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Western North Carolina’s Source for Weekly News, Entertainment, Arts, and Outdoor Information
December 2-8, 2020 Vol. 22 Iss. 27
HOLIDAY GUIDE INSIDE
CONTENTS
STAFF
On the Cover: It’s been a trying year for farmers, but with a lot of perseverance and adaptability, three female farmers share their experiences working the land and moving their products during a pandemic. (Page 28) Tarinii Isner works in the dirt at her family’s farming and botanical business, Lionpaw Botanicals. Donated photo
News Sylva grapples with slope failure fix ..............................................................................9 Timeline announced for Jackson indoor pool ..........................................................11 Few differences in Haywood commission candidates ..........................................12 Jackson NAACP awarded $25K grant ......................................................................13 Hampton shares real stories of modern Appalachia ..............................................14 Shining Rock ends partnership with TeamCFA ......................................................17 Jerry Wolfe Highway nears approval ..........................................................................18 COVID outbreaks hitting nursing homes ..................................................................19 Business News ..................................................................................................................21
Opinion I like calling North Carolina home ................................................................................22 Thank you, pandemic, for slowing me down ............................................................23
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CONTACT WAYNESVILLE | 144 Montgomery, Waynesville, NC 28786 P: 828.452.4251 | F: 828.452.3585 SYLVA | 629 West Main Street, Sylva, NC 28779 P: 828.631.4829 | F: 828.631.0789 INFO & BILLING | P.O. Box 629, Waynesville, NC 28786
A&E The Rivers & Rails Tavern opens in Dillsboro ..........................................................24
Books Too many books, too little time ....................................................................................27
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December 2-8, 2020
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Smoky Mountain News
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HOLIDAY GUIDE
SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Tips to simplify gift giving The holiday season is a busy time of year. People devote many hours to generating gift lists and planning their shopping excursions. Shopping can be all-encompassing during the holiday season, but it is only half of the giftgiving equation. After all of those toys, articles of clothing and other goodies are purchased, those items will need to be wrapped and hidden away. Gift-givers may be looking for ways to make these tasks just a little easier.
SHOP EARLY The sooner you begin shopping, the more time you will have to purchase everything you need and then get it prepared for giving. While Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales feature great deals, there are discounts to be had all year long if you keep your eyes open. Grab an item here and there when there is something that catches your eye and fits the needs of a gift recipient. Shopping early also affords shoppers a greater buffer if they plan to do some of their shopping online. Shipping times have changed due to COVID-19, which has disrupted some supply chains and put added pressure on shipping companies. The U.S. Postal Service says products and packages may require more time to be delivered due to limited transportation availability, so shopping early can help ensure everything arrives on time.
TACKLE THE KIDS’ GIFTS FIRST
December 2-8, 2020
Watching children’s bright grins and all their excitement opening presents can make all the hard work worth it. Be sure that you shop for all of the gifts for children in your household first, especially if you play Santa’s helper. Use opportunities when the kids are in school or at daycare to bring gifts into the house and then wrap them. Wrapping as you go can help to ensure there are no “spoiler alerts” prior to the holidays.
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CREATE A WRAPPING STATION A dedicated area for wrapping can streamline the process. Gift wrapping supplies can be tough to keep organized because they’re usually awkward sizes and can eat up a lot of space. That’s where a wrapping station can come into play. It can be custommade or you can use items already around the house. A laundry room or a large closet can be the ideal location for a wrapping station. Because wrapping paper rolls are the most cumbersome wrapping supplies, find a way to corral them. A tall laundry hamper works, or consider hanging wrapping paper rolls horizontally on thin curtain rods attached to a wall or the back of a door. Simply pull off the amount of paper you need and cut. Organize other supplies in a nearby drawer or organizational caddy. Store gift bags and tissue paper in a fabric tote bag. Having everything within arm’s reach cuts down on time spent searching for supplies. It’s that time of year for shopping and wrapping.
Help small businesses this holiday season he holiday season is an important one for small businesses every year, and it figures to take on heightened importance in 2020. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in late 2019 and early 2020 hit small businesses especially hard, with many being forced to close their facilities to customers in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading. Estimates regarding the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on small businesses varied, but many small business owners were forced to let go employees as they confronted steep declines in revenue. A ZenBusiness survey of more than 1,000 small business founders, senior managers and decision makers found that 37 percent of small businesses that employ between 11 and 25 people were considering laying off more than one-fifth of their workforce. As small businesses face difficult challenges, it’s no surprise that many consumers want to support locally owned small businesses this holiday season. Such support not only can help small businesses, but also can help to revitalize local communities. • Shop online. Online shopping has traditionally been dominated by big box retailers. However, many small businesses increased their e-commerce capabilities to generate revenue. Shoppers concerned about shopping in person this holiday season should explore the delivery and curbside pickup options available
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at locally owned small businesses. Even businesses that have not traditionally been allowed to deliver, such as breweries and wineries, have been able to do so during the outbreak, giving consumers unlimited online shopping options. • Purchase gift cards. Gift cards take the guesswork out of holiday shopping, and such cards are easily shipped or even emailed to loved ones. That’s a significant benefit during the 2020 holiday season, when delivery times are expected to be lengthy. Gift cards to local businesses simplify holiday shopping, support small businesses and help shoppers avoid potential delivery delays. • Share your experience. Word-of-mouth is vital to small businesses at any time, and can be especially valuable as these companies try to overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. Holiday shoppers can share their experiences with local businesses via social media. Share information about the lengths local small businesses have gone to in regard to safety measures, order fulfillment and their delivery and pickup efforts. Such sharing may compel neighbors and friends to follow your lead and provide vital support to local businesses in need this holiday season. Small businesses are the backbone of many communities, and the holiday season provides a great opportunity to support such firms as they look to recover from a difficult year.
Help isolated love ones T
This Holiday Season SHOP LOCAL Let us help you find the
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DROP OFF SUPPLIES Even though supermarket shopfromhome and other delivery services have normalized somewhat since the start of the pandemic, treat individuals who may be isolated to some personalized attention. Put together care packages of supplies or holiday treats and deliver them in person so you can see the smiles that result from being able to visit with someone familiar.
SEND UPLIFTING MESSAGES
Incredible wood bowls by Mike McKinney
Crafted in Carolina Local Art & Jewelry
ASK FOR HELP LEARNING A NEW SKILL Along the same vein as a virtual club, lessons on everything from woodworking to crochet to making favorite holiday recipes can be conducted online. Give an isolated individual daily purpose and distraction by engaging him or her with online lessons. Isolation and feelings of loneliness can
affect anyone who normally suffers from cabin fever. However, this year it may be more pronounced, as it could be coupled with social distancing precautions that have already been in effect for some time.
START A VIRTUAL CLUB A book club or another shared interest can be the catalyst for more frequent communication. A club puts everyone on the same page and enables them to come together, via phone or video chat, for a discussion.
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Children or even adults can make personalized cards and mail them to loved ones at home or those who may be in longterm care facilities. Send new mailings every week or two so that residents always
have something to look forward to in the mail.
HOLIDAY GUIDE
Video conferencing apps have become the communication vehicles of choice during the era of social distancing. Different applications and services continue to evolve and help people stay in touch. Plan regular chats, either once or twice per week with isolated or vulnerable people. Try to organize a large group chat on the holiday itself so no one has to spend Christmas or Chanukah alone.
SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
he phenomenon called “cabin fever” tends to set in around late autumn or in midwinter. Long hours of darkness coupled with cold, inclement weather often is a recipe for increased time spent indoors. For people who live alone, the effects of cabin fever might be more pronounced. In addition to seasonal cabin fever, this year another factor comes into play: social distancing and voluntary quarantine as a result of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Even those who may venture outside to socialize, particularly around the holiday season, may be hesitant or unable to do so to help prevent the spread of the virus. In these instances, friends and loved ones can mitigate feelings of isolation in various ways.
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Ideas for holiday decorating olidays often involve purchasing gifts for close friends and loved ones as well as making a delicious meal the entire family will love. But nothing sets the holiday scene and overall mood more so than beautiful decorations and other seasonal accoutrements. Many people leave no room untouched for the holidays, meaning color schemes or trinkets may carry through from top to bottom. Decking the halls this season can be made even easier with some of these handy ideas.
HOLIDAY GUIDE
SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
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HOLIDAY TIMELINE If you keep holiday photo cards each year, put them in chronological order and hang them from a piece of garland from the mantel or drape on a staircase banister. This can be a fun way to see how your own children or other members of the family have grown.
MINI EVERGREEN DISPLAYS Clip your favorite pieces of evergreen and push the stems into floral foam. Display in small vases or other containers and place in groupings to emulate an evergreen forest.
PLAN THE OUTSIDE Exterior illumination and other exterior decorations share the holiday spirit with others. It can be overwhelming trying to
visualize it all without a plan in place. Take a photo of the house and map out where you want lights and decorations to go. Then with your “map” in hand, you can more readily purchase supplies and start decorating.
GO FOR A SPECIFIC NATURAL COLOR SCHEME If you desire an overall holiday feel but aren’t interested in Santa figurines or kitschy elements, decorating with color in mind can be key. It’s easy to tie things together with some natural elements in your desired palette. For example, white, gold and green may look beautiful. Put boxwood clippings and white amaryllis flowers together. Pine cones, twigs and holly pieces also can add touches to mantels, doorways and table centerpieces.
ORNAMENTS ELSEWHERE Who says ornaments only have to go on a tree? Display antique or favorite ornaments by hanging them from beautiful ribbons throughout the home. Scent the scene Hang something aromatic on the tree to mingle with the pine. Fresh cinnamon sticks tied with twine or ribbon can be nestled among the boughs. Another scented idea is to make pine cone candles and use pine or cinnamon scents to make them smell just like the season. Holiday decorating gets a
ON MAIN FRANKLIN
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December 2-8, 2020
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hand from some creative ideas. Always follow safety precautions, especially when using candles, hanging lights and plugging
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5 N Main Street • Waynesville • 828.452.7672
Holiday events Jackson County
• The annual “Polar Express” train ride is now departing 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 click on www.gsmr.com.
• The 37th annual “Lights & Luminaries” will return to the streets of downtown Dillsboro from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 4-5 and 11-12. Free shuttle service from Monteith Park. For more information, click on www.visitdillsboro.org.
Haywood County
• An “Outdoor Holiday Market” will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Dec. 5 and 12 at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro. To become a vendor, email beer@innovationbrewing.com. Visit www.innovation-brewing.com.
• Annual Waynesville Christmas Tree Lighting will be at 6 p.m. on Dec. 4 at the Oak Park Inn. Caroling, Kandi’s Bakery open, hot chocolate. • Art After Dark from 6-9 p.m. on Dec. 4 on Main Street in downtown Waynesville. • Christmas Worship in a Stable from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the 3rd Generation Barn Loft. Carols, scripture, and story with special music. • Appalachian Christmas at the Shelton House in Waynesville from 5-7 p.m. on Dec. 6.
SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Swain County
• The annual “Handmade Holiday Sale,” which is normally held at Western Carolina University, will have its event go virtual this year. Those interested can view and purchase the handmade items by clicking on arts.wcu.edu/handmade.
Macon County
• Long’s Chapel presents a Drive-Thru Christmas Story from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 19 and Sunday, Dec. 20. The drive-thru Christmas story will take place on the church grounds located at 133 Old Clyde Road, Waynesville. There is no charge to attend. For additional questions, contact the church office at 828.456.3993 ext. 101 or Communications@LongsChapel.com.
• Presented by the Overlook Theatre Company, “A Christmas with Family & Friends Dinner” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7-8 and 14-15 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $30 per person. Dinner seating will begin at 6:15 p.m. For more information, call 828.524.1598 or click on www.greatmountainmusic.com.
HOLIDAY GUIDE
• A Night Before Christmas is from 6-9 p.m. on Dec. 12 in downtown Waynesville. Shops, galleries and restaurants, open, caroling, musicians, luminaires, living Nativity, horse drawn wagon rides, Santa and Mrs. Claus.
• “Winter Wonderland Nights” will continue through the holiday season 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. www.franklin-chamber.com.
Special Occasions and everyday fashions
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December 2-8, 2020
Stocking Stuffers, Hostess Gifts and Ladies & Men’s Gift Ideas!
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December 2-8, 2020
HOLIDAY GUIDE
SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Holiday Open House
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Sylva grapples with slope failure fix
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ruptures affecting Allen Street and the vegetated slopes immediately to the southeast” as well as an “active slide area” encompassing about 0.2 acres at the toe of the slope where it touches Chipper Curve Road. The failure had caused a ground rupture about 30 feet long on a vegetated slope about 15 feet southeast of Allen Street, located between the two areas of cracked pavement. This area is not yet a complete failure requiring closure of the road, Scott said, but it could be headed in that direction. The NCGS findings led TWSA to take precautionary measures in case of future slope movement causing breaks in its water and sewer lines.
“No matter what solution we come up with, it’s going to be crazy. We need to make sure everyone knows what we’re getting into ahead of time.” — Sylva Commissioner Ben Guiney
It’s still unclear whether the ground ruptures are due to localized movement confined to Allen Street and its fill slopes, a larger slope response due to continued earth movement along Chipper Curve Road, or a combination of the two, the report said. “In any case, continued movement of the Allen Street corridor in this area will likely have a negative impact on public and emergency vehicle access, and TWSA water and sewer lines, and potentially private property upslope,” the document stated. “Over the long term, continued movement and enlargement of the active slide area along Chipper Cove (sic) Road could have a destabilizing effect on the Allen Street corridor.”
December 2-8, 2020
UNCERTAIN COST Fixing the road will be extremely expensive. “We’ve been operating under the assumption we wouldn’t have to put this out for a formal bid process because it comes under the $500,000 mark, though just barely,” Scott said Nov. 12. “However, in the last month or two this new failure has dropped 3 or 4 inches. The road is still passable, but it’s dropping all the time.” The town currently has only a partial estimate — $640,000 for the first slide — but doesn’t yet know how much it will cost to fix the new slide or stabilize Bryson Park, which has been closed due to the impact the landslide has had on its parking lot. However, said Scott, the park would be closed regardless due to COVID. “It just sounds like it’s going to be approaching a million dollars,” Sossamon said Nov. 12. “I think that’s an extremely safe guess,” said Scott.
The initial slope failure on Allen Street resulted in closure of a portion of the road, seen facing north on April 30 (top) and south on May 6 (bottom). Kessel Engineering Group photos A $1 million price tag would be astronomical for the small town, whose total budget each year sits around $4 million. Before the second slide was discovered, when the town still expected the project to come in under $500,000, Scott had anticipated executing a contract and starting repair work fairly quickly. However, state law requires that towns go through a formal bidding process for projects valued at over $500,000, which means building in additional time to advertise the project and secure at least three competing bids — previously, Scott had been talking to only two companies. Most contractors will want to see a document like the one KEG prepared for the first slide before bidding on this type of project — they want to know what they’re getting into before executing a contract. That means that
the town will need to commission a second study evaluating the new slide area before it can put the project out to bid. The town plans to approve a new contract with KEG at its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 10, and that report will not likely be available until sometime in the new year. A topographical survey is also underway to assist KEG in its report. “The more time you can spread it across the more accurate your data is going to be, so within reason we need until the New Year to get accurate results and move forward with an RFP,” said Scott during a Nov. 23 town meeting. At the earliest, Scott said in a follow-up interview, contractors could be on site by
Smoky Mountain News
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER 150-foot section of Allen Street in Sylva has been closed since April as the town board decides what to do about an everworsening slope failure that is now threatening the road in two separate places. “At this juncture it makes no sense to repair one slide and not the other slide,” said Public Works Director Jake Scott during a Nov. 12 town meeting. “If this new slide fails or the road becomes impassible, we’re going to have multiple properties blocked. They’re not going to be able to access their home or their property.” Allen Street is a narrow, winding residential road cut into a slope on the northeast side of Sylva, paralleling and eventually meeting Chipper Curve Road. It has a history of instability — at least three landslides have occurred there in recent memory, including a 2016 event affecting a 175-foot segment of the road about 330 feet southeast of the slope failure that appeared this spring. However, Scott said, the town has never before had to deal with two landslides at once. The problem emerged around the same time as coronavirus-related closures and lockdowns became the norm, with minor cracks appearing in mid-March. The town contracted with Asheville-based Kessel Engineering Group to investigate the situation, and in April the consultants observed that the cracking had worsened, with the road shifting by about 4 inches after a heavy rainfall and breaking the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority water line located there. In early May, KEG measured a vertical displacement of 2 feet in the road cracks, with tension cracking extending upslope into the adjacent residential property and bulging the pavement at the Bryson Park entrance. In a 45-page report released in July, KEG concluded that shallow groundwater, weak soils near the surface and heavy rain had contributed to the slope failure and that repairs would have to include installation of a horizontal drain system to lower the water table, as well as soil nails or ground anchors to stabilize the slope. The town began gathering estimates, but in late August another slope failure appeared, creating a second area of cracked pavement about 260 feet southwest of the first. The N.C. Geological Survey conducted an analysis in October that included both areas. That report, published Nov. 2, concluded that the first slide area was mostly unchanged since May, though the bulging of the pavement at Bryson Park “appear(ed) to have progressed somewhat.” The new slope failure, the report said, consisted of “a series of discontinuous ground
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Solution will be expensive, future uncertain for historically unstable slope
S EE ALLEN STREET, PAGE 10 9
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ALLEN STREET, CONTINUED FROM 9 mid-February or early March. The first survey cost $28,000, and Scott expects the second one to be at least that much. The second site is larger, so more borings will be required — though the fact that there’s less vegetation this time of year could make the fieldwork easier to perform. “No matter what solution we come up with, it’s going to be crazy,” said Commissioner Ben Guiney on Nov. 23. “We need to make sure everyone knows what we’re getting into ahead of time.”
Two landslide areas are now active on Allen Street moving down toward Chipper Curve Road. NCGS figure on UAS map base.
Smoky Mountain News
December 2-8, 2020
THE FUTURE OF ALLEN STREET The expected cost is so high and the longterm outcome so uncertain that commissioners discussed whether the road was even worth repairing. Slope failure on Allen Street is an ongoing issue. “What guarantee do we have this won’t be something that a future board in five to 10 years will have to deal with again?” asked Commissioner Greg McPherson. “I just feel like we’re pushing back the tide. You can’t push back the tide.” Town Manager Paige Dowling said that a future slope failure on Allen Street is likely to happen again at some point in the future, with Scott adding that an all-encompassing guarantee would be difficult to come by. “From the start of that cut slope at Queen Street to the other side of Bryson Park, you have extremely high risk for that entire threequarter-mile corridor,” he said. “There’s multiple reports that tell us that, and our own local history. The repaired areas, we’ll get some sort of guarantee with those against giant failures, but we can’t very well do this along the entire cut slope.” Commissioner David Nestler was adamant that closing the road is a non-solution, but Guiney acknowledged that the history of the site combined with the cost of repair puts the town in a tough place. “The solution to how we go about spending the town’s money in the wisest way is really important,” he said. “But I also agree with David (Nestler). Keeping that road open — in principle, that’s the ideal thing. If it’s going to be somewhere in the future when the road can’t stay open, I hate to keep throwing money at it before that time.” “I honestly feel like the option to close the
Earth movement has created a bulge in the entrance road to Bryson Park, and during an Oct. 8 field visit ground bulging and wet ground was observed in the park’s grassy area as well. NCGS photo road doesn’t solve the slope failure,” said Nestler. “To me that’s not a solution. I think this time we have to go with this engineering option, which seems to be their recommendation on how to go about fixing this.” “I think that’s probably the smartest option,” said McPherson. “I just worry about the guarantee. I worry about later on down the road what’s going to happen with this thing.” Dowling said the town would be unlikely to secure financing for the project, as it wouldn’t have any collateral to borrow against as is the case with a construction proj-
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ect. Most of the money would have to come from fund balance.
WHO SHOULD PAY? Nestler said he’d like to see the town get some help with the bill. While the first landslide affects only Allen Street, which is a town-owned road, if left unchecked the second one will eventually fall into Chipper Curve Road, a state-owned road. “It sounds like we should be financially responsible for the portion of the slide that’s
occurring on town property, and that the state, DOT should be responsible for the slide occurring on their property, but that it should be bid as one fixed bid,” he said. “It’s going to be cheaper to have a company fix all this at once since it really is one systemic problem we’d be tackling.” Town Attorney Eric Ridenour agreed with that assessment. “The fact of the matter is if we do nothing, it’s all going to come down on the state, in which case they’re at the bottom of the hill,” he said. “Therefore, I would argue they should be bearing the brunt of the cost.” “If the state does have some liability, that’s one thing, having liability,” said Guiney. “But actually getting them to pony up funds for this is still an extra thing. Sure, they’re going to redo 107, but they just pushed that back a couple of years.” It’s a well-known fact that the agency is strapped for cash — even more so since the pandemic hit — with financial shortfalls contributing to the DOT’s decision to push the timeline for the controversial N.C. 107 project back by two years. Before the cracks appeared on Allen Street, there had been ongoing issues with dirt falling into Chipper Curve Road from the land Jackson Paper owns between Chipper Curve and Allen. Scott said that he had approached DOT about that issue on “numerous occasions,” back when he still thought the Chipper Curve slide was its own independent issue — which the town now knows it is not. “At this point the DOT has said that they will detour Chipper Curve before they’ll fund any repairs, and that’s due to the fact that they don’t own any right-of-way outside the ditch line,” Scott said in a follow-up interview. Chipper Curve Road used to be N.C. 10 and is one of the oldest roads in Jackson County, hence the lack of right-of-way, Scott said. The town doesn’t have right-of-way on Allen Street either, Scott noted Nov. 12. It would have to make some sort of property acquisition in order to make any repairs. Though still expensive, the problems on Allen Street will be easier and cheaper to fix now, before the road falls off completely, so the clock is ticking — but nobody knows how long is left on the timer. “It’s just a waiting game,” said Scott. “It might be a long time, or it might be before the end of the week.”
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The aquatic center would include a competition pool (pictured) as well as a leisure pool complete with splash pad, therapy pool and nets for both basketball and volleyball. ClarkNexsen rendering
Timeline announced for indoor pool project
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Smoky Mountain News
ers said yes to a referendum question that asked them to allow the county to borrow $20 million for a new aquatic center — a slim majority. Though the question did win majority approval, the result varied greatly by precinct, with the most enthusiastic constituency located closest to the pool’s proposed location as an addition to the Cullowhee Recreation Center — 62.4 percent of 1,594 Webster voters said yes, as did 59.6 percent of 4,007 Cullowhee voters, 55.3 percent of 4,300 Sylva/Dillsboro voters and 56.6 percent of 474 Caney Fork voters. However, the majority of voters in all nine of the remaining precincts said no. In most of these districts the proposal netted approval somewhere between 46 and 50 percent. However, only 38.9 percent of Cashiers’ 1,516 voters and 39.7 percent of Barkers Creek’s 1,029 voters said yes to the pool. Likewise, the referendum gained approval from only 42.1 percent of Canada’s 359 voters and 42.3 percent of Glenville’s 858 voters. The referendum vote was the culmination of years of planning and discussion. During a survey conducted as part of a 2013 recreation master plan update, 86.4 percent of respondents said that a centrally located swimming pool is “important” or “very important,” and a follow-up survey in 2019 showed 68 percent of respondents saying that they’d support construction of a pool even if it meant raising taxes. An effort to get a referendum question on the 2018 ballot failed, but this time around voters had the chance to weigh in. The total project is estimated at $19.95 million with $380,000 in annual operating costs. Based on current tax values, an additional 2.26 cents per $100 on the county’s existing property tax rate of $38 cents per $100 would be required to foot the bill. Of that amount, 2.22 cents per $100 would go toward the debt payment, so that portion of the tax would disappear once the 15-year loan term is complete. Jackson County just completed a property revaluation, and appraised values are expected to rise significantly next year, which could decrease the rate increase required to pay for the pool.
December 2-8, 2020
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER fter Jackson County voters narrowly approved a Nov. 4 referendum to bring an indoor pool to Cullowhee, the lanes are expected to welcome their first swimmers by Christmas 2023. During a meeting Tuesday, Nov. 24, County Manager Don Adams briefed commissioners on the timeline and next steps. In the immediate future, county staff must develop contracts with the bond attorney and with the development firm Clark Nexsen, which completed the initial design and cost estimates for the project. An initial budget must also be developed. From there, commissioners will be asked to approve four separate items: A project ordinance or budget amendment to put funds in place for the initial contracts, a reimbursement resolution allowing the county to spend money that will later be reimbursed with bond or loan proceeds, the Clark Nexsen contract and the bond attorney contract. All that could be done by the end of December, but depending on how holidayrelated delays factor in, January might be a more realistic timeframe, Adams said. Once those approvals are granted, the timeline will depend on Clark Nexsen. The firm estimates it will need three months to finalize the schematic design, three months for design development, six months to prepare construction documents, two months to bid and execute the contracts, 19 to 22 months for construction — though that process could be a month or two shorter depending on weather — and one month for closeout. In all, the project is expected to take 34 to 36 months from the time commissioners approve the contracts and put the funds in place. These votes will take place after two currently seated commissioners — Ron Mau and Mickey Luker — have left the board, but the replacements voters chose in the November election — Tom Stribling and Mark Jones — have both stated their adamant support of the pool project. Ultimately, 51.41 percent of 20,520 vot-
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Few differences apparent in Haywood commission candidates
Smoky Mountain News
December 2-8, 2020
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The victory of Haywood County Republican Commissioner Mark Pless in the House 118 race will create a vacancy that must, by law, be filled by a person of the same political affiliation. That person will be selected by a vote of Haywood County Republican Party precinct chairs along with members of the HCGOP executive board. The HCGOP has decided to conduct an extended interview process in full public view. The first session was held on Saturday, Nov. 21, with the second held on Nov. 30. One more session remains before the vote will be taken. Both sessions were open to the public, as is the final session. Candidate event & HCGOP executive committee meeting • Time: 6:30 p.m. • Date: Thursday, Dec. 10 • Location: HCGOP headquarters, 297 N. Haywood Street, Waynesville
iation as the person who created the vacancy; further, in Haywood and 41 other North Carolina counties, that vacancy is to be filled by a binding recommendation from the county party — in this case, the HCGOP. Although the HCGOP could have simply made the decision behind closed doors and presented its candidate to the board, the party’s new chair, Kay Miller, opted instead for an extensive, public process that includes
several Q&A/meet-and-greet style events, telling SMN last week that she was well aware of the gravity of the situation. This week, the candidates were asked about the role county government should play in the county’s ongoing homelessness problem. While all agreed that there was a role for government to play, their answers suggested that role should be limited and should focus
on the multiple causes of homelessness, including drugs, a scarcity of good-paying jobs and a lack of workforce development. Ronnie Clark, currently an elected member of the Haywood County Schools Board, remarked that because 52 percent of HCS students qualify for a free or reduced lunch, poverty also contributes to the problem. On the topic of the county’s
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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR ound two of the Haywood County Republican Party’s candidate screening process is now complete, and after fielding more than two hours of questions on everything from COVID-19 to homelessness and needle exchange programs, it’s becoming apparent that there are few — if any — differences in viewpoints among the candidates. “We’re all qualified,” said Hylah Birenbaum, one of the seven remaining candidates vying for the open seat. “Everyone up here is qualified to be a commissioner.” Birenbaum, who works in sales for the company that owns The Smoky Mountain News, made her assertion at a Nov. 30 meeting attended by nearly 30 Haywood County Republican Party members. They were all there thanks to Commissioner Mark Pless, who won his bid to represent North Carolina’s 118th House district back in November. Because the Republican Pless was only halfway through his first term on the Haywood County Board of Commissioners, his victory will result in a vacancy on the commission. State statutes say that the vacancy must be filled by a person with the same political affil-
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served on a nuisance task force years ago, and fancies himself a “liaison” between the community and the commission. Bradley said he had no such experience but would give “110 percent” to learning the ins and outs of it all. In addition to her service as a Maggie Valley alderman, Patel previously served on the planning board. Clark chairs the HCS finance committee. Best, who narrowly lost to fellow Republican Kevin Ensley in the March GOP primary, serves on the Haywood County Planning Board. Birenbaum serves on the Haywood Healthcare Foundation and as president of the Haywood County Schools Foundation. Much has been made about the absence of women on the commission since 2008, so Miller asked the three women in contention — Best, Birenbaum and Patel — how important it was for a woman to be selected. All agreed that it was less about the appointee’s gender than it was about experience, competence and the ability to appeal to voters when the seat comes back up for election in 2022.
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controversial needle exchange program, none of the candidates seemed to have a real handle on the issue — Clark, Jeff Sellers, Todd Bradley and Jennifer Best all expressed opposition to the program, saying it “enables” drug users. Best said it was like “driving an alcoholic to the liquor store.” Nearly 30 years of research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that syringe service programs (SSPs) “do not increase illegal drug use or crime, and play an important role in reducing the transmission of viral hepatitis, HIV and other infections.” Maggie Valley Alderman Twinkle Patel and Birenbaum were both somewhat opposed to the program, but much like Pless, demanded greater accountability for the program itself. Miller then asked the candidates about their prior experience solving problems as part of a board — an important qualifications-related question considering the similarity of candidate positions on critical issues. Sellers said he’d served on a health care facility board in Wilkes County. Ramey
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he Jackson County Branch of the North Carolina Conference of the NAACP was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation. This is one of 40 such grants to local nonprofit programs throughout the state that are focused on achieving social justice and racial equity in their communities. These grants are from the first $1 million that Duke Energy has committed to be given annually for at least 3 years to local organizations throughout the state. “We all have a role and responsibility in advancing justice and equity,” said Stephen De May, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president. “Duke Energy is committed to creating equal opportunities for the communities we serve, and we’re proud to support organizations already leading this critical work across North Carolina.” The Jackson County NAACP Branch which serves Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties, plans to use its grant to increase racial equity in public school classrooms. The branch is teaming with the Haywood County NAACP Branch and faculty from Western Carolina University to pilot test a unique opportunity for teachers in all four counties’ school districts. According to North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards, public school teachers are required to “demonstrate knowledge of diverse cultures; select materials and develop lessons that counteract stereotypes and incorporate contributions; recognize the
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Jackson NAACP awarded $25K grant
influences on a child’s development, personality, and performance; and consider and incorporate different points of view.” The Duke Energy Foundation grant will assist teachers in these school districts who wish to gain knowledge and confidence in doing this racial equity work. The plan is for teachers in small, virtual “communities of practice” to share their knowledge and problem-solving experiences. Participating teachers and experienced facilitators will receive small stipends to cover materials and related expenses. This pilot program grew out of a oneday workshop for Haywood County teachers in November 2019 and a communitybased workshop in Jackson County in December 2019 that focused on identifying strategies to achieve racial and ethnic equity in Western North Carolina. Among 25 key strategies workshop participants identified, the NAACP members decided to focus their first efforts towards achieving racial and ethnic equity in public school classrooms. “This is important work. We need to continue to have a changing conversation with the school system, positively affecting the relationships between teachers and students, and developing curriculum that addresses racism,” said Rev. Walter Bryson, president of Haywood County NAACP, and Dr. Enrique Gomez, president of Jackson County NAACP. More details about these plans will be available in the next few months. The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The foundation contributes more than $30 million annually in charitable gifts, and is funded by Duke Energy shareholder dollars. More information about the foundation and its Powerful Communities program can be found at www.duke-energy.com/foundation.
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F*ckface and Other Stories by Leah Hampton: the real stories of modern Appalachia BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER he name of Leah Hampton’s new book will likely grab your attention. If it does, let it pull you in. This is one book you will be glad to have judged by its cover. Pain and struggle persist throughout F*ckface, Hampton’s collection of short stories — dying bees, struggling frog populations, burning mountains, dead bears, abusive families, infidelity, cancer scares — but just like the humans we know, that pain exists in the same space as their compassion, humor and excitement for life. In this collection Hampton writes short, meaningful stories about everyday Appalachian people as they interact with the world around them. Within these stories Hampton has a way of bringing you fully into the minds and hearts of her characters, until you understand their difficulties and pleasures as if they were your own. She does this through careful attention to minute details of human existence — movements, gestures, thought processes, syntax, the clothes on their back. If you are a native Appalachian, you will recognize these people.
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December 2-8, 2020
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They are the people we encounter each day. They are our friends, family and acquaintances. They are the strangers we wonder about. Hampton’s empathy for her characters, and the people of Appalachia is abundant. The opening story of the collection, and namesake of the book, follows a teenage cashier, Pretty, at the Food Palace. There is a dead bear in the parking lot, and no one seems to know who is going to do something about it, but several days later the bear is still there. Dead. While the bear rots, Pretty is dealing with a hard case of teenage, unrequited love. “There’s a lot of unrequited love in the book and the thing about unrequited love is it’s cringy and it’s also hilarious. We do stupid things when we know somebody doesn’t feel about us the way we feel about them,” said Hampton. The story ends with a delightfully comical, too-close-to-home reminder of how we try and avoid situations that seem beyond our emotional capacity. This is the treasure F*ckface holds. Familiar truths, in recognizable characters that evoke emotions, past and future, in the reader’s life.
Hampton began writing the stories that make up this book in 2013. In 2016 she started a three-year program at the Michener Center for Writers in Texas. “I had a lot of good feedback from really good mentors while I was there,” said Hampton. She knew she was ready to put the collection out into the world as she explored new ideas for other projects she wanted to move on to. After her agent sent out the manuscript, Hampton was prepared to wait. Short story collections tend to be harder to sell, especially to big publishers. Just three days later, one of
those publishers bought it. F*ckface: and Other Stories is now one of six finalists for the 2020 Thomas Wolfe Literary Award. In this collection of stories, Hampton says, she knew she wanted to write about Appalachia, its ecology and its people. She wanted to do it from the feminine perspective. Hampton’s family is from Eastern Kentucky and she has lived in Western North Carolina since her late teen years. That knowledge of, and deep intuition about, Appalachia come across strong in her stories. “There are lots of books about this area, but they tend to be historical or about subjects that I don’t really have as much familiarity with. I was really interested in regular, modern Appalachian people, working people. I couldn’t find a book that represented them accurately. So I felt very attached to these characters and they feel very real to me,” said Hampton. “They very much arrive in my head and I just sit there and take notes while they talk, these fictional people.” Hampton’s first job out of high school was working for Greenpeace, the environmental organization. After college, she worked for the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the National Parks and Conservation Association. “I was kind of one of those Asheville ecowarrior kids,” said Hampton. “I was really aware of the environmental issues and problems that we have here.” That sense of attention to the natural world is felt deeply in Hampton’s stories. Not in the eco-warrior sort of way, but in the way normal people, not seeped in environmental protection causes,
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“I was really interested in regular, modern Appalachian people, working people. I couldn’t find a book that represented them accurately. So I felt very attached to these characters and they feel very real to me.”
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— Leah Hampton
difficult to articulate how clearly this portrays a sense of magic, albeit the sort that isn’t as fulfilling in person as it is imagined. Hampton was clear, Dolly is an angel. “I wanted to end on that note, and I wanted to end with Dolly because there’s some religious stuff in the book and she’s kind of like this angel at the end. I just think she’s so important to the region and so iconic, so I wanted a high Holy visitation from the angel Dolly,” said Hampton. Leah Hampton’s F*ckface and Other Stories is available now at Blue Ridge Books and News in Waynesville, City Lights in Sylva, and Malaprops in Asheville.
December 2-8, 2020
notice the world around them changing. The trajectory of the natural world mirrors the difficult changes in characters’ personal lives. “It’s hard because I’m writing something heavy, these are hard lives that these people are living in. It’s tough stuff because we are in the middle of an ecological crisis and you know, it is bittersweet to live here,” Hampton said. Among the creativity and diversity in use of tense and point of view in these stories, one stands out. The penultimate story in the collection, Saint, is written without a sense of time, a tool Hampton used to communicate and put into words the inexplicable — grief. “Grief is not linear. When people talk about those five stages of grief, you can experience all of those in one hour and then 10 years later, you’re still in stage two. It’s one of the things that, I think anybody who’s experienced a loss like that understands, happens out of time. The rest of your life might be normal and linear and you’re checking your watch, but that grief is just independent of time,” said Hampton. “The other thing we know is that memory is flawed. We have these really imperfect pictures of our past. So I was really interested in that as someone who was caught up in this timeless experience of grief.” Though these stories explore pain, grief, unfulfillment and the like, there is always love, companionship, hope or a sense of magic that comes along with the darkness. This might be best exemplified in the last story of the collection, which involves a trip to Dollywood. It’s
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room buildings on the Dellwood Road campus across from Lake Junaluska. The original nine-year loan from CFA was for $2.5 million with 7 percent interest. Morgan said TeamCFA has the right to call in that debt once the partnership officially dissolved at the end of June 2021. It’s unknown whether that will happen, but Morgan said SRCA is already planning to consolidate that debt into the new school construction debt. SRCA is in the process of constructing a new school close to the corner of Russ Avenue and Dellwood Road — not far from the current campus. The $15 million project will have capacity for 650 students. SRCA currently offers K-8 grade but the board has been discussing whether it’s the right time to expand into high school in the new building when it’s complete for the fall 2021 semester. Aside from the financial reasons, Morgan said the board felt like SRCA had outgrown TeamCFA since the charter school began forming in 2014. “The two organizations were closer together when we started, but now we’ve grown and evolved in different directions,” he said. “For us, we want to make sure we’re focused locally and supporting our county and our state in a proficient and effective way. CFA is a national organization, and in terms of academic support, they didn’t offer support to fit our needs. There’s other resources in the state that we fostered to provide that for our students.” TeamCFA has helped several new charter schools get established in North Carolina since the General Assembly changed the law that limited the number of charter schools in the state to 100. Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in Forest City, Lake Lure Classical Academy and Brevard Academy are TeamCFA affiliated schools, in addition to charters in Charlotte and Durham. According to an Oct. 16, 2019,
December 2-8, 2020
BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR hining Rock Classical Academy’s Board of Directors recently voted to terminate its long-time partnership with TeamCFA, a national network of charter schools that provided SRCA with the initial funding it needed to get the school up and running. The vote to terminate the partnership was 6 to 1 with Larry Wilkerson, the TeamCFA appointed board member, opposed. “CFA was an important partner in helping to provide stability in the early years of Shining Rock and the group played a key role in the establishment of the school. Everyone involved in the early years of Shining Rock knows the significance that CFA had in the school,” said SRCA Head of School Josh Morgan. Morgan said the board has been discussing whether to continue the partnership since September when TeamCFA representatives approached the board about signing a new agreement with the organization. “CFA wanted us to sign a legacy agreement because we’ve been with them for so long,” he said. “That gave us an opportunity to look at the entire partnership. And the reason we needed to take action on it now is because we can opt out of the partnership, but they needed notice by December.” When the board began diving deeper into the benefits Team CFA could offer moving forward, Morgan said it just didn’t make sense to continue. CFA has invested in SRCA through start-up loans — some of which was forgiven each year through grants — but moving forward Morgan said SRCA would only have the opportunity for grants if the school has matching funds. SRCA still owes TeamCFA $1.2 million to pay off the mortgage on its modular class-
article published in the Raleigh News & Observer, Bonnie Cone Classical Academy in Huntersville and Community Public Charter School in Stanley decided to part ways with CFA last fall after the organization lost several of its leadership and cut back on services. CEO Tony Helton resigned from CFA to start a new education consulting firm while CFA’s Chief of Staff Jill Burleson left to become communications director for the committee hosting the Republican National Convention in Charlotte in 2020. Based on a number of published reports, TeamCFA could be on shaky financial ground following a major shift in 2017. TeamCFA was started by John Bryan, an Oregon businessman who wanted to support more school choice options and used his personal wealth and influence to do so. Bryan also formed the Challenge Foundation, which was basically the funding arm of TeamCFA. According to the N&O article, Bryan and the Challenge Foundation discontinued funding for TeamCFA in 2017. According to an audit of TeamCFA, the group from Bryan and the Challenge Foundation funded nearly 95 percent of CFA’s annual revenue. NC Policy Watch also reported in February 2020 that TeamCFA receives $510,000 annually from the Charles Koch Foundation. The Smoky Mountain News reached out to Larry Wilkerson for comment from TeamCFA regarding SRCA’s split but he did not respond to an email before press time Tuesday. TeamCFA’s website is not currently functioning. Tracy Banker, legal counsel for Challenge Foundation Properties, presented the new legacy agreement to SRCA during a Sept. 23 meeting. According to the board’s minutes, Banker said the new agreement would reflect changes within the CFA organization, mostly that CFA would not be offering any loans moving forward — only grants. SRCA board member Frank Lay questioned whether the charter school would have to keep “A Challenge Foundation School” in its title under the agreement. His concern was that when parents do online research about the affiliate, they see the TeamCFA website is not functional, which doesn’t give a good impression. Banker said SRCA didn’t have to keep the CFA name but should show some acknowledgement it’s part of CFP. As for the website issue, Banker said she is trying to distance TeamCFA from CFP because they are separate entities and is talking with TeamCFA about taking down their website. “They are still operational but on hiatus. They have a board but not a staff right now,” she said. The next regularly scheduled Shining Rock Board meeting will be held digitally on Thursday, Dec. 17. A link to the meeting can be found on the school website, srca.cfacademy.school.
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Jerry Wolfe Highway nears approval BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he 4.2-mile stretch of U.S. 441 between U.S. 19 and the Smoky Mountain Expressway in Whittier — currently called the Andrew Jackson Memorial Highway — will soon be known as the Beloved Man Dr. Jerry Wolfe Highway if the N.C. Board of Transportation approves the naming request at its Dec. 2 meeting. If granted, the approval would be the final hurdle in a seven-step process that began March 2, when Jackson County Commission Chairman Brian McMahan submitted an application requesting that the road be named for Wolfe with signage in Cherokee and English. McMahan’s request followed an Oct. 28, 2019, resolution from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council supporting the change. However, the application had to wait because the DOT requires that honorees who are deceased be dead for at least one year before a road can be named for them. Wolfe passed away March 12, 2018. “Dr. Jerry Wolfe was an outstanding citizen of Jackson County, and renaming a portion of the highway will serve as a constant reminder of what all citizens should strive for in their daily lives,” McMahan wrote. Born in 1924, Wolfe served honorably with distinction in the U.S. Navy as a
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Signalman Second Class, serving from 1943 through 1950 and participating in the Operation Overlord invasion of Fortress Europe in 1944 and on the front wave of DDay and V-E Day. He also witnessed the surrender in Hawaii on V-J Day. After leaving the military, Wolfe returned to Cherokee, married his wife Juanita, and started a family. He trained as a stonemason, working hard in the trade and teaching others to do the same over the course of 20 years at the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center. “On his return to Cherokee, he became active in EBCI tribal veterans events for almost Jerry Wolfe 70 years,” reads a support letter from the American Legion Steve Youngdeer Post 143. “He continued his involvement up to his passing in 2018. Whenever he traveled to veterans honors and ceremonies to give presentations as a guest speaker, he always shared Cherokee culture and heritage in such a profound way that it instilled a lasting impression on those who were in attendance to hear this words.” Wolfe was widely recognized as an ambassador for the Cherokee language and culture, in 2008 receiving an award from
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the N.C. State Legislature for his contributions as a storyteller and stickball caller. For years he was a familiar face at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, volunteering three days a week until shortly before his death. Wolfe received an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from Western Carolina University in 2017, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2017 and the Patriot Award in 2014. Perhaps most notably, he was named Beloved Man of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in 2013, making him the first man to receive the honor in more than 200 years. The road’s current namesake, Andrew Jackson, was born on the North-South Carolina border south of Charlotte and grew up to be the nation’s seventh president. His most notable legacy in Western North Carolina is the forced exodus of the Cherokee people from their homeland in the mountains to government-approved reservation land in Oklahoma, known as the Trail of Tears. Thousands of them died along the 5,000-mile route. Many tribal members oppose Jackson’s place as a namesake in the region, with Tribal Council recently passing a resolution asking Jackson County to use former Principal Chief Walter S. Jackson as its namesake in place of President Jackson. Tribal Council, the Swain County Board of Commissioners and the Jackson County
Boards of Commissioners all unanimously passed resolutions supporting the road naming — Tribal Council on Oct. 28, 2019; Jackson County on April 7; and Swain on June 11. The 35-page application package contains many letters of support from people and organizations in Swain and Jackson counties, showcasing the widespread respect that Wolfe’s legacy commands. “His dedication to proliferating the Cherokee language, teaching Cherokee history and culture, and serving as a true testament of a Cherokee leader should be recognized,” Principal Chief Richard Sneed wrote in a Dec. 18, 2019, letter. “He was the best amongst us.” Vangie Stephens, one of Wolfe’s three daughters, said the proposal gave the family “heartwarming honor and joy.” “We know when people pass this sign and travel this corridor of highway, they will ask, ‘Who is Beloved Man Dr. Jerry Wolfe?’” Stephens wrote. “When they discover his work, it will advance the social-heritage and cultural capital of our tribal nation.” “Dr. Jerry Wolfe was a joy to work with and a beloved institution here in Cherokee and in our cultural district,” added Jackson County Commissioner Gayle Woody in a Feb. 14 letter. “His great life is an example to us all here, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this great honor.” The transportation board will vote on the proposal during its meeting Wednesday, Dec. 2, which will begin following a work session that starts at 1 p.m. The meeting will stream online at www.livestream.com/nc-dot.
CORN HUSK ART DEMONSTRATION by Judy Horn of Corn Husk Shoppe SAT.·• DEC. 5 • 12AM TO 3PM
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State releases new economic ranking for counties
1, 40 counties to be designated as Tier 2, and 20 counties to be designated Tier 3. Counties moving to a less distressed tier ranking include Beaufort, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Jones, Macon, Onslow, Perquimans, Pitt, Polk, and Transylvania. Counties moving to a more distressed tier ranking include Alexander, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Davie, Haywood, Hoke, New Hanover, Randolph, and Rowan. Tier designations determine eligibility and guidelines for several different grant programs that N.C. Commerce administers including the One North Carolina Fund, building reuse, water and sewer infrastructure, and the downtown revitalization Main Street program. Tier designations also play a role in the state’s performance-based Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program, serving as a mechanism to channel funds for infrastructure improvements into more economically distresses areas of the state. For more information visit www.nccommerce.com/grants-incentives/ county-distress-rankings-tiers.
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The North Carolina Department of Commerce released the county tier designations for 2021, showing that Haywood moved to a more economically stressed tier and Macon County moved to a less economically stressed tier. The designations, which are mandated by state law, play a role in several programs that assist in economic development. The 2021 rankings are calculated using four economic factors. Each county is then assigned its tier designation ranking from one to three. Tier 1 counties are generally the most economically distressed and Tier 3 counties are generally the least economically distressed. The rankings are based on an assessment of each county’s unemployment rate, median household income, population growth, and assessed property value per capita. The law calls for 40 counties to be designated as Tier
In partnership with Family Place Libraries, the Haywood County Public Library is pleased to offer access to Bright by Text, a free service that provides parents and caregivers with information about child development, community resources, and local events in two to four text messages per week. The Bright by Text initiative was born out of the library’s partnership with Family Place Libraries, which enables public libraries to become community centers for early childhood information, parent education, emergent literacy, and family support. With current measures in place due to COVID-19, which limit in-person activities, many parents and other caregivers of children from prenatal to age 8 are cut off from vital networks that provide support. Parents and caregivers in Haywood County can receive important local information and expert-approved national resources thanks to this partnership when they sign up by texting “FamilyPlace” to 274448. Parents or caregivers are able to sign up multiple children for age-specific information. Depending upon your mobile phone plan, individual data and messaging rates may apply. For more information, contact Haywood County Public Library’s Community
Input needed on public transportation To help study the potential for providing cross-county public transportation in Western North Carolina, the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization is currently working on a Regional Transit Feasibility Study with Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison counties. This study aims to develop recommendations for cross-county public transportation in the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization planning area by identifying potential routes and opportunities for coordination (such as establishing a Regional Transit Authority), developing funding strategies, and creating an implementation plan. At this point in the study, the consultant team wants to hear from the public about issues they see with public transportation and visions for potential future improvements. The first public survey will be open from Dec. 7-18. A virtual public meeting is to be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15, via Zoom. Participants can RSVP on the Facebook event page at https://fb.me/e/35IYFbuXY. For more information on the study, visit www.frenchbroadrivermpo.org/regionaltransit-feasibility-study/.
See What’s Cooking Grab a Copy at One of These Locations • Affairs of the Heart • B.H. Graning Landscapes Inc. • Blue Rooster Southern Grill • Boyd Mountain Log Cabins • City Lights Cafe • Corner Station • Current Dermatology • David’s Home Entertainment & Recreation • Elevated Mountain Distilling Co. • Emily McCurry • Haywood Builders
• High Country Style • Jackson County Transit • Kim’s Pharmacy • Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center • Maggie Valley Club • Shelton House • Silver Bluff Village • Sophisticut • Sunburst ERA • Tellico Enterprises • The Kitchen Shop • Twigs & Leaves
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Memory Care in Sylva on Nov. 30, with three residents and one employee testing positive. The outbreak is now one of two active outbreaks in Jackson County. A cluster was announced at Skyland Care Center in Sylva on Nov. 5, and as of Dec. 1 seven staff members had tested positive, but no employees. • There are three ongoing outbreaks in congregate living facilities in Macon County, with the health department announcing outbreaks at Macon Valley Nursing Home and Eckerd Living Center on Nov. 12 and an outbreak at Drake Cottage on Nov. 18. The cluster announcements come amid rising total cases throughout the region. Between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1, 195 new cases were reported in Haywood County, bringing the total to 1,207 cases since the pandemic began. Of the new cases, more than 100 came in over the past weekend alone. As of 5 p.m. Nov. 30, 177 people were in isolation after testing positive — 42 more than the previous week — and 206 people were in quarantine after being identified as a close contact of a positive case. In Jackson County, 58 people were in isolation as of Dec. 1, down from 69 Nov. 24. The number of new cases reported spiked to 33 on Nov. 30, more than the 25 reported Nov. 24 but far fewer than the record single-day high of 47 Oct. 26. Macon County reported 66 active cases of COVID-19 on Nov. 30, up from 54 cases Nov. 24. Swain County reported 37 active cases on Nov. 30, with 15 new positives that day. That’s a significant increase from the 29 active cases reported on Nov. 23.
December 2-8, 2020
OVID-19 is surging in Western North Carolina counties, and eight nursing homes in Haywood, Jackson and Macon counties are currently battling ongoing outbreaks. • On Wednesday, Nov. 25, Haywood County announced outbreaks at Autumn Care of Waynesville, Maggie Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation and Haywood Nursing and Rehabilitation. There are “dozens” of cases among residents and staff at Autumn Care and Maggie Valley, the health department said in a press release, with “a much smaller outbreak in the early stages” at Haywood — and case numbers are rising quickly. Maggie Valley said that it received notice of the outbreak’s beginning on Oct. 26, when two employees tested positive. As of Nov. 25, a total of 16 residents and 10 employees had tested positive, with nine residents and five employees considered recovered and the remaining positive cases in isolation. The facility is being cleaned and disinfected daily with facility-wide COVID-19 testing occurring weekly. Autumn Care said that it has created a personalized care plan for affected residents and works closely to follow all health department guidelines during this “evolving crisis.” Haywood said that as of Nov. 25, two staff members and two Healthsource Global staffing agency members at the facility had tested positive, but no residents. Team members are screened for respiratory illness before each shift, with weekly testing of residents and staff and restrictions on visitation. • Jackson County announced a new outbreak at Hermitage Assisted Living and
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· BY JESSI STONE · or the last few months my social media newsfeeds have been full of inspirational quotes, woo-woo goddess sisterhood memes, cute animal pictures, hiking suggestions and updates from the people in my life that show love, friendship, empathy, support and authenticity. That’s probably way different than the crap you’ve been seeing, right? You might still be seeing hateful quotes, racist memes, divisive politics, fake news and updates from misinformed family members and people you haven’t seen since high school. It’s all too much! Sometimes you just want to throw your phone across the room. How many of you have sat there curating a thoughtful response to someone else’s ignorant post, only to delete it because what’s the point? No one changes anyone’s mind and it just becomes an argument because no one can have a decent conversation anymore on the internet. Not feeling heard can quickly breed resentment and before you know it, you've created this horribly negative narrative in your head. I really think this kind of thought cycle is impacting people's mental health, especially with teens and young adults. Experts all say the only way to remove all this negativity from your life is to get off social media. Well, social media is a big part of my job. It connects me to the community, it helps me promote the newspaper, my music, my nonprofit causes and it connects me with people I love that are far away. I don’t want to lose all of the good just because there’s so much bad. What I’ve learned is that I have total control over what I see on social media. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter — all of these platforms show us what we want to see if you send it in a positive direction. It’s time to clean up your newsfeeds and begin to curate the utopian world in which you wish to live. That doesn’t mean you can’t seek out a news story or go see
Smoky Mountain News
December 2-8, 2020
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what crazy nonsense Aunt Ethel posted today. Here's what to do: Step 1: Go through your friend list and unfollow anyone who is a known shitstirrer and negativity magnet. You don’t have to unfriend. Unfollow just means you won’t see their posts in your feed. Step 2: Follow friends you want to keep up with so you can see their accomplish-
newsfeed, you now have to be purposeful in what you post as well. You have to ask yourself whether your contributions to your friends’ newsfeeds are productive and set an example for others. You will be amazed at how much better you will feel after completing this process. It’s like that feeling of organizing your desk or making up your bed with
ments, their kids, their adventures — and support them with words of encouragement. Step 3: Follow the pages of your favorite authors, artists and performers. Follow causes that are important to you. Follow a reliable news source if you wish. Follow local businesses and nonprofits to support them. Your newsfeed is like your vision board — follow pages and join groups that bring you joy and inspire you to do better. Step 4: When you start seeing these newly curated posts come up on your feed, like them, comment on them, share them. That’s how the platform knows, “Ah! She wants to see more of this instead of her 80-year-old grandfather’s racist memes.” Step 5: This one is the most important — don’t contribute to the dark side of social media. Now that you have a fresh
fresh linens. I know not everyone will be into seeing the woo-woo stuff I’m following these days, but I thought you might like to know some of the other inspirational pages I follow on Facebook and Instagram. • If you’re not following the singer/performer Lizzo on Instagram, well you’re just missing out. Her confidence is contagious, her authenticity is inspirational and she makes me laugh. • Strong Women Co. on Instagram and Facebook is a great page for inspirational stories, pictures and memes about women. I share these posts often. The creator Kelly also has a podcast that I enjoy listening to - Strong Women Power Half Hour. Editor’s note: For the complete version of this article, visit www.smokymountainnews.com/rumble/item/30206-cleanup-and-curate-your-newsfeeds
Graphic Designer Jessica Murray (from left), SMN News Editor Jessi Stone, Staff Writer Hannah McLeod, Digital Media Specialist Susanna Shetley and Amanda Singletary (not pictured)
Rumble is a weekly e-newsletter created by women, for women and about women. It is published by The Smoky Mountain News and delivered to your inbox each Thursday. The goal is to offer readers a beautifully curated email that will inspire and motivate women to live their best lives. By hearing the challenges and successes of other women, we hope you will find an opportunity to live, love, learn and grow in your own unique way.
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WCU alum elected to bench Three Western Carolina University alumni were elected to state district court seats in the recent 2020 election. All are graduates of the Business Administration and Law Program in the College of Business: Ashley Watlington-Simms, a 2010 graduate, presiding in Judicial District 18, serving Guilford County; Samantha Cabe, a 1997 graduate, presiding in Judicial District 15B, serving Chatham and Orange counties and Brian DeSoto, a 2002 graduate, presiding in Judicial District 3A, serving Pitt County. “We are certainly not the only major at Western that helps students to develop the skills needed for law school, Judge Judge Judge Ashley but we are so Samantha Cabe Brian Desoto Watlington-Simms proud of these alumni who chose our path,” said Debra Burke, professor and College of Business interim dean. “They were exceptional students when they were in our program, and they have continued to excel in their profession.” WCU’s Business Administration and Law Program provides educational and practical experience that will give students a head-start on the path to a judgeship. BLAW, as it’s commonly known, offers a pre-law foundation for law school and is unique to the University of North Carolina System. The degree complements business core courses by providing a focus on the legal, regulatory and ethical environment of decision-making in business.
Home sales not slowing down
In need of landscaping?
Home sales continued on the momentum built since June 2020 with a fifth consecutive month of year-over-year gains, despite the pandemic that drastically slowed sales in April and May. Sales continued their streak, rising 38.4 percent yearover-year across the 13-county Asheville region, with 1,392 homes sold in October 2020. Realtors across the region had 386 more transactions this past October than in October 2019. The region’s year-to-date sales are ahead of 2019 year-to-date sales by 8.5 percent with 10,199 homes sold over the last ten months. Pending sales show an abundance of buyers seeking homes in the market and rose 46.9 percent year-over-year as 1,463 single-family and/or condo/townhomes went under contract during the month. Year-to-date figures show pending sales (which signify buyer demand) ahead of last year by 14.8 percent, a sure sign of steady sales in the coming months. In a strong sign of increasing seller confidence, new listing activity rose year-over-year for a second month, increasing 15.3 percent year-overyear as sellers listed 1,493 homes for sale. Compared to September 2020 new listings are up 7.9 percent. Still, year-to-date figures show seller confidence is weak, with new listings down 9.9 percent compared to the regional listing activity during the first 10 months of 2019.
Seven Springs Landscape Maintenance is a top-quality landscape improvement organization recently opened in Macon County. The business is owned and operated by Aaron Driver, an Air Force veteran with a love of horticulture that drove him to pursue a degree in the subject. He has over 10 years of experience in the field. “We provide residential and commercial landscape maintenance, landscape design and install, garden design or renovation, water feature install and maintenance, fence installation and gutter cleaning,” Driver said. “We know that not everyone has time to maintain a beautiful lawn, whether it’s your home or business. Let us step in and take care of it for you.” Call 678.223.6510 or visit www.sevenspringsls.com.
MB Haynes celebrates 100th anniversary MB Haynes Corporation, one of Asheville’s oldest companies, is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2021. In 1921, Marion Blackburn Haynes started M.B. Haynes Electric Company. The business was purchased in 1966 by N. Ellis Cannady, Jr. who later transferred ownership to his sons Brett and
Buzzy. In 2015, the company established a 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The MB Haynes centennial celebration will span throughout 2021 as the company highlights successful projects, recognizes its great people, and gives back to the community. MB Haynes has grown to employ over 500 people and about 450 are employee owners with some vesting in the company through the ESOP. MB Haynes is built on a culture which values integrity, relationships, and excellence. Most employees live within 60 miles of Asheville and are committed to the community in which they serve and live. For more information about MB Haynes’ 100th year celebration or any of the company’s services, visit www.mbhaynes.com.
Westbrook named president of HomeTrust HomeTrust Bank recently announced that C. Hunter Westbrook will assume the position of President and Chief Operating Officer of the bank. Westbrook joined HomeTrust in 2012 as executive vice president and chief banking officer of the company, and in 2018 was promoted to senior executive VP and COO of the company. He will continue to serve as senior executive VP and COO. “I welcome the opportunity to lead the Bank on a continued path of growth where innovative technology and products are coupled with best-inclass personal customer service,” said Westbrook. “We have the team and operational infrastructure in place and are positioned well for the future. I sincerely appreciate the confidence that Dana and the Board have placed in me and look forward to working with them to further accelerate the growth trajectory of HTB as a leading regional community bank.”
Franklin has new music shop Sonny’s Music Lounge was recently welcomed to the Franklin business community with a ribbon cutting celebration. Located at 203 Sloan Road, Sonny’s is a musician’s dream and a one-stop music shop with Nashville pedigree. Sonny’s is more than a music store. “We offer instrument sales and consignments, lessons, sound and lighting equipment rental, DJ services, a fully equipped stage for small concerts, video and audio recording or a place for your band to rehearse,” said Owner Ronda Drake. Sonny Curtis, one of country’s legendary steel guitar players’ family here in Franklin has opened this museum/music store in honor of him.
Southern & Sunkissed opens in Sylva Southern & Sunkissed, owned by Kristin Drake, recently opened at located at 633 West Main Street, in Sylva. The boutique has trending clothing and acces-
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sories, all for under $50. It also features a VersaSpa spray tan booth for $25. Open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Call 828.369.7100 or visit www.southernandsunkissednc.com.
Marketing firm opens in Macon County The Franklin Chamber of Commerce joined Morgan Stewart recently to celebrate the opening of Stewart Communications. Stewart Communications specializes in marketing, public relations, crisis management, media relations and special events. The company works to grow your business, manage your reputation and improve our community. “Our experience includes extensive executivelevel communications leadership and consulting with Fortune 500 corporations, small businesses, government, and trade organizations across multiple industries including retail, restaurants, energy, utilities, technology and non-profits. Our business model allows us to act quickly on small and large projects, with access to the best talent in the industry,” said Stewart. Stewart can be reached at 828.412.0465 or at morgan@stewartcomm.com. Visit www.stewartcomm.com.
Sylva welcomes JXT Company JXT Company, located at 302 Skyland Drive in Sylva, recently held a grand opening ceremony. JXT is a distributor of lighting, HVAC, electrical, plumbing and janitorial items, including COVID-safe PPE products. They have flooring, hardware, food service, cleaning, safety products, parts and more. Reach JXT at 828.735.1978 or visit www.jxtcompany.com.
New accounting firm in Franklin The Franklin Chamber of Commerce welcomed a new accounting firm, Argent Accounting located at 98 Hyatt Road in Franklin. A boutique accounting firm dedicated to delivering actionable strategies to accelerate your company’s growth and profitability while managing tax liability. “Our Fractional CFO and Accounting services provide strategy, expertise and horsepower of a high-level financial expert without the cost of adding a full-time employee. Leveraging fractional expertise enables a company to get to the next level by only paying for the level of effort they need,” said managing partner Trevor Vernon, MBA. Argent provides fully customized and comprehensive recommendations regardless of company size. As each company is different and unique, their accountant’s strategies and solutions should be as well. Give Trevor Vernon or Bryan Robinson a call at 828.342.6984 or visit www.argentaccounting.com.
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I like calling North Carolina home W
that entire trip along U.S. 64. And so we found ourselves over the Thanksgiving weekend rolling all the way across this great state from Waynesville to New Bern, one of the most beautiful coastal river towns you’ll ever visit. My wife’s father keeps his sailboat in Duck Creek, just across the Neuse River from New Bern, and with our daughter Hannah and her friend we spent a couple nights on the boat and on the water. We had gorgeous weather and favorable winds, a sailor’s dream. Then our other daughter Megan and her husband came down — we all Editor COVID tested prior to the trip — and the kids stayed in a riverfront airbnb where we made meals while Lori and I kept returning to the boat to sleep. New Bern is my mom’s hometown, and so every time we visit I dredge up memories of visiting my grandmother in her small apartment, stories of my grandfather’s love of fishing, me and my brothers on the playground at a park along the Trent River where my uncle would take us to get us away from the apartment. On the way to New Bern we visited friends who own a farm in Kinston. Chris and I met in college and have remained close. He returned to Kinston after a few years of working in different cities to build a house with his wife, Susan, on the family farm. Kinston — also on the Neuse River
Scott McLeod
hen the Lyft driver asked where we were from, our answer was, “outside Asheville, in the mountains.” His reply: “Wow, the mountains and the coast. You’re getting the best of both worlds.” I thought for a few moments about how right he was, about how it’s so easy to take for granted the place one calls home. I’ve been a mountain resident for 28 years — actually 33 if you count the five years in Boone as a college student — but I also have strong ties to the central and eastern parts of the state. I’ve lived in North Carolina since I was 10, when my dad retired from the Navy. The driver’s comments shook loose a recollection from, I think, the 1970s. It was a tourism jingle for the state whose chorus was: “I like calling North Carolina home.” I searched and found the song on You Tube — of course — and it brought back memories to hear it again. I couldn’t, however, find a link to the part where someone at the end of the song said, “It’s like living in a poem.” “Poem” in the commercial, rhymed with “home.” As a kid I found that line just too funny and would always blurt it out when someone talked about how much they liked North Carolina: “It’s live living in a pome.” And just like that Lyft driver this past weekend, tourism folks way back then were touting North Carolina “from the mountain to the coast” as a great place to live or visit. To symbolize the different landscapes and all the places in between, people started using the phrase “from Murphy to Manteo” — 547 miles — to refer to the diversity and beauty of the state’s landscapes. Prior to Interstate 40 construction you could do
We are Americans first DIANN CATLIN G UEST COLUMNIST Every American should want and demand evidence as to the integrity of the recent 2020 election. Every American should be able to trust the integrity of a record that their own vote actually counted. If there is any way a foreign adversary or a homegrown activist manipulated any pathway so that the will of American people voting their choice is erased and outvoted by dead people or compromising machinery, every American should want to see the proof. Our nation was founded on laws not a cheating or a selfserving agenda. Our forefathers considered how to make elections fair and untainted. They provided even, well thought out representation from various sized states. They provided three branches of our government assuring checks and balances and a division of labor for the people of America. They looked into the future anticipating the “what ifs,” giving certain powers to the states and certain powers to the representatives. All the time they prayed for guidance, for who indeed could think of every scenario that might compromise the integrity of this new nation they had fought so hard to establish? They foresaw a need to stay independent from foreign interference. They also foresaw an educated people and an unbiased media who would provide further checks and balances of research and reported truth. And yet herein lies the problem today. We do not have an educated and engaged
electorate, and we certainly do not have an unbiased, factproducing press. We have instead too many people who have picked their team and want a win without competing according to the rules. If Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg influenced our election by paying and training poll workers to adjust ballots, both he and said workers should go to jail. If write-in ballots were miraculously sent in by folks impersonating dead folks, those impersonators should go to jail. And if foreign countries aligned with certain voting machine companies augmented or erased the real will of the people, they too should pay the penalty. Moreover, we the people must know and want this proof now. Why? Because we are the people our forefathers considered and valued while they wrote with nearly perfect foresight. Why? Because we ought to care far more for the integrity of future elections, over which “team” we voted for in 2020. Yes we do all bleed the same and today we must want the courts to examine the evidence of voter fraud diligently and completely because we are first Americans! And as Americans we should value honest voting practices over our own corrupt selfish agendas. We must insist that any voter fraud be exposed and tirelessly abolished. If we don’t do this now we will never believe again that as Americans each authentic vote cast will indeed count! (Diann Catlin is a retired Etiquette Consultant and magazine editor who lives in Highlands. Her book Whatever Happened to Nice? was published in 2010.)
but inland — is one of those coastal plains farming communities that fell on hard times after tobacco, but has since made a nice comeback. We didn’t visit any of these places on this trip because of the pandemic, but the downtown is bustling and has a great brewery called Mother Earth; a growing culinary scene as the hometown of PBS Chef Vivian Howard and her restaurant, Chef and the Farmer; and a replica of a Civil War ironclad, the CSS Neuse, along with an interpretive center/museum. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner at their home and in the morning took a long walk around the property, which has been in Chris’ family for generations. It is unreal to spend time with people who have that kind of kinship to a piece of land, and you can feel the depth of that relationship as Chris and Susan talk about their cows, harvesting and storing hay, hunting, rebuilding earthen dams for their ponds, and more. On the way home we stopped in Raleigh for a visit with Lori’s father and his wife. We bought deli sandwiches, and since it was 60 degrees were able to have a socially distanced lunch on their back porch, tall pine trees all around. It was the first time we’ve got to spend time with them since the pandemic, and though it was short we thoroughly enjoyed those moments. As we headed home, I thought about the North Carolina coast, its coastal plain, the piedmont and the mountains. Rolling down I-40 just past Morganton, the peaks started coming into view, and that jingle was once again rolling around in my head. True that. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com)
Love Thy Neighborhood. HElp prevent wildfires.
Thank you, pandemic, for slowing me down
Susanna Shetley
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Cullowhee | MLS 3540189 | $579,000 Follow the tree-lined winding road along the bold stream until you arrive at this private country farm.
Waynesville | MLS 3608641 | $700,000 Move in Ready! Located in the Waynesville Country Club above Golf course. 2 wooded acres offer privacy & quiet. Mountain views.
Billy Case, CCIM
(828) 508-4527 billycase@naibeverly-hanks.com
Ingles Nutrition Notes written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath What’s the difference between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity? QUESTION:
ANSWER: Celiac disease is an inherited auto-immune disease diagnosed by a blood test and/or an intestinal biopsy. Someone with celiac disease cannot eat products containing gluten (a type of proteins) found in wheat, barley and rye. Currently the only treatment for someone with celiac disease is following a diet that strictly avoids gluten containing foods - this means looking for gluten-free breads, cereals and pastas. It also means they must avoid any foods that might come in contact with gluten containing ingredients through cross-contact, for example a fryer at a restaurant that is used to fry French fries as well as breaded chicken. For information: www.cureceliacdisease.org/treatment/
“Gluten sensitivity” or non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) does not involve the auto-immune system and currently there’s no medically accepted test to diagnose it. Because of this NCGS is considered controversial and diagnosis is based on exclusion, i.e. your physician rules out celiac disease or other illnesses through testing and then may advise you to do a trial of a gluten-free diet and keep a food diary to see if your symptoms improve. For more information: www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/ library/allergy-library/celiac-disease
Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN
Smoky Mountain News
slid it into the oven. When I pulled out the finished product, perfectly brown on top, I felt my mom looking down, proud that the family recipe endures. Food makes us happy by offering a nostalgic affect. Making the dressing and eating it conjured a lifetime of Thanksgiving memories. I also bought a 1,000-piece Christmas puzzle. Our goal is to finish the puzzle, mod podge it and frame it before Christmas. It’s been decades since I’ve finished a large puzzle. I’ve always been too busy running here and there. Over the past several days, however, I’ve become obsessed with the happy feelings and relaxation sitting down to work on the puzzle produces. We want to continue this tradition going forward. A typical holiday season can feel frenzied and stressful, but a puzzle out on the table encourages the family to sit down and regroup. And while everyone is looking for this or that piece, conversations are had and memories made. We also played football last week, not just once but twice. I’m an active person and love to run, bike, hike and what not, but I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to traditional sports like football. Nonetheless, I went outside and tried to do my team proud and it ended up being really fun. We decorated the new house, put up a tree and did some Christmas shopping. With the kids’ encouragement we even wrapped gifts. This may be the earliest I’ve had a slew of gifts already wrapped under the tree. We crafted our yearly Advent wreath and enjoyed homemade quiche on Sunday morning after we said the first Advent prayer of the season. The theme was HOPE, which felt very timely. The pandemic has produced stress on multiple levels, but I’m a person who tries to find the good among the mire. This Thanksgiving was mellow compared to years past, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It made me realize I need to slow down more often and enjoy the simple pleasures of life such as cooking family recipes, doing puzzles and playing backyard football. When I’m old and gray, it’s not the hustle bustle I’ll remember, but the smiles and laughs from the small moments and special memories. (Susanna Shetley is an editor, writer and social media specialist for The Smoky Mountain News, Smoky Mountain Living, and Mountain South Media. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com)
December 2-8, 2020
he pandemic forced me to slow down. I’ve always been a busy body, planning trips or parties, purchasing tickets for concerts or making reservations at a favorite restaurant. But with events canceled and social distancing a must, 2020 has been a very different year. Through adulthood, I’ve learned I’m a person that needs down time, a gal who enjoys relaxing with a good book Columnist or journal. Yet, I’ve been terrible at offering myself these antidotes. I keep moving forward with goals, plans and long lists of tasks I need to accomplish. COVID19 compelled me to stop and for that I am grateful. In recent years we’ve traveled to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with my sister’s family. It’s always a good time up there. They live in a beautiful home nestled in the rolling hills of Great Falls. We often hike, go on long runs, drink good wine, let the kids play and catch up on life. This year we decided to stay in town for a number of reasons. My boyfriend and I bought a house together several months ago. We’ve been working hard renovating, painting, decorating and moving. To make it really feel like a home, we wanted to experience Thanksgiving in this new space. Together we have five kids so, just with us, we have seven people to feed. Four of the five kids are adolescents or teenagers and can eat a lot of food. We went all out and cooked a full spread complete with a giant Butterball turkey, my great-grandmother’s dressing, pumpkin pie and more. My grandmother taught my mom how to make this special dressing and my mom taught me. It’s a family tradition, but I haven’t made it in many years. When I was a little girl, my mom would put a tray of biscuits and a skillet of cornbread in front of my sister and me and have us break every bit of bread into a big bowl. Later, when the turkey was almost finished, my mom would pour hot turkey broth into the bowl of bread, add chopped onion, salt and sage and continually stir and taste until the perfect flavor was achieved. Last Thursday, I stood in my new kitchen breaking bread into a big bowl. Mid-day, we poured turkey broth in the bowl while my oldest son continually stirred. I added onions, salt and sage, poured the mixture into a baking dish and
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being served, but also who was serving it. “I learned so much from growing up in New York, where we’d go right into the city and experience some of the greatest food you’ll ever eat, everything from Italian or Chinese — you soak in all of this culture and tradition,” Szymanski reminisced. From New York, Szymanski headed for culinary work in California, working and honing his kitchen craft in authentic Mexican and
A main entrée at Rivers & Rails Tavern: steak medallions with chimichurri sauce, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and garlic lemon wilted spinach (above). The Rivers & Rails Tavern in Dillsboro (above, right). (photos: Garret K. Woodward)
The Rivers & Rails Tavern opens in Dillsboro BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER itting at a table in the dining room of The Rivers & Rails Tavern in Dillsboro, Craig Szymanski looked out the window and watched a family wander down the row of shops on Front Street. With the late fall sun falling behind the mountains, the hungry group noticed the lights of the newly established tavern. Curiosity getting the best of them, they walked across the railroad tracks and into the restaurant. Craig Szymanski Checking out the menu, there are surprised looks and jovial banter while discussing what to eat and where to sit. Szymanski and his crew welcomed the family before ducking back into the kitchen to prepare the meals. “Whether they’re locals or just visiting, we want to give the people who come in here something special,” said Szymanski, head chef/owner of Rivers & Rails. “We want to fill those holes in our culinary scene with these great dishes that are all influenced by my trav-
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els in working in the food industry for most of my life.” Since its opening in August, the business has already created a word-of-mouth buzz as a “must try” culinary destination for Jackson County and greater Western North Carolina. Consisting of a wide-array of appetizers and entrees — steak medallions, candied Korean steak bites, tinga de pollo/carnitas tacos, pickle brined fried chicken/Cubano sandwiches — the menu is scrumptious map of where Szymanski and his family are from, where they’ve gone, what they specialize in, and what they want to share with their customers. And even with its bar/taproom still under construction, the dining area is fully operational, catering to troves of folks and foodies alike in search of an artisan meal right here in their own backyard. “We focus on making everything from scratch, all the way down to the mustard and ranch dressing — it’s all made onsite,” Szymanski said. “We cook everything to order, which means nothing is pre-made. There’s no burger sitting in juice waiting to be served. If you want a burger, we’re going to prepare everything fresh the second you order it.” That attention to detail and keen awareness of his reputation being attached to every single plate that leaves his kitchen comes from Szymanski’s upbringing in New York, specifically Rockland County.
Dillsboro’s ‘Lights & Luminaries’ The 37th annual “Lights & Luminaries” will return to the streets of downtown Dillsboro from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 4-5 and 11-12. Experience the magic as the entire town is transformed into a winter wonderland of lights, candles, laughter and song. Over 2,500 luminaries light your way to shops and studios. Horse and buggy rides available each night. Shopkeepers provide live music and serve holiday treats with hot cider and cocoa. Carolers sing and children can see Santa and Mrs. Claus as they ride through town in their pickup truck. Write a letter to Santa and drop off at his special mailbox. Free shuttle service from Monteith Park. www.visitdillsboro.org. Raised just outside of The Big Apple, Szymanski was a teenager in the 1980s when he started washing dishes and prepping ingredients at city eateries, gradually working his way up to becoming a chef of his own. As expected, those decades-old metropolitan restaurants were tight ships that expected quality and respect to what not only what was
“We want to fill those holes in our culinary scene with these great dishes that are all influenced by my travels in working in the food industry for most of my life.” — Craig Szymanski
Asian restaurants for the better part of 20 years. During this West Coast period, Szymanski also acquired and developed a successful catering company. By December 2018, Szymanski and his family had decided to relocate to Western North Carolina. It was a fresh start, with Szymanski eventually becoming the chef at Balsam Falls Brewing when its kitchen opened in August 2019. That move eventually parleyed itself into the recent opportunity for Szymanski to finally open a restaurant of his own. Cue the vision Rivers & Rails that has now come to fruition. “I’ve taken my career in New York and California restaurants, and my travels around Italy and Europe, and applied it to what we want to do in Dillsboro,” Szymanski said. “We want to offer these dishes you can’t find anywhere. There’s so much room for growth in the food scene here, this growth you really can’t find anywhere else — we love it here.”
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
Asbury Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)
hough the baseboard heat was on in the living room, my downtown Waynesville apartment was quite chilly come Tuesday morning. Under warm covers with the anticipation of a blanket of white over the mountainous landscape outside the front door. Head to the office to put out this week’s newspaper. Throw on the jeans, the thick plaid long sleeve, the boots and coat with fleece lining. Winter showed up on Dec. 1, a welcomed sight in a time where all things
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familiar and normal are seemingly at a premium. But, when all seems lost, Mother Nature will provide, am I right? Lately, I’ve been doing a lot more trail running. By not being on the road for work and play now that the weather has turned cold, I find myself disappearing up into the Great Smoky Mountains often. This past weekend, I pulled the truck over at the national park entrance into Cataloochee Valley. Normally, I’d jump onto the Cataloochee Divide Trail and trot along the park boundary: the vastness of Cataloochee Valley to one side, Jonathan Creek and the rolling hills of Haywood County to the other. But, on Sunday, I was feeling frisky, walking across the dirt road from the CDT and heading up the mostly forgotten and abandoned Asbury Trail.
December 2-8, 2020
Olden times and ancient rhymes, of love and dreams to share
and the greater good, I’ve always been under the mindset of “it is what it is,” especially when it comes to matters of the heart. The lady I met yesterday evening? I’ve known her for a couple years now. We met through mutual friends and crossed paths often at concerts and breweries in Asheville. Right before the shutdown, we had attempted to go on date, or at least meet for a drink. But, we all know how everything unfolded in Western North Carolina after March 17. Skip ahead almost nine months and we finally had a rendezvous at Red Ginger Dimsum & Tapas on Patton Avenue in Asheville. Waiting outside for her to arrive, an older homeless man sauntered up to me from the park across the street. “Hey brother, yah got a really nice beard,” the old man pointed to my face, his long white beard hanging heavy from his solemn eyes. He was in search of a dollar. I handed him three bucks and wished him well. Being seated at our table, my date and I removed our masks and looked at the disposable menus as to what might strike our fancy. Our waiter stood six feet away from the table and took our order. Every other table was empty. Smiles and expressions covered up, at least for the time being, but the chance to engage in a hearty conversation never once being lost on us. By the end of dinner, it was a nightcap at the nearby Yacht Club. A casual date turned into three hours of laughter and memories rehashed. It felt good to feel normal again, you know? Even if it was under the current circumstances. We bid farewell with plans already in the works for another meet up this week. Back into the cold truck, back to Waynesville and my chilly apartment. The radio station was scratchy, but I could still hear the sounds of the beloved 88.7 FM (WNCW). It was the timeless and sentimental “Christmas Is Here” instrumental from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” With the first snowflakes of the season in my headlights, the highway was silent, my heart full thinking of past holidays back home in the North Country, of faces either six feet under or thousands of miles away. But, my spirits were high. The instrumental faded away, as did the radio signal, though I kept humming the tune to myself — a smile ear-to-ear, simply lost in thought. Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
arts & entertainment
This must be the place
The Smokies are filled with these endless trails that either aren’t put on maps anymore or simply haven’t been maintained in recent years and decades. I’d always notice the small wooden “Asbury Trail” marker, tucked behind the large park entry sign, but had never ventured up it. Doing a little research, it turns out the meandering Asbury Trail rides the boundary between the national park and the Appalachian Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest. It’s named after Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury, an early 19th century figure who traveled with his ministry into these mountains. The route is also known to be an old native trail, called the Cattalucha Indian Track. Hopping onto the Asbury Trail, it was following along the very narrow track, all covered with leaves and mud, the only way to keep note of the trail being the sporadic yellow paint marks on nearby trees. Within a few minutes, I was over the first ridge and away from any noise of passing traffic at the entryway. By the half-hour point, I was way out in the middle of nowhere, passing by ancient property markers built by mountain folk now long gone, old horse trails to somewhere, anywhere. At the third ridge, I stopped near the top and gazed out towards Mount Sterling in the distance. Standing there, the crisp air swirled around me, the late afternoon clouds rolling in from East Tennessee. And, in that moment, I felt as alive as I had all year — alone amid joyous solitude, pondering of self in pure silence. Look up at the heavens in gratitude of being able to experience that moment of natural splendor, only to turn around and jog back to the truck. Last night, in another attempt at returning to normalcy, I went on my first real deal date since the “before times.” Dating (or any semblance of it) has been pretty nonexistent since the pandemic began last spring. The shutdown of restaurants and bars nixed any chance encounters with a femme fatale on an otherwise quiet night at your neighborhood watering hole. Social distancing and keeping your circles (and movements) small have hampered happenstance conversations, interactions and so on. But, it didn’t really bother me. Aside from consideration for public health
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arts & entertainment
On the street
Reggae, soul rolls into WNC
The final “Art After Dark” of the year will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, in downtown Waynesville. Each first Friday of the month (MayDecember), Main Street transforms into an evening of art, music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors. It is free to attend Art After Dark. www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.
Natti Love Joys.
December 2-8, 2020
The Natti Love Joys will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Sylva. The group will also hit the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Franklin. A roots rock reggae band that have been playing live since 2003, the group consists of husband and wife duo Anthony “Jatti” Allen and Sonia “Marla” Allen (formerly Sonia Abel). Jatti was previously the bassist for the reggae group The Congos while Marla originates from the cult all female reggae
Smoky Mountain News
Waynesville art walk, live music
group Love Joys where she recorded two albums under the legendary Wackies label run by Lloyd Barnes (Bullwackie). The ensemble are the founders of Camp Reggae, a reggae musical festival deep in the Tennessee mountains that celebrates the outdoors and promotes the importance of family. They are also three-time recipients of Atlanta’s Peach Drop awards as the most influential reggae band. All shows are free and open to the public. For more information, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
Christmas in Waynesville Through the annual Waynesville Christmas Parade has been postponed due to safety concerns, the community will still host a handful of holiday celebrations. • The Christmas Tree Lighting will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at the Oak Park Inn at 196 South Main Street. Caroling, hot chocolate and candy canes. Kandi’s Bakery onsite will remain open. • “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” will start at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, in downtown. Come and see Santa as he travels through Waynesville. For a full map, click on www.downtownwaynesville.com. • “A Night Before Christmas” will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, on Main Street. Shops, galleries and restaurants will be open. Caroling, musicians, luminaries, horse-drawn wagon rides, and more. There will also be “A Living Nativity” scene sponsored by the First Baptist Church. Sponsored by the Town of Waynesville and the Downtown Waynesville Association. www.downtownwaynesville.com or 828.456.3517.
Sylva celebrates holiday season
The Main Street Sylva Association (MSSA) is working hard to provide a Covidsafe holiday experience for visitors and locals alike in 2020. The MSSA has already started its annual “Shop Small, Shop Local” campaign. This is in conjunction with the annual American Express campaign, which assists small towns all across the country with marketing materials. By being Covid safe, the public is encouraged to social distance, wear a mask 26 and frequently sanitize hands.
The MSSA has announced that holiday music will be provided throughout the “Home for the Holidays” season. Downtown shoppers and diners can expect to hear holiday music on Friday nights in downtown Sylva from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4, 11, and 18th. Earlier this year, the Town of Sylva Board of Commissioners decided to cancel the annual Sylva Christmas Parade due to the pandemic. The Jackson County Farmers Market will be open on all Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Bridge Park parking lot during the holidays as usual. For more information, please contact the Main Street Sylva Team at 828.586.2155 or email mainstreetsylvateam@gmail.com.
‘Stories, Songs and Traditions’ Presented by the Overlook Theatre Company, “A Christmas with Family & Friends Dinner” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7-8 and 14-15 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Join the group as they honor the season with songs, stories and traditions in this one-of-a-kind dinner show served live on the stage. The menu includes a traditional holiday feast of turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings. Tables will be available for parties of four to allow for appropriate social distancing. Mask will be required until seated. Advanced reservations are suggested due to the extreme limit of seating available. Tickets are $30 per person. Dinner seating will begin at 6:15 p.m. 828.524.1598 or www.greatmountainmusic.com. • Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. www.balsamfallsbrewing.com. • Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.elevatedmountain.com. • First Presbyterian Church (Franklin) will host the annual CareNet benefit concert 3 p.m. Dec. 6. Admission to the concert is free with a love offering being taken for CareNet. FPC-Franklin will match the first $1,000 of donations. For more information, call the church office at 828.524.3119. • Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Natti Love Joys (rock/soul) Dec. 5 and Shane Meade & Shelly Vogler Dec. 12. All shows begin at 7 p.m. For more information and a
complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Natti Love Joys (rock/soul) Dec. 4 and Tennessee Champagne Dec. 11. All shows begin at 7 p.m. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • Macon County Public Library (Franklin) will host an Open Music Jam with The Vagabonds 2 p.m. Dec. 7. All are welcome to come and play or simply sit and listen. Free and open the public. 828.524.3600. • Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com. • Artist demonstrations will be held at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville. “Fiber Baskets” with Sarah Altman 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 5. “Collage on Wood Panel” with Wendy Cordwell 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 12. All demonstrations are free and open to the public. www.haywoodarts.org.
ALSO:
• The annual “Handmade Holiday Sale,” which is normally held at Western Carolina University, will have its event go virtual this year. Those interested can view and purchase the handmade items by clicking on arts.wcu.edu/handmade. • There will be a free wine tasting from 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075. • An “Outdoor Holiday Market” will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro. To become a vendor, email beer@innovationbrewing.com. For more information, click on www.innovation-brewing.com. • “Winter Wonderland Nights” will continue through the holiday season 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. www.franklin-chamber.com. • The annual “Polar Express” train ride is now departing 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 click on www.gsmr.com. • An "Appalachian Christmas" will be held from to 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at The Shelton House in Waynesville. Aside from numerous holiday traditions, there will also be an appearance by Santa Claus. The "Tinsel Trail" will be lit every evening from dusk until dawn through Jan. 2. www.sheltonhouse.org.
On the shelf
Jeff Minick
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With Tangra Against The Wind (2020, 363 pages) is Captain Nikolay Djambazov’s account of his many adventures on the high seas. A sailor and a builder of small craft and yachts, this native of Bulgaria tells of his
Coping with Special Ocassions After the Loss of A Loved One Join us for the bereavement support group
at HAYWOOD HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE 43 Bowman Drive, Waynesville
Friday, December 4 Starting at 12 noon Lunch is provided free of charge by Haywood Healthcare Foundation is provided free of charge
Open to the community
Call 828-452-5039 for more information R.S.V.P. appreciated
Smoky Mountain News
imprisonment in Turkey, of his escape from pirates along the Moroccan coast, and of the many fascinating people he has encountered in a long life of sailing. The cover letter sent along with the book states, “By sharing his story, Captain Djambazov hopes to inspire readers to follow their own childhood dreams.” Like Tiger Mosquitoes, Leading A Worthy Life: Finding Meaning in Modern Times (Encounter Books, 2020, 408 pages) seems particularly timely, though not for the same reasons. In his collection of essays, University of Chicago Professor Leon Kass addresses such topics as love, faith, friendship, human excellence, and human dignity. Kass, who teaches young people, sees them as wishing for a meaningful life, “a life that
makes sense,” but realizes they are “increasingly confused about what such a life might look like and how they might, in the present age, be able to live one.” To help them out of this bog, Kass points them to noble personages and thoughts from the past, and raises as well the ethical dilemmas presented in our own time by politics and science. I may never get around to reading Leading A Worthy Life cover to cover, but it will remain on my shelf as a dipper book, that is, a book I open from time to time to read a few pages both for the clear prose and for their wisdom. Satan’s Gambit (2018, 1058 pages) by Gene Conti M.D. is a dystopian trilogy set on a fictional American campus in the near future. Here Dr. Lucci and his students at a small Christian college in Northern Virginia witness a national crisis transforming the American government into a totalitarian dictatorship. Radical jihadists launch terrorist attacks across the nation and threaten the college while the governmental Matrix “decides to crack down on American citizens’ First and Second Amendment rights,” including “any outward religious expression.” At the end of Satan’s Gambit Book Three: Rise Of The Beast, two appendices caught my attention. “Class Notes” lists books, movies, and online resources recommended by Dr. Lucci’s students while “The Devil’s Timeline” is a chronology of dates and events that have led to the current mess in our culture and our politics. In Chewing the Wafer: Living a Christian World View (2020, 298 pages), West Point graduate, professor, and CEO William C. Jeffries tells stories from his past to explain his Christian beliefs and to demonstrate how he has integrated that faith with his work. This anecdotal approach to his faith coupled with many literary and historical references should appeal to readers who enjoy good story telling. Someday I may return to these books and give them the attention they deserve, but for now this small recognition must suffice. Good reading, all! (Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, Amanda Bell and Dust On Their Wings, and two works of nonfiction, Learning As I Go and Movies Make the Man. minick0301@gmail.com)
December 2-8, 2020
or five years or so, Nick Hornby’s Ten Years In The Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books has occupied a place of honor on my bookshelves, meaning it’s always close at hand. In this thick volume are the monthly reviews Hornby wrote for the Believer, as witty, bright, and, yes, brilliant a collection of columns as you’ll find anywhere. When I am in need of some wit or sparkling prose, I go to Ten Years In The Tub. Writer Hornby begins each chapter with “Books Bought” and “Books Read,” headings under which he lists the titles of both purchases and books he intends to review. In the October 2006 chapter, for example, under “Books Bought” are such works as Auberon Waugh’s Will This Do? and Will Ashon’s Clear Water while “Books Read” delivers five titles, including Elizabeth Kolbert’s Field Notes From a Catastrophe and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. As I write here, I keep opening Ten Years, scanning various chapters, and being reminded once again of how many of these books are strangers to me. At any rate, Hornby has inspired me to write this review by adding a temporary third category to “Books Bought” and “Books Read”: “Books Received in Need of Some Attention.” For the last eight months, a larger number of authors than usual have sent their books to me in hopes of a review, and to tell the truth, some of these I will never read. What with my own writing life, stacks of other books requiring review, trying to keep up with household chores, and devoting some time to a growing platoon of grandchildren, the hours of my days are full. Yet there these poor books sit, some of them for eight and nine months now, children longing for some sort of recognition. So here goes: Kenneth J. Stein’s Tiger Mosquitoes (2019, 256 pages) is a timely read, for here the author describes an epidemic that begins in Uganda, and eventually shows up on Long Island. Is this mosquito-borne fever a type of bio-warfare? And can it be stopped before it reaches the rest of the United States? One blurb on the back of Tiger Mosquitoes describes it as “a gripping thriller about an event whose time has come.” Because of his graduate degrees in entomology and his scientific research in places like Africa and the Middle East, Stein brings to this work of fiction an expertise other novelists may lack.
Finding A Way Forward Through Grief During The Holidays
arts & entertainment
Too many books, too little time: books unread but recognized
a website to take you to places where there are no websites.
Log on. Plan a getaway. Let yourself unplug.
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Outdoors
Smoky Mountain News
Fall is always a colorful time of year at Darnell Farms in Bryson City. Donated photo
Female farmers survive a challenging year BY LAURA LAUFFER CONTRIBUTING WRITER uring the holiday season, we often recognize and appreciate the farmers in our community for the abundance of food on our tables. Three women farmers in the region shared their farming experience during this challenging year, what it means to them to farm as women and how they continued to grow and distribute their goods to the community in the challenging times of COVID. “It is not how successful our business can be as the bottom line. The bottom line is how successful our business can be and support our employees’ families and our community,”
said Afton Darnell Roberts. “I believe that comes from being a woman and understanding all that goes into a job and your work life.” Afton farms in Swain County on family land going back generations. Her father always encouraged her and told her, “This is a woman’s world. You can accomplish anything.” She helps manage a thriving, diversified farm business while meeting the needs of her staff and consumers during COVID job loss and market uncertainty. Darnell Farms launched a home delivery program to meet the demand of folks wary of shopping and who may be homebound. Resiliency is being able to recover from tough situations,
says Tarinii Isner. Tarinii and her family are in year four of their new farming and botanical business, LionPaw Botanicals. Vegetable and botanicals sales were planned for the spring market at the North Asheville farmer’s market. Due to COVID, new vendors were not able to join the market due to space restrictions. Fortunately, Tarinii already had an online sales platform and is a respected local educator. She continued to produce her botanical blends and expand hemp production while finding resilience in her farming and educational work. She points to a historicly male-dominated agribusiness model, where women, the wives, often had a small patch of
Tarinii Isner works at her family’s farming and botanical business, Lionpaw Botanicals. Donated photo
Darnell Farms offers its customers a family experience with corn mazes and wagon rides during the fall months. Donated photo
Patricia Taylor of KT Farms operates an orchard and apiary in Haywood County. Donated photo
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— Patricia “KT’ Taylor
hosts women’s groups on the farm offering a safe space for personal growth. “We are planting seeds of spirit and in the earth,” she said. Darnell Farms employs many women working in all production stages from tractor work, sales and running the new home
Haywood County • Barber Orchards Fruit Stand, located at 2855 Old Balsam Road in Waynesville, sells apples galore and more through the end of its season Dec. 24. 828.456.3598. • Christopher Farms, located at 2266 Crymes Cove Road in Waynesville, is open year-round save for Sundays and Christmas Day. 828.456.3010. • Duckett’s Produce is open through Dec. 19 with plenty of autumn produce at 6160 Carolina Boulevard in Canton. 828.648.7096. • Sunburst Trout Farms offers locally raised trout as well as a variety of other local foods through Sunburst Market at 314 Industrial Park Drive in Waynesville, with online ordering also available at www.sunbursttrout.com. 828.648.3010. • Ledford Farms has a roadside stand open year-round at 190 Fines Creek Road. 828.593.7042. • Owl Produce Market & Farm sells farmfresh products at 889 Asheville Highway in Canton. 828.593.8545. • Presnell’s Produce Market offers a variety of farm products and handmade eats at 6209 Crabtree Road in Clyde. 828.627.0440 or www.presnellsproduce.com.
Jackson County • The Jackson County Farmers Market brings vendors together year-round, with winter hours 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through March at Bridge Park in Sylva. jacksoncountyfarmersmarket@gmail.com. • Mountain Fresh Produce, located at 8195 U.S. 74 West in Whittier, is open daily. 828.497.4268.
Swain County • Darnell Farms is offering drive-through produce pickup at its farm stand at 2300 Governors Island Road in Bryson City, as well as online ordering and deliveries to communities within 35 miles. www.darnellfarms.com or 828.488.2376.
Macon County • Deal Farms operates a produce stand at 4402 Murphy Road in Franklin and also offers online shopping. www.dealfarms.com or 828.421.4992. • Winding Stair Farm & Nursery offers food, flowers and festive decorations at 57 Saunders Road in Franklin. www.windingstairfarm.com or 828.359.997 • Otter Creek Trout Farm sells fresh fish, eggs, local honey and more at 1914 Otter Creek Road in Nantahala. 828.321.9810. • Yonder Farmers Market offers local and regional foods as well as handmade goods at 151 Hillcrest Avenue in Franklin. 704.605.6919 or www.eatrealfoodinc.com.
Smoky Mountain News
land for home vegetable and herb production. This was the place of family resilience, offering to heal of homegrown foods. She continues to teach and shares plants’ heritage from the African diaspora now at home in Appalachian farms and gardens today. Patricia “KT’ Taylor of KT Farms has been working on her orchard and apiary throughout COVID. She is also a full-time nurse. Her husband Tate, while ‘retired,’ works with her on the 11.5-acre apple orchard in Haywood County. COVID has not affected her business model, and her farm offers families the opportunity to be outside in a healthy environment during this trying period. KT’s chef Jasmine is a mother of three who appreciates the flexible hours and creativity of KT’s kitchen operation as they test new recipes such as fire tonic, balms and lotions. As part of her plan to retire from nursing, KT is adding new products to her mix and will soon start producing apple cider vinegar in her on-farm kitchen. One of KT’s joys is to sell apples to the Swain and Haywood County School systems. Both KT and Afton have led their farm companies into new directions bringing additional women on board to diversify their production and distribution. Tarinii
Even in the cold season, there are plenty of ways to support local farmers. Next time you’re hungry, stop by one of these great farm stands to stock up on fruits, veggies, preserves, crafts and more.
December 2-8, 2020
“When I first walked into the apple meeting and started asking questions, the men in the room did not give me much credit. Now that I have proven this is not a hobby, and I am busy making this business grow, my voice is heard.”
Support local, eat well outdoors
Patricia Taylor, also a full-time nurse, has added new products to her operation, including making her own apple cider vinegar. Donated photos
delivery program. “We have at 3 to 1 ratio of women to men on the farm,” Afton said. She knows women-run businesses are more compassionate by nature. Part of the Darnell Farms experience is the farm stand, picnics by the river, a swing set for the kids, hayrides and live music. While these activities have slowed down in the time of COVID, Afton still encourages families to come out to the farm stand, order from the window, park, enjoy the river’s natural beauty and let the kids run. These farmers have experienced the challenge of being recognized as capable business people when seeking advice or funding from traditional sources. Lenders can be difficult to work with. “If I did not go to the bank with my husband for that first loan, the process would have been harder for sure,” Afton said. She shared that she knows women farmers who have to take legal action to be treated fairly by lenders and other agencies. KT has seen a shift in funding from USDA programs such as the Farm Services Agency. “It has definitely gotten easier; the USDA wants to support women and minority-owned businesses, so our applications can get a better review than in the past,” she said. KT said it took years for suppliers and advisors to take her seriously. As her orchard has grown and her hard work has paid off, she sees more respect coming her way, but it was hard to come by. Regional apple meetings are attended mostly by male farmers. Some bring their wives, but KT observed they did not participate in the meetings. “When I first walked into the apple meeting and started asking questions, the men in the room did not give me much credit,” she said. “Now that I have proven this is not a hobby, and I am busy making this business grow, my voice is heard.” Tarinni said as a woman farmer, it is sometimes hard to be seen, but she feels that because she loves what she is doing, the knowledge she offers comes shining through, creating the source of credibility. She is offering other women a reminder of their inner resilience and strength. Women have the capacity to restore and heal the land of the community through the relationship to growing food. Women have farmed in Western North Carolina for centuries. These farmers are continuing the tradition of resiliency in hard times and supporting other women and our families in the process. Women-owned farms in the region are on the rise. The 2012 Agriculture census shows 51 women farmers in Haywood County, home of KT’s Orchard, and 9 women farmers in Swain County, where Darnell Farms is located. The 2017 Census identified 274 women farmers in Haywood County and 55 in Swain County. In Madison County, women farmers have increased from 33 in 2012 to 379. (Laura Lauffer is the Project Director of EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems)
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outdoors
Southern forests recognized for fishing events
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December 2-8, 2020
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The U.S. Forest Service’s Southern Region received the 2019 National Rise to the Future — Fish Your National Forest Award during a virtual ceremony in Washington, D.C., Oct. 20. The annual Fish Your National Forest Award is one of 13 categories in the Forest Service’s Rise to the Future Awards. It recognizes significant actions taken to connect people to the outdoors through fishing, boating and other aquatic activities while promoting the value and benefits of fish and aquatic resources. The award also honors the champions of fishing events for kids and families, removing barriers to fishing access and increasing angler visits to National Forests. The Southern Region was nominated for its strong and consistent support of the Family and Youth Recreational Fishing Events hosted across the region. In 2019, the Southern Region reached nearly 10,000 people with 71 events across the South, a third of the events sponsored across the entire agency that year. The American Sportfishing Association sponsored the award, contributing $5,000 to help fund additional projects and events. The National Forests of North Carolina hosted 15 events in 2019. While the challenges of 2020 have limit-
ed the momentum of the program and events, Southern Region Director of Biological & Physical Resources Gretta Boley is hopeful for a quick return to a full schedule of events in the near future.
The winner of the largest fish contest in the 2019 Kids Fish Day at Max Patch Pond shows off his catch. Donated photo
“The Southern Region is looking forward to continuing our commitment to Youth and Recreational Fishing Events,” she said. “We are planning to coordinate with all our partners for even greater opportunities for our communities and our national forests.”
10’x20’
Great Smokies
STORAGE LLC Call 828.506.4112 greatsmokiesstorage.com 434 Champion Drive, Canton, NC 28716 21 Hollon Cove Rd, Waynesville, NC 28786
Crews respond to the Chimney Tops overlook. NPS photo
Man dies following fall from Smokies overlook An Alabama man is dead following a fall from an overlook in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Wesley Brandon Stedham, 48, of Warrior, Alabama, fell about 50 feet on Tuesday, Nov. 24, after stepping down a steep slope below
the Chimney Tops overlook along Newfound Gap Road for a photograph. Rangers responded to a call at 1:40 p.m. that day and together with members of the park’s technical Search and Rescue team established a rope and pulley system to reach Stedham and bring him up from the overlook. However, Stedham had suffered severe head trauma and passed away as a result of those injuries.
outdoors December 2-8, 2020
Smoky Mountain News
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outdoors
Help out Haywood’s waterways Haywood Waterways Association needs volunteers for a pair of upcoming stream stewardship projects: • From 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, Haywood Waterways will lead a sediment survey training in the Pisgah National Forest near Sunburst Campground. Organized by Trout Unlimited, the Western N.C. Trail/Road Sedimentation Survey is designed to assess the amount of sediment entering streams. Volunteers walk roads and trails to identify and catalogue locations where stormwater and sediment leave the pathway and enter waterways, impacting aquatic life. • Help remove invasive plants from Richland Creek in Waynesville from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2. The project will take place at Giles Chemical Plant in Frog Level. In addition to removing invasives, the group will pull various tree species in preparation for native streamside plantings. HWA will provide gloves and shovels to those who don’t have their own. To participate in either project, contact Caitlin Worsham at caitlinw.hwa@gmail.com or 828.476.4667, ext. 12.
Smoky Mountain News
December 2-8, 2020
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Extra trout coming to Western NC N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission staff stock trout in Wake County’s Bass Lake. Melissa McGaw/NCWRC photo
Surplus trout are being stocked at 38 impoundments across central and Western North Carolina this winter. From Nov. 30 through Dec. 22, staff will stock more than 60,000 brook, brown and rainbow trout, all of which will be 10 inches or longer. The full schedule is available at https://bit.ly/3fNBCOP. Local stockings include Cashiers Public Pond on Nov. 30, Lake Imaging in Transylvania County on Dec. 8, Azalea Pond in Buncombe County on Dec. 1, Charles D. Owen in Buncombe County on Dec. 4, Tomahawk Lake in Buncombe County on Dec. 21, Lake Louise in Buncombe County on Dec. 2 and Lake Powhatan in Buncombe County on Nov. 30. When fishing in these waters, anglers can harvest up to seven trout per day — with no bait restrictions and no minimum size limits. Anglers need only a basic fishing license, which can be purchased online at www.ncwildlife.org/licensing/licenses-and-regulations, by calling 1.888.248.6834 or by visiting one of the more than 1,000 Wildlife Service Agents located across the state. Due to COVID-19, all anglers should practice social distancing and maintain a distance of 6 feet between themselves and others.
Learn how to repair stream banks Get certified in stream bank repair with an in-person workshop 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, in Hendersonville. Attendees will learn how to protect and improve the natural environment of streams by stabilizing the stream bank and other eroding areas. N.C. State University faculty and other experts will provide practical, cost-effective solutions using natural materials and native plants to create a healthy streamside. The workshop will include hands-on stream protection activities including harvesting live-staked native plants and/or installing live-stakes on a stream. A certification exam will be provided electronically following the workshop, offering the opportunity to receive a Stream Bank Repair certification from N.C. State. The event has been approved by the university with attendance limited in keeping with Gov. Cooper’s mandates concerning maximum group sizes for outdoor gatherings. Register before Dec. 14 at https://bit.ly/3qeihuC.
Smokies species inventory hits 21,000
A young explorer works on her Duck Badge.
Become a junior bird expert Ornithology Season is underway for the N.C. Arboretum’s ecoEXPLORE program, which encourages kids to connect with the outdoors and engage in citizen science. The season will run through Feb. 28, 2021. Kids can earn their Ornithology Badge by taking six photos of birds, along with completing three of the four challenges throughout the season. A bonus Duck Badge offers kids fun facts, tips and a fourpart “Duck Challenge.” The program features a new “Bird Break” video series that introduces kids to bird species. A new video released every week highlights a different staff member who has chosen one of their favorite birds.
Each mission is closely tied to challenges that ecoEXPLORERS can do safely in their own backyard or designated ecoEXPLORE HotSpots. These challenges will help kids become more familiar with the different species of birds around them while encouraging them to do their own research and help professional scientists understand changes in the environment. Ornithology Season culminates with a virtual summit celebrating the kids’ accomplishments, featuring hands-on field work with a science mentor from the community. Free to participate. Sign up at www.ecoexplore.net.
A guided hike on Saturday, Dec. 7, will traverse a 7-mile loop using the Flat Laurel Creek Trail in the Pisgah National Forest. Led by Kathy Odvody and Lisa Cook, this moderate hike will feature a couple of waterfalls along the way. The trailhead is accessed from N.C. 215, just before the Blue Ridge Parkway when coming from Canton. A second hiking opportunity will be offered on Saturday, Dec. 12, when Greg Shuping and Kevin FitzGerald will lead a hike on the Chestnut Mountain property in Canton. To sign up for either hike, contact the Haywood County Recreation Department at 828.452.6789 or recreation@haywoodcountync.gov. Space is limited to 10 people.
Join the Agribusiness Summit The Agribusiness Summit will return in a virtual format this year, slated for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7. The 2020 summit will feature new, relevant topics for current and prospective agribusinesses. Offered by the small business centers of Haywood, Southwestern and Tri-County community colleges, the summit is free to attend, but pre-registration is required at www.ncsbc.net/workshop.aspx?ekey=250400110.
December 2-8, 2020
Hike Flat Laurel
The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory has hit a new milestone in its quest to document the incredible biodiversity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this year passing the 21,000 mark in species identified within the park. The 21,080 species logged thus far include 10,441 that had never been found in the park before. Of those, 1,028 are new to science, discovered in the Smokies as part of the ATBI. This year’s discoveries include a Staphylocollus bacteria species isolated from healthy black bears, a fungal parasite of millipedes that was discovered through Twitter, two thread-legged assassin bugs, native bees and more. “Despite COVID-related setbacks, we safely hosted three biology summer interns,” reads a newsletter from Discover
outdoors
N.C. Arobetum photo
Life In America, the nonprofit tasked with executing the ATBI project. “They enjoyed backpacking and day hiking around the Smokies to document under-studied groups of organisms, and they made a few discoveries of their own including a millipede species that sets a rare family-level record for the park.” The pandemic has also given DLIA the time to catch up on inventorying backlogged collections, with volunteers organizing and inventorying more than 2.4 million arthropod specimens for identification. DLIA has also been working to analyze existing data to better estimate how many more species remain to be discovered. “This groundbreaking work will guide our long-term ATBI efforts, and the methodology will no doubt prove useful for other biological inventories around the world,” the newsletter states. Help DLIA continue its work by donating at www.dlia.org.
Give Island Park some love
Severing vines of kudzu, oriental bittersweet and honeysuckle is the first step to controlling non-native invasive plants at Island Park. Donated photo tion is required due to limited attendance. Register at www.mountaintrue.org/ event/island-park-project.
Smoky Mountain News
Help eradicate invasive plants from Island Park in Bryson City with a workday slated for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12. MountainTrue and the Tuckasegee River Alliance have joined forces to improve this beautiful island in the Tuckasegee River, which hosts a riparian forest with some very large trees. However, infestations of non-native invasive plants threaten its biological diversity. The workday will include opportunities to learn how to identify and control nonnative invasive plants, and a chance to bring native plants back to Island Park. No experience is necessary, and tools and training will be provided. The experience is free, though registra-
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outdoors
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Smoky Mountain News
A proposal for that would bring major changes to Graveyard Fields is now open for public comment. The National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service are partnering on this effort to improve access at the often-crowded trail system on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Haywood County. Under the proposal, the nearby John Rock Overlook would be used as an additional access point for Graveyard Fields with a pedestrian crossing over the Parkway. The crossing would be planned with safety as a priority, connecting the overlook to a short, new trail constructed on Park Service lands that lead to Forest Service lands. The additional access at the overlook aims to better distribute use of the area and thereby improve visitor safety. The proposed trail project is just one
piece of the larger Graveyard Fields project, which is divided into four categories of work: heavy trail maintenance, trail relocation and construction, stream restoration and red spruce restoration. For more information and to provide comments, visit www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=55665. The comment period is open through Dec. 21. Comments may also be mailed to: Pisgah Ranger District, USDA Forest Service, Attn: Jeff Owenby, 1600 Pisgah Highway, Pisgah Forest, NC 28768. Comments will become part of the project record and may be released under the Freedom of Information Act. To learn about the U.S. Forest Service Graveyard Fields project connection with Blue Ridge Parkway lands, visit parkplanning.nps.gov/graveyardfields.
Mask up at the gym
FIND US ON
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New access proposed for Graveyard Fields
Puzzles can be found on page 38 These are only the answers.
Masks must be worn inside gyms and other fitness facilities following Gov. Roy Cooper’s latest executive order. Executive Order No. 180 requires all workers and guests to wear face coverings when they are inside such facilities and keeping a social distance of 6 feet is not possible, regardless of whether they are exercising. Under Phase 3 guidelines, there had previously been an exception for those engaged in strenuous exercise. Facilities covered under the order include, but are not limited to, dance and yoga studios, martial arts facilities, gyms, fields of play, fitness centers, skating rinks, golf courses, racing tracks, paintball, bowling alleys and indoor playgrounds.
Gear up for winter The annual Cataloochee Ski Patrol Yard Sale will return for 2020 Dec. 5-6 at the Group Lodge at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley. It’s time to sell your old gear and buy some new (to you) equipment. Drop off equipment for sale 1 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, or 7 to 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. The sale will operate 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 5 and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6.
The patrol partners with Peter Glenn in Atlanta and others to provide additional snow sports items. All boards and skis must meet the 2020 safety code to be sold, and all other items must be in good-plus condition. The Ski Patrol, which is a nonprofit organization, keeps 25 percent of the proceeds and the equipment’s owner keeps the remaining 75 percent. Register online at myconsignmentsale.com/catyardsale. Cataloochee Ski Area opened its slopes for the 2020 season on Friday, Nov. 20.
WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • There will be a food drive 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at 45 Crown Ridge Road in Sylva. Anyone can contact FoodMinistry@LiveForgiven.Life for more information.
BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center is joining with Southwestern and Tri-County Small Business Centers to present the 2020 Agribusiness Summit Online. This free summit will take place 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7. The 2020 Virtual Agribusiness Summit is Free to attend; however, preregistration is required. Visit SBC.Haywood.edu or call 828.627.4512 for additional information or to register today. • NCWorks Career Center will be available to assist with job search, resume writing and interview skills and more at the Marianna Black Library, in Bryson City, from 1-4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. Appointments are required for employment assistance, call 828.488.3030. If you can’t make it on Friday, stop by the Swain County NCWorks Career Center, located in the County Administration Building at 101 Mitchell Street. The Career Center is open on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Call 828.488.3030 or visit www.fontanlaib.org.
AUTHORS AND BOOKS • City Lights Bookstore will host a virtual discussion with Ginny Sassaman, author of Preaching Happiness: Creating a Just and Joyful World, and co-founder of Gross National Happiness USA (GNHUSA). Sylva poet and former GNHUSA board member Jeannette CabanisBrewin will also join the discussion, along with Dave Molinaro who is the volunteer leading the drive for a Wellbeing Index. This Zoom event will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2. To reserve a book and/or a spot on the Zoom event, contact City Lights Bookstore at 828.586.9499 or email more@citylightsnc.com.
A&E
• The final “Art After Dark” of the year will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, in downtown Waynesville. It is free to attend Art After Dark. For more information, click on www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.
n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • Macon County Public Library (Franklin) will host an Open Music Jam with The Vagabonds 2 p.m. Dec. 7. All are welcome to come and play or simply sit and listen. Free and open the public. 828.524.3600. • Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. www.balsamfallsbrewing.com. • Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host live music semiregularly on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com.
Smoky Mountain News
ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • Artist demonstrations will be held at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville — “Watercolor Batik on Rice Paper” with Barbara Brook 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 4; “Fiber Baskets” with Sarah Altman 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 5 and “Collage on Wood Panel” with Wendy Cordwell 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 12. All demonstrations are free and open to the public. www.haywoodarts.org. • The Haywood County Arts Council annual show, “It’s a Small, Small Work,” will be showcased through Jan. 9 at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts in Waynesville. • A display of 50 powerful paintings showcasing the most remote and wild corners of the Canadian Arctic is on display through Jan. 3 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. Entrance to the exhibit is free with the arboretum’s standard $16 parking fee. Face coverings are required for visitors age 5 and older.
HOLIDAY EVENTS • The annual “Polar Express” train ride is now departing 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 click on www.gsmr.com. • Long’s Chapel presents a Drive-Thru Christmas Story from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 19 and Sunday, Dec. 20. The drive-thru Christmas story will take place on the church grounds located at 133 Old Clyde Road, Waynesville. There is no charge to attend. For additional questions, contact the church office at 828.456.3993 ext. 101 or Communications@LongsChapel.com. • The annual “Handmade Holiday Sale,” which is normally held at Western Carolina University, will have its event go virtual this year. Those interested can view and purchase the handmade items by clicking on arts.wcu.edu/handmade. • The 37th annual “Lights & Luminaries” will return to the streets of downtown Dillsboro from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 4-5 and 11-12. Free shuttle service from Monteith Park. For more information, click on www.visitdillsboro.org. • “Winter Wonderland Nights” will continue through the holiday season 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. www.franklin-chamber.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Natti Love Joys (rock/soul) Dec. 5 and Shane Meade & Shelly Vogler Dec. 12. All shows begin at 7 p.m. For more information and a complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Presented by the Overlook Theatre Company, “A Christmas with Family & Friends Dinner” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7-8 and 14-15 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $30 per person. Dinner seating will begin at 6:15 p.m. For more information, call 828.524.1598 or click on www.greatmountainmusic.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Natti Love Joys (rock/soul) Dec. 4 and Tennessee Champagne Dec. 11. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. For more information and a complete schedule of
• An “Outdoor Holiday Market” will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Dec. 5 and 12 at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro. To become a vendor, email beer@innovationbrewing.com. Visit www.innovation-brewing.com.
Outdoors
• Haywood Waterways Association needs volunteers for a pair of upcoming stream stewardship projects: From 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, Haywood Waterways will lead a sediment survey training in the Pisgah National Forest near Sunburst Campground. Help remove invasive plants from Richland Creek in Waynesville from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. To participate in either project, contact Caitlin Worsham at caitlinw.hwa@gmail.com or 828.476.4667, ext. 12. • A guided hike on Saturday, Dec. 7, will traverse a 7mile loop using the Flat Laurel Creek Trail in the Pisgah National Forest. A second hiking opportunity will be offered on Saturday, Dec. 12, when Greg Shuping and Kevin FitzGerald will lead a hike on the Chestnut Mountain property in Canton. To sign up for either hike, contact the Haywood County Recreation Department at 828.452.6789 or recreation@haywoodcountync.gov. Space is limited to 10 people. • Help eradicate invasive plants from Island Park in Bryson City with a workday slated for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12. The workday will include opportunities to learn how to identify and control non-native invasive plants, and a chance to bring native plants back to Island Park. No experience is necessary, and tools and training will be provided. The experience is free, though registration is required due to limited attendance. Register at www.mountaintrue.org/event/island-park-project. • The annual Cataloochee Ski Patrol Yard Sale will return for 2020 Dec. 5-6 at the Group Lodge at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley. It’s time to sell your old gear and buy some new (to you) equipment. Drop off equipment for sale 1 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, or 7 to 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. The sale will operate 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 5 and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6.
We Salute Our Emergency Responders For their courage, skill and dedication, we recognize the men and women whose work as first responders saves lives and protects the greater good. Thank you for your service to our communities!
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Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: n n n n
Complete listings of local music scene Regional festivals Art gallery events and openings Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers n Civic and social club gatherings Register online at myconsignmentsale.com/catyardsale • Friends of Panthertown is hosting a series of trail work days this fall, and all are invited to come pitch in. Scheduled work days are Wednesday, Dec. 2; Friday, Dec. 11; Saturday, Dec. 12; Saturday, Dec. 19. To sign up, visit www.panthertown.org/volunteer. • The Assault on BlackRock trail race is set for Saturday, March 20, next year, and proceeds will benefit the Southwestern Community College Student Emergency Fund. Registration is $25 in advance or $30 on race day. The Student Emergency Fund proceeds will benefit helps SCC students who encounter unforeseen financial emergencies. Register at www.ultrasignup.com.
HIKING CLUBS • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate 7.5 mile hike, elevation change 600 ft., on the Blackwell Gap Loop in the Standing Indian Recreation Area Saturday, Dec. 5. The club will meet at 10 a.m. at Westgate Plaza. Call leader Katharine Brown, 421-4178, for reservations. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate 4mile hike, elevation change 200 ft., to Lower Whitewater Falls on Saturday, Dec. 12. The club will meet at 10 a.m. at Cashier Recreation Park. Call leaders Mike and Sue Kettles, 743.1079, for reservations. Visitors are welcome. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take an easy 3-4 mile hike, elevation change 200 ft., exploring the Welch Farm with Rachel Newcomb, public relations coordinator for Mainspring Conservation, leading the way on Saturday, Dec. 12. The club will meet at 9 a.m. Westgate Plaza. Call Gail Lehman, 524.5298, for reservations. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a strenuous 7.5 mile hike, elevation change 1250 ft., in the Coweeta Lab area on Sunday, Dec. 13. The club will meet at 1 p.m. at the Smoky Mountain Visitor Center. Call leader Katharine Brown, 421.4178, for reservations. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate 5-mile hike, elevation change 700 ft., from Harrison Gap to Locust Tree Gap on Saturday, Dec. 19. The club will meet at 9: 30 a.m. at Westgate Plaza. Call leader Gail Lehman, 524.5298, for reservations. Visitors are welcome. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate 3mile hike, elevation change 300 ft., on Larry's Road (Forest Service Rd.7281) off the old Murphy Road on Sunday, Dec. 20. The club will meet at 2 p.m. at Westgate Plaza in Franklin. Call leader Kathy Ratcliff, 526-6480, for reservations.
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$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 Legal N otices — 25¢ per word $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
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CHRISTMAS MASKS! Locally made. S, M, L $10. Includes FREE silver charm. Limited quantities. UpLove Bridal 432 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville. Wed, Fri, Sat 10-4. (828)564-3096
FTCC - Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Chemistry Instructor (10 month) Biology Instructor - Anatomy & Physiology (10 month). Business Administration/ General Business Instructor (10 month). Senior Secretary -Instructional Design/Quality Assurance & Center for Academic Excellence. SecuULW\ 2I¿FHU +RXVHNHHSHU Part-time Financial Aid Technician. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com/ +XPDQ 5HVRXUFHV 2I¿FH Phone: (910) 678-7342. Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu. An Equal Opportunity Employer
CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, highend, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too! Call 1-866-508-8362.
Auction ONLINE AUCTION, Brick House, 3 Mobile Homes and 1.07+/-Acres in Richmond Co., Property at 261 Yates Hill Rd., Rockingham, NC. Visit website for more ironhorseauction.com, 800-9972248 NCAL#3936 ONLINE ONLY AUCTION, National Firearms Dealer Inventory Reduction Auction Session 2, Begins Closing: 12/4/20 at 2pm, Firearms Located at Ned’s Pawn Shop in Rockingham, NC, ironhorseauction.c om, 800.997.2248, NCAL 3936
Business Opportunities NEW AUTHORS WANTED! Page Publishing will help you self-publish your own book. FREE author submission kit! Limited offer! Why wait? Call now: 888-910-2201
AIRLINES ARE HIRING Get FAA approved hands on Aviation training. FiQDQFLDO DLG IRU TXDOL¿HG students - Career placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 866-441-6890. MEDICAL BILLING & CODING TRAINING. New Students Only. Call & Press 1. 100% online courses. Financial Aid Available for those who qualify. Call 833-990-0354 WORK FROM ANYWHERE You have an internet connection? 13 positions available. Start as soon as today. As simple as checking your email. Complete online training provided. Visit for details: https://bit.ly/2yewvor
December 2-8, 2020
COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM! Train ONLINE to get the skills to become a Computer & Help Desk Professional now! Grants and Scholarships available for certain SURJUDPV IRU TXDOL¿HG DSplicants. Call CTI for details! Call 833-990-0354.
Furniture FOR SALE /RWV RI ¿QH furniture. Three large rugs, kitchen set, leather recliners, chairs, dressers, linens, clothes galore and much more. 719 Seven Clans Lane ( by the Quality Inn). Hwy 441 N. Cherokee. December 3rd, 4th, 5th. 9am5pm. 828.226.0994 or 828.497.9427
Home Goods
GENERAC STANDBY GENERATORS Don’t Wait! The weather is increasingly unpredictable. Be. prepared for power outages. FREE 7-yr ext. warranty ($695 value!) Schedule your Free InHome assessment today. 1-833-953-0224, special ¿QDQFLQJ IRU TXDOL¿HG customers.
Old Edwards Hospitality Group Highlands NC Housekeepers and Dishwashers starting at $13/hour! NOW RECRUITING FOR: Housekeepers, Houseman, 2nd Shift Laundry, Turndown Attendants, Dishwashers, Cook, Pastry and Bread Cook, Assistant Farm Manager, Servers, Bussers, Host/Hostess, Old Edwards Inn Rooms Manager, Front Desk, Bellman, Night Audit, Fitness Manager, Spa Attendants, Cosmetologist Benefits offered after 90 days employment Apply online at oldedwardsinn.com/careers
WNC MarketPlace
Legal Notices PUBLIC NOTICE Mountain Projects Inc. is planning to submit a proposal to the North &DUROLQD 2I¿FH RI (FRnomic Opportunity for a one-year grant under the Community Services Block Grant Program. Public input is requested to utilize funding. The public hearings will be held on Wednesday, December 16, 2020 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Anyone wishing to attend the public hearing please call at 657-390-7289.
Medical LIFE ALERT. 24/7. One press of a button sends help FAST! Medical, Fire, Burglar. Even if you can’t reach a phone! FREE Brochure. CALL 844-9022362 ARTHRITIS, COPD, JOINT PAIN Or Mobility Issues on the Stairs? **STOP STRUGGLING** Give Your Life A Lift! An Acorn Stairlift is a perfect solution! A BBB Rating. Call now for $250 OFF your purchase. FREE DVD & brochure. 1-888329-4579
GET YOUR COPY Don’t Wait! The best book of herbal remedies probably ever written. For more details email James at: james.floyd@floydjackson.com
Haywood Co. Real Estate Agents
DENTAL INSURANCE From Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. NOT just a discount plan, REAL coverage for 350 procedures. Call 1-844496-8601 for details. www.dental50plus.com/ ncpress 6118-0219
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate- Heritage • Carolyn Lauter - carolyn@bhgheritage.com
Beverly Hanks & Associates- beverly-hanks.com
Phyllis Robinson OWNER/BROKER
Pets
(828) 712-5578
lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com
LABRADOR/BOXER MIX, BLACK & WHITE,WINNEBAGO 6 years old; sweet, smiling girl who loves to play with toys and meet people. Fine with cats. (828) 761-2001 publicrelations@ashevillehumane.org
The Only Name in Junaluska Real Estate 91 N. Lakeshore Dr. Lake Junaluska 828.456.4070
www.LakeshoreRealtyNC.com Conveniently located in the Bethea Welcome Center
ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com • Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com • Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com
Jerry Lee Mountain Realty • Jerry Lee Hatley- jerryhatley@bellsouth.net • Pam James - pam@pamjames.com
Keller Williams Realty - kellerwilliamswaynesville.com See Virtual Tours of listed homes at
MaggieValleyHomeSales.com Market Square, 3457 Soco Rd. • Maggie Valley, NC • 828-926-0400
Mountain Dreams Realty- maggievalleyhomesales.com Mountain Creek Real Estate
Mobile service available throughout WNC
Climate Control
RE/MAX
Storage
EXECUTIVE
Sizes from 5’x5’ to 10’x 20’ Indoor & Outdoor
Climate Controlled
1106 Soco Road (Hwy 19), Maggie Valley, NC 28751
MaggieValleySelfStorage.com
MaggieValleyStorage4U@gmail.com
www.wncmarketplace.com
Broker/ REALTOR
71 N. MAIN ST. | WAYNESVILLE, NC | 828.564.9393
LIFETIMEWINDOWTINTING.COM
Call: 828-476-8999
Amy Boyd Sugg amyboydsugg@gmail.com HaywoodHomesForSale.com
FREE ESTIMATES or text
64 SECURITY CAMERAS AND MANAGEMENT ON SITE
• Ron Rosendahl - 828-593-8700
828.558.1690
828.216.6018 by phone
Find Us One mile past State Rd. 276 and Hwy-19 on the right side, across from Frankie’s Italian Restaurant
Lakeshore Realty
Log & Frame Homes - 828-734-9323
YEAR-ROUND IMPROVEMENT
Service throughout WNC
• The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com • Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff@kw.com • Darrin Graves - dgraves@kw.com • Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com
Gi Cer ficates, Coupons & Discounts
Energy Savings. Sun Control. Privacy. Protection. Innovative Sun, Heat, Glare & Fade Protection
Ann Eavenson - anneavenson@beverly-hanks.com Billie Green - bgreen@beverly-hanks.com Michelle McElroy- michellemcelroy@beverly-hanks.com Steve Mauldin - smauldin@beverly-hanks.com Brian K. Noland - brianknoland.com Anne Page - apage@beverly-hanks.com Brooke Parrott - bparrott@beverly-hanks.com Jerry Powell - jpowell@beverly-hanks.com Catherine Proben - cproben@beverly-hanks.com Ellen Sither - ellensither@beverly-hanks.com Mike Stamey - mikestamey@beverly-hanks.com Karen Hollingsed- khollingsed@beverly-hanks.com Billy Case- billycase@beverly-hanks.com Laura Thomas - lthomas@beverly-hanks.com John Keith - jkeith@beverly-hanks.com Randall Rogers - rrogers@beverly-hanks.com Susan Hooper - shooper@beverly-hanks.com Hunter Wyman - hwyman@beverly-hanks.com
• Rob Roland - robroland@beverly-hanks.com
Real Estate Announcements SAVE BIG On HOME INSURANCE! Compare 20 A-rated insurances companies. Get a quote within minutes. Average savings of $444/year! Call 866414-8635! (M-F 8am8pm Central)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ron Breese Broker/Owner 71 North Main Street Waynesville, NC 28786 Cell: 828.400.9029 ron@ronbreese.com
www.ronbreese.com Each office independently owned & operated.
December 2-8, 2020
McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com remax-maggievalleync.com • Holly Fletcher - holly@hollyfletchernc.com • The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com • Ron Breese - ronbreese.com • Landen Stevenson- landen@landenkstevenson.com • Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com • Mary & Roger Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net • David Rogers - davidr@remax-waynesvillenc.com • Juli Rogers - julimeaserogers@gmail.com • Amy Boyd Sugg - amyboydsugg@gmail.com
The Smoky Mountain Retreat at Eagles Nest • Tom Johnson - tomsj7@gmail.com • Sherell Johnson - sherellwj@aol.com
WNC Real Estate Store • Melanie Hoffman - mhoffmanrealestate@gmail.com • Thomas Hoffman - thoffman1@me.com
TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com WNC MarketPlace
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SUPER
CROSSWORD
DIRECTLY ON TOP ACROSS 1 "Everwood" actor Wolf 6 Pigs' home 9 Dutch brew 15 -- of Mexico 19 * Ship's load 20 Lead-in to historic 21 Durango dish 22 Baseball's Hershiser 23 * Subject to interpretation 25 * Old Greek squares 26 "Stretch" car 27 Steak, e.g. 28 Prefix with lethal 29 * Second U.S. first lady 31 At a distance 33 Tattles 34 * Chum 38 Give slack to 42 Son of Eliel Saarinen 43 * Dr. Evil's cat in Austin Powers films 47 1801-05 veep Burr 51 Beatles song on "Let It Be" 52 Observe 55 Song for one 56 Linguist Chomsky 57 Political plot 61 Knight's glove 63 "Serpico" actor M. -Walsh 65 * Jumping up and down on a bouncy stick 69 Comb buzzer 70 Native suffix 71 See 8-Down 73 * Pairs of consecutive letters 75 Spying setup 77 Likely (to) 80 Meadow
82 84 88 91 93 94 95 99 101 103 107 110 111 112 116 119 123 124 128 129 130
132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139
Birds building homes Poster pins Buzzing home pest Large 1940s computer "Huh?" Female kin Artist's base * Suffer a lot Dog variety * She directed "The Hurt Locker" -- Sea (salt lake in Asia) Coy Revisions * Too much self-esteem Beloved of Tristan * Bay off Nigeria and Togo's coast -- de plume Brit's "Bye!" Ye -- Shoppe Rendezvous Really succeed (or what literally appears six times in this puzzle) Old Greek concert halls Shahs, e.g. Shoot (for) Sermon text Philosopher Immanuel Grand home Hosp. staff Sea vessels
DOWN 1 Union enemy 2 Arrived 3 "Eat -- eaten" (survival adage) 4 9-to-5er's cry of relief 5 Dress (up) 6 Flatware item
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 24 29 30 31 32 34 35 36 37 39 40 41 44 45 46 48 49 50 53 54 58 59 60 62 64 66 67 68
Move as if on wheels With 71-Across, boot camp affirmative Run up -- (defer payment) Wise men Air pollution Reid and Lipinski "Seinfeld" gal Nielsen of "Mr. Magoo" Ghana's former name Dickens' -- Heep "-- tell ya!" Dental string It uses 108 cards In -- (single-file) Gillette razor brand Toon bear Canon camera Compound with nitrogen '83 Keaton-Garr film Letter-shaped girder Easy putts, informally Weep loudly Sooner than, in poetry Ultimate degree Health supplement store, familiarly Jump Pig Part to play Bullring cries Observe R&D center Song for two Singer Dylan Opposed to, in dialect Theater box Orderly Floor piece Tax org. Election analyst Silver FBI guys
72 74 76 77 78 79 81 83 85 86 87 89 90 92 96 97 98 100 102 104 105 106 108 109 112 113 114 115 117 118 120 121 122 124 125 126 127 130 131
Umps' kin -- Lanka Oklahoma tribe "Moby-Dick" captain Flow out Fix a flat? Height: Abbr. Former Swedish car Toddler, e.g. Buzzing musical toy Is in a huff Source of warmth on some trains and ships Belly laugh Special FX technology Poppa Native suffix Unit of resistance Mean beast "Doggone!" Totally spoil Century divs. Dark modern film genre Breakdown of social norms Long-term inmates Download on a Kindle Radner of comedy Nash of comedy "My heart skipped --" Weaving frames Driver's lic. issuer Sicilian volcano Night, in Nice -- dixit (assertion with no proof) Song for three "Waterloo" quartet Lean Gets mature Rove (about) Flow out
ANSWERS ON PAGE 34
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise ‘any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination’. Familial status includes children under 18 living with parents or legal guardians and pregnant women. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate in violation of this law. All dwellings advertised on equal opportunity basis. SAVE YOUR HOME! Are you behind paying your MORTGAGE? Denied a /RDQ 0RGLÂżFDWLRQ" ,V WKH bank threatening foreclosure? CALL Homeowner’s Relief Line now! FREE CONSULTATION 844-359-4330 GOT LAND? Our Hunters will Pay Top $$$ to hunt your land. Call for a FREE info packet &
Quote. 1-866-309-1507 BaseCampLeasing.com ATTENTION SENIORS 62+! Get a Reverse Mortgage Loan to access tax free cash & no monthly mortgage payments as long as you live in the home. Retire with more Cash! Call 888-704-0782
Rentals TIMESHARE CANCELLATION EXPERTS. Wesley Financial Group, LLC. Over $50,000,000 in timeshare debt and fees cancelled in 2019. Get free informational package and learn how to get rid of your timeshare! Free consultations. Call 844-213-6711
Home Improvement IS YOUR HOME SMART YET? Get a FREE quote from Vivint, the #1 Home-Automation Company! Fast & Affordable! $100 VISA giftcard w/ installation! Restrictions Apply. Call 855-589-7053
LEAFFILTER Eliminate gutter cleaning forever! LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking gutter protection. Schedule a FREE LeafFilter estimate today. 15% off Entire Purchase. 10% Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-877-649-1190
Legal, Financial and Tax
TAX PROBLEMS- Behind 10k or More on Your Taxes? Stop wage & bank levies, liens & audits, unÂżOHG WD[ UHWXUQV SD\UROO issues, & resolve tax debt FAST. Call 855-828-0617
CASTILLO
Tree Service, Etc, Inc.
• Dangerous Tree Removal • Pruning • Creating Views
FREE ESTIMATES • INSURED
828-342-3024
saulcastillo7212@gmail.com
SUDOKU
Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, Answers on 34 the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
38
www.smokymountainnews.com
December 2-8, 2020
WNC MarketPlace
NEWSPAPER ADS WORK.
7 10 out of
newspaper readers who read a CIRCULAR take action after seeing the ad.*
>>> Visit the store >>> Save the ad for future reference >>> Take advantage of the coupons/special offers *
December 2-8, 2020
THE TOP ACTIONS ARE >>>
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Smoky Mountain News
Nobody delivers a more engaged audience than we do. Our growth online, combined with print, is impressive as more readers turn to us for local news.
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Smoky Mountain News December 2-8, 2020