Smoky Mountain News | August 11, 2021

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August 11-17, 2021 Vol. 23 Iss. 11

Parents petition school board to require masks Page 10 Mountain hog farm revives historic breed Page 38

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CONTENTS On the Cover:

As lawmakers in Raleigh still debate whether or not to approve medical marijuana use in North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is ahead of the curve. The Tribal Council voted recently to establish its own medical marijuana program on the Qualla Boundary. (Page 8)

News

A new phase for Haywood Pathways Center ............................................................6 Parents petition school board to require masks ......................................................10 Swain will mandate masks in schools ........................................................................11 Businesses impacted by COVID-19 cases ............................................................12 As COVID rages, Canton Labor Day events debated ..........................................14 Macon woman wielding machete video goes viral ................................................17 Democrat Jay Carey brings perspective to NC11 race ......................................18 Cherokee to consider same-sex marriage law ........................................................19 After a brief pause, eviction moratorium returns ....................................................22 Health ....................................................................................................................................25

Opinion

The truth is not as simple as it seems ........................................................................26 When distractions — and watchful angels — soothe grief ....................................27

A&E

String Cheese Incident to play Salvage Station ....................................................28 A story of immigrants gone missing ............................................................................37

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

Mountain hog farm revives historic breed ................................................................38

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A new phase for Pathways Center

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR t’s been nearly seven years since Haywood Pathways Center served up its first meals to the needy, after the then-prison was famously “flipped” by television renovation star Ty Pennington into its current incarnation as a faith-based residential recovery center. Yet, the need still remains.

In fact, over those seven years it’s never waned, and with the litany of issues that led to its creation — homelessness, drug abuse, recidivism — now complimented by COVID19, an affordable housing crisis and a distinct lack of year-round living-wage jobs, Pathways remains an important community resource that transforms lives while saving taxpayers money.

As Pathways matures and evolves, so must its approach. Plans both complete and underway suggest Pathways is now about to serve up a heaping helping of workforce development.

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Faylen (left) and Liam Kelly helped prepare dinner at Pathways on Aug. 7.

Cory Vaillancourt photo

HOLY COW!

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

Shortly after the creation of Pathways in late 2014, the nonprofit’s governing board set up a five-year plan. A recent addition to the Pathways portfolio marked the completion of that plan.

“With the opening of Holy Cow, that was our last big goal on our original plan — to open a social enterprise,” said Executive Director Mandy Haithcox of the cleverly named food truck launched in September 2020.

Starting a new line of business during the pre-vaccine days of the Coronavirus Pandemic was not a great decision for some, but fortuitously, it worked out for Pathways as traditional bricks-and-mortar restaurants struggled with capacity limits and sheepish crowds hesitant to gather.

“We’ve had overwhelming support from the community and we’ve felt very loved with all of that,” Haithcox said. “Our generator just died and so we’ve not been out for a couple of weeks, but we hope to be back out this week, and we we’re at a point where we’re breaking even so we feel like we’re doing pretty good with that.”

The truck operates with a supervisor and two line cooks, both of whom are former Pathways residents that made it through the faith-based recovery program and are now gainfully employed.

It’s by no means the first time former residents have moved out into the community into the workforce; Pathways has had an employment specialist for some time now, and will continue to utilize that position by making connections with employers across the county.

But now that the initial five-year plan is history, directors met this past March to craft a new one, and not surprisingly, it has a special focus on food.

“I think what’s important to talk about is 6 we really wanted to make sure that we are

You can help Haywood Pathways Center is appreciative of the volunteers and donors who help keep residents moving on the right path toward productive, self-sufficient lifestyles. Cash is always welcome, however there are plenty of other ways — your valuable time, for example — that you can advance the Pathways mission, “To glorify God by proclaiming and showing love through a Christ-centered ministry that brings life transformation in a safe, accepting and caring environment.” Cook teams, drivers, tutors, babysitters, front desk clerks and chaplains are always welcome, as are tradespeople with special skills like plumbing, carpentry and landscaping. To volunteer, call or email Jasmine at 828.246.0332 or volunteer@haywoodpathways.org. To make a tax-deductible donation, visit www.haywoodpathwayscenter.org. sharing our story and want to be able to engage our churches in our community again, especially because we’ve been providing services throughout COVID, but we’ve been closed to volunteers up until January of this year,” said Haithcox. “Everyone’s kind of reticent to come back, as are we to allow a whole influx of people, but we want to engage folks.”

One of the ways Pathways has driven that community engagement is through its volunteer programs, especially the cook teams who show up to craft meals for the program’s residents every single night of the week.

Residential capacity at Pathways is 96 people, although the facilities remain at 80 percent capacity because of the congregate nature of the living environment.

“Right now, we only have 12 cook teams,” Haithcox said. “We had 35 before COVID. We value our partnerships with the cook teams, because that’s a huge piece of how we connect

folks to community and, people are able to foster connections that way.”

Pathways’ campus closed to volunteers for several months back in 2020, meaning no more cook teams. Now that it’s open again, many of the teams — churches, civic organizations and the like — have found different ways to spend their time and haven’t returned.

“Well, one, I think we didn’t have cook teams at all for a while, so people don’t know that we are taking people back. We are still requiring masks on campus inside for safety reasons because we’re communal living, and that includes cook teams. You know, it’s uncomfortable. People don’t necessarily want to do that.”

Staffers and residents have pitched in when necessary, but the recent resignation of the kitchen manager could have been perceived as another setback. Haithcox, however, saw it as an opportunity.

“One of the bigger pictures or bigger

The vast majority of food at Pathways is donated.

Cory Vaillancourt photo

goals we want to implement is an official employment and vocational skill training route,” she said.

That being said, a new kitchen manager is about to transform the way Pathways graduates residents back into the workforce.

Haithcox didn’t want to reveal the name of the person Pathways had selected for the position, but she expects that if all goes well, they’d begin work in the next few weeks, doing many of the things the previous coordinator did, with a few notable exceptions.

“If it’s the person that we hope it will be, they have a unique set of skills and experience of being an executive chef for decades, being the head of culinary departments in colleges, and also working in homeless shelters and helping develop soup kitchens and social enterprises,” Haithcox said. “It’s not something you find every day.”

First, some residents don’t know much about cooking

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Cook teams are a vital link in community engagement at Pathways. Cory Vaillancourt photo

Haywood highway dedicated to fireman

County Board of Commissioners, plus letters of support from the Waynesville Fire Department, three from Maggie Valley Fire and Rescue, Haywood County Deputy Fire Marshall Daryl Henderson, and Crabtree Iron Duff Volunteer Scott Sutton.

Messer, who spent his professional career of 30 years with McElroy Oil and 11 years with Southern Concrete, helped create the Jonathan Creek Volunteer Fire Department in 1986 and served as chairman of the department’s board of directors and captain of the department until his death.

Also known for his service to the community, Messer often provided wood and oil for those in need of heat through winter storms and months. He died in 2019 at the age of 74 when responding to a fire call.

“I think it would be an honor to the state of North Carolina and to Haywood County to have a portion of U.S. 276 right down through Jonathan Creek named after such a selfless individual like Claud Messer,” wrote Henderson. “This was the place where he gave so much of himself, even his life, to other people and never asked anything in return.”

Ingles Nutrition Notes written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath

Q: Is it possible to be allergic to meat?

A: Yes, recently the Alpha-gal Syndrome (AGS) or mammalian

meat allergy has become more widely recognized. This is an allergy to red meat, dairy products, pork, lamb, goat (but not poultry or fish) as well as products made from these animals like gelatins, cosmetics, supplements, ingredients in medical supplies etc. It appears this syndrome develops after a tick bite, though onset may not be immediate. Increasingly this is being seen in states where ticks are a problem.

Some of the symptoms people experience after(immediately or within a few hours) eating meat which may signify AGS are: rash, hives, difficulty breathing, stomach pain, nausea or vomiting.

Currently there is no treatment for AGS except limiting or avoiding foods and products from mammals.

If you suspect you may have been bitten by a tick and notice that you are having issues after consuming meat or dairy products, please speak to your physician.

For more information: CDC - https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/alpha-gal/index.html Alpha-Gal Information: https://alphagalinformation.org/what-is-ags/

Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN Ingles Market Corporate Dietitian

Smoky Mountain News

The N.C. Board of Transportation unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to dedicate a section of U.S. 276 in Haywood County in honor of Claud “Paw” Messer.

NCDOT and local officials will hold a ceremony later this year at an appropriate date to dedicate the stretch of U.S. 276 from Interstate 40 to U.S. 19 in honor of the man who created the Jonathan Creek Volunteer Fire Department and dedicated his life to public service.

The NCDOT resolution states in part, “Messer’s leadership allowed the Jonathan Creek Volunteer Fire Department to build a state-of-the-art facility and purchase necessary equipment without incurring debt,” and “Messer had a distinguished 30-year career as a Haywood County Volunteer Firefighter and was looked upon by his peers with respect and admiration.”

Messer’s nomination packet includes necessary documents from the Haywood

a recent Saturday, Chaplain Bob Cummings, of the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Waynesville, showed up with his regular crew of volunteers.

Among them were Faylen, 8, and Liam Kelly, 11. The Kelly boys came with their mother, who said she’s trying to teach the kids responsibility and service, and keep them on the right path.

“I was excited,” said Faylen, who spent the afternoon stirring salsa for the 120 tacos Cummings and others had prepared. “I mean, it’s really helpful to the homeless and people who don’t get to eat because they’re recovering and if they don’t have anything to drink or eat they’re going to pass away, so we’ve got to do something about it.”

Liam said that if someone asked him about volunteering at Pathways, he wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

“They need help in recovering,” he said.

“Coming here would be a very good opportunity. Everyone’s very nice, and it’s a very good experience.”

August 11-17, 2021

healthy, nutritious meals for themselves.

That could change with the inclusion of life skills classes designed to provide residents with instruction on how to make things that are good, and good for them.

Second, residents could end up with intensive job skills training as they progress through recovery, so when they leave Pathways — or perhaps, even before that — they can help satisfy current demand for workers in the food service industry.

“So instead of the fast food positions, we can look at higher-end restaurants, which typically pay a little bit more and ideally we’d be able to have people go from being in whatever class it is to volunteering or working on the food truck, to have real life skills, be able to put it on their resumes, so they can build on that,” Haithcox said.

Finally, the new kitchen coordinator could help manage that important community connection — the cook teams.

More than half of the remaining days in August have no cook team scheduled, but on

@InglesDietitian Leah McGrath - Dietitian 800.334.4936 Ingles Markets… caring about your health

7

news

Cherokee establishes medical cannabis program

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will establish a medical marijuana program on tribal lands even as the drug remains illegal in the state of North Carolina, following a divided vote on Thursday, Aug. 5.

“It’s been surreal,” said Governmental Affairs Liaison Jeremy Wilson, one of the ordinance’s three submitters. “It’s one of those feelings where you spend four years on something, and it finally happens and you’re not really sure how to feel. It’s very exciting — we just want to make sure we do it right.”

Wilson has been advocating for legalization of medical cannabis since his election to Tribal Council in 2017. He lost his re-election bid in 2019 but continued his efforts after Principal Chief Richard Sneed hired him to his current position in the executive office.

Sneed and Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Joey Owle have also been proponents of the program, and their names are listed on the 42-page ordinance’s “submitted by” portion as well.

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knowledge and expertise in the cannabis industry. The version of the ordinance attached to the agenda stipulated that the fifth member be a physician. But Associate Attorney General Vince Hyatt told Council that a new version passed out the day of the vote — but not made available to The Smoky Mountain News — stated that the member must be “very well versed” in a medical field

Sneed to become effective, which can take place after the 10-day protest period expires Aug. 15.

‘SEED TO SALE’ Cherokee’s medical marijuana program will be a “seed to sale” operation controlled

by Kituwah Medical LLC, an entity wholly

CREATING THE FRAMEWORK

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

The ordinance creates the legal framework for a medical cannabis program, but many of the specific regulations have yet to be created, as it will be the job of a newly created board to write them. Wilson said that his “hopeful timeline” is that 12 months from now, medical cardholders will be able to purchase cannabis from a dispensary on the Qualla Boundary, but that timeframe could easily change depending on how things progress.

The ordinance creates a new Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Cannabis Advisory Commission that will study cannabis-related issues and make regulatory recommendations. Meanwhile, a new EBCI Cannabis Control Board will set the regulations.

The seven-member Advisory Commission will consist of the principal chief, Tribal Council chairman, Community Club chair, secretary of agriculture and natural resources, secretary of public health and human services, chief of police and CEO of the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority. Any of the named members may appoint a designee in their stead to serve up to three consecutive two-year terms on the board.

Commission members will not be compensated for their service.

Members of the five-person Control Board, however, will receive a salary — $40,000 for the chairman and $30,000 for other members.

The principal chief nominates members, and Tribal Council confirms them.

The membership must include at least three members of the EBCI or another federally recognized tribe. Beyond that, it must include a certified public accountant with at least five years of experience and comprehensive knowledge of corporate finance; somebody with training and experience in investigation, financial auditing or corporate compliance; a licensed attorney with expertise in 8 regulatory compliance; and somebody with

flict with those to be stipulated for the initial 36 months.

Dispensaries may not be within 1,000 feet of a pre-existing school or community facility such as a park, playground, day care, swimming pool, community club building or church, according to an approved amendment offered by Representative Sneed. The Control Board will be responsible for establishing a program to issue the cards, which may be given only to people age 21 and older.

If the person’s health care provider later diagnoses them as no longer having the condition that originally qualified them for the card, the person must return the card.

Among the questions to be answered by the not-yet-created Control Board regulations is who exactly can obtain a medical cannabis card.

“When you look at how the ordinance is written, it applies to everyone that’s on the Qualla Boundary, including enrolled members and non-enrolled members,” said Secretary Owle. “How that specifically is going to work has not been developed yet.

That will come on as the Commission gathers and starts to work.”

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Joey Owle addresses Tribal Council Aug. 5.

EBCI image

“My hopeful approach is we showcase that we can do this. We showcase how it can be done safely and regulated and be that gold standard.”

— Governmental Affairs Liaison Jeremy Wilson

such as mental health or public health but need not be a physician.

“I wasn’t sure if actually being part of the Cannabis Control Board could put someone’s (medical) license at risk,” he explained.

The new version contained some other substantive changes as well, which Hyatt outlined to Council.

The ordinance ultimately passed with eight councilmembers in favor and four opposed, for a weighted vote of 74-26. In favor were Wolfetown Representatives Chelsea Saunooke and Bo Crowe; Birdtown Representatives Albert Rose and Boyd Owle; Big Cove Representatives Perry Shell and Richard French; Snowbird/Cherokee County Representative Bucky Brown and Chairman Adam Wachacha. Opposed were Painttown Representatives Tommye Saunooke and Dike Sneed, Yellowtown Representative Tom Wahnetah and Vice Chairman David Wolfe.

Tommye Saunooke said during the meeting that she was in favor of medical marijuana but opposed to voting on the ordinance minutes after a final version was handed out.

The law requires ratification from Chief

owned by the EBCI. The company has identified potential locations that would be “ideal” for private growers on the Qualla Boundary to produce medical cannabis for sale at onBoundary dispensaries, Wilson said. These locations would be discrete and not visible from the road.

During the first three years the law is in effect, medical cannabis cardholders will be limited to buying one ounce of medical marijuana per day and 6 ounces per month. In an ordinance change passed in May, the tribe removed criminal penalties for possessing an ounce or less of the drug.

There will be a limit of 2,500 milligrams of THC in medical cannabis products sold to an individual cardholder per day and 10,000 milligrams per month during those first three years. Additionally, there may not be more than two medical cannabis dispensary locations, and only Kituwah Medical LLC or one of its wholly owned subsidiaries may be issued medical cannabis establishment licenses.

Once the three-year period ends, the Control Board may consider policies in con-

While alcohol has been a historically contentious issue on the Qualla Boundary, tribal members have demonstrated widespread support for legalizing medical marijuana, with the audience in Council last week breaking out into applause after the vote. During a 2017 public meeting that drew 100 people almost uniformly opposed to the expansion of alcohol sales on the Boundary, multiple speakers voiced support for medical marijuana — a topic that wasn’t even on the agenda for discussion.

However, during the Aug. 8 meeting tribal member Robert Osley Saunooke, an attorney licensed in Florida, warned Tribal Council against passing the measure due to marijuana’s continued status as an illegal drug, under both state and federal law.

“If you open a facility here today and you give tribal members cannabis, the tribe, the members, the people who do it, will be subject to arrest,” he said. “This is an illegal action.

Nothing can change that currently. In the future it might change, but don’t pass laws based on what might happen in the future.”

“What a wonderful day to make history to exercise our sovereignty,” Secretary Owle replied. “If it were an issue for the federal government about cannabis legalization, it would have addressed it with the 36 states, the four territories that allow medical cannabis. It would have addressed it with the 18 states, two territories and the District of Columbia that have legalized it for adult use.”

However, not all of the land in federal trust for the EBCI is contiguous — most notably, reaching tribal land in Graham and Cherokee counties from Cherokee requires an hour or more of travel over state-controlled land. Should a tribal member with a valid medical cannabis card be

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stopped by law enforcement during that drive, he or she could face criminal charges.

While possession of less than 1.5 ounces isn’t a felony, possession of any amount carries at least a fine.

Wilson said he hasn’t had any formal, sitdown meetings with non-tribal law enforcement leaders regarding the medical marijuana program but has had various informal conversions with prosecutors, attorneys and officers. He has not met much pushback in those encounters, he said.

“If it’s simple weed, simple possession, your ounce or under, that’s stuff that typically law enforcement these days don’t generally want to spend a lot of their time worrying about, unless you’re being just crazy with your products,” said Wilson.

During the Aug. 8 meeting, the new Cherokee Indian Police Chief Josh Taylor spoke in favor of the ordinance, and especially of a provision criminalizing open containers.

While medical card holders will not face tribal prosecution for possessing cannabis products they are entitled to have under the new law, transporting medical cannabis in the passenger area of the car in any container other than the manufacturer’s original, unopened container will be illegal.

Consuming medical cannabis while driving will also be a criminal offense. Either would be punishable by a fine of $25-$500 or up to 30 days in jail.

“We are really lost right now when it comes to enforcing laws when it has to do with marijuana,” Taylor told Council.

It’s still illegal, but it’s a low priority for law enforcement battling drugs that are far more dangerous to people’s health and likely to be linked to violent crimes — in the last 12 months, he said, the police department has not responded to a single marijuana-related assault. Additionally, the legalization of some forms of cannabis that are visually indistinguishable from the illegal form has complicated probable cause. Courts are reluctant to pursue or prioritize possession cases.

“We need some help to know what we can and cannot enforce,” he said. “There’s some of these laws that you guys are talking about passing, which actually gives our probable cause back to us when it comes to the open container.”

While medical marijuana is still illegal in

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the state, several bills are under consideration that would legalize its use as a pharmaceutical Wilson said it’s important for Cherokee to get its program up and running first so that the tribe can act as a pilot program for the state and “have a seat at the table” should a medical program be legalized statewide. The latest version of the bill with the most momentum, the N.C. Compassionate Care Act, includes a limit of 10 licenses statewide to produce and sell medical marijuana.

Wilson wants to see the EBCI claim one of those licenses.

“My hopeful approach is we showcase that we can do this,” he said. “We showcase how it can be done safely and regulated and be that gold standard to — we can do this business and we can help North Carolina out.”

9

Smoky Mountain News

“… research has found that cannabis and cannabinoid compounds are effective at alleviating pain, nausea, and other symptoms associated with several debilitating medical conditions,” and that as of this May, 36 states and the District of Columbia had removed criminal penalties associated with the medical cannabis industry.

The act also makes clear that it is designed only to establish a medical cannabis system and “… is not intended to change current civil and criminal laws governing the use of cannabis for nonmedical purposes.”

If enacted, the Compassionate Care Act would utilize a model present in other states that hinges on the possession of a registry identification card.

To qualify for a registry identification card, patients would submit to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services a written certification issued by a physician that says the benefits of medical cannabis use for that patient outweigh the risks.

Only those patients with HIV or AIDS, ALS, Crohn’s or Parkinson’s disease, sickle

Maxpixel.net photo

August 11-17, 2021

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR ow that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has decided to move forward with a medical cannabis initiative, the rest of North Carolina looks to the General Assembly to see if it will follow suit.

“I’ve got mixed emotions about it,” said Sen. Kevin Corbin, R-Franklin. “I don’t have a problem with medical marijuana. I think there’s probably a place for it but I do have concerns about enforcement and about smoking.”

The Compassionate Care Act of 2021 was filed this past April in the N.C. Senate by a bipartisan trio of lawmakers, Bill Rabon, RBladen, Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, and Paul A. Lowe, Jr., D-Forsyth.

Since then, it’s been through a milieu of committees including Rules, Judiciary, Finance and Health Care. As of Aug. 4, it had been re-referred to the Judiciary Committee, and will also revisit Health Care and Rules if those committees deem it favorable.

Legislative findings in the act state that

Some form of medical cannabis is legal in 36 states, plus the District of Columbia.

conditions for which it may be prescribed.

Medical cannabis products would be exempt from sales and use taxes, but suppliers would pay NCDHHS 10 percent of gross revenues derived from the sales of medical cannabis each month.

That revenue would be used to support the medical cannabis regulatory system and the research program. Excess revenues would end up in the state’s general fund.

A July 19 fiscal impact opinion from the state’s Fiscal Research Division doesn’t contain a revenue estimate for the Act, but statistics from the Marijuana Policy Project show that in states with existing medical cannabis industries, around 2.28 percent of the more than 239 million people eligible for medical cannabis use avail themselves of it.

Corbin’s concerns about enforcement center around people with seemingly minor health issues, like back pain, being able to acquire registry identification cards improperly, but he also has a problem with the Act’s provisions allowing the prescription of smokable cannabis flower.

“When it comes down to it, I’ll have to look at the bill, but if it’s smokable I’m probably a no on that,” he said. If a bill permitting only oral cannabis consumption for medical reasons advances, he said he’d probably vote yes.

Fellow Republican Rep. Mark Pless, who represents parts of Haywood and all of Madison and Yancey counties, said that if the Compassionate Care Act comes over to the House, he’s outright opposed.

“I don’t see a need for it,” said Pless. “I understand they’re trying to open up options, but there are 36 states that have already done that. If people need that, they can just go live in one of those states.”

Mike Clampitt, a Republican representative who represents the other parts of Haywood County in addition to Jackson and Swain counties, has long been on the record as a supporter of medical cannabis.

“I’ve had a lot of discussion on the Compassionate Care Act,” Clampitt said.

“I’m supporting it. I’ll go back to campaign trail — somebody was grilling me on it, and I had made sure I was clear. I’ve made no bones about it in the past.”

Clampitt added that under no circumstance would he support recreational cannabis in North Carolina.

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Medical cannabis advancing through General Assembly

cell anemia, PTSD, MS, wasting syndrome or severe nausea related to hospice care would be eligible, although a 13-member Medical Cannabis Advisory Board could add further qualifying conditions in time.

Children under the age of 18 would only qualify for medical cannabis with parental consent and would not be able to utilize inhalation as a method of delivery — opening the door to oils, infusions or extracts.

Under such a regulatory structure, physicians would be free to prescribe a 30-day supply to patients, their caregivers, or if under 18, their parents.

As proposed, the Compassionate Care Act would also establish a nine-member Medical Cannabis Production Commission charged with licensing medical cannabis producers and regulating production facilities. The Commission would also be responsible for guaranteeing an equitable distribution of production facilities across the state while preventing oversaturation.

Persons wishing to become medical cannabis producers would pay a $50,000 non-refundable application fee and then $5,000 for each supplier, but must also demonstrate five years of medical or adultuse cannabis business experience.

Applicants must be state residents for at least two years by the time of application, but may partner with nonresidents that have industry experience.

Initially, 10 supplier licenses would be issued, allowing licensees to operate up to eight retail dispensaries, two of which must be located in Tier 1 (economically distressed) counties. In Western North Carolina, that’s Mitchell, Rutherford, Swain, Graham and Cherokee counties.

Licensees must agree to begin cultivation of medical cannabis within 120 days of licensing and must also begin selling medical cannabis within 180 days.

Each year, NCDHHS would be required to report to several joint legislative committees on the number of registry identification card applications and the number of qualified patients served by each dispensary, as well as the number of suppliers, production facilities and dispensaries in each county.

The Act would also establish the North Carolina Cannabis Research Program, which would produce further research regarding the efficacy of medical cannabis in treating the

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Masks back at college

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ith case numbers surging and fall semester beginning, local colleges and universities are reinstituting indoor masking requirements that had been lifted for the summer months.

“We know that getting all eligible people vaccinated is the best way to combat this virus,” said Southwestern Community College President Don Tomas. “We need to implement this mask mandate to try and keep everyone as safe as possible as we start our fall semester. We will continue to monitor daily case numbers and review CDC and local/state guidance.”

Western Carolina University was the first to enact the new guidelines. In an email to students, faculty and staff sent Tuesday, Aug. 3, WCU Chancellor Kelli R. Brown said that the university remains “committed to having a robust campus experience for students and our campus community” and that “vaccination remains the best path forward for a full return to normal operations this fall.”

Effective immediately, she wrote, face coverings would be required in all public indoor spaces on both the Cullowhee and Biltmore Park campuses. The change is in response to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations stating that, regardless of vaccination status, people should wear face coverings in areas with high or substantial community spread. All of Western North Carolina currently falls into this category.

Additionally, students, faculty and staff at WCU are being asked to report their vaccination status.

“This information will be used to inform WCU’s ongoing preparations and planning,” Brown wrote. “We do not plan to share individual vaccine status information. We plan to share only aggregate group percentages of vaccine status for faculty, staff and students.”

The email came exactly two months after the June 3 message in which Brown announced the lifting of capacity limits and physical distancing requirements, and that face coverings would be optional for fully vaccinated people except in instructional spaces, the Cat-Tran and healthcare settings.

On Aug. 4, Haywood Community College began requiring face coverings in indoor spaces where a six-foot social distance cannot be maintained. SCC’s policy went into effect the very next day, Aug. 5, requiring masks indoors at all SCC locations regardless of a person’s vaccination status. The college still plans to keep a full schedule of faceto-face classes this fall.

Free COVID-19 vaccines are available across the region, including at the WCU Clinic. The clinic is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday and offers Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson shots. To make an 10 appointment, call 828.227.7640.

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

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Parents petition Haywood school board to require masks

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER petition to start the school year with universal masking in Haywood County Schools has over 630 signatures. This comes after a July 27 board meeting, when the Haywood County School board voted unanimously to make masking optional for all students, staff and visitors during the 2021-22 school year.

Natasha Bright, a Haywood County Schools parent, started the petition after she was one of only two parents to speak in favor of mandating masks at the July 27 meeting. She knew there were more parents of the same opinion than spoke at that meeting.

“I was there (at the July 27 meeting) last time and I was the only parent there that spoke out. And so I really felt like the argument was very one-sided,” said Bright. “I saw that there were parents who were very concerned. I felt like they should have a voice, so I put the petition out, with the thought that I would present it at the next board meeting so that their voices could be heard.”

Bright, along with several other concerned parents, spoke at the Aug. 9 school board meeting, voicing their fears about returning to school without a mask mandate, especially as COVID-19 cases are rising in the area, due to the delta variant.

The statewide mask mandate for public schools ended on July 30, at which point masking in public schools became a decision for local school boards. In the StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services recommends public schools should require face coverings for all students and staff in grades K-12. This guidance is consistent with that of the CDC, as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In The Smoky Mountain News coverage area, both Swain and Jackson County school boards have voted to begin the school year with a mask mandate.

During the July 27 meeting, Haywood Public Health Director Sarah Henderson and Medical Director Dr. Mark Jaben recommended the board either start the year with the guidelines laid out by North Carolina Health and Human Services or devise standards of transmission and infection rates that would determine the need for temporary mask mandates in the future.

However, the board did not discuss what would be done about masks in the future if case counts or transmission rates surged above the margin of safety.

The petition to start the school year with universal masking is directed to Haywood County School Board and Superintendent Dr. Bill Nolte.

“As concerned parents and members of the Haywood County community, we

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strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to make masks optional in Haywood County Schools. We all must do our part to protect each other from COVID-19 and an overburdened healthcare system, and wearing masks in school is a proven way to do that,” the petition reads.

The document goes on to recognize the important work and flexibility Haywood County School board demonstrated over the past year and a half of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The petition notes the changes in the COVID-19 situation in the short time

since the optional mask decision was made on July 27.

The petition notes that daily COVID-19 cases have significantly increased since the decision on masks at the July 27 meeting. It also cites a COVID-19 cluster at the Canton Police Department, a COVID-19 outbreak among Haywood County Schools staff and at several nursing homes in Haywood County.

According to the Haywood County Public Health Department, the COVID-19 cluster in Haywood County Schools was among maintenance staff. As of Aug. 6, a total of nine positive cases relate to the cluster.

“Wearing masks may be uncomfortable, but if we make them optional, we risk our children and teachers’ health and the rest of the Haywood County Community. We also take the chance that we will have to quarantine large numbers of children, which disrupts their learning and makes it difficult for parents to work and pay their bills,” the petition reads.

Bright said the primary message of the petition is to localize and simplify the issue, by requesting that the school board follow the recommendations of local public health officials.

PUBLIC INPUT During the Aug. 9 meeting, when the petition to start the school year with universal masking was presented to the board, 11 people spoke in favor of mandating masks.

Another eight spoke in support of the decision the board made previously to make masks optional.

Several parents speaking in support of a mask mandate cited recommendations from public health officials, the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and asked the board to follow this guidance. They also noted that regardless of how anyone feels about wearing a mask, attending school without a mask will mean more close contacts, more quarantining and a more disruptive school year than if masks were required.

“We just want our kids in school. And I’m really nervous. What I want to address a little bit is the 14-day quarantine. If you are a close contact you need to take a 14day quarantine,” said Carrie Brown, a mother of five young children. “It seems to me like a lot of possible 14day quarantines. I don’t want your child to go home for 14 days either. I don’t want our classrooms to be shut down for 14 days. I don’t want our schools to be shut down.”

Another father pleaded with the school system to enact a virtual option for immunocompromised students who would be unable to attend school during a pandemic when masks are not required. First, he described the horrors of losing his mother to COVID19, then went on to argue for virtual options.

“It doesn’t do any good to stand here and argue about masks or to convince anyone they should or shouldn’t wear masks. And I’m not going to do that, but I am going to ask the board if they won’t require masks to at least give parents an option. If they do remote learning, like there was last year, right now we have no option,” said Robert Stokely.

The most comical public input, which drew laughs from both sides of the room, was a father who likened the difficulties of wearing a mask to making his young child wear underwear — an inconvenience he requires of his son for the good of everyone in school.

“When it’s time for school, we have a conversation. We say, ‘Eric, got your underwear on?’ ‘Yeah, let me see.’ He goes back to his room, and he puts his underwear on so he can go to school. Now that’s not an infringement upon my son’s liberty. It’s common decency. Now, frankly, him walking through the school naked would probably be less harmful than him walking through the school without a mask,” said Edward Martin.

Parents speaking in support of optional masks used many of the same arguments they had presented at the July 27 meeting, regarding their freedom to dictate whether or not their child will wear a mask.

SCHOOL PROTOCOL Though the board did not discuss masking at the Aug. 9 meeting, Associate Superintendent Dr.

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Trevor Putnam did present health guidelines for the upcoming school year. According to Putnam, the guidelines were created in conjunction with the Haywood County Health Department.

There are 10 main safety measures the school system will focus on for the 2021-22 school year. They are grouping, or cohorting, which involves assigned seating for the purposes of contract tracing; social distancing, at a minimum of three feet; good hand hygiene, each classroom will be equipped with hand sanitizer; reducing the use of shared materials and devices where practical and feasible; routine cleaning, especially in high-touch areas; increased ventilation through open doors and windows whenever possible; promoting students and staff to stay at home

when they experience symptoms; dedicating a room in each school as a COVID room, for students to stay in if they experience symptoms or test positive until their guardians can come pick them up; masks, though optional, will only reduce the possibility of close contacts; and using the close contact definition as laid out by the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Just because you’re wearing a mask does not mean you will not be identified as a close contact, both the positive person and the person next to you would have to be wearing a mask. That was the guidance that’s given to us by the Department of Health and Human Services. Students who developed symptoms at school will be expected to wear a mask until pickup,” said Putnam.

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cautious because there are breakthrough cases where people are vaccinated and still getting COVID or the delta variant and can transmit to the children. And when you’ve got that many in a classroom, it’s just concerning.”

According to Cochran, all the public health directors she has spoken to are strongly encouraging their school board to follow CDC and state guidelines.

The board took Cochran’s advice. Board member Kimberly Carpenter made a motion to start the school year requiring masks indoors for all students, staff and visitors.

The motion passed unanimously.

“I think that our number one goal is to keep the students and teachers and staff well, the families in the community and to keep the students in the classrooms and in-person learning. I think that what we’ve experienced, as well as what all the child health professionals at this point know, is that in-person education is best for the children’s health. And that’s my reason for making that motion,” said Carpenter.

The motion includes exceptions for indoor masking when students are actively participating in sports. The board also stipulated that teachers should allow for appropriate mask breaks when necessary and do their best to get students outside throughout the day.

The board clarified that they would reassess the issue of masks as often as possible to remain in line with safety measures and the recommendations of public health officials.

“The other concern is once last year we went to remote. We don’t have that capability right now. So if we should close schools, we close schools and all it takes is one classroom to break out in a large number, and you may end up closing school because you lose two or three or four teachers. That can affect an entire school population as far as being able to teach school,” said Board Chairman Gerald McKinney. “So I think we err on the side of caution and then we revisit it. And as soon as we feel comfortable with the reports, we’re getting, we leave it. Nobody wants to do it. Nobody. I hate wearing one, but I do.”

August 11-17, 2021

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER wain County Schools will start the year with a mask mandate, reversing a previous decision to make masks optional for the 2021-22 school year.

At the July 29 Swain County School Board meeting, the board had decided to make masks optional for all students, staff and visitors. In making this decision, the board made it clear that the decision was based on current conditions and was subject to change if COVID-19 transmission rates grew to dangerous levels in the community.

According to Swain County Public Health Director Alison Cochran, that time has come.

Cochran presented the latest COVID-19 information to the school board. Swain County has 58 current, active cases. Since July 29, there has been one death due to COVID19 and 78 new positive cases. There are eight current, active cases in people 18 years and younger. In Swain County, 43.1 percent of the population has been vaccinated.

The board questioned Cochran about social distancing and quarantine requirements for students and staff when masks are required versus when they are not. The big takeaway is that when students are consistently masked, symptom-free students are not required to quarantine after having close contact with a COVID-positive peer. When masks are optional, students that have been within six feet of a COVID-positive peer would have to quarantine for the appropriate amount of time, or until they receive a negative COVID-19 regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms.

The board asked Cochran what her level of concern was.

“There is concern. Our cases are going up, sharply increasing. Two weeks ago, we had 18 positives, now we’re up to 58. So there is a concern. There is an overall concern with the school system going back in, everybody into the classroom, which I agree with, please don’t misunderstand me. I do agree with that,” said Cochran. “But I think we need to be

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Swain will mandate masks in schools

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Businesses impacted by COVID-19 cases

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR couple of Haywood County businesses have had to shut their doors temporarily after several employees were exposed to COVID-19.

Haywood County Health & Human Services issued a press release Aug. 10 stating that a cluster was identified among staff at Frankie’s Italian Trattoria in Maggie Valley. A total of five positive cases are connected with this cluster including employees and their close contacts.

Frankie’s posted on its Facebook page Aug. 5 that it would be closed “for the wellbeing of its staff.” The restaurant began take out service only on Aug. 10.

The health department press release stated that representatives of Frankie’s Italian Trattoria were contacted and offered an opportunity to provide a statement but did not respond. Haywood County Public Health is working to identify any additional close contacts of people identified in this cluster.

The CDC defines close contact as being within approximately 6 feet of a person infected with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or more, without wearing a face covering, during the period in which they are contagious.

While a press release hasn’t been issued in reference to COVID-19 cases at The Buttered Biscuit in Waynesville, the breakfast hotspot posted on Facebook Aug. 1 that

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it’s owner Ted Vargo was in the hospital with COVID-19 and that the rest of the family also tested positive. The restaurant has been closed since late July.

A COVID-19 cluster connected to the Haywood County Public Schools’ Maintenance Department was reported Aug. 6. A total of nine positive cases are connected with this cluster including employees and their close contacts. A COVID-19 cluster connected to the Canton Police Department was reported on Aug. 4. Six employees, at all levels of the department, tested positive for COVID-19. On Aug. 3, clusters were reported at Woodland Baptist Church in Waynesville and at Shelton Laurel Salvation Army in Fines Creek.

“We encourage those with COVID-19 symptoms or exposures to remain home and see their healthcare provider for testing.

Community spread due to the delta variant is on the rise and we all need to protect ourselves and those around us,” said Sarah Henderson, Haywood County public health director.

The North Carolina Division of Public Health defines clusters of COVID-19 in workplace, educational, and other community settings as a minimum of five cases with illness onsets or initial positive results within a 14-day period and plausible linkage between cases where cases were present in the same setting during the same time period.

“The delta variant is more contagious and better at sticking with us once it gets inside our bodies, making it harder to fight off. Wearing masks when indoors and choosing vaccination are our best tools against this new variant of the virus.”

— Sarah Henderson, Haywood County Public Health Director

In the last week, Haywood County Public Health has received notice of 167 new cases of COVID-19. As of 5 p.m. Aug. 9, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has recorded a total of 4,892 cases in Haywood County since the pandemic began. According to the CDC, Haywood County and most of North Carolina are listed as areas of high community transmission. Mask-wearing indoors is now recommended in such areas. Masks are

now required in Haywood County facilities, including the libraries, for employees and the public.

Beginning this week Haywood County started reporting the percentage of people vaccinated versus unvaccinated in its case numbers. This week 14.4 percent of all reported positive cases were people who were fully vaccinated.

“As COVID numbers rise due to the delta variant, a clear distinction is emerging, which should not come as a surprise.

Infections are far more common and serious among those who are not yet vaccinated,” Henderson said. “The delta variant is more contagious and better at sticking with us once it gets inside our bodies, making it harder to fight off. Wearing masks when indoors and choosing vaccination are our best tools against this new variant of the virus.”

Hospitals have also returned to more visitor restrictions as cases continue to rise.

Haywood Regional Medical Center is limiting visitation to one well visitor per patient at a time and prohibiting visitors under 18 years old.

Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital are not allowing any visitors into the emergency room until further notice. Other inpatients are allowed one visitor a day. Visiting hours are limited to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

As hospitals mandate staff vaccines, Mission Health resists

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ADMINISTRATORS FEAR LOSING STAFF

‘PROVEN TO SAVE LIVES’ Opponents of mandatory vaccination point out, correctly, that the COVID-19 vaccines were rushed through development and have not yet been formally approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although they have been granted emergency use authorization (EUA) status because of the global health crisis.

In an open letter to all residents of Henderson County, doctors, nurses and health officials of Pardee UNC Health, AdventHealth Hendersonville, Blue Ridge Health and the Henderson County Department of Health all rebutted arguments by anti-vaccine proponents, including one that the “emergency use” status of the COVID-19 vaccines means they are still considered experimental and unsafe.

“The scientific data confirm to us that the COVID-19 vaccine has been proven to save lives,” the clinicians wrote, citing “ample data from millions of vaccine recipients in multiple countries and in multiple

settings which verify the original data on which the [emergency use authorization] was based.”

POLITICS VERSUS SCIENCE Vaccination rates are lower than national averages in conservative Western North Carolina. Numerous studies have found a correlation between vaccination rates and political party affiliation. In a recent

Congressman Madison Cawthorn says medical choice should be between individual and doctor.

Washington Post-ABC News poll, 47 percent of Republicans said they were not likely to get vaccinated, compared with 6 percent of Democrats.

Western North Carolina’s freshman Republican congressman, Madison Cawthorn, said in January that he would not be vaccinated, and more recently has been a vocal critic of any efforts to make COVID-19 vaccinations or masking requirements mandatory.

Earlier this month, at a Republican Party conference in Texas, Cawthorn called Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the nation’s foremost vaccine advocate, a “pawn of the Chinese government” who should be criminally prosecuted if Republicans retake the U.S. House in the 2022 elections.

“Now they’re talking about going doorto-door to take vaccines to the people,” Cawthorn said at the conference in Dallas, referring to the Biden administration’s suggestion of sending volunteers into communities to offer vaccines to the unvaccinated.

Cawthorn said a door-to-door plan would require a “massive” operation.

“Then think about what those mechanisms could be used for,” Cawthorn said.

“They could then go door-to-door to take your guns. They could then go door-to-door to take your Bibles.”

The United States Post Office began door-to-door delivery operations 219 years ago. Asheville Watchdog has been unable to find evidence that the massive postal mechanism has been used to seize guns or Bibles.

(Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Peter H. Lewis is a former senior writer and editor at The New York Times.

He can be reached at plewis@avlwatchog.org.) 13

Smoky Mountain News

“We believe vaccinations are the key to ending this pandemic and strongly encourage all of our team members to get a COVID vaccine,” James M. Kirby II, president and CEO of Pardee, said in a recent statement.

However, he said, “After consulting with our clinical and medical staff leadership, Pardee has made the decision to not require or mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for our team members.”

“Several factors played into this decision,” Kirby said, “including an understanding of what we’re experiencing regionally with our workforce, the current [emergency use authorization] status for vaccines, and what’s in the best interest of sustaining services for our community.”

“As the county hospital and a growing regional resource, we are focused on maintaining critical services for our broader community like treating heart attacks or cancer, and addressing day to day urgent and emergent needs,” Kirby continued. “If we were to mandate the vaccine, rather than continuing to encourage and educate, we run the risk of staff departures which would diminish our

ability to provide these critical services to our community.”

Kirby said that because Pardee currently does not require a COVID vaccine, it has not required its staff to report whether they’ve been vaccinated or not. “However, based on available reporting metrics and our understanding of vaccinations provided at Pardee to date, we estimate that approximately twothirds of our team members are vaccinated,” Kirby said.

Almost all hospitals in North Carolina are struggling to attract and retain nurses and nursing assistants, and many of them currently have hundreds of open positions.

But many of the largest hospitals calculated that requiring all staff to be vaccinated would be better for patient and staff safety, outweighing the possible loss of staff who decline to get the shots.

The problem is not unique to Western North Carolina.

“It’s a real problem that you have such high levels of unvaccinated individuals in hospitals,” Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., told WebMD Health News.

“We have to protect our health workforce, and we have to protect our patients.

Hospitals should be the safest places in the country, and the only way to make them safe is to have a fully vaccinated workforce,” Gostin said.

August 11-17, 2021

BY PETER H. LEWIS ASHEVILLE WATCHDOG he largest health care providers in Western North Carolina, including Mission Hospital in Asheville, recently confirmed that they are not requiring doctors, nurses, volunteers, or other hospital staff to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus despite a resurgence of infections and hospitalizations.

Most of the other major hospital systems in the state have made full vaccinations mandatory, citing staff and patient safety as a highly contagious COVID-19 variant spreads nationwide, almost entirely among people who have not been vaccinated or are only partly vaccinated.

Hospital administrators and clinical leaders say they agree that vaccinations represent the most effective way to stop the pandemic that has killed more than 600,000 Americans, including hundreds of people in Asheville and surrounding communities.

Few people are more familiar with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic than hospital workers. Even so, hospital administrators in Western North Carolina — where science and politics are not always compatible — said nurses, nursing assistants and other hospital workers might quit their jobs at already understaffed health facilities rather than submit to mandatory COVID vaccinations. To fill vacant positions, hospitals typically must pay premium salaries to hire temporary replacement doctors and nurses.

The tensions between medical science and politics, and between hospital economics and patient and staff safety, are notable in the mountain region of the state, where anti-masking and anti-vaccination sentiment is common.

As of July 28, “almost 56 percent of Mission Health colleagues and 67 percent of our clinical providers are fully vaccinated,” a hospital spokesperson told Asheville Watchdog.

That figure for overall staff is slightly higher than the percentage of people in Buncombe County who are fully vaccinated, 52 percent as of July 28. The figure for “clinicians” — commonly defined as doctors and nurses and other health care professionals who provide direct medical care to patients — suggesting that one-third are not fully vaccinated.

At Pardee UNC Healthcare hospital in Hendersonville, an estimated two-thirds of the overall staff has been vaccinated, Pardee’s chief executive said.

At AdventHealth Hendersonville, 65 percent of the staff has been vaccinated, a spokesperson said.

Haywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, a Duke LifePoint Healthcare hospital, said it does not require staff to be vaccinated. The Watchdog was unable to learn the

percentage of inoculated staff at Haywood.

Raleigh-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Durham-based Duke University Health System, Chapel Hill-based UNC Health, Charlotte-based Atrium Health, Greensboro-based Cone Health, Wake Forest Baptist Health and Winston-Salem based Novant Health, all announced last week that they would require everyone on staff to get COVID-19 shots as a condition of continued employment.

Dr. William Hathaway, chief medical officer for Mission Health, HCA Healthcare North Carolina Division, told The Asheville Citizen Times recently that while the new COVID-19 “delta” variant is three to four times more contagious than the “alpha” strain that led to lockdowns last year, the failure to vaccinate all the people who could benefit from inoculations is the main cause of rising cases.

Mission Health announced that because of resurgent cases, it has restricted visitation to allow only one visitor per patient per day at Mission and its other hospitals.

But while calling vaccinations “critical” to protecting patients and staff, HCA Mission Healthcare has not joined with the other large hospital systems in making the shots mandatory for staff.

“While colleagues are not required to be vaccinated for COVID-19, our infectious disease experts, as well as those at the CDC, are strongly encouraging vaccination as a critical step to protect individuals from the virus,” said Nancy Lindell, Mission Health spokesperson.

“As a reminder to protect yourself and prevent the spread of illnesses follow the 3 Ws: Wear a mask, Wait 6 feet apart, Wash your hands frequently,” Mission Health advised in a news release this week.

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Despite ‘critical’ need, administrators fear workers will quit

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER fter the Canton Board of Aldermen/women spent nearly three hours on Aug. 9 going back and forth with Haywood County Medical Director Dr. Mark Jaben over how — if at all — the town’s iconic Labor Day Festival could be held safely, a rare split vote with a tiebreaker cast by Mayor Zeb Smathers set the stage for ongoing debate.

“It’s not going to get any better,” said Dr. Ralph Hamlett, who was joined by Mayor Pro Tem Gail Mull in voting against the musical performances. “As the evidence keeps coming and with the questions that Dr. Jaben answered, the forecast for [COVID} is that it’s not going to get better in the next two weeks. We’re still at a place where numbers keep spiking, and our health system is strained.”

COVID-19, in conjunction with regular summertime accidents that cause hospital visits, has understaffed medical facilities near capacity. Hamlett also expressed concern about how outbreaks could affect the school year.

“I’ve got to make a decision where I can look at myself in the mirror and know that decision was in the best interest of people in Haywood County,” Hamlett said. “I’m glad to see people get vaccinations, but we’re still only at 42 percent in Haywood County. That

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different. We play a role as a does not bode well. You can ask town in hosting it, but people people to social distance, you can coming also play a role in makask people to mask up, but there’s ing responsible choices for themnothing in place for enforcement. selves and their families and It has nothing to do with people’s that’s very important.” liberty. It has to do with safety.”

Diamond Rio was also the Along with Alderman Tim headliner of last year’s festival, Shepard, Alderwoman Kristina which was cancelled. The town Smith voted to let the performwas still on the hook with ances continue.

“My philosophy has been deposits of more than $80,000 to innovation over cancellation,” various performers, and if the Smith said. “I wanted to make event was cancelled this year, the sure we were looking at all town would lose the money, but opportunities to have the event.

Smathers said that was a lesser My rationale is that the informaconsideration, because “the safetion that Dr. Jaben presented ty and ability of the staff to hold Sponsored by the Canton Lions Club, the Canton High School band the event is foremost.” was, as always, very thorough. marches in the 1957 Canton Labor Day parade. The Log photo Some of the stuff he said really Although they were on oppohit home for me, so the site sides of the issue, Smathers, in similar fashion, Smathers broke a tie approach we would take is multi-layered.”

Hamlett and Smith all agreed that there when he opted to open the town’s pool.

Smith said they’d encourage people to were no ill feelings and that the board would “It was absolutely a wonderful discussion continue to work together to ensure a safe, act responsibly at the events, but that the back and forth,” Smathers said, explaining implementation of safety protocols for the wholesome event as in years past. his “yes” vote. “I hate we could not come to a Sept. 5-7 festival is still a work in progress.

“We are a team here in Canton,” Hamlett consensus, but then as now, town staff has “This is an ever-evolving thing. We’ll folsaid. “While we may disagree, we’re not disthe ability to balance safety and uphold the low any protocols the state implements, but agreeable.” tradition” of the 114th Labor Day Festival — that was not discussed (at the Aug. 9 meetThe board also voted 4-0 to hold the the oldest in the South. ing),” she said. annual parade.

“Being outside helps,” Smathers said of With Shepard and Smith for, but Further discussion over the Labor Day the performances, which include headliners Hamlett and Mull opposed, Smathers was festival will take place at the town’s next regDiamond Rio, Doyle Lawson and Joe Lasher. ular meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on forced to cast only the second tie-breaking vote in his four years as mayor. Last summer, “If this was an indoor situation, it would be Thursday, Aug. 12.

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

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As COVID rages, Canton Labor Day events debated

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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ylva may soon be home to the first certified forest therapy trail in North Carolina following the town board’s unanimous vote to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Mark Ellison, a certified nature and forest therapy guide who lives in Jackson County.

The board took the vote during its regular meeting Thursday, June 22, after first tabling the decision at its June 10 meeting.

The agreement states that the town would work with Ellison on recommendations for future trail improvements — currently, none are recommended — and that Ellison would manage the application process, complete any trail scouting and documentation work needed and create content for a brochure to facilitate self-guided therapy walks. Any fees would be paid by the occupancy tax-funded Tourism Development Authority, not by the town.

The trail in question is a half-mile loop path at the base of Pinnacle Park. During the June 10 meeting, Ellison said the trail is the “perfect setting” for forest therapy, which he said was an “emerging ecotourism offering that people are looking for.” Called ShinrinYoku where it originated in Japan, forest therapy consists of slow-paced walks that allow participants to relax and connect with the natural world by awakening their senses to the sounds, smells, sights, tastes and feeling of the forest around them, according to a description on the TDA website.

An “in-depth” review of Pinnacle Park’s trail showed that no modifications would be necessary to meet the standards for certification, said TDA Director Nick Breedlove.

While future development at Pinnacle Park could impact the trail’s ability to meet those standards, the certification would not actively restrict the town’s ability to develop the park, Breedlove said.

Should changes occur on the site, “Mark Ellison the certifier would take a look and make recommendations to the Pinnacle Park Foundation or to the town and say, ‘This is what we see, and this is what we would recommend to keep it within the program,’ but you’re correct,” Breedlove told Commissioner David Nestler, who had asked about the impact of future trail development. “There’s no restrictions whatsoever on the trails or what the town can do with the trails.”

Certification would come from the Arizona-based Association for Nature and Forest Therapy. According to the association’s website, there are currently a dozen certified trails scattered around the country.

The closest are in southern Georgia.

The agreement will remain in effect for five years, at which time the parties will decide whether to continue the partnership.

Ellison expects that gaining approval from the association and installing the necessary signage will take three to four months.

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Forest therapy trail approved for Sylva

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Smoky Mountain News August 11-17, 2021

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Deputies deescalate situation quickly

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scene.

“We have been informed by media outlets that there are reports a taser was utilized during this incident. As stated previously, we have the incident on video,” the press release stated. “Deputies who were on scene of this incident state that a taser was never used during the entire encounter with this individual who was a black female.”

The first responding deputy did not have a taser in his possession during his entire shift and did not have one at this particular scene. In an interview conducted by Sheriff Robert Holland following the incident, the deputies who responded to the

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incident stated there was never a need for displaying a taser or any other weapon they may carry.

One deputy was wearing black gloves in the video, which the sheriff said he had placed the gloves on his hands prior to his arrival in an effort for self-protection against any contamination from any blood or bodily fluids. As stated earlier, deputies said they were familiar with the woman and knew what they could possibly encounter once they arrived on scene.

The female was slightly injured prior to their arrival from a small laceration on her finger. Deputies called for EMS to treat her for any injuries and to check on her condition. Once treated and assessed by EMS she was transported to a local hospital.

“This was a dangerous situation on many levels and excellent police work. From the citizens who reported the incident, the deputies who responded, EMS, Franklin Police and all the way to the hospital staff who eventually assisted the female should be commended for their efforts,” Holland said. “This was excellent work in dealing with someone who obviously was having a mental health crisis and the efforts by all are what eventually lead to a safe conclusion and getting someone the appropriate assistance needed. Everyone went home or where they needed to be safely.”

August 11-17, 2021

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR video showing two white men and one Black woman wielding a machete in the middle of Georgia Road in Franklin on Aug. 8 circulated on social media, causing misinformation to spread in the community.

Macon County Sheriff ’s Office issued a press release late Monday night to clarify what happened when law enforcement arrived on the scene that day.

Terry Atkinson, owner of Mom & Pop Café on Georgia Road, recorded the video and posted it to his page on Aug. 9.

Atkinson was yelling at the men in the middle of the road to calm down and walk away from the woman waving around the machete.

By Tuesday morning, the video had over 7,000 views and nearly 300 shares on Facebook.

The press release from the sheriff ’s office stated that local law enforcement was familiar with person who was blocking the roadway and waving a machete.

“Upon arrival, a responding deputy who arrived on scene and immediately began calling the subject by name and repeated verbal commands. While calling out to the black female the deputy pointed in her direction and requested that she sit down where she was and to drop the machete,” the press release stated.

According to the press release, deputies who were familiar with the woman called her by her first name while giving her verbal commands. She complied with deputies’ commands, dropped the machete and sat down on the pavement.

The video confirms that a deputy approached her as she moved out of the roadway and into the parking lot of a convenience store. Once the deputy pointed his weapon at her, she threw the machete to the ground and sat down on the ground.

EMS was requested by deputies due to blood being seen on the subject.

Besides the bystander video posted online, the sheriff ’s office has bodycam video as well as video from the responding deputies’ in-car cameras. These videos show the entire incident unfolding as they arrived and continues until the deputies left the

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Macon woman wielding machete video goes viral

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Democrat Jay Carey brings perspective to NC11 field

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR ith a father in the Navy and a mother from Poland, Jay Carey grew up in a middle-class family in the northeast, primarily Rhode Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Upon graduation from high school, Carey carried on a family tradition dating back to the Revolutionary War by joining the military himself, retiring as an Army tanker and a sergeant first class after more than 20 years of service and tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After retirement, he moved to Austin, Texas, and worked for a municipal water service but once his son graduated from high school, there he and wife Leslie decided it was time to leave Austin.

“It had hit 1.2 million people. We were like, this is enough. We like visiting. We love the people there. We miss the breakfast burritos, but it was just too much,” Carey said.

“We had our choice of the entire country and everybody was like, ‘Go check out Asheville. It’s like an Austin in the 1980s and 1990s.’ I tell people I wasn’t fortunate enough to be born here, but I was smart enough to move here.”

The parallels between Austin and Asheville are more than just coincidence — they’re driven by the same growth factors that all towns with flourishing entertainment-based economies face.

“It’s a lot of the same problems. The rural communities are underserved. They’re forgotten about, and the major cities are what seem to be always getting taken care of,” said Carey. “In Austin I had Google fiber, which was one terabyte. I moved to Hendersonville and I had three megabyte service. It was a big difference. You don’t realize that you have it so good until you move into this position where you don’t have it very good and actually, I think that’s what we face with people in Congress — they’re so used to having it so good.”

That’s a big reason Carey decided to enter the race for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District earlier this year.

In doing so, he joins an already-crowded field of Democrats seeking the nomination to face Republican Madison Cawthorn, including Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, fellow veteran Josh Remillard, Henderson County educator Eric Gash, social worker Bo Hess and small business owner Katie Dean.

Like the rest of them, Carey faces an uphill battle in a deep red district, but it’s a battle he thinks is worth fighting.

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

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The Smoky Mountain News: Medicaid expansion is a state decision, but hinges largely on the funding Congress has pledged — 90% of the expansion population in perpetuity — to states. The argument I always get 18 against expansion is, if the feds pull the plug

Jay Carey is a part of a six-candidate Democratic Primary Election field in NC11. Donated photo

on funding, then we’re on the hook for it.

Would you commit to going to Congress and fighting for that funding to remain?

Jay Carey: Yes, but I believe that there’s a better option where we take the onus off of the states. That’s a federally funded public option, much like they did with single payer in Canada. If you followed Canada with their single payer, there was some resistance at first because people were able to keep their private insurance. The majority of them are now on it. It’s almost become a Medicare for all. So we do a federally funded public option that meets the needs of the people without having to go fight the state for that, because it’s ridiculous that the state turned down that funding. That was the wrong call.

SMN: I asked Eric Gash this question, and I’m going to ask you the same. What does common sense gun reform mean to you?

JC: What it means to me is, I believe a lot of what we have in background checks are effective. They’re just not being enforced across the board. And I also believe that it’s common sense to license people and attach those weapons that they buy to that license, just like we do with cars. I believe we should be licensed to own weapons so that we can maintain accountability.

SMN: We’re licensed to drive automobiles and we’re also required to have insurance. Is that part of the package, requiring gun owners to carry liability insurance?

JC: I don’t have a good answer on that right now. I haven’t really looked into that that much. I want to look at the repercussions. I want to look at both sides of it because I’m a gun owner. I believe in lawabiding citizens having a legal right to own weapons, but we have to regulate it. I buy into the “well-regulated” portion [of the Second Amendment]. We have to have sensible gun laws that do background checks that maintain accountability of those weapons.

SMN: Would that include things like an assault weapons ban, or magazine capacity restrictions?

JC: My feeling on assault weapons is, they’re weapons of war. We’re not at war with each other. I don’t believe that the average citizen needs a weapon of war. I carried a weapon of war because I was at war. I left it behind.

SMN: The other issue that I think has been around for a decade and continues to get worse is rural broadband. Rep. Cawthorn is on a bill that’s trying to open up spectrum leases so that we could maybe have more players in the game. We’ve got some other things happening that have brought satellite internet to places out in the west on a very small scale. What’s the real answer to getting rural Western North Carolina more connected to the digital economy?

“[Madison Cawthorn] has modeled himself after Donald Trump, who is a fascist. He’s not even a Republican.”

— Jay Carey

JC: Infrastructure already exists in our telephone poles since the 1930s with the Tennessee electrical act. They brought electricity to everybody that wanted it, and it took about 15 years. We now have that infrastructure in place. I believe that broadband needs to be hardwired into homes. I live in an area where I can’t use any type of satellite or DIRECTV or dish or anything because of all my trees. I’m not cutting my trees down in order to get something like that. It needs to be hardwired. That also makes it more dependable.

SMN: There are five Democratic candidates right now, besides you, and there may end up being more. We’ve got a long way to go. How do you distinguish yourself from some of these other candidates to prove you’re the best person to take on Cawthorn in the General Election?

JC: Well, it comes down to leadership. I have a proven track record as a leader. I was a sergeant first class for over 10 years in a senior leadership position. While I was in Iraq, I stood up with a small seven-man team that went out into communities, local communities, and we talked to them about what their needs were to help them rebuild their communities, because their communities were destroyed. They had no running water, electricity, security. I was able to work with

local communities, listen to what they needed, empower them, help them get what they needed and then let them build their own communities.

It does come down to leadership. I’m not an expert in many areas. I am an expert at leading. A good leader is able to find the experts that have the answers, bring them together so that they can work together for the solutions. That’s what we need in Congress. We need leadership. And I bring that.

SMN: If you’re able to emerge from this Primary field as the nominee, you’re going to be facing a media darling who is very popular with his constituents and tied very closely to the leader of the Republican party, Donald Trump. How do you compete with what looks like a juggernaut at this point?

JC: I’ll tell you one key thing about Madison Cawthorn. Over the past few months, he has begun to disenfranchise conservatives and Republicans, because he’s not a conservative as he claims to be. He’s a fascist. He has modeled himself after Donald Trump, who is a fascist. He’s not even a Republican. We know he’s not a conservative because look at how much he enjoyed celebrating Liz Cheney — probably the most conservative person the Republicans have in elected office — being removed from her position of authority because she wouldn’t pledge fealty to Donald Trump. Now, does that sound like a conservative, where you’re idolizing a person and not the party? No. That’s one thing that I do believe that we as Democrats have working in our favor. The other thing is reaching out to those unaffiliated voters. There are quite a few that are former Republicans that have lost faith, disillusioned by their party and what it’s becoming because of people like Madison Cawthorn.

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port in the month since.

“It wasn’t something I planned to do, but it’s opened the doors for a lot of people, even on the parts of behavioral health and generational trauma,” she said. “I will keep everyone in my prayers that has battled some of the same things or had those struggles.”

Ultimately, five members voted to deem it read and tabled, but seven voted not to.

Only two new ordinances appeared on the Aug. 5 agenda. Council voted to deem one of them read and tabled, as is typical, and again took no vote on the same-sex marriage ordinance. However, instead of interpreting this

“It will be tabled. It will come back up for consideration by this Council on the second week of September.”

— Cherokee Tribal Council Chairman Adam Wachacha

to declare the ordinance dead, as occurred in previous meetings, this time Wachacha directed the clerk to read the entire ordinance into the record.

“Council, item one is now placed on the 25-day reading period,” he said after the reading. “It will be tabled. It will come back up for consideration by this Council on the second week of September.”

Council will have to act on the ordinance next month in order for it to become law.

Because it’s an election year, any pending legislation not dealt with by the time new members are sworn in Oct. 4 will be considered dead, though similar legislation could certainly be introduced in the next term. Cherokee does not use staggered terms for its legislature, so all 12 members face re-election this September.

August 11-17, 2021

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER fter twice refusing to grant the legislation a perfunctory first reading, during its Aug. 5 meeting the Cherokee Tribal Council allowed an ordinance seeking to legalize same-sex marriage on the Qualla Boundary to be read into the record for consideration at its Sept. 9 meeting.

Currently, Cherokee law explicitly prohibits such unions from being recognized.

The ordinance, submitted by tribal member Tamara Thompson, was first placed on the agenda in June. Under tribal law, proposed ordinances are entered into the record and then must sit for 25 days after introduction before Council can take action. Typically, the Tribal Council will vote to deem all new ordinances read and tabled in order to save the extensive time it would take to read each one out loud. The law does not include any provision for declining to read an ordinance into the record, or for declaring it dead on the floor prior to the first reading.

However, in June the Council voted unanimously to deem all new ordinances read and tabled except for the one regarding same-sex marriage. Chairman Adam Wachacha told the body that because nobody had moved to deem the ordinance read and tabled, it would die on the floor.

Thompson submitted the ordinance again in July, and the same thing happened — though this time the vote was accompanied by extensive discussion in the chambers that included strong statements from two Council members in favor of not only allowing the ordinance an up-or-down vote, but enacting it as law.

One of those members was Wolfetown Representative Chelsea Saunooke, who in an emotional speech told the audience that she’d known since second grade that she was bisexual and that one of her children had recently come out to her. During the Aug. 5 meeting, Saunooke said she’d received incredible sup-

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Cherokee to consider same-sex marriage law in September

Waynesville homeless task force meeting cancelled over COVID concerns Contrary to rumors circulating on social media, the meeting wasn’t cancelled to stifle public input on the recommendations, and Murphy-Nugen said that public comment will indeed be accepted in some form yet to be determined — whether in-person, online, by phone or otherwise.

The public comment portion of the process is a critical step, and must take place before any recommendations are presented for approval to Waynesville’s Board of Aldermen.

To read the full 147-page draft report, including methodology, findings and recommendations, visit the Town of Waynesville’s task force page, www.waynesvillenc.gov/task-force-homelessness.

Smoky Mountain News

A meeting designed to gather public input on draft recommendations made by the Waynesville Task Force on Homelessness scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 5, has been cancelled.

Amy Murphy-Nugen, chair of the group, said that several members of the task force had been exposed to COVID-19 and that the meeting, which was to be a drop-in informational session, could not take place as originally envisioned.

The cancellation is yet another bump in the road for the task force, which struggled initially with defections and dissention.

Over the 18-month lifespan of the group, the issue of homelessness was studied and recommendations — some controversial — were finally issued last month.

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C a n to n , No r t h C a ro l i n a

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER n Thursday, Sept. 2, Cherokee voters will select the next Tribal Council, three School Board representatives and answers to three alcohol-related referendum questions. The Smoky Mountain News contacted all 24 Tribal Council candidates July 16 with a questionnaire covering various issues of interest to voters. As of Aug. 10, only one candidate had responded. Candidates wishing to participate in a future issue of the paper can contact holly@smokymountainnews.com.

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JESSE “FONZIE” SNEED, WOLFETOWN CANDIDATE

Should the tribe loosen its alcohol laws as proposed in the referendum?

I will respect the wishes of our people in any referendum vote.

What should the tribal government do to support the local business community and economic development at home?

Invest in infrastructure, demolish unsafe buildings that have sat dormant for decades in some cases, lobby the state for better upkeep of state roads on the Boundary and take advantage of our geography by investing

Birdtown • Gloria “Punkin” Griffin • Cyndi Lambert • Boyd Owle* • Albert Rose* Wolfetown • Bo Crowe* • Chelsea Taylor Saunooke* • Jesse Sneed • Bill Taylor

Painttown Tommye Saunooke * Dike Sneed * Bentley Tahquette Cherokee County/Snowbird • Adam Wachacha * • Bucky Brown * • William A. “Billy” Brown • Janell Rattler School Board (voters pick one for their community)

Yellowhill • Stephanie Saunooke French • T.W. Price Saunooke • Tom Wahnetah* • Dave Wolfe*

Big Cove • Lavita Hill • Kristina Hyatt

Big Cove • Patrick Hill • Richard French* • Teresa McCoy

Wolftown • Isaac “Ike” Long* • Berdie Toineeta

Birdtown • Melanie Lambert • Ashford Smith

* denotes incumbent

in more outdoor activities to bring in a wider tourism demographic.

Do you believe the tribe needs a constitution? What is your opinion on the document as currently drafted?

Absolutely! As a sovereign nation we have no protection of our people’s rights other than those provided to us through federal law. Our antiquated Charter gives us less protection than that. Our court system is set up through resolution and isn’t even its own separate branch of government. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants me the right to say these things with free speech. It would be absurd not to have it wouldn’t it?

Should the EBCI legalize medicinal and/or recreational marijuana?

Most of the people I’ve spoken to in Wolftown/ Big Y are in favor of medicinal and that’s what I’m in support of at this time.

I feel we’d need to have it prescribed by a licensed physician at the Cherokee hospital as well as dispensed from a licensed facility to protect the patient from any unsafe blackmarket product that could have chemicals laced into it.

What is working in regard to the tribe’s current approach to saving the Cherokee language? What should be done differently?

I feel more focus needs to be placed on immersion classes for the children like our academy originally had. The biggest obstacle I’ve heard from people is the fear of ridiculing from those with a better grasp of the language. Until we address that problem, we will have a monumental struggle ahead of us.

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What should be done to better diversify the tribe’s revenue sources, and do you support Tribal Council’s spending decisions toward that goal over the last two years?

I cannot and will not support decisions like the Hoosier and Commonwealth projects that have pushed us well over a billion dollars in debt only so that whatever profits we make go into the tribal government’s pocket. If elected I will push for all profits to be split with the people 50/50 just like tribal gaming, the people are stakeholders in these endeavors too. Areas like agriculture, meat processing, energy production and clothing manufacturing are some examples we could be investing into while at the same time building and protecting our gaming interests.

Tribal Council (voters pick two for their community)

August 11-17, 2021

Sneed, 37, is currently the supply coordinator for the Qualla Housing Authority and worked for the Cherokee Boys Club from 1999-2012. He has been a member of the Sgadugi constitution group and the Wolfetown Community Club Council since 2019 Jesse “Fonzie” and is a past chairman Sneed of the Council. Sneed also co-founded the Wolfetown Community Club Free Labor Group.

On the ballot news

Cherokee elections around the corner

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news August 11-17, 2021 Smoky Mountain News 22

After a brief pause, eviction moratorium returns

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR Trump-era policy designed to protect renters impacted by the Coronavirus Pandemic was allowed to expire on the last day of July by the administration of President Joe Biden, but was then quickly reinstated — with a big caveat.

“This will be very helpful for our tenants and hopefully allow them to get rental assistance in place,” said Chase Wells, a staff attorney with Legal Aid NC. On Sept. 3, 2020, a federal moratorium on evictions was enacted, preventing landlords from removing tenants through summary ejectment proceedings for non-payment of rent.

The moratorium did not prevent landlords from taking action against tenants for other reasons, like overstaying their leases, engaging in criminal activity or violating lease terms with regard to things like pets, guests, smoking or property upkeep.

Tenants could claim protection against non-payment evictions by signing an affidavit from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declaring that they’d used their “best efforts” either to obtain rental assistance from governments or make timely, partial payments; earned less than $99,000 a year; lost substantial income during the pandemic due to unemployment or health care costs; or would become homeless if evicted.

Rent forgiveness was never part of the 10-month moratorium, so tenants also had to attest that this fact was understood, and that back rent would still accrue and be collectable by landlords.

The moratorium didn’t prevent landlords from filing summary ejectment proceedings against tenants for non-payment, so courts simply continued the cases, pre-

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venting actual evictions.

Buncombe County still averaged more than 70 eviction filings a month during the moratorium, down from about 84 pre-moratorium. In most other Western North Carolina counties, the number of cases filed dropped by about half.

From July 2020 through June 2021, out of the 1,900 eviction cases filed in nine western counties — basically, Buncombe west — less than 10 have reached a disposition, per data from the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.

That means there’s a substantial backlog, even as eviction cases continue to be filed.

Although the moratorium did lapse — basically, for one single Monday — few, if any cases were heard in courts across the region.

But that doesn’t mean that people haven’t ended up out on the streets during the moratorium, says Mandy Haithcox, executive director of faith-based recovery shelter program Pathways in Haywood County.

“I don’t think people always understand the eviction process, so either they know it’s coming or they get the initial paper and they bail,” Haithcox said. “The last week of July, when everyone assumed it was ending, we had probably 10 or 12 calls a day, and that was just from people here in Haywood County.”

On Aug. 3, amidst a startling upsurge in COVID-19 cases after months of decline, the CDC issued an updated moratorium, valid through Oct. 3.

The most recent moratorium is identical to its predecessor, except for one significant stipulation — it will only apply in counties where the transmission of COVID-19 is defined by the CDC as substantial or high.

As of press time, 98 North Carolina counties were covered by the moratorium.

Sarah Thompson joins Dogwood Health Trust Dogwood Health Trust hired seasoned economic and community development executive Sarah Thompson to join the organization’s Impact Team on Sept. 7.

Thompson joins Dogwood’s Impact Team as Vice President of Impact — Economic Opportunity. In this role, she is responsible for the visioning, development and implementation of ambitious economic impact strategies that will increase pathways to highquality and more equitable employment opportunities for Western North Carolinians. She will also lead efforts to increase support for micro and small business opportunities for under-resourced and marginalized communities.

“Sarah knows and understands economic and community development,” said Dr. Susan Mims, interim CEO for Dogwood Health Trust. “But more importantly, she also knows and cares deeply for the people of our region. Her many years working at Southwestern Commission have given Sarah a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities experienced in our unique economic ecosystem.”

“I am excited to continue my service to Western North Carolina in this new capacity. This is a region of tremendous opportunity and notable challenges as well,” said Thompson.

“Dogwood’s approach to community and economic development,

Summary ejectment cases filed, July 2020-June 2021 TOTAL

PER 1,000 RESIDENTS Buncombe 884 3.71 Cherokee 105 3.64 Clay 34 3.00 Graham 20 2.38 Haywood 267 4.26 Henderson 391 3.30 Jackson 159 3.59 Macon 103 2.83 Swain 28 1.96 Source: North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts

Average summary ejectment cases filed per month PRE DURING MORATORIUM MORATORIUM Buncombe 84 71.6 Cherokee 13 7.9 Clay 5 2.4 Graham 1 1.8 Haywood 35 19.7 Henderson 33 32.5 Jackson 17.5 12.4 Macon 11.5 8 Swain 4.5 1.9 Source: North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts

Only two counties, Camden and Hyde, had COVID-19 transmission rates defined as low or moderate, so the moratorium doesn’t apply there. At least, for now.

After Oct. 3, the moratorium would need to be renewed again for protections to continue, but for tenants behind on their rent, there is a way to get current before the

through a social determinants of health lens, allows us to take bold and creative approaches to economic stability for the people of WNC.” Thompson most recently served as the Executive Director for Southwestern Commission in Sylva. In this role, she directed operations of the regional council of government which serves the seven most western counties in North Carolina through community and economic development, workforce development, and area agency on aging.

Thompson has also served as a member of the Dogwood Board of Directors. She took a leave of absence from that role prior to entering the search for this role. She has officially resigned from the board in order to take the position.

Haywood amends school calendar The Haywood County Schools Board of Education voted to amend the 2021-22 school calendar during its Aug. 9 regularly scheduled meeting.

Friday, Oct. 15 is now a regular student day; Monday, Oct. 18 will remain as an Optional Teacher Workday and Tuesday, Oct. 19 is now a Remote Learning Optional Workday.

This change was made so students and staff can be in session on the day of the nationally recognized rivalry football game

inevitable wave of evictions finally comes.

It’s called HOPE (Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions Program) and serves 88 mostly-rural North Carolina counties where low-income renters need help. All WNC counties are eligible, except for Buncombe.

The HOPE program is open to any renter who has been late on rent at least once since April 1, 2020 and has lost income due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Qualifying applicants must also earn no more than 80 percent of the county’s median income, which can be found using a calculator on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs website.

For a single person in Haywood County, that income limit is $35,500.

Eventually, the moratorium will end, bringing with it its own set of problems above and beyond the immediacy of becoming temporarily unsheltered.

“When it does happen and people do have evictions, those people aren’t going to be able to rent again because there’s limited availability here anyway, and then they’re going to have an eviction on their record,” Haithcox said. “So we’re going to have a longer-term problem than we had before.”

Adding to the problem is a new class of homelessness — workers who’ve done everything right but watched landlords sell their buildings for huge profits in the region’s redhot real estate market.

“There’s nowhere to move to, especially if you’ve got pets and three kids,” she said.

“We’ve had a lot of people who’ve never been homeless before who were like, ‘What do I do now?’ I’ve talked to several folks who have employees living in their car for a year and nobody knows about them, because they’re trying to keep it together to keep their job.”

between the school system’s two largest high schools.

“When the Calendar Committee designed and the Board approved the original calendar, we did not know the date of our big game,” said Superintendent Dr. Bill Nolte. “Our schools were reclassified last year, and conference scheduling was not complete at that time. We think it will be better if our students and staff are in school on the 15th, the day of the big game.”

History series continues at Cowee School The lecture series, “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture” will resume at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16 at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center, and will continue the third Monday of each month thereafter.

Daniel Williamson, curator of the Scottish Tartans Museum in Franklin, will present a program on The History of Highland Dress—and Much More. He will give a history of clothing that covers from the 3rd century Picts — inhabitants of Pictland, before Scotland was called Scotland — to the 19th Century. He will bring lots of artifacts, including clothing, weapons and armor, as well as illustrations.

The program will last approximately one hour. Masks are required for those who are not fully vaccinated. The Sept. 20 program will be The Unusual Critters of Coweeta.

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August 11-17, 2021

BY DIANA CONARD While it takes a lot of dedication and CONTRIBUTING WRITER man-hours to run a business, they can ourtney and Spencer Tetrault estabspend more time with family, where everylished Axe & Awl Leatherworks six one helps out. Courtney’s brother, Travis, years ago as an online business. makes up the third member of their team.

Coming from two rewarding yet demanding “Coming from professions that prioricareers, this required a leap of faith and a tize a family-first mindset with a group of whole lot of grit. Now, they are taking like-minded individuals striving to reach a another leap of faith to pursue a muchcommon goal has helped us lay the foundaanticipated dream of opening a storefront tion for our personal business endeavors,” on Depot Street in downtown Waynesville.

Spencer said. “Making workplace culture a Inside their not-yet-opened shop, a conpriority makes for an environment that fostinuous parade of faces peers into the window, cupping hands over their faces, pressed against the glass. It’s this kind of support and encouragement that drives the Tetrault’s toward opening day.

“Seeing members of the community, visitors to our beautiful town and fellow business owners encouraging and lifting us up with support has been an already remarkable experience,” Spencer said. “We want to make this a place where you want to walk down the street and check out what’s here.”

Inside the shop, it’s hustle and bustle while the hands-on work continues. The hides come Courtney and Spencer Tetrault established Axe & Awl into the shop in huge rolls and Leatherworks six years ago as an online business. Now, are cut down to size. With a team they are pursuing a much-anticipated dream of opening of three, each handmade piece is a storefront in downtown Waynesville. Michelle Harris photo stitched, hand-stamped, beveled and burnished with attention to detail, promising the end result is a durable, ters creativity and positive development for personalized product that’s a homage to the all involved.” past.

Through Axe & Awl, history for the Spencer and Courtney are offering a town of Waynesville is repeating itself. Years modern twist on a traditional handicraft. ago, there was a tannery in town. Lots of They are transitioning their e-commerce families had a connection to the tannery. business to include a brick-and-mortar This is precisely what the Tetraults envision establishment. There is skill in what they happening again. do. And they are also investing in our comBesides offering durable handmade munity, and through their journey, continleather goods, Axe & Awl plans to eventualue to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem ly offer classes where people in the commuthat is characteristic of Haywood County. nity can learn to make their own items, The journey for these entrepreneurs such as a belt or wallet. “We want this to be began as a hobby on the kitchen island of something that families and friends can their home. Spencer bought a box of tools experience together,” he said. and put them to use, making customized, Even though opening day is coming durable products for firefighters such as soon, the Tetraults have experienced what belts, suspenders, and radio straps. they call hills and valleys. Starting a storeOutgrowing the island, the hobby moved front during a pandemic has had its share into the garage and then the basement. The of obstacles. product line also evolved into wallets, bags, “Thankfully, we had the Small Business keychains and more.

Center to help put us in contact with the As their children grew older, they realresources we would have never known ized their careers took them away from their about,” Courtney says. “When we have a kids too much. The grueling shifts of being a question, it’s the first place we reach out to.” firefighter for Spencer and a paramedic for For others thinking about starting a Courtney weighed heavy on them. business in Haywood County or growing an “We made the challenging decision to existing business, take advantage of the proleave those careers,” Courtney says. “Turns grams, services, and resources provided by out one of the hardest decisions was also the Small Business Center at Haywood one of the best decisions we have ever Community College. For more information, made.” visit www.ncsbc.net.

news

Axe & Awl honors past with modern twist

MyHaywoodRegional.com

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Health

Smoky Mountain News

Haywood Hospice honors volunteers Volunteers with Haywood Hospice & Palliative Care were honored at a recent luncheon held at the First Presbyterian Church in Waynesville.

Beverly Murray, Hospice volunteer coordinator, welcomed volunteers and thanked them for making a difference in the lives of hospice patients and families over the last year. Special music was provided by volunteer Don Ostrowsky.

Each volunteer was given a gift bag and a thyme plant as a thank you for the gift of their time to a worthy cause. RN Greg Lathrop was the guest speaker. He is a nurse who serves as a Dying Care Specialist. Lathrop spoke to the group about the ways to empower beauty and contentment at the end of one’s life.

“We are proud to honor our amazing volunteers and acknowledge their hard work in our community,” said Murray. “Our hospice volunteers sacrifice so much of themselves to provide care and support to our patients and our hospice team. Our volunteers are an integral part of our multi-disciplinary team that provides end of life care to our Haywood community.”

For more information on the Haywood Hospice Volunteer Program, contact Murray at 828.452.5039.

Hospice Executive Director Andrea Rogers-Ray, (from left) volunteer Bill Hoke and Cody, and Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Beverly Murray are pictured at a volunteer appreciation event.

Begin your yoga journey If you are ready to start your day with more happiness, sign up for a seven-day yoga journey starting Sept. 6 with Waynesville Yoga Center.

Starting Sept. 6, WYC will send you six days of practical and easily implemented suggestions for a daily practice. On the seventh day, Sunday, Sept.

12, there will be an in-person sunrise yoga practice at Waterrock Knob to cement the week’s teachings.

The cost of the seven-day program is $35.

Register at www.waynesvilleyogacenter.com.

Mental health series at library The Marianna Black Library in Bryson City, in partnership with the Vaya Health, will be hosting an educational series on adult mental health, every third Thursday of the month through Dec. 16.

Join this group in the meeting room for the first in series titled “Anxiety: Calming the Anxious Mind,” from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19. This free program is open to all and no appointment is necessary. Marianna Black Library, a member of the Fontana Regional Library, is located in Downtown Bryson City at the corner of Academy and Rector. For more information or driving directions, call the library 828.488.3030.

Livsey named to federal board on education Kae Livsey with Western Carolina University’s School of Nursing has been named to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice.

Livsey, an associate professor in WCU’s College of Health and Human Sciences, will provide advice and recommendations to the secretary of the

Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress. Issues facing the federal advisory board include the nursing workforce, nursing education and health care improvement.

“This is a great honor to represent WCU at the national level and to be able to support the advancement of the nursing profession,” said Livsey about the four-year federal appointment.

Livsey’s program of research includes examination of high impact learning experiences and supporting education of professional registered nurses for emerging roles in community settings, including low-income senior housing communities and primary care practice environments.

New CEO named at Angel Medical Center Mission Health recently hired Clint Kendall as the new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Nursing Officer at Angel Medical Center in Franklin.

Kendall succeeds previous AMC CEO and CNO Karen Gorby, who recently retired after serving as CEO/CNO since February 2016.

Kendall most recently held the position of CEO of Andalusia Health, LifePoint Healthcare, in Andalusia, Alabama, where he oversaw strategic planning and overall management of a 113 bed acute care facility. He also provided oversight of Andalusia Physician Services in South Central Alabama. He believes in promoting transparent communication among providers and employees, and has earned high marks for patient care, safety, culture of excellence and employee satisfaction.

He earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Nursing, and Health Care Management from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western Carolina University.

“I am excited to be in the community of Franklin and look forward to caring for the people

of this area in my new role at Angel Medical Center. I hope to meet many of you in the coming months,” said Kendall.

New women’s health providers Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital continue to expand women’s services across Western North Carolina by welcoming board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Jennifer Blattner and board-certified nurse midwife Jessica Williamson to Harris Women’s Care.

The providers at Harris Women’s Care deliver babies at the New Generations Family Birthing Center at Harris Regional Hospital.

Blattner obtained her medical degree from Emory University and completed her internship and residency at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, then practiced as an OB/GYN in the Navy. After her commitment with the Navy was completed, she was in private practice in Hendersonville. Blattner moved to Colorado where she has practiced for the past nine years and acted as the Medical Director for the OB/GYN Department since 2017.

Williamson graduated from the University of Louisiana at Monroe with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and completed her nurse midwifery degree at Frontier Nursing University in Hyden, Kentucky.

She has held multiple leadership roles in clinical practice and led a project for nurses in Haiti. She most recently practiced in Asheville and specializes in high-risk pregnancy care.

Sunshine Award winners announced Haywood Regional Medical Center recently began a new recognition program for hospital employees who provide non-nursing ancillary care,

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support services personnel, and volunteers.

This award honors the highly valued and appreciated co-workers and volunteers who show exceptional service and compassion every day. The two winners for the first round of awards are Jill Glosup in Bio-Med and Bethany James, CNA, on the Med-Surg floor.

Glosup’s nominator shared that she is always willing to help. She dropped everything to replace a necessary machine part that allowed surgeries to continue as scheduled. This is an example of the kind of work that patients don’t often see, but that is imperative to serving their needs in a safe, timely way.

James was praised for the care she completes with a reserved, quiet dignity, putting patient needs first.

Visit www.myhaywoodregional.com/sunshineaward to nominate.

Collins wins 2021 Mercy Award Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital announced Rachel Collins, RN as 2021 Mercy Award winner.

The Mercy Award recognizes one employee from each of LifePoint Health’s hospitals who profoundly touches the lives of others and best represents the spirit and values on which the company was founded. Collins cares for patients in the main nursing unit at Swain and has worked for our hospitals since 1995. She has been a longtime resident of Robbinsville and currently resides within the Robbinsville community.

The Mercy Award is an annual recognition program established in 2002 to honor the life and contributions of Scott Mercy, LifePoint’s founding chairman and chief executive officer. The award is considered the highest honor a LifePoint employee can receive.

Dr. Silverberg joins HRMC Haywood Regional Medical Center recently welcomed Dr. Arnold Silverberg to its staff. Silverberg will be offering services in orthopaedics to patients throughout Haywood County and beyond.

His specialties include hip replacement surgery, knee and partial knee replacement surgery and revisions and orthopaedic trauma, using minimally invasive techniques and computer/robotic assistance.

Silverberg joins HRMC from the University of Florida, where he completed a fellowship in Adult Reconstruction and Joint Replacement. Previously, he earned his Doctor of Medicine from Vanderbilt University.

“I look forward to bringing expertise in hip and knee replacements to Haywood County,” he said. “I will implement both proven methods as well as advanced technology to allow Haywood’s residents to receive the best possible care locally. As an area that features some of the most picturesque natural landscapes in America, having pain-free mobility is essential to allow residents to explore the local beauty.”

Appointments may be made by calling 828.452.4131.

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Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

The truth is not as simple as it seems

Time to stop the Fear and repression To the Editor: Today, the mask debate has become so ludicrous that many people still falsely think it’s “safety first” to wear one. After the past 1.5 years, masks have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with control.

Mainstream loves to quote the very corrupt and compromised CDC, but never do they cite the May 2020 journal from the CDC on “Emerging Infectious Disease” or countless other verifiable studies concluding unequivocally that face masks do not stop the spread of COVID and should not be relied on to do so. Truth has been swept under the rug in favor of emotional groupthink in the sanctimonious name of security.

Students of history know that during the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak, it was proven that masks were only petri dishes for bacteria to collect in face moisture causing more people to become sick from pneumonia or other lung issues as a result. For every study or politically motivated scientist/medical “expert” claiming the sky is falling because of COVID, there are countless others in those same fields that are rejecting the bogus narratives. These people are being blatantly censored and demonized despite their very credible resumes and credible studies.

Communist Democrats and weak Republicans want to eliminate free speech and debating the issues. Real truth can be found by researching “The Great Barrington

media source — depends on it. Most times if we are reporting on a county commissioner meeting, a mistake is just that: a mistake. However, perceived errors — whether from sources or by those doing the reporting — in almost any story related to politics or a subject that has become politicized becomes “a conspiracy” or proof of “media bias.” Almost as soon as any story is published or put online, readers can start asking why we didn’t get more sources, why we didn’t seek a certain person’s opinion, why we only presented one side, etc.

The anti-vaxx movement is a case Editor in point. It’s one thing to be skeptical of vaccines and their efficacy or to worry that you may be among the minuscule percentage who suffer side-effects. Those are legitimate concerns and those who believe them are knowingly accepting the consequences of their decisions. Unfortunately, there also exists a huge online and media echo chamber surrounding vaccines that feeds on half-truths, outright lies, pseudo-science, conspiracy theories and worse.

And here’s why all this matters: in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, truth matters. Misinformation — to put it bluntly — can be deadly.

Scott McLeod

S

o here’s a reality of the explosion of information that we all live with today: it is now more difficult than ever — not easier — to discern the truth.

In the early days of the internet we were all naïve enough to believe that the opposite was true, that having all the world’s knowledge available to us via a simple keystroke would put an end to lying hucksters and hyperbolic propaganda. Alas, it just isn’t so.

In the media industry where I make my livelihood, this presents a particular challenge. If we know someone at a public meeting or in an interview is saying something untrue, how do reporters handle that? And what about letters to the editor or guest columns submitted to our editorial pages? Do we edit those opinions that prop up arguments with illegitimate “studies” or “untrue” facts?

This challenge looms large for me as the editor of our opinion pages. The facts surrounding COVID-19 are a case in point, having become a prickly subject for all of us in the media biz. I can go online right now and find studies that pooh-pooh the wearing of masks. There are plenty of them out there. You can also find an overwhelming number of studies from what I would consider credible organizations saying that mask wearing is very helpful and is one of the best and easiest tools in helping slow the spread of Covid.

It’s our job to pull out all the stops to present truthful information. Our survival — as a business and as a trusted

LETTERS Declaration.” Science is always evolving, yet this set of current circumstances obviously has sinister motivation behind it for anyone willing to search for unbiased facts.

Furthermore, it is widely known at this point that getting vaccinated does not prevent a person from catching the virus or spreading it, so lay off the un-vaccinated. There is a 99.7% full recovery rate from Covid, so it is time to stop the fearmongering hype. No one likes to get sick, but bodies are not piling up in the street. Do your own research to be set free from the bondage of lies, control and manipulation.

The truth is out there if people are willing to look beyond the hysteria and take all information back to foundations such as the U.S. Constitution of what government’s proper role should be. Government’s role is not medical tyranny, nor is it keeping citizens “safe” from a disease. A government powerful enough to give you what you want is more than capable of taking your freedom away.

Mark Twain said it best: “It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled by others.” I do not write this article to convince the simpletons who believe the lies as an act of virtuous submission, but rather to encourage all lovers of truth and freedom to resist the continued nonsense and any future unconstitutional mandates. What would happen if all of us who know truth just refused to go along with the mask charade or any forced vaccinations at work, school, and social settings? Are we really “land of the free and

I started a discussion with our news staff after a recent letter was submitted which I thought contained the kind of misinformation I’m talking about. Over the years we’ve had some talented people writing for this paper, but I’d say the staff we have right now is as good or better than at any small paper in this country. They take their jobs as journalists seriously, work hard to get things right, and are really smart.

So here’s what one of those reporters suggested about submissions to the opinions section and whether we should edit them: “In general, I think the erosion of trust that occurs when readers know we’re filtering the voices that can appear on our opinion pages is more dangerous than any misrepresentation/distortion of the facts contained in the letters themselves.”

That point is very relevant. We often get accused — especially by those on the right — of bias. Truth is we print every letter we get unless it is libelous or anonymous. We want to get at all sides of every issue and take great pains to do so.

The issue of what is truth and what isn’t seems, on surface, to be an odd topic to be discussing. But it’s not. The internet has liberated us all from having to rely on just a few media sources, but in doing so it has produced such a prodigious amount of information that figuring out how to frame or filter that information becomes a herculean task for all of us. And we all need to realize the truth of that.

(Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com).

home of the brave,” because today is quickly becoming 1930s Germany!

Jim Gaston Franklin

Don’t let states restrict voting To the Editor: Most Americans would agree a free and fair election system is fundamental to a functioning democracy. Yet our neighbor Georgia and many other states have passed bills that seriously curtail access to the polls in response to accommodations that were made in 2020 to assure safety during the pandemic: early voting, no-excuse absentee voting, alternative drop-off procedures.

The U.S. Senate is now considering the For The People Act (S-1). This bill, when passed, does not take over the running of elections from the states but will establish national standards for voter registration and mail-in voting, will require nonpartisan commissions to re-draw congressional district lines when census data indicates a change is due.

The way district lines are drawn today allows candidates to choose voters rather than voters choosing candidates!

The For the People Act will curb the influence of dark money which drowns out the voices of actual constituents and will elevate small-dollar donations. These measures have been called a “power grab” by the Senate minority leader, but perhaps he should be in favor of a “power grab” that returns that power to the people to whom it rightfully belongs.

Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, what say you? Why are you opposing a bill that assures access to the polls and encourages citizens to participate in our democracy?

I encourage all citizens who care about democracy to call our Senators to urge them to vote for S-1 the For The People Act. Betsy Swift Sylva

When distractions — and watchful angels — soothe grief

T

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Susanna Shetley

Less than a week later, we took our collective five kids on an eight-day road trip in an RV to visit five amusement parks — Kings Dominion, Hershey Park and Cedar Point. It took a lot of planning and energy, but it was well worth it. Even though Matthew had never driven an RV and none of us had ever stayed in an RV, we embraced the chaos and had an absolute blast.

When we returned from that trip, I only had a week left until the Lake Logan triathlon, which I’d trained for since early April. I’d been experiencing months of anxiety and worry over the swim portion of the race. I can’t even pinpoint what unnerves me about it.

Nevertheless, I persisted and completed the triathlon this past Sunday. During the last third of the swim, I got caught up with some other swimmers at a turn and swallowed some water. The anxiety kicked in. I had to hang on to one of the lifeguard’s paddleboards to catch my breath and regroup. Luckily, the bike and the run were no problem.

The week before the triathlon was consumed with preparation, along with making sure I had all of the equipment I needed, so there wasn’t much time to perseverate on the impending anniversary.

In fact, my mom helped me get through the swim. Every time I turned my head to breathe, I looked up at the sun and thought about my guardian angel watching me. She would have been so proud and probably shocked. The old Susanna would have never done a triathlon. I grew up dancing, twirling the baton, playing piano and flute, performing in theatre productions and basically doing everything except athletics. I ran track in high school, but that’s the extent of my sports history.

I’ve run some 5K races and one halfmarathon but did not get interested in triathlons until I met Matthew, someone my mom never got to meet. I met him almost exactly one year after she died.

Falling in love and building a life with him certainly helped combat the dark place I’d entered after my mom passed.

As a college baseball player, fierce competitor, and lover of all sports, he had a very different history than I. Matthew inspired me with his triathlon training and encouraged me to learn freestyle swimming and to get on a road bike. He asked me, ‘Why not?’

And so I did.

Now that the trips and the triathlon are over, I’m left with free time to think. And while that can be a negative, it also gives my mind space to remember and reflect. She was such a great mom and just like I did during my race, I’ll be looking up at the sky a lot this week, knowing my guardian angel is taking care of me from afar.

(Susanna Shetley is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for The Smoky Mountain News, Smoky Mountain Living and Mountain South Media. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com)

August 11-17, 2021

hey say the weeks leading up to the anniversary of a loved one’s death are harder than the day itself.

I’d say that’s true.

My mom passed away Aug. 14, 2016.

This Saturday marks the fifth anniversary.

Some days I wake up feeling like my last encounter with her was from another lifetime. Other days it feels like she was here yesterday, laughing, smiling and enjoying a cute thing one of my boys did or said.

Birthdays, holidays and Mother’s Day are always challenging, but those were times of celebrations, so it’s easy to honor her on those days. The Columnist anniversary of a passing is different.

You replay the week and day in your head over and over. The sadness, dread and finality all come back. There is nothing happy to pull from.

Grief is one of the hardest emotions. It comes and goes in waves. It seeps into your bones and never really dissipates. Grief also makes you mourn harder for others because you can authentically empathize with what they’re experiencing. Grief gives you an unwelcomed wisdom.

When you lose someone so dear, you have to find ways to connect with them in an otherworldly sense. I see my mom in my dreams. I see her in the hummingbirds that visit my porch and the butterflies and cardinals in the yard. I see her in my own mannerisms and habits. I see her in the words on pages of historical fiction novels, her favorite genre. I see her when I travel. She loved to visit new places and go on adventures. I see her when I hear Elvis or Patsy Cline. I see her when I find a shark’s tooth or when I enjoy a crisp glass of Chardonnay.

While these reminders are beautiful, other things are equally as sad. I still have two saved voicemails on my phone that I can’t bring myself to play. I worry that hearing her voice will break whatever morsel of thread holds me together.

It’s challenging to watch my friends’ moms be involved with their kids but to not have my mom to do the same. It’s even hard going to Target. When my boys were babies, she and I would meet there and walk around for hours drinking Starbucks while lulling the boys to sleep in strollers.

Grief never leaves a person. It merely matures and changes over time.

In these weeks leading up to August 14, I’ve been gratefully distracted by a number of adventures and experiences. My boyfriend, Matthew, and I traveled to Colorado to see two of our favorite bands at Red Rocks. While there, we ate great food, frolicked around Denver and Boulder, and enjoyed the Rocky Mountain National Park.

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A&E

Smoky Mountain News

Good times around the bend Keith Moseley of The String Cheese Incident

The String Cheese Incident. Bassist Keith Moseley is second from right. (photo: Scott McCormick)

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR potent blend of rock, bluegrass, folk and electronica, The String Cheese Incident remains an innovative, intriguing force of nature and melody within the American musical landscape.

Formed in Colorado in 1993, the group evolved steadily from a jam-band into other realms of the musical spectrum, making additional stops in the unknown depths of sonic improvisation and limitless possibilities of electronica and digital formats — something SCI were pioneers in doing within the jam-band community (and through the advent of its highly-popular annual Electric Forest festival).

Almost three decades into its ever-evolving career, the trajectory of SCI continues onward and upward, this whirlwind of sound and purpose rolling from coast to coast and seemingly everywhere in-between.

Anchoring the band within harmony and rhythm is powerhouse bassist/singer Keith Moseley, who spoke at-length about SCI being back on the road, and what it means to still be onstage with the same bandmates who started this journey with him those many years ago in the Rocky Mountains.

A

Smoky Mountain News: Y’all are back on the road. What’s it been like to get into the rhythm of things after being away from the stage for so long?

Keith Moseley: Well, at this point, we’re not all living in the same place. Two of us were in Colorado over the lockdown. And the rest of the guys were all spread out.

So, we had two solid weeks of rehearsal getting back together, which was great. Just running through the tunes, hanging out, having some laughs, remembering “who sings tenor on what part” and “who takes the first solo in that song.” [Laughs].

And then [our first] shows [back last month] went great. I mean, it was amazing to kick off the run in Colorado on home turf, to see so many familiar faces and friends at the shows.

Honestly, it’s kind of like riding a bike — we got right back into it and it felt pretty good.

SMN: Do you think performing means more now after the void of what has happened over the last year and a half?

KM: That’s a good question. It’s definitely put everyone in the mindset that you can’t take anything for granted. You can’t assume that you’re just going to go out and do what you’ve always done.

By the time we got back out [touring], I think everyone’s definitely really appreciative of still being able to play music for the fans,

Want to go?

The String Cheese Incident will perform Aug. 20-22 at the Salvage Station in Asheville. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to www.stringcheeseincident.com and click on the “Tour” tab.” and for ourselves — to do what we love to do and be able to make a living at it.

You can’t take it for granted. It’s a special thing, and we’re all super thankful that we’re able to get back out there.

Being shutdown and not able to work, it’s frustrating from a mental standpoint. It’s what we do. We play music with other people and perform. So, the livelihood part of it went away, the money part of it went away, which was stressful.

But, also just kind of your whole purpose went away, as well. Being able to get out and perform just disappeared. It definitely took a toll on my psyche — it was a challenging time.

SMN: Aside from all the chaos of everything in the outside world, were you able to at least reflect on what it is you do, and also just the idea of what it is to be human?

KM: Yeah. I mean, I wish I could tell you that I took up baking and I wrote a book, all those things that you sometimes see that people did.

But, I didn’t do that. [Laughs].

And yet, there was a yin and yang, two sides to it for me at times. It was really a great blessing to be able to spend extra time with my family and with friends. There were some real great moments, in that way.

And there was a lot of self-reflection, a lot of times to kind of reassess what’s happening career-wise to my art. I definitely fought some depression and became OK. The silver lining was to go camping with my family. I was off in the summer, which I never have time off in the summer. I did a lot of online yoga, which was good for me, and really just focused and recommitted to the things that were important.

SMN: The band has been together some 28 years. What is it y’all are still going after? Is it still the interactions onstage? Or is it something bigger than that?

KM: Well, I think, creatively, we’re writing as good of songs now as we ever have. And that’s exciting. We continue to evolve — as people and as players. With the time away from each other, it’s good to get back together and reconnect and discover how the bandmates that I’ve had for 25-plus years are growing as people.

“It’s good to get back together and reconnect and discover how the bandmates that I’ve had for 25-plus years are growing as people.”

— Keith Moseley

It’s fun to just keep the friendships alive, and continue to challenge each other musically — to grow and to adapt. We’ve always sort of pushed each other, pushed the boundaries with each other musically, and sometimes personally.

[In those early days of the band], it was a lot of “us against the world,” this common goal of “let’s get out and prove that we can do this.”

We didn’t have a lot to lose. We were kind of at the point where we had all just committed completely to doing the band together, to try and make a career of it — no one really had anything to come back to.

That opportunity to grow together – as musicians and as people — has been a strong bond for us over the years.

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

Phish, Nashville. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)

I’m floating in the blimp a lot, I feel the feeling I forgot

1

Concerts on the Creek continues with The Get Right Band (rock/indie) from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at Bridge Park in Sylva.

2

Journey tribute band Departure will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

3 4

The “Unto These Hills” stage production will be held at 8 p.m. through Aug. 14 at the Mountainside Theater in Cherokee.

A production of “The Last Romance” will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12-14, 19-21, and at 2 p.m. Aug. 15 and 22 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

5

Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) at 2 p.m. Aug. 15.

WEST ASHVILLE’S LARGEST OPEN AIR MUSIC & FOOD VENUE Outdoor Stage & Dining Live Music | Amazing Eats Smoky Mountain News

I attended a Catholic elementary school where life was pretty boring and vanilla by fourth grade. The world was black and white, this existence of good versus evil, taught to us each afternoon from the Catholic nuns in the classroom, from the Catholic priest atop the altar at mass each Sunday morning Listed as song number nine from Phish’s seminal 1989 rock opus “Junta,” “Fluffhead” is this purposeful psychedelic odyssey — one of musical experimentation, human discovery and rollickin’ good times.

Nate would crank “Fluffhead” on the stereo and explain to me what “Fluff ” actually was, which is LSD. I had clue what LSD was or what it could do to a person. I sat on his futon, absorbing all of Nate’s knowledge and endless stories about his LSD trips over the past few years (one involved streaking down a dirt farm road ‘round midnight under a canopy of stars).

August 11-17, 2021

I knew it was going to happen. But, I just didn’t know when it would.

It was right as Phish wandered into its sacred melody “Fluffhead” onstage in Nashville last Wednesday evening when I started tearing up.

Chills emerging from the ground beneath my feet. Through my legs and meandering up and down my spine. Goosebumps.

Blurred vision at the sake of dabs of wetness emerging from curious eyes left in utter awe of the spectacle unfolding in Music City.

Surrounded by thousands upon thousands of music freaks at the Ascend Amphitheatre (just a couple of blocks from Broadway in downtown), I stood there in a sea of faces, completely immersed in the moment, unabashedly lost in sincere sorrow and joy simultaneously — all wrapped into one band, one show, one song.

Each tear shed was one memory I seemingly had with my late cousin, Nate, who unexpectedly passed away in June. Some seven years older than me, he was like an older brother, someone who taught me the good, bad and ugly of what to expect as a growing teenager, soon-to-be-adult.

He was also the person who first exposed me to the legend and lore of Phish. It was on his bedroom stereo at my aunt’s house. She and my mother downstairs sharing a glass of wine on the porch. Nate and I blasting Phish upstairs. This many years later, the quartet has resided at the absolute core of my eternal being since that initial introduction in 1994.

At that time, I was nine years old, a little kid born and raised in the North Country. A mile from the Canadian Border. A thousand miles from my eventual hopes and dreams, ultimately my current reality.

Gaze out the bedroom window from the second floor of the farmhouse (my childhood home) onto the endless acres of cornfields, a nearby railroad line where the loud engines would rumble by to destinations unknown.

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arts & entertainment

This must be the place

My first LSD experience would come a few years later, around age 13. Middle school transgressions with a small piece of white paper placed on the tongue at a bowling alley, our parents not picking up my cronies and I (thankfully) for several hours.

Life was (thankfully) never the same after that day in the bowling alley. Our skulls forever cracked open to the never-ending adventures and opportunities bestowed to us, now truly one with the universe.

And it was 18 years ago last week when I first saw Phish live. The “IT” festival (Aug. 23, 2003). Middle of nowhere. Northern Maine. I was 18 years old. Just graduated high school. Took off to “IT” on a whim. No ticket. My best friend, Ben, and I riding along in my 1991 Plymouth Acclaim. Barely enough money between us for gas and beer.

We drove 12 hours straight through the late night and early morning, only to make the Sunday set with an hour to spare. Snuck into the festival in a bread truck (traded the driver some weed to hide under thousands of hot dog buns).

I vividly remember when Phish jumped into “Pebbles and Marbles.” That was the melody and moment that shifted the entire trajectory of my life and purpose. Standing in the mud, a teenager from the North Country leaving his hometown for college (a couple of weeks later), I thought to myself how wild and wondrous the universe is (and remains).

That moment forever transformed me. I knew that I was leaving my past back in that small town — all things familiar and embracing — and heading into the unknowns of adulthood, of college some 300 miles and three states away.

Then, there was heading to the glorious “you had to be there” mess that was Coventry with my ex-girlfriend in 2004, all of us in the audience, again amid tears of sorrow and joy, thinking “this was it,” our beloved band was done, gone for eternity.

And all those random shows throughout my adult life since Phish’s comeback in 2009: Knoxville, SPAC, Essex, Darien Lake, Dick’s Colorado, Bonnaroo 2019, Charleston, etc.

Skip ahead to the here and now, and there I was, age 36, at Phish Nashville Night Two. “Fluffhead” broke me open. Lot of deep emotions were pouring out. Thinking of my late cousin and other loved ones gone from this earth. Thinking of family and friends far away. Thinking of the current state of society and “where to from here?” And what it means to be in the presence of live music, in the presence of “The Phish from Vermont.”

My gratitude was overflowing, too.

Thankful to be in that moment and feel those pure emotions. And I knew you were there alongside me, Nate. You exposed me to this band when I was a little kid in the mid1990s. And you forever changed my life because of it.

In Nashville, tearing up by myself in a sea of vibrant, cosmic souls about you, about not being on this physical earth anymore, and about how much I love and miss you.

You made me a Phish Phreak, and from those early days. And I will always carry that torch proudly. The music remains. And so do the memories we shared, together.

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

743 HAYWOOD RD. WEST ASHEVILLE ISISASHEVILLE.COM 828.575.2737

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SPONSORED CONTENT arts & entertainment

The Team

2 Most Common Design Mistakes · BY SABRINA MATHENY ·

M

y intuitive design work is based on the principles of Feng Shui. I started out as a Feng Shui consultant and quickly learned how to sense patterns in a space that contribute to disharmony in a home. Here are the top two mistakes I see people make when designing their homes. Addressing these can make a HUGE difference in how your home can support your health, wealth and relationships.

1. FURNITURE UNDER ARREST

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

This happens when everything you own is up against the walls and covering every surface you have. Many people feel the need to use every inch of their home to display their collections, prized possessions and artwork.

Rooms need to breathe. There need to be places along the walls for the eyes to

rest. These beautiful displays are adding an abundance of yin energy to a room. My mantra here is “where goes sight, so goes

energy.” However long it takes a person to stop and fully take in all that is before them is how much you’ve slowed down the energy in a space. It can work for you when yin energy is warranted, but very much against you when it keeps the energy from moving on to nurture other places in your home.

THE CURE? Eliminate the vignettes and pull some of the furniture off the walls and out into the room. Open spaces in the middle of rooms creates fast moving energy which are challenging to relax in. By removing stagnant energy along the edges and creating conversation areas in the heart of the rooms, you place the focus of a room back on the people - where it actually belongs!

2. "YOU WANT WHAT TO HAPPEN? WHERE?" Room function sounds simple enough, but I find that in a lot of homes it is not a well-thought-out plan. For example, how many of you have an entrance that doesn’t accommodate your belongings? Or a dining room table full of clutter? Or perhaps you expect your partner to enjoy crawling over to his/her side of the bed because you’ve placed your bed against the wall?

When we ask the body to do something internally that goes against what we provide externally, it will not energetically relax. That translates into restless sleep, indigestion and feeling

disempowered in a space.

THE CURE? Take a GOOD LONG LOOK at how you have set up your rooms. When you enter a home, create a place to take off the outside world in order to enter your sanctuary. Hooks for coats and purses, drop zones for keys and mail and a rug to catch wet, dirty shoes are a few ideas.

Make sure where you eat your meals is a calm, beautiful place. You are asking the body to assimilate nutrients, which is a receptive energy, and external chaos interferes with that process. Sitting while eating tells the body we are doing something important, so it relaxes and takes it all in. Eating as you’re standing or even worse, while you’re moving sends the opposite message and often results in weight gain.

Not offering a partner the same conveniences you have next to a bed sends the energetic message that they are not an equal, or more to the point…you hold all the power in the relationship. Move that bed over, add a nightstand and fill it with all the items you (and they) enjoy!

Yes, allow them to have a lamp for reading, a box of tissues for tough discussions or allergy season and perhaps access to an electrical outlet to charge their phone. If they hold a special place in your heart then demonstrate that outwardly by creating a place that says ”you belong here with me.”

Our homes are an outward creation of our inner world. They can support us and give us that place of rejuvenation or they can drain us, making our life dull and challenging. When you create a space with intention and foresight, you provide a safe haven not only for yourself, but for all those that need a port in the storm.

Sabrina Matheny is an intuitive designer, life coach and spiritual medium. Her passions include running, speaking french and traveling abroad. When she is not working, she is spending time with her sons and watching murder mysteries.

Info@sabrinamathenydesigns.com

Graphic Designer Jessica Murray (from left), SMN News Editor Jessi Stone, Staff Writer Hannah McLeod, Digital Media Specialist Susanna Shetley and Amanda Singletary (not pictured)

Rumble is a weekly e-newsletter created by women, for women and about women. It is published by The Smoky Mountain News and delivered to your inbox each Thursday. The goal is to offer readers a beautifully curated email that will inspire and motivate women to live their best lives. By hearing the challenges and successes of other women, we hope you will find an opportunity to live, love, learn and grow in your own unique way.

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s uth media

Subscribe: smokymountainnews.com/rumble 30

Want to know more about newsletter advertising, sponsored content or advertising on this page email Susanna Shetley at susanna.b@smokymountainnews or call 828.452.4251

On the beat

W

hen Mountain Heritage Day makes a triumphant return to the Western Carolina University campus in Cullowhee on Saturday, Sept. 25, it will come with a full day of live music.

The annual festival of Southern Appalachian traditions and culture is renowned as a showcase of bluegrass, oldtime and traditional music, as well as family activities, vendors and the region’s finest arts and crafts. The 2020 festival was an abbreviated, virtual event due to the COVID19 pandemic.

“We have the perfect lineup for us to get back in front of a live audience. Many of our favorites are returning and we get to welcome some new artists, too,” said Christy Ashe, WCU special events director and festival chair. “We will be following COVID-19 protocols and are actively encouraging everyone to get vaccinated, so we can actually return to being together in this celebration.”

Ashe announced the schedule for the Blue Ridge Stage: • Summer Brooke & Brayden kick off the music at 10 a.m. Known for leading the IBMA award-winning Mountain Faith Band, the popular brother/sister bluegrass virtuosos graciously provided the concert for

The Pic’ & Play Mountain Dulcimer Players will be resuming in-person jam sessions at the St. John’s Episcopal Church basement fellowship hall in Sylva.

The group welcomes all beginners and experienced dulcimer players, including mountain (lap) dulcimer and hammered dulcimer players. Songs played include traditional mountain tunes, hymns, and more modern music. The group meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of every month in the basement of St. John’s.

Pic’ & Play has been playing together

since 1995. The more experienced members welcome new players, help them navigate their instruments, and guide them through some of the basics of tuning, strumming, and playing.

The mountain dulcimer, also known as a fretted dulcimer or a lap dulcimer, is a uniquely American instrument. It evolved from the German scheitholz sometime in the early 1800s in Appalachia and was largely known only in this region until popularized more broadly in the 1950s.

For more information, call Kathy Jaqua at 828.349.3930 or Don Selzer at 828.293.0074.

mountain swing with down-home humor.

• At noon, the Apple Blossom Cloggers, a dance troupe of 7 to 9 years old girls, join Whitewater Bluegrass Company for lively clogging demonstration, followed by presentation of the Mountain Heritage Awards at 12:15 p.m. to an individual and organization in recognition of work within Southern

The Get Right Band.

Espalin brings folk, soul to WNC Singer-songwriter Wyatt Espalin will hit the stage at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15, at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro. He will also perform at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, at Mountain Layers Brewing in Bryson City.

Born and raised in Hiawassee, Georgia, Espalin has been entertaining audiences since he was eight years old. A blend of Americana, bluegrass and indieroots music, he’s a beloved fixture on the Southern Appalachian live music circuit.

Both shows are free and open to the public. www.wyattespalinmusic.com.

Concerts on the Creek The 11th annual season of Concerts on the Creek continues with The Get Right Band (rock/indie) from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at Bridge Park in Sylva.

Held most Fridays from through Labor Day at the Bridge Park, these free, familyfriendly events are organized by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Town of

Smoky Mountain News

Wyatt Espalin.

2020’s Mountain Heritage Day virtual performance.

• When Whitewater Bluegrass Company performs at 11 a.m., it will mark a major milestone, as it will be their 25th time playing at Mountain Heritage Day. More or less founded at WCU in 1982, the band blends its own brand of bluegrass, country ballads and

August 11-17, 2021

Learn to play dulcimer

Whitewater Bluegrass Company.

Appalachian history, culture and folklore.

• The Queen Family starts picking at 12:45 p.m. Known as master musicians and experts in regional lore, the Queen Family were honored with the 1999 “Mountain Heritage Award” and the 2001 “BrownHudson Award” by the North Carolina Folklore Society.

• Phil and Gaye Johnson at 1:30 p.m. play guitar and sing an acoustic blend of bluegrass, folk and favorites. The prolific songwriters and storytellers from Polk County travel across the country to perform and are among the longest running repeat performers at Mountain Heritage Day. • The Grascals, three-time Grammy nominees and two-time IBMA “Entertainer of the Year,” perform at 2:15 p.m. The Bailey Mountain Cloggers will join the Grascals at 3:30 p.m. for foot-stamping and high stepping mastery that is a perennial of Mountain Heritage Day. • At 3:45 p.m. the Merle Monroe Band will bring their mix of Bill Monroe-style bluegrass with Merle Haggard’s style of songs of the common man (hence the name) to the stage for their own brand of bluegrass, gospel and traditional country.

For more information and updates, visit www.mountainheritageday.com.

arts & entertainment

Mountain Heritage Day performers announced

Sylva, and the Jackson County Parks & Recreation Department.

Bring a chair or blanket. Donations are greatly appreciated. No coolers. No smoking.

No alcohol. Well-behaved dogs only. All dogs must be on a leash.

Observe COVID-19 safe protocols in place by the State of North Carolina and Jackson County.

For more information, visit www.mountainlovers.com, the Concerts on the Creek Facebook page or call 828.586.2155.

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arts & entertainment

On the beat • Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday.

Free and open to the public. 828.631.1987 or www.balsamfallsbrewing.com.

• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public.

828.734.1084 or www.elevatedmountain.com.

• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host karaoke at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, trivia at 7 p.m. on Thursdays and In Flight Aug. 21. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.246.0350 or www.boojumbrewing.com.

• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will be held at the Town Square from 6 to 8:30 p.m. with Chatham Rabbits Aug. 13 and Sycamore Flats Aug. 20. Free and open to the public. www.highlandschamber.org.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Nathan Hefner (piano/vocals) Aug. 13.

All shows begin at 7 p.m. Limited seating.

Reservations required. Ticket price and dinner menu to be announced. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Concerts on the Creek (Sylva) at Bridge Park will host The Get Right Band (rock/soul) Aug. 13. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. www.mountainlovers.com.

• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.369.4080 or www.coweeschool.org.

ALSO:

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) Aug. 15.

All events are free and begin at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends.

Free and open to the public. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Lake Junaluska Conference Center will host the Haywood Community Band “Under The

ONLY $18.99* PER YEAR! Subscribe at smliv.com and use promo code 2021WOW for

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Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host semiregular live music on the weekends.

828.634.0078 or www.curraheebrew.com.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Never B’s Aug. 13, Western Carolina Writers Aug. 14, Zip Zarring 3 p.m. Aug. 15, Gin Mill Pickers Aug. 20 and KC Johns Aug. 21. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com.

OFF

NEWSSTAND PRICE

Beloved Journey tribute band Departure will perform at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 13, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

Departure surpasses most tribute bands as they not only bring the sights and sounds of the original Journey band, but also add a special flair that makes for a great evening of classic rock music and show-stopping entertainment.

Departure is the longest running and most respected Journey tribute band in the world. They’ve been performing together for more than 10 years and book more than 100 shows each year.

Departure replicates the look, sound, and feel of the original 1980s rock supergroup, who are best known for hits such as “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Faithfully” and “Open Arms.”

Tickets start at $18 per person. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to www.smokymountainarts.com or call 828.273.4615.

Big Tent” at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 29. Free and open to the public.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host karaoke at 7 p.m. Aug. 13, The Pony Express Band Aug. 14 and Hot Mess Aug. 21. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host a “Led Zeppelin Tribute” w/Andrew Thelston Band Aug. 20. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Maggie Valley Pavilion will host the Haywood Community Band at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 15. Free and open to the public.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Scott James Stambaugh Aug. 13, Granny’s Mason Jar Aug. 14, Wyatt Espalin Aug. 20, Aly Jordan Aug. 21 and Kate Thomas 4 p.m. Aug. 22. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or www.mtnlayersbeer.com.

• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends.

828.641.9797 or www.nantahalabrewing.com.

• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala

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32

Journey tribute in Franklin

MAGAZINE

Gorge) will host “Bluegrass with Blue” Aug. 13 and 20, and The Log Noggins Aug. 14. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

888.905.7238 or www.noc.com.

• “Pickin’ on the Square” (Franklin) will host New Train (rock/funk) Aug. 14 and Empty Pockets (variety) Aug. 21. All shows start at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. Located on Main Street. www.franklin-chamber.com.

• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. www.rathskellerfranklin.com.

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com • Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will be held at the Kelsey-Hutchinson Park from 6 to 8:30 p.m. with Twilight 5K Concert Aug. 14 and ZuZu Welch Aug. 21. Free and open to the public. www.highlandschamber.org.

• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host Departure (Journey tribute) at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13. Tickets start at $18 per person. For more information and to purchase tickets, click on www.smokymountainarts.com.

• Southern Porch (Canton) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends.

828.492.8009 or www.southern-porch.com.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Cashiers) will host semiregular live music on the weekends.

828.743.3000 or www.theuglydogpub.com.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends.

828.526.8364 or www.theuglydogpub.com.

• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Blake Robinson Aug. 11, Blackjack Country Aug. 12, Aces Down Aug. 13 and Outlaw Whiskey Aug. 14. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.

• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host Ricky Gunter 6 p.m. Aug. 21. 828.926.7440 or www.valley-tavern.com.

• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host karaoke on Thursday nights and semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 3 p.m. 828.456.4750 or www.facebook.com/waternhole.bar.

• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends.

828.743.6000 or www.whitesidebrewing.com.

@SMOKYMOUNTAINNEWS

On the street arts & entertainment

‘Hook, Line & Drinker’ festival returns

The Carolina Soul Band.

Presented by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the fifth annual “Hook, Line & Drinker” festival will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.

The festival includes fly fishing guides and fishing industry vendors, food trucks, children’s activities, clean water advocates and local craft beer vendors. Live music will be provided by The Carolina Soul Band.

Free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.hooklinedrinkerfest.com.

The 16th Annual Franklin Area Folk Festival, “A Celebration of Appalachian Heritage,” will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, at Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center.

This family-friendly festival features live heritage demonstrations, Appalachian crafts, old-time mountain music and jammin’ sessions, kids’ activities, food, quilt dis-

plays, a Border Collie show, and much more.

Festival-goers are encouraged to bring their instruments and join in. This event is subject to COVID-19 restrictions.

This free event is co-sponsored annually by the Folk Heritage Association of Macon County and the Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center, with support from the Franklin/Nantahala Tourism Development Committee and the Franklin Tourism Development Authority. www.franklinfolkfestival.com or 828.524.6564.

The Cherokee Bonfire & Storytelling will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through Sept. 29 at the Oconaluftee Islands Park in Cherokee.

Sit by a bonfire, alongside a river, and listen to some of Cherokee’s best storytellers. The bonfire is free and open to the public. There will be no bonfire events in September. For more information, call 800.438.1601 or click on www.visitcherokeenc.com.

August 11-17, 2021

Franklin Area Folk Festival

CHEROKEE BONFIRE & STORYTELLING

On the table

• The “BBQ & Brews Dinner Train’’ will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car.

Craft beer pairings with a meal, and more.

800.872.4681 or www.gsmr.com.

• “Dillsboro After Five” will take place from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays in down-

town Dillsboro. Start with a visit to the Jackson County Farmers Market located in the Innovation Station parking lot. Stay for dinner and take advantage of late-hour shopping. www.mountainlovers.com.

• There will be a free wine tasting from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva.

828.631.3075.

Smoky Mountain News

• The Fines Creek Fish Fry will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Fines Creek Community Center in Clyde. Live music from Hill Country and River Town.

Plates are $10 for adults, free for kids under age 6 (with a paying adult). All proceeds and donations go to Fines Creek Community Association to support community needs.

• The “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. 800.872.4681 or www.gsmr.com.

33

arts & entertainment

On the wall

New art exhibit at Sylva library

HCAC ‘Artist Member Exhibit’ The “Artist Member Exhibit” will run through Aug. 28 at the Haywood County Arts Council on Main Street in Waynesville.

Featuring works from 38 HCAC artists, working in a range of mediums from fiber to photorealism paintings.

There will also be an artist demonstration Nancy Blevins from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 21. The demonstration will be silk dye painting in the serti technique with water-based gutta resist.

For more information, visit www.haywoodarts.org.

Want to paint, sip craft beer?

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

Gayle Woody in the BarkWood Studio.

Gayle Woody’s work is now on view through the end of August at the Rotunda Gallery, located in the Jackson County Public Library in downtown Sylva.

Her BarkWood Studio is also a part of the Blue Ridge Craft Trails, a new initiative that highlights the rich cultural heritage of Western North Carolina.

Woody went to college across the country, spent her career as an art educator, and now works in the studio where her father turned wooden bowls.

Her biggest influence is a deep connection to nature. Woody’s studio, attached to the 1880s family farmhouse, is frequently visited by wildlife and seasonally surrounded by wildflowers and native plants.

Currently, Woody focuses her work on printmaking, ceramic tiles, and book making. Her block prints are cut from linoleum and printed on paper she makes from wasp nests.

She forms ceramic tiles by pressing an image she’s carved into clay and then • A showcase of art by Gosia Babcock will be on display in the Meeting Room through the end of August at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Visit to take a closer look, but call ahead to make sure the Meeting Room is open to the public when you plan to visit. 828.524.3600.

• Art by Jackson County author/storyteller Gary Carden will be on display through the end of August at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. 828.524.3600.

• “A Living Language: Cherokee Syllabary and Contemporary Art,” an exhibit at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian (located in Cherokee), features over 50 works of art in a variety of media by over 30 Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and Cherokee 34 Nation artists. The exhibition highlights the

bisque firing. She uses Coptic binding for her books with pages made of cotton or linen.

Open by appointment, BarkWood Studio is one stop on the Blue Ridge Craft Trails, a new online site that promotes craft, craft artists, and cultural tourism in 25 Western North Carolina counties.

The website (www.blueridgecrafttrails.com) links traditional and contemporary craftsmen, galleries, and arts organizations with broader markets to increase income, enhance cultural tourism, and improve local economies.

A project of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, the Craft Trails has received funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, and the Jackson County Arts Council.

To learn more about BarkWood Studio, visit www.blueridgeheritage.com/destinations/barkwood-studio. use of the written Cherokee language, a syllabary developed by Cherokee innovator Sequoyah (circa 1776–1843). Cherokee syllabary is frequently found in the work of Cherokee artists as a compositional element or the subject matter of the work itself. The exhibition will be on view at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee through Oct. 31. Learn more by visiting www.mci.org.

• The Folk Art Center in Asheville has opened its Main Gallery exhibition showcasing the Graduating Class of 2021 of Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program. The showcase will run through Aug. 22. It is free and open to the public.

Visit www.craftguild.org or call 828.298.7928.

• The “Thursday Painters” group will be held

The “WNC Paint Night” will return to local breweries in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties.

With step-by-step instructions, you will

paint yourself a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.

This is pure fun to do while you sip on something tasty at the brewery.

Events will be held at the following locations: Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 19, Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Nov. 11 and Dec. 9; and Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 18, Sept. 29, Oct. 27, Nov. 17 and Dec. 22; BearWaters Brewing (Canton) from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 2 and 30, Nov. 12 and Dec. 23.

Space is limited. Reserve your seat by texting Robin Arramae at 828.400.9560. To learn more, visit the Facebook page @paintwnc or Instagram @wnc_paint_events.

‘Artist Support Grants’ available The Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center in Franklin is currently seeking applications for “Artist Support Grants” for 2021–2022. The deadline to apply is Sept. 30.

These grants support artists in all disciplines with funding for projects that will have a significant impact on the advancement of their professional artistic careers.

The “Artist Support Grant” program is managed through a partnership with local arts councils to serve artists in Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. Funding is provided by the North Carolina Arts Council.

Artists at any stage of their careers, emerging or established, are eligible to apply for grants in all disciplines, such as visual art and craft, traditional art forms, music composition, film/video, literature and playwriting, and choreography and dance.

Types of fundable projects include the creation of new work, purchase of equipment and materials, and professional development workshops.

Complete funding guidelines and applications are available online at www.coweeschool.org. Grant awards generally range from $500-$1,000. Applications must be received by Sept. 30. This year, they will also offer an online application.

Informational workshops for interested artists will be offered online and in person.

Visit www.coweeschool.org for updated workshop dates and times. For more information, contact Laura Brooks at maconheritagecenter@gmail.com or 828.369.4080.

from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their own project and a bag lunch. For more information, call The Uptown Gallery at 828.349.4607 or contact Pat Mennenger at pm14034@yahoo.com. See more about Macon County Art Association at www.franklinuptowngallery.com and like, follow and share the Uptown Gallery on Facebook.

ALSO:

• The Haywood County Arts Council’s “Art Works @ The Library,” a collaborative program between the Haywood County Public Library system and the HCAC, is currently showcasing works by artist Cayce Moyer at

the Canton Library. Working in traditional and mixed media, Moyer blends the worlds of high-brow and low-brow work. Classically trained at Savannah College of Art and Design, her portfolio includes drawing, painting, sculpture, illustration, graphic design, murals, and set prop painting for theatre and TV. • Farmer’s Market (with artisans) will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through October at 117 Island St., in Bryson City. Stop by the old barn by the river for local, homegrown produce, as well as baked goods, jellies and preserves, authentic crafts, and more. Food truck, picnic tables and a strolling musician. Leashed pets are welcome. Outdoor event. Current Covid-19 safety protocols will be followed and enforced. 828.488.7857.

On the stage

A sweet, romantic comedy to warm your heart, a production of “The Last Romance” will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12-14, 19-21, and at 2 p.m. Aug. 15 and 22 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

Written by the same author of HART’s hit “Over the River and Through the Woods,” “The Last Romance” will feature three of HART’s most popular actors, Lyn Donley, Stephen Gonya, and making her sensational return to the HART stage, Suzanne Tinsley.

Tinsley has the distinction of having the longest association with HART as a performer.

She appeared as Ms. Anna in HART’s first production of “The King and I” in 1984. She last appeared opposite HART Executive Director Steve Lloyd in “All My Sons” in 2016.

The cast is rounded out by Dakota Benfield who previously appeared in “S’Wonderful” with cast mates Donley and Gonya. “The Last Romance” is by three time Tony Award winner Joe Dipietro.

In the current play, a widower named Ralph decides to take a different path on his daily walk — one that leads him to an unexpected second chance at love. This feel good comedy is just what audiences need as they see Ralph regain a happiness that seemed all but lost.

Reservations may be made by calling the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322 or by going online to www.harttheatre.org.

Smoky Mountain News

The Calliope Stage Company will present “Calliope Shorts: Firsts!” at 8 p.m. Aug. 12, 14, and at 9 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Loading Dock Stage at 73 Landis St., in Sylva.

“Calliope Shorts: Firsts!” is the first new works development project commissioned by Calliope Stage, it focuses on the stories of Western North Carolina and the artists who hold these mountains dear.

Calliope matched 23 artists of a variety of mediums and ages into 10 creative teams. Using their unique artistic sensibilities, each team spent three months developing a new short piece of theatre that’s inspired by a story rooted in the WNC region.

All 10 shorts (short plays) written by these teams will premiere in downtown Sylva at Calliope Stage’s very first live outdoor production. Five directors (along with a production team of professional and pre-professional artists) will bring each Calliope Short to life for the first time.

Live local pre-show entertainment and treats from local food and beverage vendors will complete the celebration of the theatrical magic within our beloved mountains.

The show is recommended for all ages, but includes strong language in a couple of the pieces. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.calliopestage.com.

August 11-17, 2021

‘Calliope Shorts: Firsts!’

arts & entertainment

HART’s ‘The Last Romance’

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arts & entertainment August 11-17, 2021

OCA LO AL, LIK KE Y YO OU And like you, we remain on the front lines.

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On the shelf

Thomas Crowe

“My name is Lucy Paul in case you’re interested. American Medical Association. Ethicist, activist, and all-around pain in the ass. Sent to find out why the current death rate in the hospital here is so much higher than before the war ….

Why stop with your Irish girl [Ciara McManaway]? Between the missing and the dead, we have two or three disappearances a week around here.”

your

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To which Stephen replies: “Why does that seem so outrageous? As far as I can tell, your little oasis here is so fully staffed by human beings—and after all we are the world’s most vicious species.” And from this introductory conversation Stephen and Lucy become team/mates, working and romancing together to try and unravel this aforementioned mystery. Sleuth like, our team takes us on a tour of the old Ellis Island of the 1920s in detailed prose and where we find ourselves in the island’s morgue and with the more vocal Lucy referencing a

chos there on Ellis Island, revealing a conspiracy that Roberts’ ramps up, giving us conflict, violence and adventure.

Without giving away any spoilers, Roberts’ tale from the 1920s is something of a mirror image of what is currently going on in the U.S. today, as the novel’s heroes Stephen Robbins and Lucy Paul make their way through twists and turns, dormitory corridors and plot lines of bigotry and intrigue — with a little “wartime loving” and loneliness along the way. At times Robbins pines for his native North Carolina mountains, those same mountains we read about in his earlier novel A Short Time To Stay Here. “During the war, I was the inspector general of the German internment camp at Hot Springs, North Carolina.

A hell of a long way from here and not just in miles. Even so, the internment camp during the war years reminds me of Ellis Island now. A huge anthill of a place with thousands of aliens living out their day-today lives.”

And then later he reminisces: “That night as I lay curled with Lucy Paul a thousand miles away, I stand on that beach with my own fly rod in hand, casting into the still water beside the downTerry Roberts will be at Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville at 6 stream furrow below one of p.m. on Aug. 18 to talk with author Wayne Caldwell about My the ledges, a place trout like to Mistress’ Eyes are Raven Black. Limited seating with virtual rest as the buffet of stream life presentation also. www.malaprops.com flows by their noses ... casting lazily, arm rising and falling From this beginning, Roberts sets us right through long habit.” down in the midst of the controversies and But this is not a nostalgic story of memohis story that reads like something out of ries of home, but rather a commentary on True Detective magazine. “He [my boss] said life in post-World War I America and the there was a conspiracy on the island to prestruggle for power, dominance and represvent unwanted people from entering the sion to achieve the status quo. Roberts gives country. Leftover from the war,” says us all we can handle, yet eloquently — as is Stephen. We’re introduced to The Nameless his style — so that we come away refreshed Man who is Robbin’s Bureau Of and cleansed and maybe feeling a little Investigation boss heading this investigation, blessed for the positive things we do have. as well as introductions to the other major [ PS: And, yes, Lucy Paul really did have players in this detective drama. We’re also black eyes.] introduced to what is called the Immigration Thomas Crowe is a regular contributer to The Restriction League, a covert political organiSmoky Mountain News and author of the zation, and then to “The Congregation,” historical novel The Watcher (Like Sweet which is a group of some of the head honBells Jangled). young Hebrew girl on one of the slabs and stating: “People die who have no business dying. Did you see a wound on that girl?

Any sign of disease? Anything that would carry off someone who had barely reached puberty?”

August 11-17, 2021

sheville’s own Terry Roberts is back again with another page-turner in the form of a brand new novel just released late last month.

My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black (Turner Publishing, 2021) is a little different from his previous novels set here in Western North Carolina. This new one is set and staged on Ellis Island in 1920. In a Raymond Chandler meets Sherlock Holmes meets Hercule Poirot mystery, Roberts lends us Stephen Robbins, the main character from his first novel Writer A Short Time To Stay Here, who has migrated from over in Hot Springs to New York City. We meet him there at his workplace downtown at the famous Algonquin Hotel, where he is being recruited to help with an investigation into the disappearance of a young woman who had come to Ellis Island migrating from Ireland and has vanished into thin air.

In his usual elegant, conversationally descriptive style, Roberts takes us right into the fray of the storyline. Robbins has moved to Ellis Island and is introduced to one Lucy Paul who works for the AMA there on the island and who will become Watson to his Sherlock Holmes:

is Ending, your , ADVENTURES don’t have to...

arts & entertainment

A story of immigrants gone missing A

kK

Summer

• “Light Fracture: A Historical Talk with author Deena Bouknight” will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, at the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Few people realize an 1886 earthquake devastated Charleston, South Carolina. It is the worst on record to ever affect the East Coast. Light Fracture, is a well-researched, sense-of-place, post-Reconstruction tale that builds in and around a lighthouse culture to climax with a natural disaster involving strange phenomena before, during, and after an estimated magnitude-7 earthquake. Books will be available for purchase and signing after the program. Free and open to the public.

ALSO:

• The Friends of Haywood County Public Library will hold its annual book sale from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 25 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 26-28 at the library in Waynesville. A large sale of hardback and paperback books, DVDs, CDs, puzzles, and more. Free to attend.

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38

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

LIVING HIGH WITH THE HOGS

Mountain hog farm revives historic breed

A sow pig basks in the morning light at Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa Farm in Haywood County. Holly Kays photos

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER orning cool still hangs over the grassy fields at Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa Farm as Catherine Topel approaches a pair of 350-pound sows with a bucketful of breakfast.

“I always say a bucket is your best friend, because they do bite,” she says as the pigs knock their long, tube-like snouts against the pail. “So you never know. It’s nice to have something between you and their mouth.”

The pigs are shedding, the last patches of wiry, golden-brown curls peeling off their backs in large clumps. It’s unusual for pigs to be that hairy, but these are unusual pigs.

Mangalitsa pigs, informally called Austrian wooly pigs, were bred for Austro-Hungarian royalty in the 1800s. They fell out of favor over the course of the 20th century, at that time considered to be “an old, inefficient breed, with too much fat, small litters and slow growth compared to the modern breeds,” according to a history page on the Mangalitsa Breed Organization and Registry website.

By 1997, the breed was nearly extinct with an estimated 200 animals worldwide, said Topel. Now, there are 50,000. The farm Catherine owns with her husband Rick contains 50 of them.

M

FROM PORT TO PORK Formerly based in Florida, the Topels are new to farming but not new to risk, adventure or massive life changes.

Before they purchased the 95-acre dairy farm in Haywood County’s Iron Duff community that now contains their Mangalitsa pigs,

the Topels were yacht captains who traveled all over the world operating luxury boats for the very wealthy.

“There are a lot of yachts that just sit at the dock all year round, and the owner just has a cocktail party,” said Catherine. “To me, that was boring.”

Instead, they took jobs that had them sail-

Former yacht captains Rick and Catherine Topel bought the 95-acre property that houses their pigs in late 2017. Donated photo

ing along the coast of New England, docking in Charleston, cruising the Mediterranean.

“The crew actually is living in these places without having to pay a dime to be there,” she said. “So you’ve got a floating apartment, and you’re being fed the best dinners — private chefs and things like that. So there’s a lot of upsides to yachting.”

But after more than a decade in the business, the Topels, now ages 52 and 55, found themselves noticing the downsides more.

When you’re gone all the time, you miss things — weddings, funerals, graduations.

And when you’re an employee of a millionaire yacht owner, you’re subject to the tides of their whims and desires. Those whims can result in anything from staying up until 2 a.m. to manage whatever’s happening on the yacht that evening to being asked to bring the boat to an unsafe region of the world.

“We had one boss say, ‘Oh, we want to take the boat down to Venezuela,’ and I’m like, ‘You know their economy is crashing, and you want me to go sit down in a $20 million boat offshore?’” Catherine said when recalling an incident that took place around 2014.

They did not end up going to Venezuela, but over time the Topels began to look for an exit from the yachting life. They wanted to be their own boss, and they wanted to continue living life outdoors. Rick

Tour the farms

After feeding the sows, Catherine revs up the golf cart and takes off down the gravel road, stopping before a pen holding eight curious young pigs. At 8 months old, they each weigh about 100 pounds.

“At just seven, eight months they’re really not that large,” she said. “A regular

BETTER THAN PLANNED

Mangalitsa pigs have a thick, wooly winter coat and flat, forwardfacing ears to protect them from snow. Donated photo when breeding began to take off again two decades ago, preserving genetic diversity is a key consideration for breeders, and the simplest rule of thumb is to cross pigs with different colorings. These piglets are the offspring of a red boar and a blonde sow.

The tour continues, the Topels’ Anatolian shepherd Stetson loping alongside the golf cart as we pass by pig pens tucked into various corners of the farm’s rolling landscape, separated by swaths of pasture, islands of trees and the Pigeon River’s winding path. Some currently hold pigs, and others are in the process of recovering from the pigs that recently resided there. Pigs are hard on the land, said Catherine. They root deep into the ground with their strong, hard noses as they forage for food and dig out wallows. Keeping outdoor pigs means rotating pastures weekly.

Another enclosure holds four pigs that are scheduled to go to market the following week. They’ll spend that week eating from a trailer full of the steam-rolled barley or acorns that the Topels use to finish their pigs. On market day, they’ll walk right into the resupplied trailer for their customary meal. The door will close behind them, they’ll finish eating and the trailer will leave for the slaughterhouse.

Market days are always hard for Catherine, but she’s aware of the paradox in which she plays a part. If nobody ate Mangalitsa pigs, nobody would raise Mangalitsa pigs, and there would be no Mangalitsa pigs — as very nearly happened just 20 years ago.

When the Coronavirus Pandemic hit, the Topels has just gotten their operation into full swing after starting from scratch two years earlier. They had about 100 pigs on the property and agreements with restaurants all around the region to buy the meat. Things were looking good for the new farm.

But then, the world shut down, the buyers disappeared, and the Topels were stuck with 100 hogs that require a twice-daily feeding. They processed the animals they could and froze what they couldn’t sell immediately. Now, they’re down to about 50 animals, and though things have opened back up a good bit, they’re still feeling the financial effects. The pigs in the market pen were only about 13 months old, several months younger than the optimal market age of 18 months.

“We had to get out from under the food bill,” said Catherine.

When the pandemic challenged meat production, tourism became the farm’s unlikely savior. The property boasts 10 different campsites, all primitive, that are reservable through Hipcamp. Though some guests use the property as a home base for other adventures, most spend their time just hanging out on the farm or enjoying the river. The Topels are working on developing a couple “glamping” sites featuring canvas tents to further expand that side of the business.

Right now, said Catherine, camping accounts for about 75% of the farm’s revenue, and once the canvas tents are up that share will likely climb to 90%. Relying more on camping and less on livestock will allow them to wind down operations in the winter and take some time for themselves during those slower months.

They’re also looking for ways to do more with fewer animals, eyeing a foray into charcuterie meats like prosciutto, capocollo and other cured meats. Such value-added products are “perfect” for showing off the Mangalitsa’s superior flavor and richness, Catherine said.

It’s not the direction they’d originally envisioned when leaving the yacht — but it’s one they’re excited about.

“I almost marvel,” Catherine said. “I’m glad we didn’t plan it, because everything’s turned out better than planned.”

39

Smoky Mountain News

PENS OF PIGS

“A breed like this thrives because there are still people who want to eat, as I say, as God intended,” she said. “This is not something that was processed and bleached.

That’s where this breed is going to thrive, but if we didn’t eat it, we couldn’t save it.

And I have to tell myself that every time I drive them to the processor.”

While they’re on the farm, she said, the pigs have an “extraordinary life” — breeding, wallowing in the mud, foraging and playing. Instead of spending their days in cramped indoor stalls, they live natural lives outside, benefiting from pastures seeded with plants best suited to the pigs’ nutritional and medicinal needs.

“I’m proud to do what I do,” she said.

August 11-17, 2021

grew up on a farm in Washington State, and before taking up yachting Catherine was an equestrian and then a professional golfer. Sunshine was important to them.

“Always, I’ve wanted to be my own boss,” said Catherine. “That’s why I was a captain, not a chef on the boat. I wanted to be in charge as much as I could without owning the boat. When you start thinking about the farm, we call all the shots.”

When the Topels first toured the property that is now their home, it was out of politeness to their Realtor more than pronounced interest in the listing. But when they arrived, they fell in love.

“We could see beyond the overgrowth and the junk that was in the creeks,” she said. “It’s like looking at a house with really bad wallpaper and carpet.”

They could see the possibilities. By the end of 2017, they’d purchased the farm, and

by May 2018 they had their first pigs.

The Mangalitsa is notable for more than its unusually wooly body.

Outwardly, the pig is known for having a straight back, a long and curly tail with a black tassel on the end, and forward-slanted ears designed to protect it from the sun and snow of the Hungarian mountains it was bred for. Inwardly, it’s known for producing flavorful red meat with prominent marbling and lard containing bio-available A, C, D, and K vitamins — 60% of the carcass weight is fat.

Few modern kitchens stock lard these days, with most home cooks preferring to use butter, Crisco or canola oil. But Catherine is a big believer in old-fashioned pig lard, especially when it comes from the Mangalitsa. She renders it at a low temperature to keep the porky flavor out and ends up with a mellow-tasting fat useful for anything from salad dressing to steak searing.

The Topels were first exposed to Mangalitsa meat while on the yacht.

Catherine said she never used to eat pork because she found it too dry, preferring other meats instead. When she found the Mangalitsa, she was fascinated. A slow food proponent, she was even more intrigued when she learned about the lengthy timeline involved in producing Mangalitsa meat. They must be at least a year old before they’re bred, and 18 months old before slaughter. By contrast, most commercial pigs can be bred at 8 months and slaughtered at 6 months.

The Topels saw an opportunity in the Mangalitsa, a chance to produce a distinctive product unlikely to face much competition in the market.

“That’s not interesting to a lot of farmers who are trying to put kids through college and braces and automobiles and buy stuff for their kids,” said Catherine of the long production timeline. “So without children we were able to say, ‘Well, it’s one of those breeds that not everyone’s going to want to breed.’”

American pig that’s raised inside — typically they’re not even raised outdoors — they would be processing them around this date.”

The youngest hogs on the farm, nine piglets born just four months prior, run squealing a greeting when the golf cart reaches a separate fence in a separate enclosure along the road.

“Hi little bears, come see mama,” says Catherine, reaching out to pet noses amid a chorus of grunting.

With just about 200 Mangalitsas left

outdoors

Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa is one of 22 farms that will open its doors to the public noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 18-19 as part of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s annual farm tour.

Of the 22 farms, nine — including Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa — are new to this year’s tour, which features five geographically organized clusters: n West cluster: Sustainabilities/Two Trees Farm (Canton), The Ten Acre Garden (Canton), Smoky Mountain Mangalitsa* (Ironduff), Smoking J’s Fiery Foods (Candler). n Leicester cluster: Mount Gilead Farm* (Leicester), Long Branch Environmental Education Center (Leicester), Addison Farms Vineyard (Leicester), Farm Retreat/Farmhouse Beef (Marshall), Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Community Farm: Blazing Star Flowers and Lunar Whale Herbs* (Alexander). n Fairview/Fletcher cluster: Flying Cloud Farm (Fairview), Hickory Nut Gap Farm (Fairview), Cane Creek Valley Farm* (Fletcher), Raspberry Fields* (Fletcher). n Henderson/Transylvania cluster: North River Farms (Mills River), Holly Spring Farm (Mills River), Pope Farms/Packa’s Place* (Horse Shoe), Sideways Farm & Brewery (Etowah), Clem’s Organic Gardens* (Pisgah Forest). n Barnardsville cluster: Burley Stick Farm* (Barnardsville), Barn Blossom* (Barnardsville), Good Fibrations Angora Goats (Barnardsville).

Farms will offer guided tours, demonstrations and hands-on activities, giving the public a chance to experience first-hand how food is grown and raised in the mountains.

Passes are on sale now, with one $35 pass admitting a carload of visitors to all farms on both days. If still available at that time, passes purchased the weekend of the tour will be $45. Volunteer opportunities are also available, which come with the opportunity for a free pass.

Purchase passes at www.asapconnections.com or by calling 828.236.1282.

LARD AND RED MEAT

The Cades Cove Loop Road will be closed for night work beginning Aug. 16 ahead of a resurfacing project that will cause a full closure of the one-way road next month.

The popular roadway, which is used by more than 2 million visitors each year, will be fully closed from Tuesday, Sept. 7, through Monday, Sept. 27, for resurfacing. It will not be accessible to motorists, pedestrians, cyclists or horseback riders during that time, and trails must be accessed from outside Cades Cove, as there will be no access to Cades Cove trailheads during the closure.

Prior to the full closure, the road will be closed to pedestrians and motorists for night work Sunday through Monday, Aug. 16 to Thursday, Sept. 2, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Work also includes resurfacing of the campground entrance road from Laurel Creek Road to the Cades Campground and the parking area adjacent to the Cades Cove Campground Store. The campground, picnic area, campground store and horse stables will remain open and accessible throughout the duration of the paving project.

Additionally, current roadwork along Forge Creek Road is ongoing. Forge Creek Road has been closed to all use since Nov. 2, 2020, to replace five bridges, and that closure has been extended through Friday, Aug. 27.

The Cades Cove Loop Road was fully reconstructed and resurfaced in 2010, and this year’s preventative pavement treatment will extend

the life of the asphalt surface. Full closure is necessary to allow trucks and paving equipment to move along the narrow, one-way road.

For Smokies road updates, visit www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm.

Daytime closures resume on Newfound Gap Road Daytime closures associated with an 8mile paving project on Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will resume on Monday, Aug. 16.

Through Sept. 30, single-lane closures and traffic delays will be permitted from 7 a.m. Mondays through noon Fridays, managed with flagging operations and a pilot car. Some parking areas and pulloffs will be closed intermittently. No daytime lane closures will be allowed on weekends, holidays or during the month of October.

The work will take place between the Chimneys Picnic Area and Newfound Gap. It started in March and is expected to wrap up

by Nov. 30, though work schedules are subject to revision as needed for inclement weather.

It’s funded through an $8.5 million Federal Highway Administration paving contract awarded to Burnsville-based Bryant’s Land Development Industries.

Smokies road updates are posted at www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm and SmokiesRoadsNPS on Twitter.

Smoky Mountain News

August 11-17, 2021

outdoors

Cades Cove closures coming up

A walking tour of Bryson City will discuss the town’s history of community development, city planning and tourism, 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Aug. 20.

MountainTrue Western Regional Director Callie Moore and Healthy Communities Director Chris Joyell will lead the tour through the heart of town on Everett Street and along the riverfront to Island Park, also visiting ongoing projects

that are making Bryson City a better place to live and visit. Participants will have a chance to reflect on how Bryson City has changed over the decades, how it is predicted to grow in the future and how they can foster the development of healthy communities.

Free, with registration requested and donations welcome. Sign up at www.mountaintrue.org/event/bryson-city-downtownwalking-tour.

Grant to increase diversity in Smokies programs

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Tour Bryson City with MountainTrue

Swain County TDA photo

W W W. b l u e r i d g e m o t o r c y c l i n g m a g a z i n e . c o m

A $10,000 grant from REI Co-op in Pigeon Forge will support community science programs in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont received the grant to build on its goal of increasing diversity among its community scientists by introducing and expanding these hands-on programs to new audiences.

The partnership will focus on addressing barriers that prohibit participation, including awareness of those opportunities and transportation to the park.

Community science is a method for researchers to broaden their reach and capacity for data collection and observation with the help of community volunteers. Research programs at Tremont include bird banding, monarch butterfly tagging, salamander population monitoring, phenology tracking, otter spotting and more.

Get involved in one of these projects at no cost by visiting www.gsmit.org/communityscience.

@SmokyMtnNews

Run ‘round the lake maintaining the trail and lakeside recreation areas. The event is typically held Easter weekend but was rescheduled this year due to COVID-19.

outdoors

The Friends of the Lake 5K Road Race and Walk is coming to Lake Junaluska on Saturday, Sept. 4, with discounted registration and T-shirts available to those who sign up by Thursday, Aug. 19.

A runner crosses the The route bridge during a previous begins at the race. Lake Junaluska photo Nanci Weldon Memorial Gym and follows a scenic loop around the lake. Race day registration and sign-in starts at 6:30 a.m., with the race beginning at 8 a.m. and the 5K walk at 8:05 a.m.

Now in its 14th year, the event supports the Lake Junaluska Walking Trail, one of the most popular privately owned recreation areas in Western North Carolina. All 5K profits go toward the $250,000-plus annual cost of

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Cost is $30 for adults — or $25 before Aug. 19 — and $15 for students 18 and younger. Register at lakejunaluska.com/run.

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A boating safety course will be offered 6-9 p.m. Aug. 18-19 at Haywood Community College, giving participants a shot at a certification required to operate vessels propelled by a motor of 10 horsepower or greater.

Participants must attend both sessions and pass a written exam. The free course is offered as a partnership between HCC and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

Register at www.ncwildlife.org by selecting the “Learning” tab. Space is limited due to social distancing, and face coverings are required.

Call Us to Make an Appointment Today.

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Team Members of Harrah's Cherokee Casinos join Phil Ford, honorary chairperson of N.C. Beautiful and former North Carolina Tar Heel basketball player and coach, for a group photo during the 35th Annual Golf Classic. Donated photo

Harrah’s donates to N.C. Beautiful Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos recently donated $30,000 to N.C. Beautiful, a nonprofit organization that has for 54 years supported environmental awareness, education and beautification efforts in North Carolina.

Harrah’s was the grand sponsor for N.C. Beautiful’s 35th Annual Golf Classic this

year. Over the last four years, Harrah’s has donated more than $96,000 to N.C. Beautiful.

“Our company has a long-standing commitment to protecting our environment that aligns with N.C. Beautiful's goals," said Harrah’s Regional Senior Vice President and General Manager Brooks Robinson. "We are proud to be a partner of N.C. Beautiful and to have served as a Grand Sponsor for this year's Annual Golf Classic.” www.ncbeautiful.org.

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outdoors

Explore the secrets of salamanders What’s happening in your ? community

August 11-17, 2021

Read North Carolina’s public notices in this newspaper or online to find out.

Foreclosures Property Auctions Ordinances Notices to Contractors

Warnings tto Appear Bid Noticess Hearing Nootices And More!

Nor No rt th h C ar ro olina w w w. n c n o t i c e s . c o m

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Smoky Mountain News

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Puzzles can be found on page 46 These are only the answers.

Learn the “why” behind the Southern Appalachians’ incredible diversity of salamander species during a lecture at 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 19, at the Highlands Biological Station in Highlands.

Though most of the world’s amphibians are frogs, about 70% of the Appalachians’ amphibian species are salamanders. Salamanders are influential in key ecosystem processes, but a variety of humancaused changes such as introduced species, land conversion and climate change are impacting salamander communities.

During this free presentation, University of Georgia Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor John Maerz, Ph.D., will discuss John Maerz. aspects of mountain Donated photo ecology that cause salamander diversity, the threats to their persistence and efforts underway to conserve these remarkable animals.

Part of a series of free lectures offered

weekly on Thursday evenings through Sept.

9. This installment is sponsored by Monte

and Palmer Gaillard, Melanie and Tom Mauldin, and Martha and Michael Dupuis. www.highlandsbiological.org 828.526.2221.

Talk old-time medicine with a ranger Join a Blue Ridge Parkway ranger to learn about odd illnesses and even odder remedies developed in the Southern Appalachians during this week’s Fridays at the Folk Art Center session, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at the Folk Art Center in Asheville.

From turpentine to axes under the bed, the program will examine how and why certain traditional medicines developed in the mountains, and ask the question: “What would I resort to if the closest hospital was days away?”

The Folk Art Center is located at Milepost 382 on the Parkway. No restrooms will be available during this outdoor program. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. 828.298.5330, ext. 302.

Learn to can tomatoes A hands-on class covering the basics of salsa canning will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 16, at the Haywood County Extension Center in Waynesville.

Participants will learn the role acidity plays in preserving canned salsa as well as the importance of following a tested recipe. Tools and equipment, recipes and reliable resources for future canning projects will also be covered. The class will use the hot water bath method.

Free. Sign up at bit.ly/3rXxIsM. Julie Sawyer, 828.456.3575 or julie_sawyer@ncsu.edu.

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

• A Public Hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, at Maggie Valley Town Hall for the volunteer annexation of 7686-17-4633 located off 217 Campbell Creek Road.

• Haywood County NAACP will hold a meeting at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14, at the Gladys Knight Recreation Park in Canton. Following current CDC mask recommendations, if you are not vaccinated, please wear a mask and keep socially distanced.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS

• Fines Creek Fish Fry will be held from 5 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Fines Creek Community Center. There will be live music by Hill County and River Town. Food will be $10 per plate, kids under 6 eat free.

All proceeds go to FCCA to support community needs.

• Memorial United Methodist Church is having a Rummage Sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14. The address is 4668 Old Murphy Road, Franklin, across from Loafers Glory.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

• The Vein Center at Haywood Regional Medical Center is holding a free vein education session from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26. Dr. Al Mina and Dr. Joshua Rudd will lead the session. Interested community members are asked to register for by calling 828.452.VEIN (8346). Space is limited; RSVP required.

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE

• First Baptist Church in conjunction with sister Haywood County churches will be hosting a “Community Back to School Prayer Rally” and “Fill the Bus event” at 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22. Contact Reverend Christi Hollifield at 828.456.9465.

SUPPORT GROUPS

• Al-Anon, for families and friends of alcoholics, meets every Monday night from 7-8 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 77 Jackson St., Sylva. Enter at front of church through the door to the left of the sanctuary; meeting is first door on the right. The Church requests that you wear a mask if you are not vaccinated.

• Narcotics Anonymous meetings are back "live" in-person after a year of being on Zoom only. Local meetings are 12 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays at Sylva First United Methodist Church in downtown Sylva. Entrance at back of building.

Also Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. at Cullowhee Methodist Church and Saturdays 6 p.m. at Cullowhee Methodist Church. Meetings in Haywood County, Macon County and Swain County have re-opened as well. For more details visit ncmountainna.org.

A&E

• “The Last Romance” will have performances at HART Aug.12-14, 19-21 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug.8, 15 and 22 at 2 p.m. Reservations may be made by calling the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322, Tues. – Sat. 1-5 p.m., or by going online to www.harttheatre.org. This show is suitable for all audiences.

• The lecture series, “Where We Live: History, Nature,

n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com and Culture,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16, at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center, and will continue the third Monday of each month thereafter.

The program will last approximately one hour. Masks are required for those who are not fully vaccinated.

• The Haywood County Arts Council will host August’s Artist Member Exhibit, which opens Aug. 6. The exhibition runs 6-28, and features work from 38 artists. Visit haywoodarts.org.

• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host In Flight Aug. 21. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Free and open to the public. 828.246.0350 or www.boojumbrewing.com.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Nathan Hefner (piano/vocals) Aug. 13. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Limited seating. Reservations required. Ticket price and dinner menu to be announced. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Concerts on the Creek (Sylva) at Bridge Park will host The Get Right Band (rock/soul) Aug. 13. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. www.mountainlovers.com.

• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will be held at the Town Square from 6 to 8:30 p.m. with Chatham Rabbits Aug. 13 and Sycamore Flats Aug. 20. Free and open to the public. www.highlandschamber.org.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Never B’s Aug. 13, Western Carolina Writers Aug. 14, Zip Zarring 3 p.m. Aug. 15, Gin Mill Pickers Aug. 20 and KC Johns Aug. 21. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) Aug. 15. All events are free and begin at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Lake Junaluska Conference Center will host the Haywood Community Band “Under The Big Tent” at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 29. Free and open to the public.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host karaoke at 7 p.m. Aug. 13, The Pony Express Band Aug. 14 and Hot Mess Aug. 21. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host a “Led Zeppelin Tribute” w/Andrew Thelston Band Aug. 20. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Maggie Valley Pavilion will host the Haywood Community Band at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 15. Free and open to the public.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Scott James Stambaugh Aug. 13, Granny’s Mason Jar Aug. 14, Wyatt Espalin Aug. 20, Aly Jordan Aug. 21 and Kate Thomas 4 p.m. Aug. 22. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.538.0115 or www.mtnlayersbeer.com.

• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host “Bluegrass with Blue” Aug. 13 and 20, and The Log Noggins Aug. 14. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

888.905.7238 or www.noc.com.

• “Pickin’ on the Square” (Franklin) will host New Train (rock/funk) Aug. 14 and Empty Pockets (variety) Aug.

Smoky Mountain News

21. All shows start at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. Located on Main Street. www.franklin-chamber.com.

• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will be held at the Kelsey-Hutchinson Park from 6 to 8:30 p.m. with Twilight 5K Concert Aug. 14 and ZuZu Welch Aug. 21.

Free and open to the public. www.highlandschamber.org.

• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host Departure (Journey tribute) at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13. Tickets start at $18 per person. For more information and to purchase tickets, click on www.smokymountainarts.com.

• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Blake Robinson Aug. 11, Blackjack Country Aug. 12, Aces Down Aug. 13 and Outlaw Whiskey Aug. 14. All shows begin at 8 p.m.

Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.

• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host Ricky Gunter 6 p.m. Aug. 21. 828.926.7440 or www.valley-tavern.com.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS

• “Light Fracture: A Historical Talk with author Deena Bouknight” will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, at the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Books will be available for purchase and signing after the program. Free and open to the public.

FOOD AND DRINK

• There will be a free wine tasting from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.

• Bryson City Wine Market will host weekly wine flight tasting events from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The market will also serve wine by the glass from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

• The “BBQ & Brews Dinner Train” will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Craft beer pairings with a meal, and more. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or click on www.gsmr.com.

• “Dillsboro After Five” will take place from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays in downtown Dillsboro. Start with a visit to the Jackson County Farmers Market located in the Innovation Station parking lot. Stay for dinner and take advantage of late-hour shopping. www.mountainlovers.com.

• The “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or click on www.gsmr.com.

Outdoors

• Learn how non-native ant invaders succeed in the Southern Appalachians and the impact they have on native species during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, at the Highlands Community Building. Part of a series of free lectures offered weekly on Thursday evenings through Sept. 9. Reception to follow. www.highlandsbiological.org 828.526.2221.

•Join a Blue Ridge Parkway ranger to learn about odd illnesses and even odder remedies developed in the Southern Appalachians during this week’s Fridays at the Folk Art Center session, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at the Folk Art Center in Asheville. The Folk Art Center is

43

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: n n n n

Complete listings of local music scene Regional festivals Art gallery events and openings Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers n Civic and social club gatherings located at Milepost 382 on the Parkway. No restrooms will be available during this outdoor program. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. 828.298.5330, ext. 302.

• Hike Soco Gap to Waterrock Knob at 8 a.m. Aug. 14, with Haywood County Parks and Recreation. Guided by Phyllis and Jamie Shackelford. Hikes are $10, paid at registration. ian.smith@haywoodcountync.gov.

• Discover the underwater world of the West Fork Pigeon River during a snorkeling adventure Saturday, Aug. 14, behind Jukebox Junction in Bethel. Free for Haywood Waterways members, with a $5 donation requested from nonmembers. RSVP by 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12 to Christine O’Brien at christine.haywoodwaterways@gmail.com or 828.476.4667, ext. 11.

• Registration is now open for Grandfather Mountain Photography Weekend, slated for the weekend of Aug. 14-15 at Grandfather Mountain in Linville. Admission costs $100 and covers three-day admission to the park, entry to all field courses, camping and optional participation in the photo contest. Register at www.grandfather.com/event/grandfather-mountain-photographyweekend. Contact frank@grandfather.com for more information.

• A hands-on class covering the basics of salsa canning will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 16, at the Haywood County Extension Center in Waynesville. Free.

Sign up at bit.ly/3rXxIsM. Julie Sawyer, 828.456.3575 or julie_sawyer@ncsu.edu.

• Hike MST to Skinny Dip Falls at 8 a.m. Aug. 18, with Haywood County Parks and Recreation. Guided by Phyllis Woollen and Vickey Watson. Hikes are $10, paid at registration. ian.smith@haywoodcountync.gov.

• A boating safety course will be offered 6-9 p.m. Aug. 18-19 at Haywood Community College, giving participants a shot at a certification required to operate vessels propelled by a motor of 10 horsepower or greater.

Register at www.ncwildlife.org.

• Learn the “why” behind the Southern Appalachians’ incredible diversity of salamander species during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, at the Highlands Biological Station in Highlands. Part of a series of free lectures offered weekly on Thursday evenings through Sept. 9. www.highlandsbiological.org 828.526.2221.

• The Friends of the Lake 5K Road Race and Walk is coming to Lake Junaluska on Saturday, Sept. 4, with discounted registration and t-shirts available to those who sign up by Thursday, Aug. 19. Cost is $30 for adults — or $25 before Aug. 19 — and $15 for students 18 and younger. Register at lakejunaluska.com/run.

• A walking tour of Bryson City will discuss the town’s history of community development, city planning and tourism, 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Aug. 20. Free, with registration requested and donations welcome. Sign up at www.mountaintrue.org/event/bryson-city-downtownwalking-tour.

• Enjoy a virtual visit from world-renowned nature photographer Thomas Mangelsen, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, through the N.C. Arboretum. Sign up at bit.ly/3jzFW6B and submit questions for Mangelsen in advance to adulteducation@ncarboretum.org.

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www.smokymountainnews.com

HOUSING REHABILITATION SPECIALIST Haywood County Mountain Projects Inc., is currently accepting applications for a full time Housing Rehabilitation Specialist. Experience with weatherization, rehab, general carpentry, plumbing and electrical in construction industry is needed. Please apply at MPI, 2177 Asheville Rd. Waynesville, NC 28786 or www.mountainprojects.org EOE/AA. FRONT DESK AGENT PT/FT Waynesville motel looking for a front desk agent. Duties includes taking guest reservations, check-in guests, assisting with guest needs and ensuring a high quality experience. Apply in person at 79 Liner Cove

Road, Waynesville, NC 28786. daysinnmanager@outlook.com

FTCC - Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Paramedic Instructor Continuing Education Networking, Microsoft and Cloud Management ,QVWUXFWRU &HUWL¿HG Nurse Aide Instructor - Cont. Ed., Military/Veterans Recruiter, Computer Support Specialist, Senior Secretary - EMS and Health Programs, PT Senior Accounting Tech.Corporate and Cont.

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WNC MarketPlace

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Carolina Mountain Cablevision, Inc., a locally owned and operated Cable TV/ Internet/Telephone Service Provider, is seeking applications/resumes for a Customer Service Representative. The successful applicant will need the following skills: Customer Service experience with the ability to handle customers and other members of the public in a courteous and professional manner; computer experience is a must – experience with Microsoft Programs a must; good communications skills in person, on the phone, and written (by hand or computer); the ability to be self-motivated and work independently but also the ability to function as part of a team as needed; the ability to handle stressful, hectic situations in a professional manner; the ability to multitask; and the ability to work overtime as needed. Individuals with IT/Networking experience and/or knowledge of cable television products and services along with the other skills listed will be given preferential consideration. High school diploma or the equivalent required. Salary is dependent on expeULHQFH %HQH¿WV DUH available. Interested applicants should e-mail their resume to sanders@ccvn.com or fax them to 828536-4510. Resumes will be accepted until Monday, August 16th.

Equal Opportunity Employer - Veterans encouraged to apply (828) 682-4074 ext.

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Legal Notices ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed proposals will be received by Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department at 88 Cullowhee Mountain Rd, Cullowhee, NC 28723, up to 11:00 am September 15th, 2021 and immediately thereafter publicly opened and read for the furnishing of labor, material and equipment entering into the construction of the Fairview Concession Stand Press Box, Bids will be received for Single Prime. All proposals shall be lump sum. PRE-BID MEETING: An open prebid meeting will be held for all interested bidders Tuesday August 24, 2021 at 3pm at the current site, 34 Big Orange Way, Sylva, NC . The meeting will address project speFL¿F TXHVWLRQV LVVXHV bidding procedures and bid forms. Complete SODQV VSHFL¿FDWLRQV DQG contract documents will be open for inspection in WKH RI¿FHV RI &ODUN 1H[sen, 301 College Street, Suite 300, Asheville, NC 28801, during normal business hours, starting on August 16, 2021.

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• • • •

D

DAVID WILLETT BROKER, REALTOR®, ABR®, SRS, E-PRO®, GREEN, SRES®, RENE, RSPS, C2EX CELL:

828-550-0220

71 NORTH MAIN STREET

WAYNESVILLE

R E A DY T O B U Y O R S E L L?

C A L L T O DAY !

Jeanne Forrest

BROKER

828-571-0515

jeannesellswnc@gmail.com

Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com Steve Mauldin - smauldin@sunburstrealty.com Randy Flanigan - 706-207-9436

EXP Realty • Jeanne Forrest - ashevillerealeat8@gmail.com

Keller Williams Realty - kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com • Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff@kw.com • Darrin Graves - dgraves@kw.com Lakeshore Realty • Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

Mountain Dreams Realty- maggievalleyhomesales.com • Lyndia Massey- buyfromlyndia@yahoo.com

Mountain Creek Real Estate • Ron Rosendahl - 828-593-8700

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com

RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com • • • • • • • • •

remax-maggievalleync.com The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com Ron Breese - ronbreese.com Landen Stevenson- landen@landenkstevenson.com Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com Mary & Roger Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net David Willet - davidwillet1@live.com Sara Sherman - sarashermanncrealtor@gmail.com David Rogers- davidr@remax-waynesville.com Judy Meyers - jameyers@charter.net

Smoky Mountain Retreat Realty • Tom Johnson - tomsj7@gmail.com • Sherell Johnson - Sherellwj@aol.com

TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE

828.452.4251 ads@smokymountainnews.com August 11-17, 2021

WNC MarketPlace

45

SUPER

CROSSWORD

HIDDEN STAIRS ACROSS 1 Hindu monks 7 Gorilla or gibbon 10 Baby doll call 14 Ignominy 19 Wound antiseptic 20 Nothing 21 Chilled 22 Tabloid VIP 23 Long poems in which animals speak and act like humans 25 Figure skater's jump 26 Drizzles, e.g.

27 Beethoven specialty 28 Much-shared GIF, maybe 29 Murmur continuously 30 Bodega, e.g.

33 Detecting of sweetness, flavor, etc.

36 Spiny-crested lizard 39 Place atop 40 Not busy 41 Installments of TV series that were not preserved 44 Biology and ecology, e.g.

48 It may be loose-leaf 49 Clan carvings 51 "-- found it!"

52 Pub. houses hire them 53 One of the Judds 57 Cannes' Palme -58 Actress Lena 59 Iris' place in the eye 62 Hindu social classes as they relate to government affairs 66 Cherishes 69 Taverns 70 Lord's home 71 1 Peter and 1 Timothy, in the Bible

73 Armory stuff 74 Sister of Luke, in sci-fi 75 Seville cheer 76 Masterful 78 Fan noise 81 In time past 82 Dry gully 85 Road part for cyclists 89 "Huzzah!"

91 Crusty, cheesy brand in the frozen food aisle 95 Salinger's "love and squalor" girl 96 Philosopher with a logical "razor" 97 Surrendered 98 It may result in landfills 104 Get a look at 105 ET and such 106 Dried out 107 Sea demigod 110 Future pupa 111 Pre-'91 world power 112 Enter ... or what each of seven long answers in this puzzle has 116 Prepare to pray, say 117 Go higher 118 Old Olds 119 Conductor of impulses 120 Composer Camille Saint-121 Direct 122 Age-verifying docs.

123 Trees that tremble DOWN 1 2 3 4 5

Sis, say Adversity Org. for a periodontist Say wrongly Gung-ho on

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Buddy 24 28 29 30 31 32 34 35 37 38 42 43 44 45 46 47 50 54 55 56 58 59 60 61 63 64 65 66

In view Ekberg of Hollywood Blue Period artist Pablo Overhead rails Highway distance marker Keen insight Rhythm Lumber tool High ethical standards Encourage Court excuse -- Park (Edison's lab site) Jed Clampett player Singer Benatar Parcel (out) Make obscure Pooh creator Put up -- fight Undergoes oxidation TV's Turner Orator of old Rome Neighbor of Colo.

GI address Scottish isle Pop music of Jamaica Quits Eyelashes, anatomically Give the boot Awareness Danish port Irish playwright Sean Ale grain Capri, e.g., to a Capriote Filmmaker Preminger Stellar bear Dog healer Ending for journal Three- -- sloth NASA moon lander Ending for journal Insurer with a duck

mascot 67 San -- Bay 68 Stellar hunter 69 Grain storers 72 Redcap, e.g.

73 On the job 77 "POV" airer 78 Fogs 79 Open, as some jackets 80 John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen --" 82 Armories 83 Freeway exit inclines 84 Came to pass 86 Tavern cask 87 Green gp.

88 Adds pep to 90 Take revenge 92 "Behold!," to Brutus 93 Brutus' lang.

94 Sent forth 96 Ukraine city 98 Goes on foot 99 "George & --" (1990s talk show) 100 "Yes, --!" ("For sure!")

101 Actor Davis in many Spike Lee films 102 Creme-filled cookies 103 Puppy bite 108 Funny Fey 109 Wallet singles 111 Internet ID 112 -- Lankan 113 Fury 114 Comedian Rickles 115 USNA grad.

ANSWERS ON PAGE 42

and Plumbing may obtain 1 set on deposit. The full plan deposit will be returned to those bidders provided all documents are returned in good, usable condition within ten (10) days after the bid date. All others must purchase plans. Jackson County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, national origin or age. Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) and Minority and Women Business Enterprises (MBE or WBE) capable and otherwise TXDOL¿HG WR SHUIRUP work are encouraged to submit. The Owner UHVHUYHV WKH XQTXDOL¿HG right to reject any and all proposals.

Livestock BRING YOUR HORSES TO HIGHLANDS NC. 4 STALLS IN FIRST CLASS BARN FOR RENT. TWO PASTURES. TRAILER PARKING. SERVICES PROVIDED. ACCESS TO MILES OF FOREST TRAILS IN

BEAUTIFUL HISTORIC HORSE COVE. TXT 828.200.3217

fordable premiums never LQFUHDVH %HQH¿WV QHYHU decrease. 833-380-1218

Medical

Pets

DENIED SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY? ApSHDO ,I \RX¶UH ¿OHG SSD and denied, our attorneys can help! Win or Pay Nothing! Strong, recent work history needed.

877-553-0252 [SteppachHU /DZ 2I¿FHV //& 3ULQFLSDO 2I¿FH $GDPV Ave Scranton PA 18503]

BROWN & WHITE TABBY CAT,TINKER 5 year old beautiful girl who enjoys being around people but is also independent.

Comfortable with indoor/outdoor lifestyle. (828) 761-2001 publicrelations@ ashevillehumane.org

GUARANTEED LIFE INSURANCE! (Ages 50 to 80). No medical exam. Affordable premiums never LQFUHDVH %HQH¿WV QHYHU decrease. Policy will only be cancelled for non-payment. 833-380-1218

GOLDENDOODLE PUPPIES Medium size sire and dam, 40 lbs. Pups are red and golden. $2,000. Ready 09/03. Call 321-3039924

ATTENTION SENIORS AGES 40-85 Great Deal!

Low Cost Life Insurance to help pay for funeral cost and more! Everyone 4XDOL¿HV $SSO\ 7RGD\ DW 407-960-4782 GUARANTEED LIFE INSURANCE! (Ages 50 to 80). No medical exam. Af-

Real Estate Announcements

WHITE-GLOVE SERVICE From America’s Top Movers. Fully insured and bonded. Let us take the stress out of your out of state move. FREE QUOTES! Call: 855-8212782

SUDOKU Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, Answers on 42 the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

46

www.smokymountainnews.com

August 11-17, 2021

WNC MarketPlace

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise ‘any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination’. Familial status includes children under 18 living with parents or legal guardians and pregnant women.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate in violation of this law. All dwellings advertised on equal opportunity basis.

Entertainment AT&T TV - The Best of Live & On-Demand On All Your Favorite Screens.

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HBO Max FREE for 1 yr (w/CHOICE Package or higher.) Call for more details today! (some restrictions apply) Call IVS 1-855-548-9839 CABLE PRICE INCREASE AGAIN? Switch to DIRECTV & Save + get $100 visa gift card! Get More Channels For Less Money. Restrictions apply, call! 1-888-520-2338

FOR SALE 11,000 sq foot commercial building on Main Street, Sylva. 9,000 sq feet heated, zoned general merchandise. $64/sq ft. Call for more info.

Serious inquiries only.

(828) 226-8572

Rentals TIMESHARE CANCELLATION EXPERTS. Wesley Financial Group, LLC. Over $50,000,000 in timeshare debt and fees cancelled in 2019.

Get free informational package and learn how to get rid of your timeshare!

Free consultations. Call 844-213-6711

Home Improvement UPDATE YOUR HOME With Beautiful New Blinds & Shades. FREE in-home estimates make it convenient to shop from home.

Professional installation.

Top quality - Made in the USA. Call for free consultation: 844-250-7899.

Ask about our specials!

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES In as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 833-987-0207

Ellen Sither esither@beverly-hanks.com (828) 734-8305

A Top Listing Agent & A Top Producer

Ready to Serve You

Automotive A-1 DONATE YOUR CAR, RUNNING OR NOT!! FAST FREE PICKUP. Maximum tax deduction. Support United Breast Cancer Fdn programs. Your car donation could save a life. 888641-9690

CASTILLO

Tree Service, Etc, Inc.

• Dangerous Tree Removal • Pruning • Creating Views

Call for FREE HOME VALUE EVALUATION

Pamela P Williams

RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL BROKER ASSOCIATE

CELL: (803) 528-5039 OFFICE: (828) 452-5809 EMAIL: PAMELAWILLIAMS@BEVERLY-HANKS.COM

FREE ESTIMATES • INSURED

828-342-3024

saulcastillo7212@gmail.com

www.wncmarketplace.com

August 11-17, 2021

WNC MarketPlace

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Smoky Mountain News August 11-17, 2021