Smoky Mountain News | November 15, 2023

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Western North Carolina’s Source for Weekly News, Entertainment, Arts, and Outdoor Information

November 15-21, 2023 Vol. 25 Iss. 25

Wildfires burn across the region as drought continues Page 4 ‘Women are allowed to change their minds, right?’ Page 21

CONTENTS

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On the Cover: The 2023 municipal elections brought change to a number of towns in Western North Carolina, while in others, incumbents ruled the day. The Smoky Mountain News is here to break down all the results.

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News Wildfires burn across the region as drought continues............................................4 WNC swears in a new judge............................................................................................6 Pactiv Evergreen blamed for milk carton shortages in schools..............................7 Amid surging turnout in Haywood, no voter ID problems reported......................8 Canton reveals spending plan for new waste water treatment plant ..................9 New principal at Waynesville Middle School ............................................................10 Bridge Park set for upgrades ........................................................................................11 Incumbents roll, ‘Team Waynesville’ falls flat ............................................................13 Maggie Valley election winners pledge to work together......................................14 Sylva elects new mayor, council members ................................................................16 Longtime Canton board members reelected ............................................................17 LGBTQ+ candidates earn historic victories nationally, locally ............................19

Opinion Times have changed, and that’s a good thing ..........................................................20 Women are allowed to change their mind, right?....................................................21

A&E Haywood artisan offers her craft onstage, on the wall ..........................................22 New gin brings together Old Edwards, land trust ..................................................26

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Outdoors Regional leaders discuss French Broad’s past, present and future ..................30 Notes from a plant nerd: You reap what you sow … if you’re lucky ..................34 November 15-21, 2023

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Waiting for rain Smoke rises from the Collett Ridge Fire near Andrews. USFS photo

Wildfires burn across the region as drought continues

ecology. But land managers try to accomplish that through controlled burns, not wildfires, which can be expensive, disruptive and destructive. On Nov. 8, Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency due to the wildfires in WNC and statewide drought.

BY HOLLY KAYS OUTDOORS E DITOR UDDEN ONSET or the first time since 2016, Western North Carolina is in the midst of a severe drought coupled with an active The fires arrived in the wake of a drought that is as sudden fall wildfire season. Research shows that’s right on as it is severe. At the end of August, Western North Carolina schedule. was overall wetter than usual, with heavy rain during the last “We have fire history studies in this area that show that typi- few days of the month dropping well over an inch in most cally our forests in the Southern Blue Ridge on average burned places. But in September, the spigot turned off, with weather every five to seven years … We’re right about on that timeline,” remaining dry through October and thus far into November. In said Jenifer Bunty, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Forest September and October combined, Highlands received only Service’s National Forests in North Carolina.

3.47 inches of rain, a fraction of the normal 14.45 inches.

As of press time Nov. 14, nearly 6,000 acres of active wildFranklin’s 1.88 inches was less than a quarter the normal 8.09. fires were burning across Western North Carolina, with more Waynesville was a bit wetter at 3.81 inches but still well below just outside state lines. Most of that acreage is contained in the the normal 7.25 inches.

5,335-acre Collett Ridge Fire near Andrews, which became the “We were going a week or two at a time without seeing any first significant wildfire of the season after lightning ignited a rainfall at all,” said Corey Davis, assistant state climatologist for remote area of the Nantahala National Forest Oct. 23. The fire the N.C. State Climate Office. burned with 0% containment for weeks, with wet weather last weekend helping firefighters make significant progress — the blaze is now 71% contained. Firefighters are also combating the 434-acre Poplar Drive Fire in Henderson County, now 75% contained, and the 36-acre Alum Knob Fire in Madison County, currently 40% contained.

Three more fires are burning in the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee — the 536-acre Tweed Fire straddling Greene and Cocke counties is 60% contained, the 540-acre Buck Bald Fire in Polk County 3 miles north of Farner is 60% contained and the 103-acre Bullet Fire in Monroe County is 20% contained. In South Carolina, the 675-acre Mill Mountain Fire burning west of Lake Jocassee is 50% contained.

Firefighters work overnight to control the Hundreds of additional acres are still burning but Collett Ridge Fire near Andrews. Bobby Ellis photo designated as controlled. The 310-acre East Fork Fire in Jackson County is now 80% contained, and the 36.5-acre Cascade Lake Road Fire in DuPont State Recreational Forest is This prolonged lack of rain plunged the region into a sud100% contained. den and severe drought. In just six weeks, Western North While no structures have yet been damaged in the other Carolina has gone from sufficiently moist minus a few patches fires, the Poplar Drive Fire has so far destroyed one home, two of abnormal dryness in the Sept. 26 drought map to almost cabins and three outbuildings, also damaging a second home. completely covered by severe drought in the most recent map, Several trails and roads are closed, including the Foothills Trail published Nov. 7. Of North Carolina’s 100 counties, 31 are in and Burrells Ford Campground near the Mill Mountain Fire; severe drought, 39 are in moderate drought and 26 are abnorRim Trail from Big Stamp to Shinbone and the area past the mally dry. Burn bans cover the entire western region. intersection of Little Fires Creek Road and Fires Creek Road That’s a serious drought situation, but not nearly as bad as near the Collett Ridge Fire. the one backdropping the catastrophic wildfire season of 2016.

The Southern Appalachians are a fire-adapted landscape, Ultimately 48,000 acres of wildfire emanated from the national forests west of Asheville, followed by the Chimney Tops Fire in 4 meaning that fire is a beneficial and natural part of the region’s

November 15-21, 2023

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the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that burned nearly 18,000 acres and killed 14 people as it ravaged Gatlinburg. The drought that fueled it all took hold in the spring; by the time fire season kicked off in late October, four counties were already one step beyond severe drought in the extreme drought designation. When rain finally arrived Nov. 29, six counties were in exceptional drought and nine in extreme drought, with 42 additional counties under lesser designations.

“When you think about a drought that only started building a couple months ago, you wouldn’t expect that sort of impact to be present at this point so early on,” Davis said of the current fire season.

But other factors have conspired to form “in some ways a worst-case scenario,” he said. A hard freeze in early October followed by heavy leaf fall later in the month created an abundance of easily flammable fuel. This coupled with abnormally low humidity and warm temperatures to make conditions even more favorable for fire.

“We’re used to seeing relative humidity levels this time of the year, 40, 50%,” Davis said. “But we were down below 20% for several afternoons. That also helps things to dry out very quickly, and that’s when some of these larger fires had really started and really spread a lot.”

Record warm temperatures only exacerbated the problem.

Asheville, which has data going back 129 years, logged a high of 82 degrees Nov. 9 — setting a new record.

WAITING FOR RELIEF

Fire managers and weather watchers had hoped that wet weather predicted last weekend might help put a dent in things.

But precipitation proved minimal, with most places receiving only a quarter inch or so of rain. That’s more than some places have had in weeks, but in a normal fall, about three times that amount would be falling every week.

The rain helped firefighters get a handle on the blazes already burning, but it’s far from enough to put them out — or to prevent new fires from popping up, said Greg Philipp, assistant fire management officer for the U.S. Forest Service’s National Forests in North Carolina.

“It’s going to take many rain events, two to three days apart,” he said. “It doesn’t need to be a lot of rain. It just needs to be several days after each other. So that quarter inch three times a week would make a difference.”

Despite the drought, warm temperatures and low humidity, firefighters aren’t seeing the extreme fire behavior they battled in 2016, when wildfires easily jumped handlines and needed large barriers like roads and rivers to contain them. That’s partially because it’s not yet as dry as it was in 2016. The largest fuels in the forest are still 9%10% moister this year than they were in 2016, Philipp said.

For now, the weather is back to being warm and dry.

Though the forecast does hold some chance for rain, Philipps isn’t counting on it.

“September was incredibly dry. Predictions were relief in October. October was incredibly dry. predictions were relief in November. The relief was that quarter inch rain we got one time a couple days ago. Now they’re saying relief in December,” he said. “We’re still ordering resources. We are still staffing up, we are still prepared, and we’ll let the rain close us out. We’re not going to close that based on predictions.”

Predictions do call for wetter weather with the El Niño pattern expected to arrive this winter — but it’s hard to say when that will happen, and how much moisture it will bring. Some years, El Niño has arrived in the early fall, while in others, it’s been as late as January, Davis said.

“We do still have confidence that at some point we’ll get into a little bit wetter pattern,” Davis said. “I think it’s also interesting just to remember if we look back the last two or three years, those were La Niña years, which tend to be drier, and they were drier in many areas. But we still had a net improvement in drought conditions in each of those cases.”

Regardless of when La Niña arrives, Davis said,

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it will likely take a while to get out of a drought. Most places in the mountains are 4-6 inches below normal, and with hurricane season past there’s little chance to get that much rain from a single event. The most realistic remedy would be chewing away at it over the winter through one or two events per week that bring an inch or two apiece.

“That’s not going to mean we get rid of the drought all in one month,” he said. “It may not even mean we get rid of this drought all in one season. But at least I think that would tamp down some of the impacts that we’re seeing now.”

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Rugged terrain has made containment a struggle on the Collett Ridge Fire.

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A firefighter battles the Poplar Drive Fire in Henderson County. NCFS photo

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“The core values of how do we put people together in a collaborative setting to talk about and plan for putting fire on the ground as well as putting out the bad fires is really what it’s all about,” Dooley said.

He acknowledges that summary can sound “really nebulous” but says these efforts have yielded tangible results. Fire Learning Network efforts began in earnest in the Southern Blue Ridge region in 2007, offering opportunities for professionals from across the region to gather for training and planning efforts — and to build critical relationships with their counterparts in previously siloed agencies.

“You can hear people that were out on the lines in 2016 saying, ‘Because of us getting together regularly, we weren’t meeting cold on the fire line,’” Dooley said.

A major wildfire requires an all-hands-ondeck approach. Firefighters might come from multiple federal and state agencies, as well as departments staffed by employees of various local governments or by volunteers. Simple things like knowing the names, faces and cell phone numbers of leaders from other organizations or being aware of what firefighting resources another agency possesses can be critical to mounting an effective response.

“Once those fires started to be suppressed, put out, those partnerships really just catalyzed even more,” Dooley said.

As a case in point, Dooley pointed to a recent 12-day fire training held in South Carolina. Participants were planning to participate in hands-on training carrying out a prescribed burn, but then the Poplar Drive Fire in Henderson County emerged. They still did the training they were there to do — but got it in by helping control the wildfire, rather than carrying out the prescribed burn as planned.

“I think that that is a terrific underscore of the partnerships that we had in place already,” Dooley said, “that we were able to really pivot and switch gears and be ready to help people and our partners at their time of need.”

Fire managers hope to see that time of need come to an end soon, but there’s no guarantee.

“Our fire season usually starts in the fall,” Dooley said, “but it can extend all the way through to May of next year if we don’t get any rain.”

November 15-21, 2023

While forecasters like Davis continue to keep their eyes on the sky, firefighters are staying tuned to the task at hand. Between the Collett Ridge, Poplar Drive and Alum Knob wildfires, about 400 people are on scene representing a multitude of federal, state and local agencies.

“These lines on the map that say it’s a national forest or a state park or even a state boundary — ecological problems like fire don’t respect those boundaries, so we try to take this all hands, all lands approach to solving these problems and keeping our forests healthy and communities safe,” Bunty said.

That approach is somewhat new and grew its roots in 2000, during the aftermath of a severe wildfire season in the western part of the country.

“You had this watershed moment,” said Tom Dooley, director of forest conservation for The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina. “Folks within The Nature Conservancy sat down with counterparts in the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service and said, ‘What needs to happen to try and address and resolve some of these larger fire problems?’”

This led to creation of the Fire Learning Network, a national organization The Nature Conservancy staff coordinate to foster collaboration and coordination between the more than 750 partners it engages.

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WNC swears in a new judge

BY KYLE PERROTTI N EWS E DITOR fter several months of filling gaps in court calendars with visiting judges, Western North Carolina will finally fill its District Court vacancy with Swain County native Justin Greene.

Greene, who turns 44 this week, has practiced law out of Bryson City since 2006. While his areas of practice have been diverse, he has largely focused on family law and cases that often involved children in difficult situations. He represented Swain County DSS from 2010-2014 before becoming Graham County’s DSS attorney in 2018. In addition, he’s worked with the Guardian ad Litem program in the region.

Greene will be sworn in at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, in Swain County by Steve Bryant, a retired District Court judge who hung up the robe in 2010. Bryant was the last judge out of Swain County to hold a seat on the bench. Greene said that prior to 2010, as far back as he could remember, there was always a judge from Swain County. He’s happy to again fill that role.

“I have an immense sense of pride in that,” Greene said.

Greene had previously run for a District Court seat twice.

In 2010, at just 30 years old, he lost a bid for a seat in an election where he finished fourth out of five candidates. When he ran again in 2020, judicial elections were partisan. In the general election against Republican Kaleb Wingate, Greene, a Democrat, only received about a third of the vote.

Greene said that after seeking a seat for so long and accumulating so much experience in the courtroom, he’s excited to don the robe.

“I feel honored and relieved to finally have accomplished this goal I was trying to accomplish,” he said.

The vacancy Greene will fill opened up on June 1 when Judge Kristina Earwood had to retire suddenly due to an emerging health concern that required a good deal of out-oftown trips to receive treatment. That set into motion the process for Gov. Roy Cooper to appoint a new judge. First, the bar representing the seven-county 30th Judicial District convened and nominated three attorneys to send along to Cooper as recommendations. The top three vote-getters were Greene; Vicki Tee, of Graham County; and Andy Bucker, an 6 assistant district attorney out of Sylva.

Smoky Mountain News

November 15-21, 2023

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From there, the three nominees met with Cooper for inperson interviews. Greene gave some insight into how his interview went.

“The impression I got from speaking with the governor is that he was someone who was thoughtful in his decision making,” Greene said. “You can tell he really cares about doing what’s best for the state in whatever way.”

The two talked about things most people might expect — what makes a good judge, what they like to see and don’t like to see in court, what could be improved in the court system,

Justin Greene will be sworn in as Western North Carolina’s newest judge on Friday, Nov. 18. Donated photo Greene’s personal background. But they also ventured into other topics.

“He and I both coached basketball; he coached his daughter’s team, and I coached my son’s,” Greene said. “We talked about how team sports are a great way to build community and comradery.”

Not long after his interview with Cooper, Greene was told he’d earned the appointment, but the news wasn’t delivered quite how he thought it’d be.

“I expected to get a call from one of the governor’s secre-

taries or an assistant, but I got the call from the governor himself,” Greene said.

And yet, even then, Greene still felt that the whole thing was surreal, as though he felt the rug could still be pulled out from under him.

“I feel like Charlie Brown kicking the football, and I’m still waiting for Lucy to pull it away,” he joked.

While all three of the bar’s nominees have an abundance of experience and are qualified to become a judge, it made sense that Greene and Teem were the most logical choices for Cooper, considering four of the judges now are from Haywood County, and there have been calls for more judges in the far-western counties.

“I think that was a big part of why the bar nominated me to the governor,” Greene said. “Everybody recognized we had this need. When I ran in 2020, I said the same thing; we had a need for greater geographic diversity on our bench.”

Currently, Tessa Sellers of Clay County is the only judge who resides in a county other than Haywood. This can be burdensome for several reasons. Perhaps most notably, judges are needed at all times, day and night, to sign things like search warrants and emergency custody orders. Having judges in multiple counties across the judicial district makes this easier on not only the judges, but law enforcement officers who may need to travel to get the signature. Greene recalled that when he was working on a particular case, District Court Judge Donna Forga, a Haywood County resident, had to meet him at the Swain County detention center late at night to sign an order.

“Now that there’s somebody out there in the middle part of the district, it might make it easier,” Greene said.

Chief District Court Judge Roy Wijewickrama agreed.

“Most attorneys are looking forward to having a judge in the middle of the judicial district,” Wijewickrama said. “It’s very important to have the geographic diversity that presents.”

Wijewickrama said he believes any of the bar’s nominees would have been qualified, good selections for the seat on the bench but noted that Greene was an “excellent choice.”

Since Earwood’s retirement, the district has had to rely on retired judges to return to the bench to hear cases and keep the judicial system humming, including Judge Jerry F. Waddell, who retired to Western North Carolina from New Bern, where he’d previously held a seat on the bench. He’s been out in the mountains — retired — for 10 years.

“We will have a judge that will be here for some time who’s not visiting and has practiced in the courts for many years and is familiar with the courts and court personnel and attorneys,” Wijewickrama said. “But we really appreciate all the hard work retired judges have done for us in the past year.”

In just over a year, another new judge will join Greene on the bench as the General Assembly included one more judicial position for Western North Carolina in the most recent budget, the first new spot on the bench in the last 17 years — a time during which there has been extensive growth across every county. That judge will be chosen by voters in November of next year.

Getting a new judge is a crucial step toward ensuring the courts can keep up with the increased caseload that comes with the recent surge in full-time and part-time residents, as well as visitors. Wijewickrama said in a previous interview that he believes the caseload taken on by the new judge will alleviate much of the judicial burden that has plagued the area for years and was exacerbated by the court shutdowns early on during the pandemic.

“That additional judge will help a lot right away,” he said.

Greene will also have run to retain his seat in 2024.

Should he win, he will serve out the rest of Earwood’s original term and will be up for reelection again in 2026. In the meantime, he said he’s excited to see what the other side is like after spending so many years wanting a seat on the bench.

“I’m looking forward to continuing the good work Judge Earwood was doing,” he said. “I’m thankful to members of the bar who nominated me to go to the governor’s office and to the governor for picking me. I feel very grateful.”

The paper mill at the heart of Canton stopped producing paper in May. Allen Newland/A Shot Above photo

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Another milk vendor, New Jersey-based Cream-O-Land, was less discrete.

“Unfortunately, effective immediately, you may begin to experience milk shortages and/or changes to your orders,” said Scott Stoner, vice president of operations, in an undated statement on the company’s website. “Pactiv Evergreen, which supplies cartons to Cream-O-Land Dairies and other milk processing companies across the United States, is experiencing major production issues. These production issues have depleted most of our half pint (8 oz) and 4 oz carton supply.”

Stoner said that Cream-O-Land, which serves customers in the northeast as well as in Florida and the Bahamas, was

“This is less about whether the mill was wrong and more about how right the mill workers were from day one, about everything.”

— Zeb Smathers

Smoky Mountain News

notified by Pactiv Evergreen in September — less than four months after production ceased in Canton — that it would supply less than 50% of Cream-o-Land’s packaging needs.

A spokesperson from Pactiv Evergreen told CNN on Nov. 9 that the company “continues to face significantly higher than projected demand.”

The company now faces lukewarm financial figures, according to a Nov. 3 release. For the third quarter of 2023, net revenues were down 3% compared to the second quarter, and down 14% compared to the third quarter of 2022.

Net income of $28 million for the third quarter of 2023 was just $28 million, compared to $175 million in the same period of 2022.

According to Burgess’ story, spokespersons from Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools said they were experiencing isolated issues and were working through them. In Haywood County Schools, Director of School Nutrition Allison Francis said that problems were ultimately minimal.

“We are still able to get milk,” Francis said. “We’ve been shorted on our chocolate, which the majority of students

prefer. We can still get milk, just not chocolate.”

Francis added that the supplier, PET Dairy, has been in constant communication, letting her know about shortages in advance, so the school can consider ordering more plain milk to ensure there’s enough for everyone.

The milk carton shortage is yet another blow to the reputation of Pactiv Evergreen, which has been neither forthright nor forthcoming in communicating its situation over the past year.

By many accounts, the company’s exit from the community after 115 years has been a fiasco.

Federal, state and local officials received no warning of the March 6 closing announcement, which left educational institutions, governments and nonprofits scrambling to provide for soon-to-be unemployed workers.

The town’s waste water is treated by a Pactiv Evergreen facility on mill grounds. The closing leaves the town two years to figure out a solution (see CANTON, p. 9).

Stock sales by top executives four days before the announcement, first reported by SMN, totaled more than $660,000 and were seen as a grave insult to workers, who were given less than three months’ notice that they’d soon lose their jobs and only one week’s severance pay for each consecutive year worked at the mill.

A property tax appeal sought by Pactiv Evergreen in late May, which would have led to a dramatic reduction in the amount the company owed to the town and the county for its sprawling 185-acre campus, took all of 25 minutes to be rejected by county tax officials.

Pactiv Evergreen’s lack of support for workers led to a health care coverage crisis that forced some to reschedule doctor’s office visits and skip doses of medication.

Smathers wouldn’t opine on the tragic insinuation that company officials could have based the mill’s closing on a false premise. He did, however, continue to maintain faith in the mill’s workforce, many of whom are part of families that had worked at the site over generations.

“This is less about whether the mill was wrong and more about how right the mill workers were from day one, about everything,” he said. “They were right about what would happen if Pactiv Evergreen were to halt production, they were right about the quality of the Haywood County product they made and they were right about how many lives would be affected by the closing, well beyond Canton city limits.”

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November 15-21, 2023

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR here’s no use crying over spilt milk, but a shocking report suggests that Pactiv Evergreen failed in its analysis of market demand for the paperboard produced in its Canton mill, contributing to a nationwide shortage of milk cartons in schools and leading some to believe the company needn’t have halted operations in Canton earlier this year, throwing hundreds out of work.

The story, first reported by Joel Burgess in the Asheville Citizen-Times, says that school systems from California to New York are having a hard time stocking half-pint milk cartons, which are required by federal authorities to be part of school lunches for millions of children.

Exclusive reporting by The Smoky Mountain News of the company’s closing announcement included statements by then-Vice President of Beverage Merchandising Byron Racki, who told workers gathered at a meeting on March 6 that not only would it be too expensive to upgrade the 115-year-old mill, but also that market demand had “gone to hell.”

“When decisions are made on Wall Street, they have long lasting impacts and consequences,” said Zeb Smathers, mayor of Canton. “The decision to close Pactiv Evergreen in Canton, we heard the reasons why and a lot of it was based upon money and market, and now we’re seeing how it goes from Wall Street to Main Street. On a deeper level, for many kids in our public school system the ability to access food and milk, especially young elementary kids — that may in fact be the only nutritious meal they have their whole day.”

An Oct. 25 memo issued by the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service, a division of the Department of Agriculture, contradicts Racki’s latter assertion in no uncertain terms.

“USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is aware that schools in multiple states are experiencing milk supply chain challenges related to packaging issues,” wrote Tina Namian, director of FNS’ school meals policy division.

The memo goes on to empower state agencies with some flexibility with what FNS calls a “temporary emergency.”

A CNN story from Nov. 9 cites an official from a Pennsylvania-based dairy owner who said she was blindsided by the carton shortage, which would affect not only schools but also nursing homes and correctional facilities. Although she wouldn’t name the supplier, CNN says there are only a few companies in the U.S. that produce the cartons.

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Pactiv Evergreen blamed for milk carton shortages in schools

Smoky Mountain News

November 15-21, 2023

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Haywood sees high turnout, no voter ID issues

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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR ears that North Carolina’s new voter ID implementation would disenfranchise legitimate voters have proven unfounded — at least in Haywood County, where municipal election turnout was stronger than usual.

“Everything went very smoothly last night,” said Robert Inman, director of the Haywood County Board of Elections, a day after the 2023 municipal elections in Canton, Clyde, Maggie Valley and Waynesville. “Especially the closing of the polls. Everything was absolutely troublefree.”

A 2022 Gallup poll shows 79% support for voter ID nationally. Currently 35 states require an ID to vote.

In 2018, N.C. voters approved a 2018 ballot measure by a margin of 57% to 43%, amending the state’s Constitution to require photo ID at the polls. At the time, Haywood County voters supported the measure with 61% approval.

A series of court challenges, however, prevented the implementation of voter ID until just this year, when the newly Republican state Supreme Court decided to re-hear a case the previous court, led by Democrats, had already ruled on blocking the measure.

The Republican court somehow arrived at a different decision based on the same set

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of facts.

Argument surrounding the issue was contentious. On one side was election security, on the other, the possibility that the requirement would pose an undue burden on the poor, on minorities and on rural communities.

Haywood County doesn’t have a substantial minority population and despite pockets of poverty it isn’t considered especially poor, but there’s little doubt it’s rural.

One Maggie Valley poll worker said that several voters were surprised to be asked for photo ID when voting but had their IDs on them anyway and were able to vote right then and there.

If a person was to attempt to vote in N.C. without a valid ID — there are at least a dozen different IDs considered valid for the purposes of voting — they wouldn’t be turned away; they’d be allowed to vote, but the ballot would be considered provisional until that voter returned to “cure” the defect by presenting a valid ID, at which point the ballot would be tabulated.

There’s also an exemption form for those who have a valid reason not to have an ID, mostly those with religious obligations or victims of natural disasters who’ve lost important documents.

Inman told The Smoky Mountain News that of the 3,386 people who voted in Haywood municipal elections last week, there were only 17 provisional votes, and

none of them were for lack of an ID. “They were mostly jurisdictional, you know, people who show up to vote and swear up and down they live in town but don’t,” he said. Some others were marked as provisional due to lack of registration information altogether.

Those provisional ballots will be considered by the Haywood County Board of Elections at 10 a.m. just prior to canvas on Friday, Nov. 17. The ballots deemed valid will be tabulated and added to unofficial totals from Election Day.

“Everything was absolutely trouble-free.”

— Robert Inman

Inman couldn’t immediately say which towns the provisional ballots were from, but in any event, they wouldn’t make any difference in the outcome of any race.

In Canton, challenger Adam Hatton trailed incumbent Ralph Hamlett by 69 votes. In Clyde, Kathy Cogburn Johnson fell 34 votes short of incumbent Dann Jesse. In Maggie Valley, mayoral candidate Janet Banks trailed incumbent Mike Eveland by 198 votes, while aldermanic candidate Allen Alsbrooks fell short of incumbent Phillip

Wight’s total by 31. In the Waynesville mayor’s race, Joey Reece lost to incumbent Gary Caldwell by 252 votes, while Town Council candidate Tré Franklin trailed incumbent Julia Freeman by 266 votes.

All municipal races in Haywood County showed greater-than-usual turnout.

Turnout can be dependent on a variety of factors, including the number of candidates, the offices available, even the weather.

This year, across 17 Haywood County precincts in four municipalities, turnout was reported as 27.37% according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. The last time all four municipalities held elections at the same time, in 2019, turnout was 20.68%.

Prior to that, in 2015 — the last year for which turnout data was provided by the NCSBE — turnout was 23.87%.

During other odd-year elections, when Haywood County’s largest municipality of Waynesville isn’t on the ballot, turnout is much lower. In 2021, only Canton, Clyde and Maggie Valley held elections. In 10 precincts across those three municipalities, turnout was a paltry 13.81%. In 2017, it was even worse — 12.1%.

By comparison, during the last two presidential elections in 2020 and 2016, Haywood County voters turned out at 79% and 69.89%, respectively. During even-year congressional elections in 2022 and 2018 Haywood voters showed up at 58.69% and 56.41%, respectively.

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Canton reveals plan for waste water treatment plant

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including a whopping $125,000 for NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permitting.

Two other items, however, are of significant interest. The first is the project’s contingency budget. Major projects usually include such an appropriation, in case the unforeseen arises during construction. That could be anything from additional site prep costs to changes in the price of labor or materials.

A typical project will usually have between 5% an 10% set aside for such occasions, but Canton’s $42 million project lists only $57,000 — or about .013% of the total project cost — for the design phase of the project.

Spending on the project, however, is expected to take place over the next 5 to 7 years, meaning the governing board could amend the project budget at any time.

The other interesting item is the appropriation set aside for the purchase of land.

Since Pactiv’s closing announcement this past March, Smathers and other elected officials have met regularly in closed session to discuss available options related to the acquisition of a “Goldilocks” parcel that may not even be on the market at present. It can’t be too big, or too small, or too far outside town limits — it has to be just right.

The current site of Canton’s waste water treatment operations, located on Pactiv Evergreen’s 185-arce parcel, appears to be at least 17 acres in area.

The cost of land includes too many variables to try to estimate an average price per acre, but the $650,000 appropriated by the town might not go very far in a real estate market that’s surged to new highs, repeatedly, over the past several years.

Smathers said that the conversations happening around land acquisition are taking place through administration, and that several are being evaluated. He estimates warp-up of the acquisition phase in 6 to 8 months.

Alderman Ralph Hamlett, recently reelected to another four-year term, also said he feels the closed-session discussions about the real estate component of the project have been going well.

“I feel positive. I think as a board, we are showing mature stewardship,” Hamlett said.

“We know this is a heavy lift. If you get it wrong, it would be a quintessential mistake for which there would be no undoing. It would be catastrophic. We want to make sure we make the right moves and that the decisions we make are in the long-term interests of Canton.”

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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR hile there are still plenty of unknowns regarding Canton’s new waste water treatment plant, including where it will go and when groundbreaking will take place, a project budget ordinance passed by the town’s governing board on Nov. 9 eliminates one of them — how the massive appropriation from the North Carolina General Assembly will be spent.

“The process is ongoing,” said Mayor Zeb Smathers. “We’re glad we’ve got $38 million banked for this, but I see the timeline going as planned.”

On March 6, Pactiv Evergreen shocked Western North Carolina by announcing it would shutter its century-old paper mill in less than three months. Aside from all the other misery visited upon Canton as a result of the decision, one issue immediately became paramount.

Since the mid-1960s, the paper mill treated the town’s waste water, free of charge, alongside its own waste water. According to an agreement inked in the mid-1960s, if the mill were ever to cease operations, it would still continue to treat the town’s waste water for a period of two years.

That clock’s been ticking, as administrators in Canton and Haywood County have been working feverishly to find a solution.

The budget ordinance lays out funding streams as well as a specific budget for $43.2 million in spending projected to take place Through the General Assembly, President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act is responsible for $38 million of that, almost four times the amount of Canton’s annual general fund budget. Another $4 million in funding comes from former President Donald Trump’s CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act. The Town of Canton itself will contribute an additional $312,200.

Construction of the plant itself will eat up the bulk of those funds, exactly $40 million, and there’s an additional $100,000 appropriated for planning.

A sewer system evaluation will be performed at a cost of $200,000, and then a $592,250 sewer improvement project will commence. That project has $96,750 for design, $92,750 for construction administration, $32,950 for surveying and $10,000 for bidding.

Several other budget items regarding testing, permitting and grant administration round out the remainder of the funding,

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New principal at Waynesville Middle School

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER he Haywood County School Board moved quickly to approve a new principal for Waynesville Middle School after the sudden departure of previous Principal Jennifer Reeves.

“The one thing I heard from Waynesville Middle School is ‘we need somebody fast, let’s get them in place.’ That’s one reason we wanted to have this meeting quickly and we got an excellent candidate,” said Chairman Chuck Francis.

“Congratulations, we’re very proud of you and we know you’ll do a great job.”

At the Oct. 30 meeting of the Haywood County Board of Education, the board unanimously accepted Superintendent Trevor Putnam’s recommendation to appoint Maggie King the principal of Waynesville Middle School. According to Putnam, Reeves left her post to care for her parents whose health was declining. “[Maggie King] has worked extremely hard, she did extremely well in the interview,” said Putnam. “She has a vast knowledge of middle school experience and expertise.

So welcome Maggie King as principal at Waynesville Middle School.”

“I am truly humbled to have been chosen to lead Waynesville Middle School, thank you all,” King said following her appointment. “There is so much good that happens in the walls of our Mountie Nation and I am honored and excited to get to help tell those stories. From our acclaimed teachers to our diverse student groups, Waynesville Middle is a great place to be.”

King graduated from Western Carolina University with her undergraduate degree in 2010 and began teaching in Caldwell County. Upon getting a job at Riverbend Elementary, King

Smoky Mountain News

November 15-21, 2023

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moved with her family to Haywood County. She taught second and fifth grades at Riverbend in addition to being the afterschool director. Later she began graduate school at WCU and was a North Carolina Principal Fellow. During that time King served under Casey Kruk, principal at Canton Middle School.

“I want to thank my previous leaders for helping me grow

Maggie King. Haywood County photo into someone deemed ready and worthy for such a great job,” King said. “Their influence of leadership continues to grow in me and through me. Thank you to Jill Chambers, to Casey Kruk, to Graham Haynes, to Casey Conard and to Jennifer Reeves. Your part in developing this teacher into someone who leads from the heart is appreciated.”

After graduating from WCU’s Masters of School Administration program King obtained a split position between both Canton and Waynesville Middle School as an assistant principal until this year when she was fully

employed at Waynesville Middle.

“It is a great honor to get to work in the midst of Haywood’s finest teachers,” said King. “I am dedicated to helping our team make data informed decisions towards success. I know that I am someone who wants the absolute best for these kids and teachers. I love sitting beside the teachers and talking about curriculum and instructional practices just as much as I love checking on the students in the halls, at lunch and in their classes.”

King acknowledges that middle grades are tough years when taking into consideration the physical and emotional changes that students undergo during the three years. She says she asks two things of her students everyday — that they work hard and be kind.

“I truly believe that if they can do these two things and strive for them, they will see success,” said King.

In the days ahead King plans to take time to listen to the team that she has joined as a leader. Just last week she had lunch with the student council leaders to talk about future goals and ways to invite parents with their kids into the school.

“It was great to sit with three eighth-grade leaders,” King said. “I heard from our students and learned directly from them what their needs are and what their vision is.”

King is also visiting with each grade level and team to listen and learn from them too.

“We are a school that accomplished greatness each day from welcoming students by name to extending great learning opportunities and lessons to our students,” King said. “I look forward to working with the staff here for many years to continue lifting the positive work that happens every day.”

“Thank you to each of you for allowing me this great privilege to lead a dynamic group of staff and students to dare greatly,” King told the board following her appointment. “I will work with them and for them every single day.

Bridge Park set for upgrades

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Creek.

The project came to fruition because Scotts Creek is an impaired waterway and slowing, treating and cooling stormwater before it enters the creek has been a priority for the board.

“This has come full circle for me,” said Commissioner Greg McPherson. “This is one of the first things I talked about eight years ago with the board, and I think it’s a fitting end to my time.”

THANK YOU I would like to tth hank each and everryy one of you fo of for your sup pp port and your vote ooff con nfi fidence in m myy ability to to continue to reep present Wa ayynesville’s interests and the needs ooff its peoop th ple. W Wh hile I am botth h moved and honored by by your sup pp port, I know tth hat tth he rreeal goal tth hrouggh hout tth his cam mp paiiggn was to consider what is best forr our communittyy and for fo for each and everryy citizen. Thereffoorree, I do not tth hank you fo for m myyselff,, but fo for your dedication to making what’s best fo for our Wa ayynesville community, tyy, fo for fu futurree growtth h and beneefi ficial chan ngge.

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BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER fter delays due to funding and insufficient bids, Sylva is set to begin work on the Bridge Park Green Infrastructure project after accepting a bid during the Nov. 9 town councilmeeting.

“That’s a huge project that all of us have worked hard for,” said Public Works Director Jake Scott. “So thank y’all. That’s going to be great.”

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@SMOKYMOUNTAINNEWS Improvements to Bridge Park include a paved parking area. Donated photo

Work beginning on WNC portion of I-40

struct the acceleration lane, which will eliminate the stop sign at the offramp thus improving traffic flow and reducing backups onto the interstate.

Once construction begins, occasional daytime lane closures will be allowed on U.S. 74A, and the offramp will have occasional overnight closures with a marked detour on dates to be scheduled later.

Transportation officials urge drivers to visit DriveNC.gov for updates, drive with caution in work zones and obey all posted traffic signs.

Work will start soon to add an acceleration lane from Interstate 40 East to U.S. 74A for $1.3 million.

The N.C. Department of Transportation contractor, IPC Structures LLC, may begin mobilizing equipment and heavy machinery this week near the affected I-40 interchange at Exit 53A. The contractor has until the spring of 2025 to con-

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In September, the town released a request for bids for the project. The goal at that time was to sign a contract in November and begin working on the project in December so it could be completed in time for Greening Up the Mountains in April.

However, the town received only two bids on that initial round and had to advertise the request for bids a second time to try to solicit a third bid. After the project was rebid for the seven-day requirement, the town had still received only two bids.

The lowest bid came from BH Graning Landscapes, Inc. but because the town did not receive a HUB certificate from the business it had to go with the other bidder, Buchanan and Sons, Inc.

November 15-21, 2023

The board appropriated $98,447 from fund balance set aside for ARPA related projects for the Bridge Park Greek Infrastructure project. The board had previously appropriated $418,000 from federal ARPA funds, and it also received $367,757 in funding from a Jackson County Tourism Development Association Grant to go toward the project.

Total cost of the project is estimated at $749,360, plus funds set aside for contingency. Planned upgrades to the park include a paved parking lot with two ADA parking spaces, a concrete walkway, an ADA-compliant fishing pier, benches, picnic tables and bioretention areas that will help clean the water and runoff that drain into Scotts

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Incumbents roll, ‘Team Waynesville’ falls flat

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Turnout in this year’s election was significantly higher than last time.

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For the second election in a row, Dickson led all candidates, with a total of 1,443 votes.

Feichter was right behind him with 1,411.

Sutton came up with 1,290, and Freeman had 1,285. Franklin earned a respectable 1,019 votes; however, he ended up nearly 3 percentage points behind Freeman.

Stephanie Sutton [no relation to Anthony] came away with 965, planning board member Peggy Hannah had 935 and Ken Hollifield — not officially a member of the “team” but in agreement with them on most issues — brought up the rear with 578.

This election was unique for Waynesville, as it’s the last time all four Council Members will be up for election at the same time. The top two candidates, Dickson and Feichter, earned four-year terms. Anthony Sutton and Freeman will serve for two years, and then their seats will be up for reelection.

The regimen sets up staggered terms, to bring Waynesville in line with other Haywood County municipalities and prevents the possibility of wholesale turnover on Council in the future.

The election was also unique in that each of the incumbents increased their vote totals from the last election. Caldwell’s race, however, was closer. The longtime Council member and first-term mayor tallied 1,283 votes to Reece’s 1,031, good for a 10-point win.

Reece narrowly missed out on winning a seat on council in 2019, earning 931 votes in that election — just short of Sutton’s 1,000 vote total that year.

For Sutton, the election was about more than just winning. As the first openly gay member of Town Council, Sutton had to endure perhaps more negative attention than his fellow incumbents. He said he was pleased with the results.

“I feel that it’s a mandate for our town,” said Sutton. “We are a welcoming town. We respect everyone in our community, including those in our LGBT+ community. I know [this election] wasn’t about gay issues, but it felt personal.”

November 15-21, 2023

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR hey ran a noisy campaign, filled with distortions, misinformation and outright fabrication, but in the end, that’s all it was — noise.

The members of the so-called “Team Waynesville,” running as a slate, failed to win any of the four Waynesville Town Council seats they’d sought, as each of the incumbent council members, plus Mayor Gary Caldwell, earned healthy vote totals at the polls and will return to the work of the people of Waynesville.

“I felt like the voters saw the truth,” said Caldwell, who was reelected to a four-year term on Nov. 7. “Most of the stuff [Team Waynesville] was putting out there was not based on facts.”

All five incumbents enjoyed solid early voting numbers.

Caldwell led challenger Joey Reece 697 to 435, right out of the gate. Council member Chuck Dickson led all Town Council candidates with 756, followed closely by Jon Feichter with 742. Anthony Sutton’s 689 was just ahead of Julia Freeman’s 681.

Challenger Tre Franklin was a distant fifth, with 493, as other challengers fell in behind his total.

“The way they wouldn’t talk to the press created distrust with the community, knowing the job of the press is to hold everyone accountable, which the press has done fantastically over the past four years,” said Sutton.

Once precinct results began to trickle in, it became clear the early voting totals weren’t a fluke; Dickson, Feichter, Sutton and Freeman never trailed and remained in the exact same order.

“I believe the current board was re-elected because the electorate looked at our experience and track record,” Sutton said. “People were able to see through misinformation and wanted a team that was diverse and willing to bring different voices to the board in a productive and compromising way.”

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BY KYLE PERROTTI N EWS E DITOR aggie Valley will retain two of its incumbents, including its mayor, for the next four years.

However, after a couple of years of disagreement, especially regarding residential development and RV parks, board members have said they are committed to working together to get the train back on the tracks.

According to unofficial results from the Nov. 7 election, current Mayor Mike Eveland won his race against challenger Janet Banks with 349 votes against Banks’ 151. In the race for two alderman seats, the top vote-getter was newcomer Tim Wise, with 407 votes, while incumbent Phillip Wight came in second and will retain his seat with 191 votes. Allen Alsbrooks finished third with 160 votes.

Wise said he was thankful to the community members who put their faith in him and cast votes in his favor. He said that while he’s been to several town meetings over the last year and he’s tried to stay up to date on key issues, he knows there will be something of a learning curve.

“The big thing for me now is to get out and talk to a lot of folks and talk to businesses and the chamber of commerce and residents and see what their feelings are so I can get a good idea of what people want,” Wise said.

Wise said he wants to keep an open mind and have honest conversations with people. However, he still does have a few things he’d like to see right away.

“I’m going to take the time to learn, but one of the big things I want to see happen is I want to do some proactive communications from the town to residents and businesses,” he said. “I want to embrace social media in a proactive way to let folks know what’s happening.”

Wight, who’s already served three terms on the board, said he was happy to win another term as alderman and said he was ready to get back to work.

“During the campaign I heard people’s concerns,” he said. “I know what their expectations are and what their vision is,

M

and I’m going to work hard to make sure that happens.”

Wight has been in a precarious situation on the board the last two years. While the board could functionally conduct regular business, when it came to most decisions regarding zoning, Wight and his wife, Tammy, an alderman who didn’t seek reelection, were often on one side while Eveland and aldermen John Hinton and Jim Owens were on the other.

Wight said he’s ready to put that division behind him and work to find common ground.

“We’ll have to work together for the board and Mike Eveland achieve things for the people,” Wight said. “I hope to have more conversations with the new board members and the past board members.”

A few years ago, Wight and Eveland got along well and agreed on most business that came before the board. Wight said he hopes to get back to that.

“We won’t always agree on everything, but we need to have those conversations,” he said. “I hope we Tim Wise can get back to that relationship we had long ago because we have four more years together. I feel like we’ve in a sense drifted apart.”

Eveland also said he was looking forward to bridging the chasm that has developed.

“Both of us are gonna be on the board four more years,” Eveland said. “We have to find a way to work together. Some people Phillip Wight would say if we have 4-1 votes not to worry about it, but I think we can bridge that gap and have 5-0 votes.”

Eveland said he enjoyed the campaigning process, which allowed to him reconnect with the entire community as he spent a lot of time knocking on doors and hearing from both residents and non-resident business owners.

“I think that we need to continue to have the conversation both with the public and the commercial folks about the impacts that new neighborhoods will have,” Eveland said.

Eveland, Wise and Wight will serve fouryear terms and join Hinton and Owens, who still have two years left on their terms.

news November 15-21, 2023

Smoky Mountain News

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Sylva elects new mayor, council members

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER he Sylva Town Council could have three new members, including a new mayor after vote totals become official later this week.

Mayoral candidate Johnny Phillips won 255 votes to Natalie Newman’s 174, or 59% to 40% of the vote respectively.

Phillips is originally from Sylva and spent 30 years working for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, followed by time in the private sector.

Phillips also has extensive experience serving on and chairing public boards.

Newman was first elected to Sylva’s town board in 2021, when she beat out two incumbents and garnered the most votes of any candidate. In addition to her role on the town board, Newman serves on the Main Street Sylva Association Board and as a Jackson County Chamber Ambassador. She has lived in the area since 2011 and works as a property manager.

Newman, who’s term as a commissioner was unexpired, will remain on the board in that capacity despite losing the race for mayor.

“Thank you to everyone Johnny Phillips who came out to vote,” said Newman. “It was nice to see those numbers and see everybody participating. I hope those numbers go up in the coming years in the next elections.”

In addition to the contest for mayor, three seats were up for election this cycle on the Sylva Town Council with six candidates competing for those spots. Incumbent Brad Waldrop won the most votes of any other council member candidate with 242 votes, or almost 20% of the vote.

“I am humbled and honored by the citizens of Sylva casting their votes to allow me to continue to represent them as a member of the Sylva Town Board of Commissioners,” said Waldrop in a statement. “Even more so, it’s exciting to see such improved voter turnout over the last municipal election.”

Waldrop was selected to serve on the town board earlier this year after Mayor Lynda Sossamon resigned and David Nestler vacated his seat as commissioner to fill the role of mayor. Waldrop was born and raised in Sylva and graduated from both Smoky Mountain High School and Western

Smoky Mountain News

November 15-21, 2023

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Carolina University. He is the co-owner and general manager of Ward Plumbing, Heating & Air, has been a member of the Sylva Rotary Club for over two years and has served on the Jackson County Planning Board for one year.

“I spent the day out at the election center on election day and got to spend time with candidates, including incumbents. I thought it was beyond civil, to the point of friendliness that’s not really normal in the rest of our political landscape,” said Waldrop. “Everybody was being friendly, and it really felt like a BBQ as much as anything political and I thought that was really refreshing.”

Newcomer Mark Jones came in second place with 206 votes or about 17% of the vote. Jones is a lifelong resident of Sylva, working 30 years as a sales manager at a local business.

Brad Waldrop

Mark Jones

Behind Jones, Blitz Estridge and Ben Guiney are unofficially tied for third place with 204 votes each, or 16.8% of the vote. If the tie stands after the Jackson County Board of Elections canvass later this week, a coin flip or draw will determine the winner between Estridge and Guiney.

However, according to Jackson County Board of Elections Director Lisa Lovedahl, there are 10 provisional ballots for the Board of Elections to consider on canvass day, which will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 17.

That is enough ballots to not only break the tie between Estridge and Guiney, but also put one or both of them ahead of Mark Jones.

Incumbent Council Member Guiney also tied for third place during the 2019 election, after which he won a seat following a coin flip for the seat.

Guiney, an emergency room doctor, has lived in Sylva since 2014 and was first elected to the town board in 2019, following three years on the town’s planning board.

Estridge is originally from South Florida and has lived

in Sylva since moving here while in high school. He has a degree in electrical fundamentals and owns Catamount Electric in Dillsboro.

Turnout appears to be up from 2021 municipal elections when 330 ballots were cast to this year’s 469. In 2021, 378 ballots were cast.

Board members Greg McPherson and David Nestler will no longer have seats on the board. Nestler has been serving as mayor since February of this year when Mayor Linda Sossamon resigned, but he decided not to run for reelection. Greg McPherson came in fourth place for a seat on the board with 188 votes or 15.5% of the vote.

“I’d like to thank Greg and David for your service,” said Public Works Director Jake Scott during the Nov. 9 town board meeting. “It’s not easy or fun sometimes to

Blitz Estridge

Ben Guiney

come out here and do this. Y’all have been great. You’ve been good to work with and I personally appreciate your contribution to the community a whole lot.”

“I also want to thank Greg for his service to the town and it’s been a pleasure working with you,” said Waldrop.

Greg McPherson is an assistant professor at Western Carolina University in addition to his role as exhibition designer for the WCU Fine Art Museum. He won his first term on the town board in 2015.

“I’ve enjoyed my tenure as a commissioner for Sylva,” said McPherson. “I think when the history books are written that they will say that our collective time here has been some of the most productive, collaborative and positive in a long time. I think we’ve seen some really positive changes throughout the community. I hope that the spirit of cooperation, pride and comradery that I have helped cultivate on the various boards on which I have served will continue as Sylva continues to grow, prosper and move forward.”

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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR he Town of Canton’s governing board has been through a lot in the last four years — with the 2021 flood and the 2023 closure of the town’s largest employer — but they must be doing a good job managing the chaos, as voters decided overwhelmingly to return Mayor Pro Temp Gail Mull and Alderman Ralph Hamlett for another term.

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November 15-21, 2023 Smoky Mountain News

from all quarters. Surprisingly, some people I thought might say something different, didn’t.”

Mull led the ticket with 249 votes, followed by Hamlett with 219. Challenger Adam Hatton finished third of three with 150 votes. Mull also led the early voting totals, with 33 votes. Hamlett was next with 23, ahead of Hatton’s 16.

Hatton mounted a strong effort for a firsttime candidate, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. His total left him with 23.5% of the vote, almost 11 points behind Hamlett and 16 behind Mull.

“We’re relieved that it’s over, and that everyone had enough confidence in us to vote,” Mull said.

The totals indicate strong interest in the race; in 2019, the last time Mull and Hamlett were up for election, Mull earned a total of 110 votes, with Hamlett pulling in 101. Both were unopposed, leading some to believe they didn’t need to show up at the polls.

This year, however, things are much different. The town is still working to recover from the floods, and the impact of Pactiv Evergreen’s March announcement that it would shutter the century-old paper mill at the heart of the town, which it did in June, means the town still has a lot of work to do.

Members of the governing board, including Mayor Zeb Smathers, Alderwoman Kristina Proctor and Alderman Tim Shepard will with Hamlett and Mull refocus on finding a solution to the town’s waste water treatment problem, which comes as a result of Pactiv Evergreen’s March 6 closing announcement.

“We have many projects half-finished, not started, nearing completion. We’re optimistic,” said Mull. “We have to think we have a bright future, because we can’t look back.”

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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR uesday, Nov. 7 was an important night for out LGBTQ+ candidates across the country, the state and Haywood County, with more running — and winning — than in any previous odd-year election in U.S. history.

According to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a political action committee that since 1991 has worked to promote out LGBTQ+ candidates running for office at all levels, at least 514 out LGBTQ+ candidates ran, with 312 officially on the ballot.

“More LGBTQ+ people are being elected for many reasons, including visibility and changing attitudes towards LGBTQ+ rights,” said Anthony Sutton, a Waynesville Town Council member. “I think the trend will continue with qualified candidates running.”

Sutton was one of the Victory Fund’s endorsed candidates after becoming the first out LGBTQ+ member of Waynesville’s governing board back in 2019, when he won his first term. He was reelected to a two-year term last week.

T

— Anthony Sutton, Waynesville Town Council member

Russell, Jesse prevail in Clyde Incumbent Alderman Dann Jesse will return to the Town of Clyde Board of Aldermen, along with a new face, Amy

File photo

The backlash over the non-incident ended up having the opposite effect, energizing Western North Carolina’s LGBTQ+ community.

At the meeting, Waynesville’s Town Council unanimously passed a resolution, authored by Sutton, decrying the threats and declaring the town’s support for the LGBTQ+ community. Another Town Council member, Chuck Dickson, initiated a review of all town policy to ensure there was no latent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender expression.

Some who rushed to embrace the false claims became candidates for Waynesville’s Town Council, running as a team.

At a campaign event, candidate and planning board member Peggy Hannah held up a photo of Sutton taken at one of his campaign events — a drag performance.

Hannah called the photo, which shows Sutton with a performer, perverted, according to a person in attendance. Sutton said he took that, as well as a subsequent comment to the effect of “not in my town,” as a threat.

Russell.

Russell, a Clyde native and first-time candidate, came out on top with 82 votes, to Jesse’s 81. Jesse was the only incumbent running this year, and came out on top of the early voting tally with 18 votes, but Russell was a close second,

Danica Roem.

Campaign photo

with 14.

Challenger Kathy Cogburn Johnson placed a distant third with 47 votes, while fellow challengers Cory Nuckolls, with 21 votes, and Melinda Parker, with 17, didn’t fare nearly as well.

Incumbent Mayor Jim Trantham ran

Amy Russell. Photo from Facebook “I worked hard and I’m hoping to continue that same momentum,” said Amy Russell, a newly-elected member of the Town of Clyde Board of Aldermen.

Russell, a Clyde native, is a small business owner and lives in town with her wife.

“I’m a community member that owns a business and takes pride in her community and wants to work hard,” Russell said. “I don’t think about myself as being anything but me. I don’t hide the fact that I’m gay. I really believe in our community in Clyde.

I’m very honored to represent Clyde, but I’m also honored to represent the gay community.”

It was Russell’s first time running for office and she led the ticket, according to unofficial election night results, besting popular longtime incumbent Dann Jesse by one vote. Jesse will also return to the Board.

Russell said she was pleased with the election results, but that the real win came when her wife looked down at the election results on her phone and then looked up and told Russell, “You won, and I am so proud of you.”

Smoky Mountain News

On election night, Sutton told The Smoky Mountain News that the election wasn’t about LGBTQ+ issues per se, but he did say that it “felt personal.”

Earlier this year, a Facebook post by a Haywood County man alleged improper behavior by a transgender person at Waynesville’s recreation center. The allegations prompted violent online threats against the LGBTQ+ community, as well as a police investigation that found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Detractors maligned the town’s investiga-

Anthony Sutton.

Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, said threats and attacks directed at LGBTQ+ candidates are all too common.

“Some of those are mostly just posting on social media, or an anti-LGBTQ+ mail piece or being called a slur, but sometimes there are actual threats as well,” Meloy said.

A report issued by the Victory Fund’s partner organization, LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, says that more than 70% of LGBTQ+ candidates reported attacks during their 2022 campaigns, with almost 14% saying they experienced attacks at least once a week. Nearly 33% of those attacks came from conservative groups, and nearly 20% came from religious groups, according to the report.

“The rhetoric has become so toxic and the misinformation is so strong that people potentially make those threats,” said Meloy.

Sutton said he’d received nonpartisan election training from the Victory Institute, including how to deal with the negativity that sometimes comes with being an out LGBTQ+ candidate.

Nationally, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund endorsed 166 candidates in 23 states.

As of election night, at least 148 out LGBTQ+ candidates had won races across the country, on state and local levels — a total that was expected to climb as results continued to be reported and certified.

One highlight for the group was in the Commonwealth of Virginia, electing the first out trans state senator in the South, Danica Roem. A number of other LGBTQ+ candidates, both incumbents and chal-

November 15-21, 2023

“More LGBTQ+ people are being elected for many reasons, including visibility and changing attitudes towards LGBTQ+ rights.

I think the trend will continue with qualified candidates running.”

tion and thereby its police force after dozens of speakers crowded into a town meeting on July 25 — even pushing for the outing of the trans individuals at the center of the investigation, who have maintained anonymity. At least one speaker at the meeting threatened trans people who might try to exercise their constitutional right of access to public facilities.

news

LGBTQ+ candidates earn historic victories nationally, locally

lengers, also achieved important victories in Virginia’s House of Delegates, which flipped from Republican to Democratic control.

The flip, along with the Democrat-controlled Virginia Senate, will hamstring Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to increase abortion restrictions there and is widely seen as yet another referendum on the controversial overturning of Roe v.

Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court back in 2022.

In North Carolina, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund endorsed 10 candidates, six of whom won races in Carrboro, Charlotte, Hillsborough, Waynesville and Wilmington.

Sutton was one of them, but he’s not even the only out LGBTQ+ candidate in Haywood County.

unopposed and will continue to hold the gavel in Clyde.

Results are considered unofficial until the Haywood County Board of Elections holds its canvas, scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 17.

— Cory Vaillancourt, politics editor 19

20

Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Times have changed, and that’s a good thing A

We need to deal with the bully To the Editor: “No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of president or vice-president, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But, Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.”

Wake! Up! America! The operative clause here to prevent Donald Trump from becoming President is: “… or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” When Donald Trump watched the Capitol rioters delay the 2020 vote count for over three hours before finally taking action to disburse the mob he had assembled (for the rebellion) surely Americans can agree that those three hours plus were “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Taking action under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment does not even require

we’d go through the woods where a half-mile trail took us to the back end of campus.

We didn’t walk to school for our health. To the contrary, we did it for other reasons — hanging out with friends or, when feeling the urge, perhaps partaking of a little weed if anyone was holding.

We also tended to skip school a lot in those days. Before absences were tallied up in the regimented fashion they are today, missing school was not that big of a deal if you maintained decent grades. Don’t miss tests, hand in your homework and all was good.

My friend group was Kerry, Kevin and Bryan. We hung together all the Editor time, often holding jobs at the same place, always spending weekend time together unless someone had a girlfriend that would take them out of the circle for however long that relationship lasted.

Kerry’s dad was a builder, and on occasion he would find out in the early mornings that he was able to drive his work truck to school. This was prior to cell phones, so Kerry would ride around and try to intercept us on our walk to see who was still around and wanted to ride with him.

Getting in the truck with Kerry was risky business, but not because he was a bad or dangerous driver. Kerry was one of those people — we all knew them — who made damn good grades without seemingly trying. And he loved skipping school. One of his favorite stunts was to get all his friends in the truck, drive toward school, right in front of it on Andrews Road, slow down like he was turning in, and then gassing the

Scott McLeod

s an adolescent male in the 1970s, you didn’t tell your other male friends you loved them, not at that time, not like the hugs and “love you brother” that is so common today. Just didn’t happen, at least not in the Southern military town of my childhood.

This truth occurred to me while listening to a podcast as I worked through some chores around the outside of my house last Saturday. Actually, it was an audiobook of essays I was listening to, “The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green.

In one essay, Green talks about how the love humans feel at different periods in their lives helps shape who we are at any given moment in the future. Even if that love was decades ago, it forged a part of the person you are today. You still carry the ramifications of that love with you.

I stopped a moment while dragging a tarp of fallen leaves toward the woods that mark the border of our yard to hit pause on my phone so I could think about high school and teachers and friends that perhaps fall into this category.

I’m 16 or 17, and it would be fall in the late 1970s. Pine Forest Senior High School was just outside the suburbs around Fayetteville, North Carolina, a county school — meaning not in the city limits but in Cumberland County — that was a few miles from our neighborhood of College Lakes.

There was indeed a private college that contributed to the neighborhood’s name — now Methodist University — across the highway, but we only ventured near the place to hit a few balls on the tennis courts or to get to the Cape Fear River for a quick swim in the summertime.

At 16, none of us had our own cars, but we were also too cool for the bus, so most days we walked to high school, a trip that would take us down by the no-name lake — the “lake” in College Lakes — at the edge of our neighborhood. From there

old F-150 down the road without looking back, a big grin spread across his face. The other three of us would be screaming about tests or homework or classes, but the game was up.

No school that day.

On beautiful fall days — like the one I’m experiencing right now — we’d often end up at Raven Rock State Park near Lillington in Harnett County, about 30 miles from our high school. We’d try to score some beer before we got there, and we’d run around that park on those fall days rolling and tripping and wrestling with each other down hills thick with leaves while laughing like 5-year-olds. We’d do it for hours, until exhaustion sank in or we simply ran out of time.

We’d end up back near our neighborhood on some dirt road, sun beginning to drop toward the horizon, us sitting in the bed of the truck clearing our heads, maybe eating hamburgers or cheap convenience store hot dogs, figuring who needed to be dropped off where, who had to work or who had to get home to help with dinner. We’d peel off and go our own way or perhaps get Kerry to give us a ride home, making plans for the next day.

I know it sounds almost corny and infused with the nostalgia that gets hold of many as Thanksgiving approaches, but I can go back to that place in a moment’s daydream and still feel the lasting warmth that was a part of hanging out with those close friends who shared everything together, whether in the back of that yellow F-150 or while wrestling each other down a leaf-strewn hill beneath an autumn sun. We loved each other, and that love is part of who I am today.

But as I said, back then we didn’t use those words to describe our feelings. I like how times have changed. Love you my brothers, hope to see you soon.

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

LETTERS a trial. Members of Congress or state legislators can frame a question based on the operative clause: Did Donald Trump give aid or comfort to the rioters on January 6, 2021? Let our elected leaders vote on the question. If some choose to support Trump, let them say so publicly. If they choose to follow the wisdom of the Fourteenth Amendment, then the problem will have been solved for the good of the country.

Why have our state legislatures and, even Congress, allowed bully Trump to remain a candidate? You hold the key. Insert it and turn it. Deal with the bully!

Dave Waldrop Webster

Israel not helping its cause To the Editor: Why are Israeli warlords bombing children’s hospitals and killing hundreds of children and babies?

They claim that Hamas has tunnels under the hospital, and their goal is to wipe out Hamas. If Hamas actually built tunnels under a hospital, I assume they figured that no one would be degraded enough to bomb a hospi-

tal. Obviously they were wrong, and I guess they’ll have to rethink their assumptions when they make further plans to free their people from an Israeli dictator (Netanyahu).

If Israeli warlords plan is to eliminate Hamas, and they think Hamas is hiding in tunnels, then they need to be in the tunnels killing Hamas people and not bombing hospitals and killing Palestinian children and

babies.

I am in favor of the plan President Biden released (in May) to end anti-Semitism. The Israeli warlord tactics do not help to end antiSemitism. Nearly every country on this planet wants Israel to cease their bombing. But Israel is quickly losing face in the world today.

Paul Strop Waynesville

Women are allowed to change their mind, right?

Chris Cox

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“For example,” she says, “You should never, ever buy me an appliance as a holiday gift. In fact, just go ahead and rule out anything that has a plug. If it can be plugged in, that’s a total catastrophe.”

“A catastrophe?” you say. “Anything with a plug.”

You are thinking of all the things — all the possible gifts — that come with plugs.

So many plugs. It’s a huge swath of potential gifts just wiped out. You take another drink of wine. You sense there is a history behind all of this, but you are wise enough to stay far, far away from it.

“An absolute catastrophe, an utter catastrophe,” she says, pushing a sprig of asparagus from one side of her plate to the other. “I am not saying at all that I expect jewelry or anything super expensive or fancy. I just need it to be thoughtful, something that will show me that you really wanted to get me something special.”

“Special,” you say, “But not necessarily jewelry?”

“Not necessarily,” she says, smiling and taking a drink of her wine.

For 20 years, you make her holidays as special as your imagination and practical realities will allow. A hundred gifts. Never one appliance. Nothing with a plug.

And then, about two weeks before her most recent birthday, she says, “I’m going to tell you something that may shock you. In fact, I am pretty sure it will. It’s about my birthday.”

“Well, let me sit down then,” you say.

“Should I pour myself a stiff drink?”

“I want a Roomba for my birthday,” she says.

“Seriously?” you say, because you are, in fact, shocked.

“Yes,” she said. “I want a good one. And I also want a good garlic press and a vegetable slicer.”

“Are you ill?” you say. “Did you fall and hit your head on a rock?”

The Roomba — a good one — is ordered, wrapped and gifted, along with a garlic press that is “the Cadillac” of garlic presses and a very capable vegetable slicer.

But the Roomba is the star of the show.

For two weeks, the Roomba does its thing all over the house, whirring and zigging and zagging every which way before docking itself perfectly, like some alien spacecraft.

The floors are sparkling clean. The dogs have fled to higher ground.

“This is my favorite gift you have ever given me,” she announces brightly one day.

“I have named him ‘Gerald.’ He is simply magnificent!”

Very well then. Just wait until Christmas.

That’s when she will meet Lawrence.

(Chris Cox is a writer and teacher who lives in Haywood County. jchriscox@live.com.)

WINTER WOND O DERL LAND A MAGIC G AL CHR RISTM MAS

November 15-21, 2023

You have been together a month, maybe two. It was whirlwind and all, that electric “getting to know you” phase when every single thing is new and fascinating and terrifying because this just might be it. Call it one of life’s five defining moments. Big. These are the days of compulsive teeth brushing and mouthwash rinsing and closet organizing. These are the days of being sure that everything you can think of is just so, from the arrangement of the throw pillows on the sofa to the presentation of the poached salmon and asparagus with hollandaise over a bed of rice pilaf on Columnist your earthtone flatware.

And the wine, good Lord, the wine. Not one of those six-dollar Ingles specials. Are you a troglodyte, a cheapskate? And not a hundred-dollar Bordeaux. Are you a hedonist, a snob, with a second mortgage on your house to pay for your petty indulgences?

Something in between, then, a nice Oregon Pinot Noir. You know she likes those. You wrote it down.

She wrote down: “Doesn’t like cheese (this is going to be a challenge).”

But there’s another thing. This is not the first of life’s defining moments for either one of you, which means that even though you are caught up in the current of your raging passions and such, the valuable lessons that were defined so vividly for you in previous relationships have affected the manner in which you paddle your craft.

In other words, it is best to steer away from the rocks. So somewhere in between bites of scrumptious poached salmon and sips of your wonderfully elegant wine, she clears her throat and pauses, a sign that the course of the conversation is about to change.

“I know this may seem awkward,” she says. “But I need you to know something about the holidays, which includes my birthday. It is going to be absolutely crucial that you do not ruin these days. I will need them to be important to you. I will need them to be perfect.”

“Of course,” you say, but without an immediate notion of what would naturally come next, so you repeat it. “Of course.”

“I am sure that must sound weird or something,” she says. “And you would probably never do something like that on purpose. But there is a way to do this and a way not to do it.”

You are nodding in vigorous agreement.

Her argument is unimpeachable, although you are not yet sure exactly what it is.

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Kaleidoscope of creativity

Haywood artisan offers her craft onstage, on the wall

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR Performer. Writer. Director. Instructor.

Photographer.

Those are the mediums mentioned when one asks Kristen Hedberg just what creative realms she delves headlong into — in essence, all aspects of her life conjure some form of artistic pursuit, discovery and cultivation.

“This all begins in childhood for me. As a kid, I preferred to be outside — it was my playground,” Hedberg said. “So, when inside, I found ways to create the snow or making something shine. Artists are creators and problem solvers — I guess it came to me early on.”

A North Carolina native, Hedberg has called this region home since 2006. She currently resides in Maggie Valley. While in college, Hedberg found herself at Young Harris College in North Georgia for two summers acting in the Appalachian drama “The Reach of Song.” “[The production] was infused with mountain music and real stories from the area — [combining] professional actors with locals who told their own stories,” Hedberg said. “I fell in the love with the show — everything about it — from the music to the dancing to the people themselves.”

At Young Harris, Hedberg felt an immediate kinship with the people and landscape of Southern Appalachia, only to circle back to Asheville after completing her Master of Music from

the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.

“Asheville had grown into a thriving arts scene and even had an opera company. [With] the offer of a full-time job [in opera in] Asheville, I could not have asked for a better gift,” Hedberg said. “The mountains are my home. I cannot be without them — I think many people who live here can resonate with that simple statement.”

Beyond her extensive stage work as an actor and director — including numerous cast appearances at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville — Hedberg also holds a genuine passion for the camera, as seen by her business CamelliaBird.

Specializing in nature photography, a selection of Hedberg’s images will be displayed at the “Small Works” exhibit, running through Dec. 31 at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville.

“I was always taking pictures, even if I didn’t have a camera. I was framing them with my mind and making mental captures of things in nature that made me feel connected to this world,” Hedberg said. “[And] I’ve always had a special bond with animals, especially dogs. I grew up playing on a farm, so I always saw the farm animals

Kristen Hedberg is a nature photographer in WNC. Kristen Hedberg photo

— cows, pigs and such — as my friends.”

Hedberg’s interest in photography has only intensified as she’s gotten older. For her, “it allows me to catalog my life just as a I see it. It’s a memory preserver when memory becomes reliable over time.”

In terms of her process, Hedberg does very little editing to her images, seeing as the beauty of Mother Nature can solely stand on its own in that captured moment — raw and real, vivid and vibrant.

“I love photographing birds. They are the connection to the Otherworld, to the other spiritual plane. They are the oldest vocalists, singing long before humans. As a musician, I’m fascinated with their songs and I have always wanted wings to fly,” Hedberg said. “In everything I do with art, there’s some connection to nature, even if it is not apparent to the receiver. Mother Nature teaches me the lessons that are older than human problems and sometimes corrects old assumptions about her when I commune and really listen.”

So, what is there to be said about a life spent in artistic thought and creation — this continued trajectory of curiosity, connection and collaboration?

S EE CREATIVITY, PAGE 24

Want to go?

The Haywood County Arts Council’s (HCAC) “Small Works” exhibit will run through Dec. 31 at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts showroom in downtown Waynesville.

The annual exhibit that expands the types of work for sale in the downtown Waynesville gallery, as well as who can display their work. Other than specially curated exhibits, which occur a couple times annually, this exhibit is the only one that allows any artist within the western mountain region to participate for a small fee.

With dozens of artists participating, the exhibit promises to be eclectic.

Although the only requirement is that the pieces be 12 inches in any dimension or smaller, HCAC challenged participants who are making holiday themed works to consider artistic expressions that are multicultural in nature and celebrate the many different holidays, ways of celebrating, and ways of experiencing holidays.

HCAC also encouraged participants to create works that celebrate Appalachian heritage and craft. For more information, go to haywoodarts.org.

HOT PICKS

1

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD be able to afford that luxury of European horsepower and premium gasoline.

At this point in my wanderings and ponderings this past weekend, imposter syndrome begins to set in, but only slightly. I realize I’ll be 40 years old in a year and a few months from now. I drive a hardscrabble 2013 Toyota Tacoma. And I realize that I still inhabit the same apartment in Waynesville that I moved into when I first set foot in Haywood County in August 2012.

In regards to my humble abode, the rent is incredibly agreeable, where if I lost my apartment tomorrow, well, my rent would likely triple if my landlord were to sell the highly-desirable property in downtown. I wouldn’t fault him for it, but where would I go? I’m not wealthy enough to compete in the real estate market. That ship sailed years ago here in Western North Carolina for us folks living paycheck to paycheck.

It’s funny, you know? The first five years or so living in my apartment, I’d say to myself, “I can’t wait to get out of here and finally buy my own place.” And for the last five years, I mumble to myself (or Sarah lately), “Thank the lord we have this place. I don’t know what we’d do without this spot.

Probably have to leave town or the state.”

How’s Kansas this time of year, eh? Quarter-

H

2

Family physician Dr. Benjamin Gilmer will present his book “The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice” at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

3

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FREE TO PLAY Gift Certificate prizes for 1st & 2nd place teams

The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host Ben & The Borrowed Band (rock/country) at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17.

Thursday No ov vember r 16th

Haywood County rock/country act Outlaw Whiskey will hit the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Unplugged Pub in Bryson City.

Saturday No ov vember r 17th

4 5

Sean Michael Kaayye Singer Songwriter • Alternative Rock 8pm - 10pm

Ben & The Borrowed Band Country • Classic Rock • 8pm - 111pm

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Smoky Mountain News

ic magic, culinary delights, whirlwind treks coast-to-coast and the pure love of a woman who sees me for who I am and what my worth is in this all too wild, wondrous rock hurtling through space — always flying by the seat of my pants, always with gratitude in mind.

When you pop out of a peaceful slumber like I did on Sunday morning at the Old Edwards Inn, scanning the splendor of the cottage and taking note of the precious woman in bed within reach, you reflect back on the road to the here and now — how it’s all just some crazy dream from birth to death, the years zooming by with a reckless abandon you can barely keep up with.

I remember years ago, sleeping in the back of my old GMC pickup in truck stops in Montana, Colorado, Michigan, Tennessee and points beyond. Scooping out cold, generic SpaghettiOs from the can at rest areas between festival writing assignments, the paycheck barely enough to get gas in the tank and afford some cheap beers at a corner bar in Reno, Memphis, Rochester or New Haven.

Emerge from the king bed and listen to the birds sing from the maple trees outside the cottage window. Kiss the sleeping beauty next you and wish her a good morning.

Pack up the bags and begin the journey back down the mountain to the humble abode. Deadlines looming, but no matter, the words will flow in due time. Gratitude remains. Always.

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

November 15-21, 2023

ello from Room 1029 in the Blue Valley Cottage at the Old Edwards Inn, situated near the intersection of U.S. 64 and Main Street in downtown Highlands.

I awoke in a king bed to the sounds of birds chirping in the large maple trees just outside the second-story window of the cottage. It took me a moment or two to realize where I was and what I was doing there.

Old Edwards. Highlands Food & Wine Festival. Cover the culinary madness. Shake hands and make acquaintance with locals and visitors alike. Eat the oysters and pork belly with gusto. Sip the craft bourbon cocktails ever so carefully. Wander the streets from noon to midnight.

Emerging from the bed, I gazed around the cottage. It was about twice the size of my apartment in Waynesville and easily ten times nicer. Canopy bed. Two-person tub.

Heated marble tile in the big bathroom. Two massive TVs, with one in the common room, ideal for watching Saturday afternoon college football between culinary events.

While I decided to get in a quick mid-morning gym workout, my girlfriend, Sarah wanted to get at least one use of the tub. So, as the hot water flowed and a bubble bath soon appeared, I headed out the door and into the world of knowns and unknowns right outside.

Walking through the small parking lot for the cottages, I noticed Sarah’s trusty 2008 Honda CRV sandwiched between two rather swanky Audi SUVs, the kind that’ll run you six-figures at the dealOld Edwards Inn is the oldest building ership — this juxtaposition of in Highlands. Garret K. Woodward photo working class and affluence.

And just as I thought about maybe getting Sarah some shiny new million seems to go pretty far out that way. headlights for Christmas, I observed an But, then, in the midst of one’s existenolder couple waiting for their luggage to be tial crisis, I remember the most important loaded into their candy apple red Ferrari. thing to carry in your toolbox marked “Life” Bags placed in the front of the car where — gratitude and a deep sense of self, of most vehicles house the engine. Designer appreciation for what is, what is not and bags tucked away neatly in anticipation for what could be. Nothing matters, in essence, a Sunday cruise to somewhere, anywhere just kindness and being grateful for whatevthat probably resembles this town. er your lot in life is.

I started calculating how much a Ferrari Truth? The real currency in this world is such as that one would cost. Quarter-milfriendship, adventure and love — moments lion? More? It’s a weird feeling to watch a that make you appreciative to be able to sports car roll by you where its monetary wake up each morning and experience equivalent could purchase a nice home in these people, places and things that put a your hometown up on the Canadian Border. kick in your step.

I could save my entire yearly salary for the Heck, I may not be rich, but I sure do better part of the next decade and still not live a rich existence. It’s made up of melod-

The inaugural “Holiday Bazaar” will be held from 3-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, outside on the side lawn at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.

EVENTS

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‘Stop the bus, turn the radio up high and grab the first guitar you see’

arts & entertainment

The iconic Plastics are reclaiming the spotlight in an allnew production of “Mean Girls Jr.” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17-18 and 2 p.m. Nov. 18-19 at Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

This must be the place

828.246.9155 977 N Main St Waynesville NC 28786

23

arts & entertainment

CREATIVITY, CONTINUED FROM 23 “Art, for some people, is about escape or diving into a place they don’t feel is real or available to them in their real lives. I don’t see it that way. I think it is a reflection of what we often don’t allow ourselves to see, to experience, to feel in this world,” Hedberg said. “It’s what’s perhaps hidden behind the veil. And when we let our creativity flow, we can peer behind it, sometimes crossing over, even allowing them to blend together for a moment — it’s the greatest expression of our inherent spirituality.”

And Hedberg can’t help but think of her mother and how she remains a vital inspiration on any and all imaginative avenues Hedberg may duck down and explore.

“A lot of inspiration comes from having such a creative, innovative mother — she immersed me in a world of stories and crafts. She’s that beloved English high school teacher who also built up the theatre program in every school she worked [in], while building amazing music programs at church,” Hedberg said. “[Being an artist and performer] is just how I’m made. I’ve always lived dually in my imagination and the real world at the same time, so I don’t see them separately — the ideas and possibilities for creation are endless.”

The ‘Small works’ exhibit runs at HCAC through Dec. 31 Kristen Hedberg photo

On the beat File photo

November 15-21, 2023

Rock rolls into Unplugged Pub

Jason Bonham will play Harrah’s Cherokee Nov. 18.

Smoky Mountain News

Outlaw Whiskey will play Bryson City Nov. 18. Garret K. Woodward photo Haywood County rock/country act Outlaw Whiskey will hit the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Unplugged Pub in Bryson City.

Formed in Haywood County seven years ago, Outlaw Whiskey has emerged as a popular band in Western North Carolina and greater Southern Appalachia. A blend of original country and rock songwriting amid a bevy of cover tunes from the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and other marquee acts, the essence of the

• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8-10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. 828.631.1987 or balsamfallsbrewing.com.

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a semi-regular acoustic jam with the Main Street NoTones from 7-9 p.m. every first and third Thursday of the month. Free and open 24 to the public. For more information, go to

group is musicianship and fellowship.

In March, Outlaw Whiskey was recognized as “Band of the Year” (New Country: 50 & Over Category) by the North America Country Music Association, Int’l (NACMAI). The ensemble accepted its honor at the NACMAI award show at the Country Tonite Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Last year, Scott took home the NACMAI award for “Songwriter of the Year.”

Admission is $5 at the door. 828.538.2488.

blueridgebeerhub.com.

• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host music bingo 7 p.m. Mondays, karaoke at 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, trivia at 7 p.m. and semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 or boojumbrewing.com.

• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center

Harrah’s welcomes Jason Bonham Rock icon Jason Bonham will bring his “Led Zeppelin Experience” to the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at Harrah’s Cherokee.

Son of the late John Bonham, Jason conjures the legend and lore of his father’s cherished work behind the drums for Led Zeppelin.

Tickets start at $49.50 per person. For a full schedule of events and/or to buy tickets, caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.

(Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to coweeschool.org/music.

• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host the “Fireside at the Farm” sessions on select weekends. For more information, go to oldedwardshospitality.com.

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host “Music Bingo” 7 p.m. Thursdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public.

828.634.0078 or curraheebrew.com.

• Folkmoot Friendship Center (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. For a full schedule of events and/or to purchase tickets, go to folkmoot.org.

On the beat

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host its weekly “Tuesday Jazz Series” at 5:30 p.m., Tricia Ann Band (country/rock) 5:30 p.m. Nov. 15, Zen Cowboys 6 p.m. Nov. 17 and Watkins 6 p.m. Nov. 18. Free and open to the public.

828.454.5664 or froglevelbrewing.com.

• Frog Quarters (Franklin) will host live music from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Free and open to the public. Located at 573 East Main Street. littletennessee.org or 828.369.8488.

• Happ’s Place (Glenville) will host Blue Jazz Band Nov. 18, Jake Matthew Nov. 24 and Rock Holler Nov. 25. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. happsplace.com or 828.742.5700.

• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort (Cherokee) will host Babyface (R&B/soul) Nov. 17, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening (classic rock) Nov. 18 and Spice Wannabe Nov. 25. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. For a full schedule of events and/or to buy tickets, caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.

• Highlands Performing Arts Center will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. For tickets, go to highlandsperformingarts.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host “Trivia Night w/Kirk” from 7-9 p.m. every Monday, Open Mic Night every Wednesday, Rossdafareye (rock/folk) Nov. 18 and Tina Collins (singer-songwriter) Nov. 25. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovationbrewing.com.

• Meadowlark Motel (Maggie Valley) will host Trivia Thursdays 6:30 p.m., Susie Copeland (singer-songwriter) Nov. 17 and Woolybooger Nov. 25. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to meadowlarkmotel.com or 828.926.1717.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host an “Open Mic w/Frank Lee” Wednesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends.

All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.

ALSO:

• Nantahala Brewing Outpost (Sylva) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.641.9797 or nantahalabrewing.com.

• Orchard Coffee (Waynesville) will host semiregular live music on the weekends.

828.246.9264 or orchardcoffeeroasters.com.

• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public.

828.586.1717 or facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.

• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.369.6796.

• Salty Dog’s Seafood & Grill (Maggie Valley) will host “Karaoke w/Russell” every Monday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public.

828.926.9105.

• Santé Wine Bar (Sylva) will host Syrrup (Americana) Nov. 19. All shows begin at 3 p.m. Free and open to the public.

828.631.3075 or facebook.com/thewinebarandcellar.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host “Music Bingo” 6 p.m. Tuesdays, trivia 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Open Mic 6:30 p.m.

Thursdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host a “Celtic Jam” 2-5 p.m. Sundays, Ben & The Borrowed Band (rock/country) Nov. 17 and 5000lb Tractor (southern rock/funk) Nov. 24.

All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.246.6292 or scotsmanpublic.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host trivia 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, an Old Time Jam 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the

• SlopeSide Tavern (Sapphire) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.743.8655 or slopesidetavern.com.

• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or go to stecoahvalleycenter.com.

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

828.743.3000 or theuglydogpub.com.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host “Bluegrass Wednesday” at 6:30 p.m. each week. 828.526.8364 or theuglydogpub.com.

• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Tricia Ann Band (country/rock) Nov. 16, Nick Mac & The Noise Nov. 17 ($5 cover), Outlaw Whiskey (rock/country) Nov. 18 ($5 cover), Tammy & The Tune Twisters Nov. 24 ($5 cover), Jon Cox (country/rock) Nov. 25 ($5 cover) and

Mountain Gypsy (Americana) Nov. 30. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.538.2488.

• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public.

828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.

• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.926.7440 or valley-tavern.com.

• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends.

All shows begin at 9:30 p.m. 828.456.4750 or facebook.com/waternhole.bar.

• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

828.743.6000 or whitesidebrewing.com.

• Yonder Community Market (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to eatrealfoodinc.com.

On the stage

HART presents ‘Mean Girls Jr.’ The iconic Plastics are reclaiming the spotlight in an all-new production of “Mean Girls Jr.” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17-18 and 2 p.m. Nov. 18-19 at Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

“Mean Girls Jr.” is a high-energy, family-friendly musical that reimagines the drama, humor, and teenage struggles of North Shore High School in a fresh and exciting way while still including all your favorite charac‘Mean Girls Jr.’ will be at HART on ters and moments select dates this month. Donated photo from the original movie.

The cast of “Mean Girls Jr.” comprises a group of talented young actors who have devoted themselves to capturing the essence of the beloved characters, while adding their own unique charm to the roles.

Audiences can look forward to witnessing the Plastics, the infamous Burn Book, the cafeteria shenanigans and, of course, the iconic “On Wednesdays, we wear pink” rule. With tunes as infectious as the comedy is uproarious, “Mean Girls Jr.” will have the audience tapping their feet and singing in unison.

“Mean Girls Jr.” is the ideal outing for families with teenagers and fans of the original film and musical. It’s an opportunity to relive the high school drama and humor that we all cherish, while sharing the experience with a new generation.

Tickets are $21.50 for adults, $11.50 for students. To make ticket reservations, call the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322 or go to harttheatre.org to make reservations online. HART Box Office hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Smoky Mountain News

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Music Bingo” on Wednesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovationbrewing.com.

• Lineside at Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Admission is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to froglevelbrewing.com.

• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host Crystal Gayle (country) 7 p.m. Nov. 18. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to smokymountainarts.com or 828.524.1598.

November 15-21, 2023

• Highlander Mountain House (Highlands) will host a Sunday Bluegrass Residency noon to 2:30 p.m. and semi-regular live music on the weekends. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to highlandermountainhouse.com.

public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.

arts & entertainment

• Fontana Village Resort Wildwood Grill will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public.

800.849.2258 or fontanavillage.com.

25

Smoky Mountain News

November 15-21, 2023

arts & entertainment

On the table

26

New gin brings together Old Edwards, land trust Old Edwards Inn in Highlands has teamed up with Asheville’s Chemist Spirits and the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust (HCLT) to create an exquisite botanical gin using native wild juniper that was hand-harvested nearby on a protected parcel of land under the trust’s stewardship.

Visitors to the historic inn can now take home a taste of the area while supporting the conservation efforts of this non profit that is dedicated to protecting the Plateau’s valuable natural resources for all generations.

To further promote the beneficial work being done by HCLT, Old Edwards Discovery Gin will become a key ingredient in signature craft cocktails across Old Edwards Hospitality’s properties and will be available for sale online and at ABC stores in the area for $42.

A portion of the proceeds from each bottle sold will benefit HCLT directly. The organization is North Carolina’s oldest land trust, and it protects and conserves more than 4,000 acres across the Southern Appalachians.

“Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust began conserving our natural heritage 114 years ago when members of the newly formed town of Highlands came together to save our first property. Today, that same spirit of collaboration is what fuels HCLT’s conservation efforts,” said Julie Schodt, Development Director for HCLT.

“Partners like Chemist Spirits and Old Edwards Inn help remind those who love these mountains that each of us plays an important role in saving our wild places for the benefit of current and future generations.”

“These mountains are part of one of only two temperate rain forests in the continental U.S. — full of amazing Discovery Gin is produced by plants that Chemist Spirits. Donated photo grow only here, not to mention the animals that rely on them. We aim to help conserve these wildlands with the release of Old Edwards Discovery Gin,” added Debbie Word, a Cashiers, North Carolina landowner and HCLT supporter who co-founded Chemist Spirits in Asheville, with her daughter Danielle Donaldson in 2018. “Every

bottle is a celebration of the diverse flora and fauna that thrive in this breathtaking corner of the United States.”

The award-winning culinary and beverage team at Old Edwards has worked closely with Chemist Spirits to refine the unique flavor profile of the gin to meet Old Edwards’ exceptional standards of sustainability and quality.

“We consider ourselves custodians of this unique and beautiful natural environment where, for nearly two centuries, travelers have come from around the world to rest and recharge,” said Old Edwards Executive Chef Chris Huerta. “Old Edwards is proud to co-create a premium spirit that aligns with our commitment to sustainability and preservation while also providing an avenue to support the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust with every exquisite pour.”

Old Edwards Inn is the first hospitality provider in North Carolina to be awarded the NC Green Travel Award by the North Carolina Division of Environmental Assistance and Outreach (NCDEAO) and the Center of Sustainable Tourism at East Carolina University.

In 2016, Old Edwards Inn’s rating was raised to NC Green Travel’s highest rating and each year they continue to seek out new ways to further protect the natural resources of North Carolina.

• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville.

For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, go to waynesvillewine.com.

ALSO:

• “Take A Flight” with four new wines every Friday and Saturdays at the Bryson City Wine Market.

Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines. Educational classes and other events are also available.

For more information, call 828.538.0420.

• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car.

Wine pairings with a meal, and more. There will also be a special “Beer Train” on select dates.

For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or go to gsmr.com.

On the street

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arts & entertainment

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Shop frogleapwellness.com | 828-400-7836 Meet & Greet @ Frog Level Brewery on Wednesdays 11:30-1:30

The Franklin Christmas Parade will be Nov. 26. File photo

Custom Christmas Card & Calendar Special 5 1/2“ x 4 1/4” folded • Color C both sides Comes with blank enveloopes

With a theme of “Christmas Together,” the annual Franklin Christmas Parade will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26, in downtown.

The Grand Marshall will honor all our essential workers. The floats will line up on Church Street, entering Main Street through the Town Hall parking lot. The parade will continue down Main Street, turning left onto Porter Street at the Lazy Hiker, turning left again onto Palmer Street at the red light and ending at the Highlands Road intersection.

The parade will feature fire trucks, EMS, police cars, floats, trucks, cars and walkers. For more information, contact the Franklin Chamber at 828.524.3161.

(Bring in 1 or 2 of your favoritee photos or artwork)

(12 or 13 of your favorite photos)

Folkmoot ‘Holiday Bazaar’ The inaugural “Holiday Bazaar” will be held from 3-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, outside on the lawn at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.

Inspired by the European holiday markets, it’s an ideal way to kick off the festive season. At this event, guests will be able to shop for unique holiday gifts made by local craftspeople and artisans.

Additionally, there will be select food trucks where shoppers are encouraged to sip on hot drinks and enjoy beautiful music and mingle with the community.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, go to folkmoot.org.

ALSO:

‘The Polar Express’ returns to Bryson City this month. File photo

• “Polar Express” train ride will resume rides on select dates from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot in downtown Bryson City. For a complete listing of departure dates and times, call 800.872.4681 or go to gsmr.com.

509 Asheville Hwy., Suite B • Sylva, NC

828.456.HAUS (4287)

828.586.HAUS (4287)

(3/10 Mile North of the CCoourthouse)

(Loccaatteed iin the NAPA PA Auto to PPaarts Cent Ce teer)

Smoky Mountain News

• “Winter Wonderland Nights” will be held Nov. 25 and Dec. 2 in Franklin. Downtown will feature living window displays of the holidays, live sounds of the season outdoors at the gazebo and inside stores, free holiday attractions (weather permitting), refreshments, hot cider, great sales from local merchants and much more. The celebration will continue throughout the holidays in December. For more information, go to franklin-chamber.com.

SSiince 1982

641 North Main St. • Waynesville, NC

November 15-21, 2023

5 0 c a r d s $ 7 9. 9 5 100 cards $99.95 Calendar Special $14.95 5 - $14 95 ea

27

WCU student portfolio exhibition

drawing, ceramics, photography, sculpture or print/book arts. Graphic Design majors explore communication design, interactive media, typography and motion design, all the while developing professional production skills.

During their final year in the program, BFA students enroll in the BFA Portfolio course, which focuses on professional develThe Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum will opment. Studio art majors work with the instructor to develop host its annual “Bachelor of Fine Art Portfolio Exhibition” a resume or CV and learn about through Dec. 8 at the Fine Arts career options in the art field.

Museum on campus in Cullowhee.

Students come away from the This exhibition gives graduating course with practical skills for writstudents in the WCU School of Art and ing artist statements, developing an Design the opportunity to share their Internet presence for their work work with the wider community. and speaking publicly about their Thirteen studio art majors will share studio practice. Each student prestheir capstone projects in the fall 2023 ents a final body of work for exhibisemester. tion at the WCU Fine Art Museum Their art portfolios, which include inspired by their research or lived paintings, sculpture, ceramics, installaexperiences. tion art and other mediums, explore a A reception for the exhibit will wide range of topics from gun violence be held from 5-7 p.m. Dec. 7 at the and vulnerability to gender expectations Fine Arts Museum. Complimentary and perceptions of disabilities. Graphic hors d’oeuvres and beverages will design majors will hold a separate BFA be available at the reception. Free Portfolio Exhibition during the spring parking is available at the Bardo 2024 semester.

Arts Center parking lot at 199 The BFA program of the WCU ‘Uncle Sam Devouring the People’s Money’ Centennial Drive.

School of Art and Design prepares Visit arts.wcu.edu/bfa2023 to emerging artists for a career or postis a work by Joshua Jordan. File photo learn more about the exhibition and graduate study in art, design, or relatreception. To see BAC’s full calendar of events, please visit ed disciplines. BFA students gain a foundation in observational drawing, 2D design, 3D design and art history, then arts.wcu.edu/explore or call 828.227.ARTS. The Fine Arts Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through select a studio emphasis to focus their area of study.

Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

Studio art majors choose an emphasis in painting and

Smoky Mountain News

The exhibition “Spark of the Eagle Dancer: The Collecting Legacy of Lambert Wilson” will be showcased through Dec. 8 in the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

The exhibit features over 140 works of contemporary Native American art from the collection of one of Western North Carolina’s most notable art enthusiasts, the late Lambert Wilson.

He devoted his life to supporting and encouraging Lambert Wilson.

Native artists, File photo amassed an extensive collection of over 6,000 objects during his lifetime, focusing primarily on artists of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation and sovereign nations of the Southwest.

This exhibition brings together a selection of baskets, pottery, carving, painting, photography, and more that tell the story of the relationships Wilson built and the impact that he made by dedicating himself to this remarkable collection.

“Spark of the Eagle Dancer” gives visitors a glimpse into this vast collection built over 47 years and features work by 83 artists of various tribal affiliations.

To learn more about the exhibition and reception, please go to arts.wcu.edu/spark. The Fine Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

The 36th annual “Hard Candy Christmas” arts and crafts show will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 24-25 inside the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina University.

This mountain tradition started in 1987 in Franklin with eight local artists. It has grown to over 100 regional artisans who sell their work at great prices. Expect a dazzling display of fine hand-crafted creations such as Father Christmas dolls, fresh mountain greenery, and folk dolls. The ornament collectors always find new additions for the tree.

Admission is $5 for a two-day pass. Children under 12 are free. Parking is also free. For more information, go to mountainartisans.net or call 828.524.3405.

ARTT AFTER AR AF TER DA DDARK A ARK

Friday • December 1 st

5:30 - 8:30 PM

Artist Demo w with atured Artist December Fea

Becky Sm mith

WHERE ART RT D ANCES W ITH N AT AT URE

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‘Spark of the Eagle Dancer’

‘Hard Candy’ holiday craft show

November 15-21, 2023

arts & entertainment

On the wall

98 N. MAIN ST. • WAYNESVILLE NC • MON-SA AT : 10-5:3 30 SUN: 1-4 828.456.1940 • W W W.T WIG SAN DLEAVE S.COM

• Gallery Zella (Bryson City) will be hosting an array of artist receptions, exhibits and showcases. The gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, go to galleryzella.com or call 517.881.0959.

• Waynesville Photography Club meets at 7 p.m. every third Monday each month on the second floor of the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center in Clyde. The club is a nonprofit organization that exists for the enjoyment of photography and the improvement of one’s skills. They welcome photographers of all skill levels to share ideas and images at the monthly meetings. For more information, email waynesvillephotoclub@charter.net or follow them on Facebook: Waynesville Photography Club.

• Haywood County Arts Council (Waynesville) will offer a wide-range of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. The HCAC gallery is open seven days a

week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. For more information and a full schedule, go to haywoodarts.org.

• Jackson County Green Energy Park (Dillsboro) will be offering a slew of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. For more information and a full schedule, go to jcgep.org.

ALSO:

• Southwestern Community College Swain Arts Center (Bryson City) will host an array of workshops for adults and kids. For more information on the upcoming classes and/or to sign-up, go to southwesterncc.edu/scclocations/swain-center.

• Dogwood Crafters in Dillsboro will offer a selection of upcoming art classes and workshops. For more information and a full schedule of activities, go to dogwoodcrafters.com/classes.html or call 828.586.2248.

On the shelf

I

She is confident in her charm and beauty to achieve what she wants. It’s only when she begins running into a certain Lawrence Selden that the tight plan for her future begins to wrinkle. A lawyer nestled in a class below hers, Lawrence is just as aware as Lily

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‘The Other Dr. Gilmer’ book reading Family physician Dr. Benjamin Gilmer will present his book “The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice” at 3 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 18, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Fresh out of medical residency, Gilmer joined a rural North Carolina clinic only to find that its previous doctor shared his last name. Dr. Vince Gilmer was loved and respected by the community — right up until he strangled his ailing father and then returned to the clinic for a regular week of work.

Vince’s eventual arrest for murder shocked his patients. How could their beloved doctor be capable of such violence? The deeper Benjamin looked into Vince’s case, the more he became obsessed with discovering what pushed a good man toward darkness.

To reserve copies of “The Other Dr. Gilmer,” please call City Lights Bookstore at 828.586.9499.

Smoky Mountain News

is that he would never be a marital prospect for her due to his lower means. And because neither hold any such expectations, their relationship unfolds as a bright light of sincerity in Lily’s world of social games and ulterior motives.

As their friendship and conversations deepen, Lily’s former tunnel-visioned pursuit of a rich husband begins to grow circular. Is that really what she wants? What’s her other option: a pauper husband? No, she needs money. But is it worth it without love? And she’s set on a hamster wheel.

Life doesn’t get any easier. Lily finds herself in a great deal of debt and seeks help from her friend’s husband, Gus Trenor. This backfires in very unexpected ways for her

(which I don’t want to spoil) and the repercussions set the trajectory for many other problems she must overcome. Like the welltrained daughter she is, Lily draws upon her mother’s life lessons and she plays pretend.

She continues gambling in bridge, eating at the finest restaurants, and doing her best to keep up with the Jones’ by being at every elite party in a new, handmade dress.

Gossip, scandals, affairs and drama continue to plague poor Lily on her quest for a wealthy spouse, making it seem more and more impossible. Throwing in an anxiety-inducing amount of debt doesn’t help either.

I’ll let you find out for yourself whether Lily’s hunt is successful but I will warn the reader to not get tricked by Wharton’s initial lighthearted tone. It’s a satirical cover for a much deeper and richer message than simply a haphazard love pursuit.

This story is a beautiful analysis of a woman struggling to find happiness in a world where society’s constraints and rules have already outlined the paths she must go down. The obstacles Lily faces open up questions in her and in the reader of what one ought to desire, how to get it and how we let expectations set on us by society and by ourselves prevent us from having a meaningful life.

A good book takes you beyond your everyday life and “The House of Mirth” certainly does that.

Wharton’s descriptive style of writing plunges you in a society very unlike our own.

But more than the respite of getting outside of your own life bubble, this novel gives a comfort of knowing that we’re not all that different from the men and women who lived before us. And that to me is the mark of a great book.

(Anna Barren teaches fifth grade and is a lifelong lover of books. annab4376@gmail.com.)

November 15-21, 2023

BY ANNA BARREN SMN CONTRIBUTOR have always been a fan of old books.

There’s a comfort I find in between the pages of a story written long ago, a sort of escape from my modern-day life. I’ve grown to relish the familiar surprise of connection that comes when completing a classic. That connection which transcends the particulars of a novel — time, place and people so vastly different from my own — and touches something universal to the human condition.

And that surprise came yet again when I finished “The House of Mirth” (1905) by Edith Wharton. The backdrop is the end of the 19th century in New York City; the characters, a flock of socialites immersed in a life of parties, bridge and European tours on a whim. Lily Bart takes the stage as protagonist and the reader follows her desperate, fervent fight to avoid the social descent inevitable to her rising debts, diminishing funds and growing age.

From a well-born family, Lily is accustomed to a life of elegance and luxury. Her greatest fear in life is instilled by her mother: don’t become poor. Poverty is misery and wealth, the only door to happiness. This fear becomes a reality for Lily when her father loses all his wealth and dies shortly after.

Her mother continues to drill poor life lessons into Lily as her approach to hardship is to put on a face — not a happy face despite struggles, but a rich face despite an empty bank account. She teaches Lily that when you have no money, it’s better to pretend that you do.

After her mother’s death, Lily becomes the ward of her straight-laced Aunt Julia and that’s where the novel hones in. Lily is 29 and on a husband-hunt. Her options are rather dismal: either dull, boring men or gross, materialistic ones. But the common denominator is that they are all rich. Lily doesn’t care to marry for love, she only wants to secure a future for herself.

But this pecuniary aim is more complex than your run-of-the-mill gold digger. Yes, Lily enjoys opulence and is determined to not lose a lavish life, but she’s also driven by the desire for safety. There aren’t many options for women outside of marriage; at least, not any that don’t also come with penny-pinching.

At the outset, Lily seems calm and controlled: her ambitions for money are high but attainable.

arts & entertainment

The unfailing connection of a classic novel

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Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

The French Broad River flows north into Tennessee. File photo

Quality to place a 19-mile stretch of the French Broad — from Biltmore Park to Craggy Dam west of Woodfin — on its 2022 list of impaired waterways.

But that doesn’t have to be the end of the story. Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Asheville) listed several large grants recently landed by conservation nonprofit MountainTrue, where she is a senior policy advisor and former co-director, that will help identify and address the sources of ongoing pollution.

FLOWING TOWARD THE FUTURE

WNC’s watershed moment Regional leaders discuss French Broad’s past, present and future

BY HOLLY KAYS OUTDOORS E DITOR ore than 100 people came together to discuss the future of one of the region’s most important resources during the fifth annual French Broad River Partnership meeting Wednesday, Nov. 8.

Covering 5,124 square miles, the French Broad River Watershed stretches over seven counties and is home to more than half a million people. It contains pristine mountain streams and impaired urban rivers, its waters flowing through forests and farmlands, tiny towns and bustling cities — where it offers invaluable benefits while facing a diverse set of challenges.

“We’re not just here to talk, we’re here to spark a dialogue that leads to action,” said Jane Margaret Bell, chair of the French Broad River Partnership Steering Committee.

M

HEART OF THE CITY

also bearing the brunt of associated pollution. Today, the challenge is to maintain economically healthy cities while also keeping the rivers clean.

“I always refer to it as preparing a palette for the community to be able to invest in and enjoy,” said Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, speaking of her city’s efforts over the last couple decades to transform its industrial river district “to a new way to experience the river so that everyone can enjoy it.”

Haywood Waterways Association Executive Director Preston Jacobsen (far left) moderates a panel on industry stakeholders in the watershed. Paul King photo

The Upper French Broad Watershed, which flows from Hendersonville, through Asheville and north into Tennessee, is flanked by the two smaller components of the overall French Broad Watershed — the Nolichucky Watershed to the east and the Pigeon River Watershed to the west. These rivers form the hearts of the cities through which they flow.

“The first settlers in Haywood County discovered Haywood County, my family was one of them, because of the river,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, a speaker on the first of the day’s three panels. “The river brought opportunities. The river brought the paper mill and the jobs and the challenges — and environmental setbacks.”

That’s a reality with which river towns across the nation have increasingly grappled in recent decades. Rivers powered factories, provided transportation and carried away industrial waste, generating wealth for countless communities — and

In 2009, the city created the Asheville Area Riverfront Redevelopment Commission to create recommendations for development and sustainability on the riverfront. Manheimer cited several projects that have been completed since then, including a public-private partnership with New Belgium Brewing to redevelop the brownfield that once occupied the brewery site, creating stormwater wetlands to improve water quality and building new soccer fields that double as flood mitigation.

The French Broad in Asheville still faces challenges.

Pollution from fecal coliform and sediment continues to be a problem, with locations in Asheville consistently testing high for levels of potentially disease-causing fecal coliform bacteria.

These issues led the N.C. Department of Environmental

Also under construction is the story of Canton, whose industrial legacy is barely in the past tense. After 115 years of operation, the paper mill at the center of the town’s geography and identity closed down this year. The future of the site remains uncertain, as does that of the town itself. This leaves town leaders with a momentous responsibility, a realization that hit Smathers hard as he dropped his son off at preschool the day after the mill closure was announced.

“It dawned on me that he’s three-and-a-half years old,” Smathers said. “He will not remember the mill. He will not remember the workers. He will not remember the odor. He won’t remember the whistle. But he will remember and judge us on what all of us do with the moment.”

Smathers is all-in on bringing about what he calls the “Mill Town moonshot” — an effort to do something great in Canton that will determine the environmental, economic and cultural future of the whole region. What exactly that effort might consist of is yet to be determined, but it’s likely the Pigeon River will play a central role. The river defined the town’s past, he said, and now it will bring forth its future.

“The river, the mountains, the decisions that we make will determine our future,” he said.

Those decisions are rarely easy.

Henderson County Manager John Mitchell spoke of the conflicts that often occur when planning land use in the mountains, where the only good land for farming is also the only good land for building homes, which is also the only good land for commercial development.

“All the easy decisions have been made, friends,” he said. “That’s just the way it is. When you get up to these types of discussions, there are no solutions, but just tradeoffs. Choices have to be made.”

Right now, Henderson County is grappling with how best to balance these competing priorities, and how best to steward the resources that exist now.

Conversations include how to ensure the small wastewater treatment plants scattered around the county are discharging clean water and how to expand housing opportunities while also finding a way to costeffectively protect key agricultural land from development — and how to elevate the river from being merely a utilitarian tool for agriculture and industry to enhancing quality of life for everybody along its path.

“We stand on the shoulders of giants that accomplished these things, that created the economic vitality, which pushes this community, but now it’s time to turn our attention to this asset,” he said of the river, “and how it can be used in a recreational way by all people.”

MUCH DONE, MUCH TO DO Unlike in the early days of the Canton paper mill, environmental laws and public consciousness now seek to protect communities from the ravages of unscrupulous industry. But Michelle Ragland, environmental health and safety manager for airplane engine pro-

F

outdoors

A member of the audience poses a question to the panel. Paul King photo mill, would strip off his work clothes as soon as he got home each night, and kept a dedicated car for transport to and from work — all attempts to contain the stench of the workday.

“When I grew up in the ‘80s, not many people went in the French Broad River,” said Clark Lovelace, executive director of the Transylvania County TDA. “With animal waste, human waste and just junk that you could find in the river, it really just wasn’t even an option. So when we think back to then, and then you look at it today, there’s part of me that says, ‘We’ve come a long way.’”

But there’s still much to do.

“All of these counties, all of these entities are built on the backbone of this river,” said Lisa Raleigh, executive director of RiverLink, as she closed out the final panel. “And it is vulnerable. It is fragile … I think it’s so important that we keep her [the river] as a priority. The stakes are high and real, and she deserves better.”

MASSAGE SKINCARE YOGA AYURVEDA RETREA ATS

November 15-21, 2023 Smoky Mountain News

ducer Pratt & Whitney, told the crowd that “industry” does not have to be synonymous with “pollution.”

“We actually designed the facility to not discharge anything to the municipal sewage district, except sanitary water,” Ragland said. “So that is a major investment in our company because where does treated wastewater go? It goes straight back into the French Broad River. So the best way to make sure that we don’t have an impact on that avenue is to prevent it from happening in the first place.”

Ragland said that there isn’t a single floor drain in the 1.2 million-square-foot LEED Silver-certified facility and that most machines have closed-loop recycling units.

On the 100-acre property, complex stormwater and erosion control systems aim to make the property sustainable “for years to come,” with no chemicals stored outside or outdoor transfer operations taking place.

Such measures help ensure that the French Broad Watershed remains an attractive place to live for people who work in the factory — and at the countless other businesses, large and small, across the region — but they also help safeguard the region’s bread and butter industry. That, of course, would be tourism.

The Asheville Tourism Development Authority has a $40 million budget, all of which comes from a tax levied on overnight lodging. People are drawn to Asheville for all kinds of reasons — the music and art scene, nearby national parks and forests, diverse culinary offerings — but the river runs through it all.

“I’ve never heard so many people use the phrase that they’ve been drawn to a place,” said Vic Isely, CEO and president of Explore Asheville. “And that is super magical and has resonance.”

A clean, healthy river is just as essential for tourism as it is for the wellbeing of residents. Several panel members reminisced about the French Broad Watershed they knew as children and young adults — and concluded unequivocally that today’s situation is much better.

Clark Duncan, senior vice president of economic development at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, told how his fatherin-law, who retired from the Canton paper

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The Sandy Mush Game Lands in Buncombe and Madison counties are now 67 acres larger after the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy helped the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission acquire the property. The former farmland contains rolling open and forested areas with views of the surrounding mountains. It will provide access to the game lands from the Madison County side — previously, the property was accessible only from the Buncombe County side.

The land had been owned and farmed by George Donald “Don” Snelson, a retired director of Buncombe County Parks & Recreation who deeply enjoyed spending time outdoors and raising cattle on the farm.

When he passed away in 2019, his daughters inherited the land and sought a way to conserve it, honoring their heritage and his legacy.

“This land had been in our family for sev-

The former farmland contains rolling hills with sweeping mountain views.

SAHC photo

The plant doctor is in

The Maggie Valley Sanitary District again earned top marks for water quality from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, one of 15 facilities to be recognized with the “Gold Star” honor for systems that have received an award for exceeding drinking water standards for 10 or more consecutive years.

While all drinking water systems must meet strict state and federal drinking water standards, systems receiving the N.C. Area Wide Optimization Award must meet performance goals that are significantly more stringent than these. In 2022, more than 3 million North Carolinians were The headwaters of Maggie Valley’s watershed served by these plants. start at the Blue Ridge Parkway. Steve Orr photo In addition to Maggie Valley, awards for superior performance in 2022 were given to the Western Carolina University Water Treatment Plant, three City of Asheville plants, the City of Hendersonville Water Treatment Plant and the Town of Weaverville-Ivy River Water Treatment Plant. The Weaverville plant joined Maggie Valley on the list of 15 Gold Star plants.

The growing season is winding down, but Haywood County Master Gardeners are still available to answer questions about all manner of plant-related issues.

Email HaywoodEMGV@gmail.com with clear digital photos and a detailed description of the issue or call 828.456.3575 and describe your gardening problem to the receptionist. A Haywood County Master Gardener Volunteer will get back to you in a few days with research-based information.

Water quality grants distributed to area organizations

Participants in Asheville GreenWorks’ Youth Environmental Leadership Program look for aquatic creatures.

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eral generations as a farm, and we didn’t want to see it developed,” said former landowner Donna McMahon. “We spent time on it all the way up until we sold it to NCWRC.” Snelson had raised cattle on it since 2000, when he inherited the land from his father. His children kept caring for the cattle for a while after his death but eventually decided it wasn’t practical for them to continue. SAHC provided the NCWRC with a matching contribution that allowed it to secure grants from the N.C. Land and Water Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Restoration Program.

Although people can use old farm and logging roads to access various parts of the game lands, developed trail systems are intentionally left out, encouraging disbursed recreation that has less impact on wildlife and natural resources.

The Sandy Mush Game Lands consist of 2,765 acres. SAHC led as a partner in securing the original 2,655-acre parcel in 2004 and has been part of multiple efforts to expand the game lands since then.

Maggie Valley water earns prestigious award

Smoky Mountain News

November 15-21, 2023

outdoors

Sandy Mush Game Lands expand

Asheville Greenworks photo

Environmental groups working to improve water quality in Haywood, Buncombe and Madison counties recently received 10 grants totaling $285,190 from The Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

Awards are: • $65,840 to Haywood Waterways Association, including $15,840 to repair failing septic systems and educate Haywood County residents about water quality issues in the Pigeon River Watershed, as well as $50,000 for program and administrative support during the 2024 calendar year.

Dahlia flower. File photo

Senior Games contestants take the podium Haywood County is home to a slew of state medalists in this year’s North Carolina Senior Games.

Winning gold were Betty Henderson in golf, Bert Medford in cornhole, Tom McAvoy in swimming and Dan Linker in discus and shotput. Cerry Meyer won gold, silver and bronze in swimming.

Silver medal winners are Paul Bartucca in cornhole, Patti Burke in performing arts and Kitty Crain in SilverArts-essay. Diane Byers won silver and bronze in swimming.

Bronze winners are Jack Guinn in golf and Wes Queen in pickleball singles.

• $26,450 to Junaluska Sanitary District to complete urgent manhole repairs on its main trunk line, which parallels the Pigeon River.

• $26,250 to Tuscola High School to buy and install watering systems for livestock, a stock trail road and a riparian border fence on the agriculture education property.

• $47,000 to Asheville GreenWorks, including $30,000 to support its Youth Environmental Leadership Program and water quality-related experiential education and conservation activities during the summer program, as well as $17,000 to restore the ecology and address runoff on 2 acres of the Hominy Creek Greenway at the confluence of Buttermilk and Hominy creeks.

• $46,650 to Mountain Valleys RC&D Council for the 2024 operating expenses of Ivy River Partners.

• $45,000 to the Environmental Quality

Institute for programs supporting volunteer stream monitoring in Haywood, Buncombe and Madison counties.

• $15,000 to Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District for three hands-on environmental education programs in the county.

• $10,000 to Laurel Community Center Organization for administrative and project support so the center can serve as a site on the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s new Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail.

Since 1996, the Pigeon River Fund has distributed more than $9.5 million in grants. The money comes from Duke Energy in exchange for the company’s damming the Pigeon River for hydropower. The fund is managed by the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. The next application deadline for grant funds is March 15, 2024. Learn more at cfwnc.org.

Overmountain Shelter to be removed from the A.T.

Family physician Dr. Benjamin Gilmer will present

The Other Dr. Gilmer:

Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice

Saturday, November 18 at 3 p.m.

828/586-9499 • more@citylightsnc.com 3 EAST JACKSON STREET • SYLVA

The shelter shows signs of aging and rotting wood. U.S. Forest Service photo

Wine i Port Beer Cigars Champagne Gifts

Book offers unique look at Smokies history

Dubbed ‘Asheville’s brightest holiday tradition,’ Winter Lights opens Friday, Nov. 17, with the brilliant display open daily 6-10 p.m. through Sunday, Dec. 31, at the N.C. Arboretum.

The event’s traditional outdoor walk-through, openair format will return this year, featuring the iconic 50foot lighted tree, a Quilt Garden outfitted with new light designs and a garden experience showcasing popular arrangements alongside never-before-seen displays.

Ticket prices range from $30 to $60 per car depending on the date and entry time, with members receiving a $5 discount. Flex tickets are $75. Winter Lights is the arboretum’s largest annual fundraiser supporting many parts of its mission-driven programming. Learn more or buy tickets at ncarboretum.org/winter-lights.

Earn your place as a cornhole champion during a tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Cullowhee Recreation Center in Cullowhee.

Competitors must be at least 14 years old and enter as a two-person team, Players may bring their own bags, and boards will be provided by Jackson County Parks and Recreation.

Cost is $20 per team, with registration open through Friday, Nov. 17. Register at rec.jacksonnc.org. For more information contact Joe Lyon at 828.293.3053, ext. 4, or joelyon@jacksonnc.org.

Areas Best Wine Selection

RETAIL WIINE NE TA ASTINGS STINGS & WIINE NE DIINNERS NNERS DOWNTOWN WAYNE Y SVILLE

Pitch in with Panthertown Friends of Panthertown will host a trail work day 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, meeting at the Salt Rock Gap Trailhead.

The group will work with Nantahala Area Southern Off Road Bicycling Association members on maintenance at Macs Gap Trail. No previous trail work experience is necessary. Sign up at panthertown.org/contact. Learn more at panthertown.org/volunteer.

Smoky Mountain News

Book your Winter Lights tickets

Enter the cornhole tournament

November 15-21, 2023

A newly released book from the Great Smoky Mountains Association compiles written accounts from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s archives spanning more than 230 years.

Author and park librarian-archivist Michael Aday used each letter in the collection, titled “Letters from the Smokies,” as the centerpiece of a chapter that offers additional context for a deeper look into the original writer’s world.

“I wrote this book with more than one reader in mind,” Aday said. “I think the first-time visitor to the Smokies who wants to know more about the history of the park and the region will find some great stories to engage them, while the seasoned visitor will hopefully learn some things they didn’t know before.”

Aday, whose job gives him access to nearly 1.4 million historic documents, quickly realized the greatest challenge in writing the book would be deciding what to leave out. The published book contains a core collection of 19 documents, reproduced and explained in the course of 160 pages. Stories feature a Tennessee woman who wrote about Southern life under a male pseudonym, celebrated ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson on an epic road trip that included the Smokies and a Smokies bobcat gifted to a U.S. president.

Drawing from centuries of archival records, Aday shares stories that aren’t often told in more general accounts of Smokies history.

The book is published by the Great Smoky Mountains Association and retails for $16.99 at bookstores in the park’s visitor centers and online at smokiesinformation.org.

outdoors

After closing it four years ago, the U.S. Forest Service has decided to decommission and remove the Overmountain Shelter, located on the Appalachian Trail near Roan Mountain.

The decision came following a structural engineering assessment and consideration of health and safety, long-term sustainability, current management plants and partner input from the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

“This was a tough decision to make,” said Appalachian District Ranger Jen Barnhart. “Many people have fond memories of staying at the shelter, and we empathize with those who will miss the Overmountain Shelter.”

Located in Avery County, the shelter was originally a barn on a private farm that was acquired by the Forest Service in 1979. The

Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club converted the barn into a trail shelter in 1986. Despite efforts to maintain it, the barn has become structurally unsound and cannot be safely occupied. Slope movement has caused a significant downhill lean in the structure, and a support beam snapped under the large upper loft.

The shelter has been closed since 2019 due to structural damage and public safety.

Repairing it was not considered sustainable given the extent of structural damage, and rebuilding it would not have met the management plans for the A.T. and the Pisgah National Forest. Tent camping continues to be available on the field at the site, and the Stan Murray Shelter is located 2 miles to the south.

The Overmountain Shelter will be removed this week. Partner organizations may use some of the materials for commemorative purposes. The pit privy nearby will remain but may be improved for future use, and a bench may be installed in the shelter footprint.

Play pickup Indoor pickup soccer starts Wednesday, Nov. 22, at Folkmoot Gym in Waynesville.

Games will be played weekly 6-8 p.m. through March 13. Cost to play is $3, or $20 for a pass covering the entire season.

your friendly, local blue box — smoky mountain news 33

outdoors

Notes from a Plant Nerd

BY ADAM B IGELOW

You reap what you sow … if you’re lucky hoever first wrote down the phrase, “You reap what you sow” was definitely not a farmer or gardener. I’ve started following that phrase with, “…if you’re lucky.” See, I’ve been gardening with native plants and growing vegetables for a long time, and I am here to tell you that not every seed that I sow comes to fruition.

Ironically, autumn is a time for both reaping and sowing. How many images from Halloween include the Grim Reaper? Maybe he’s grim because the birds, rabbits, insects, disease and other garden pests got to his harvest before he did. Maybe the Grim Reaper is really just a frustrated gardener? In the fall of the year, we gardeners and farmers are busy reaping the year’s harvest before a deep freeze takes it.

And this is also the time of the year when native plants and wildflowers are dispersing their seeds through their various means.

Some plants, like milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) and members of the aster family like wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) and wild lettuces (Lactuaca spp.) attach their seeds to tiny para-

W

November 15-21, 2023

Microplastics study confirms atmospheric deposition

Tuscola High School student August Fama helps collect plastics from Waynesville’s Richland Creek watershed. WCU photo Smoky Mountain News

chutes that carry their seeds aloft. This is known as wind dispersal. It’s what happens when you make a wish on a dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Then there is the explosive method called ballistic seed dispersal, in which a slight touch or pressure causes the seed pod to burst, scattering the contents.

Other plants wrap their seeds in delicious and nutritious fruits, hoping that an animal will eat, walk or fly away with it, and then deposit the seeds after they’ve passed through their digestive tract, surrounded by a generous amount of fertilizer. This is one type of animal dispersal — others include “hitchhikers” like tickseeds (Desmodium spp.), agrimony (Agrimonium spp.) and beggar’s ticks (Bidens spp.), whose seeds have hooked barbs and attach themselves to fur or hiking clothes. When these seeds later drop off or are are pulled away, one by one, they fall to the ground to grow next year. Observing this dispersal method led to the invention of Velcro.

Regardless of how it disperses, the seed’s goal is to land on favorable ground, make contact with the soil and wait through the long winter (in some cases two winters) until conditions are right for germination. Most seeds need direct contact with soil, plus water and

A recently completed study on microplastics in Western North Carolina has revealed that even remote headwater streams are impacted, as a large percentage of microplastics in waters tested came from atmospheric deposition.

“We have one site in Waynesville that is almost all Forest Service restricted access with very little human activity,” said Jerry Miller, a professor at Western Carolina University’s Department of Geosciences and Natural Resources. “We detected some of the highest

Kids put their hands in to mix up seed bombs. Adam Bigelow photo favorable temperatures, to begin growing. This is one of the reasons, along with seeds being so delicious to birds and other animals, that plants will often make an overabundance of seeds. The chances of one seed chancing into all the right conditions, and then growing into a mature flowering plant itself, is quite low.

When trying to grow native wildflowers from seed, it is very important to try and replicate natural conditions, especially the winter weather and soil contact. The period of cold and dark is known as stratification, and while this can be mimicked by putting seeds in the refrigerator, it is best done by sowing the seeds directly outdoors in the fall or early winter.

One of my favorite ways of making sure the seeds have direct soil contact is by making wildflower seed bombs. This is done by mixing 3 parts dry compost with 2 parts dry clay.

While you can buy fancy clay powders from ceramic art supply stores, I like the unscented

store brand kitty litter, which is just dried clay and is very inexpensive. Once these two components are mixed, sprinkle in your native wildflower seeds or seed mixes, and wet this mixture just enough to form round balls.

Once dried, the seeds are encased in a soil-like media to ensure good contact. This is a great project to do with kids.

Wildflower seed bombs can be planted by various means, including crumbling them over an existing flower bed, tossing them into a wild area, or storing them in the car, to be tossed out the window into areas that look like they could use some flowers. This is a type of guerilla gardening, and the only kind of bombing I support. Click, click … Bloom!

(Adam Bigelow lives in Cullowhee. He leads weekly wildflower walks most Fridays and offers consultations and private group tours through Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions. bigelownc@gmail.com.)

microplastic concentrations up in that area falling out of the atmosphere, and it’s mostly fibers. About 90% are small fibers most likely from clothing, tires, city wear and tear, and of course dust.”

While the study of microplastics and plastic pollution in oceanic and coastal environments dates back to the 1970s, it was not until 2011 that data began to be collected on rivers, lakes and other freshwater systems in North America.

Understanding of the issue’s extent and impacts on the health of people, animals and natural systems is still evolving.

The latest research from WCU is a collaboration between Miller, Highlands Biological Station Associate Director Jason Love, WCU Biology Professor Robert Youker, Sue Miller of Tuscola High School and Christine O’Brien of

Haywood Waterways Association. The project is funded by the N.C. Sea Grant and the N.C. Water Resources Research Institute.

The study involves determining the concentration of microplastics in the water and picking up trash along certain sections of the Richland Creek watershed in Waynesville.

During the trash pickup part of the study, Tuscola students and other volunteers picked up more than 1,500 pieces of trash along seven 50-meter reaches of Richland Creek. This equates to about two pieces of plastic debris for every linear meter of stream channel.

“About 30% of what they picked up was plastic grocery bags,” Jerry Miller said.

“Significant amounts of clothing, food wrappers and Styrofoam cups were found along with some rubber hoses and tires.”

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WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS • The Jackson County Farmers Market meets every Saturday November through March 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and April through October 9 a.m. to noon at Bridge Park in Sylva, 110 Railroad St. Special events listed on Facebook and Instagram.

• Cowee School Farmer’s Market is held Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m., at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin.

The market has produce, plant starts, eggs, baked goods, flowers, food trucks and music. For more information or for an application, visit www.coweeschool.org or call 828.369.4080.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS • The series ‘Awareness Through Movement” will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center. The series of Feldenkrais classes focuses on movement through the spine, neck and shoulders. Cost is $60 for 4 sessions, $20 per session for walk-ins. To register or for more information email Annallys at eetm2023@proton.me or call 505.438.9109.

• The Pollinators Foundation offers weekly Mindful Movement Qigong classes for all ages to reduce stress and improve health and well-being. Classes take place 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Folkmoot Center in Waynesville. For more information visit thepollinatorsfoundation.org or contact Marga Fripp at margacfripp@gmail.com 828.4224.1398.

• The Pollinators Foundation and The Share Project host weekly Happy Hour Walks 5-6:15 p.m. on Tuesdays at Lake Junaluska. The group meets at the Labyrinth. For more information visit thepollinatorsfoundation.org or contact Marga Fripp at margacfripp@gmail.com 828.4224.1398.

• Mountain Area pregnancy Services and the WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor work together to provide a casual support group for prenatal and breastfeeding individuals from 1-2 p.m. on Tuesdays at Mountain Area Pregnancy Services, 177 N Main St. Waynesville, NC. All are welcome, registration is recommended. For more information, please call 828.558.4550.

CLUBS AND MEETINGS • The Canton Branch of the Haywood County Public Library Creative Writing Group meets 10:30 a.m. to noon on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. For more information, email Jennifer at jennifer.stuart@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2561.

• Knit Night takes place at 5:30-7:30 p.m. every second Tuesday of the month at The Stecoah Valley Center. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP is recommended: 828.479.3364 or amber@stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• Sylva Writers Group meets Wednesday mornings at City Lights Books. If interested contact sylvawriters@gmail.com.

• A Novel Escape Book Club takes place at 6:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month at the Novel Escape Bookstore (60 E Main St, Franklin). Every other month one book is selected for discussion. On alternate months the meeting is round-table discussion in which participants share what they’ve read lately. For more information call the bookstore at 828.369.9059 or visit anovelescapefranklin.wordpress.com.

KIDS AND FAMILIES • The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will host a kids’ program about moon exploration on Wednesdays

Smoky Mountain News

n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com at 3 p.m. Randi Neff will lead these activities focused on NASA’s Artemis program, with aims to one day establish a base on the Moon. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. For more information call 828.586.2016.

• Creative Writing Club will take place at 3:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month at the Macon County Public Library. The writing club is intended for ages 8-12. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.

• Move and Groove Storytime takes place 10:30-11 a.m. every Thursday, at the Canton branch of the Haywood County Public Library. Exciting, interactive music and movement story time ideal for children 2-6 years old.

For more information contact Ashlyn at ashlyn.godleski@haywoodcountync.gov or at 828.356.2567.

• Mother Goose Storytime takes place 10:30-11 a.m. every Wednesday, at the Waynesville branch of the Haywood County Public Library. Ideal for children from birth to 2 years old. For more information, contact Lisa at lisa.hartzell@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2511.

• Wiggle Worms Storytime takes place 10:30-11 a.m. every Tuesday, at the Waynesville branch of the Haywood County Public Library. Ideal for children 2-6 years old.

For more information contact Lisa at lisa.hartzell@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2511.

• Toddler’s Rock takes place at 10 a.m. every Monday at the Macon County Library. Get ready to rock with songs, books, rhymes and playing with instruments. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.

• Culture Talk takes place at 2 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month at the Macon County Public Library. Travel the world from inside your library. This event features guest speakers and food sampling from the location being discussed. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.

• Art afternoon takes place at 3:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Macon County Public Library. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.

A&E

• The Pollinators Foundations will host an expressive arts playshop, “Tree of Gratitude” 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center. For more information visit thepollinatorsfoundation.org or contact Marga Fripp at margacfripp@gmail.com 828.424.1398.

• A Holiday Bazar will take place 3-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, on the outside field at the Folkmoot Center in Waynesville. For more information visit folkmoot.org or 828.452.2997.

• There will be a glassblowing class “Flower or Rose” held starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Jackson County Green Energy Park. With the assistance of a glass artist, participants will gather molten glass, add colors and shape. The process takes about 30 minutes. No experience necessary. Pre-registration is required. Contact GEP at 828.631.0271.

• The Pollinators Foundations will host an expressive arts playshop, “Prayer Flags for the Soul” 5-7 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center.

For more information visit thepollinatorsfoundation.org or contact Marga Fripp at margacfripp@gmail.com 828.424.1398.

• Trivia Night is hosted 6:30-8:30 p.m. every Thursday evening at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley. For more information visit meadowlarkmotel.com.

• Paint and Sip at Waynesville Art School will be held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7-9:30 p.m.

To learn more and register call 828.246.9869 or visit PaintAndSipWaynesville.com/upcoming-events.

Registration is required, $45.

• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood St. in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. mountainmakersmarket.com.

• Smoky Mountain Event Center presents Bingo Night with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. and games starting at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday and fourth Monday of the month. For information visit smokymountaineventcenter.com.

FOOD AND DRINK • A free wine tasting will be held from 6-8 p.m. every Thursday and 2-5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.

• Take a trip around the world with four different wines every Friday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Bryson City Wine Market. Pick from artisan Charcuterie Foods to enjoy with wines. 828.538.0420 • Cooking classes take place at the McKinley Edwards Inn from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights. To reserve your spot call 828.488.9626.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • Learn about Ayurveda during a class 1-2 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 16, at The Waynesville Yoga Center.

Taught by specialists Candra Smith and Ginna Bourisseau, the class will focus on healing with kitchen spices. There is a suggested donation of $20. Pre-register at maggievalleywellness.com/services/events/ , contact Maggie Valley Wellness at 828.944.0288, or call the Waynesville Yoga Center at 828.246.6570.

• Chess 101 takes place from 3:30-4:30 p.m. every Friday in the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Public Library. No registration required, for more information call 828.648.2924.

• Wired Wednesday, one-on-one technology help is available at 3-5 p.m. every Wednesday at the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Library. For more information or to register, call 828.648.2924.

• Uptown Gallery, 30 East Main St. Franklin, will be offering Children’s Art Classes Wednesdays afternoons.

Adult workshops in watercolor, acrylic paint pouring, encaustic and glass fusing are also offered. Free painting is available 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Monday in the classroom. A membership meeting takes place on the second Sunday of the month at 3 p.m. All are welcome.

Call 828.349.4607 for more information.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • “Thursday Painters” group will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their own project and a bag lunch. 828.349.4607 or pm14034@yahoo.com.

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Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: n Complete listings of local music scene n Regional festivals n Art gallery events and openings n Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers n Civic and social club gatherings

Outdoors

• Hike to the summit of Green Knob Nov. 15 with Haywood County Parks and Recreation. The group will meet at Jukebox Junction at 9 a.m. For more information contact Betty Green at betty.green@haywoodcountync.gov or visit haywoodcountync.gov/recreation or call 828.452.6789.

• There will be a land navigation course offered 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, at Allens Creek Park in Waynesville. Cost is $10. Sign up at secure.rec1.com/catalog. For more information, contact recreationandparks@haywoodcountync.gov or 828.452.6789.

• There will be a reception for a photography exhibit showcasing the floral diversity of Western North Carolina 5-6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. It will remain on display at the library through Nov. 30.

• Celebrate National Take a Hike Day by walking among the hemlocks with an entomologist, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, in Panthertown Valley near Cashiers. Hikers should bring lunch, snacks, water and any necessary sunscreen, bug spray or medications.

Free, with RSVP required at panthertown.org/events.

• Winter Lights opens Friday, Nov. 17, at the N.C. Arboretum. The display will be open daily from 6-10 p.m. Ticket prices range from $30 to $60 per car depending on the date and entry time, with members receiving a $5 discount. Flex tickets are $75. Learn more or buy tickets at ncarboretum.org/winter-lights.

• There will be a corn hole tournament at 1 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Cullowhee Recreation Center in Cullowhee. Competitors must be at least 14 years old and enter as a two-person team. Cost is $20 per team, with registration open through Friday, Nov. 17.

Register at rec.jacksonnc.org. For more information contact Joe Lyon at 828.293.3053, ext. 4, or joelyon@jacksonnc.org.

• A trail work day will take place 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 18, starting at the Salt Rock Gap Trailhead. The group will work with Nantahala Area Southern Off Road Bicycling Association members on maintenance at Macs Gap Trail. No previous trail work experience is necessary. Sign up at panthertown.org/contact. Learn more at www.panthertown.org/volunteer.

• Kids 10-14 can get started in archery with a course offered 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Cashiers/Glenville Recreation Center. Participants will learn how to use compound and recurve bows, with the course set up on the large softball field. Archers will work on the 10 steps of shooting, with only two archers firing at a time. Cost is $10, with all equipment provided. Bring water. Sign up at rec.jacksonnc.org.

• Indoor pickup soccer starts Wednesday, Nov. 22, at Folkmoot Gym in Waynesville. Games will be played weekly 6-8 p.m. through March 13. Cost to play is $3, or $20 for a pass covering the entire season.

Market WNC PLACE Legals

MarketPlace information:

The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 copies across 500 locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, including the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County.

Visit www.wncmarketplace.com to place your ad!

Rates: • • • •

•

• • • • • •

$15 — Classified ads that are 25 words, 25¢ per word after.

Free — Lost or found pet ads. $6 — Residential yard sale ads.* $1 — Yard Sale Rain Insurance Yard sale rained out? Call us by 10a.m.

Monday for your ad to run again FREE $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less) Boost Online — Have your ad featured at top of category online $4 Boost in Print Add Photo $6 Bold ad $2 Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4 Border $4

Note: Highlighted ads automatically generate a border so if you’re placing an ad online and select a highlight color, the “add border” feature will not be available on the screen.

Note: Yard sale ads require an address. This location will be displayed on a map on www.wncmarketplace.com

p: 828.452.4251 · f:828.452.3585 classads@smokymountainnews.com www.wncmarketplace.com

36

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NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION Case No.2023 E 000679 Robert Reed Moody, KDYLQJ TXDOL¿HG DV WKH ([HFXWRU RI WKH (VWDWH RI James Carroll Moody of Haywood County, 1RUWK &DUROLQD WKLV LV WR QRWLI\ DOO SHUVRQV KDYLQJ FODLPV DJDLQVW WKH (VWDWH WR SUHVHQW WKHP WR WKH XQGHUVLJQHG RQ RU EHIRUH Feb 08 2024 RU WKLV notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. $OO SHUVRQV LQGHEWHG WR VDLG (VWDWH SOHDVH PDNH immediate payment.

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Sunburst Realty is a full f service, family-owned and operated real estate company serving W Western North Carolina since 1970.

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GOLDEN STATE GIRLS ACROSS 1 Requested 6 Mass helpers 15 Foil maker 20 Empathetic declaration 21 Steak lover, e.g.

22 Lounges idly 23 Italian developer of an educational method 25 Third month 26 "Two Years Before the Mast" star 27 Film director Craven 28 Family-style Chinese dish 29 Body design, in brief 30 The new girl on "New Girl" 32 French painter of "The Horse Fair" 36 Commotion 38 The "N" of USNA: Abbr.

40 "-- never believe me!"

41 Rap's "Dr." 42 She played Abby Parker on HBO's "The Deuce" 48 Cut with a light beam 49 Continuously 50 Cruel emperor 51 Troop's group 52 Partners 53 Scenes 54 Title sorority in a 1985 film 56 Turkish cap 57 French friends 58 Smithereens 59 Onetime rival of Steffi Graf 65 Swimmer Thorpe 66 Farm female 67 Disfigure

68 Calculus, e.g.

69 Made in the manner of 70 American Red Cross founder 73 Therefore 74 Fix, as a pet 75 Frigid 76 House pests 78 Spirited 79 Flub up 82 Sense by touch 84 Zeus' wife 85 Singer Della 86 Fencing sword 87 She played Miss Ellie Ewing on "Dallas" 90 Gore- -- (rainwear fabric) 91 Herb in pesto 92 Farm female 93 FedEx competitor 94 1996-2002 "Saturday Night Live" cast member 97 Agra apparel 100 Band's job 103 Guarantee 104 The, to Henri 106 "Velvet Fog" vocalist 109 Actor Falk 110 Comedian with the 1990 HBO special "Cats, Cops and Stuff" 114 Bel -- (Italian cheese) 115 Resistance to alternating current 116 Hunter constellation 117 RBIs, e.g.

118 Engulfed by fire 119 It can precede eight first names in this puzzle to form the names of California cities

DOWN 1 Get a lock on 2 Milan's La -3 Gold purity unit 4 St. Pat's land 5 Bargain buy 6 Home 7 Advances, as money 8 Vietnamese New Year 9 Several 10 Lay away 11 Deep-voiced singer 12 Siouan tribesperson 13 "-- out!"

14 -- Lankan 15 Kind of nut 16 Averse 17 Criticized petulantly 18 "No question" 19 Some hardwoods 24 Part of MLB 28 Boxer Oscar de la -31 Curs' sounds 33 Add while mixing 34 Throat-clearing noise 35 Flock of quail 36 Dancer de Mille 37 Pappies 39 Boatloads 42 Piece of tile art 43 Zoo dweller 44 Eyeball part 45 India's Gandhi 46 Be wobbly 47 Fog or steam 48 Lounge around 52 Fishnet stuff 55 Oven brand 56 "Good" or "bad" dietary intake

58 Bundle of joy 60 Cry upon arriving 61 Leading to something 62 Drank like a dog or cat 63 Go by 64 Give assent 66 Speed-of-sound ratio 67 Green stuff 71 Paddy crop 72 Like a tinny recording 73 City of ancient Egypt 74 Plants-to-be 77 Tobacco plug 78 Get set for surgery 79 Test versions of smartphone programs, e.g.

80 Vacant political position 81 Oil, in slang 82 High-speed 83 A Great Lake 87 Military post 88 Scans again 89 Artisans' club 91 Rails in ballet 95 Invited one 96 Actress Page 98 "Duck --" (Warner Bros. short) 99 Zellweger of the screen 100 Body part often pulled by an athlete 101 "-- buying it" 102 "Hero" actress Davis 105 Emailed junk 107 General -- chicken 108 Other, in Oviedo 110 More, in a music score 111 Band blaster 112 News svc.

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38

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Call National Debt Relief .((2, 2/,/-= SAVE BIG ON HOME INSURANCE! I;98@E>?I10I H2>EC? I F4D:>E4 ?I 982 @E4F?D=I ?CIEI :9C?IKFC#F4I 8F4:C?D=IH"?>E ?IDE"F4 DI 9 I *(((J ?E>%I ;E66I .--2 /,+21 .)%I 2'I.E82.@8I Central) BEHIND ON YOUR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS? Threatened KFC#I 9>? 69D:>? I 7?4F? I EI 69E4I 89 F ECF94 I ?CI :DI #?6@%I ;E66I C#?I 98?2 owner Relief Line to D@?E I KFC#I EI 89>C E ?I D@? FE6FDC=I.--2 1+2/1), SAVE YOUR HOME! Are you behind paying 9:>I H B I 7?2 4F? IEI 9E4I 9 F ECF94 I Threatened with FORE2 ; B I ;E66I .--2 1+2/1),

November 15-21, 2023

WNC MarketPlace

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Smoky Mountain News November 15-21, 2023