment periods.

NCG240000 for Compost Facilities: to be revised and re-issued with proposed re-issuance date– 09/30/2017; public comment period ends 9/15/2017.

The General Permits and Fact Sheets may be viewed 45 days in advance of the scheduled re-issuance dates noted above at: https://deq.nc.gov/about/ divisions/energy-mineral-landresources/events Please direct comments or objections to: Stormwater Program NC Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources 512 N. Salisbury St. 1612 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1612 Telephone Number: (919) 807-6369 Robert.Patterson@ncdenr.gov

AUCTION - ABSOLUTE AUCTION Sat. Aug. 5th 10:00a.m. 2914 Soco Rd., Maggie Valley, NC. Selling contents of Katie & Tom Williamson’s Antique Shop (Lizzard’s at the Springhouse) located across from the Maggie Fire Dept. For photos and complete list please check our website: felmetauction.com or go to Felmet Auction Company on Facebook. Access from back entrance of the building. Preview 8:00a.m. Felmet Auction Co. David F. Felmet NCAL# 4393, Sarah Felmet NCAL# 8287 828.456.8285 ONLINE W/BID CENTER AUCTION, 112.97+/-Acres of Waterfront Tracts on the North River in Carteret Co., NC, Begins Closing 8/17/17 at 6pm, Bid Center at Crystal Coast Civic Center, ironhorseauction.com, 800.997.2248, NCAL 3936

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Bring Resume & Cover Letter for Brief Interview with Management Team 2:00p.m. 8/08/17.

RSVP Name/Position to: staff@mapletreevet.com AIRLINE MECHANIC TRAINING Get FAA certification to fix planes.

Approved for military benefits.

Financial Aid if qualified. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance 866.441.6890 SAPA FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Biology Instructor, Computer Support Technician II. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com Human Resources Office Phone: 910.678.7342 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer

EMPLOYMENT CDL A OR B DRIVERS NEEDED To transfer vehicles from local body plants and customers to various customer locations throughout U.S.-No forced dispatch- We specialize in connecting the dots and reducing deadhead. Safety Incentives! Referral bonuses!! $.50 a mile base and all fuel paid!!! Call 1.800.501.3783 or apply at: www.mamotransportation.com/driv eaway-jobs-transport-driverswanted/ COLONIAL LIFE SEEKING Experienced Benefits Counselors.

Immediate Income Potential! All training provided. LA&H license.

Contact Jennifer: 843.323.6015.

JAngelich@ColonialLife.com.

SPECIAL OPS U.S. NAVY. Elite training. Daring missions.

Generous pay/benefits. HS grads ages 17-30. Do you have what it takes? Call Mon-Fri 800.662.7419 HOME WORKERS!!

Easy Legitimate Work, Great Pay! Assemble Products At Home And Other Mystery Shopping Opportunities Galore - No Experience Needed.

For More Details, Send $2.00 With A Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope to: Publishers Market Source, PO Box 1122, Merrillville, IN 46411 - FRONT DESK Full Time or Part Time: Maggie Valley Cabin Resort Seeks a Versatile, Energetic & Experienced Front Desk Employee. Customer Service & Computer Exp. Req. Weekends, Nights & Holidays a Must! Call for more info 828.926.1388

NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Offering 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments, Starting at $400 Section 8 Accepted - Handicapped Accessible Units When Available

OFFICE HOURS: Monday & Wednesday 8:00am - 4:00pm 168 E. Nicol Arms Road Sylva, NC 28779

Phone# 1.828.273.3639 TDD# 1.800.735.2962

EMPLOYMENT - HOUSEKEEPING Full Time or Part Time: Maggie Valley Cabin Resort Seeks an Energetic & Experienced Housekeeper. Valid Driver’s License Required. For more info Call 828.926.1388 LOOKING FOR HONEST SALES People. Reply to: Supervisor, 131 Franklin Plaza, Ste. 334, Franklin, NC, 28734. Send legal size S.A.S.E. Info to Follow!

HOMES FOR SALE BRUCE MCGOVERN A Full Service Realtor, Locally Owned and Operated mcgovernpropertymgt@gmail.com McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112.

BUYING A HOME And need a mortgage? Or, have a home and want to lower your monthly fees and refinance? Getting a mortgage is quicker and easier than ever. Call now!

844.251.5563 SAVE YOUR HOME! Are you behind paying your MORTGAGE? Denied a Loan Modification? Is the bank threatening foreclosure? CALL Homeowner’s Relief Line now for the Help You Need 855.282.4732 MOUNTAINS OF NC Chalet Style 1,340 sf cabin on 1.84 acres $159,900. Great views, lg loft w/ pict windows, fpl, huge deck. Call Now for more information 828.286.1666

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT LEASE TO OWN 1/2 Acre Lots with Mobile Homes & Empty 1/2 Acre + Lots!

Located Next to Cherokee Indian Reservation, 2.5 Miles from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

For More Information Please Call 828.506.0578 MOUNTAINS OF NC Log sided 1,340 sf cabin on 1.84 acres $159,900 Great views, lg loft w/ pict windows, fpl, huge deck 828.286.1666

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18 This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All dwellings advertised on equal opportunity basis.

CAVALIER ARMS APARTMENTS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Offering 1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Apartments, Starting at $400 Section 8 Accepted - Rental Assistance When Available Handicapped Accessible Units When Available

OFFICE HOURS: Wednesday 12:30pm - 4:00pm & Friday. 8:00am- 4:00pm 50 Duckett Cove Road, Waynesville

Phone # 1-828-456-6776 TDD # 1-800-725-2962 Equal Housing Opportunity

This is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

USAGolfCart.com

SERVICE SPECIAL OIL CHANGE

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with service appointment

SALES SERVICE RENTALS

Includes Free Multi-point Inspection

860 Tunnel Road, Asheville, NC

(828) 298-4911 44

BUSINESS FOR SALE

Always Fast, Fair & Friendly!

www.hyundaiofasheville.com

828-734-4644

COMPLETE HOME INSPECTION SERVICES

Moving or Buying?

Let Us Help You.

HAYWOOD HOME INSPECTIONS

828.734.3609 | haywoodhomeinsp@gmail.com

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT

COMM. PROP. FOR RENT PROFESSIONAL MEETING SPACE Located in Waynesville, Holds up to 90 People. Suitable for Seminars, Family Gatherings, Worship, Ect. Kitchen Area, Wifi/ Screen. For More Information and Rates for ROOM 1902 Call 828.454.7445 or 828.551.8960

STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT CLIMATE CONTROLLED STORAGE FOR YOU 1 Month Free with 12 Month Rental. Maggie Valley, Hwy. 19, 1106 Soco Rd. For more information call Torry

828.734.6500, 828.734.6700 maggievalleyselfstorage.com

Committed to Exceeding Expectations

Marilynn Obrig

Residential Broker Associate

(828) 550-2810

WANTED TO BUY

mobrig@Beverly-Hanks.com

FREON R12 WANTED: Certified Buyer Will Pick Up And Pay Ca$H for R12 cylinders or cases of cans. 312.291.9169; www.refrigerantfinders.com

www.Beverly-Hanks.com

Mike Stamey

mstamey@beverly-hanks.com

FINANCIAL

828-508-9607

BEWARE OF LOAN FRAUD. Please check with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection Agency before sending any money to any loan company.

SAPA

74 NORTH MAIN ST. • WAYNESVILLE, NC

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY? Up to $2,671/mo. (Based on paidin amount.) FREE evaluation! Call Bill Gordon & Associates.

1.800.670.4805. Mail: 2420 N St NW, Washington DC. Office: Broward Co. FL., member TX/NM Bar. YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE With Bad Credit and High Interest Rates! Get a FREE Consultation Today, and Start Improving your Credit Now. Call 855.705.7246 Today!

MEDICAL

www.beverly-hanks.com

RE/MAX

Ron Breese Broker/Owner

ITEMS FOR SALE

kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • Julie Lapkoff - 828-273-6607 • Yvonne Kolomechuk - yvonneksells.yourkwagent.com • The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com

www.ronbreese.com Each office independently owned & operated.

Lakeshore Realty • Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

Mountain Home Properties mountaindream.com • Cindy Dubose - cdubose@mountaindream.com

MOBILEHELP America's Premier Mobile Medical Alert System. Whether You're Home or Away. For Safety and Peace of Mind. No Long Term Contracts!

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McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com

Realty World Heritage Realty realtyworldheritage.com • Martha Sawyer realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7769

GET CLEAN TODAY. Free 24/7 Helpline for alcohol & drug addiction treatment. Get help! It is time to take your life back! Call Now for more info 855.398.4089

RE/MAX — Mountain Realty

——————————————

GEORGE

ESCARAVAGE BROKER/REALTOR

—————————————— 28 WOODLAND ASTER WAY

ASHEVILLE, NC 28804

828.400.0901

SFR, ECO, GREEN

147 WALNUT STREET • WAYNESVILLE

828.506.7137

aspivey@sunburstrealty.com

• • • • • •

remax-waynesvillenc.com | remax-maggievalleync.com Holly Fletcher - hollyfletcher1975@gmail.com Judy Meyers - jameyers@charter.net Mieko Thomson - ncsmokies.com The Real Team - the-real-team.com Ron Breese - ronbreese.com Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com

Rob Roland Realty • Rob Roland - rroland33@gmail.com

www.sunburstrealty.com/amy-spivey

GESCAR@BEVERLY-HANKS.COM

BEVERLY-HANKS.COM

beverly-hanks.com Pam Braun - pbraun@beverly-hanks.com Pauletter Childers -paulettechilders@beverly-hanks.com Ann Eavenson - anneavenson@beverly-hanks.com George Escaravage - gescar@beverly-hanks.com Billie Green - BGreen@beverly-hanks.com Michelle McElroy - michellemcelroy@beverly-hanks.com Marilynn Obrig - marilynnobrig@beverly-hanks.com Brian K. Noland - brianknoland.com Anne Page - apage@beverly-hanks.com Brooke Parrott - brookeparrott@beverly-hanks.com Jerry Powell - jpowell@beverly-hanks.com Catherine Proben - cproben@beverly-hanks.com Ellen Sither - ellensither@beverly-hanks.com Mike Stamey - mikestamey@beverly-hanks.com Pamela Williams - pamelawilliams@beverly-hanks.com

smokymountainnews.com

BORING/CARPENTER BEE TRAPS No Chemicals, Poisons or Anything to Harm the Environment.

Handmade in Haywood County. 1 for $20, 2 or More for $15 each.

828.593.8321

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Keller Williams Realty

2177 Russ Ave. Waynesville, NC 28786 Cell: 828.400.9029 ron@ronbreese.com

mydoterra.com/blueridge wellness

FLAGLER BEACH FLORIDA Oceanfront Vacation Rental, Tripadvisor Award, Furnished Studio, 1-2-3 BR’s, Full Kitchens, WiFi, TV, Pool. Seasonal Specials.

1.386.517.6700 or www.fbvr.net

Beverly Hanks & Associates

ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com • Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com • Rick Boarder - sunburstrealty.com

EXECUTIVE

WELLNESS ADVOCATE

VACATION RENTALS

Haywood County Real Estate Agents

August 2-8, 2017

GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE Conveniently located off 19/23

by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160.

Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.

METAL ART & HOME DECOR SALE Yard/Garden Art, Signs, Flags, Suns & Other Collectibles. Everything must be Sold. Whole Sale Buyers Welcome. Ping Pong & Foosball Table, Michelob Tiffany Lamps, Neon Signs, Displays, Birdhouses & Chimes. 828.734.1665.

WNC MarketPlace

FOR SALE BY OWNER 1.84+/- Unrestricted Acres of Wooded Property. Located at Elijay Area of Franklin, Off Hwy. 64E. For more information call 828.342.3142

ITEMS FOR SALE

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com 45

www.smokymountainnews.com

August 2-8, 2017

WNC MarketPlace

Super

46

CROSSWORD

GETTING SERVED IN THE MIDEAST ACROSS 1 Flag supporter 5 Coen of film 10 Proposition 15 Melville mariner 19 One-spot cards 20 Bucks 21 “Odyssey” enchantress 22 Woman of rank 23 Start of a riddle 26 “... — it just me?”

27 Painful spots 28 Literary Leon 29 Subj. for U.S. immigrants 30 Horseshoe-shaped iron bar 31 Riddle, part 2 36 Bit of legend 37 Transmit 38 Showy scarf 39 Italian “God” 40 Cry loudly 43 Singer Smith 45 Less bold 48 “Misled” singer Celine 49 Riddle, part 3 56 Marketing news mag 57 Big name in electric razors 58 Oman export 59 “Blue” singer Rimes 60 Director Elia 61 Hidden mike 62 Drop off 65 Unit of corn 66 Riddle, part 4 71 — Lingus 72 “Dr.” of rap

73 Writer Fleming 74 Spud state 75 Plane path 77 Boom maker 78 Obtain 81 Hotel room Bible placer 82 Riddle, part 5 87 Fed a line 88 Old-time actress Palmer 89 Blue yonder 90 Links org.

91 Suffix with 121Across 92 “Sure” 93 Archibald of old basketball 97 Regal Norse name 100 End of the riddle 107 Jordanian capital 108 A, in Acapulco 109 Electric, water or gas: Abbr.

110 Merger with Mobil in 1999 112 Country singer — Keith 113 Riddle’s answer 117 Author — Stanley Gardner 118 “Later!”

119 “Star Trek” officer 120 British conservative 121 Forecaster 122 “Bleeding Love” singer Lewis 123 Volga native 124 Farm females DOWN 1 Rabbit’s feet 2 Ellen who was the

first Latina in space 3 Get wind (of) 4 Honor 5 Type widths 6 Little squirt 7 Just so-so 8 1999-2004 Oldsmobiles 9 Aboriginal 10 Autumn mo.

11 — mignon 12 Insolent 13 “Green” product sticker 14 Ump’s cousin 15 Baked brick 16 Last Anglo-Saxon king of England 17 Umpteen 18 Oscar category for “Let It Go” 24 Early Bill Cosby series 25 “The end — sight” 30 Stage legend Hagen 32 “No worries” 33 Burn black 34 Detroit flop 35 Detached, as a coupon 40 Went flat 41 “Mercy me!”

42 “Watch out!”

44 Talking birds 46 Ad — 47 Wall St. intro 48 Singer Lana — Rey 50 D.C. bigwig 51 Common bowling game 52 Seep out 53 Sardonic Lebowitz 54 Intel chip brand 55 Result of excessive

teasing?

60 Guy doll 61 Playbill info 62 Lessen 63 Fit in 64 Starr of old comics 67 Scary snake 68 Actress Falco 69 Fix, as socks 70 Sharpens 76 Bridal vow 77 Senator Cruz 78 Internet inits.

79 D halved 80 Actor Aidan 81 Country’s Crystal 82 Protective film sheets 83 Mount where four presidents went bust?

84 Look like 85 Deter 86 Hershey’s toffee bar 92 Urge 94 “Son of —!”

95 “Shame!”

96 “Happy Endings” actress Cuthbert 98 New — (Enya, e.g.)

99 Obsess (on) 101 Bill settler 102 “That Night —” (old film) 103 1800s veep Burr 104 Scoff at 105 U-shaped river bend 106 Black, in Lille 111 Bill blockers 113 — -Mart 114 Simile center 115 Italian monk 116 Bern’s river

answers on page 40

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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY? Up to $2,671/mo. (Based on paidin amount.) FREE evaluation! Call Bill Gordon & Associates.

1.800.670.4805. Mail: 2420 N St NW, Washington DC. Office: Broward Co. FL., member TX/NM Bar. MAINTAIN YOUR INDEPENDENCE, And stay in the home you love. Get a WALK- IN tub today. Installation can be completed in just one day.

Financing options and special offers available. Call NOW! 888.812.6928

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SAVE up to 75%! Get $10.00 off your first prescription. Free shipping! Call 855.397.9945

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LOWER THAT CABLE BILL And get AT&T U-Verse. BUNDLE & SAVE with AT&T Internet+Phone+ TV. Hurry, Call Now! 855.441.3595

SERVICES - IMPROVE WINDOWS Home or Office. Lifetime Window Tinting Protects from Losses in Energy, Light Management and Fade. Perfectly Installed, 35yrs.

Experience, Lifetime Warranty.

FREE Estimates. Serving WNC Also: Mobile Automotive Service 828.216.6018 DISH TV. 190 channels. $49.99/mo. for 24 mos. Ask About Exclusive Dish Features like Sling® and the Hopper®. Plus Highspeed Internet, $14.95/mo. (Availability and Restrictions apply.) TV for Less, Not Less TV! 1.855.419.7188 SAPA SPECTRUM TRIPLE PLAY TV, Internet & Voice for $29.99 ea. 60 MB per second speed No contract or commitment. We buy your existing contract up to $500!

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Accredited member, ACCSC. SAPA

WEEKLY SUDOKU Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Answers on Page 40

River fun on the Catawba. Allison Barfield photo

The naturalist’s corner

BY DON H ENDERSHOT

Rock Hill on the river y family and I were in the Rock Hill, S.C.-Charlotte area a few weeks back to visit my sister and catch my niece, Haley Barfield (one of the triplets, yeah, as in three, Allison and Jess round out the trifecta) in Shakespeare Carolina’s production of Macbeth. We also got to enjoy a birthday dinner with Matt, the triplets’ older brother.

So we were back and forth a lot from Rock Hill to my sister’s house and to and from Charlotte and on one of these trips, I looked out as we were crossing the Catawba River to see a flotilla of tubers. I watched as we continued and I could see some buildings along the river. We’ve been going to Rock Hill for years and this was the first time I recalled seeing this kind of river traffic. I mentioned it at my sister’s and my brotherin-law, Tom Barfield, told me that there had been some recent development along the river, with restaurants and shops and trails for running, hiking and biking.

So I did a little sleuthing. I found a July article in Rock Hill’s newspaper The Herald.

According to the article, natives and guests have “rediscovered” the Catawba River. The impetus, according to the paper, was in 2010

M

when developers of Riverwalk, a $600 million mixed-use development, demolished an old industrial complex along the river. Then it looks like the city and developers partnered to open the 3.35-mile Piedmont Medical Trail in Riverwalk, The trail connects to Rock Hill’s greenway system and to the Carolina Thread Trail in the 70-acre River Park.

River Park offers more than just trails.

There is a boardwalk through a wetlands area, restrooms, picnic tables, a canoe/kayak launch and more. Rock Hill’s Park Recreation & Tourism department offers many environmental education classes including the Leopold Education Project and a popular paddling program.

I didn’t get to visit River Park and/or Riverwalk on this visit but as luck would have it, I got a firsthand account from some intrepid paddlers. While Haley was prepping to go on stage, her two sisters (always there for moral support) decided it would be a good day to hit the river. According to Allison, a group put in at the dam on the Catawba River near Fort Mill and floated down to Riverwalk. She said the trip took them about 2.5 hours with some time for rock hopping and swimming in the river.

She said she has hiked the nature trail before and hopes to hit the bike trails soon.

“The water was very clean and I like the way the park is introducing new activities to Rock Hill and getting more people out and active,” Allison said. I guess she must be one of those who has “rediscovered” the Catawba River. And according to the article in The Herald, she’s not alone.

C.C. Williams, Rock Hill’s outdoor recreation coordinator told The Herald, “The tubing on the Catawba River has really just exploded.” Most of the traffic is on the weekends when Duke Energy releases water for recreational use. Williams credited

Riverwalk for part of the increase in tubers and paddlers. The launch at Riverwalk is 3.5 miles from the dam where Allison and her group put in, making it a relaxing 2-3 hour trip. It’s 6.5 miles if you’re going all the way to River Park, requiring a greater time allotment.

We will be headed back in September to see our favorite thespian in another Shakespeare Carolina production — “The Comedy of Errors” and hopefully we can also rediscover the Catawba.

(Don Hendershot is a naturalist and a writer who lives in Haywood County. He can be reached at ddihen1@bellsouth.net)

August 2-8, 2017 Smoky Mountain News 47

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Smoky Mountain News August 2-8, 2017