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October 8-14, 2014 Vol. 16 Iss. 19 www.smokymountainnews.com

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Franklin holds tight to Nikwasi Mound Page 7 Sylva celebrates 125th anniversary Page 13

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CONTENTS Mountain Radiance Medical Spa

On the Cover: Haywood County bluegrass group Balsam Range won Entertainer of the Year at last week’s International Bluegrass Music Association award show in Raleigh. On top of taking home the biggest honor in bluegrass, the group also won Vocal Group of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year.

(Page 32) Garret K. Woodward photo

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Visit www.mountainradiance.com News A new library sign in Swain harkens to the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Franklin refuses to hand over Nikwasi Mound to Cherokee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 DA candidates discuss gender roles, forgotten extradition order . . . . . . . . . . 8 Pisgah High School gets more space and security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Sylva celebrates the town’s 125th anniversary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Commissioners forgo fracking resolution, lean on 2002 ordinance . . . . . . . 14 Guide dogs help afford Waynesville women opportunities, independence . 16 Senate candidates Jim Davis, Jane Hipps lay out views in debate . . . . . . . . 18 Grant enables alternative school to help struggling youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Hispanic Franklin residents raise concerns over zoning change . . . . . . . . . . 25

Opinion Celebrate community, support local (newspapers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Outdoors A Cherokee teacher brings knowledge learned abroad back home . . . . . . 44

Back Then

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Balsam was once bustling railroad community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

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ed when discussing the library: it’s just a step.

“It’s a process, a little bit at a time,” said Don Davidson, who along with his wife, Toni, donated the property for the future library, “Today’s just another step in the process.”

After the sign unveiling, Davidson couldn’t conceal his excitement — “I think it’s spectacular” — even couched in small-step cautionary camouflage.

“It’s a little bit at a time,” he said, gazing up at the new library sign. “But this is a big step. People can see something is happing.”

That’s the idea. Proponents of a new library in Swain County are hoping that such a visual will inspire the community to strive forward with the vision.

And, in particular, they are hoping that raising the awareness will inspire certain members of the community to take up the banner.

“We hear that we have the support to build this library,” said Bartlett. “But it’s going to take more than saying ‘I support building this library’ to make it happen.”

Even with the Davidson’s gift of the property for a new facility, realizing a new library Proponents of building a new library in Swain County unveil a new sign Oct. 2 is an expensive venture. Estimates hover on the property recently donated for the project. Jeremy Morrison photo around a few million dollars, maybe more.

That kind of endeavor will require politiappropriate time Jeff Delfield, librarian?? at cal muscle.

Swain’s current Marianna Black Library in “At the end of the day,” Swain County Bryson City, called everyone’s attention to Manager Kevin King said after the unveilwhat he almost poetically referred to as “this ing, “it’s going to take some sort of skin in cloth and wood the game from the and metal underBY J EREMY MORRISON commissioners.”

“We hear that we have neath.”

N EWS E DITOR While commisWith a pull, the he new Swain County library isn’t a sioners — as well as the support to build this reality yet — except in the minds of the cloak fell to reveal a candidates vying for library. But it’s going to true believers. sign announcing a seat on the board Last week, a group of Swain residents the “Future Home — seem to agree a take more than saying ‘I who are certain the journey to a new library of the Marianna new library would support building this is well underway gathered on a sprawling Black Library.” The be a good thing, parcel resting off of Fontana Road. sign let’s people have not been library’ to make it happen.” they “Take a moment, take a look and take it know what to overly sunny when in,” said Chester Bartlett, chair of the expect, what to get considering the pro— Chester Bartlett, chair of the excited about if Marianna Black Library Board. ject’s financial feasiMarianna Black Library Board All around is the grand vision’s ambi- they so choose. bility.

“The campaign tious footprint. With a little imagination But, the sign one can try to glimpse the eventual campus, right now is about awareness,” Bartlett had unveiling did turn out some local politicos. the future’s palace of information and explained earlier. “I’m going to say that a lot.” They were all smiles and optimism for the knowledge, its communal hub.

“One step at a time,” added Fontana occasion.

But already, using no imagination at all, Regional Library System Director Karen “We’ll make it happen, it’ll happen,” there was a clear sign of the library’s coming. Wallace. assured Commissioner David Monteith, That’s something else that will be repeat- who’s currently running for reelection.

It sat cloaked near the roadside. At the

news

A sign of things to come

Smoky Mountain News

October 8-14, 2014

Library proponents unveil a visual

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The land, the library and the long road The Marianna Black Library in Bryson City has served its community well for more than 40 years. The facility is what Swain County Librarian Jeff Delfield calls a “1960s library.”

But for years, there has been a growing push for a new library to serve the area.

Proponents contend that more space is needed for community events, as well as more rooms for smaller gatherings. They point to a lack of adequate parking at the current library and the need for modernization.

In 2010, consultant Ron Lubberly conducted public input sessions and produced the Dubberly Report, putting the need for a new facility in tangible black and white. No one really disputed the report’s conclusion.

“Everyone to my face, with a handshake and a smile, is saying ‘I’m behind this, it’s needed.’ And it is needed,” Delfield said earlier this summer. “No one is picking up this Dubberly Report and saying, ‘nah, this is bunk.’”

But no one in an official capacity has sounded overly optimistic either. They have cited the lack of resources to take on such a project.

In May of this year, Don and Toni Davidson donated 9 acres of property on Fontana Road, just outside Bryson City, for a new library. They also kicked in $50,000 toward the construction of a new facility.

It’s a dream they feel is worth funding “We saw the need,” said Don Davidson, after a large roadside sign was unveiled last week to mark the future site of the one-day library.

The Davidsons are betting that the Swain community can muster the needed funds to build upon their generosity.

“If Swain County could build the facility that we currently have back in 1969, Swain County can do even better for 2014,” said Toni Davidson. “If we can do it then, we can do it now.”

Swain County Manager Kevin King, also in attendance at the sign unveiling, said that building a new library would require “skin in the game” on the county’s part, likely in the form of some type of loan.

“It just takes everybody pushing in the same direction,” King said, keeping it positive.

“And that’s what this event is.”

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A botched reseeding job on Nikwasi Mound prompted the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ assertion that Franklin should turn ownership of the mound over to the tribe. Tyler Cook photo.

Cherokee repeats call for complete ownership

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indeed offered to work with the tribe, but the offer went unaccepted.

And, McRae said, the assertion that Franklin doesn’t have proper respect for the mound isn’t quite accurate.

“A lot of them are still very invested in owning the mound,” she said of its residents.

The deed for the mound goes back to 1946, when the community came together to raise funds to purchase the property from a private owner, saving it from death by bulldozer. The community paid $1,500 for the property, and

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What are mounds?

the deed states that the mound is to be preserved “for posterity” and that “should the Town of Franklin at any time fail to carry out the provisions of this instrument, then any citizen of Macon County shall have the right to apply to the Court for injunctive relief.”

“I don’t want to be sued after I get off this town board,” said Vice Mayor Verlin Curtis, explaining his hesitance to turn over ownership to the tribe.

The Eastern Band, however, is not happy with Franklin’s resolution, and it’s likely that the tug-of-war over Nikwasi Mound is not over.

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Man-made earth mounds were the spiritual and geopolitical center of prehistoric Cherokee towns, pulling quadruple duty as church, town square, town hall and auditorium stage.

There were once about 25 mounds in the seven western counties, but not only around 16 are left — the last record on the landscape of the Cherokee towns that once thrived there before white people destroyed them and claimed the land.

Recently, the tribe has been working to inventory and preserve the mounds that have not been bulldozed, flooded, farmed on or excavated by archeologists.

“The mission is really re-establishing the Cherokee world,” said Tyler Howe, the tribal historic preservation specialist.

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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ranklin leaders made their intention to keep Nikwasi Mound in town possession clear this week, rejecting a formal call from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to hand over the property.

The resolution, passed unanimously, declares that the mound will continue to stay in town possession but that Franklin is open to working out an agreement with the tribe for them to maintain the site.

“We want to work with them. We want to show goodwill, but we have a lot of reservations about handing over ownership,” said Alderwoman Barbara McRae. The controversy began three years ago when the then-town manager decided to replace the grass covering the mound with a shorter-growing variety that would require less mowing. Weed killer was sprayed to kill the existing grass. But not all the new seed came up, and some of the old grass persisted.

The result was a mound sporting bare patches, weeds and some spotty grass cover.

The Cherokee resolution contended that the town has “repeatedly demonstrated a significant lack of respect for the Nikwasi Mound” and “ignored EBCI offers of assistance [in maintaining the mound].” The tribe sent letters of complaint to state and federal elected representatives, the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office and the National Register of Historic Places.

“The EBCI feels the rightful place of the mound lies with the Cherokee people,” said Principal Chief Michell Hicks in an emailed statement following Franklin’s action this week. “I look forward to future discussion with Town of Franklin officials to discuss the EBCI taking ownership of the Mound to ensure its proper maintenance and reverence.”

In the wake of the Cherokee resolution, Franklin Mayor Bob Scott and Alderwoman Joyce Handley had said that the town had

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Franklin passes resolution to keep Nikwasi, allow Cherokee maintenance

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District attorney candidate accused of mishandling extradition order

October 8-14, 2014

Paperwork left in car prompts mudslinging

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER A Tennessee man in a wheelchair accused of helping bury a dead body in a barrel has emerged as an unusual focal point in the hotly contested race for district attorney in the seven western counties.

To be clear, Stevie Franklin wasn’t in a wheelchair at the time of the alleged body burying. His spinal injury came later, after he tumbled off a porch roof in a fight.

But five years ago, when Franklin’s friends asked for help getting rid of a dead body — a murder allegedly stemming from a love triangle altercation in Graham County — he let them bury it on his property in Tennessee, according to the original police charges and court testimony against him.

Franklin ended up with charges in Graham County for accessory to murder, since that’s where the murder occurred. But he ended up with charges in Tennessee also, since that’s where the body was ultimately buried — stuffed in a barrel.

Along the way, Assistant District Attorney Jim Moore was entrusted with an extradition order for Franklin to be handed off to Tennessee when his case here concluded, but Moore forgot about it and left it in his car for seven weeks.

Moore’s opponent, Ashley Welch, says the incident is relevant to the campaign and has asserted that Moore owes voters an explanation for what she considers a breech of duties.

Moore claims the mishap is a red herring and is merely being exploited as negative campaign fodder.

HOW IT WENT DOWN

Smoky Mountain News

The murder of Shannon Sawyer in Graham County dates back to 2009. His body wasn’t found until two years later, somewhat by happenstance when a man picked up on unrelated federal charges blabbed about knowing where a body was buried, presumably in hopes of getting lighter treatment.

Regardless, it was 2011 before two primary suspects were finally charged with the first-degree murder of Sawyer — namely Sawyer’s ex-girlfriend and mother of his baby, and the man his ex-girlfriend was living with at the time.

It took another three years to bring the first of the two suspects to trial, which finally came to court this March. All the while, Franklin was in jail awaiting his own accessory to murder charges, which were on hold pending the outcome of the primary murder trial.

On the eve of the murder trial, the state of Tennessee put in an extradition order for Franklin, asking North Carolina to turn him 8 over when it was done with him.

Assistant district attorneys Jim Moore and Ashley Welch are both candidates for District Attorney in the upcoming election. File photos What happened next has become a source of debate in the district attorney’s race.

The extradition order — known as a governor’s warrant — was sent to the Swain County jail in early February, because that’s where Franklin was being held at one point. But he’d since been moved to the Clay County jail, and so the warrant actually needed to go there.

Enter Assistant District Attorney Jim Moore. Moore offered to take the extradition order to Clay County to save the Swain sheriff a trip.

Moore was one of two prosecutors on deck to try the murder suspect in Graham, and knew of Franklin since he was an accessory to the case Moore was about to try.

But, Moore never made it over to Clay County that week, or the next, or the next.

So the warrant sat in his car. And sat. It sat in his car all the way through the murder trial, in fact.

The case ultimately went poorly for the prosecutors and the jury found the first of the two suspects being tried for Sawyer’s murder not guilty.

That begged the question: what about Franklin? He was an accessory to murder for helping a friend bury a body, but that friend was just found not guilty. Meanwhile, Franklin was confined to a wheelchair, thus not a high flight risk.

Franklin’s defense attorney, Melissa Jackson, had tried to get his $250,000 bond lowered several times over the previous three years, hoping to let Franklin await trial back home in Tennessee with his family instead of the Clay and Swain jails. As a side note, Franklin’s medical care in jail due to his condition was costing local taxpayers a pile of money — $75,000 over the three-year period, paid for by Graham County residents since that’s where the charges stemmed.

After the jury came back with a not guilty

verdict on the first murder suspect, Jackson made a renewed appeal to the presiding Superior Court Judge Brad Letts to drop Franklin’s bond.

Letts was inclined to do so, but Moore argued against it. Although one of the two murder suspects had been found not guilty, the second murder suspect — the girlfriend in the love triangle — hadn’t come to trial yet.

Franklin could still be guilty of helping her get rid of the body, so it was premature to let him out on bond yet, Moore believed.

CONFUSION ABOUNDS Letts ultimately sided with the defense attorney and was willing to let Franklin return home for the time being.

And that’s when Moore suddenly remembered the extradition order from Tennessee, and questioned whether Letts should indeed let Franklin go since Tennessee had issued a

about. Judge Letts was also confused about how a warrant could be floating around that hadn’t been filed with the court.

“I haven’t seen anything,” Jackson said.

“I haven’t seen anything either,” Letts said.

“I do have it in my car unfortunately,” Moore said.

When Moore returned several minutes later with the warrant, confusion again beset the courtroom when the other parties realized it wasn’t a fresh warrant but was seven weeks old.

“Hmm … it’s almost two months old,” Letts said, inspecting the warrant Moore had just retrieved from his car.

“I just don’t understand why this governor’s warrant has been riding around in a vehicle and hasn’t been filed,” Jackson said in court. “It’s not as though they haven’t known where he is.”

Confusion raged on as the judge, Moore and the defense attorney debated whether the warrant had expired or was still valid, and if so, what do they do with it now?

Letts was perturbed.

“It is with great sadness I must also include in the record, I find it exceedingly troubling that this documentation was held by the assistant district attorney in his automobile since Feb. 10. It was only brought to my attention after I had lowered the bond of the defendant,” Letts said, according to the transcript from the April 3 proceedings. “I’m going to take a look into this.”

The N.C. Bar Association will neither confirm nor deny whether a complaint has been filed or whether an ethics investigation has been initiated against any practicing attorney in the state.

Letts declined to comment for this article.

Jackson, Franklin’s defense attorney, said she had been contacted by the state bar recently about the circumstances surrounding the bond motion for her client, Stevie Franklin, but wouldn’t elaborate.

CAMPAIGN FODDER

The warrant snafu has hobbled Moore as he heads into the final weeks of his campaign.

Moore has accused Welch of grandstanding over the issue.

The court snafu over the extradition order happened in April. Why is it being fed to the media now, Moore asked?

“It makes you wonder if it is not brought up for political reasons,” Moore said.

Although an article on Moore’s Stay tuned to future issues of The Smoky Mountain misstep with the warrant appeared in News for more election coverage, including proThe Asheville Citizen-Times two files of the two district attorney candidates. Or, for months ago and has been making its back articles on the race, check out the online rounds through the attorney circles voter guide at www.smokymountainnews.com. since May, it finally landed on the public stage — quite literally — when Welch made reference to it during a candigovernor’s warrant for him.

“I just remembered this,” Moore said in date forum last Sunday.

“I don’t have a judge that is so upset with court, according to the transcript. “There is a governor’s warrant that has been issued for me right now that I am not allowed in their courtroom,” Welch said in her closing Mr. Franklin.”

The next few minutes were marked by remarks at the forum. “These are things you confusion, according to the transcript. need to know about.”

Welch was referring to Letts, who currentJackson, the defense attorney, was flummoxed how there could be an extradition S EE DA RACE, PAGE 11 order against her client she didn’t know

More coming

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“It is a sensitive subject and incredibly personal. One of the things I learned very quickly when I filed for office is all of a sudden personal stuff becomes public,” Welch said. Nonetheless, “The more I heard it, the more it hurt.”

Welch couldn’t escape the stereotypes.

Either she was a career-first woman who rejected having kids. Or, she would be juggling babies while running court.

“I didn’t know that mentality was out there, but I have had to deal with it firsthand,” Welch said. “I have so many friends with young children who are career women, I thought it was a non-issue. It was incredibly offensive to me.”

Welch said Moore is intentionally misinterpreting her comments for his own campaign fodder.

“To turn that around blows my mind. I have an enormous amount of respect for other peoples’ families and children,” Welch said.

Welch said Moore is grasping for something to criticize her for, as retaliation for her bringing up the issue of a governor’s warrant Moore mishandled (see article on page 8).

“He is trying to divert from the real issue,” Welch said. “He is using that as an excuse to deflect from it.”

Still, Jon Jicha, who was in the audience at the forum, said Welch’s comments rubbed him the wrong way, too.

“Does this mean all of us who have similar quote unquote ‘distractions’ cannot function effectively in our workplace?” said Jicha,

OTHER ASPIRATIONS? Meanwhile, Moore made a comment of his own at the recent candidate forum that could have been perceived as a shot against Welch.

Moore said in his closing remarks that he doesn’t want to run for another office down the road.

“This isn’t a stepping stone for me. This is a job I want to hold for a long time,” Moore said.

Moore was referencing, in not so many words, Welch’s bid last year for a Superior Court judge appointment.

“This is not my second choice,” Moore said in an interview later.

Welch denied that she had any goal beyond a prosecutor. She said it has been her dream in life — ever since she was 13 years old in fact, when she shadowed an assistant district attorney for a semester as a school project.

Serving as a prosecutor is all she’s done since graduating from law school, and even doing unpaid summer internships during college.

As for the Superior Court judge appointment last year, Welch said she only applied after growing concerned that no viable candidates had put their name in the hat for a vacancy on the bench.

“I was watching people put in for it and I saw their trial experience and my trial experience,” Welch said. At the time, she had three separate child rape cases pending.

“My heart was absolutely broken,” Welch said. “I had a vested interest in what happened in our courtrooms.”

The Superior Court judge appointment ultimately went to Bill Coward, a respected and experienced attorney in the district. But Coward hadn’t applied at the time Welch put her name in the hat.

“If he or someone like that had expressed interest from the beginning, I would have never applied for it. It is not something I ever saw myself asking for,” Welch said. “I never intended to do anything else other than prosecute.”

As to Moore’s comment at the forum, Welch said it doesn’t apply to her.

“I don’t have higher political aspirations.

There may be people that have higher aspirations for me, but that is not on my radar,” Welch said.

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Smoky Mountain News

react if a man without kids had bragged about being free from the distraction of children, especially if his political opponent was a women with kids.

If it wouldn’t be OK for a man to say that about a woman’s kids, why is it OK for a woman to say that about a man’s kids, he asked.

Society’s expectations toward women and family in the workplace are “really complicated,” according to Dr. Kathleen Brennan, the head of the anthropology and sociology department at Western Carolina University.

In America, work and family are considered separate, compartmentalized domains that you have to choose between or juggle.

For a woman to excel at her career, she’s expected to sacrifice her children. Or to adequately nurture her children, she must sacrifice her career.

“By bringing home a paycheck, a man is taking care of his family, while taking care of your family doesn’t mean the “As men become more responsible same thing for a woman,” Brennan said. for house and family to mirror the Brennan said these perceptions and cultural expectations responsibility that women have have changed toward women in the workplace in recent decades taken on the in the workplace, but have not completed their then a lot of this will go away.” evolution.

Younger generations are — Dr. Kathleen Brennan, the head of the sociology more likely to share the respondepartment at Western Carolina University sibilities at home. And that shift, more than anything else, will melt away gender role stereotypes. a supporter of Moore. “Is she a better candi“As men become more responsible for date because she limits her domestic envihouse and family to mirror the responsibilironment to a husband and a dog?” ty that women have taken on the in the Jicha said the undertone of Welch’s mesworkplace, then a lot of this will go away,” sage — “I don’t have the distraction of chilBrennan said. dren” — is that Moore, who does have chilIt is illegal under employment laws to ask dren, won’t be on his game to the same about someone’s family status in a job interdegree she would. view — whether they are married, have kids, “This is the most prejudicial statement are pregnant, etc. And that’s a stride in and by a political candidate I’ve heard in of itself. decades,” Jicha said.

But in this case, the employer conducting But Welch again said her statement was an the job interview is tens of thousands of votexplanation to voters of her own life status. ers, each with their own personal bias com“I was making a statement about me. I ing into play as they size up who’s best am my career,” Welch said. “I never referequipped for the job. enced his children. I know his children and “It is unfortunate she felt like she had to respect his children.” share the information that she is not able to Jicha said Welch is trying to retroactively have children in order to be considered a “mitigate” how her statement came across, viable candidate,” Brennan said. but he questioned how the public would

October 8-14, 2014

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER he race for top prosecutor over the seven counties between assistant district attorneys Jim Moore and Ashley Welch has grown increasingly heated as it heads into the homestretch.

The latest development: a twist on the gender stereotypes that typically saddle male and female candidates.

Moore has taken offense to comments his opponent made at a recent candidate forum held in Cantonon Sept. 28. He claims Welch insinuated that he wasn’t cut out for the job because he has kids.

At the forum, Welch said the job of a district attorney “never stops,” and that’s a task she is up to.

“I was not blessed to be able to have children. All I’ve got is my husband and my dog.

I don’t have distractions,” said Welch, 36, at the forum. “When I go to work, you get every piece of me. When I’m at home, a lot of times, you get every bit of me.”

Moore saw that as a shot at him.

“I don’t consider my children a distraction and I don’t think most working parents consider their children a distraction,” said Moore, who has three kids — ages 16, 25 and 26.

Both Moore and Welch currently serve as assistant prosecutors and have been coworkers for years. Welch said Moore is taking her comments completely out of context.

“I didn’t make that comment directed towards anybody. That is not what I meant.

I am not passive aggressive. If I was directing that comment at him it would have been very clear,” Welch said. “I don’t dance around things. I just come right out there and say it — and that’s not what I said.”

During her closing remarks at the forum, Welch intended to show what a hard worker she was, saying that she “never really puts work down.”

She said she wasn’t making a reference toward Moore, but instead was attempting to answer a question she’s heard over and over on the campaign trail for the past year.

People often asked if she had kids, and in so many words, would she be up to the rigors of a high-power legal career or would her kids get in the way?

When she told people she didn’t have kids, that led to the next obvious question.

“I would be out campaigning and people would ask ‘Well, are you going to have children?’” Welch said.

Some would simply be interested, but some would once again be wondering in the back of their mind, will her performance be compromised as DA if she goes on maternity leave with a newborn baby?

When Welch answered that she didn’t plan to have kids, that didn’t sit well with some people either, who were taken aback a woman would choose their career over a family.

What they didn’t know, however, was that Welch was unable to have children.

Moore and Welch square off at a candidates’ forum in Canton. Becky Johnson photo

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For months, the legal community throughout the seven western counties has been buzzing over the warrant mishap and the open admonishment in court by Judge Letts.

But the biggest topic feeding the rumor mill: postulation over how could it have happened in the first place.

Did Moore really forget he had the warrant outside in his car until the last minute, despite seeing Franklin in a wheelchair in the audience every day of the murder trial? Or did Moore withhold it intentionally, as some sort of legal strategy to one-up Judge Letts if Letts seemed inclined to let Franklin go without bond?

The murder case was fraught with problems, including the shifting testimony of the key witness, who happened to be the ex-girlfriend also charged with first-degree murder but who claimed her live-in boyfriend, not her, pulled the trigger, according to testimony.

Given the spotty evidence and weak witness testimony, a jury conviction wasn’t a shoe-in, and if the trial ended with a not guilty verdict, it wasn’t a stretch to foresee Franklin being let out.

Until now, Moore had declined to comment or respond to media questions about the governor’s warrant snafu. Moore maintained that he wouldn’t comment because it involved an ongoing case — and further insinuated Welch shouldn’t be commenting either.

“What she brought up is about a case that is related to a pending case in Graham

Welch said.

Welch said it was highly unusual for Moore to take the extradition order into his possession in the first place. They go to the clerk of court or the law enforcement agency in the county.

“The only time I have physically laid hands on a governor’s warrant is in open court. It is a formal request from another state to have somebody extradited to their state to face charges. It is not the role of the DA attorney to serve arrest warrants,” Welch said.

Moore disagreed. When the warrant was initially shipped to Swain, but actually needed to go to Clay, it made sense for him to take it that way during his usual rounds through the counties.

“I always try to be helpful,” Moore said.

But with a murder trial around the corner, he never made it to Clay.

“The difference this time is I was preparing for a murder case, and then in the murder case and trying it, and didn’t make it to Clay County with the warrant,” Moore said.

Welch said that’s not OK. “People are human and everyone makes mistakes. The problem is prosecutors are held to a higher standard,” Welch said. “We don’t get to make mistakes. There’s a difference between minor mistakes and something like this, which is big.”

Moore says it wasn’t a big mistake, however, and points out that ultimately it had no bearing on the outcome.

“I didn’t do anything that caused a failure of justice. I presented the governor’s warrant to the court when he was still in custody and when it was still a valid order,” Moore said.

Welch again disagreed.

“You have a right to be served with this governor’s warrant. You have a right to be advised this other state wants you. You have all these due process rights.”

For the record, the accessory to murder charges against Franklin were dropped two weeks after the not guilty verdict in the primary murder trial in April. While there was court testimony during the trial claiming Franklin helped bury the body, according to the transcript, proving it to a jury would be another matter.

“We reviewed the evidence presented during the trial and decided there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the crime he was charged with,” Moore said.

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ly won’t preside over Moore’s cases due to the conflict over the warrant snafu.

Welch brought it up during her closing remarks, and she was the last one to speak — Moore had gone first — so there was no chance for Moore to offer a rebuttal or clarification. That’s something Moore takes issue with and that he sees as intentional.

Moore says Welch’s comment at the forum was misleading as well. Welch insinuated that Moore has been banned by a judge.

But Moore said it is more benign than that.

“I haven’t been banned from the courtroom. The judge has recused himself due to a conflict that is temporary in nature,” Moore said.

public needs to know about the actions of people seeking office. This is an office where the public is putting an enormous amount of trust in you,” Welch said. “You are asking the public to put faith and confidence in you and should at that point be an open book.”

Moore pointed out there are still charges pending against a second suspect for the murder, and thus the extradition order against Franklin is tangentially related — at least enough to keep him from commenting.

But Moore this week decided since the issue was already being openly reported in the media, he may as well comment after all.

“When someone continues to talk to the media about a case in a way that is misleading, we have what is called the right to respond,” Moore said.

“Because my opponent continues to bring this up about the governor’s warrant I have the right to set the record straight about this issue.”

And Moore answered the question of the hour: he said he genuinely forgot the paperwork in his care, and he did not intentionally hold it back as a last-ditch legal strategy.

“I must admit I did not remember I had it,” Moore said.

Besides, it simply doesn’t make sense as a legal maneuver. “I would have had no reason to hold on to a governor’s warrant. I gained no Welch (top) and Moore (bottom) smile for crowds advantage by doing that,” Moore said.

“Whether the warrant was served and cameras at the Canton Labor Day Parade. File photo two months or two minutes before the bond hearing” had no bearing on County and as long as it is a pending case we the outcome, Moore said. should not be commenting about it. It is Moore said the notion that he purposely improper for me or anybody in this office to withheld the warrant as an 11th-hour ace-incomment about issues involving that case,” the-hole just doesn’t add up.

Moore said in an interview last week.

“I had no idea or no thought Judge Letts However, the charges against Franklin as would unsecure a bond for someone charged an accessory to murder have long since been with accessory after the fact for murder,” dropped, so technically, there’s not a pending Moore said. case at stake directly tied to the extradition order snafu.

RYING TO BE HELPFUL “It is hiding behind something that doesn’t really exist,” Welch said.

To the lay person, the misplaced goverWelch said Moore owes the public an nor’s warrant sounds like an honest mistake. explanation.

But the whole scenario is fraught with abnor“The role of the DA is incredibly impor- malities and did not follow normal protocol tant and it is a very powerful position. The for how warrants are legally processed,

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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ith a long construction process coming to an end, students and teachers at Pisgah High School are enjoying a bit more space in their building, and Haywood County Schools Maintenance Director Tracy Hartgrove is happy to be putting the final touches on a project that’s been in the works for more than two years.

“Knowing what it looked like back behind the [PHS] cafeteria five years ago to where it is today, we’re very proud that we’ve addressed so many issues and fixed so many things that need to be fixed,” Hartgrove said.

The project included an addition that gives the school eight new classrooms, a pulp and paper lab to allow students access to those learning opportunities after Haywood Community College closed theirs and a redirection of traffic to the back of the building.

“It was an addition The addition at Pisgah High School features bus parking, eight with a site plan enhancenew classrooms and a pulp and paper lab. Donated photo ment, is basically what it is,” Hartgrove said. said you’ve had very few change orders and The classrooms will go to teachers who things seem to be going very smooth,” have thus far had to wheel their classroom Commissioner Kevin Ensley told Hartgrove. around in a cart, teaching classes in other Hartgrove said that the building was teachers’ rooms while those teachers were constructed with few “bells and whistles” on their planning period. And by moving but was designed to make maintenance as bus parking behind the building, Hartgrove easy and inexpensive as possible going forsaid, the campus will soon become more ward. For example, the bathroom plumbing secure. was installed in such a way that no walls “Within a couple of weeks we’re hoping would have to be knocked out to fix probthat there’s only one point of entrance into lems with it, and the heat pumps are at the campus that people can come into during ground level and easily accessible. the day, and one direction of flow,” he said.

“We’re pretty happy with it,” Hartgrove The project, which broke ground in told commissioners. “If everybody could December 2013 and is just now finishing have seen this three years ago and then seen up, was funded with state lottery money. it now.”

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Commissioners Oct. 6 to ask for $57,000 in increased spending out of the contingency funding the lottery allocated for the project, an amount that would still leave $88,000 in the fund. The $57,000 money will mainly go toward putting in some extra walkways and asphalt.

“One thing I’ve learned since I’ve been in the school system is that people are going to take the straightest line, so we went in and added some sidewalks instead of having to do it later,” Hartgrove told commissioners.

The board expressed approval for Hargrove’s proactive planning.

“I was talking to the architect and he

Authorities find $1 million in pot plants in Swain Jerry Monroe Berry and his son, Joshua Monroe Berry, of Swain County have been charged with growing marijuana in the Nantahala National Forest.

According to Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran, a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations aircraft was conducting a routine flyover in Swain County when the plants were spotted. The drug operation was located in the Nantahala National Forest. Afterward, the site was monitored for several weeks by law enforcement authorities Officers and agents from the Swain County Sheriff ’s Office, Cherokee Police Department, U.S. Forest Service, SBI, DEA, Cherokee ALE, Cherokee NRE, BATF, U.S. Park Service and North Carolina State Highway Patrol took part in the bust.

Cochran stated that the estimated street value of the plants is approximately $1million.

he Town of Sylva is celebrating its 125th year since incorporation. To mark the occasion, a slate of activities are planned for Oct. 10-11. The celebration pays homage to the history of the town.

“The activities are all things that would have happened in 1889,” explained Sylva Town Manager Paige Roberson.

The anniversary celebration will include a cake walk, clogging and storytelling. There

Sylva, incorporated in 1889, will celebrate its 125th anniversary Oct. 10-11. Donated photo

Commemorative ornament To commemorate Sylva’s 125th anniversary, the town is offering a specially-made Christmas ornament. The ornament features the Jackson County Courthouse, which now serves as a library.

The commemorative ornament may be purchased at the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce or Town of Sylva offices.

will also be history tours, an ice cream social and a horse parade.

The event will feature a Heritage Tent, where people can delve a bit deeper into history. They can get a look at old tools used during the 1800s. Or maybe study up on the history of Sylva’s African-American community.

More modern offerings will also be included in the celebration. On Friday night there’s a concert in Bridge Park. On Saturday there’s an antique car show.

Sylva Mayor Maurice Moody noted that the weekend event celebrates both place and people.

“We want to celebrate not only the town’s 125th anniversary but celebrate the citizens, founders, and civic leaders who, over the last 125 years, have made Sylva the strong town that it is today,” Moody said.

“We are thankful for the residents and this celebration is for the community.”

The 125th celebration also presents an opportunity to step back in time. Attendees may participate in an era-specific costume showing, or compete in a William Sylva look-alike contest.

Several Sylva officials, including Moody, have been laying off of shaving in the weeks leading up to the festival in an effort to grow out a beard befitting the 1880s. Town Attorney Eric Ridenour was sporting quite the specimen until recently.

Want to join?

Sylva’s 125th anniversary celebration will be held Oct. 10-11 downtown.

Oct. 10 ■ 7 to 9 p.m. The band Sundown performs at Bridge Park Oct. 11 ■ 9 a.m. Farmers market opens ■ 10 a.m. Storyteller Shawn Crowe; Main Street horse parade ■ 10:30 a.m. William Sylva look-a-like contest ■ 11 a.m. Costume showing; antique car show begins; heritage tours begin; storytellers, Ammons Sister; poor-man’s lunch is served at First Baptist Church ■ 12 p.m. Queen Family concert; square dancers; cake walk ■ 1 p.m. Storyteller, Dave Waldrop ■ 2 p.m. Clogging; storyteller, Gary Carden ■ 3:30 p.m. Town photo on courthouse steps; ice cream social

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Sylva celebrates its 125th anniversary T

“I call it the Wyatt Earp,” the attorney joked.

Ridenour shaved recently because he had a big case and felt the 1880s facial hair may not play well in the courtroom. Plus, it was getting messy.

“The bushier it got I was wiping my mouth every bite I ate,” he said.

Sylva’ 125th celebration will conclude with a town photo on the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse at the end of Main Street. Following the photo, there will be an ice cream social.

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Don’t call it a fracking resolution

Jackson commissioners discuss whether to rely on a 2002 ordinance as protection against theoretical fracking activities in the county during an Oct. 6 meeting. Jeremy Morrison photo

Jackson relies on old ordinance for protection

BY J EREMY MORRISON N EWS E DITOR ollowing multiple anti-fracking resolutions passed by local governments around the region, Jackson County commissioners have now taken an action of their own. While their resolution never specifically mentions “fracking” or “hydraulic fracturing,” the board — or at least three of its members — seemed satisfied that it afforded them protection against the natural gas exploration method green-lighted for North Carolina by state legislators this year.

October 8-14, 2014

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“The resolution was prepared under the auspice that we are protecting our natural resources,” explained County Manager Chuck Wooten when placing the resolution on the table for consideration Monday afternoon. “It does not reference or distinguish any particular item.”

The resolution, which ultimately passed on a 3-2 vote, is entitled Protecting Our Natural Resources. Rather than specifically addressing fracking, the resolution is simply a reaffirmation of an ordinance in place in Jackson County since 2002.

Prior to the resolution’s passage, Planning Director Gerald Green gave commissioners an overview of the 2002 Industrial Development Ordinance. The ordinance was

originally established to address “noxious industries that, by their nature produce objectionable levels of noise, odors, vibrations, fumes, light, or smoke, [and that] may or may not have hazardous effects.” It defines “noxious industries,” establishes standards for their operation and requires the obtaining of a permit.

One of the “noxious industries” addressed in the ordinance is the mining industry. Green explained that the term “mining” was used in a broad sense and covered quarrying, well operations and other actions typically associated with mining solids, liquids or gasses.

“Given this definition, the provisions of the Industrial Development Ordinance would apply to all oil and gas mining opera-

tions, including fracking,” the planning director told the commissioners.

While not forbidding any mining activities, the ordinance instead outlines standards that must be met. For example, a mining operation may not be located closer than 1,320 linear feet from commercial properties, schools, churches or hospitals; it must also maintain that distance from a residential structure.

County Attorney Jay Coward said that while the ordinance did not ban activities such as fracking, it pretty much did.

“It just makes it so dagum difficult to find a piece of property to get started on that it effectively prohibits it,” Coward told commissioners, explaining that finding a piece of property in Jackson that satisfied the location requirements outlined in the ordinance would be a real trick. “They’re very few and far between. I mean, that’s a half-mile piece of property you have to have. I think for all practical purposes the 2002 ordinance does prohibit fracking.”

Commissioners Doug Cody and Charles Elders, as well as Chairman Jack Debnam, argued that reaffirming the old ordinance was a better bet against fracking than adopting a resolution against the mining method.

Cody pointed out that such resolutions were only symbolic and would be superseded by state law, which specifically prevents local governments from banning hydraulic fracturing activities in their jurisdiction.

“This protects us,” Cody said. “A resolution will not protect us. This ordinance will.

This ordinance has been in place for 12 years.”

Cody argued that the location logistics

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laid out in the ordinance would make exploring for natural gas cost-prohibitive — “I mean, you’d have to survey the entire county” — and Elders said adopting a fracking-specific resolution would “show weakness on our part” and would equate to “turning our backs on these natural resources.”

But other commissioners, specifically the board’s two Democratic commissioners, took issue with relying on an existing ordinance that doesn’t mention fracking.

“I will admit this is an emotional issue for me,” said Commissioner Vicki Greene, who initiated the discussion about a potential anti-fracking resolution weeks ago. “This is fnot a method of extracting energy that I think is sustainable in Western North Carolina. It creates more harm than it does good.”

Green, as well as Commissioner Mark fJones, raised concerns about horizontal drilling and an aspect of the new state law that addresses “forced pooling.”

“I do have these concerns,” Jones said.

“These are concerns that not just I have, but that I have heard from residents of Jackson County.”

Coward explained to commissioners that pooling effectively requires property owners to allow exploration on their property.

“Pooling is something where you can actually, legally trespass on property underground,” the attorney said, adding that the pooling aspect was but one component of the state’s Energy Modernization Act that presented sticky legal issues. “I’ve come to the conclusion that there are several constitutional problems with the whole bill.”

Cody brushed aside concerns about horizontal drilling, a practice that allows fracking operations to drill one hole and explore in multiple directions, potentially across property boundaries. He said the issue was beyond the scope of the county commissioners.

“I think it’s getting into a national issue there, because horizontal drilling is allowed everywhere,” Cody said. “You’re getting into a national issue. What are we going to do, appeal it to the Supreme Court?”

Commissioners ended up passing their ordinance-affirming resolution 3-2, with Debnam, Cody and Elders in favor and Greene and Jones against. Wooten described the 2002 ordinance as “ahead of the curve” and told commissioners that “we do have some protection going forward.”

When asked by the press if the resolution passed by the board should be considered an anti-fracking resolution, commissioners turned coy. Cody suggested the press describe the resolution however it wanted.

“It’s anti-anything that could cause damage to the environment,” added Debnam.

The chairman would not elaborate on the reasoning for not specifically addressing the practice of fracking — the obvious impetus for the entire conversation — in the resolution. He said that the county preferred a “broad stroke” approach.

“What’s the reason for leaving out all the bad things?” Debnam asked rhetorically.

The chairman did say that he felt the 2002 ordinance offered sufficient protection against fracking. He said it’s a bet he’d be willing to take into a courtroom if need be.

“Yes,” Debnam said. “We’d be willing to defend it.”

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A helping paw Guide dogs widen world for Waynesville women

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ith a visitor in the house and his crate door open, Adam is all kinds of excited. The lanky black lab bounds down the hall, eager to have his head rubbed, his back petted, his chewy bone tossed.

“He’ll try to eat the baby toys, or if [my son] Owen has food, he’ll want it and that kind of stuff, and he tries to get into everything he shouldn’t,” his owner Crystal Plemmons says, nabbing Adam’s collar.

Typical dog stuff. But when Crystal brings out Adam’s brown leather harness and grasps the rectangular handle attached to it, his demeanor changes. He’s no longer a two-anda-half-year-old bundle of doggy energy. He’s a calm, focused, disciplined worker. He’s Crystal’s Seeing Eye. “Having a dog lets you go through places that would be more difficult with a cane,” Crystal said. “A dog can walk through a crowd of people and not hit any of them.”

Starting her third year as an English education student at Western Carolina University, Crystal appreciates these skills.

Adam’s been in the family since September 2013, one year after Crystal, 32, decided it was time to go back to school.

She’d dropped out more than a decade ago, when a genetic disorder took away her sight.

The vision loss began when she was a teenager, and at age 19, she had her first surgery.

Eventually, she became completely blind.

“Over the next two years I went from adjusting to life on my own [at college] to not being able to see at all, to having to make different choices,” she said.

Crystal, then a math education student, struggled to stay on top of her studies as her vision got worse and worse. Graphs and mathematical symbols aren’t easy to analyze without sight, and at some point the sheer difficulty of it all became too much.

“I want to say I wasn’t brave enough, but I don’t think that that’s completely right,” Crystal said. “It might be that I didn’t have the motivation to overcome the difficulties I would have face.”

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October 8-14, 2014

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MOTIVATED BY MOTHERHOOD

For several years after dropping out of school, Crystal stayed at home, mostly reading and knitting — despite her loss of sight, she’s a gifted knitter — and seven years ago, she married her husband Brian.

Then, three years ago, the two became parents. Really, Crystal said, it was her new identity as Owen’s mother that gave her the push she needed to get out of the house, take hold of a dream and start chasing it once more.

Now, she’s just four years away from holding a master’s degree that will be the key to fulfilling her goal of becoming a community college English teacher.

“After I had my little boy, I realized that I 16

did want to be more,” Crystal said. “I wanted him to have a mother who did have a career, and it didn’t really have anything to do with whether I was blind or not because I knew I could do it if I just went out and did it.”

So she got a dog. To help her move through crowds, cross streets — just to get around a lot easier and faster than is possible when using a cane.

It wasn’t as quick a transition as she thought it would be.

“The cane always does what you tell it to do, but a dog has his own mind and his own personality, and you have to learn to work with him,” Crystal said.

“After I had my little boy, I realized that I did want to be more. I wanted him to have a mother who did have a career, and it didn’t really have anything to do with whether I was blind or not.”

— Crystal Plemmons

Crystal applied to The Seeing Eye, a guide dog school based in Morristown, N.J. The school has an extensive matching process, involving an online application and matching process that’s something akin to eHarmony for guide dogs and their handlers. A representative then travels to the blind person’s home to evaluate how well they already get around and whether they’re up to the challenge of handling a dog.

ROUTE TO INDEPENDENCE At 79, Mary Grace Lodico is definitely on the older end of the spectrum to be a new guide dog owner. But the Waynesville resident also active and independent, with a strong desire to get around on her own as much as possible.

Having always been legally blind and dependent on a cane, Mary Grace began to lose the remnant of her vision two-and-a-half years ago. That’s when she started to think about applying for a dog, which she did, ending up with a visit from a Seeing Eye representative at the same time as Crystal.

“She had a harness. I took hold of the harness and leash like she was a dog and we walked to Depot Street. I then had to tell her when it was safe to cross,” Mary Grace said of her interview.

Seeing Eye eventually matched Mary Grace with Gem, a 45-pound black lab whose toys now strew the dining room of Mary Grace’s home. The organization paid for travel up to New Jersey, three weeks of school,

Mary Grace Lodico and her guide dog Gem enjoy some afternoon sunshine. Holly Kays photo room and board while there — everything except $150 for the dog itself, a good deal considering that a fully trained guide dog is worth somewhere in the tens of thousands of dollars.

While at school, new dog owners learn how to command their dogs, how to use them in situations ranging from subway stations to shopping malls and how to continue training them once they go home. It’s a fully scheduled three weeks, with the first activities beginning at 5:30 a.m. and the last ending around 8 p.m.

“They have great food but it’s very, very hectic,” Crystal said.

LEADER OF THE PACK Going home is only the beginning of the journey. Guide dogs are trained extensively, bred for their intelligence, confidence and trainability, but they’re still dogs.

“It’s a dog. It’s not a machine,” Mary Grace said. “You’re not a machine. You’re a human. You’re going to make mistakes, the dog’s going to make mistakes.”

When Mary Grace and Gem arrived back in Waynesville, the black lab had a hard time

focusing on crossing the street in a straight line, ignoring other dogs and disregarding the urge to investigate interesting smells.

“They tell you up front it’s going to take you 6 months to a year for you to really bond with a dog, for you to really become a team. They tell you that, but I think you don’t really believe it,” Mary Grace said. “She [Gem] insisted that she was not going to cross Wall Street straight because there are garbage dumps there — let’s go to the garbage dumps.”

Like a human child, the dogs often do what they can to test the boundaries, see what they can get away with under their new owner. If that person isn’t constantly enforcing the training and working with them to adjust to new patterns, learn new skills, the dogs can easily lose their training.

“It’s very, very important to let her know, ‘Yes, you do have to do this. You are not the leader of this pack. I am,’” Mary Grace said.

Gem has to lie down under the table when Mary Grace eats. She’s learning how to sit quietly when a new person enters the house rather than running up to greet them. In public, she does not get petted, and she does not

From puppy to protector

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get to play with other dogs.

The reason? Because guide dogs go places pets don’t go, and they have to stay focused on a responsibility that pets don’t have.

“I can’t treat her like a pet if that means that I’m letting her do something that is going to get in the way of her guiding techniques,” Mary Grace said. “Can’t do it. Won’t do it. Because my life could be at stake here.”

MAKING THE WORLD BIGGER

Making the switch from cane to dog is a leap, Crystal agreed.

“You get less feedback,” she said. “When you use a cane you can feel it through your hand, but when you use a dog you can’t feel anything except your feet.”

With Adam, it took Crystal 20 hours to learn the routes to and from her fall classes, a task she estimates would have taken five hours with a cane. But with the routes learned, Adam can steer Crystal to her classrooms much more quickly — and with many fewer collisions — than she could do on her own.

Overall, the dogs just make the world a lot bigger for people who navigate it without sight. Gem allows Mary Grace to go places, do things she would have otherwise needed help to do. They walk to visit her nephew.

They go to the senior center. They go to the bank and the dentist and pretty much every-

where except PetSmart, the grocery store and the farmers market — too many temptations at those places for a guide dog just settling into her role.

As far as Adam’s concerned, ignoring students who are enjoying a between-class snack is still a challenge, but so is Crystal’s whole balancing act of being a dedicated mother, student, dog trainer and aspiring community college teacher. Adam’s presence puts those aspirations within closer reach.

“It’s like they say, you juggle a lot of balls and you’re bound to drop one every now and then,” Crystal said. “But it’s still better than not doing it.”

Smoky Mountain News

Getting those guiding techniques down is already a hard enough road, even with careful enforcement. Mary Grace has called Seeing Eye for help multiple times. She’s been pulled along on Gem’s investigations of dumpsters and other dogs. She’s given up on teaching Gem not to chase her two cats through the house.

But 5 months in, she’s starting to glimpse a seamless unity between dog and woman on the horizon.

“I think Gem is giving me some more independence,” Mary Grace said. “Yeah, I can take someone’s arm. I can do that, but it’s kind of nice knowing that I can walk inside without any help.”

As Gem demonstrates her ability to deliver, Mary Grace is able to increase her ability to trust. Both are essential ingredients to making the guide-handler relationship work.

“It was kind of nerve wracking because you’re depending on the dog and all of a sudden it was like, ‘Do I really trust her to do what I want her to do?’” Mary Grace said of the first time she and Gem crossed a street together.

“The trust takes time to earn, I think.”

Crystal Plemmons and Mary Grace Lodico, Waynesville women who use guide dogs to get around, are quick to say that their dogs aren’t pets. They’re guides. There’s a big difference between the two, and a lot of that difference has to do with how the dogs act — and interact — in public.

“If she has a harness on she’s working. You do not talk to her. You do not pet her,” Mary Grace said.

“Even if she’s lying down, she’s working. The harness means don’t try to pet her.” The reason being When in the harness, a guide that the guide dog’s attention should dog is hard at work. Holly Kays photo be fully focused on his owner and on guiding her safely. Once the dog learns how to get strangers to pet him, he loses its focus on guiding — a dangerous prospect for a person depending on the dog to lead her safely through traffic.

“If you stare at them, they’re going to want to interact with you because they know that you’re looking at them,” Crystal said. A good rule of thumb? If a service dog is wearing its harness, it’s best to treat it like it’s not even there.

“I found people sometimes want to tell her what to do. This is my job,” Mary Grace said. “I am the one who tells her what to do.” The dog must be wholly focused on his owner, on her needs and wishes. Getting orders from someone else is confusing and distracting.

Twenty years after Aaron Prevost and other community leaders provided the seed money to start the endowment, The Fund for Haywood County has reached a milestone goal by surpassing the $1 million mark.

“In two decades, our Advisory Board has recommended 84 grants to 47 different organizations, totaling just over $690,000,” said George Ivey, the chairman of the Fund’s advisory board, during a recent celebration at Twigs and Leaves Gallery in downtown Waynesville. “These funds have made a difference in Haywood County.”

The endowment consists of the Prevost Fund — funded by his estate and now totaling $631,000 — and The Fund for Haywood County, which now stands at $378,000 and has 192 donors to date. The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) manages both funds.

“In Haywood County, we can recognize the tremendous impact that one person’s generosity can have. Aaron Prevost understood the value of endowed funds and invested in his community by making a substantial planned gift,” said Elizabeth Brazas, CFWNC President. “These grants, made in partnership with The Community Foundation, support nonprofits working to support people in need, protect our cultural and natural resources, educate children and more.”

Grants from The Fund for Haywood address a wide variety of topics: • People in Need, including grants to organizations like Mountain Projects, the Habitat Re-Store, and Kids at Work.

• Education projects, including recent funding to help a leadership program for students at Hazelwood Elementary School.

• Cultural resources, including recent improvements to the Folkmoot Friendship Center.

• Food and farming projects, including a Farm-to-School program launched in partnership with the Haywood County School System.

• Natural resources and recreation, like the recent improvements to Graveyard Fields.

For more information about The Fund for Haywood County, contact Chair George Ivey at 828.648.2710. To make a tax-deductible contribution to The Fund for Haywood County, donate on-line at www.cfwnc.org, with a stock gift, or by mail to The Fund for Haywood County, P.O. Box 627, Waynesville, N.C., 28786. Contributions of any size are welcome and will enable the Fund to support more programs with local dollars.

The Community Foundation is a nonprofit serving eighteen counties in Western North Carolina. To learn more about The Community Foundation, call 828.254.4960 or visit www.cfwnc.org.

October 8-14, 2014

BECOMING A TEAM

Interacting with guide dogs

Fund for Haywood surpasses $1 million mark

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he making of a guide dog is a process that begins way before the handler touches the harness for the first time or even fills out the first page of an application. Mary Jane Gibbons should know. The Waynesville resident has raised a total of eight guide dog puppies over the years, working on the early stages of training with puppies as young as seven weeks old.

“There’s nothing cuter than a seven- or eight-week-old Labrador retriever,” Gibbons said. “You have to keep reminding yourself, ‘It’s not my dog, it’s not my dog.’”

Gibbons started raising the puppies as a way to give back, realizing that while she never found herself pitching in as a volunteer much, she did love dogs.

“These dogs love to work and they’re treated like gold,” she said.

“They go everywhere with the blind person. It’s unbelievable.”

A big focus on the early training is socialization, getting the dogs used to all kinds of people and situations and fostering the confidence that is essential to any good guide dog. When the puppies are as young as five or six months, an evaluator comes to decide if the dog has what it takes to proceed with training.

“If they think the dog has the confidence, they give it a jacket to wear that says ‘guide dog in pre-training,’” Gibbons said. “It’s amazing how quickly these dogs learn that when that coat is on, their behavior changes.”

With the jacket on, the dog is a working dog, its behavior calm, focused and as un-puppylike as a 6-month-old lab can muster.

Gibbon would take her guides-in-training to the doctor’s office, the bank, the dentist — everywhere its handler might one day want to take it.

Then, when the “There’s nothing cuter dog is 13 to 15 than a seven- or eightmonths old, it goes back to school for its week-old Labrador formal training. The separation is never an retriever. You have to easy part of the job. keep reminding yourself, “It’s like sending a child off to school,” ‘It’s not my dog, it’s not Gibbons said. “You want them to succeed, my dog.’” but you also want — Mary Jane Gibbons them back.”

Sometimes, that wish comes true. Dogs that don’t make the cut to become fullfledged guide dogs might go into police training or military training, or they might become pets. Puppy trainers get a priority spot in the line to adopt.

Gibbons has adopted two of the eight dogs she trained. One retired early due to ear problems, and another, a dog Gibbons describes as her “heart and soul,” didn’t quite make the confidence cut.

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A drive-by version of the N.C. Senate debate

A gaffe or just a fact?

A REAL WORLD PROBLEM

Smoky Mountain News

October 8-14, 2014

A candidate debate last week between N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and challenger Jane Hipps, D-Waynesville, plowed a lot of ground. Education, Medicaid, and fracking were the biggies, but the 90minute debate ran the gamut, touching on government spending, guns, charter schools, teacher salaries, higher ed, and so much more.

Stay tuned to our election coverage this month for candidate profiles and further exploration of the state issues on tap in Raleigh and on the minds of voters.

For now, here’s some top takes from last week’s debate at Western Carolina University as Hipps and Davis face off in a battle to represent the seven western counties.

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Is the state General Assembly going in the right or wrong direction?

Davis: “I own everything I’ve done down there. I believe we have made remarkable progress. I am very proud of what we are doing with North Carolina. We are moving forward. This election will determine whether we stay the course or return to failed policies of the past.”

The income tax rate was lowered and so was the corporate tax rate.

“It gives tax relief to all North Carolina families. Our actions have moved the state from the bottom to 17th best in the business tax climate. We had regulations that were stifling government, industry and individuals.”

Hipps: “I am running on values that matter to Western North Carolina. Our people are struggling all across the board. If you vote for me I will be your voice down there.

I won’t give big breaks to corporations and millionaires and billionaires and special-interest groups. I will be looking out for the middle class and the hard working people of Western North Carolina. That hasn’t happened. Jim Davis has had an opportunity for four years and he hasn’t done that.”

Hipps said economic development initiatives and infrastructure have languished, schools are in worse shape, the environment is threatened, and the middle class is worse off while the wealthy got disproportionately large tax breaks.

“We are in trouble. I intend to make a difference.”

Why did the Republican majority in Raleigh turn down federal funding to expand Medicaid to more poor people?

Davis: “Medicaid is out of control. It is the least predictable part of the state budget. That’s tantamount to ‘If you can’t afford the house you’re in, buy a bigger one.’ I am very proud we didn’t do it because we can’t afford it.”

Although the feds said they would cover the full cost of Medicaid expansion

S EE DRIVE-BY, PAGE 19

some other things that were suspect.”

One African-American woman was so upset by the comment, she confronted Davis after the forum and called him a racial slur for a white person.

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis’s remark about the diminished prospects of African-American children born to unwed mothers drew gasps from some audience members at an Oct. 2 debate at WCU. Becky Johnson photo

N.C. Senate debate gets dicey when candidates talk race

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER .C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is known for his direct and unapologetic communication style, but it landed him in hot water with some audience members at a debate held at Western Carolina University last week.

Davis made a reference during the debate to the large percentage of African-American children born to unwed mothers, which in turn made them more likely than the general population to end up in jail.

Davis had been asked about the Racial Justice Act, a Democratic initiative that predated his first term in the legislature. At issue: whether a disproportional number of African-Americans land in prison or get harsher sentences due in part to racial profiling, and whether black death row inmates in particular were due a case review.

“I agree that we shouldn’t convict somebody based on the color of their skin or the language they speak. But as far as black males being incarcerated, for Pete’s sake, 72 percent of all black children that are born in this country are born to an unwed mother. You know, 72 percent,” Davis said.

Many in the audience gasped in disbelief.

A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd but only for an instant. The room quickly fell silent — perhaps the most quiet it had been all night — to hear where Davis was going next with the statement.

“And consequently, when you have a break down of the home, these young men don’t grow up with a father figure so they are more inclined to be a burden on the education system, on public safety and public

N

health. That’s a real problem,” Davis said.

The statement has caused a stir following the debate.

“It is racism at its worst,” said Luke Hyde from Bryson City, head of a 15-county chapter of the Democratic Party in WNC. Leila Tvedt, also a Bryson City Democrat in the audience, said the statement was “idiotic” and insulted single mothers of all races.

“I don’t think the fact you come from a single-parent home predisposes you to crime,” Tvedt said.

When asked to respond to the criticism, Davis said he can’t help it if people took his comments the wrong way.

“I can’t control how people reacted to what I said. Some people go out of their way to be offended,” Davis said. “It is irreverent. It is like Martin Luther King said, ‘It is your character that matters.’”

Further, he said the term racist was being used incorrectly.

“Racism is probably not the term you mean. What you are probably talking about is bigotry or prejudice,” Davis said. “Racism means that one race is superior to another.

Scientifically it is not proven that one race is superior to another.”

While Davis said the statement should simply be taken at face value. But the comment at the forum went over like a ton of bricks with many in the audience.

“I wasn’t offended, because I was just so shocked. There was a gasp that went out through the room,” Cheyenne Graham, an AfricanAmerican WCU student, said after the forum.

“It was a shock kind of thing,” agreed Darren Blackwell, also an African-American WCU student. “I was like, ‘He just said that?’”

Trevor James, a senior majoring in communications, said the statement was in poor form.

“It is definitely not something I would have said on stage in front of a lot of people on T.V.,” said James, who is also African-American. “It says something about his character. He said

Davis said he should not be taken to task for stating a real-life statistic. Further, he doesn’t shy away from talking about a societal issue just because it is uncomfortable.

“You should know me well enough to know that I am not politically correct. I go where the data is,” Davis said after the debate.

To be clear, Davis is concerned about the societal implications of the growing number of single-parent households across all races.

“No ethnic group has any bragging points on that issue — none,” Davis said. “There is no substitute for an intact loving family unit with a father and mother.”

But, it is simply a fact, he said, that a larger percentage of African-American children are born to unwed mothers.

Davis said in an interview “those mothers, for the most part, have doomed” their children with fewer opportunities for success in life.

Kids from a single-parent home are statistically at a greater risk of not graduating from school, of getting in trouble and going to prison.

After Davis’ statement at the debate connecting the dots between the high rate of unwed black mothers and the high rate of African-Americans in prison, all eyes turned to Davis’ opponent, Jane Hipps, D-Waynesville.

“You have one minute to respond,” the moderator said.

Hipps didn’t reply directly to what Davis had just said, but instead laid out a contrasting philosophy.

“As a school counselor and a nurse practitioner, I think we have a responsibility to children who come from a broken home or unstable background,” Hipps said. “You know, 25 percent of our children in this district are hungry or below the poverty level. We need to look for ways to take care of people. We have that responsibility. If they aren’t getting it at home, we need to teach them to read, we need to feed them, we need to educate them.”

Davis believes in individual responsibility and that people should be accountable for their choices. Unfortunately, Davis said Democrats’ solution is for the government to step in and “take care of people,” as Hipps attested in her comments.

“The government does not have enough resources to solve all these problems. We need to quit incentivizing these behaviors as we have for the past 50 years,” Davis said. “I think when we enable people we enslave them to the government and I think government should empower people.”

A LONG NIGHT

Leading up to the statement that caused such a stir, the candidates had been asked specifically about the Racial Justice Act, a past Democratic initiative aimed at reviewing death penalty cases for racial bias. Hipps believes racial profiling is real. She believes it plays

S EE DEBATE, PAGE 20

Audience turns political debate into rousing spectator sport

A

A vocal audience turned the WCU debate between N.C. Sen. Jim Davis and Democratic challenger Jane Hipps into a spirited affair. Becky Johnson photo be quiet. Iobst looked at him and replied “cradle to grave, it’s true.” Morris, who was right in front of Iobst, asked him again to please be quiet out of respect.

“No,” Iobst answered.

The forum was a lot like a wedding — supporters sat on the respective sides of their candidate. Davis’ side was a sea of Republican red, with Hipps’ side awash in Democrat blue.

But as the room filled, supporters were forced to break rank in search of seats.

One woman on the Republican side turned to a man

Talk about the teacher raises given out this year.

Davis: Republicans fixed teacher pay. It was low under Democratic leadership, with N.C. ranking 46th in the nation in teacher pays in 2005.

“Where was the NCAE then? Where were you then? Did you badmouth the Republicans or Democrats then? No.” Raises this year under Republican leadership have made huge strides.

“Do you know what the rank is after the Republicans have fixed this? 32. Are we through? No. But look, teachers are a privileged group in N.C. They have received a big-

Watch the debate online A debate between candidates running for N.C. Senate in the seven western counties — including Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain — was filmed by the Canary Coalition and posted online. Go to www.smokymountainnews.com and click on this story to get the video link. ger raise than any other state employee, an average of 7.2 percent increase. So I think we are doing pretty good.”

Hipps: “I thought the teacher salary scale was just a sham.”

Further, the money to cover the raises is coming out of the education budget in other areas, like cuts to higher education. Another strategy to pay for the raises: “by hoping that poor people buy more lottery tickets.”

What are your thoughts on the state of higher education?

Davis: “The chancellor and his staff and all faculty of this university were proactive in reducing costs.”

A French professor at WCU complained at a higher ed budget forum last year that the number of French classes were being cut from seven to two.

“Well, live with it. If we don’t have the money, if students want to go to a French class, they now have two options instead of seven.

We need to make sure our universities in the state specialize in certain things. We can’t be all things to all people at all campuses. We have to make sure we are investing our money to do the most good.”

Hipps: “I think our university system is in jeopardy. In the last budget $76 million was cut from the university system.

When we continue to cut money from the university system, you lose the quality, you lose the faculty.

We have to protect the university system we have and it is eroding. Tuition has gone up. We can’t continue to pull money away from college education and put it on the backs of our young people and people who are struggling to better themselves by getting an education.”

Is fracking bad?

Davis: No. Hipps: Yes.

Smoky Mountain News

Explain your position on education funding.

Davis: Education funding has been increased under Republican control in the General Assembly, so what is all the flack about? (Davis unveiled a bar graph charting an increase in state education dollars over the

way with college kids.

In the countdown to the forum, the two candidates pressed flesh with their respective camps. At one point, Hipps left the room for a couple minutes, perhaps for a bathroom break before the debate started, and was greeted with a standing ovation from her side of the room when she walked back in.

Not to be outdone, Davis’ supporters waited until he left the room and came back in, and echoed with a standing ovation of their own.

October 8-14, 2014

the first three years and 90 percent of the tab after that, can that be trusted? Will there be strings attached?

Besides, the federal government can’t afford it either.

“How much of it is borrowed? Does anyone care about the legacy of debt we are leaving to our children and grandchildren? I do. That’s what they want us to accept — is money we don’t have, and money that we can’t pay back.”

Hipps: “I think it is a travesty that we didn’t take the Medicaid funds. This is federal money we are paying to Washington with our own tax dollars. We need to take it and use it for the best of our state.

“That is $4.9 million daily we would be bringing in. It would be $13.2 billion that we missed so far. We could have brought in 23,000 jobs in the healthcare field.”

Not expanding Medicaid means everyone else has higher medical bills, which are inflated in order to offset the cost of care for poor people who can’t pay their hospital bills.

“Our rural hospitals are suffering because of this.”

past four years.)

“We have increased education funding by over $1 billion since we’ve been in office. I mean hello? I don’t know if you are using new math or old math, but I want you to explain to everybody how that is a half a billion dollar cut.”

As a side note, though, money is not the only answer to a good education.

“D.C. spends more per student than any other state in the country and yet they rank dead last.”

Hipps: While the raw number spent on education is more, the per pupil spending is less. State education dollars haven’t kept up with the increase in students or inflation.

“We are behind $500 million in the way we fund education.

If you question this go look at the schools.

Go ask the teachers. Go ask the PTO people.

Go ask the principals. Go ask the superintendents and they will tell you they don’t have the funds for their schools they had before. We have lost teachers. We have lost teachers’ assistants. Our children are lacking textbooks.

You tell me the money is coming in at a higher rate. It’s not. We are losing. We are behind. Our children are in jeopardy.”

DRIVE-BY, CONTINUED FROM 18

wearing a Hipps button who had sat down behind her and said he belonged on the other side of the room, but he pointed out there were no chairs left on that side.

Spectators began arriving an hour before the start of the forum, and within half an hour from show time, the room was well on its way to being full. Those arriving too much later ended up in an overflow room.

Hipps’ campaign had set up in the lobby before the forum handing out free pizza and cake — including four-layer German chocolate — which was offered to anyone, despite party affiliation.

It was not, however, an attempt at vote buying, the campaign said, although free pizza is known to go a long

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BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER debate between N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and his challenger Jane Hipps, D-Waynesville, last week was lively, testy, heated, fiery and passionate — and that’s just talking about the audience.

Despite ground rules laid down by the moderator at the start of the debate expressly prohibiting cheering and jeering alike, the electrified audience had the air of spectators at a sporting event. With a crowd of 300 strong, it was a better turn out than expected for the third and final debate in the inaugural debate series hosted by the Western Carolina University Public Policy Institute and political science department.

The energy manifested early in the evening, when low hisses and tsk-tsking followed Davis’ first few responses.

After the moderator failed to keep the displays in check, Davis eventually called out the audience himself, referring to “those of you being disrespectful out there.” When it continued, he more pointedly asked them to stop.

“Whoever is hissing over there, you don’t do your candidate any favors. You aren’t showing any respect and you should just leave,” Davis said.

Davis showed the same willingness to chastise his own side when they booed Hipps later in the forum.

“Please,” Davis said, holding up his hand, palm out, toward the offending corner of the room, before turning back to Hipps.

But the agitated audience wasn’t willing to be quelled completely.

Carl Iobst, a conservative activist in the audience from Sylva, started chanting “cradle to grave, cradle to grave,” when Davis criticized the nanny-state philosophy.

Ed Morris of Franklin, who was wearing a Hipps sticker and pro-Democrat shirt, turned around and asked Iobst to

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Maggie Valley plans yard sale

DEBATE, CONTINUED FROM 18

The town of Maggie Valley will hold a yard sale on Oct. 25 beside Maggie Valley United Methodist Church.

Donations may be left under the covered deck at the barn behind the Maggie Valley United Methodist Church. Workers move items inside on a regular basis.

Maggie craft show conducts food drive

Smoky Mountain News

October 8-14, 2014

Maggie Valley Methodist Church has joined with the organizers of the Maggie Valley October Leaves Craft Show to conduct a food drive to replenish their food pantry shelves. The craft show and food drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Oct. 11 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.

The event is free.

In order to make the food drive a successful event, MV Craft Shows will conduct a raffle of handmade crafts donated by many of the talented artisans. To receive a raffle ticket and chance to win a donated craft, bring a non-perishable food item or a donation (needed items include pet food, diapers and tissue) to the Maggie Valley October Leaves Craft Show. You do not have to be present to win. The Maggie Valley Methodist Church will provide volunteers to help with the collection and distribution process.

some role in the abnormally high percentage of African-American men accused of crimes.

“We don’t need to be racially profiling.

We need to be a country that accepts all of our people. That’s not right,” Hipps said.

Davis suggested racial profiling is a scapegoat and a trumped-up excuse used by criminals trying to escape justice.

“More than 90 percent of black males who commit a crime are committing crimes against other blacks. That is not racial profiling. They are victims of blacks — same color,” Davis said.

Following the debate, Hipps said Davis’ comment was “disparaging” and showed a “lack of understanding and sensitivity.” She said the comment was symptomatic of Davis’ being “out of touch.”

Hipps took Davis to task over his choice of words during the debate itself as well.

During an exchange over the Republican-led teacher salary increases handed out this year, Davis questioned why teachers aren’t more grateful for the sizeable pay increase they got.

“I am so frustrated with these teachers who never seem to be happy. We dedicated $282 million to teacher raises — an average of 7.2 percent. We are well on our way,” Davis said. “If you are a teacher and you don’t understand numbers, I don’t know what you are doing teaching in the classroom.”

When the floor was turned back over to Hipps, she asked any teachers in the audience to raise their hand.

“My opponent just referred to you as

Jane Hipps makes a point during the debate at Western Carolina University.

Becky Johnson photo

‘these’ teachers. In the last debate he referred to children as ‘those’ children,” Hipps said.

Hipps insinuated that Davis was labeling.

But that is partly Davis’ speech style. He often uses the word “these” or “those” when referring to a group or subset of society.

Hipps makes a point of using the word “our.” She referred during the debate to “our children,” “our teachers” and “our people.”

WCU Junior Connor Hicks, a communications major at WCU, said he’s learned as a communications major that you don’t use words like “those” to refer to sectors of society.

Another awkward moment in the debate emerged during a discussion of immigration.

Davis said immigration is a federal issue, not

a state issue. But, he added, the borders should be more tightly controlled.

“We may have some Arabs coming through there that may do us harm,” Davis said.

That wasn’t a popular statement either with Davis’ critics.

“One thing that bothers me is we all have certain rights as human beings. Respect is something we are due,” said Joan Mackey, a Democrat in Haywood County, speaking in the lobby following the debate.

But given how polarized the audience was from the get go — most wore their affiliation on their sleeve with buttons, stickers, shirts or pins — it’s unlikely many voters were going to be swayed one way or the other that night anyway.

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Haywood moves forward with landfill remediation

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ork is underway on a multi-milliondollar environmental remediation project on the Old Francis Farm landfill near Waynesville. The first load of dirt was dumped Oct. 7, and on Oct. 6 Haywood County Commissioners approved a $44,500 contract for McGill Associates Engineering to do construction, landfill permitting and stockpile design for the fill dirt.

“It’s been a whirlwind of work from our

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Airel view of Old Francis Farm landfill. Donated photo

October 8-14, 2014 Smoky Mountain News

side, the engineers’ side, and the N.C. DOT,” David Francis, the county’s tax administrator, told commissioners.

The landfill, which was built in the 1970s, was constructed under looser environmental regulations than are in place today. Since closing, the county has been plagued with issues of methane seepage and water contamination to adjacent properties.

Now, the county is working to construct a new cap on top of the old landfill to keep rainwater from leaching through the stored waste and out into the surrounding ground.

In August, it purchased a property adjacent to the landfill that had been contaminated and will use that area to store the 100,000 cubic feet of soil it will take to construct the cap.

Buying the soil outright would have cost $1.35 million, but nearby road construction to build a new interchange at N.C. 209 and U.S. 74/23 allowed them to get the material for only the price of hauling it, $390,000. If the problem were to go unremedied, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources could fine the county as much as $30,000 per day.

The county expects that addressing issues with the landfill will cost them plenty more dollars before it’s all done, likely at least $5 million.

“It’s still going to be a considerable cost, but we didn’t have any choice in that,” said Commission Chairman Mark Swanger.

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Bridging the gap Alternative school gets $1.4 million to offer comprehensive help to struggling youth

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ucked away on the corner of Kentucky and Virginia avenues in the old Hazelwood Elementary School building, the Alternative Learning Center in Waynesville doesn’t look much like a high school. It’s got just four classrooms, and a stroll through the hall during school hours doesn’t reveal the usual scene of a teacher standing in front of orderly rows of desks. In fact, though about 200 students are enrolled at any one time, only 40 or 50 show up each day.

“Lots of students are facing obstacles with their family life, or they may need to support their children, or they may be pregnant or have children,” said Caroline Williamson, ALC’s program coordinator.

“We meet students’ needs where they are in their journey.”

The ALC is a place for students to go for their high school education when, for whatever reason, the traditional set-up just isn’t working for them. Though afternoon activities get creative with some interdisciplinary project-based learning, the school relies on an online platform for its core subjects. That allows students to work from home instead of coming to the school building every day.

Students might take just one class at a time or a full load, depending on what else is going on in their lives. “[If] a kid walks in and he’s working 70 hours because he’s self-supporting, we need to make a way for that kid to keep his 70hour job and pay his bills, but at the same

October 8-14, 2014

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time do his studies,” explained Kyle Ledford, ALC director.

It can be a hard job for the ALC staff.

They’re working with kids with varied backgrounds and life situations, trying to teach a high school curriculum while at the same time guiding them toward a successful posthigh school future.

A MILLION-DOLLAR IDEA A $1.4 million federal grant the ALC recently landed could make that easier. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant, to be disbursed over four years, will allow the school to almost double its teaching staff, expand its academic programming, offer classes year-round and provide support for parents and high school grads working toward a next step. The school’s vision is to become a hub of resources and help for people who just need a leg up to become self-sufficient.

“When I was young, school was the center of the community,” Ledford said. “Now it’s not, for whatever reason. We’re going to try to be more in the center of the community.

We’re going to try to be a place

where people in the community look to for help to do whatever it is they want to do.”

The ALC is already pretty communityoriented, but they’re limited in what they can do. Pinpointing the specific needs of each of 200 teenagers with a staff of four teachers is just plain impossible. Using the grant money, the ALC will nearly double its teaching staff to hire three new fulltime teachers. In the meantime, administrators will look for new grants to take over when this one dries up. With the programs in place, doing so should be an easier task than starting from scratch.

“If you’re not doing the job, you don’t get the money,” Ledford explained. “We’ve been the youth contractor for 30 years because we’ve always done the job. Most of these funding streams are based on performance so if you perform you have the ability to do it again.”

GETTING TO THE ROOT The job that Ledford envisions the ALC doing is a four-pronged approach to success that would begin before students even enter

Matt Tingle strums a mandolin while meeting with a staff member. Holly Kays photos

Smoky Mountain News

Clayton McCracken, Daniel Burress and Cudden Smathers talk with Jim Geenan of Haywood Gleaners.

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high school. The plans include a 20-day transition program for rising high school freshman who are considered to be at risk of dropping out. The program will teach organizational skills needed to do well at school, as well as practical lessons such as how much it costs to own a car or a home.

Students will also create a 10-year plan to start thinking about what might come after high school.

The hope is that this kind of preparation would give the students the boost they need to start high school out on the right foot and, eventually, earn their diploma.

“That’s where all the research tells you [that] you lose kids the most,” Ledford said.

“That transition is so difficult. That’s where we feel we’ll make the most headway.”

Once the grant-funded programs go into effect, regular school hours will continue as normal, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. every weekday.

ALC teachers are now getting training in 21st Century Learning techniques, which will make the classroom a more active place.

And after 2 p.m. the ALC will start offering a diversity of programs aimed at bridging all those gaps that traditional school can’t address.

“Why does a kid not attend [school]?

That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to get to the root cause,” Ledford said.

Students will be able to get academic tutoring before normal school hours, and from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., those looking for a challenge will have a chance to take Advanced Placement classes. These are high school courses designed to teach to a college level. If students pass a standardized test given at the end of the year, they earn college credit.

“That’s something that’s not readily available during the school day,” Ledford said.

“Schools have to make special schedules for those types of things.”

Programming will continue through 7 or 7:30 p.m., with offerings looking beyond the immediate requirements of high school curriculum. Students will be able to take classes in healthy cooking and eating, learn parenting skills, get pre-apprenticeship training and get help with the transition from high school to community college.

GUIDING THE TRANSITION Ledford and Williamson think the apprenticeship and transition help will become hugely important.

“This is going to help us add things after graduation day that will allow us to help these kids longer and, I think, do our job better, because we’re going to be able to see it through,” Ledford said.

Even now, the folks at the ALC find themselves getting plenty of calls from former students who need help. Some call because a friend or relative they were living with dies or moves away, Williamson said, and “others call when they become pregnant or need a job. I’ve gotten lots of contacts recently — ‘I need a job. Do you have any openings?’”

Then, Williamson will find herself reeling off a list of local businesses where the young adult on the

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Become a mentor news

The Alternative Learning Center is looking for people willing to mentor its students.

Mentors and mentees can meet as often or as little as the pair agrees on, but the goal is to give students a role model to lean on when navigating their own maze of life decisions.

To apply, contact Caroline Williamson at 828.454.6590, ext. 106.

other end of the line might have some more luck.

Other students just need help seeing the steps between them and their final goal.

They might not know how to fill out a FASFA form, how to go about applying to college or how to look for scholarship money. Or, they might not have the most thought-through career plan to begin with.

“A kid walks in and you say, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ and he says, ‘I want to be a marine biologist.’

‘Where do you live? On Crabtree [Road]?

Do you want to move to a big city?’ ‘No, I want to stay right here,’” Ledford said, reciting a version of a conversation he’s had many times. “Either you haven’t thought about what a marine biologist is or you think the ocean is coming to Crabtree.”

THE FAMILY PICTURE

October 8-14, 2014 Smoky Mountain News

Sometimes, the parents of ALC students also have those same struggles. They need more training to get ahead in their job, or they don’t have a handle on how to prepare healthy meals without breaking the bank, or they need to brush up on their reading and basic math skills.

The new programs will be aimed at parents, too.

“You’ve got endless volumes of research that talk about education being the springboard by which upward mobility is built on,” Ledford said. “We feel like by offering students and parents we’re going to get the parents involved, by which the students will then be more involved.”

Ledford cited research indicating that those kinds of interventions save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, because they keep the government from having to pay for social services and incarceration.

The same goes for the students.

“Five hundred thousand dollars apiece is what North Carolina has to spend on these kids should they not get a diploma,” Ledford said.

The school has already graduated 428 students since it opened in 2007, students who otherwise would have dropped out.

With the grant money, Ledford and Williamson are hoping the impacts — social and economic — will multiply.

The plan is to spend the next month or so nailing down the specifics and start rolling it out in November or December. By January, Ledford said, the new and improved ALC should be in full swing.

“The whole picture of this grant, I guess,” Williamson said, “would be that I hope our students and their families become sustainable.”

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owntown Sylva property owners will still have to replace any plywood currently covering up windows, but they will be provided with more time to do so.

In September, the Sylva Board of Commissioners considered a trio of ordinance amendments aimed at shoring up both aesthetics and safety in the downtown area. One of the amendments disallowed structures with exteriors of metal siding or concrete blocks, while a second targeted manufactured housing in the district. Those two passed.

The third, dealing with plywood window coverings — of which there are numerous in the downtown area — gave commissioners pause. They feared that mandating the upgrades within six months would be too financially burdensome on property owners.

After directing the Sylva Planning Board to address their concerns, commissioners again considered the amendment last week. They unanimously approved the revisited version.

“It basically is six windows the first year, and it focuses on the timeline, with six windows every year after that,” explained Sylva Town Manager Paige Roberson.

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During a downtown fire in August, firefighters were delayed by plywood coverings on windows.

OCT. 11 & 12 • OCT. 18 & 19

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Smoky Mountain News

October 8-14, 2014

Arts & Craft Show

Sylva allows more time for window replacements

In addition to attempting to make the downtown area — which recently landed on the National Historic Register — more visually appealing, the board set their sights on the plywood window coverings due to safety concerns as well. During a downtown fire in August, firefighters were delayed when they had to gain entry into structures by cutting second-story plywood coverings with chainsaws.

While the revisited and approved ordinance amendment addressed commissioners’ concerns, the changes did not ease the mind of attorney Paul Holt. He had previously raised concerns about his Main Street office, which long ago incorporated permanently covered ground-floor windows into his property.

Holt told commissioners he didn’t feel that the planning board had addressed his concerns. Town Attorney Eric Ridenour suggested that the board could pass the ordinance amendment then offer Holt an exemption.

“Is that something we can do tonight?” asked Commissioner Mary Gel Baugh.

Ridenour replied that it was.

Commissioners then approved the amendment, then immediately exempted Holt’s 702 W. Main St. property.

— Jeremy Morrison, News Editor

Franklin approves residential loop for commercial zoning

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Miguel Santos, 15, gives the town board his family’s perspective as residents of the rezoned lot. Holly Kays photo

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER aywood County Commissioners have released a collection of minutes from closed sessions going back to August 2013, detailing discussions surrounding the sale of Haywood Regional Medical Center to Duke LifePoint Healthcare.

The now-public documents deal with the bidding process, site visits to potential buyers and county commissioners’ questions surrounding the process.

Before the hospital sale the hospital was publicly owned,

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The reason for the rezoning request is to make the property’s zoning consistent with that surrounding it. The properties abutting the parcels in question are predominantly zoned commercial. when he says he won’t evict the families, said Handley, who knows Gillespie, but of course there’s no guarantee for how a future owner might handle the property.

“At this point I believe what they’re going to do is what they say they’re going to do, but if they sell it a new owner wouldn’t be stuck with the same commitment,” Handley said.

Rezoning approved at Highlands Road In addition to rezoning a small piece of property off Clyde Street, Franklin aldermen also approved a second parcel for rezoning at their Oct. 6 meeting. A 3.2-acre parcel on Highlands Road, formerly residential, was approved for Commercial Three zoning, one step below industrial.

Two residents from the neighborhood delivered comment requesting a forested buffer zone between their properties and any development that might occur there. Town Planner Justin Setser advised the board they couldn’t institute a buffer greater than the 10-foot one automatically required but said that the hill at the property edge would create a natural buffer.

Aldermen voted unanimously for the rezoning, citing benefits to the tax base.

“That one space is sitting empty there on Highlands road, and they can’t do anything with it,” Alderwoman Joyce Handley said.

and commissioners had to approve and sign off on the sale. closed session minutes related to the hospital.

Because those decisions had to do with financial bargaining Commissioners also released a list of closed session minpositions and competitive healthcare utes that had been approved— strategy, they were confidential and including the subject that each couldn’t be discussed in a public sesaddressed— but were not being sion. released to the public.

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and However, minutes were still kept, “We’re still doing cleanup busiclick on this story to see the newly as dictated by state open meeting ness after that transaction, quite a released closed session minutes relating laws. As time passes and the reasons bit of it,” Dove said. “As time goes on to the hospital sale. for the meeting being closed are no and those things get resolved, the longer applicable, the minutes reasons become less.” become public.

For decades, the hospital has “Once the source of the business is out in the public been publicly run and led by a county-appointed hospital already, then there’s no need to keep it closed,” explained board, making hospital dealings public record. With Duke County Manager Ira Dove.

LifePoint now owning the hospital, it is a private for-profit However, the closed session minutes do not include all business, and its dealings are confidential.

Web exclusive

Smoky Mountain News

New documents released surrounding hospital sale

“The way you have to think is not the way I like to think,” she added.

The main question before the board, agreed Alderwoman Joyce Handley, was whether rezoning would hurt or help the tax base.

“It is surrounded on three sides by commercial property and it just kind of evens up the commercial without really doing any harm to the residential area,” added Vice Mayor Verlin Curtis.

It’s probably a safe bet to believe Gillespie

October 8-14, 2014

“I would sure appreciate a little help,” Holland told the town board. “If I could change it to commercial, maybe it will help me get some rental property in there and I can clean it up a little bit.”

Originally, the planning board had recommended denying the rezoning because the one-lane gravel road that runs through the property was considered too narrow to accommodate commercial use. But the owners have since changed their application to include upgrading to a two-lane, 16-foot-wide road using the 30-foot right-of-way on the current road.

“Being that was the main concern, that alleviated a lot of the concern the planning board had,” said Justin Setser, town planner.

Town Attorney John Henning told the board that they could only approve or deny the property for the purposes allowed in

Commercial Two zoning, not make provisions about how the property could or could not be used after rezoning. That happens only when going through a conditional use permit process.

But, Henning said, “That’s not the process we wound up with even though that’s where Mr. Setser and myself thought it probably should go.”

The board then approved the rezoning with little followup discussion. The approval, board members said afterward, was based on consideration of what would be best for the town in the long run, economically speaking.

“We have to take a view of what’s right for town planning.

We can’t judge by what he [Gillespie] says he’s going to do or what everyone else says they’re going to do,” said Alderwoman Barbara McRae, who has served on the town planning board in the past.

news

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he Franklin Town Board unanimously approved a petition to rezone a small piece of property off Clyde Street at its meeting Oct. 6, but the public comment preceding that decision was far from unanimous.

“My main concern is if it does become commercial, things may change and some of the improvements we’ve done to our home will start to fade,” Miguel Santos, 15, told the board, “and I would just really appreciate it if it would stay residential for the peace of our neighborhood and our home.”

Though only a teenager, Santos gave comment for his family because the rest of them don’t speak English. While a portion of the 1.14-acre property surrounding the loop road Traces Place now sits empty, part of the property currently houses six modular homes mostly occupied by people whose first language is Spanish. The families own the homes but not the land they sit on, and they rent the land month-to-month without a written lease.

“They have worked extremely hard with home improvements, and my concern is if it’s changed from residential to commercial we are losing a very affordable ownership that these families have had,” said Trisha Severin, a Franklin resident and friend of the families, at the public hearing.

However, the property owners said, the families don’t have anything to worry about.

“We have absolutely no plans to do anything different with that property than what’s there,” said Karl Gillespie, who owns the portion of the 1.14 acres that houses the homes.

“We feel like we have a great group of people that rents those trailer lots.”

The reason for the rezoning request, said Gillespie and Donald Holland, who owns the remainder of the property, is simply to make the property’s zoning consistent with that surrounding it. The properties abutting the parcels in question are predominantly zoned commercial.

Holland has had offers to use his portion of the property, located at the end of the road and without any homes on it, for commercial purposes such as parking trucks, but so far he hasn’t legally been allowed to use it that way.

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Opinion Celebrate community, support local (newspapers) W Smoky Mountain News

N.C. Democrats go conservative To the Editor: The dictionary definition of “conservative” is, “Holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation.”

How does that definition square with today’s elected Republican actions and agenda?

By definition you would think Republicans would want lower taxes for as many people as possible. That is a very traditional value. Yet unless you make more than about $90,000 a year, your overall taxes went up. A conservative businessman, when facing hard times, would cut his expenses and do everything possible to increase his income. Yet the “conservative” N.C. legislature cut the state’s income by giving the largest tax breaks in state history to the wealthiest 1 percent of our citizens. The state is now facing a very serious deficit. This will have to be made up either by additional cuts to education and Medicaid or by increased taxes on the poor and middle class and more increased fees for every possible service.

There can be no more traditional values than good schools. Over the last 50 years there has been a bipartisan effort in the N.C. Legislature to create one of the best school systems in the South. That is, until now. Recently, a national rating company listed N.C. as the worst state for a person considering a career in teaching. This ranking did not take into consideration the 5 percent pay raise given to new teachers which, incidentally, was paid for by cutting other portions of the education budget. Career teachers got next to nothing.

What could be a more traditional value than protecting the very land and water that

others wait until they get to work, where they steal time to surf websites or perhaps read the paper. Throughout the day some of us get updates on our phones, then perhaps seek out the larger story online.

Digital delivery of news is a fantastic commodity whose business model is still being developed. A small handful of news organizations have figured out a way to stay in business, but no one claims to have it completely figured it out on a large scale.

Editor Which brings me back to the newspaper and National Newspaper Week.

Those of us in this business sometimes fear for the future of print, but then reality sets in: those who truly want to be part of a local community, who really want to know the place they live, still pick up a local paper. It’s not just the stories, which are a vital part, but also the news about local businesses you’ll find in the advertisements.

Smaller newspapers still cover news that no one else will touch. That’s our lifeblood and our passion. Check out this

Scott McLeod

hen National Newspaper Week (Oct. 5-11) was started 74 years ago, there wasn’t much competition for newspapers. If you didn’t read the paper, you just didn’t know what was going on around the world or in your hometown.

Now that’s not the case. Internet search engines have put thousands of news sites at our fingertips. Social media helps us keep up with friends and family and whole communities of like-minded people.

But I consider myself lucky. That’s because my generation (I’m 54) will probably be the last that remembers parents who got up almost every single morning of their lives and walked outside to the newspaper tube or driveway, sometimes in pajamas or housecoats, to pick up the paper. At my house I would wait — most of the time impatiently, but being the youngest I was at the bottom of the pecking order — for parents and siblings to finish a section I wanted so I could read it before running off to school. Memories of that morning ritual are a cherished part of my childhood.

Today many have the same habit, but now we’re divided, split and fractured. For many it’s just a few steps to the tablet or laptop instead of the driveway. That daily dose of data is retrieved just as often from websites as it is a newspaper. Many

make this state such a special place to live? Yet the response by the N.C. legislature to coal ash spills by Duke Energy, the reversal of almost all environmental laws and the approval of fracking seem to be the very opposite of traditional values. In every case, the beneficiaries of these changes are large out-ofstate corporations, not the citizens of North Carolina.

Conservatism values the individual. Every individual should count. Yet the state legislature recently passed the most draconian voter suppression law in the country. A federal judge, while ruling on this law, asked the attorney representing the state, “Why does the state of North Carolina not want people to vote?” Of course the answer is, “voter fraud.” The number of actual voting fraud cases in the state, however, can be counted one hand. This is simply a naked attempt to suppress minorities, elderly, youth and poor from voting. Maybe that is a Republican value. But it is not a conservative value.

If you call yourself a conservative, think about what that means. Look around and see who represents those values you hold so dear.

Louis Vitale Franklin

Midterms a chance to change leadership To the Editor: Our country is in a heap of trouble. Ebola has now been introduced into the United States. In the Mideast ISIS is running rampant killing and beheading while announcing they intend to bring their fight to the United States. Our borders are open, allowing anyone to slip in and move about the country freely.

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week’s stories about the district attorney’s race or the firsthand account of Balsam Range’s success at the International Bluegrass Music Awards in Raleigh. That’s what we love to do, and those who want to read about in online rather than in the newspaper can still feed their habit. But no one else is doing these stories.

We are also fortunate that a movement small newspapers have been touting for decades — buy local, support local — is now spreading throughout the community on many different levels. I get irate when the school system or the county government or the U.S. Park Service chooses a national vendor over an equally capable local company.

Makes no sense. No one wants to live in a community that is nothing but chain stores and chain restaurants and where local government awards every contract to companies headquartered a thousand miles away. That’s not who we are as a community.

I’m not usually so blatant, but this week I’ll do it: support your local papers, all of them. They are part of the fabric that helps make Western North Carolina a great place to live.

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

LETTERS What a mess!

Leadership from the top level of government is grossly lacking. And yes, that means leadership from the President of the United States. He does not take the advice of his military experts who have laid out the plan needed to defeat ISIS. Instead we are dilly-dallying with ineffective bombing and still talking about what to do next.

He refuses to command our borders be closed and to co-operate with the states that are trying to do that on their own. He has sent troops to West Africa to fight the Ebola virus and in the meantime the virus is here in the United States. Every day he blames others for the lack of solutions to these very serious problems.

The main role of the U.S. government is to protect our citizens. Recently because the White House protection by the Secret Service was breached, the head of the Secret Service resigned and security there has been tightened. There is continual talk about protecting our troops and keeping them out of harm’s way. There certainly is nothing wrong with those goals, but what about us … the American people? We are vulnerable and in grave danger.

Barak Obama is not doing the job to protect us and neither are Democrats in Congress who go right along with him. Our Sen. Kay Hagan has supported Obama 96 percent of the time. I doubt she will change that record if re-elected. So unless Hagan and other Democrats are sent home, there is no hope of increased protection for us there.

I am increasingly concerned and truly afraid for our country, my family and all of us.

As a country we seem to be befuddled and are being run by incompetents. This condition

must change, and we have a chance to do it with our vote in this midterm election.

Carol Adams Glenville

Take back our sacred property rights To the Editor: There has been a lot of discussion regarding environmental impacts of fracking, yet two areas have not been discussed much. One is the social impacts that hundreds of transient workers bring, and the other is property rights issues. I want to speak on the latter.

The state geographic regions targeted for fracking are in areas owned and occupied by farmers and rural landowners. These folks tend to be the most uninformed about fracking due to the lack of accurate information available to them, yet they are the ones that will be most negatively impacted by fracking.

In Lee, Chatham and Moore counties, there are more than 2,000 farms that involve over 220,000 acres of farmland. There are documented cases in other states of farmers being negatively impacted by fracking to the point that it is severely affecting their livelihood. On Friday, Sept. 12, several individuals from other states spoke at the MEC hearing who were firsthand witnesses to the horrors of wastewater spills, deliberate spraying of toxic wastewater on back roads, failing cement well casings and negligent drilling companies who have no regard for people living next to these wells. We heard about cows dying by the hundreds from what can only be determined by vets as arsenic poisoning, calves being stillborn or with blue or white eyes; another indi-

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LETTERS, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 cation of poisoning. The stories go on and on regarding poisoned dogs, cats, chicken, livestock and horses. While it is sad when a family loses a pet, it can be financially devastating when a farmer loses numerous animals that he depends on for his subsistence.

In North Carolina there’s a 1940s policy called Compulsory Pooling. It was originally designed to prevent a landowner’s minerals or resources being depleted by a neighbor’s well. This policy is now being used in the fracking industry to force landowners who do not sign drilling leases to be pulled into a property group of landowners who have signed drilling leases. An oil company is required to have a certain amount of acreage in order to place a well pad. Forced pooling is a method of pulling in non-consenting property owners and basically forcing them to lease their land. Most landowners don’t consult with an attorney before signing land leases to oil companies.

Folks in Western North Carolina have a long-standing adverse history with the government concerning land rights. Mountain people have long memories regarding situations where they feel the government “cheated” them. Any local can regale you with their version of the TVA dam, the Road to Nowhere or the Trail of Tears, complete with a personal family history attached to these events. Emotions run deep when you mention forcibly separating a property owner without their consent.

With the passing of Bill 286, the government has given oil companies permission to do just that. I’m unsure Sen. Jim Davis, RFranklin, knew what he was doing when he co-sponsored the fracking bill. Based on his waffling in the past couple of months, I’m not sure he does either. Either way, it’s obvious he’s not in touch with the people WNC. The ones I know are a proud, resilient, hardworking breed who don’t take kindly to strangers coming in and telling them what they can do with their land. It’s time we stick together. Demand the moratorium reinstatement.

Susan Leading Fox Bryson City

Smoky Mountain News

Hipps will make education a priority

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To the Editor: I am a retired classroom teacher and worked in Haywood County Schools for 37 years. During the past two years I have been disappointed and concerned over the decisions that have been made by the Republican-led legislature and governor that directly affect the lives of the citizens of North Carolina.

A lot of valuable time has been spent at the taxpayers’ expense, especially in the area of education. I am pleased that teachers received a raise, but this turned out to be very misleading. Only beginning teachers received a significant amount. Many veteran teachers received less than 1 percent, and many didn’t receive any raise at all. We need

to retain all teachers, and there isn’t any substitute for experience. Teachers have lost tenure and longevity pay, and those who are working toward advanced degrees don’t have any assurance that they will receive extra money for having obtained their degree.

Thousands of teacher assistant positions have been eliminated and teachers have to cope with more students in their classes, inadequate supplies, outdated textbooks and not enough books for all students to have a copy to take home.

Once an educator, always an educator, and I think Jane Hipps is the candidate that can help put North Carolina Public Schools back on track. I have known Jane since she came to Haywood County. She spent more than 30 years working in the county school system. She understands what educators need in order to bring North Carolina schools into the future. Jane also has a degree in nursing earned after retiring from Haywood County Schools. She will work to secure healthcare for all citizens, jobs for those who need them, and try to help people in all areas of life.

Sen. Jim Davis seems to think that teachers should be able to manage a classroom with more students, less materials, less pay, and without teacher assistants. His wife taught in California in the 1980s and she didn’t have teacher assistants, so evidently he doesn’t think they are needed. Sen. Davis can’t understand what teachers are fussing and griping about. After all, they got a raise.

Sen. Davis also thinks that public libraries aren’t important, and that they are becoming obsolete. If he wants a book, he just goes to a bookstore and buys it. This isn’t a solution for the majority of North Carolina citizens. I am a member of the Haywood County Friends of the Library Book Sale Committee, and we work from September to July to hold an annual book sale. We made over $30,000 this past July to benefit the library. The books were priced so that everyone could afford them. Hundreds of people took advantage of this opportunity to have books to read.

It seems that the Republican-led Legislature and governor didn’t have any clear vision or agenda for the laws that were passed. Every decision that was made at the state level was intended to suppress our values and freedoms. They have allowed doubts, fears, and paranoia to guide their decisions. Don’t ever underestimate revenge.

It is a very powerful motive.

Gail Leatherwood Lake Junalusk

Preserving air and water quality important To the Editor: Becky Johnson’s report on the Canton and paper mill landfills gives me a muchneeded better understanding of the massive mounds that have been accumulating beside I-40 I’ve been passing by over the years.

While I knew that these landfills were predominately being developed from wastes of the paper mill, I did not have any knowledge

LOOKING FOR OPINIONS The Smoky Mountain News encourages readers to express their opinions through letters to the editor or guest columns. All viewpoints are welcome. Send to Scott McLeod at info@smokymountainnews.com., fax to 828.452.3585, or mail to PO Box 629, Waynesville, NC, 28786. of how hydrology from these landfills would be affecting neighbors’ well water nor the river from outflows.

Certainly the hydrologic contamination patterns must be interrupted as we are accumulating massive amounts of coal ash.

Moving accumulated elements from coal beds in Kentucky or elsewhere and concentrating them in coal ash as waste byproducts does not address how the hydrology in our local environment will be affecting us.

Unlike the coal ash ponds near the generating plants, drying coal ash dumps must be a better way, as the Evergreen Packaging plant is currently doing. The next question to ask is how are the pollutants from the landfill operations for the wastewater treatment plant finally dealt with?

Air pollution and water pollution are linked also. When I was a child, little was known about managing pollutants from Canton’s paper mill and Enka’s rayon plant.

There were occasional days that the odors from one or both those plants drifted through the morning air to our farm in the Fruitland Community east of Hendersonville. Those air pollutants were being dealt with much better in recent years and somewhere those air pollutants had to either be decomposed or dispersed in other ways, meaning some may have made its way into water. This was followed by procedures to clear up water hydrology and this has been a significant advancement in the past couple of decades. It is good to have a local agent, Marc Pruett, and state agent, David Ramey, oversee these operations.

Keeping our mountain air and water fresh and clean is always a primary need for all those living or visiting here.

Dan Pittillo Sylva

Tillis, Davis responsible for increased premiums To the Editor: Rep. Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, has been running ads that say N.C. citizens are paying more for health insurance because U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan supported the Affordable Care Act. In fact, you can thank Tillis and Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, for increasing your health care premiums by $1,000 every year.

They were both key figures in blocking the expansion of Medicaid in our state for 500,000 citizens that would have quality health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act, but now have no insurance at all.

Hospitals and other caregivers still have

to provide these people with the care they need even if they can’t afford to pay for it and have no insurance. In order to stay in business our hospitals have to cost shift this uncompensated care to those with private health insurance. This cost-shifting results in an average premium increase of $1,000 per year for every person in North Carolina with private insurance.

Tillis and Davis are also responsible for the deaths of hundreds of our low-income friends and neighbors because of this lack of quality health care. Are Tillis and Davis really the kind of representative you want?

Ed Morris, MD Franklin

Protect the treasures of WNC from frackers To the Editor: This is my first written word, publicly in 20 years. I pray that it be as in the will of the Father in that I commit this time, for I feel from the depths of my heart that protecting the poor innocent people with property left in the Smokies and this paradise of creation the Father blessed our Native Americans with. As a Marine I was ready, willing and quite capable of fighting to the death to defend my home and my neighbors. That feeling of protecting and serving should never leave a man who has ever served America.

So it is today with the men and women who commit to defend our civil laws, I look at this solidarity with the spirit of protecting those who need protecting the most. I say we are shepherds protecting the sheep. It is with that purpose of thought that I commit myself and the ancient church to defend Western North Carolina, especially. For it has been my home for some time. Yes, as that Marine of Marines to defend my paradise, to await the return, yes, defend the land and the people from the fracker people.

Their greed will poison and destroy even to put innocent poorer people in their graves.

These fracker kinds of people have a very, very dark but clear record in many other states today.

It is in this regard I would truly thank our county manager and staff, our county commissioners, our Bryson City mayor and his town council. I would also thank all the organizations that swiftly mobilized as a fighting force of purpose, to defend WNC. This defense to me personally is as real as any terrorist threat from anywhere else in the world. I think I have said enough for now. Thank all you again. The men and women of Swain County, Bryson City and the Nation of Cherokee who have committed to protect and serve.

I pray that each and every one of us, as with one spirit would pledge to vote for men and women who will fight the fracker or anyone else who would invade and destroy even one of our citizens, or his land in WNC. Swain County, you are the first to make a unified stand. Thank you from the depths of my heart.

Raymond Judson McGill Bryson City

tasteTHEmountains Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251 A TASTE OF NEW ORLEANS 67 Branner Ave., Waynesville, 828.246.0885. 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days a week. Curtis Henry opened A Taste of New Orleans to cater to the locals and become the place that’s always open that you can rely on for different, flavorful dishes every day.

Serving Cajun, French and Creole Cuisine in a lovingly restored space, Curtis looks forward to serving you up a delicious dish soon.

AMMONS DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT & DAIRY BAR 1451 Dellwwod Rd., Waynesville.

828.926.0734. Open 7 days a week 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Celebrating over 25 years. Enjoy world famous hot dogs as well as burgers, seafood, hushpuppies, hot wings and chicken.

Be sure to save room for dessert. The cobbler, pie and cake selections are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun fami-

ly atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slow-simmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts. Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily. Brown bagging is permitted. Private parties, catering, and take-out available. Call-ahead seating available.

BOGART’S 303 S. Main St., Waynesville. 828.452.1313.

Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Carry out available. Located in downtown Waynesville, Bogart’s has been long-time noted for great steaks, soups, and salads. Casual family atmosphere in a rustic old-time setting with a menu noted for its practical value. Live Bluegrass/String Band music every Thursday. Walking distance of Waynesville’s unique shops and seasonal festival activities and within one mile of Waynesville Country Club.

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE 454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Lunch served 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner nightly from 4 p.m. Closed on Sunday. We specialize in hand-cut, all natural steaks, fresh fish, and other classic American comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available. We also feature a great selection of craft beers from local artisan brewers, and of course an extensive selection of small batch bourbons and whiskey. The Barrel is a friendly and casual neighborhood dining experience where our guests enjoy a great meal without breaking the bank.

UPCOMING EVENTS

BREAKING BREAD CAFÉ 6147 Hwy 276 S. Bethel (at the Mobil Gas Station) 828.648.3838 Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday & Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. closed Sunday. Chef owned and operated. Our salads are made in house using local seasonal vegetables. Fresh roasted ham, turkey and Roast Beef used in our hoagies.

We hand make our own Eggplant & Chicken Parmesan, Pork Meatballs and Hamburgers.

We use 1st quality fresh not pre-prepared products to make sure you get the best food for a reasonable price. We make Vegetarian, Gluten Free and Sugar Free items. Call or go to Facebook (Breaking Bread Café NC) to find out what our specials are. We are now open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights by customer request, so come join us and find out what all the talk is about.

BRYSON CITY CORK & BEAN A MOUNTAIN SOCIAL HOUSE 16 Everett St.,Bryson City. 828.488.1934.

Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday brunch 9 a.m. to 3p.m., Full Menu 3 to 9 p.m. Serving fresh and delicious weekday morning lite fare, lunch, dinner, and brunch. Freshly prepared menu offerings range from house-made soups & salads, lite fare & tapas, crepes, specialty sandwiches and burgers. Be sure not to miss the bold flavors and creative combinations that make up the daily Chef Supper Specials starting at 5pm every day. Followed by a tempting selection of desserts prepared daily by our chefs and other local bakers. Enjoy craft beers on tap, as well as our full bar and eclectic wine list.

Join us for a celebration of Tipping Point beers!

First 100 people will receive a special Chunky Gal Amber pint glass.

SATURDAY, OCT. 11

Live Music

SID’S

Live Music!

Food Specials Featuring Our Brews! $3.00 Drafts All Day!

Smoky Mountain News

-Local beers now on draft-

1863 S. Main Street • Waynesville 828.454.5002 Hwy. 19/23 Exit 98 LUNCH & DINNER 7 DAYS A WEEK

October 8-14, 2014

ITALIAN CUISINE

Enjoy the fall leaves from our patio!

Burgers to Salads Southern Favorites & Classics

CITY BAKERY 18 N. Main St. Waynesville 828.452.3881.

Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Join us in our historic location for scratch made soups and daily specials.

Thursday, Oct. 9 • 5-Closing MEDITERRANEAN

83 Asheville Hwy. Sylva Music Starts @ 9 • 631.0554

CHEF’S TABLE 30 Church St., Waynesville. 828.452.6210.

From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday dinner starting at 5 p.m. “Best of” Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine. Set in a distinguished atmosphere with an exceptional menu. Extensive selection of wine and beer. Reservations honored.

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The Imposters

CATALOOCHEE RANCH 119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley.

828.926.1401. Family-style breakfast seven days a week, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. – with eggs, bacon, sausage, grits and oatmeal, fresh fruit, sometimes French toast or pancakes, and always all-you-can-eat. Lunch every day from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Evening cookouts on the terrace on weekends and Wednesdays (weather permitting), featuring steaks, ribs, chicken, and pork chops, to name a few. Bountiful family-style dinners on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, with entrees that include prime rib, baked ham and herbbaked chicken, complemented by seasonal vegetables, homemade breads, jellies and desserts. We also offer a fine selection of wine and beer. The evening social hour starts at 6 p.m., and dinner is served starting at 7 p.m. So join us for mile-high mountaintop dining with a spectacular view. Please call for reservations.

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ON MAIN

117 Main Street, Canton NC 828.492.0618 • SidsOnMain.com Serving Lunch & Dinner

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Breakfast is made to order daily: Gourmet cheddar & scallion biscuits served with bacon, sausage and eggs; smoked trout bagel plate; quiche and fresh fruit parfait. We bake a wide variety of breads daily, specializing in traditional french breads. All of our breads are hand shaped. Lunch: Fresh salads, panini sandwiches. Enjoy outdoor dinning on the deck. Private room available for meetings.

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, espresso, beer and wine. Come taste the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more.

Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly. Live music and lots of events. Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

FRESH MADE DAILY SERVING BREAKFAST & LUNCH

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday serving freshly prepared small plate and tapas-style fare. Enjoy local, regional, or national talent live each Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. www.classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter.

SCRATCH-MADE PASTRIES & DESSERTS

CORK & CLEAVER 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville.

828.456.7179. Reservations recommended.

4:30-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Tucked away

OPEN DAILY

828.452.3881 MAIN STREET WAYNESVILLE WWW.CITYBAKERY.NET

inside Waynesville Inn, Cork & Cleaver has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Executive Chef Corey Green prepares innovative and unique Southern fare from local, organic vegetables grown in Western North Carolina. Full bar and wine cellar. www.waynesvilleinn.com.

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

828.926.1820 Open Daily 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., closed Tuesday. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

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

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

Monday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley. frankiestrattoria.com FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St. Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table

restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors. www.frogsleappublichouse.com.

GUADALUPE CAFÉ 606 W. Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.9877.

Open 7 days a week at 5 p.m. Located in the historic Hooper’s Drugstore, Guadalupe Café is a chef-owned and operated restaurant serving Caribbean inspired fare complimented by a quirky selection of wines and microbrews. Supporting local farmers of organic produce, livestock, hand-crafted cheese, and using sustainably harvested seafood.

HERREN HOUSE 94 East St., Waynesville 828.452.7837.

Lunch: Wednesday - Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday Brunch 11 a. m. to 2 p.m.

Enjoy fresh local products, created daily. Join us in our beautiful patio garden. We are your local neighborhood host for special events: business party’s, luncheons, weddings, showers and more. Private parties & catering are available 7 days a week by reservation only.

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

Lunch Sunday noon to 2:30 p.m., dinner nightly starting at 4:30 p.m. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round. Children always welcome.

Take-out menu. Excellent service and hospitality. Reservations appreciated.

October 8-14, 2014

Brunch with Storyteller Donald Davis!

Sunday, Oct. 12 • 12:30 p.m.

Smoky Mountain News

LUNCH DAILY 11:30 A.M.-2:30 P.M. DINNER NIGHTLY AT 4 P.M. MONDAY-SATURDAY Classic local American comfort foods, craft beers & small batch bourbons & whiskey. Join us for Prime Rib Thursdays.

Vegetarian options available

Voted Best Steak in Waynesville

Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. • Dinner Nightly at 4 p.m. • CLOSED ON SUNDAY 454 HAZELWOOD AVENUE • WAYNESVILLE Call 828-452-9191 for reservations 30

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Other Brunch dates available 261-75

For reservations, please call 828.926.0430 • TheSwag.com • Waynesville, NC

Café

tasteTHEmountains

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 828.926.0201 Bar open Monday thru Saturday; dining room open Tuesday thru Saturday at 5 p.m. Full service restaurant serving steaks, prime rib, seafood and dinner specials.

www.CityLightsCafe.com

Chicken Marsala Baby Back Ribs

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

828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine.

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

NEWFOUND LODGE RESTAURANT 1303 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee (Located on 441 North at entrance to GSMNP).

828.497.4590. Open 7 a.m. daily.

Established in 1946 and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Family style dining for adults and children.

PASQUALE’S 1863 South Main Street, Waynesville. Off exit 98, 828.454.5002. Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Classic Italian dishes, exceptional steaks and seafood (available in full and lighter sizes), thin crust pizza, homemade soups, salads hand tossed at your table. Fine wine and beer selection. Casual atmosphere, dine indoor, outside on the patio or at the bar.

Reservations appreciated.

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

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

Located across from the Fire Station.

TAP ROOM SPORTS BAR & GRILL 176 Country Club Dr. Waynesville 828.456.5988. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Enjoy soups, sandwiches, salads and hearty appetizers along with a full bar menu in our casual, smoke-free neighborhood grill.

THAI SPICE 128 N. Main St., Waynesville.

828.454.5400. Lunch: Tuesday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday noon to 3 p.m. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday 4:30 to 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Thai Spice, an authentic Thai restaurant, warmly welcomes you to experience a superb dinning experience. Don’t be timid, the food comes mild, medium, hot and Thai Hot. You choose.

VITO’S PIZZA 607 Highlands Rd., Franklin.

828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998. Come to Franklin and enjoy our laid back place, a place you can sit back, relax and enjoy our 62” HDTV. Our Pizza dough, sauce, meatballs, and sausage are all made from scratch by Vito.

Mon.-Fri. 7-4 Sat. 8-4

6147 Highway 276 S. Bethel, North Carolina bbcafenc.com • 828.648.3838

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Bookstore & Cafe Est. 2013

Local coffee, fresh pastries, ice cream & more 261-29

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Located across from the Terrace Hotel in the Harrell Center • 710 N. Lakeshore Dr.

lakejunaluska.com/bookstore

PIN HIGH Masters Landing A PREMIER RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY

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Contact Brenna Moore at

828-926-4848

Smoky Mountain News

ORGANIC BEANS COFFEE COMPANY 1110 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

828.668.2326. Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Happily committed to brewing and serving innovative, uniquely delicious coffees — and making the world a better place. 100% of our coffee is Fair Trade, Shade Grown, and Organic, all slow-roasted to bring out every note of indigenous flavor.

Bakery offerings include cakes, muffins, cookies and more. Each one is made from scratch in Asheville using only the freshest, all natural ingredients available. We are proud to offer gluten-free and vegan options.

SOUL INFUSION TEA HOUSE & BISTRO 628 E. Main St. (between Sylva Tire & UPS). 828.586.1717. Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday noon -until.

Scrumptious, natural, fresh soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps and desserts. 60+ teas served hot or cold, black, chai, herbal.

Seasonal and rotating draft beers, good selection of wine. Home-Grown Music Network Venue with live music most weekends. Pet friendly and kid ready.

DOWNTOWN SYLVA • NC

Mon-Thr 8-5 • Fri & Sat 8-8 • Sun Closed

October 8-14, 2014

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

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

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

SMOKY MOUNTAIN SUB SHOP 29 Miller Street Waynesville 828.456.3400.

Open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. A Waynesville tradition, the Smoky Mountain Sub Shop has been serving great food for over 20 years. Come in and enjoy the relaxed, casual atmosphere. Sub breads are baked fresh every morning in Waynesville.

Using only the freshest ingredients in homemade soups, salads and sandwiches. Come in and see for yourself why Smoky Mountain Sub Shop was voted # 1 in Haywood County.

Locally owned and operated.

CATERING & GROUP LUNCHES/DINNERS AVAILABLE Call: 828.587.2233

DINNER SERVED ON FRI. & SAT. ONLY, 5-8 PM

(at the Mobil Gas Station)

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

828.586.3555. Open Tuesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Hand-tossed pizza, steak sandwiches, wraps, salads and desserts. All made from scratch. Beer and wine. Free movies with showtimes at 6:30 and 9 p.m. with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Visit madbatterfoodandfilm.com for this week’s shows.

SUNDAY BRUNCH 9-3

NEW DINNER SPECIALS:

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LOS AMIGOS 366 Russ Ave. in the Bi-Lo Plaza.

828.456.7870. Open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 10 p.m. for dinner Monday through Friday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Enjoy the lunch prices Monday through Sunday, also enjoy our outdoor patio.

Deli & So Much More

PATIO BISTRO 30 Church Street, Waynesville.

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

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JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday through Saturday. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

1819 Country Club Drive Maggie Valley, NC

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Smoky Mountain News

HOMETOWN HEROES

Haywood County bluegrass group Balsam Range won Entertainer of the Year at last week’s International Bluegrass Music Association award show in Raleigh. On top of taking home the biggest honor in bluegrass, they also won Vocal Group of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. Alane Anno photo

Caleb Smith had no idea.

which was bestowed upon Melton.

“My mind was just racing. There were a lot of nominees in that category who were people that are the reason I got into singing in the first place,” Melton said. “To be included with that caliber of performers is amazing, and to win it just put it over the top.”

Surrett also won the Momentum Award for Mentor the previous night.

“I’ve had a lot of fun over the last few years producing other people’s records and being able to help bring up a lot of these younger players,” he said. “And for Balsam Range, it means so much to us that folks really do like what we’re trying to do.”

“I didn’t hear them announce it,” he chuckled. “I was backstage talking to Del McCoury about a guitar and he says to me, ‘Son, I think they just called your name.’”

“They” as in the International Bluegrass Music Association, and what was called turned out to be Balsam Range winning Entertainer of the Year at the annual award show Oct. 2 in Raleigh. For Smith, the guitarist in the Haywood County group, taking home the biggest honor in the bluegrass industry was both shocking and very humbling.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said at the band’s celebratory after-party. “It’s humbling to even be nominated for this award by your peers and your heroes, and to win it and take it home, well, it was a milestone moment we’ll never forget — we hit the top of the mountain.”

Alongside Smith, Buddy Melton (fiddle), Darren Nicholson (mandolin), Tim Surrett (bass/dobro) and Marc Pruett (banjo) took the grand stage at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium to accept the award. It was the band’s third win in an evening that also garnered them Vocal Group of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year,

Since their inception in 2007, Balsam Range has rapidly risen into the stratosphere of 21st century bluegrass. Amid their numerous number-one singles, accolades and Grand Ole Opry appearances, they also won the 2011 IBMA Song of the Year award for “Trains I Missed.”

And on the heels of winning Album of the Year in 2013 for “Papertown,” the quintet released the follow-up “Five” in June. The new record and its singles have spent most of this past summer burning up the bluegrass charts — a convincing sign that the group will most likely be nominated for Album of the Year in 2015 and perhaps for Song of the Year for “Moon Over Memphis.”

“It’s exciting. It’s hard to believe looking back at where we started and to see it materialize in the way it has,” Melton said in June. “‘Papertown’ was a benchmark as to where we’re at. We’re really proud of this new album and what the future holds.”

Coming into 2014, Balsam Range was nom-

Balsam Range wins big in Raleigh

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER

HAYWOOD HEROES

inated by the IBMAs for Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Instrumental Group of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Momentum Award for Mentor. It was a huge honor to the band to be named as contenders in so many prestigious categories. It’s also a testament to the mere fact it’s the same lineup of musicians pushing ahead and reaching for their dreams together.

“It’s amazing to look at our band and see that it’s still the same five guys it has been since day one. It makes people believe in you and in what you’re doing,” Smith said this summer.

fundraisers for the Balsam-Willet Volunteer Fire Department or an intimate back porch set at the Fines Creek Bluegrass Jam. For every IBMA win or hit single, there are days (too many to count) where they still get up on Monday morning and head to work for the county, the state, at the record studio, in the workshop building guitars or playing in other groups on days off to supplement income. It’s about hard work and pride in what you do, not getting too big for your britches, always remembering where you came from, the people that know you the best and love you the most.

Simply put, Balsam Range has earned a reputation as hometown heroes and cultural ambassadors of Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia.

“Music is a very powerful thing, it speaks to people, it’s the universal language, and there’s a responsibility with that when you get to the level we’re at,” Melton said. “People connect to your music and they tell you their life story, and it brings awareness to what we’re doing.

We’re impacting people’s lives and they’re impacting ours — that’s a pretty special thing.”

ONWARD TO THE PIEDMONT

Leaving Haywood County last Thursday, the early fall crisp air of the mountains soon transitioned into the lingering summer heat and humidity of the Piedmont region in central and east North Carolina. Three hundred miles and five hours later, a blazing sun hung overhead in downtown Raleigh.

Checking in at the Raleigh Convention Center, one couldn’t believe how many musicians and people “Life is so funny, you just never were milling about. It appeared know what’s coming. Sometimes it’s everyone who either played or owned an instrument was carrychallenging, sometimes it’s ing them around. Attendees would wander by one of the rewarding. It just shows you to push innumerable jam sessions (in seemingly every corner of the forward and keep believing that city) and jump right in. Eager good things are going to happen.” strings and notes rang out fromN every direction.

— Buddy Melton Standing in the convention center, Pruett said he always “Last year, when we’re nominated at the looks forward to coming to the IBMAs. IBMA’s for Album of the Year, Entertainer of “It’s a fellowship with all of these folks, all the the Year and Song of the Year, it was surreal to people we’ve known through the years,” he said. be nominated and surrounded by your heroes. “It’s about friends and inspiration, with some of It’s crazy to think how far we’ve come. I mean, it about business and making connections, butj when we first played a show together we didn’t more than anything else it’s the pure emotion of even have a name.” being with your friends and loved ones.”

But, besides all the accolades and critical So, what about Balsam Range being nomiacclaim, what matters most to Balsam Range is nated for tonight’s Entertainer of the Year simple — family, friends and a keen sense of award, the biggest honor in the industry, community. For every time they’ve played the alongside bluegrass greats Blue Highway, Grand Ole Opry or headlined a national festi- Dailey & Vincent, The Del McCoury Band and val, they’ve also played off-the-beaten-path The Gibson Brothers?

Balsam Range accepting the award for Entertainer of the Year. Alane Anno photo

Male Vocalist of the Year. During his acceptance speech, Melton was overcome with emotion, reflecting on his long road of recovery from his near-death farming accident two years ago, to now holding in his hand the biggest individual honor in bluegrass.

“You surround yourself with good people, great things will happen,” he said afterwards. “Life is so funny, you just never know what’s coming. Sometimes it’s challenging, sometimes it’s rewarding. It just shows you to push forward and keep believing that good things are going to happen.”

The award show continued on with numerous highlights. From a solo dobro performance by co-host Jerry Douglas to an intimate performance by co-host/country music star Lee Ann Womack, and other staggeringly beautiful songs by Claire Lynch, The Seldom Scene, Del McCoury Band and The Boxcars, to name a few. It was a magical night, with an electric buzz of love, passion and camaraderie echoing throughout the building.

Before the final award for Entertainer of the Year was presented, Balsam Range took the stage to play their hit song “Moon Over Memphis.” The melody took the roof off the building, as the audience roared in applause following its completion. The band had yet to return to their front row seats when it was announced they had won Entertainer of the Year. The auditorium shook with cheers and a standing ovation when they emerged from backstage to receive their trophy. The group waved to the crowd, only to look down with smiles from ear-to-ear at their ecstatic wives clapping from the front row.

It was a moment they’d never forget, a moment of pride that will go down as one of the finest in the long and storied musical history of Western North Carolina.

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

AND THE AWARD GOES TO …

As nominees for Entertainer of the Year, Balsam Range was seated in the front row of the enormous auditorium. Before they even had a chance to get their seats warm, they had won the first award of the night — Vocal Group of the Year. That excitement only snowballed when the award envelope was ripped open and Melton was announced as

Tucked away in the warehouse district of downtown Raleigh, Balsam Range arrived at their after-party within the cozy Five Star Restaurant. It was filled with their closest friends, family members and business partners, all there to celebrate the well-earned achievements made by the group.

Standing to the side of the excitement, Surrett took a moment to collect himself. He seemed in a sort of dreamlike state, in awe of what had just happened, where being told he and his band just won the award for Entertainer of the Year was something he made up in his mind — a long held wish now turned reality.

“I haven’t felt this proud since Pisgah High School won the state football championship in 1976,” he chuckled. “I mean, just to be in that room tonight with all our peers and heroes was just incredible. We’re named in the same breath as someone like Del McCoury, and that seems just crazy to us.”

Surrett’s gaze scans across the after-party, almost as if to truly never forget this moment.

“We’ve not done anything differently since we started playing together,” he said.

“We just keep doing what we’re doing, and it just seems to get out there to more people — we keep pushing forward.”

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER I didn’t know who Balsam Range was when I first met them.

On Aug. 10, 2012, I had just moved to Waynesville — literally. A week prior I had accepted the position at The Smoky Mountain News, packed up whatever could fit in my old pickup and drove 1,016 miles overnight from Upstate New York to Haywood County. I had just arrived in town mid-afternoon. Without unpacking a single thing or even knowing where’d I be sleeping that night (I hadn’t gotten an apartment yet), I was given my first assignment — covering the Balsam Range album release party for their new album “Papertown” that evening at the Colonial Theatre in Canton.

And with that I had three questions for my publisher: Who is Balsam Range? How do I get to Canton? Where is the Colonial Theatre? With a crash-course education on all three queries, I was handed a notepad, pen and camera, only to be shoed out the door so I wouldn’t be late for my first assignment.

After finally tracking down the Colonial Theatre, I found the front door was locked. I wandered around to a back alley and found a door slightly open. I could hear the sounds of a mandolin being played. Upon closer inspection, I saw mandolinist Darren Nicholson onstage by himself, warming up for the performance.

“Welcome,” he said with a handshake.

Nicholson introduced me to the rest of Balsam Range. They invited me to sit down to a preshow dinner with them. I felt immediately at home, in an atmosphere of laughter and warmth, one that proves Southern hospitality is not a myth.

“Garret, where are you from? You don’t seem to have a Southern accent.” Nicholson asked.

“Upstate New York,” I responded.

“How long have you lived in Haywood County?” he countered.

“About 45 minutes,” I laughed.

I had resided in Western North Carolina for less than an hour, but I had met a very special group of musicians. Standing on the side of the stage, taking photos, notes and listening to them play, I was instantly mesmerized by their stage presence, musicianship and showmanship.

“Originally, we just got together to jam.

A couple of the guys had put out solo records and some of us played on those records. We had so much fun and ended up picking together,” bassist Tim Surrett said that night. “Nobody is looking to nod out [of the band]. It’s kind of funny, we never thought this would go that far and now we’re going to have some decisions to make. It’s like a dog chasing a car. You caught the car, so now what do you do with it?”

There were a lot of tears in the audience that night two years ago in Canton. Not only

Smoky Mountain News

table — your own style,” Bush said.

Bluegrass superstars Del McCoury and Eric Gibson had similar sentiments. “[Balsam Range] is a great band, they’ve have their own niche and style, and that’s what it takes,” McCoury said.

“Variety is what I liked in music, and they have that.”

“There’s a warmth in [Balsam Range] that the audience picks up on,” Gibson noted.

Del McCoury “They have a unique and fresh sound, and bringing a lot of new material to the genre — great guys onstage and off, too.”

From the border to the backwoods

October 8-14, 2014

the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, Surrett is all smiles about tonight’s nominations.

“It’s awesome because we know we’re not the best playing band or singing band, and it means that folks who voted for us really do like what we’re doing,” he modestly said.

“Playing music is about learning how to get with people, how important it is to make friends along the way, and just have fun in doing so.”

A few feet away, Nicholson is proud to represent Haywood County and Western North Carolina.

“For me, I sometimes forget how much our music means to people because you’re out there and think, ‘Well, I’m just in a bluegrass band and it’s not a big deal to anybody,’” he said. “But homefolks care about us and it is a big deal to be down here, and the support everyone at home has given us just means the world to us.”

“Music is a powerful thing,” Melton added. “It affects people in a lot of different ways, it brings people together, and it’s a positive force, especially in the bluegrass genre.”

Also strolling the red carpet were a Who’s Who of the bluegrass industry. They are all here to not only share in the nomina-

tions but also to bear witness to the fruits of their labors and the hard work put in day in and day out by their peers.

“In general, I have found the better the musician, the better the person, with some of the greatest musicians I’ve ever met being some of the nicest people I’ve ever known.

What I love about being here is that we get to see everyone I know, it lends us a place to be together,” said legendary mandolinist Sam Bush. “For me, the IBMA organization is based on musical integrity. Even the people that don’t play music for a living, the IBMA fans all come here to support us, they don’t just come here to see others play, they come to jam, too.”

So, what about Sam Bush Balsam Range and what they have to bring to the table?

“They’re bringing to the table their own style, and I think that’s one of the most important things. With the young bands, it’s the most important thing to bring to the

arts & entertainment

“It’s a fabulous honor to just be in the final five nominees,” Pruett said. “The way I feel about that honor is that I can get the chance to get back on that stage and keep working, keep going, keep making friends, keep making music. If it’s our time to be recognized that’s a great thing. I don’t know if this is the year for that to happen, but I’m glad to be on this path.”

Downstairs in the convention center, Smith is browsing instruments in the elaborate exhibition hall and product showcase area.

“The IBMAs are so cool because you get to see everybody in the industry all in one spot, all together, folks you see throughout the year and others you don’t have a chance to see,” he said. “I’m so grateful for our nominations this year. There has been so much great music coming out of Western North Carolina for so long, that it’s great to see it get recognized here in Raleigh.”

A couple hours later, Balsam Range emerges from their hotel rooms, all decked out in tuxedos, with each of their wives joyously on their arms. Waiting in line on the media red carpet leading to the entrance of

S EE BACKWOODS, PAGE 34 33

In The Way,” which featured Jerry Garcia (lead guitarist/singer of The Grateful Dead) on banjo. The supergroup also included was it the album release party, it was also bluegrass legends Vassar Clements (fiddle), one of the first shows back for fiddler Buddy David Grisman (mandolin), John Kahn Melton, who almost died in a farming accident in early 2012. Owner of a 300-acre farm (bass) and Peter Rowan (guitar). To this day, that album remains one of the most influenin Crabtree, Melton was kicked in the face tial and important records in the bluegrass while loading cattle. He suffered brain trauma, with surgeons wondering if he’d survive, industry. It brought the genre into the mainstream, exposing countless folks to a sound let alone be the same again or sing his tradethey perhaps hadn’t ever heard before, in a mark high tenor voice after the recovery. way unseen until maybe when the 2000 film “The accident changed me drastically. I “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” became a went through life without any major glitches, box office success with a soundtrack of pure never been in a hospital. You think you’re somewhat invincible, you see people suffer and bluegrass gold that sold millions.

“Old and In The Way” led me to Rowan, who then became my first I had resided in Western North feature interview as a journalist in college. A singer-songwriter who Carolina for less than an hour, penned many bluegrass standards like “Midnight Moonlight” and but I had met a very special “Panama Red,” Rowan is a living, group of musicians. Standing breathing treasure in the bluegrass on the side of the stage, taking world. That initial interview molded itself into a dear friendship between photos, notes and listening to the two of us, one that continues to this day and was recently rekindled them play, I was instantly when he played the Cataloochee Guest Ranch in Maggie Valley, a mesmerized by their stage favorite venue of his. presence, musicianship and Rowan’s work then brought me to Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, Del McCoury, showmanship.

Dr. Ralph Stanley, and others. The more one explores bluegrass, the more one uncovers — it is an endless stream of you feel for them, but when you personally go people, places and things. Add in my travels through something like that it’s a reality around the country as a music journalist folcheck,” Melton told The Smoky Mountain lowing college, and you’ll see numerous modNews earlier this year. “You realize life is preern day groups ready and willing to take the cious, life is short, and you need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes you way.” torch from their beloved elders, outfits like Yonder Mountain String Band, Steep Canyon “Papertown” went on to win the 2013 Rangers, Railroad Earth, The Infamous International Bluegrass Music Association Stringdusters and Greensky Bluegrass. award for Album of the Year.

All of those names listed above prodded my eventual acceptance of the feature writer LAY THAT MOUNTAIN MUSIC position at The Smoky Mountain News. I had fallen in love with bluegrass and tradiThe beauty of bluegrass lies in its transtional music, and where else better to parency. immerse myself in it than the high peaks and When you’re having a good or bad day, low valleys of Western North Carolina? those emotions will filter through your voice For the last two years, I’ve run around the and fingertips. You can’t hide behind the back roads and backwoods of Southern music — you are vulnerable to the listener, Appalachia in search of “the sound,” where to yourself and the cosmos above. It’s a rare and beautiful thing to come across such hon- I’ve found myself in the presence of old-time porch pickers, highly polished stage acts, esty, pure intent and genuine face-to-face interaction that the music conjures in a mod- voices like songbirds, fingers like bolts of lighting, and everything in between. And in ern, fast-paced world. my travels I’ve come across melodic beauty As a kid, raised on the Canadian border either undiscovered before or merely forgotof Upstate New York, I was aware of blueten about since. grass and traditional music, but it hadn’t For myself, being there at the “clicked” with me yet. Sure, I had acclaimed bluegrass act The Gibson Brothers just down International Bluegrass Music Association award show in Raleigh last week with Balsam the road from me, and did see them a handRange and watching them win Entertainer of ful of times, but I was young, more focused the Year was a cathartic, full circle experience. on Top 40 radio and whatever music would These five guys, this “band of brothers,” who I irritate my parents the most. didn’t even know two years ago are now dear But, that soon changed. I was introduced friends that I got to witness revel in quite posto the rabbit hole of music that is The sibly the most important night of their bounGrateful Dead. Their blend of rock-n-roll, tiful and ever-evolving career.

Americana, folk and string music pulled me Bluegrass is the soundtrack of our counright in — I couldn’t get enough. So, I starttry, its people, its past, present and future. ed digging deeper into their extended cataWith one foot in tradition and the other in log and side projects. evolution, it is as timeless as it is vital to the In college, I came across the landmark 1975 bluegrass self-titled album by “Old and perpetuation of humanity.

October 8-14, 2014

arts & entertainment

BACKWOODS, CONTINUED FROM 33

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Smoky Mountain News

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BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

Russ Wilson.

PhotosWithClass.com

SMN: You specialize in old-time melodies, whether it be jazz, big band standards or traditional and string. What about that era in music, 1920s to 1950s, appeals to you, why does it call out to you to perpetuate the old sounds and keep them alive and vibrant?

RW: My dad is the one to blame for this.

He had these old Reader’s Digest box sets of

Wineseller kicks off jazz series Russ Wilson and His Trio will kickoff the “Fall for Jazz” series at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 11, at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville.

Other performers in the series include Rockell Scott & Richard Shulman on Oct. 18 and the Keith Davis Trio Oct. 25. Each night includes a lavish four-course dinner with live jazz for $39.99 per person.

828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

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arts & entertainment

This must be the place

Severinsen. There I got my very first taste of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa. From that moment I was hooked. I wanted to hear more. I wanted to find out who these people were, what this music was — this was it.

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SMN: Why is it important that those oldtime songs aren’t forgotten or lost, and are continually kept in the minds and hearts of the public?

RW: The music of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Green and so many others are an important part of our musical history, our country’s history and our family’s history. As I see it, we live in what I call a “disposable world.” If you’re in a hurry, you can grab a drink and throw away the can. You can grab something to eat and throw away what you don’t want. People buy clothes, wear it once and get rid of it. A lot of today’s music is the same way. You hear it today and something new is hot later today. These old songs have stood the test of time. I sing them because I love them and they fit my voice. But if I didn’t sing them, someone out there will.

They will never die.

SMN: What can a fast-paced, rush-priority, modern-day world learn from those oldtime songs?

RW: Slow down. Take a moment and listen. Enjoy. Savor. Good music is like good wine.

Smoky Mountain News

HOT PICKS 1 2 3 4 5

His voice will stop you in your tracks.

Russ Wilson is a bridge to an era, a time when style and class Bluegrass sensation Town Mountain will were synonymous with musicianperform at 7 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Macon ship and showmanship. A County Heritage Center at the Historic Cowee beloved crooner in Western School in Franklin.

North Carolina, Wilson performs in as many different and varied The 31th annual Church Street Art & Craft groups as there are days in the Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. week. One day, he’ll jump in with 11 on Main Street in downtown Waynesville. an old-time gypsy jazz outfit at a Pianist/singer Sam Stringfield will perform at 9 wine lounge playing selections p.m. Oct. 11 at Innovation Brewing in Sylva. from the 1920s and 30s, the next, he’ll be adorned in a tuxedo fronting a 16-piece big band The Trail Magic Ale No. 9 Release Party will orchestra onstage playing numbe Oct. 17-18 at Nantahala Brewing in bers from the 40s and 50s.

Bryson City.

And no matter what the situGrammy Award-winning bluegrass act The ation, all eyes tend to fall on Steel Drivers will perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 Wilson. He not only commands a at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville. space with his impressive octave range, he also possesses the Smoky Mountain News: What was your power to split a room like the Red Sea, where first memory of hearing or seeing music? both sides are singing back and forth while Russ Wilson: I’ve heard music since I was Wilson conducts the melodic madness.

Wilson and his trio will be kicking off the a baby, but my first truly vivid memory was watching TV in 1972. I was six years old and Fall for Jazz series on Oct. 11 at The Classic I saw this TV special hosted by Doc Wineseller in Waynesville.

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October 8-14, 2014

records that I played over and over. I loved this music. I wasn’t interested in the music of “my generation” at all. The old stuff is what I grew up listening to. The music has body, it has a melody that you can remember and hum to yourself. It has thoughtful lyrics even if they’re sometimes silly. In my opinion, most of today’s music doesn’t have any of that. It just has a beat and lots of foul language. I don’t want to hear that, let alone sing it.

35

On the beat arts & entertainment

Top high school bands to compete in WCU tournament

The Tournament of Champions marching band competition will be on Oct. 18 in Cullowhee.

Donated photo

October 8-14, 2014

Twenty-three of the best high school marching bands from five states will compete for honors during the annual Tournament of Champions on Saturday, Oct. 18, in E.J. Whitmire Stadium at Western Carolina University.

WCU’s award-winning Pride of the Mountains Marching Band is hosting the invitational tournament, now in its 14th year, and will perform twice during the day.

Preliminaries for the competition begin at 9:15 a.m. and continue through the morning and afternoon to select three class champions to be announced during award ceremonies at 4:30 p.m. Those champions, along with the next seven highest-scoring bands, will advance to the finals competition beginning at 7 p.m.

Awards will be presented at 9:45 p.m.

The Tournament of Champions will feature performances by the Pride of the Mountains at 4:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The WCU band will showcase its new halftime

Smoky Mountain News

Country’s Family Reunion in Franklin

some artists travel the world for inspiration others

don’t need to.

Fixed to this place like strings to a guitar, our music is as loyal as its fans. It stays near the people and the venues that helped bring it to life. Jazz, country, rock, folk, bluegrass, newgrass and more ~ all live here. They were born in artists who call this state home. And the same places that inspired greats like John Coltrane, Nina Simone, James Taylor and The Avett Brothers ~ may also inspire you.

36

production “Street Beatz,” to be performed at the 2014 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

North Carolina high schools with marching bands in the competition are Wakefield, Raleigh; Cleveland, Clayton; Northwest Cabarrus, Concord; North Lincoln, Lincolnton; Owen, Black Mountain; Tuscola, Waynesville; North Buncombe, Weaverville; Marvin Ridge, Waxhaw; Chase, Forest City; Brevard; Green Hope, Cary; and East Lincoln, Denver.

Tickets to the invitational are $10 for the preliminary competition and $8 for the finals if purchased in advance or at the gate before 4 p.m. Tickets purchased after 4 p.m. are $10.

The group rate (15 or more persons paid by one check) is $8 per person for preliminaries and $8 per person for finals. Children under the age of 12 will be admitted free when accompanied by an adult.

828.227.2998 or www.prideofthemountains.com.

Whisperin’ Bill Anderson

Country’s Family Reunion will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

The showcase brings country music stars, armed with decades of songs and stories to Franklin. Whisperin’ Bill Anderson will host this intimate gathering of country music legends as they share the stories and sing the songs that made them famous. You will undoubtedly find yourself singing along with the classics and find yourself delighted by the stories that go hand in hand with the music.

Tickets are $20, $25 and $30.

866.273.4615 or www.greatmountainmusic.com.

On the beat

• The Ubuntu Choir will perform at 4 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 12, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. The mission of the group is to sing music from various musical traditions. Free. www.jacksoncountyarts.org.

ALSO:

• Sugar Lime Blue, PMA, Swamp Candy, Strung Like A Horse and Travers Brothership will perform at No Name Sports Pub in Sylva. Sugar Lime Blue plays Oct. 10, with PMA Oct. 11, Swamp Candy Oct. 16, Strung Like A Horse Oct. 17 and Travers Brothership Oct. 18. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m., with Sunday performances from 5 to 8 p.m. Free.

828.586.2750 or www.nonamesportspub.com.

• Bluegrass sensation Town Mountain will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, in the Macon County Heritage Center at the Historic Cowee School in Franklin. Tickets are $10.

828.349.1945 or www.coweeschool.org.

• Grammy Award-winning bluegrass act The Steel Drivers will perform as part of the

Harvest Festival at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for students and children grades K-12. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

form at the Bryson City Train Depot. Blue Caboose plays Oct. 11, with Blue Eyed Girl Oct. 18. All shows are free and start at 6:30 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com. • Renowned flutist Elaine Saloio will perform as part of a guest recital at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 9, in the Coulter Building at Western Carolina University.

• Christian rock singer and American Idol contestant Colton Dixon and Finding Favour will perform at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 at Haywood Community College in Clyde. The show will be hosted by the Cross The Wilderness ministry and the Crestview Baptist Youth Group.

General admission is $15, with group tickets $12. A special meet-and-great Gold Circle ticket is $50. www.crossthewilderness.org. • Rock singer/songwriter Joshua Dean and Dave Desmelik will perform at BearWaters Brewing Company in Waynesville. Dean will play Oct. 10, with Desmelik Oct. 11. All shows are at 7 p.m. unless otherwise listed. www.bwbrewing.com or 828.246.0602. • Craig Summers & Lee Kram and Oktoberfest with Jamboogie will perform at Frog Level Brewing Company in Waynesville. Summers & Kram play Oct. 16, with Jamboogie Oct. 18. Shows begin at 6 p.m. Free.

828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com. • The Land of the Sky Chorus will perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Colonial Theatre in Canton. www.cantonnc.com.

A back porch old-time music jam will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Cherokee. All welcome to come play or simply sit and listen to sounds of Southern Appalachia. • Pianist/singer Sam Stringfield will perform from 9 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at Innovation Brewing in Sylva. Free. www.innovation-brewing.com. • String band Blue Caboose and Appalachia old-time string trio Blue Eyed Girl will per-

arts & entertainment

• A dance will be held from 7 to 8:45 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 11, at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Live music by Paul Indelicato. Please bring a finger food dish of your choice. $10 per person. 828.456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• Acclaimed Canadian bluegrass trio The Sweet Lowdown will perform with Darren Nicholson of Balsam Range at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Hidden Valley Farm in Clyde. Cash coffee and dessert bar. $10. The farm will also have a special Farm to Table Dinner at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, with tickets for $50. 828.450.2232 or www.hiddenvalleyfarmnc.com. • The Johnny Webb Band and Southern Highlands will perform as part of the Friday Night Live concert series at Town Square in Highlands. Webb plays Oct. 10, with Southern Highlands Oct. 17. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free. • Americana band Swamp Candy and newgrass act Strung Like A Horse will be at the Water’n Hole Bar & Grill in Waynesville.

Swamp Candy plays Oct. 17, with Strung Like A Horse Oct. 18. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m. 828.456.4750.

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37

On the street arts & entertainment

Bryson City spices things up

The 24th annual Chili Cook-Off will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad Depot in Bryson City.

Attendees can sample chili from mild to wild, with red, white and vegetarian recipes.

There will also be live music, decorated booths and homemade desserts. Trophies awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, People’s Choice and Showmanship. Cash prizes will also be awarded in each category: $400 for 1st, $300 for 2nd and $200 for 3rd. www.greatsmokies.com or 800.867.9246.

Max Cooper photo

Trail Magic release party in Bryson City

October 8-14, 2014

The Trail Magic Ale No. 9 Release Party will be Oct. 17-18 at Nantahala Brewing in Bryson City.

On Friday, the brewery will tap the first keg of the 9th Trail Magic Ale Release at 6 p.m. exclusively in their taproom. Following that, the brewery will host a Rare & Wild Tasting.

Participants are encouraged to bring homebrew, rare bottled beers and your favorite local craft brews to share with your peers. A performance by Americana band Freeway Revival will also be held at 8 p.m.

On noon Saturday, the brewery will offer a limited bottle release of Trail Magic Ale. A limited number of 750ml bottles will be available for purchase on a first come first serve basis. www.nantahalabrewing.com.

The Darren Nicholson Band will perform on Oct. 16 in Waynesville. Garret K. Woodward photo

Farm-to-Mug, Nicholson at Walnut Cove Bluegrass group The Darren Nicholson Band will be performing during the Farm-toMug brewery and food event at 4 p.m. Oct. 16 at Walnut Cove Farms in Waynesville.

Hops grown at the farm were given to Boojum, Tipping Point and BearWaters breweries to each make a keg of beer for the evening. Each patron will receive one craft beer from each brewery to taste and vote on. The winning brewery will receive all of the hops grown next year by the farm.

Hor d-oeuvres will also be served and there will be a special performance by Nicholson, who plays mandolin for award-winning bluegrass/gospel group Balsam Range.

Tickets are $75 per person. www.walnutcovefarms.com or 828.400.0115 or 828.283.1353.

• The PEANUTS Pumpkin Patch Express will hit the rails at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 10-12 from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Depot in Bryson City. Charlie Brown and friends will be on-hand for the festivities, which includes a narration of “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” family activities and more. www.gsmr.com or 800.872.4681.

ALSO:

• Haints, Boogers and Witches of the Southern Highlands will be at 8 p.m. Oct. 10, 17-18 at The Storytelling Center in Bryson City. Spooky mountain storytelling. 828.488.5705.

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On the street

of WNC, Inc. PEST CONTROL CALL KAREN

arts & entertainment

The Bug Lady

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828-243-9318 Gary Carden will be one of the featured storytellers at the 125th anniversary celebration on Oct. 11. Garret K. Woodward photo

thebugladyofwnc@gmail.com thebugladyofwnc.com

Storytellers spin yarns at Sylva’s 125th

Like every fair, we’ll have rides, parades, and prizes.

But unlike any other fair, we’ll also have “Little Brother of War” games.

October 8-14, 2014 Smoky Mountain News

The upcoming celebration of the town of Sylva’s 125th anniversary will feature an array of local storytellers on Oct. 11 at the Lifeway Church in downtown.

• 10 a.m. — Shawn Crowe. Crowe is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, living in the Wolfetown Community on Wright’s Creek. He has worked in the broadcasting industry for the past 32 years as a voice talent, producer and engineer.

He is also the media instructor for the Cherokee Youth Center Boys and Girls Club’s Cherokee Youth in Media program. He is active in helping to preserve the Cherokee language by utilizing his talents and opening his studio to the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program.

• 11 a.m. — The Ammons Sisters, Amy and Doreyl. The duo grew up in Tuckasegee, in a little cove hidden on the side of a mountain. They were isolated, along with their brother David, from neighbors and other children, so they had only each other as playmates. Their entertainment came from their imagination, and from listening to their grandfather tell them stories of those ancestors who came before. Now the sisters, through the art of storytelling, share their stories of growing up in the mountains.

• 1 p.m. — Dave Waldrop. A published poet and songwriter, Waldrop was born in a small frame home on Kitchens Branch near Sylva. During most of his childhood and teen years his family lived in houses that had no electricity or indoor plumbing. He attended public elementary and high schools in Jackson County. After serving four years in the U.S. Navy, he attended Western Carolina University, studying speech and hearing as well as obtaining a degree in psychology, receiving his master’s degree in counseling.

• 2 p.m. — Gary Carden. Carden was raised by his grandparents in a house filled with the past. He listened to Grady Cole and Renfro Valley on the radio while his grandfather tuned musical instruments and sang hymns from a shape-note songbook. He grew up listening to a great deal of foolishness about “bad blood,” black Irish curses, and the evils of being “left handed.” He told his first stories to his grandfather’s chickens in a dark chickenhouse when he was six years old. www.mountainlovers.com.

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arts & entertainment

On the wall

Church Street Art & Craft Show returns The 31th annual Church Street Art & Craft Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 11, on Main Street in downtown Waynesville.

Held during the height of the color season in the Great Smoky Mountains, the show attracts more than 20,000 visitors. Over 100 artists, crafters and food vendors from the southeast transform Main Street Waynesville into an art and craft marketplace for this one-day event. The celebration is regarded as one of the finest juried art shows in the region.

Patrons will discover a variety of art and crafts, including pottery, jewelry, woodworking, watercolors, photography, fiber art, candles, quilts, and more. Numerous artists demonstrate their work throughout the day. Live entertainment from two stages features traditional mountain music, clogging, and Scottish pipes. Face painting and balloon twisting art for the kids. Downtown shops and restaurants are open and numerous festival food vendors offer a variety of eats and treats. www.downtownwaynesville.com or 828.456.3517.

Smoky Mountain News

October 8-14, 2014

Photography classes to be offered in Cullowhee Western Carolina University’s Office of Continuing and Professional Education is offering a series of monthly photography classes in Cullowhee in October and continuing through May. Each class will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the kickoff being Thursday, Oct. 16.

Some of the topics to be covered include digital printing, iPhoneography and macro, landscape, black and white, infrared and travel photography. Some classes being offered are The Art of Seeing for Photographers, Photoshop for Photographers and Getting Started in Digital Photography. The classes will be led by professional nature photographer and Pisgah Forest resident Les Saucier, who has taught nature photography across the

• The October Leaves Craft Show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 11 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. Artisans, vendors, demonstrations and food vendors. To get a raffle ticket, bring a non-perishable food item that will be donated to the local food bank. www.mvcraftshows.com or 828.497.9425.

ALSO:

• The Harvest Festival will be held Oct. 17-19 at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 17 there will be campfire music, marshmallow roast and refreshments. The Dry Creek Climb 5K will be at 8 a.m. Oct. 18, with mountain music, square dancing and other activities to follow, as well as a performance by The Steel Drivers at 7:30 p.m. Gospel groups will perform from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Oct. 19. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• The Appalachian Pastel Society Juried National Exhibition will be held through Jan. 4 at The Bascom in Highlands. The exhibition showcases some of the finest examples in contemporary pastel art in the region. www.thebascom.org.

nation for more than 30 years.

A complete list of dates and class descriptions can be found at www.photography.wcu.edu. Registration is available on the website and by calling the Office of Continuing and Professional Education at 828-227-7397.

Each class is $99 and includes lunch. www.wcu.edu.

• The Autumn Leaves Craft Show will be held Oct. 9-11 at the Macon County Fairgrounds in Franklin. Unique handmade crafts and other vendors. If possible, bring a can of cat food for the Catman 2 Shelter. Free admission and parking. www.franklinchamber.com or 828.349.4324.

Apple Harvest Fest in Waynesville The Apple Harvest Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, in downtown Waynesville.

The one-day festival has grown into the region’s premier juried arts and crafts event and celebration of all things apple.

This year’s festival will feature exhibitors,

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live entertainment and great food amid more than 40,000 festival goers strolling the street. www.haywoodapplefest.com.

• The 32nd annual Highlands Own Arts & Crafts and 2nd annual HomeTown Day will be Saturday, Oct. 11. Filled with numerous professional crafters, the show will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Highlands Civic Center. HomeTown Day at Kelsey Hutchinson Park will offer farmer’s market vendors, food, music, clogging and family activities. www.highlandsnc.org or 828.526.2118.

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• The High Country Quilters annual show will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 9-11 at the Maggie Valley Town Hall. Over 100 locally made quilts and craft vendors. Free.

828.926.3169 or highcountryquilt@att.net.

For info call: 828-349-4324

828-646-0907.

arts & entertainment

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Smoky Mountain News

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Waynesville Office 74 North Main Street (828) 452-5809 261-32

beverly-hanks.com for details on any property, enter the MLS # into quick search

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Want to learn blacksmithing?

A Blacksmithing Fundamentals class will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 18 and Nov. 8 at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro.

The course is designed to introduce students to the art of blacksmithing.

Fundamental techniques will be covered: forge safety, basic hammer techniques, general shaping/squaring/drawing out, heating, quenching, scrolling, and twisting. Once the basics are mastered, the students will make a variety of simple pieces, including twisted hooks, nail swords, bottle openers, a fire poker, and more.

Students must wear closed-toe shoes (preferably leather), long pants and cotton clothing, and should bring a lunch.

Space is limited to five students only. Pre-registration is strongly suggested.

828.631.0271 or www.jcgep.org.

Ashley T. Evans photo

arts & entertainment

On the wall

• A spooky raku firing class will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 18 and at 1 p.m. Oct. 25 at The Bascom in Highlands. The workshop is all about flame and fire.

Contemporary raku firing is ware-fired quickly at low temperatures, 1,800 degrees or so, then quickly cooled.

Once the glaze has matured, the hot wares are removed from the kiln and cooled in the open air or immediately smoked in a reduction chamber using combustible materials. Raku’s origins date back to the 16th century Japan when bowls were produced for Japanese tea ceremonies.

Tuition is $50. www.thebascom.org.

• The Come Paint with Charles Kidz Program will be at 5 p.m. Oct. 9, 14, and 16 at the Charles Heath Gallery in Bryson City. $18 per child. Materials and snacks included.

828.538.2054.

• The documentary “Cataloochee” will be shown Oct. 11 and 18 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. Screenings are at 7 p.m.

Tuesday and Wednesday, 7:45 p.m. Friday; 2, 5 and 7:45 p.m. Saturday; and 2 and 4 p.m.

Sunday. Tickets are $6 per person, $4 for children. There is also a $3 ticket for the Saturday

• The 25th annual Leaf Lookers Gemboree will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 1718 and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Macon County Community Building in Franklin. Gem show will feature dealers from all across the southeast offering fine jewelry, beads, rough and cut stones. 828.524.3161.

Smoky Mountain News

October 8-14, 2014

ALSO:

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matinee. Saturday morning cartoons will also be shown at 11 a.m. and is free to attend.828.283.0079 or www.38main.com.

• The Maple Leaf Fall Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 11 in downtown Whittier. Area artisans and crafters, holiday exhibits, flea market, food and live entertainment. 828.497.2393 or www.greatsmokies.com.

On the stage Lopez to bring laughs to Harrah’s Superstar comedian George Lopez will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at Harrah’s Cherokee.

Lopez is a multi-talented entertainer whose career encompasses television, film, standup comedy and latenight television. For two seasons, he hosted Lopez Tonight, a late-night television talk show on TBS, which represented Lopez’s return to series television after co-creating, writing, producing and starring in Warner Bros. Television’s groundbreaking hit sitcom “George Lopez,” which ran for six seasons on ABC. Tickets are $31.50, $40, $46.50 and $57.50. www.harrahscherokee.com or 800.745.3000.

Books

Smoky Mountain News

43

Learning how to organize information overload wenty-five years ago, while under a good deal of pressure and stress, I began noticing I was forgetting things. I would tell a customer in my bookstore about a novel and then found I couldn’t dredge up the name of the author. I grew concerned enough to ask informal advice from a local physician, who suggested ginkgo biloba. (This didn’t work: I kept forgetting to take the pills).

Finally I realized that the trouble was not with my memory but with the world we Writer all live in, a world in which we are drenched in electronic media and frequently more commitments than we can handle. This disease I will call here Dysfunction by Electronic Distraction, or DED for short.

This malady — information overload — is new in the last 20 to 30 years. Think about it.

Sally, a middle-class woman living in Waynesville in 1900, has for her entertainment books, the newspaper, perhaps some magazines, conversations with her friends, and music played by herself or someone else.

With the exception of the summer tourists, Sally and her five children see the same people every day. Her husband, a physician, did take her on their honeymoon to Paris, but otherwise Sally rarely travels. Her husband is thinking of buying an automobile, but given the nature of the roads, wonders whether that is practical.

Now compare Sally to her great-great granddaughter, Jade, living in Waynesville in 2014. Jade has also married a doctor and is very familiar with the town, but there the similarity to Sally ends. She has only two children, but spends a good portion of her afternoons and evenings driving them from soccer

Jeff Minick

T

to music lessons, from dance to the church’s youth group. During these drives she listens to the radio while her children plug into their iPods. At home she works online while the children attend school, designing and manag-

quently to the beach, made a long crosscountry trip across the United States and have watched countless movies.

In a single day’s trip to Asheville, where this family eats supper at a Thai restaurant, hangs out at the drum circle, and wanders through the downtown streets, Jade will see more strangers in four hours than Sally saw in a year. In a single day on the computer, Jade encounters more information than her ancestor would have met with in months. (This is not to say that Sally didn’t feel stress. She lived in an era when stepping on a rusty nail could lead to death).

Like Jade, we all suffer — some more, some less — from information overload, particularly information brought to us by electronic media.

It is this stress, this overabundance of information, which Daniel J. Levitin addresses in The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload (Dutton Publishers, 2014, 497 pages, $27.95).

In this walloping fat book, Levitin, a neuroscientist and statistician, explains in clear language how we think, the effects information overload has on our thinking and ways we can help our brains handle the chaos the world brings daily to us.

He cites numerous studies and experiments dealing with this subject, The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of shows the reader how much of what Information Overload by Daniel J. Levitin. Dutton we believe true is false (multi-tasking, for example, is generally harmful Publishers, 2014. 497 pages. and counterproductive), and gives readers specific ways to make ing websites. In the evenings, Jade and her changes in their lives. husband watch television after the children In his chapter “Organizing Our Homes,” have gone to bed. They have vacationed not for instance, he explains why we rarely lose only in Europe but have also traveled freour cars but often lose our car keys. It has

Pickett, Lieske, journalmaking in Waynesville Authors Diane Pickett, Bruce Lieske and a journal making class will be presented at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

Pickett will discuss her new work at 3 p.m. Oct. 11. A realistic family saga extending over several generations, Never Isn’t Long Enough ultimately tells the story of a good and strong man with plenty of weaknesses, a driven woman who never gets beyond her weaknesses, and the trail of pain they leave as they pass through life in early-and mid-20th century South.

Lieske will read from his latest book at 3 p.m. Oct. 18. The author will read from and discuss his book, Frozen Memories: An Old Man Recaptures His Youthful Adventure in Antarctica. Lieske was a member of the Antarctic Weather Central during the International Geophysical Year in 1956-57.

The journal-making class will be at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 19. Hosted

by Kent Stewart, this workshop will feature a different style of jour-

nal than the first. This beginner’s workshop is intended for children ages 11 and older, as well as adults. Younger children should plan to attend with a parent or responsible adult. There is a $5 materials cost per person and participants should call to sign up, as the workshop is limited to 10 participants.

828.456.6000 or www.blueridgebooksnc.com.

Coffee with the Poet continues The Coffee with the Poet series will continue with Wesley Satterwhite at 10:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Satterwhite is a student in the Master of Arts in Writing program at the Thomas Wolfe Center for Narrative at Lenoir Rhyne University in Asheville and a co-founder of the City Lights Writing Group. Her poetry has been published in Kakalak and in WNC Woman magazine, where she was nearly rejected because the editors said they only publish work written by women.

As a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor with a Masters of

nothing to do with size: the keys move with us, and the car stays in place. I was pleased to learn that my own system for not losing keys (store them in a specific place) or glasses (buy several duplicate pairs) were among his many recommendations. He touts the use of paper for keeping notes and appointments, and specifically recommended keeping three 3-by5 five cards handy for jotting down ideas and obligations. After reading this suggestion, I bought some 3-by-5, put them on the desk by my computer, and have found the system works better than described.

“Organizing Information for the Hardest Decisions” is one of The Organized Mind’s more intriguing chapters. Here Levitin looks at medicine and disease, and the often irrational way we, and sometimes our doctors, approach treatments. Levitin is a scientist — he regards the use of the scientific method in the last few centuries as one of mankind’s greatest achievements — and he advocates the application of this method to our medical problems. His discussion of prostate cancer and what treatment the patient should pursue is typical of his book. Using statistics once again, he raises many questions about the use of surgery for this cancer.

Other chapters in The Organized Mind cover such diverse topics as organizing the workplace, our social lives and even the education of our children. To each of these and the other discussions Levitin brings clarity, simplicity, humor and science.

The Organized Mind has won a permanent spot on my bookshelves. I will be returning to it again and again, both to learn its finer points and to remind myself of the value of organization and of approaching problems with Levitin’s inquiring eye.

(Jeff Minick is a writer and teacher. His first novel, Amanda Bell, is available at regional bookstores and on Amazon. He can be reached at minick 0301@gmail.com.)

Science in Rehabilitation Psychology and Counseling from UNCChapel Hill, Satterwhite is interested in the healing power of telling our stories. As a working mother of two little girls, she is interested in the exquisite beauty of ordinary life. She will be reading from her own work and the work of others whose art lies at the intersection of these two interests.

The series is co-sponsored by the NetWest chapter of the North Carolina Writer’s Network and meets every third Thursday of each month.

828.586.9499.

NC Poetry Society/Ridge Line Literary Alliance in Sylva Poets Kathryn Stripling Byer and David Radavich will read their poems at a jointly sponsored reading of the Ridgeline Literary Alliance and the North Carolina Poetry Society at 2 p.m. Oct. 11 at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. www.ridgelineliterary.org/news.aspx.

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Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

A bon voyage

This lighthouse on the peninsula of Cape Spear, near St. John’s, is the easternmost point in North America and an excellent place to spot icebergs and whales. Jessica Metz photo

Cherokee teacher wins national fellowship, brings global perspective to classroom

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER fter landing back in the Eastern Time Zone, Jessica Metz had a hard time keeping her thoughts still. Eight days aboard a ship, circumnavigating the island of Newfoundland and absorbing all she could about the region’s ecology and culture had set her mind spinning.

“I feel like I am just humming with ideas,” Metz said. “I have so many ideas and so many things I want to get started, and connections that I’m excited to tell the students and the teachers about.”

A teacher with Cherokee Central Schools, Metz is recently returned from the 2014 Grosvenor Teacher Fellows expedition, a National Geographic tour given to just 25 teachers in the United States and Canada.

This year, 1,300 teachers applied for the allexpenses-paid trip. When Metz found out in February that she’d earned a spot, she knew it was a big deal — “we were super excited of course, jumped up and down and cried and everything you do when you find wonderful news out” — but it was hard to know exactly what she was in for.

A

The answer, Metz found, was that she was in for a lot.

“I got to see whales,” Metz said. “That was a huge thing for me. I’ve never seen a whale in the wild before. It was just amazing. I got to see the northern lights. We went kayaking one day at a place called Iles de la Madeleine.”

Metz was one of two Grosvenor Fellows onboard. The rest of the 150 people were historians, botanists, scientists or paying guests.

It was “an extraordinary group of people,” Metz said, a crowd far different from what you might find on a carnival cruise.

“We were much more focused on the environment and the culture and the people,” she said. “We were able to each day select from a group of things that we might want to do.

Sometimes it was big hiking trips, sometimes it was bus tours that told about the history.

Sometimes it was kayaking.”

Flying from St. John’s, Newfoundland into St. Pierre via a plane so tiny it took several trips to get the whole expedition there, Metz’ adventure took her to Louisbourg, an 18thcentury fort where the English and French fought, and then to Baddeck, where Alexander Graham Bell, telephone inventor

Metz’ fellow Grosvenor Teacher Fellow shipmate Sarah Navarro looks at a fabric version of cod with Metz, left. Days later Metz would have scales and slime tossed on her as she watched a fresh codfish cut apart and prepared with salt, the traditional way. Sisse Brimberg, KEENPRSSS, photo

“I got to see whales. That was a huge thing for me. I’ve never seen a whale in the wild before. It was just amazing.

I got to see the northern lights.”

— Jessica Metz

and great-grandfather of Gil Grosvenor, a former president of the National Geographic Society, built his summer home.

From there, she got to go on a kayak tour at Iles de la Madeleine, explore Gros Morne National Park and walk through a reconstructed 11th-century Viking village at L’Anse Aux Meadows. The second-to-last day brought her favorite memory of the trip, and on the last day at St. John’s she got to learn about indigenous cultures at the Rooms Museum — a priority given that her job centers around promoting Cherokee culture.

“The next to the last day of the trip we were in a place called Twillingate, and I took one of the most beautiful hikes that morning that I’ve ever taken,” Metz said. “We were along the rocky cliffs looking down into this dark blue water with the waves crashing against these big huge rocks that made up the coastline. Just the colors and the texture and the temperature and everything about that particular hike was just so beautiful. That afternoon was just the same day that we saw the whales. Those two things together made that one of the more exceptional days of my life.”

The trip was much more than purely a sightseeing vacation, though. It was a vehicle to bring global connections back to her Cherokee classroom. First a fourth, then a fifth and a sixth grade teacher, Metz is this year starting a new position as education program coordinator. In that capacity, she’ll serve as a liaison between Cherokee schools and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, working to promote Cherokee culture and environmental learning.

“I’m writing curriculum, I’m helping teachers integrate Cherokee culture, I’m help-

ing rangers integrate culture into existing programs,” Metz said.

Though Canada is a long way from Western North Carolina, she’s unequivocal about the value of the experience. For Metz, the trip was about connections, about all the little things — both ecological and cultural — that tie people together and prove the point that we’re not so different.

For instance, she’s excited to report to her students that Vikings ate a style of fry bread, a traditional food for the Cherokee. She talked to the gardener at Louisbourg for quite a while upon discovering that he used similar plants and techniques to those she’d been sharing with the Cherokee Middle School Garden Club. And she was surprised to learn that the Appalachian Mountains do not stop at Mt. Katahdin, where the Appalachian Trail ends, but that the ridge instead runs all the way up to Newfoundland.

“Understanding geography and ecology and culture, whether it’s here in Western North Carolina or on top of a mountain in Canada or across the world, understanding those aspects are things that we have in common, things that we can all learn about each other and work together to take care of each other, to take care of our planet,” Metz said of the benefits she hopes her trip imparts to her students.

By having that enthusiasm behind her, that depth of experience, she hopes to get her students as excited about geography, culture and science as she is.

“I’m really excited about trying to show the students something different and spark their curiosity,” Metz said, “because that’s where learning starts, is with the curiosity.”

aromatic products.

Participants will also create an herbal treat to take home. Free. 828.586.2016.

outdoors

Native plant walk along Jackson Greenway

Certified aroma therapist Becky Lipkin.

Harvesting and saving herbs A program on harvesting, storing and preserving herbs to last through the cold winter months will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, at the Jackson County library in Sylva.

Becky Lipkin, a certified aroma therapist known as “the Herb Lady of Cedar Creek Farms,” is an expert on how herbs can be used for medicinal purposes, cooking and

A plant walk along the Jackson County Greenway in Cullowhee will be held at 10 a.m. Oct. 17.

Max Lanning with Jackson Parks and Rec will identify and discuss plants along the way.

Free. Register up until the day before.

828.293.3053 or jenniferbennett@jacksonnc.org.

What to do with fall’s apple bounty?

Apples 101 — everything you always wanted to know about apples — will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 17 in Sylva with the Jackson County Cooperative Extension.

The workshop includes how to make apple jelly and apple sauce. $10.

Registration required. 828.586.4009.

Garden volunteers The Cullowhee Community Garden gets a helping hand from students in Western Carolina University’s Intensive English Program, Atsuko Ota (left) and Maki Watanabe. The garden features fresh produce grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, and gardeners donate half of the produce they grow to help people in need in Jackson County. cullowheecommunitygarden.blogspot.com. Donated photo

Grants to help farmers branch out

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find us at: facebook.com/smnews

Smoky Mountain News

Western North Carolina farmers can Extension agents by Oct. 24 to set up an apply for farm diversification grants over appointment to discuss their projects. the next two years totaling $340,000. www.wncagoptions.org.

WNC AgOptions awards farmers grants of $3,000 and $6,000 to offset the risk of trying a new venture.

The grant funding is through the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. The Commission has helped the mountain region cope with changes in the agriculture industry, ensuring that farmers continue farming.

“Farmers in Western North Carolina have proven time and time again that they are very innovative, resourceful and creative in how they produce and market their products,” said Bill Teague of Waynesville, chairman of the N.C. Joseph and Tara Cathey of Walnut Cove Farms in Haywood Tobacco Trust Fund County expanded their on-farm customer base thanks to a grant Commission. “Our board last year from WNC AgOptions to help farmers tap new markets is committed to the sucand explore new crops. The farm also produces hops for local cess of farmers in the tarbreweries. Donated photo geted counties, and we know these grants will encourage many successful projects.”

Since 2004, WNC AgOptions has disThe upcoming application deadline is tributed nearly $1.8 million to farmers in Nov. 21, with another round next fall. All WNC, from goat cheese operations to comapplicants should contact their Cooperative munity-supported agriculture.

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outdoors

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Smokies have new acting superintendent Great Smoky Mountains National Parkhas a new acting superintendent following Dale Ditmanson retired as superintendent in January after nearly 10 years of service, and his replacement’s departure more recently.

Clay Jordan, the new acting superintendent, has been chief ranger at the park since 2010 and has served as acting deputy superintendent in both 2013 and 2014.

He has 29 years of experience with the National Park Service, including positions as chief ranger at Gulf Islands National Seashore and deputy chief ranger at Shenandoah National Park.

Jordan replaces Cindy MacLeod, who took the position in May. She is returning to her post as superintendent of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.

Clay Jordan. Donated photo

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Drop off unwanted pesticides at the annual pesticide collection day held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the Recycling Center in Bryson City off of Old U.S. 19.

Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and other farm applications will be accepted, but not other materials such as paint, antifreeze or solvents. Hosted by the N.C. Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program, in cooperation with the Swain County Extension Center and Swain County. 828.586.4009 or 828.488.3848.

Bethel Organization honored as heritage keeper The Bethel Rural Community Organization was recognized with the Mountain Heritage award at the recent Mountain Heritage Day festival held at Western Carolina University.

The Bethel Rural Community Organization, a nonprofit created “to enhance the quality of rural life in the Bethel Community of Haywood County,” was recognized for fulfilling that mission with farmland and historic preservation initiatives. Producing and offering books, CDs and DVDs — as well as selling art prints of historic sites — the group collects and documents the area’s history.

“We’re very honored that the work we do is recognized,” said Ted Carr of the organization. “Our goal has been recording and preserving history so that our heritage can be shared in the future and told by those who know the stories best.”

Hunters launch campaign to restore young forest A campaign by the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society is aimed at raising awareness for the need to increase the young forest habitat that these game species depend on.

RGS and AWS members are being asked to recruit fellow grouse and woodcock hunters for membership. A drawing Dec. 31 will pick a winner to have his or her name put on a total of $12,500 in habitat grants that RGS and AWS will give to the state Drummer Funds. In addition, current members who refer a new member and the new members themselves will receive $20 Orvis gift cards.

Young forests are one of the nation’s 20 most threatened bird habitats, with acreage decreasing by more than 33 percent in the eastern U.S. over the past several decades.

Grouse, woodcock and over 40 species of songbirds rely on young forest habitat. www.ruffedgrousesociety.org or 888.564.6747.

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

A screening of the fracking documentary “Triple Divide” will be held at 6 p.m.

Thursday, Oct.16, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

Ken Brown, chairman of the Tuckasegee chapter of the Western North Carolina Alliance, will give a background talk prior to showing the film.

The documentary is an 18-month cradleto-grave fracking investigation featuring interviews with industry giants and advocates, exclusive reports with impacted landowners, uncovered state documents and expert testimonies.

Co-Sponsored by the Western North Carolina Alliance, Watershed Association of The Tuckaseigee River, League of Women Voters of Franklin and the Macon County Public Library.

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828-586-HAUS (4287)

641 North Main Street, WAYNESVILLE, NC (3/10 Mile North of the Courthouse)

your friendly, local blue box — smoky mountain news

828-456-HAUS (4287)

Global warming and ecological collapse

October 8-14, 2014

An environmental discussion on global warming and implications for mass extinction will be led by a husband and wife team at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Charles Dayton and Sara Evans, who are part-time residents of Waynesville, will draw from the book The Sixth Extinction, which warns of an impending ecological collapse caused by man’s disharmony with the natural world. Dayton will share slides about the impact of climate change on the ocean’s ecology based on first-hand observations from a sea voyage.

Dayton is a retired environmental lawyer who practiced in Minneapolis for 40 years and has spent the past decade as an environmental advocate. Evans, who has summered in WNC since early childhood, is a retired history professor from the University of Minnesota and the author of several books.

828.586.9499.

Cataloochee Valley documentary Smoky Mountain News

A screening of the documentary “Cataloochee” will be held at 2 and 5 p.m. on Saturdays, Oct. 11 and Oct. 18, at The Strand theater in downtown Waynesville.

The Cataloochee Valley documentary traces the history of the valley from the Cherokee to the early Appalachian settlers to the movement to create the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The story encompasses the universal themes of migration, settlement and loss of community.

The special screenings are being held in conjunction with street festivals held on back-to-back weekends, the Church Street Arts and Crafts festival and the Apple Festival. $6 for adults/ $3 children.

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ing, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, at the Waynesville Inn. Katie Carr Messer, a low-impact development student at Haywood Community College, has come up with a plan for a city park as part of a program requirement. She,

along with former Brevard College lab instructor Ralphene Rathbone, will present a plan to enhance aesthetics at East Street Park, located on the corner of East and Howell streets, while improving ecological performance. The presentation will include an outline of manpower needs and a call for volunteers.

The plan includes features such as playground equipment, a rain garden, a wetland or butterfly garden, an interpretive nature trail, restrooms and signage.

Removing exotic species, stabilizing the stream bank and improving the vegetative buffer along the stream would also be part of the effort.

Donations for the project can be sent to P.O. Box 389, Waynesville, N.C. 28786. Checks should be made out to Haywood Waterways Association with a note in the memo line earmarking the donation for the East Street park project.

Smoky Mountain News

October 8-14, 2014

Guided bike ride along the Little T Greenway

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A 10-mile bike ride along the Little Tennessee River Greenway in Franklin will be held Oct. 18 as part of Jackson County Parks and Rec’s outdoors programming.

Learn basic riding skills, basic bike repairs, greenway riding etiquette, and then ride the full length of the greenway with a provided picnic along the trail.

Activity fee is $8 per person. Rental bikes are available for an additional $25. Register by Oct. 15. 828.293.3053 or jenniferbennett@jacksonnc.org.

Putting Haywood on the road-cycling map A workshop and strategy session on making Haywood County a premier road biking destination will be held from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9, in Waynesville.

It is part of the ongoing project Pedaling to Prosperity, aimed at advancing the road biking potential of the region and identifying the economic impact of road biking.

Help identify the existing assets for cyclists and brainstorm strategies to create new bicycle-related, economic development tourism opportunities.

Some questions to ponder include: Where is our version of the Virginia Creeper Trail? How can we market the Blue Ridge Parkway to cyclists? What are our most successful cycling events? Have you ever heard of an “s24o?” (Hint: it stands for “Sub-24 Hour Overnight” and involves a short bike-camping trip.)

Non-cyclists are encouraged to attend, especially those from the business and tourism communities interested in putting Haywood on the map as a road biking para-

dise.

The project is sponsored by BicycleHaywoodNC through grants provided by the Southwestern Commission, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the

Haywood County Tourism Development Authority.

Held at the Haywood County Ag Center on Raccoon Road.

Register at www.surveymonkey.com/s/V5D3MF3.

Get your fall on with Lake Logan paddle

Hike explores wildlife preparation for winter A 2-mile hike with Blue Ridge Parkway rangers will give participants a chance to learn about what wildlife do in the winter, 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 10, at Cherry Cove Overlook. The overlook is at milepost 415.7 of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

On this section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, rangers will talk about migration, hibernation and survival in a program titled Wings, Fangs and Nuts. Hikers should prepare for chilly weather too and bring water, hiking shoes and clothing for changeable conditions. 828.298.5330, ext. 304.

marathon course, located approximately every two miles.

The first 800 registrants will receive the event swag package with a long-sleeve, half-zip tech shirt, fleece beanie and custom race bag, plus a professional photo of each runner on the race course. There will be a cash purse of $1,600 for the half marathon.

An after-race party indoors includes a famous post-race meal, door prize drawings and the awards ceremony.

Race proceeds will benefit the Madison Hornbuckle Children’s Cancer Foundation. greg@gloryhoundevents.com or cherokeeharvesthalf.squarespace.com.

Dress up and run in the Night of the Ghouls 5K

Hundreds to take on fall half marathon in Cherokee

The Night of The Ghouls 5K and Little Goblins Fun Run will be held on Saturday, Oct. 18, on the Little Tennessee Greenway in Franklin.

Racers are encouraged to wear costumes, with awards offered for the best costume. The start time for the fun run is 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. for the 5K. The race is sponsored by REACH of Franklin and benefits the domestic violence nonprofit. Cost is $25 or $30 on race day. reachofmaconcounty.org/data/documents/night-of-the-ghouls-registrationform.pdf.

The Cherokee Harvest Half Marathon and 5K will be held on Saturday, Oct. 18, following a mostly flat, picturesque course with a flavor of Cherokee’s communities.

It will start from the Acquoni Events Center at 8:30 a.m. and end with a finishing lap on the stadium track. The race, put on by Waynesville-based Glory Hound Events, has six aid stations on the half

October 8-14, 2014

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Smoky Mountain News

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A paddle tour of Lake Logan in Haywood County will be held on Sunday, Oct. 19, with Haywood Waterways Association, Lake Logan Episcopal Conference Center and Waynesville Recreation Center.

The tour will include a history of the Paddlers on Lake Logan. Donated photo lake and the ecosystems within the 300-acre preserve.

“Seasonal wildlife sightings have included bald eagles, river otter, osprey, great blue heron, barn swallows and a variety of migratory waterfowl such as loons and merganser,” said Glenn Barnett, head naturalist for the lake.

Fall color should be well underway as well.

The event is part of Haywood Waterways’ “Get to Know Your Watershed” series of outdoor hikes, lectures and paddle tours.

Equipment provided. RSVP to christine.haywoodwaterways@gmail.com or 828.476.4667.

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WNC Calendar

Smoky Mountain News

through Friday. 452.1329.

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Haywood Habitat for Humanity Fall Fundraiser, Oct. 9.

Frog Level Brewery in downtown Waynesville. Call for times. 452.7960.

• Jackson County Cooperative Extension Centennial Celebration, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, Town of Sylva 125 Celebration. 586.4009.

• Classic Southern Charm Pageants, Oct. 11. Colonial Theatre. Contact for times and prices. dholcombe@cantonnc.net.

• Reiki Drumming Class, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 11-12.

Purchase your own 16” Remo Buffalo Drum and class will be $175. Call for location. 513.675.2819.

• John Mason will speak at The Western North Carolina Civil War Round Table, 7 p.m. Oct. 13, Jackson County Justice Center. 293.5924 or 648.1211.

• Third Annual CU Lunch Local by the Champion Credit Union. Tuesday, Oct. 14, during lunchtime. Bring in your receipt from lunch to one of the CU offices to enter to win a gift certificate from a local restaurant. www.championcu.com.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Free GED classes offered by Southwestern Community College, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, SCC Swain Center, Room 101. 366.2000.

• Student Success Seminars at Haywood Community College, 1 to 2 p.m. Oct. 8, Building 300, Room 335 A. 627.4646 or drowland@haywood.edu.

• Basic internet class at The Jackson County Public Library, 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, JCPL, Sylva. Must RSVP. www.fontanalib.org or 586.2016.

• HandMade in America Craft Lab, “From Idea to Action: An entrepreneur’s guide to turning your great idea into real-life action,” 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, Haywood Community College Creative Arts Building.

627.4606 or sbc.haywood.edu.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • Annual German dinner at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Clyde, 4 to 6:45 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12. $6 or $12. All proceeds will go to the Weekend Food Backpack for Needy Kids program in Haywood County. Takeout available. 456.6493 or 627.9352.

• The Jackson County Family Resource Center is in need of slightly used blankets for their Blanket Drive.

Accepting blankets until Dec. 1. Deliver to the Jackson County Family Resource Center, 1528 Webster Rd., Webster. 354.0109.

• $10 Fall Fix: get unfixed pets for spay/neuter and rabies vaccination for only $10 through Nov. 30, through Haywood Spay/Neuter. Pet owner must live in Haywood County and sign their pets up at the Haywood Spay/Neuter office, noon to 6 p.m. open Tuesday

• P.A.W.S. Adoption Days first Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the front lawn at Charleston Station, Bryson City.

• Mast General Store Feed the Children, Oct. 14-30.

Main Street in downtown Waynesville. For each pair of Merrell Shoes sold, Merrell will donate a Backpack of Food for Kids in Haywood. 452.2101.

HEALTH MATTERS • Diabetes and Chronic Disease Self-Management Training by Macon County Public Health and Macon County Senior Services, 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 9 and 16. For ages 14 and up. Call for location, registration requirements and fees. 349.2086.

• A diabetes awareness program including blood glucose screening will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva. Part of the monthly Tuesdays to Thrive focusing on different health topics the first Tuesday evening of each month.

Sponsoed by WestCare Wellness and Jackson County Department. www.westcarehealth.org or 586.7734.

• A program on prescription drug abuse and Project Lazarus will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva. Part of the monthly Tuesdays to Thrive focusing on different health topics the first Tuesday evening of each month. Sponsored by WestCare Wellness and Jackson County Department. www.westcarehealth.org or 586.7734.

• “Welcome to Medicare” workshop, 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, Jackson County Department on Aging, 100 County Services Park, Sylva. 631.8037.

• Drive Thru Flu Shots, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, Jackson County Department of Public Health, 538 Scotts Creek Rd., Sylva. $25 per person. 587.8201.

• Walk-in Flu Clinic for adults, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 14, Haywood County Health and Human Services, 157 Paragon Parkway, Suite 800, Clyde. $34 for injections and $36 for flu mist. 452.6675.

• Know Your Medicare Part D, 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, Waynesville Library Auditorium, 678 S. Haywood St. 356.2507.

• “Living Healthy”: A Chronic Disease Self-management Program, 1 to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 14-Nov. 25, Jackson County Senior Center, 100 County Services Park, Sylva. Register by Oct. 10. 586.4944.

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

RECREATION & FITNESS • Volleyball development clinic for girls in 4th-6th grade, 6-7 p.m. for 4th and 5th graders, 7-8 p.m. for 6th graders. Oct. 14, 28 and Nov. 4, 11, and 18, Waynesville Recreation Center. $40 for all dates or $5 per session. 734.1298 or volleypj@bellsouth.net.

POLITICAL EVENTS • Tailgate Party for families at Macon County Republican Headquarters, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, 555 Depot St., Franklin. Congressman Mark Meadows will be attending. 524.2014.

• Democratic N.C. Representative Joe Sam Queen will debate Republican challenger, Mike Clampitt, at 7 p.m.

Oct. 9 Burrell Building conference center, SCC’s Jackson Campus. 339.4000.

• A “Meet the Candidates” luncheon with Democratic candidates for the Haywood County School board will be held at noon Thursday, Oct. 9, at Haywood County Democratic Headquarters.

• Tailgate Party before Franklin and Smoky Mountain High Schools game, 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, across the street from the Franklin High School parking lot entrance on Porter St., Franklin. Meet NC Senate Democratic candidate Jane Hipps and other Macon County Democratic candidates. Sponsored by the Macon County Democrats. 524.9991.

• N.C. Senator Jim Davis, R-Franklin, will face challenger Jane Hipps, D-Waynesville, for a debate at 7 p.m.

Oct. 30 in the Burrell Building at SCC’s Jackson Campus. 339.4000.

• The League of Women Voters will host an election forum for Macon County Commission candidates, noon.

Thursday, Oct. 9, Tartan Hall. susan_e_ervin@yahoo.com.

• Macon County Democratic Men’s Club meeting, 6 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 13, Macon County Democratic Headquarters, 251 Sloan Rd., Franklin. Last meeting before election. 332.7118.

• The Jackson County Democratic Executive Committee will hold its monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, party headquarters on Mill St. 918.645.1973.

KIDS & FAMILIES • The PEANUTS Pumpkin Patch Express will hit the rails at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 10-12 from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Depot in Bryson City. Charlie Brown and friends will be on-hand for the festivities, which also includes a narration of “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” Halloween family activities and more. www.gsmr.com or 800.872.4681.

• Kid’s nature program called “Explore the world of bats,” 9 to 11 a.m. Oct. 11 and 15, Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education on U.S. 276 in Transylvania County. cpaws.org/reservations/pisgah/ or 877.4423.

• “Cyberkids” workshop for parents to keep their kids safe online, 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, Canton Branch Library. 648.2924.

• Establishing Healthy Sleep Habits for Babies workshop, 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, in Haywood County.

Must RSVP to learn location. 456.8995.

• The “Come Paint with Charles Kidz Program” will be at 5 p.m. Oct. 9, 14, 16 at the Charles Heath Gallery in Bryson City. $18 per child. Materials and snacks included. 538.2054.

A&E FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL EVENTS • The Autumn Leaves Craft Show will be held Oct. 9-11 at the Macon County Fairgrounds in Franklin. Unique handmade crafts and other vendors. If possible, bring a can of cat food for the Catman 2 Shelter. Free admission and parking. www.franklin-chamber.com or 349.4324.

• The Harvest Festival will be held Oct. 17-19 at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville. From 6 to 8 p.m.

Oct. 17 there will be campfire music, marshmellow roast and refreshments. The Dry Creek Climb 5K will be at 8 a.m. Oct. 18, with mountain music, square dancing and other activities to follow, as well as a special performance by The SteelDrivers at 7:30 p.m. Gospel groups will perform from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Oct. 19. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• The High Country Quilters annual show will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 9-11 at the Maggie Valley Town Hall. Over 100 locally made quilts and craft vendors. Free. 926.3169 or highcountryquilt@att.net.

• Retro Gaming Tournament by The Retro Gamer, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, downtown Canton.

Play retro arcade games and compete against other teams. Funds raised will go to the Canton Middle School Back Packs of Love program. $5 per person. 648.1200 or www.athornecs.com.

• The Maple Leaf Fall Festival will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 11 in downtown Whittier. Area artisans and crafters, holiday exhibits, flea market, food and live entertainment. 497.2393 or www.greatsmokies.com.

• Cashiers Valley Leaf Festival, Oct. 10-12, Cashiers Valley. www.visitcashiersvalley.com or e-mail info@visitcashiersvalley.com or 743.8428.

• The 32nd annual Highlands Own Arts & Crafts and 2nd annual HomeTown Day will be Saturday, Oct. 11.

Professional crafters, at the Highlands Civic Center and vendors, food, music, clogging and family activities at Kelsey Hutchinson Park. www.highlandsnc.org or 526.2118.

• Darnell Farms Corn Maze, Hayrides and Pumpkin Patch. Friday-Sunday, U.S. 19 at the Tuckasegee River Bridge, Bryson City. Special Haunted Corn Maze the week of Halloween. 488.2376.

• The Town of Sylva will celebrate its 125th Anniversary 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11. Railroad Ave. and Mill St. will be closed during the event for vendor booths. 586.2719.

• The 31st Annual Church Street Art and Craft Show, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, Main Street in Historic Downtown Waynesville. 456.3517.

• The annual Fall Leaves Arts and Crafts show by the Blue Ridge Artists and Crafters Association, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 11, 12, 18 and 19, Haywood County Fairgrounds. Admission is free. 627.4560.

• The October Leaves Craft Show in Maggie Valley, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. Free admission and parking. There will also be a food drive to benefit the local community. 497.9425 or www.mvcraftsshows.com.

• The 25th annual Leaf Lookers Gemboree will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 17-18 and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Macon County Community Building in Franklin. Gem show will dealers from all across the southeast offering fine jewelry, beads, rough and cut stones. 524.3161.

• The Maggie Valley Fall Arts and Crafts Show, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 18 and 19, Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. Free admission and parking. 926.1686 or www.maggievalley.org.

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • Sugar Lime Blue, PMA, Swamp Candy, Strung Like A Horse and Travers Brothership will perform at No Name Sports Pub in Sylva. Sugar Lime plays Blue Oct. 10, with PMA Oct. 11, Swamp Candy Oct. 16, Strung Like A Horse Oct. 17 and Travers Brothership Oct. 18. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m., with Sunday performances from 5 to 8 p.m.

Free. 586.2750 or www.nonamesportspub.com.

• Bluegrass sensation Town Mountain will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, in the Macon County Heritage Center at the Historic Cowee School in Franklin. Tickets are $10. 349.1945 or www.coweeschool.org.

• A dance will be held from 7 to 8:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Live music by Paul Indelicato. Please bring a finger food dish of your choice. $10 per person. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• County music artist and American Idol star Kellie Pickler will perform at the 2014 Cherokee Indian Fair, 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9. $10 registration fee.

497.2111.

• Pianist/singer Sam Stringfield will perform from 9 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at Innovation Brewing in Sylva. Free. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Renowned flutist Elaine Saloio will perform as part of a guest recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, in the Coulter Building at Western Carolina University.

• Country’s Family Reunion will be held at 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 11 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Country music stars with decades and songs and storytelling. Tickets are $20, $25 and $30. 524.1598 or www.greatmountainmusic.com.

• The Ubuntu choir will perform at the Jackson County Library, 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, JCPL Community Room. Free to the public. www.jacksoncountyarts.org.

• Grammy Award winning bluegrass act The SteelDrivers will perform as part of the Harvest Festival at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for students and children grades K-12. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• The Land of the Sky Chorus will perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Colonial Theatre in Canton. www.cantonnc.com.

• Air Supply will perform at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center, 777 Casino Dr., Cherokee. 800.745.3000.

• Craig Summers & Lee Kram and Oktoberfest with Jamboogie will perform at Frog Level Brewing Company in Waynesville. Summers & Kram play Oct. 16, with Jamboogie Oct. 18. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

• The Johnny Webb Band and Southern Highlands will perform as part of the Friday Night Live concert series at Town Square in Highlands. Webb plays Oct. 10, with Southern Highlands Oct. 17. All shows begin at 6 p.m.

Free.

• Americana band Swamp Candy and newgrass act Strung Like A Horse will be at the Water’n Hole Bar & Grill in Waynesville. Swamp Candy plays Oct. 17, with Strung Like A Horse Oct. 18. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m. 456.4750.

MUSIC JAMS AND GROUPS • A back porch old-time music jam will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Cherokee. All welcome to come play or simply sit and listen to sounds of Southern Appalachia.

NIGHTLIFE • The Diamond K Ranch in Maggie Valley has live music Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays are ladies nights. 926.7735.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • The Steampunk Storyboard Challenge at Sequoyah Studio, 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, October 11. Part one of the ongoing Creative Bootcamp series. $10.

703.966.7138.

• Drawing Lessons for Adults, by Char Avrunin, 1 to 4 p.m. Mondays and painting lessons from 1 to 4 p.m.

Tuesdays. www.iamclasses.webs.com or contact Char at 456.9197, orcharspaintings@msn.com.

• Art classes with Dominick DePaolo, 10 a.m. to noon on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at the Old Armory Building, 44 Boundary St. in Waynesville and from 1 to 3 p.m. every Friday at Mountain Home Collection at 110 Miller St., Waynesville. Armory classes, 456.9918; Home Collection classes, 456.5441 • Watercolor classes with Dominick DePaolo from 10 a.m. to noon and oil painting classes from 1 to 3 p.m. on Mondays, at Uptown Gallery, Franklin. 349.4607.

• The Smoky Mountain Knitting Guild offers free Learn to Knit classes for adults and children at the Waynesville Library on Tuesdays. The adult class meets from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Children (boys and girls ages 8-12) meet from 5 to 6 p.m. Pre-registration required. 246.0789.

• Christmas decorating or gift-giving workshop by Dogwood Crafters, 9:30 a.m. to noon. Friday, Oct. 17, Dillsboro Masonic Lodge. $8 per person. Register by Oct. 13. 586.2435 or junettapell@hotmail.com.

• A spooky raku firing class will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 18 and at 1 p.m. Oct. 25 at The Bascom in Highlands. The workshop is all about flame and fire. Contemporary raku firing is ware-fired quickly at low temperatures, 1800 degrees or so, then quickly cooled. Once the glaze has matured, the hot wares are removed from the kiln and cooled in the open air or immediately smoked in a reduction chamber using combustible materials. Raku’s origins date back to the 16th Century Japan when bowls were produced for Japanese tea ceremonies. Tuition is $50. www.thebascom.org.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • WCU Fine Arts Museum has an exhibit, “Abstract Autobiography for a Fractured Narrative” on display until Nov. 7. WCU Fine Arts Museum, Cullowhee.

227.3591.

• The Appalachian Pastel Society Juried National Exhibition will be held through Jan. 4 at The Bascom in Highlands. The exhibition showcases some of the finest examples in contemporary pastel art in the region. www.thebascom.org.

FOOD & DRINK • The 24th annual Chili Cook-Off will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad Depot in Bryson City. Attendees can sample chili from mild to wild, with red, white and vegetarian recipes. There will also be live music, decorated booths and homemade desserts. Trophies awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, People’s Choice and Showmanship. Cash prizes will also be awarded in each category: $400 for 1st, $300 for 2nd and $200 for 3rd. www.greatsmokies.com or 800.867.9246.

Smoky Mountain News

• String band Blue Caboose and Appalachia old-time string trio Blue Eyed Girl will perform at the Bryson City Train Depot. Blue Caboose plays Oct. 11, with Blue Eyed Girl Oct. 18. All shows are free and at 6:30 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com.

• Haints, Boogers and Witches of the Southern Highlands will be at 8 p.m. Oct. 10, 17-18 at The Storytelling Center in Bryson City. Spooky mountain storytelling. 488.5705.

October 8-14, 2014

• Rock singer/songwriter Joshua Dean and Dave Desmelik will perform at BearWaters Brewing Company in Waynesville. Dean will play Oct. 10, with Desmelik Oct. 11. All shows are at 7 p.m. unless otherwise listed. www.bwbrewing.com or 246.0602.

• MMA Cage Fights with Fight Lab 41, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 11, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.

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• Christian rock singer and American Idol contestant Colton Dixon and Finding Favour will perform at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 at Haywood Community College in Clyde.

The show will be hosted by the Cross The Wilderness ministry and the Crestview Baptist Youth Group.

General admission is $15, with group tickets $12. A special meet-and-great “Gold Circle” ticket is $50. www.crossthewilderness.org.

• A game day will occur from 2 to 9 p.m. every third Saturday of the month at Papou’s Wine Shop & Bar in Sylva. Bring dice, cards or board games. 586.6300.

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ARTS GROUP MEETINGS

BOOKS & AUTHORS • A Haywood county nonfiction book club meets the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at various locations. 456.8428.

• J. Robin Whitley and Paula Offutt will discuss their works in celebration of LGBT History Month, 6:30 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 10, City Lights Bookstore, 3 E. Jackson St., Sylva. 586.9499.

• Poets Kathryn Stripling Byer and David Radavich will read their poems, 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, City Lights Bookstore, 3 E. Jackson St., Sylva. 586.9499.

• Diane Pickett will present her book, “Never Isn’t Long Enough,” 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, Blue Ridge Books, 152 S. Main St., Waynesville. 456.6000.

• Charles Dayton and Sara Evans will discuss Climate Change and Mass Extinction, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, City Lights Bookstore, 3 E. Jackson St., Sylva.

586.9499.

• Julia Watts will present her books, “Finding H.F.” and “Secret City,” 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, City Lights Bookstore, 3 E. Jackson St., Sylva. 586.9499.

FILM & SCREEN • The documentary “Cataloochee” will be shown Oct. 11 and 18 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville.

Screenings are at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 7:45 p.m. Friday; 2, 5 and 7:45 p.m. Saturday; and 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $6 per person, $4 for children. There is also a $3 ticket for the Saturday matinee. Saturday morning cartoons will also be

• “Inequality for All” will be shown by The Groovy Movie Club, 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, Buffy Queen’s home in Dellwood. Organic potluck dinner will begin at 6:15 p.m. Call for reservations and directions.

926.3508, 454.5949 or johnbuckleyX@gmail.com.

• The film “Identity Thief” will be shown, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, Macon County Public Library, Franklin. Rated R. 524.3600 or www.fontanalib.org.

• The Mad Batter Food & Film now showing featured films, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays, downtown Sylva location. Special kids’ matinee at 2 p.m. Saturdays. Free. Movie listings and information, www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

586.3555.

• Family movie days at Marianna Black Library, Bryson City, are at 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Classic movies at 1 p.m. the second and fourth Friday. Other films also shown. Free movies and popcorn. 488.3030 or www.fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

• Movies at the Macon County Library. New movies, documentaries and foreign films every Monday at 3:30, Wednesday at 4:30 and again at 7 p.m., and classic matinees at Fridays at 2 p.m. The movies and popcorn are free, but donations are welcome.

524.3600.

MUSIC JAMS AND GROUPS • Old-time music jam from 1-3 p.m. the third Saturday of the month at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on U.S. 441 outside Cherokee. 452.1068.

• A community music jam will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Held first and third Thursday of

the month – year round. Free. 488.3030.

• Cruso Circle Play & Jam, 7 p.m. every Tuesday, Cruso Community Center and Friendship Club in Cruso. www.facebook.com/crusocircleplayjam.

• Signature Brew Coffee Company holds Sylva Open Jam nights on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. Shop provides the instruments, you provide the talent. Chris Coopers’ Fusion band hosts.

• An open jam session is held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. each Thursday at Heinzelmannchen Brewery in Sylva.

All skill levels and instruments welcome. 631.4466 or www.yourgnometownbrewery.com.

Outdoors OUTINGS & FIELDTRIPS • Senior trip to see the elk by Waynesville Parks and Rec, 2 p.m. Oct. 21, Waynesville Recreation Center. $5 or $7. Bring your own dinner, camera, binoculars, chair, and bug spray. 456.2030 or tpetrea@yanesvillenc.gov.

• Bird Walk along the Greenway, 8 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, Salali Lane. Park off Fox Ridge Rd. 524.5234.

• “Star Party” with WCU astronomer, 5 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, Jackson County Airport. Free. 227.3677.

• Appalachian Trail Community Committee October meeting, 10-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, Town Hall in Franklin. wavh@dne.net.

• Kayak trip to Bear Lake, offered by Waynesville Parks and Rec, 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, Waynesville Rec Center. $20 or $25. Kayaks will be provided. 456.2030.

PROGRAMS & WORKSHOPS • Firearm safety and shooting, 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 11, Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education on U.S. 276 in Transylvania County. www.cpaws.org/reservations/pisgah/ or call 877.4423.

• “Pamping in the Old Style,” a recreated campsite of the early 1900s, will be presented by the Traditional Outdoor Skills Program. Saturday, Oct. 11, Cradle of Forestry near Brevard. $5 per adult. 877.3130.

• Smoky Mountain Model Railroaders holds public viewing session from 2 to 4 p.m. the second Sunday of the month, 130 Frazier St., in the Industrial Park near Bearwaters Brewery, Waynesville. The group runs Lionel-type 3rail O gauge trains. http://smokymountainmodelrailroaders.wordpress.com.

• Pesticide Collection Day by the NC Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, Recycling Center, off of Old Hwy. 19, Bryson City. 586.4009.

• Apples 101: Everything you always wanted to know about apples, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, Jackson County Extension Center conference room. $10 per person. Call to register. 586.4009.

COMPETITIVE EDGE • The Legends & Tales 5K Run/Walk, hosted by Cherokee Runners, will take place 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11, through downtown Cherokee. www.cherokeerunners.com.

OUTINGS & FIELDTRIPS • Fall trip to Cataloochee Valley for Elk and Old Settlement Tour, 6:15 a.m. to noon. Thursday, Oct. 9, Waynesville Old Armory Rec Center, 44 Boundary St. $65 per person. RSVP. bobgry@aol.com.

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October 8-14, 2014

Oct. 16-19

We’re ready for the holidays!

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• The Macon County Art Association will hold its monthly member meeting, 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, Uptown Gallery, 31 W. Main St., Franklin. 349.2804.

shown at 11 a.m. and is free to attend.283.0079 or www.38main.com.

WWW.CRAFTGUILD.ORG

828-298-7928

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• Small RV Camping Club is seeking additional members. Next meeting is Oct. 10-11. Includes fellowship and potluck dinners. Contact for locations and additional info. 369.6669 or lilnau@aol.com.

• Bird walk along the Greenway, 8 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, Macon County Public Library parking lot.

Sponsored by the Franklin Bird Club. 524.5234.

PROGRAMS & WORKSHOPS • Defining strategies to attract bicyclists to Haywood County and Western North Carolina, 1:30 to 4 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 9, Haywood County Ag Center. jenngjacobson@gmail.com.

HIKING CLUBS • Nantahala Hiking Club based in Macon County holds weekly Saturday hikes in the Nantahala National Forest and beyond. www.nantahalahikingclub.org • High Country Hikers, based out of Hendersonville but hiking throughout Western North Carolina, plans hikes every Monday and Thursday. Schedules, meeting places and more information are available on their website, www.highcountryhikers.org.

• Carolina Mountain Club hosts more than 150 hikes a year, including options for full days on weekends, full days on Wednesdays and half days on Sundays.

Non-members contact event leaders. www.carolinamountainclub.org

SATURDAY OCTOBER 18, 2014 10 A.M - 5 P.M.

October 8-14, 2014

Historic Downtown Waynesville, N.C.

Live Entertainment Local Merchants Arts & Crafts • Great Food For more information:

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• Mountain High Hikers, based in Young Harris, Ga., leads several hikes per week. Guests should contact hike leader. www.mountainhighhikers.org.

• Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, located in East Tennessee, makes weekly hikes in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park as well as surrounding areas. www.smhclub.org.

• Benton MacKaye Trail Association incorporates outings for hikes, trail maintenance and other work trips. No experience is necessary to participate. www.bmta.org.

• Diamond Brand’s Women’s Hiking Group meets on the third Saturday of every month. For more information, e-mail awilliams@diamondbrand.com or call 684.6262.

• Black Balsam area hike by The Blue Ridge Naturalist Network. Monday, Oct. 13. Members only, or join for $15 a year. www.facebook.com/groups/BRNNmembers or brnnetwork2013@gmail.com.

• Hiking along Pretty Hollow Gap Trail in Cataloochee Valley. Tuesday, Oct. 14, carpooling from Asheville and Maggie Valley. $10 for members and $30 for nonmembers. 452.0720.

BIKE RIDES • A weekly bike ride in Waynesville meets Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. at Rolls Rite Bicycles on the Old Asheville Highway. Beginner to intermediate rides led by Bicycle Haywood advocacy group. Eight- to 12-mile rides.

276.6080 or gr8smokieszeke@gmail.com.

• A weekly bike ride meets in Bryson City on Wednesdays around 6 p.m. Depart from the East Swain Elementary school in Whittier on U.S.19 off exit 69 from U.S. 23/74. All levels. 800.232.7238.

Paid for in part by the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority

888-334-9036 • www.visitncsmokies.com

• A weekly bike ride in Sylva meets Tuesday at 6 p.m., departing from Motion Makers bike shop for a tough 25-mile ride up to the Balsam Post office via back roads and back into Sylva. 586.6925.

• A weekly bike ride in Franklin meets Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., departing from Smoky Mountain Bicycles at 179 Highlands Road. Geared for all levels. 369.2881 or www.maconcountycycling.blogspot.com.

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• A weekly bike ride in Franklin meets Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. at Macon Middle School on Wells Grove Road.

Ladies and beginners’ ride. 369.2881 or www.maconcountycycling.blogspot.com.

• A weekly bike ride in Franklin meets Saturdays at 8 a.m., departing from South Macon Elementary School.

369.2881, www.maconcountycycling.blogspot.com.

MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDES • Weekly mountain bike ride at Tsali, 6:30 p.m.

Wednesdays. Hosted by Nantahala Area SORBA. Social ride, so all skill levels are welcome and encouraged to come. Meet in the Tsali parking lot. www.facebook.com/nantahalaareasorba. Andy, 488.1988.

• Monthly “Girlz Ride” at Tsali, last Friday of every month. Sponsored by Nantahala Area SORBA. Meet at 6:30 p.m. in Tsali parking lot. All skill levels welcome.

Social and snacks provided after the ride. 506.115, www.facebook.com/nantahalaareasorba.

FARMERS & TAILGATE MARKETS Haywood County • Canton Farmers Market and Heritage Crafts. 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday through Oct. 31, municipal parking lot of downtown Canton. Robin Smith, 734.9071 or michaelrobin07@yahoo.com.

• Haywood Historic Farmers Market. 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday and Saturday through mid-December at 250 Pigeon St, Waynesville, parking lot HART Theatre.

280.1381 or haywoodfarmersmarket@gmail.com.

• The Original Waynesville Tailgate Market. 8 a.m. to noon, Wednesdays and Saturdays through Oct. 29 at 171 Legion Dr., Waynesville, behind Bogart’s restaurant. 648.6323. www.facebook.com/pages/waynesville-tailgate-market/117024646020.

Jackson County • Cashiers Tailgate Market. 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays May through October. Anglican Church parking lot next to Macon Bank on U.S. Highway 64 East. 226.9988 or blueridgefarmers@gmail.com.

• Jackson County Farmers Market. 9 a.m. to noon April to October at Bridge Park in Sylva; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

November to March at Community Table. Family Art at the Market offered at 10 a.m. and story time with City Lights at 11 a.m.; monthly fundraising brunches and occasional music given. 631.3033 or jacksoncountyfarmersmarket@gmail.com.

Macon County • Cowee Farmers Market. 3:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Oct. 28, Old Cowee School, 51 Old Cowee School Dr., Franklin. info@coweefarmersmarket.com or 524.8369.

• Franklin Farmers Tailgate Market. 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays through November on East Palmer Street across from Drake Software. 349.2049 or alan_durden@ncsu.edu, www.facebook.com/franklinncfarmersmarket.

Swain County • Swain County Farmers Market. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Fridays through Oct. 31. 210 Main St. at the corner of Main St. and Everett St. in Bryson City. 488.3848 or christine_bredenkamp@ncsu.edu. www.facebook.com/pages/swain-county-farmers-market/104853346226504.

Ongoing POLITICAL CORNER Democratic party • Macon County Democratic Party Headquarters, 251 Sloan Road in Franklin, is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30

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• Haywood County Democratic executive committee meets at 5 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at Democratic Headquarters, 286 Haywood Square, Waynesville. www.haywooddemocrats.org.

• Haywood County Commissioners: 9 a.m. first Monday of the month and at 5:30 p.m. the third Monday of each month. Historic courthouse. 452.6625.

• Jackson County Democratic Party meets the third Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at Democratic Headquarters, 500 Mill St., Sylva. Brian McMahan, 508.1466.

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• Clyde Aldermen: 6:30 p.m. first Tuesday of each month. Town Hall. 627.2566.

• Haywood County Democratic Party headquarters, 286 Haywood Square, Waynesville, is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. 452.9607, www.haywooddemocrats.org.

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• Jackson County Democratic Party executive committee members meet at 6:30 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at Democratic Headquarters, 500 Mill St., Sylva. www.jacksondems.com.

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• Jackson County Democratic Women meet at 6 p.m. the third Thursday of every month at Democratic Headquarters 500 Mill St., Sylva. www.jacksondems.com.

GOP • Jackson County Republican headquarters at Laurel Terrace on U.S. 64 East in Cashiers and at 58 Sunrise Park retail complexes in Sylva. 743.6491 or jacksonctygop@yahoo.com, www.jacksoncountygop.com.

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• The South Jackson County GOP monthly meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month at the GOP headquarters office at Laurel Terrace on N.C. 64 east in Cashiers. Ralph Slaughter, Jackson County GOP Chair at 743.6491 or www.jacksoncountygop.com.

David Mesimer (828) 452-2815 283 North Haywood St. Waynesville david.mesimer@allstate.com

• The Haywood Republicans meet at 6:30 p.m. the second Thursday of the month at the GOP headquarters, 303 N. Haywood St., Waynesville. 246.7921. www.haywoodncgop.org.

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• The North Jackson County GOP monthly meetings are held at 6:30 p.m., the fourth Monday of each month, at the Sylva headquarters, 58 D Sunrise Park, Sylva.

Ralph Slaughter, Jackson County GOP Chair at 743.6491 or www.jacksoncountygop.com.

Other political groups 76023

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• The Haywood County NAACP meets at various locations the last Sunday of each month. 400.5475.

• Jackson County branch of the NAACP meets at 10 a.m. on the Saturday following the second Thursday of every month at Liberty Baptist Church in Sylva.

• The Libertarian Party of Haywood County meets at 7 p.m. every second Wednesday of the month at Organic Beans, 3676 Soco Road, Maggie Valley. Open to the public. haywood@lpnc.org.

Smoky Mountain News

• Occupy/WNC General Assembly meets from 7 to 8:30 p.m. every second and fourth Tuesday in room 220 of the Jackson County Administration and Justice Center in Sylva. 538.1644.

• A TEA Party group meets at 2 p.m. the third Saturday of each month at the 441 Diner in Otto.

• The Jackson County Patriots meet at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at Ryan’s Steak House in Sylva, with the meeting start at 6:30 p.m. All liberty-loving area citizens who want Constitutionally-limited government, free market economics and fiscal responsibility are welcome. Box547@aol.com.

Serving Haywood County Call today for a free estimate—828-734-0671

56

BONDED & INSURED

• The League of Women Voters meets at noon the second Thursday of each month at Tartan Hall in Franklin. Lunch available by reservation. Open to all. $6 for food. 524.5192.

• Maggie Valley Aldermen: 6 p.m., second Monday of the month. Agenda setting workshop at 9 a.m. first Wednesday of the month.Town Hall. 926.0866.

• Waynesville Aldermen: 7 p.m. second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Town Hall. 456.3515.

• Haywood County School Board: 7 p.m. the second Monday of each month at the Education Center in Clyde.

• Haywood County Economic Development Commission: 4 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month at the Employment Security Commission.

• Haywood County Tourism Development Authority: 2 p.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month in Gaines Auditorium at the Bethea Welcome Center at Lake Junaluska.

• Waynesville Planning Board: 5:30 p.m. third Monday of each month, Town Hall. 452.2491.

• Waynesville Public Art Commission: 5:30 p.m. second Thursday of each month, Town Hall. 452.2491.

Jackson • Jackson County Commissioners: First Monday of each month at 2 p.m. and third Monday at 6 p.m.

Justice Center. 631.2295.

• Sylva town boad: 5:30 p.m. first Thursday of each month and 9:15 a.m. third Thursday of each month.

Town Hall. 586.2719.

• Dillsboro town board: 5:30 p.m. second Monday of the month at town hall.

• Forest Hills: 6 p.m. first Tuesday of the month at Jackson Rec Center in Cullowhee.

• Webster Town Board: 5:15 p.m. first Wednesday of the month. Town Hall, 1411 Webster Rd. • Jackson County Planning Board: 6 p.m. second Thursday of the month. Room A-227 of the Justice Center in Sylva. 631.2261.

• Jackson County Tourism Authority: 1 p.m. third Wednesday of the month. Locations vary. 586.2155.

• Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority meets at 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month for a work session, and at 5:30 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month to take action, TWSA office on Main Street in Sylva.

• Cashiers Area Community Planning Council: 5 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month. Albert Carlton Library.

• Jackson County Greenway Commission: 5:30 p.m. second Tuesday of every month. Room A-227 of the Justice Center in Sylva. 293.3053.

• Jackson County school board: 6 p.m. fourth Tuesday of each month.

Macon • Macon County Commissioners: 6 p.m. second Tuesday of the month. County courthouse. 349.2025.

• Franklin Aldermen: 7 p.m. first Monday of each month at Town Hall. 524.2516.

• Macon Planning Board: 5 p.m. third Thursday of the month at the Environmental Resource Center.

• Macon County school board: 6 p.m. fourth Monday of each month at the cental administrative offices.

• Highlands Aldermen: 7 p.m. first and third Wednesday. Town Hall. 526.2118.

Swain

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS Haywood • Canton Aldermen: 6:30 p.m. second and fourth Thursday of each month at Town Hall. 648.2363.

• Swain County Commissioners: 5:30 second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Administration Building. 488.9273.

• Bryson City Aldermen: 6 p.m. first Monday of each month. Town Hall. 488.3335.

We’re having fun — Come join us! wnc calendar

Many Thanks to the people of Western North Carolina who supported the businesses in Sylva who were affected by the downtown fire on 8/16/14. The Firemen, the Rescue Squad, the Law Enforcement Officers and many more came to fight the fire and keep the people safe. We Thank You!

on Backstreet Sylva

CLASSES DAILY • DAY PASSES AVAILABLE

WAYNESVILLE 525

RECREATION CENTER 550 Vance St. • Waynesville • 828.456.2030

www.townofwaynesville.org 261-34

CLASSIFIED ADS 50 WORDS OR LESS ARE

PER WEEK Smoky Mountain News

(Pre-pay only)

October 8-14, 2014

The Best Deal in the Mountains!

FREE: Residential yard sale ads, lost or found pet ads FREE: Non-business items that sell for less than $150 $35: Non-business items, 25 words or less, 3 months or until sold

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Call Classifieds Manager Scott Collier — 828.452.4251 or email classads@smokymountainnews.com 68793

57

PRIME REAL ESTATE Advertise in The Smoky Mountain News

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MarketPlace information:

ANTIQUE FALL FESTIVAL Oct. 17th & 18th, 9a.m. - 5p.m.

20 DEALERS FEATURING • Antiques • Costume Jewelry • Furniture • Buttons • Artist Denim Jackets • Cast Iron • Fishing • Toys • Tools • Lots of Treasures Different Dealers Each Day ANTIQUE ANTICS - 1497 S. MAIN STREET WAYNESVILLE Space Available 828.452.6225

The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 every week to over 500 locations across in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties along with the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. For a link to our MarketPlace Web site, which also contains a link to all of our MarketPlace display advertisers’ Web sites, visit www.smokymountainnews.com.

Rates: ■ Free — Residential yard sale ads, lost or found pet ads.

■ Free — Non-business items that sell for less than $150.

■ $12 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2.

■ $12 — If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type.

■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad.

■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold.

■ $300 — Statewide classifieds run in 117 participating newspapers with 1.6 million circulation. Up to 25 words.

■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

ARTS & CRAFTS ALLISON CREEK Iron Works & Woodworking. Crafting custom metal & woodwork in rustic, country & lodge designs with reclaimed woods! Design & consultation, Barry Downs 828.524.5763, Franklin NC

Classified Advertising:

AUCTION

Scott Collier, phone 828.452.4251; fax 828.452.3585 | classads@smokymountainnews.com

AUCTION Historic Daniel Boone Land Tract October 18th, 10am. 67.4 Acres(10) 6 acre tracts/4BR house on 7 acres. Land was home to Boone & family. RogersAuctionGroup.com.

800.442.7906 NCAL#685

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, COO

INC.

R

DI

SC OV ER E

ATR

PE

Serving Haywood, Jackson & Surrounding Counties

FIREARMS-AMMUNITION AUCTION Ansley H Fox, Nichols-Lefever, Colt, German Luger, AK-47's, Winchester, Ruger, Thompson-Center, Over 10,000 rounds Ammunition. OnLine Auction. Bidding ENDS Tuesday October 14 @ 7:00PM. www.HouseAuctionCompany.com 252.729.1162 NCAL#7889.

Offering:

MAJOR-BRAND TIRES FOR CARS, LIGHT & MEDIUM-DUTY TRUCKS, AND FARM TIRES.

Service truck available for on-site repairs LEE & PATTY ENSLEY, OWNERS

MON-FRI 7:30-5:00 • WAYNESVILLE PLAZA

828-456-5387

261-23

LAND AUCTION, Halifax County, NC, October 28th at 10am. 1,367 acres offered in 13 tracts, timberland and farm land, Little Fishing Creek frontage, deer, turkey and quail! Auction information sessions October 9 from 9 am to 1 pm and October 18 from noon to 4 pm on-site. For more information, contact Murray Wise Associates, LLC 800.607.6888. www.murraywiseassociates.com or Woltz & Associates, Inc., Real Estate Brokers & Auctions (NCAL#7560) 1.800.551.3588 www.woltz.com

AUCTION INVENTORY LIQUIDATION AUCTION Ends Oct. 24: NOON. 90,000+ Items in this Auction! Featuring New In Box Keepers, Collectibles and More! 336.789.2926 or RogersAuctionGroup.com.

NCAL#685 HARPER’S AUCTION COMPANY Fall is Here! Check Us Out...

Great Auctions in the Month of October, 17th, 24th & 31st Pool Tables, Antique Slot Machine, Antique Furniture, Grandfather Clock and Holiday Items 47 Macon Center Dr. Franklin, NC 828.369.6999 harpersauctioncompany.com Debra Harper NCAL# 9659 NCFL# 9671 REAL ESTATE AUCTIONSFour auctions in Rocky Mount on October 20th including commercial, single family homes and farmland.

RockyMountAuctions.com or call AuctionFirst at 919.601.7339.

NCAL#8116/8121.

TAX SEIZURE AUCTIONTuesday, October 21 @ 10am. 103 Locust Lane. Locust, NC. (15 Miles East of Charlotte). Selling (2) Purple Peddler Novelty Stores due to Unpaid Taxes. Inventory to include Smoking Novelties, Party Supplies, E-Cigs, Clothing, Candles, etc.

704.791.8825. ncaf5479. www.ClassicAuctions.com

BUILDING MATERIALS HAYWOOD BUILDERS Garage Doors, New Installations Service & Repairs, 828.456.6051 100 Charles St. Waynesville Employee Owned.

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING ALL THINGS BASEMENTY! Basement Systems Inc. Call us for all of your basement needs! Waterproofing, Finishing, Structural Repairs, Humidity and Mold Control.

FREE ESTIMATES! Call 1.800.698.9217

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING DAVE’S CUSTOM HOMES OF WNC, INC Free Estimates & Competitive rates. References avail. upon request. Specializing in: Log Homes, remodeling, decks, new construction, repairs & additions.

Owner/Builder: Dave Donaldson.

Licensed/Insured. 828.631.0747 or 828.508.0316 SULLIVAN HARDWOOD FLOORS Installation- Finish - Refinish 828.399.1847.

PAINTING WHERE PRIDE & WORKMANSHIP STILL EXIST! Painting By Fred Hoffman Over 40 yrs. Exp. Ineterior & Exterior Painting. Located in Haywood County. For more info & - Free Estimates 561.420.9334 JAMISON CUSTOM PAINTING & PRESSURE WASHING Interior, exterior, all your pressure washing needs and more.

Specialize in Removal of Carpenter Bees - Cedar or Log Homes or Painted or Siding!

Call or Text Now for a Free Estimate at 828.508.9727

CAMPERS 25’ TRAVEL TRAILER - EXCELLENT With new awning and carpet, central heating and cooling. Queen bedroom. Everything in top condition. Sleeps 6. $9,400, Call 813.753.9626.

CARS *CASH TODAY* We’ll Buy Any Car (Any Condition) Free Same-Day Removal. Best Cash Offer Guaranteed! Call For FREE Quote: 888.472.2113 SAPA DONATE YOUR CAR, Truck or Boat to Heritage for the Blind. Free 3 Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. 800.337.9038.

R

CARS -

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES GREAT MONEY FROM HOME With Our Free Mailer Program.

Live Operators On Duty Now! 1.800.707.1810 EXT 901 or visit WWW.PACIFICBROCHURES.COM SAPA

EMPLOYMENT AIRLINE MECHANIC CAREERS Start Here - Get FAA Approved Maintenance Training. Financial Aid For Qualified Students. Job Placement Assistance. Call Aviation Institute Of Maintenance 1.866.724.5403 WWW.FIXJETS.COM. SAPA ATTN: DRIVERS New Hiring Area! Quality Home time. Avg. $1000 Weekly. BCBS + 401k + Pet & Rider. CDL-A Req 877.258.8782. meltontruck.com/drivers

ATTN: DRIVERS. New Hiring Area! Quality Home Time. Average $1000 Weekly BCBS + 401K + Pet & Rider CDL-A Required 1.888.592.4752. www.ad-drivers.com SAPA

AVIATION MANUFACTURING CAREERS- Get started by training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance. 877.300.9494.

BANDIT -

LOOMIS -

An adolescent, neutered, black cat. He tries to answer the telephone. He is litter box trained. Call 828.586.5647.

A 3 year old male terrier mix. He is black with some white and brown. He weighs 24 lbs. He is energetic and likes to play. He is also affectionate and likes to be petted. He might do best in a home where he is the only dog.

586.5186

SIR JOSEPH A white with tan markings Jack Russell. He is 2 years old and weighs 15 lbs. Call 877.273.5262.

ARF’S NEXT LOW-COST HEAD START PRE-SCHOOL ASSISTANT TEACHER - Jackson County- Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education is required for this position, must also have the ability to assume responsibilities of the classroom when teacher is absent, work well with parents, community partners and co-workers, and have good judgment/time management skills. Basic computer skills required. Two years classroom experience preferred. This is a ten moth position with full time benefits.

HEAD START/NC PRE-K TEACHER- Haywood County Two Positions- Must have a Birth-K or BS related field with course work, and teaching license. This position also requires computer skills, the ability to work with diverse population/community partners, good judgment/problem solving skills, lead role in classroom and time management skills. Candidate will be responsible for classroom/paperwork. 2 yrs. experience in Pre-K classroom preferred. These are 10 month positions with full time benefits.

HEAD START PRESCHOOL TEACHER- Haywood County-A BS or Birth–K Degree in Early Childhood Education is mandatory for this position. Also required for this position are: computer skills responsible for classroom paperwork, good judgment/problem solving skills and time management skills. Candidate must have the ability to work with a diverse population and community partners. Two years classroom experience is preferred. This is a 10 month position with full time benefits.

Applications will be taken at Mountain Projects, 2251 Old Balsam Rd, Waynesville, NC 28786 or 25 Schulman St, Sylva, NC 28779 or you may go to our website: www.mountainprojects.org Pre-employment drug testing required. EOE/AA

BARNUM A purebred Beagle. He is sweet, good on a leash, but scared of big dogs. Call 828.586.5186.

SMOKY A two-year-old brindle Aussie mix. He is lively and friendly.

Call 877.273.5262.

GRACIE An 8 lb. Chihuahua/Yorkie mix.

She is adorable. Special pricing.

Call 828.293.5629.

VIOLET -

Dog and cat spay/neuter trip is in October 6th. Register in advance at ARF’s adoption site in Sylva 1-3 on Saturdays.

Spaces are limited, so don’t wait until the last minute to register. You should not bring your animal to registration. Do bring address documentation and income documentation if you wish to apply for free Cullowhee dog or Sylva cat spay/neuters or other low-income discounts.

For more information, call 877.273.5262.

A 1-2 year old, purebred Walker hound. She is very affectionate.

877.273.5262.

261-20

MOUNTAIN REALTY

Mieko Thomson ROKER/R /REALTOR EALTOR®® BBROKER

ARF (HUMANE SOCIETY OF JACKSON COUNTY) Holds rescued pet adoptions Saturdays from 1:00 - 3:00 (weather permitting) at 50 Railroad Avenue in Sylva. Animals are spayed/neutered and current on shots.

Most cats $60, most dogs $70.

Preview available pets at www.a-r-f.org, or call foster home.

BODHI Shepherd/Retriever Mix dog – tan & white, I am about 3 years old, and was surrendered to AHS because a child in the home where I lived was allergic. I already know several basic commands, and I’m just a wellmannered boy in general. I like to go on hikes and play with other dogs. I also get along fine with cats. Adoption fees vary; if you’re interested in me, please contact Pam at: adoptions@ashevillehumane.org.

THEODORE Domestic Longhair cat – black & white, I am 2-3 years old, and was brought to AHS because my owner could no longer take care of me. I am smart, curious, and friendly, and I enjoy being around people. I can entertain myself

playing with toys, or will gently play chase or wrestle with other willing cats; but I can also pass the time watching a birdfeeder outside the window. I get along fine with other cats. Adoption fees vary; if you’re interested in me, please contact Pam at: adoptions@ashevillehumane.org.

TARZAN Domestic Shorthair cat – orange & white tabby, I am about 3 years old, and I’m a laid-back boy who enjoys toys and cuddling. I am shy in new situations, but when I realize you are safe and trustworthy I will unleash my affection and love upon you. I get along fine with dogs and other cats. Adoption fees vary; if you’re interested in me, please contact Pam at: adoptions@ashevillehumane.org

ASHEVILLE HUMANE SOCIETY 828.761.2001, 14 Forever Friend Lane, Asheville, NC 28806 We’re located behind Deal Motorcars, off Brevard & Pond Rd.

Cell (828) 226-2298 Cell

mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com www.ncsmokies.com www.ncsmokies.com

2177 Russ Avenue Waynesville NC 28786

261-04

Full Service Property Management 828-456-6111 www.selecthomeswnc.com Residential and Commercial Long-Term Rentals

Your Local Big Green Egg Dealer

BEST PRICE EVERYDAY

261-30

10-5 M-SAT. 12-4 SUN.

smokymountainnews.com

AVERITT EXPRESS New Pay Increase For Regional Drivers! 40 to 46 CPM + Fuel Bonus! Also, Post-Training Pay Increase for Students! (Depending on Domicile) Get Home EVERY Week + Excellent Benefits. CDL-A req. 888.602.7440 Apply @ AverittCareers.com Equal Opportunity Employer - Females, minorities, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Pet Adoption

October 8-14, 2014

BAYADA HOME HEALTH CARE Is seeking caring and compassionate CNA’s who speak fair Spanish. This is an excellent opportunity to interact with a client and be directly involved with their care. At BAYADA, our employees are our greatest asset. BAYADA offers a great benefits package including: employee recognition awards, training, scholarships, competitive weekly pay, and benefits available for full-time and part-time employees.

828.452.0010 or email resume to hay-team@bayada.com

EARLY HEAD START TEACHER Jackson County - An Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education is required for this position. Candidates must have the ability to work well with families and co-workers, 2 years’ experience working with birth – 3 years and have good judgment/problem solving skills. Prefer someone with Infant/Toddler CDA credentials and basic computer skills. This is a 10 month position with full time benefits.

WNC MarketPlace

TOP CASH FOR CARS, Call Now For An Instant Offer. Top Dollar Paid, Any Car/Truck, Any Condition. Running or Not. Free Pick-up/Tow. 1.800.761.9396 SAPA

EMPLOYMENT

ON DELLWOOD RD. (HWY. 19) AT 20 SWANGER LANE WAYNESVILLE/MAGGIE VALLEY 828.926.8778

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

59

WNC MarketPlace

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

HIGHLANDS-CASHIERS HOSPITAL Positions now available: ER and Acute Registered Nurses, MDS Coordinator, Annual Gift Officer, Major Gift Officer, Unit Clerk, Certified Nursing Assistant, Pharmacy Tech and Administrative Assistant.

Benefits available the first of the month following 60 days of full-time employment. PreEmployment screening required.

Call Human Resources.

828.526.1376, or apply online at: www.highlandscashiershospital. org

BUSY VACATION RENTAL OFFICE Seeks a Friendly Customer Service Oriented Person with Computer Skills to Answer Phones and Assist with Office Tasks. Part-time, Weekdays from 9 to Noon, with Occasional Opportunity to Work Until 5pm.

Submit Resume to: rentals@smokymountainretreat. com CAN YOU DIG IT? Heavy Equipment Operator Training! 3 Week Program. Bulldozers, Backhoes, Excavators. Lifetime Job Placement Assistance with National Certifications.

VA Benefits Eligible!

866.288.6896.

NEED MEDICAL BILLING TRAINEES Doctors & Hospitals need Medical Office Staff! No Experienced Needed! Online Training gets you job ready! HS Diploma/GED & Computer needed.

Careertechnical.edu/nc.

1.888.512.7122

GORDON TRUCKING, INC. Solo & Team Positions CDL-A Driving Jobs for: OTR * Regional * Dedicated * Home Weekend Opportunities. Big Sign-On Bonus & Pay! No Northeast. EOE. Call 7 days/wk!

866.646.1969.

GordonTrucking.com

NEW PAY-FOR-EXPERIENCE Program. Earn up to $0.43/mile, $2,500 Sign On Bonus PLUS up to $0.03 per mile in bonus pay for Exp Drivers! Call 866.291.2631 or SuperServiceLLC.com

TAYLOR FORD OF WAYNESVILLE Is conducting a search for a Parts department stock room clerk. This associate will be responsible for Shipping out, and receiving in parts orders and shipments. Associate will stock and organize shelves and special orders. Will assist front counter with Customers when needed. Applicants must have good Customer service and communication skills. Must work will with a team, but be a selfstarter as well. Must have a highschool diploma and valid DL. Must be reliable, with strong organizational skills, a good attitude, & knowledge of basic computer skills. This opportunity provides unlimited opportunity and great benefits, as well as 401K and Insurance! Pay will be salary plus commission, and based on exp. All applicants should apply in person, and ask for Kirk Stump, or Bo Enloe

October 8-14, 2014

DRIVERS: CDL-A. Average $52,000 per yr. plus Excellent Home Time + Weekends.

Monthly Bonuses up to $650.

5,000w APU’s for your comfort & ELogs. Excellent Benefits. 100% No Touch. 877.704.3773.

www.smokymountainnews.com

EMPLOYMENT

FTCCFayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Architectural Technology Instructor. Computer Information Technology Instructor. Assistant Director of Bookstore. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com.

Human Resources Office. Phone: 910.678.8378. Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu. An Equal Opportunity Employer.

PETS

CDL OVER THE ROAD Drivers needed, with or without Motor Carrier Authority. Owner operators without trailers also should apply. Lease on now, call Frank (478) 951.9123. Make 250K and up! SAPA DRIVER TRAINEES NEEDED! Become a driver for Stevens Transport! No Experience Needed!

New drivers earn $800+ per week!

PAID CDL TRAINING Stevens covers all costs! 1.888.748.4137 drive4stevens.com

FURNITURE COMPARE QUALITY & PRICE Shop Tupelo’s, 828.926.8778.

HAYWOOD SPAY/NEUTER 828.452.1329

Prevent Unwanted Litters!

The Heat Is On! Spay/Neuter For Haywood Pets As Low As $10.

Operation Pit is in Effect!

Free Spay/Neuter, Microchip & Vaccines For Haywood Pitbull Types & Mixes!

Hours:

HAYWOOD BEDDING, INC. The best bedding at the best price!

533 Hazelwood Ave. Waynesville 828.456.4240

Tuesday-Friday, 12 Noon - 6 pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville, NC.

BEWARE OF LOAN FRAUD. Please check with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection Agency before sending any money to any loan company.

SAPA FIX BAD CREDIT SCORES FAST! Start raising your credit score almost overnight-Results Guaranteed! A+ BBB Rating Call Now to learn how we do it 855.831.9712.

SAPA INJURED? IN A LAWSUIT? Need Cash Now? We Can Help! No Monthly Payments to Make. No Credit Check. Fast Service and Low Rates. Call Now 1.866.386.3692. www.lawcapital.com (Not available in NC, CO, MD & TN) SAPA

LAWN AND GARDEN HEMLOCK HEALERS, INC. Dedicated to Saving Our Hemlocks. Owner/Operator Frank Varvoutis, NC Pesticide Applicator’s License #22864. 48 Spruce St. Maggie Valley, North Carolina 828.734.7819 828.926.7883, Email: hemlockhealers@yahoo.com

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT PUBLISHER’S NOTICE All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis.

NC MTNS NEAR ASHEVILLE Owner must sell new log cabin on 1.5ac. Huge porches, vaulted ceiling, 1200sf ready to finish. $74,900, add'l acreage avail.

828.286.2981.

NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS KAIRI A 2-YEAR-OLD LAB MIX, VERY PRETTY, SMART AND PLAYFUL. SHE'LL MAKE A WONDERFUL ADDITION TO AN ACTIVE FAMILY.

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Offering 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments, Starting at $400 Section 8 Accepted - Handicapped Accessible Units When Available

SASHA IS JUST THE NICEST KITTEN, VERY CONFIDENT, AFFECTIONATE AND PLAYFUL, PURRING AS SOON AS YOU PICK HER UP. SHE'S ABOUT 3 MONTHS OLD AND READY TO HER FUREVER HOME.

OFFICE HOURS: Tues. & Wed. 10:00am - 5:00pm & Thurs. 10:00am- 12:00pm 168 E. Nicol Arms Road Sylva, NC 28779

Phone# 1.828.586.3346 TDD# 1.800.725.2962 Equal Housing Opportunity

261-14

Great Smokies Storage 10’x20’

92

$

20’x20’

160

$

ONE MONTH

FREE WITH 12-MONTH CONTRACT

828.506.4112 or 828.507.8828 60

FINANCIAL

Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction

Puzzles can be found on page 62.

These are only the answers.

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT

VACATION RENTALS FLAGLER BEACH MOTEL & Vacation Rentals ***Trip Advisor*** Certificate of Excellence Furnished Oceanside Studio 1-2-3 Bedrooms, Full Kitchens. FREE WiFi, Direct TV, Pool. Call 1.386.517.6700 or www.fbvr.net SAPA

LAND AUCTION, Halifax County, NC, October 28th at 10am. 1,367 acres offered in 13 tracts, timberland and farm land, Little Fishing Creek frontage, deer, turkey and quail! Auction information sessions October 9 from 9 am to 1 pm and October 18 from noon to 4 pm on-site. For more information, contact Murray Wise Associates, LLC 800.607.6888. www.murraywiseassociates.com or Woltz & Associates, Inc., Real Estate Brokers & Auctions (NCAL#7560) 1.800.551.3588 www.woltz.com

NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS! Fall or winter vacations! Cabins, Condos, Homes. Pets welcome.

Nightly, Weekly & Monthly rentals.

Best rates. Boone, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock. Foscoe Rentals 1.800.723.7341 or go to: www.foscoerentals.com.

SAPA

REAL ESTATE AUCTIONSFour auctions in Rocky Mount on October 20th including commercial, single family homes and farmland.

RockyMountAuctions.com or call AuctionFirst at 919.601.7339.

NCAL#8116/8121.

HOMES FOR SALE BRUCE MCGOVERN A Full Service Realtor shamrock13@charter.net McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112.

BULLFROG STORAGE Convenient Location 19/23 Between Clyde and Canton

5 x 10 = $25 10 x 10 = $40 10 x 20 = $75 • NO CONTRACTS • Nobody Beats Our Rates

828.342.8700 1 Month Free with 12 Month Rental. Maggie Valley, Hwy. 19, 1106 Soco Rd. For more information call Torry

828.734.6500, 828.734.6700 maggievalleyselfstorage.com GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE Conveniently located off 19/23

by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160.

Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.

beverly-hanks.com 260-22

• • • •

Mike Stamey mstamey@beverly-hanks.com

828-508-9607

MEDICAL

ERA Sunburst Realty — sunburstrealty.com

ACORN STAIRLIFTS. The Affordable solution to your stairs! **Limited time -$250 Off Your Stairlift Purchase!** Buy Direct & SAVE. Please call 1.800.291.2712 for FREE DVD and brochure.

Haywood Properties — haywoodproperties.com

www.beverly-hanks.com

Keller Williams Realty kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • Ron Kwiatkowski — ronk.kwrealty.com 260-19

Mountain Home Properties — mountaindream.com

The Real Team

JOLENE HOCOTT • LYN DONLEY MARLYN DICKINSON

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“I LIKE YOUR STYLE”

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does, in an old proverb 73 Propyl ending ACROSS 74 Not a single soul 1 Decorated military pilot 76 Pet dog in “The Thin 7 Teacher of Jewish law Man” 12 Enter private land 77 Like pets 20 More wicked 78 Title in Uncle Remus 21 Israeli leader stories Sharon 79 Not stored on disk, 22 Puerto - (Mexican say resort) 82 Mystery writer 23 Take part in a Stanley Gardner Halloween tradition 84 It flows to the Rhine 25 Dollar, in slang 86 Nickname of Utah 89 Berate loudly 26 Big -, California 93 Wood and Wynn 27 Wilt 94 Wrist-related 28 Stage lighting tech95 Quadri- less one nique 97 Wipe the chalk from 30 Dovish murmur 98 Singer Folds 32 Barely visible 99 Toys - (kids’ chain) 36 Porkpie, e.g.

100 Second man on the 37 Actress Chase 38 Thick-piled 96-Down moon 103 Moneyless 40 Partakes of 106 100-yr. stretch 41 Runway guess: Abbr.

107 Sea east of Greece 43 Prolific inventor 108 Former jet to the Nikola U.K. 44 Pindar’s H 109 Like the languages 45 Ends early, as a misHebrew and Somali sion 113 Gear part 47 Suffix with priest 115 Astonishment 50 Rough figure 117 Yardstick 53 Developing fetus, 118 Region between the slangily Adirondacks and Catskills 56 Captain of Verne’s 123 Prison term Nautilus 124 Utah city 57 “E:60” airer 58 Tidal mouth of a river 125 Realm 126 Give rise to 59 “Gosh darn!”

127 Skulking sort 62 Arabian nation 128 Not as great 64 Dr. Seuss’ - -am 67 One- - (biased) DOWN 68 - -Z 1 Bug trappers 69 What a burnt child

2 Affirms 3 Hearty beef cut 4 Sitcom ET 5 Co. biggies 6 Typo list 7 Ice-T’s music 8 Dada artist Jean 9 Cartoonist Keane 10 Muscular 11 She visited Rick’s place 12 Premiere-to-finale period 13 “Something to Talk About” singer Bonnie 14 Salts’ saint 15 Untidy sort 16 Ashy-faced 17 “You’re - pal!”

18 Inventory 19 Kraft coffee brand 24 Golden - (senior) 29 Abu - (emirate) 31 Leering 33 Foil’s relative 34 Fish snarer 35 Skewers, e.g.

38 Mlle. who’s canonized 39 Showed up 40 TV’s “- Montana” 41 Ordinal number suffixes 42 Menacing fly 46 No. on a map 47 Dodgy type?

48 Tranquil 49 Beat poet Gary 51 Love, in Lima 52 Bulky book 54 Suddenly rich sort 55 Yes, to Yves 57 See 72-Down 59 Ulm’s river 60 Made right

61 Snaring loops 63 Motorist’s gp.

65 Allot 66 “- tree falls ...”

69 Contraption 70 Pilfers 71 Computer since 1998 72 With 57-Down, bangs into from behind 75 “Ixnay” 78 Vandykes and goatees 80 Politico Bayh 81 Article in Ulm 83 Stop bugging 85 Film segment 87 Butter knife, frequently 88 Tease 89 Shirt tag info 90 Trumpeter Wynton 91 So to speak 92 A fifth of fifty 96 Wall-to-wall, for one 98 “Jane Eyre” novelist 101 Baseball Hall of Famer Wheat 102 Words after many fiction book titles 103 Out-of-date 104 Many a time 105 Chimp cousin 106 Mythical enchantress 107 Oak starter 110 Yemen port 111 Shore grains 112 Little demons 114 Clue is one 116 Leering sort 119 Sod buster 120 Gardner of films 121 Moo shu pan 122 Hi-fi platters

answers on page 60

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Balsam was once bustling railroad community Editor’s note: George Ellison is on a medical sabbatical from writing for The Smoky Mountain News. This column first appeared in Oct. 2002.

I

George Ellison

Balsam Mountain Inn

power to pull a full load of boxcars over the grade and had to haul them up to the Balsam station several units at a time.

According to J.D. McRorie’s account in The History of Jackson County (1987), a post office was established at Balsam in 1873 for about seven months, then in 1885 — with the coming of the rail line — it was re-established. Across the street from the new post office is one of the village’s main attractions. This is a huge white oak tree that appears to me to be well over 100-feet tall and more than four feet in diameter. As white oaks are known to live to be 800 years old, this particular specimen might well have been standing when Columbus discovered America. At any rate, it’s a wonderful specimen and well worth a look. Of added interest is the fact that one of the town’s citizens — Joseph Key Kenney — had it dedicated to George Washington in a public ceremony in 1932 on the 200th anniversary our first president’s birth. Naturally it’s called “The George Washington Tree.”

Balsam once boasted four general stores, several churches, an Episcopal school and a depot called on by passenger trains six times a day. Today just a handful of buildings remain, including the old railroad hotel recently resurrected as the Balsam Mountain Inn. With three stories, expansive wings, numerous rooms, and 100-foot double porches, all crowned with a mansard roof of embossed tin, the rambling Balsam Mountain Inn — built between 1906 and 1908 — represented the ideal of mountain tourism back at the turn of the century and on into recent times as well.

The establishment was originally known as the Balsam Mountain Springs Hotel,

named for the seven springs on the property. Guests filled their water bottles from a fountain in the lobby.

Passengers — often entire families — arrived via the rail line to spend the summer in “The Land of the Sky” so as to escape the heat of lower elevations and the dangers of malaria. They were met at the depot and driven up the hill to the inn in a horse-drawn surrey with a fringe on top.

Dances, horseback rides, and guided excursions into the mountains were but part of the activities provided guests. They were catered to in an expansive dining room and made to feel at home in sitting areas outfitted with fine furnishings.

“Innkeeper/owner Merrily Teasley, a gregarious hiker and a globetrotter of no small experience, happened upon what was then a dilapidated and abandoned railroad hotel while hiking through these mountains with a friend who had stayed at Balsam,” travel writer Eddie Nickens has noted. “The property, she recalls, was a real mess. There were 125 broken windows. Every single toilet had frozen and broken into pieces. The porch beams were sagging and in need of repair, all wiring needed replacement and

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portions of wall that had rotted through had simply been covered up with maps and ignored. Teasley, who already had a reputation of turning crumbling buildings into stellar inns, bought the place and went to work, restoring the structure under U.S. Department of Interior guidelines for historic buildings.”

Now we get to the ghost story.

By the way, I didn’t dig this part of the story up to coincide with Halloween later this month. I had already started on the Balsam story when I stumbled upon the ghostly part.

“It seems to be an exceptionally friendly ghost,” Teasley told me. “We don’t know anything about it except that it always shows up in room 205. One night back in the mid-1990s, it turned the doorknob in the middle of the night. Another night, the ghost raised the window.

“Those people knew nothing about the ghost, and so that was really strange. But each person that’s told us about it doesn’t feel threatened. They just come down to the lobby and comment on it.

The most recent ghost report was last fall. A man and his wife were staying in 205.

During the night she felt a hand rubbing her back and naturally assumed that it was her husband. But she later discovered that he had been sound asleep and didn’t deserve any credit.

“The ghost’s identity remains a mystery,” Teasley observes. “Nobody that I know of has ever died here.”

If Room 205 at the Balsam Mountain Inn isn’t already reserved for this coming Halloween, you might want to research the matter more fully for yourself.

October 8-14, 2014

t’s always entertaining to get back off main-traveled roads and poke around in the little villages here in the mountains. Each such place has its own story. And Balsam — just off the fourlane between Waynesville and Sylva — is no exception. For such a pretColumnist ty little place it has a pretty big story; indeed, it has a ghost story. More about that later.

Balsam’s principal claim to fame, of course, is that it’s situated at 3,315 feet above sea level, where the highest standard gauge railway east of the Rocky Mountains crosses the Balsam Mountain Range. The Asheville to Murphy branch of the Southern Railway was constructed through the Balsam Gap in the mid-1880s because it represented the lowest opening in the range.

For that very same reason, the gap had been an early Indian and pioneer trail long before the coming of the rail line. It was the route utilized by General Griffith Rutherford and his men in 1776 for their punitive raid on the Cherokee and, subsequently, by settlers moving west down Scott’s Creek into the Tuckasegee River valley.

A tunnel had been planned and started through the Balsam Mountains to avoid the steep grade but was abandoned. On into the 20th century steam locomotives lacked the

BACK THEN

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