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December 5-11, 2018 Vol. 20 Iss. 28

Campaign rhetoric criticized in Jackson County Page 3 Cherokee looks to reclaim plant gathering traditions Page 34

CONTENTS On the Cover: The Bethel Rural Community Organization’s latest historical documentary, “Sunburst and Other Logging Operations in the Bethel & Cold Mountain Region,” features more than two hours of photos, narration and interviews with area residents, historians and even some who lived at the isolated logging village during its heyday more than a hundred years ago. (Page 6)

News Campaign rhetoric criticized in Jackson ......................................................................3 Clock runs out on latest Ghost Town redevelopment ..............................................4 Historic Haywood Commission sworn in ....................................................................5 Challenges of providing indigent defense ..................................................................8 Meme lawsuit escalates with arrival of new attorneys ..........................................10 Lambert not giving up on future run for chief ..........................................................13 Casino profits, per capita payments set records ....................................................14 State releases annual economic tier rankings ........................................................16 Jackson swears in new commissioners ....................................................................17

Opinion Nurturing the ties that bind ............................................................................................20

A&E Longtime journalist to hold photo showcase ..........................................................24

Outdoors

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Cherokee looks to reclaim plant gathering traditions ............................................34

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Campaign rhetoric criticized in Jackson

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER May blog post titled “Chairman Mao or is it Chairman Mau?” was the topic of an impassioned statement Jackson County Commissioner Ron Mau read during a Nov. 19 commissioners meeting.

“When John McCain passed away our pastor talked about the divide in our country’s politics,” Mau said. “He mentioned the hate too many use to justify their political decisions, the need to be more civil, and they need to change; or as a country we will not improve. I agree with the statement, but it needs to start at home.”

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SPURRED BY A SIGN

POST-POST DEBATE Mau saw the issue differently, first addressing it publicly during a Sept. 27 debate at Southwestern Community College.

On that occasion, he said he “found it interesting” that another candidate brought up civility in the national discourse when posts like Smith’s were appearing at the local level.

“Oh, you think it’s funny?” he said, pointing his finger at someone in the audience who laughed at the Chairman Mao pun. “You tell that to my Asian-American daughter-in-law.”

During an election interview with The

“Our surname is a homophone for Chairman Mao Zedong,” Ronnie Mau wrote.

“That does not mean it was justifiable to reference an authoritarian dictator who was responsible for the death of over 30 million humans when discussing my father’s campaign.”

In his Nov. 19 comments, Mau observed that the post appeared to have been removed one day after Ronnie Mau sent his letter to The Sylva Herald. However, McMahan said that the post’s removal likely

him at all,” McMahan said. “I said, ‘Please remove it’ because it was some sort of stumbling block to him.”

McMahan said it was more like a “contrast” comparing Mau’s marketing of himself to what history says about Mao Zedong.

Mau strongly objected to that characterization, saying that the post most definitely did associate him with the Chinese dictator.

“There were some things where she specifically stated my policies were the same as his, so that’s about as direct as you can

Commissioner Ron Mau took issue with a post on the Jackson County Democratic Party’s website that said his campaign signs made the writer think of the Chinese dictator Chairman Mao. Holly Kays photo

get,” he said.

McMahan and Smith both took issue with the fact that Mau’s signs simply said “Chairman Ron Mau” rather than something like “Ron Mau for Chairman” — the phrasing implied that Mau was already chairman, when in fact McMahan held that seat, Smith said. Given the similarities between the surnames Mau and Mao, she added, it was at best a tone-deaf choice of words.

“Anybody of my generation grew up with Chairman Mao meaning one set of things,” said Smith, who is 72. “And consequently that would be the automatic thing that came to my mind. I thought it was presumptuous to declare yourself chairman before an election.”

For his part, Mau said that campaigning with the title of the office you hope to win is nothing unusual and that his name and the name of the position left him with little option but to choose wording vulnerable to the Mau/Mao pun.

“I can’t change the position I was running for and I can’t change my name, so there really was nothing I could do about that,” he said.

Mau ultimately lost the race against McMahan by a wide margin, pulling 43 percent of the vote to McMahan’s 57 percent, despite raising about three times as much in campaign funds. He will remain on the board as a commissioner representing District 3 until 2020 but will not serve as chairman.

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Smoky Mountain News

had nothing to do with the letter and was rather the result of a request that Mau made when he called McMahan to concede the election Nov. 6.

“He said, ‘I want that post taken down,’” said McMahan. “I said, ‘Look, I don’t control the Democratic Party. I don’t control “There is no way in heck we’ll be united what people say in blogs, but I promise at the national level when this stuff is you I will call them happening right here in Jackson County.” and ask for them to consider removing — Ron Mau it.’ And I did.”

McMahan said he called the Democrats’ chairman Frank Smoky Mountain News the next day, Mau Burrell the next day, Nov. 7, and asked if he grew visibly emotional when discussing the would consider removing it. According to post, saying that “there is no way in heck McMahan, Burrell said, “Absolutely.” Smith we’ll be united at the national level when said that Burrell called her to ask if it would this stuff is happening right here in Jackson be OK to take the post down and that she County.” had no objection.

In his Nov. 19 statement, Mau said that “I was happy for them to take it down. he discussed the post with multiple Jackson That was fine,” she said. “It no longer County Democratic Party officers over the seemed to have a purpose, and if it offended course of the campaign season and was met someone and the party doesn’t want to with a less-than-friendly response on both offend that person, I’m perfectly happy for occasions. The post remained online until them to take it down.”

Nov. 8.

While McMahan made the call requestRonnie Mau, one of Mau’s sons, wrote a ing the post’s removal, he said he did so out letter to the editor that appeared in The of respect for Mau and not because he himSylva Herald Nov. 15. Ronnie Mau invited self felt that the post was out of line.

Smith to critique his father’s billboards, vot“I didn’t think it was that offensive, ing record and campaign finance to her because it didn’t call him Chairman Mao. It heart’s content, but to do so without “the said nothing derogatory or racial toward use of exaggerated statements.”

December 5-11, 2018

Mau was referencing a post published on the Jackson County Democratic Party’s website on May 30. It was written by Penny Smith, who is listed as the third vice chair in the Jackson County Democratic Party on the party’s website, though Smith said her role over the past year has been more limited due to the illness of a loved one. The post began by discussing Mau’s campaign signs, which had just started going up across Jackson County.

“When I first saw the sign, what did it say to me?” Smith wrote. “Well, I couldn’t help but leap immediately to Chairman Mao. Mao didn’t believe in political parties and politics either, but in a solidarity embodied by him alone. Mao set a high bar for authoritarian rule. He was right, all the way, all the time. Durn right, yes, sir! Knew better than anyone else, he did. That’s the role of CHAIRMAN, after all.”

The signs, which read “Chairman Ron Mau” in large capital letters with the lowercase tagline “People before politics,” occupied many billboards and roadsides throughout the campaign season. Mau ran against incumbent Chairman Brian McMahan in November. He lost the race but will remain on the board as the District 3 representative.

The post continued to criticize the sign’s “bigly Trumpian font” and Mau’s record over the past two years, including controversial changes to the departments of health and social services and his vote to allow Sunday morning alcohol sales in the county.

Both of those positions ran contrary to the prevailing public opinion expressed during multiple public hearings, Smith pointed out. “‘People before politics’ is an even more empty phrase than ‘Make America Great Again,’” Smith wrote. “I suspect it really means some people before politics … What would you substitute for politics? War? Oligarchy? Chairman Mao? People benefit from politics played fair. Our current problem is not with politics per se, but with obstructionist politics, with politics controlled by big money men with an agenda that benefits their bottom line, with politics that leads to the diminution of democracy and not its enhancement. To me CHAIRMAN Mau’s signage alludes to unfair poli-

tics, I hope unintentionally.”

In an interview, Smith said the post was simply a “close reading” of the sign and her reaction upon first seeing it. Mau’s protest was a case of “much ado about very little,” she said.

“As a baby boomer, I associated the notion of ‘Chairman Mao’ with China’s authoritarian leader and penned what I thought was a close reading of the signage with an attempt at humor (obviously missed by some readers) with a pointed message,” said Smith in a follow-up email. “I stand by that reading, even if it was not intended by the advertisement’s purchaser — I think it wittingly or unwittingly bespoke a set of assumptions made from a position apparently blind to the implications or coded messages that could be read in the advertisement.”

Chairman Mao Zedong was a communist leader who founded the People’s Republic of China. His now-infamous policies, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people.

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Ghosted: Clock runs out on latest Ghost Town redevelopment plan

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER he strange saga of Maggie Valley’s Ghost Town amusement park has more twists and turns and more highs and lows than a roller coaster, but now that the latest ride up Buck Mountain is over, two investors say CEO Lamar Berry has thrown them for a loop.

John Kovack said he was part of the new ownership group attempting to strike a deal with park owner Alaska Presley, but as of Friday, Nov. 30, that group had run out of time.

“Lamar’s company no longer has any legal relationship with Ghost Town,” said Kovack. “His extension to close on the property has expired.”

Kovack said he’d been working on a business plan for the long-shuttered amusement park for a number of years when he first contacted Louisiana businessman Lamar Berry for financial support. When Berry couldn’t or wouldn’t invest in his project, Kovack said Berry duplicated his business plan and presented it to park owner Alaska Pressley as his own.

“He made his business exactly what my business plan stated,” said Kovack, who explained that Berry tried to cut him out of the deal, but when Kovack called him on it, Berry promised Kovack a piece of the action.

“But that became a lie too,” said Kovack.

“Promises didn’t come through.”

December 5-11, 2018

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Smoky Mountain News

he summer 2018 redevelopment effort at Ghost Town was a string of broken promises and missed deadlines; Berry brought in a number of contractors and partners including retired Disney execs Spencer and Valerie Oberle, who began promoting the new venture sporadically.

Maggie Valley hotelier Allen Alsbrooks started performing landscaping and maintenance work at the park, and even let Berry stay in his Dellwood Road hotel, while a crew began refurbishing the historic Aframe that serves as the park’s entrance.

That, Kovack said, was paid for with capital from a small number of investors, including himself and the Oberles, among others.

The cash injection was only meant to “bridge” the gap between the initial work on the property over the summer and the larger investments Berry said he could bring to bear on the park’s $6 million purchase price.

“There had been multiple dates that we were supposed to close [on the property],” said Kovack. “We were supposed to close in May, and in June — basically, I want to say 4 we were supposed to close every 30 days,

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and there was always just an excuse with why that hasn’t happened.”

Alsbrooks confirms that timeline.

“It wasn’t necessarily every 30 days, but he would pick a date [to close] but miraculously something would blow up and cause it to be delayed,” he said.

Kovack said the missed deadlines, lack of communication and the excuses became more and more laughable as time went on.

“One week when we were supposed to close, his broker was in the hospital. And then another week we couldn’t get ahold of his broker because his wife was in the hospital,” he said. “And then another one, his phone fell in the toilet, and we couldn’t get a hold of him for a week. So it was like that.”

Alsbrooks said he’d been paid for his work, but when the money stopped, so did he. Others, like the Oberles and Kovack, continued through the summer.

“The reason we started construction is because Lamar had promised us that the money was coming, so we all felt comfortable investing and getting things started the way that we did,” Kovack said. n early September, two anonymous letters were mailed to The Smoky Mountain News, urging a deeper investigation into Berry’s background.

That investigation turned up a history of failed developments like one in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and allegations of fraud against Berry, former chief marketing officer of Popeye’s Fried Chicken during the 1970s and 1980s.

In 2005, Berry was behind a failed effort to develop a chain of sandwich shops called Dagwood’s. A lawsuit filed in March 2008 alleged Berry and several others engaged in “repeated, naked and intentional fraud,” in the marketing of the Dagwood’s enterprise, and a 2010 suit alleged that despite assertions from Berry and his partners to the contrary, “[Dagwood’s] was insolvent.”

That suit was settled, and not in Berry’s favor, according to plaintiff Peter Tamulonis, reached by phone this past September.

“We bought the rights to 33 stores,” Tamulonis told SMN at the time.

“Fortunately, Dagwood’s fell apart financially very quickly before we were able to secure a small business loan ... when you think about the legal position for what we were saying, we were able to prove we were lied to and misled.”

Kovack sees eerie similarities in that situation and the current state of affairs at Ghost Town.

“This situation is showing us the exact same pattern of the Dagwood’s project that

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went south,” Kovack said. “He put no money in this project whatsoever, and the marketing packages that were given to us were falsified and blown up in numbers.”

Alsbrooks echoed Kovcack’s comments.

“It’s the same marketing gimmicks, the same slick presentations,” he said. “It’s a lot of hype with no substance.”

None of them, apparently, saw it coming until reading a Sept. 19 SMN story detailing the Dagwood’s matter.

“We did background checks on all of us and Lamar’s background check did not come with up anything alarming,” said Kovack of what was likely a criminal background check. “We did not go deeply into anything more than that. Which again, I don’t know if we were wrong for that, but we definitely learned a lesson.”

Alsbrooks learned a tough lesson too — Berry had been staying at his hotel for free over the summer, but as the Ghost Town deal continued to sour and Alsbrooks demanded more than $3,500 in payment for

“The only thing I can say right now is we are committed to bringing the park back to life.”

— Allen Alsbrooks

the room, Berry bolted, according to a suit filed by Alsbrooks Oct. 4.

But Berry didn’t go far — right down the road to elderly park owner Alaska Presley’s basement.

“Alaska felt bad in the sense that Lamar gave her a sob story about needing a residence, basically again lying and saying the money was coming and he had plenty of money to go somewhere, but he thought it best to stay with her, so out of the kindness of her heart she allowed that to happen,” Kovack said. “Lamar conned her. He’s a professional.”

No good deed, however, goes unpunished.

“She is coherent, but she’s just been manipulated and taken advantage of mentally and emotionally by Mr. Berry,” Kovack said of Presley, who he called a dear friend.

“That’s obvious to the untrained eye,” said Alsbrooks. “He drives her around everywhere, takes her breakfast every morning.

He’s told her that everyone in her circle, her dear friends and family for years, is leaching off her. These are all classical con schemes, classic examples of what people do, and she just doesn’t want to see it. This is a classic case of elder abuse, in my opinion.”

Another off-the-record source with knowledge of Presley’s inner circle confirmed Kovack’s assertion, adding that Berry was trying to “alienate” Presley’s family, who more or less oppose Berry’s involvement in the project.

“He being there was able to consistently be in her ear and hear everything that’s going on, and always having the insight and letting her believe that he truly had money

and he truly was going to produce, the next day, and it just kept going on and on,” said Kovack. “If anyone is the victim, it’s probably going to be Alaska. He is trying to come between the family, the friends of Alaska, he says they’re lying to Alaska, telling her things that are not true so that way she would believe him and give him the opportunity to buy the mountain, not having any money or things of that nature.”

A $52,000 lien alleging non-payment for materials and labor was subsequently filed Oct. 31 by local contractor Clark and Leatherwood against Lula LLC, Presley’s company that still owns the park. New Ghost Town LLC, Ghost Town Adventure Park LLC, Lamar Berry and the Oberles are also named in the lien.

As of Monday, Dec. 3, Berry was still residing in Presley’s basement, and according to Kovack still trying to swing a deal, but as night fell, Berry was said to have left.

“He split town, so now we are trying to find him, find out where he’s going,” said Kovack. “He said to Alaska before he left that he and his attorney were going to go see her attorney, Bob Long [as of press time, the morning of Dec. 4].”

Alsbrooks and Kovack are worried that Berry might somehow convince Presley to sign some sort of lease or agreement that would keep Berry in the picture a little longer.

“That would be our worst nightmare, but I do know that nobody will work with Lamar,” said Kovack. “Lamar cannot be in the picture for this to be successful or for this project to even happen. From experience, Lamar’s not the person we need.”

The experience has also left Kovack sorry he’d brought Berry into the project in the first place.

“I made an honest mistake,” said Kovack. “I believed in him, we all believed in him. Now the facts come out, he is not the person we would want to be in that role whatsoever. Hopefully he just vacates the valley, moves on with his life and hopefully the lawsuits that are coming against him — there’s a large wave heading Lamar’s way as we speak — will stop him from doing this to somebody else. That’s our biggest concern, to make sure he can’t do this again to somebody.”

But if there’s one thing that’s common to the roller-coaster redevelopment efforts at Ghost Town, it’s a never-say-die attitude that already has people lining up for the next goround.

“The only thing I can say right now is we are committed to bringing the park back to life,” Alsbrooks said.

Kovack said he’s also part of that group, which also includes the Oberles.

“We’re asking for support from the public in the valley,” he said. “I personally can’t apologize enough for the actions that occurred. I wish that would’ve went in a different direction, but this makes us all stronger. We’re not giving up, and we’re moving to make this a better place. Plan B is in motion. We’re working with Alaska Presley to hopefully come to close here as fast as possible.”

Berry did not return a call for comment.

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Haywood’s two new commissioners (front, left to right) Tommy Long and Mark Pless are joined by incumbents (rear, left to right) Brandon Rogers, Chairman Kevin Ensley and Kirk Kirkpatrick. Cory Vaillancourt photo

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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER t was fitting that District Court Judge Donna Forga was on hand Dec. 3 to swear in the two new Republican commission members that will give the Haywood Commission, for the next two years at least, a first-ever Republican majority — her father Robert was the first Republican elected to the commission in 1994.

That, according to new Chairman Kevin Ensley, was the first important step from Republicans earning just 28 percent of the vote in 1974 to winning four of the last five available seats on the board.

Ensley went on to congratulate Republican Tommy Long for being the top vote-getter, Democrat Kirk Kirkpatrick for winning his fifth term and becoming probably the longest serving commissioner in Haywood County’s two-century history, and Republican Mark Pless for winning what Ensley thinks is the closest commission race ever — just 43 votes.

“If you think your vote doesn’t matter, think about this,” Ensley said. “In each precinct we have hundreds if not thousands of people, in 28 of the 29 precincts, so if one person had changed their vote from Mark Pless to Michael Sorrells, there would be a different result.”

Commissioners also serve on a variety of boards that both hear from and present recommendations to the board of commissioners, which also approved a new slate of assignments during the meeting.

Long will serve on the Commission for a Clean County, the Fairgrounds Board, the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (with commissioner Rogers) and the Watershed Review Board.

Pless has been named to the Engineering Review Board, the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, the Sediment Control Commission Pless and the VAYA County Commissioner Advisory Board.

Kirkpatrick is responsible for the Downtown Waynesville Association, the Haywood Chamber & Economic Development Council, the Haywood Regional Medical Center Hospital Authority, the Library Board of Trustees and the Tourism Development Authority.

Rogers will represent commissioners on the Haywood County Health & Human Services Agency board, the Local Emergency Planning Committee, Mountain Projects Board of Directors, the Recreation Advisory Board and the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (with Long).

Chairman Kevin Ensley will sit on the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Advisory Committee, the French Broad River Rural Planning Organization Transportation Advisory Committee and the Southwestern Commission, as well as the Haywood Advancement Foundation and the Haywood Community College Strategic Planning Committee — both of which require the commission chair to serve.

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Bethel Rural Community Organization works to preserve the past

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER fter nearly 245 years, Haywood County’s Bethel community remains just a small part of a relatively small county, but the impact the Bethel Rural Community Organization’s had on the area in the last 17 years has been anything but.

“One of the things a community organization should do is collect history, because if nobody’s collecting history, it’s lost,” said Evelyn Coltman, a Bethel native who also serves as BRCO’s Historic Preservation Committee chair. “We decided to capture this history before nobody’s around to tell about it.”

Formed in 2001 after the merger of the Bethel Community Organization and the Pigeon Valley Citizens for Rural Preservation, BRCO achieved nonprofit status in 2006 and since then has carried out a number of activities designed to further its mission of “preserving yesterday, helping today and planning for tomorrow” in Haywood County’s oldest European settlement.

BRCO has received three state history awards from the N.C. Society of Historians for books 1 through 6 of Coltman’s Legends, Tales & History of Cold Mountain, as well as two videos, Walking in the Footsteps of Those Who Came Before Us and From New College to Springdale.

The Dec. 12 release of yet another video, Sunburst and Other Logging Operations in the Bethel & Cold Mountain Region, marks BRCO’s latest contribution to Bethel’s historical record.

“It started five years ago, but it didn’t actually take five years,” said Douglas Chambers, the videographer and editor of the film, which all in all runs more than two hours. “We did the first interview in October 2013, I think. It was all just piling up until February of this year.”

Although the Bethel native admits to being well-steeped in area history, he said he too learned a lot during filming.

“I didn’t know that much about Sunburst, the actual timeline of how stuff happened,” said Chambers, who went through Haywood Community College’s film and video program, as well as Western Carolina University’s. “I knew it used to be there, and I knew it was a big place, but I didn’t know how it started, or the different problems they had, like fires.”

The long-gone logging camp still holds an important place in the collective memory of Haywood County.

“A lot of people don’t realize Sunburst had a lasting impact on the area,” he said.

“There’s a lot of people that moved in here to work there. People came in from all over the place. A lot of their children and grandchildren are here that might not have been here 6 otherwise.”

Smoky Mountain News

December 5-11, 2018

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More than just a memory, though, Sunburst’s impact spanned well beyond Bethel.

“It was built to supply Champion [a century-old pulp mill, in Canton], and had it not been here, Champion might not have had the chance to operate,” said Chambers. “They might not be here now, for all we know. he books and videos produced by BRCO, however, aren’t the first to immortalize the area in print or on the silver screen.

Western North Carolina native Charles Frazier chose Bethel as the home of Inman, the protagonist of his 1997 novel Cold Mountain, which won the National Book Award and sat on the New York Times bestseller list for 61 weeks.

The character is loosely based on Frazier’s great-great grandfather William Pingree Inman, who was born, lived, died and is buried in Bethel.

“There was a lot of national attention,” said Coltman of the book and the 2003 Jude Law-Renee Zellweger film based on the book.

“A lot of people started coming here, wanting to climb Cold Mountain, just because of the name. That allowed us to capture the attention of people who might not be drawn here to become interested in our history.”

Documenting that history through Douglas Chambers Productions, BRCO has also produced a number of audio recordings, including a Cold Mountain driving tour and local Americana group Possum on a Whale’s album, Sunburst Sessions; giclee prints of

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“One of the things a community organization should do is collect history, because if nobody’s collecting history, it’s lost.”

— Evelyn Coltman, Bethel Rural Community Organization member

markers placed in the Bethel area by the state of North Carolina, but not everything BRCO does is confined to dusty old diaries and yellowed photographs.

BRCO provides dental, vision and housing assistance throughout the community, a Christmas fund for needy children and a food pantry; it supports local fire departments and the sheriff ’s office as well.

“A lot of people still need those things, and we want to give back to the community which has enabled us to exist and do things to make their lives easier,” said BRCO’s headquarters sits next to the historic Bethel Presbyterian Coltman.

Not solely Church on Sonoma Road in Bethel. Cory Vaillancourt photo focused on the past notable Bethel locations like Inman’s Chapel or the present, BRCO also strives to ensure and the Cathey mill are also available for pur- that despite Haywood County’s recent, rapid development — especially on the eastern end chase from BRCO. Today, BRCO’s annual budget of roughly of the county — something of Bethel will $35,000 comes partly from the sales of those remain for future generations to enjoy.

“It’s actually the mother Presbyterian products, as well as from holding its biggest yearly fundraiser, the oldest half-marathon in Church of Haywood County,” Coltman said of the Bethel Presbyterian Church, which the state.

Other projects have included a historic serves as BRCO’s headquarters. “Robert Love marker program to supplement the four [founder of Waynesville], it was his church.

He travelled over the mountain to attend that church.”

The congregation dates to the 1830s, and the most modern part of Bethel Presbyterian was added in 1964, but the sanctuary dates to 1885. It was given to BRCO only this year, but the group has had a beautification committee dedicated to maintaining it for some time now.

“We’ve made a lot of upgrades, painted the whole facility, repaired the roof, the furnace,” she said. “But we haven’t changed anything in the sanctuary. It’s perfect.”

Preservation-oriented projects even extend to the land itself — BRCO works with local environmental nonprofit Haywood Waterways Association to protect the area’s creeks and rivers, promotes sustainable agriculture and protects the pastoral setting from which Bethel derives so much of its identity.

“Farmland is disappearing at a rapid rate throughout the country,” said Coltman, who also produced the Sunburst film. “We still have to feed ourselves, but there is still something about the rural landscape that is emotionally fulfilling and we want to continue to promote that as long as we are able.”

The Sunburst film won’t be the last produced by BRCO, either. Chambers said work has already begun on documenting area schools — “the little red schoolhouse type of thing” — and Coltman said that she’s eyeing a project on Native American sites in the area of Garden Creek where settlements dating back 10,000 years have been discovered.

Sunburst — a short history

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in the American South after the Civil War made the going tough for Lenoir, whose daughters sold the logging rights in 1920 to Thomas Broyhill, owner of the still-thriving Broyhill Furniture brand.

Broyhill and partner Dellis Dolliver’s Dolliver Lumber Company also had a contract to supply chestnut wood to the Champion Fibre Company, based in Canton some 16 miles to the north.

It was Champion’s near-insatiable demand for wood products that led owner Peter G. Thompson to begin purchasing about 40,000 acres of timberland in what would become Sunburst around 1905.

A sawmill sprang up near where the Sunburst campground stands today off N.C. 215, followed by small community of about 500 people, a few dozen homes and a community center of sorts that served as a church, school, store, office, dance hall, skating rink and banquet room.

Bad roads and steep inclines made

— Douglas Chambers, videographer

before Thanksgiving in 1925 scorched 25,000 acres and left smoldering stumps that resembled tombstones and resulted in the name Graveyard Fields.

In 1926, the mill was disassembled and moved to where Waynesville Plaza is today.

Sunburst’s post office closed in 1928, and in 1929, Robertson on behalf of Champion bought the land to create a reservoir. The dam was completed in 1932 and created a lake named after Thompson’s son, Logan.

Nestled in a narrow, sparsely-populated valley, Lake Logan became an idyllic retreat for Champion’s employees and guests, and even featured a small airstrip to accommodate them.

The entire area was purchased in 2000 by the Episcopal Church, and is home to a camp, a conference center and the annual Cold Mountain Music festival.

Sunburst film to be released on DVD Dec. 12 The Bethel Rural Community Organization’s latest historical documentary, Sunburst and Other Logging Operations in the Bethel & Cold Mountain Region, features more than two hours of photos, narration and interviews with area residents, historians and even some who lived at the isolated logging village during its heyday more than a hundred years ago.

Twenty people appear in the film, including Lorna Ashe, Phyllis Barnett, Wayne Carson, Rose Earnest, Horace M. Green, Zac Guy, Cheryl Haney, Danny Heatherly, Harold Heatherly, Carroll Jones, Gerald Ledford, Mike McLean, Susan Merrill, Ann Melton, Lewis Oats, Jr., Bruce Pace, Pat and Sam Powell, and Mark and Maude Rogers. Local Americana group Possum on a Whale provides the 14-track score for the film, which is also available as a standalone album called Sunburst Sessions.

Produced by Evelyn Coltman, the film was shot and edited by Douglas Chambers of Douglas Chambers Productions and sponsored by Carol Litchfield, Evergreen Packaging, Blue Rooster Southern Grill, Lake Logan Conference Center, Peak Dentistry, Nancy Armstrong/Jim Lynn, Evelyn and Richard Coltman and Maria and Carroll Jones.

Sunburst and Other Logging Operations in the Bethel & Cold Mountain Region will be available beginning Wednesday, Dec. 12 at Blue Ridge Books, on the BRCO website at www.bethelrural.org or by phone at 828.648.3226.

Smoky Mountain News

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER t was a struggle from the start — getting in, getting people and supplies up and getting the lumber down — but the mostly-forgotten century-old logging camp now hidden beneath the placid waters of Lake Logan in southeastern Haywood County still casts a long shadow on the area and its inhabitants.

Rugged and mountainous Haywood County has long been home to thickly-forested tracts that once stretched as far as the eye could see, which led the area’s first European settlers to set up small, family-run sawmills not long after their arrival in the late 1700s.

Among the earliest was that of Jeremiah Reece, who constructed and operated the first hydro-powered sawmill in the state, if not the entire Southeast, off Queen’s creek near modern-day Lake Logan.

Then there was Thomas Isaac Lenoir’s sawmill in Cruso; the economic devastation

“A lot of people don’t realize Sunburst had a lasting impact on the area.

There’s a lot of people that moved in here to work there. People came in from all over the place.”

December 5-11, 2018

Cory Vaillancourt photo

news

The first sawmill at Sunburst was located not far from where this sign is today.

removing the wood that was harvested a grueling ordeal even under the best of weather conditions, and a planned log flume didn’t have the physics behind it to function properly, so in 1906 Thompson founded the Pigeon River Railway Company and began right-of-way acquisition.

At that same time, Champion Fibre was ramping up construction at its Canton pulp mill, but a financial panic in 1907 slowed railroad construction.

Thompson’s daughter Hope had by then married a man by the name of Reuben B. Robertson, who Thompson sent from the company’s Hamilton, Ohio, headquarters to Canton on a 50-day assignment to whip the whole operation into shape, but he ended up staying 50 years.

Not long after he arrived, he tired of fooling around with the ancillary harvesting and railroad transportation businesses the mill was then operating, so both were sold — along with the village of Sunburst and its mill — to a new entity called the Champion Lumber Company.

Champion Lumber moved the whole operation 4 miles upstream to a new settlement that retained the old Sunburst name.

Old Sunburst was from then on known as Spruce.

The new Sunburst, or “bastard Sunburst,” as inhabitants of Spruce took to calling it, included a barbershop, boarding house, church, commissary, general store, three schools and 40-room hotel. Many residents had electricity, indoor plumbing and telephones — luxuries for the time.

At its peak, the Sunburst steam-powered double band mill had the capability to produce 160,000 to 180,000 board feet of lumber each day, although few days it exceeded 250,000, especially as the defense industry’s demand during World War I — airplanes and smaller naval vessels were still mostly made of light, strong spruce at the time — increased.

African Americans were also lured to the area by the promise of good-paying jobs and relative equality in an unequal world.

Business eventually diminished after WWI, and a 1922 arson all but put an end to industrial-scale logging in the area, which limped along until another fire the day

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news

Challenges of providing indigent defense Pay for court-appointed lawyers remains stagnant

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR nder the Sixth Amendment every criminal defendant has a constitutional right to legal representation — and if you can’t afford a lawyer, you have the right to have one provided by the state.

Seems cut and dry on paper, but it’s never that simple in practice. As the North Carolina General Assembly continues to look for ways to save money, it’s often the judicial branch and indigent defense that quietly absorbs budget cuts.

Communities are now starting to feel the brunt of budget cuts made by legislators back in 2011. One of those cuts included rolling back the hourly rate for court-appointed lawyers contracted through the state to represent indigent defendants. While those lawyers were once making $75 an hour for district court cases, now they are only making $55 an hour, and that rate has not increased.

Meanwhile the cost of living and caseloads for public defenders have increased substantially during that time.

According to data from the Indigent Defense Office of North Carolina, indigent defense costs increased 168 percent between 1989 and 1999 while caseloads increased by 90 percent. Capital defense costs rose 338 percent during the same time period.

Looking for another way to stabilize the volatile costs of indigent defense, the legislature implemented a pilot program in mid2017 requiring six counties — including Macon — to operate on a flat-fee schedule for public defenders instead of the hourly rate schedule. Instead of the average state reimbursement of $543 for lawyers defending Class A-D felonies, the flat fee would be $400 no matter how many hours the lawyer spends on the case. DWI cases were paid $300 and child welfare cases paid $500.

Macon County lawyers warned that the pilot program would not save money and would also cause lawyers to remove their names from the court-appointed lists, which is what has happened.

Tom Maher, executive director of the state Office of Indigent Defense Services, said Chief District Court Judge Richard Walker requested to opt Macon County out of the program and a final decision should be made soon. Maher said the main reason was that lawyers did drop off the court-appointed lists in Macon, particularly those willing to take on child welfare cases that tend to take more time.

Being a court-appointed lawyer in the 30th Judicial District, which includes the seven most western counties in the state, comes with its unique challenges because of its sparse and rural geographic location.

Smoky Mountain News

December 5-11, 2018

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PUBLIC SERVICE Unlike many judicial districts that have 8 full-time public defenders that are paid

salaries by the state, the 30th Judicial relies on private attorneys making time to participate on the court-appointed list. They can choose which types of cases they want to take and what counties they want to serve.

So what lawyers are likely to volunteer working District Court cases for $55 an hour when the typical hourly rate for a lawyer in the region is $150 to $300 an hour? Well, it could be a lawyer who just passed the bar looking to gain some court experience. It could also be a lawyer looking to scale back their practice toward retirement. But most will tell you that they see it as part of their job as a lawyer — sort of like community service that everyone is expected to perform during their career.

Jim Moore of Waynesville has done three different stints on the court-appointed list since he first started practicing law in 1986 in between working in private practice and as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office.

“It’s not necessarily for the money. With private practice, I can make a lot more doing that, but it’s not cheap either — it’s still a paycheck,” Moore said.

“But my wife (also a lawyer) and I are socially conscious people, and it’s important for us to give back to the community. Every person in the Jim Moore court system, even if they can’t afford one, it’s important for them to get as good representation as they can.”

His latest stint started up again in 2015. He chooses to take on misdemeanors, traffic and most felonies in Haywood, Jackson and Danya Vanhook Swain counties and the Qualla Boundary.

“Currently I take all kinds of criminal cases except murder — I’m qualified to do it but choose not to because murder cases take on a life of their own and it can be so intensive that it could hinder my private practice in other areas,” he said.

Danya Vanhook, who took over as the 30th District Judicial Bar Association president on Tuesday, has spent nine of her 15 years as a lawyer on the court-appointed list.

She’s also spent six years in public service law as a District Court judge, a child welfare attorney for Buncombe and Graham County DSS, domestic violence and poverty law attorney for Legal Aid of N.C., and law clerk to a U.S. magistrate judge.

She is currently signed up to take on criminal felony, misdemeanor and traffic matters, child welfare cases, juvenile criminal cases, child support matters and matters before the clerk of court such as legitimations and guardianships in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties.

“I have a strong commitment to public service as you can see in the ways I’ve chosen to give back to my local community with my law degree,” she said.

CHALLENGES Managing the volume of people moving through the court system right now is probably the biggest challenge lawyers have, whether they’re on the prosecution or the defense side.

“I was in the DA’s office not long ago talking to prosecutors and we were both lamenting about how we had as many cases already in 2018 as we did in all of 2017 with three months to go in the year — it’s difficult,” Moore said. “I try as hard as I can to represent all my clients to the best of my ability and there’s a lot of them. Recently more people are being charged with multiple crimes and I’m confident it’s mostly drug-related.”

Indeed, an increase in drug-related crime has been on the rise, causing overcrowded jails and a backlogged court system. People who can’t afford to make bond can sit in jail for weeks or months waiting for a court date only to have the case continued for another month.

Aside from high volumes, court-appointed lawyers have to find time to go visit their clients in jail if they weren’t able to get released on bail before their court date. IDS recommends that court-appointed lawyers meet with their clients within two days of being assigned, particularly if they are in jail.

Finding time to go visit clients in jail during the day can be difficult when a lawyer might be stuck in court all day in another county.

Moore said he is often at the jail early in the morning before court starts at 9 a.m. or there after 5 p.m. visiting his clients to make sure he stays in touch with them. He could call them on the phone but doesn’t feel comfortable doing so since all phone calls coming through the jail are recorded and monitored.

“I try to get to people within 48 hours in jail to give them idea of how cases are handled — I don’t want them to have to wait for weeks,” Moore said. “The issue I have with going to the jail — because I have so many cases in so many different courts I can have three to four courts to get to in one day in four counties — so I can’t see them during

the day. I go see them at night or early morning or even holidays because you have to make the time.”

Vanhook says she makes every effort to meet with her clients in jail within the twoday period so she can find out what kind of bond they can make and ask the DA for a bond reduction, but what she’s found is that a vast majority can’t make any bond.

“If they can make bond, they are out well before we can get there to speak to them.

Once a client is out on bond, we may not hear from them until their court date, if they appear for their court date,” she said. “Of course, there are some conscientious clients who do want to remain in touch and involved with their cases even when they are not incarcerated, but this is rare. We hear the most complaints from clients who cannot make their bond because they have a lot of time on their hands while incarcerated.”

As Moore mentioned, the volume of indigent clients is way up and it’s creating a backlogged court system. With an increase in drug addiction and a lack of mental health and rehabilitation resources in the region, many of the same people are cycling in and out of the jails. These same people are being labeled as habitual felons for drug-related crimes and serving longer sentences.

“Habitual felons charged with trafficking and drugs and sex offenses — they don’t move that quickly through the system and most of the time are in jail so they can’t come see you. You have to go see them to effectively represent them and that’s getting harder and harder to do under the current system,” Moore said.

Vanhook said the challenges of a retained case versus a court-appointed case are much the same.

“I’m representing someone through quite possibly the worst experience of their life. I’m not only a lawyer, I’m a counselor, advocate, therapist, cheerleader and often a friend,” she said. “I’m the one they are looking to to tell them what decision is best for them based on my legal experience and life experience. It can be a tough burden

for me to bear for so many folks, but I was born to do this.”

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IDS expenses 2016-17

magistrate judge recently recommended that a federal district court judge order the North Carolina Department of Public Safety to provide universal testing and treatment for Hepatitis C, the most deadly infectious disease in the U.S., to all people who are incarcerated in state prisons.

Magistrate Judge Joe L. Webster issued a 33-page opinion to U.S. District Judge William Osteen recommending that the court grant a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s current policy, which denies medically necessary, lifesaving treatment to many incarcerated people who suffer from the deadly disease.

North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services and the ACLU of North Carolina filed a federal class-action lawsuit in June on behalf of three people who are incarcerated, arguing that the state’s denial of medical service violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

“By providing universal testing and treatment for the deadliest infectious disease in the country, North Carolina prisons will not only meet the current standards of medical care — they will also help combat a

A

major public health crisis,” said Dan Siegel, staff attorney for North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services. “The vast majority of people who are incarcerated will one day reenter the community, and medical experts have made it clear that the best way to combat the Hepatitis C epidemic is to screen and provide treatment to as many people — both inside and outside prison walls — as quickly as possible.”

“We are glad that the magistrate judge recognized the extreme and cruel harm North Carolina’s policy is causing to tens of thousands of people who are all at high risk of contracting this disease because they are in state prisons, as well as the broader community,” said Emily Seawell, staff attorney for the ACLU of North Carolina. “We hope the district court affirms this recommendation so that officials will begin screening everyone incarcerated by the state and provide this lifesaving treatment without delay.”

Hepatitis C is the most deadly infectious disease in the U.S., killing more Americans than the next 60 infectious diseases combined. North Carolina does not provide universal testing for Hepatitis C for all people incarcerated, even though the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and the Infectious Diseases Society of America recommend doing so. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that as many as one third of all people incarcerated in the U.S. suffer from the contagious disease. If left untreated, Hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer, portal hypertension, painful symptoms and death.

What Are Cannabinoids?

Cannabinoids are a group of closely related compunds that act on cannbinoid receptors in the body, unique to cannabis (or hemp). The body creates compounds called endocannabinoids, while hemp produces phytocannabinoids, notably cannabidiol.

Cannabinoids is traditionally used for pain, sleep, and fibermyalgia.

Alzheimer’s Migraines Asthma Breast Cancer

Diabetes Crohn’s Disease

The Endocannabinoid System is perhaps the most important physiologic systerm involved in establishing and maintaining human health. Although the endocannabinoid system affects a wide variety of biological processes, experts believe that its overall function is to regulate homeostasis.

Smoky Mountain News

Prostate Cancer Menstrual Cancer

CBD has traditionally been used for: Anxiety/Depression Seizures Pain/Fibromyalgia Nausea/Vomiting Sleep Tremors PTSD ADHD/ADD Autism

December 5-11, 2018

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ACLU files suit against state for ADA violations

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“The court-appointed lawyer that would be appearing for the inmates on that day would be on a special contract to represent all inmates that day only as to bond, not as to ETTER SYSTEM the underlying case. The client would get There’s a lot of talk about criminal justice their own court-appointed lawyer for his or reform among legislators of both parties — her individual case,” Vanhook said. “It’s a and bipartisan reform has been accom- new program and I’m confident Judge Letts plished in other states, including New Jersey knows what our District needs and will adapt and improve the program as we go.” and Georgia.

Through IDS, Maher said first appearance One question many people have asked is why the 30th Judicial District doesn’t have full- lawyers would be contracted for the program time public defenders like larger, urban areas. and paid $60 an hour with a minimum of two And if we did have a public defender’s office, hours of pay for the day they are assigned.

“Five lawyers would be ideal to cover would it improve the situation? Vanhook says every day of court in Haywood — maybe two it wouldn’t work in the rural district.

“Geographically speaking, a public or three in Jackson,” he said. “If we get defender’s office is not feasible, nor would it enough time to collect data during the probe a wise use of our tax dollars. Our private, gram, we might be able to work out a noncourt-appointed attorney system is working hourly monthly payment, which might be well,” she said. “The 30th Judicial District Bar more appealing to lawyers.”

Maher is also working to get the legislature to increase the hourly rate for court-appointed lawyers, but even returnAttorney fees Appointment fees Total ing to $75 an hour would Haywood $57,142.33 $10,229.86 $67,372.19 barely cover the rate of Jackson $36,706.59 $5,020.94 $41,727.53 inflation.

Macon $35,769.43 $4,582.52 $40,351.95 “These rates of pay Swain $14,766.85 $2,345.65 $17,112.50 are woefully inadequate,” Vanhook said. has excellent court-appointed lawyers. We’ve “NC Office of Indigent Defense Services did a always had the ethic as a Bar that the best and study where they examined all of our expensbrightest of our attorneys should serve on the es and overhead as a court-appointed attorcourt-appointed list at some point in their ney. After taking out what it takes to run our careers. The wiser and more experienced businesses, we make about $8 an hour — attorneys do a wonderful job of mentoring just above minimum wage.” the younger attorneys. We don’t have a shortage in this district, but we are overworked UDICIAL BUDGET and underpaid.”

“I don’t think having a public defender In 2015, North Carolina Supreme Court system in our county would change that — Chief Justice Mark Martin warned the the numbers would still be there,” Moore General Assembly about the potential conseagreed. “We don’t stop crime — we can only quences of continued cuts to the judicial represent them once they’ve committed a branch of government. During his State of crime. Prosecutors have the same problem — the Judiciary speech, Martin pointed out that they’re overworked and understaffed as well.” the state’s $464 million judicial system budgThere’s hope that another state pilot pro- et represented less than a third of Wake gram may ease some of the burden for court- County public schools’ budget. appointed lawyers in the district and create a The 2016-17 appropriated judiciary more fair and efficient judicial system. budget was $485 million and expenditures Superior Court Judge Brad Letts is heading have already surpassed $487 million. up a pretrial release program that will focus Appropriations for IDS in 2016 was $116 milon granting more unsecured bonds for low- lion and expenditures are already over $126 level, non-violent offenders. million.

“I certainly hope the program is successThe National Center for State Courts comful. We had a pretrial release program prior pleted a state-by-state court comparison in to this and it worked well,” Moore said. “It’s 2013 that showed North Carolina had not in existence anymore because the legisla- decreased court funding 1 to 4 percent in the ture decided to defund it. But we’re paying past couple of years while a majority of other for it either way — it was a state funded pro- state budgets remained the same or increased. gram before and now counties are having to While half of the states reported that pay for it.” recent budget challenges had no impact on The program is aimed at reducing the the delivery of court services, the other half amount of time people are incarcerated pretrial reported that reductions had resulted in and moving people more quickly through the reduced service to the public; limited access to court system. The program will need a small court services; and delays and backlogs in the group of private lawyers in Haywood and system. North Carolina’s report specifically Jackson counties willing to serve as first appear- said that the 2013 budget did not enable the ance representation for defendants. While they courts to provide and enhance necessary techhave to dedicate at least one day a week to nology to meet the demands of the public. preparing clients for first appearances, it does“The North Carolina courts are in a worse n’t require them to represent those same clients position than in Fiscal Year 2009 to provide throughout the entire court process. access and timely justice,” the report stated.

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Haywood Meme lawsuit escalates with arrival of First Amendment attorneys

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER onths ago, just after he finished mopping the floor with pro se defendant Eddie Cabe, Haywood County attorney Rusty McLean said, “You should always have a lawyer.”

Apparently, someone heard him.

“We’re very happy to be able to provide services pro bono to those who have a viable First Amendment defense to these claims and otherwise would not be able to afford high-quality legal representation,” said Nicole Ligon, supervising attorney of and lecturing fellow for the First Amendment Clinic at Duke Law. Funded by the Stanton Foundation — founded by longtime CBS president and free speech advocate Frank Stanton — the First Amendment Clinic at Duke Law seems tailor-made for the matter of Debbie King v.

Eddie Cabe, the only remaining defendant in a high-profile case stemming from a bitter feud between members of Haywood County’s Republican Party and a splinter faction known as the Haywood Republican Alliance.

“One of the real problems in the American system of law is that we have many wonderful legal rules and principles,

December 5-11, 2018

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but if you don’t have competent legal representation, a lot of times you can’t successfully invoke those,” said H. Jefferson Powell, professor of law and director of the First Amendment Clinic at Duke Law. “You’re at a real disadvantage.”

The clinic works on local, state and federal cases and also files Amicus briefs before the Supreme Court; its advocacy stretches into perspectives on campus speech and freedom of the press, but Powell said its most high-profile client is currently a man named Russell Beckman, who filed a First Amendment-related pro se action against the NFL’s Chicago Bears earlier this year.

“Our client has [Chicago Bears] season tickets and various other perks that he of course pays for, but he’s a Packers fan,” he said. “When the Bears play the Packers he wants to wear his Packers regalia to the pregame warm-up on the field that he’s allowed to participate in, and the Bears have a rule — they created a rule — saying you can’t do that.”

On Nov. 28 Powell and four others filed appearances in the case of King v. Cabe. He said they’d heard about the matter from North Carolina Press Association attorney Amanda Martin, who briefly represented others in the Feb. 6 suit alleging Plaintiff

Debbie King had suffered “emotional psychological distress, embarrassment, humiliation, physical disability, loss of appetite [and] stress” after parody images — “memes” — hit social media and eventually lapel buttons.

Named in that suit were defendants Eddie Cabe, Jeremy Davis, and HRA Treasurer Richard West, but West was tossed a few weeks ago, Davis unexpectedly passed away months ago, and King opted not to pursue the matter with Davis’ estate.

That left only Cabe, who attempted to go

A parody image is at the heart of Debbie King’s lawsuit. SMN photo

it alone and on June 15 saw more than twodozen of his motions struck down by Superior Court Presiding Judge Greg Horne.

“From our perspective Mr. Cabe is not somebody who is in a good position to go to D.C. and get a first-rank lawyer,” Powell said.

“He’s the kind of person we want to be helping.”

The crux of Cabe’s case is a nuanced debate over what constitutes misappropriation in North Carolina, and how the First Amendment protects political speech. King is a vice-chair of the HCGOP, and the mockery stemmed from bad blood between the HRA and HCGOP. “This is precisely what the First Amendment is about — political dispute.

When disputes arise, what Americans do is they argue with one another, they criticize one another, they attack one another, they state their different positions, and that’s the whole system working as it’s supposed to,” said Powell. “Interjecting the law into it in the sense where somebody tries to go to court over a political dispute is, number one, not really the American way of doing politics. We fight our politics in the political realm. Number two, it is what the First Amendment, as a general matter, forbids.”

The only remaining claim against Cabe is misappropriation of King’s image; the misappropriation tort recognized by North Carolina involves making money from that image and according to Powell, it’s not certain that happened.

“So our position is that [King] doesn’t have a claim under North

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Park hosts Christmas Past Program

The I-40 West N.C. Welcome Center will close starting Monday, Dec. 3.

N.C. Dept. of Transportation plans a major construction project for the site, which includes both the building and grounds; projected reopening is July 31. The staff at the I-40 West will relocate to the Haywood County Visitors Center in Maggie Valley in the meantime, to continue servicing visitors to the state.

This year, to help raise money for Shop with a Cop, the Macon County Sheriff Office Women’s auxiliary will be hosting the first annual Christmas Gift Wrapping Station from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 22, at the Robert C. Carpenter Community Building on the Georgia Road.

Each year, the Macon County Sheriff’s Office joins forces with emergency service departments from across Western North Carolina for the annual Shop with a Cop event.

The event has grown to see more than 400 children served annually. Funds for the event are donated from the community and are the result of fundraising activities all year long. With each child receiving a $100 gift card, the event cost more than $40,000 to become a reality.

Santa will also be stopping by and will be taking pictures for a donation to Shop with a Cop.

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Healthy Holidays Ahead It’s important not to neglect our health and fitness during the holidays.

Make time to be active. The busier we are, the more important it is to make time for exercise. Schedule at least 30 minutes each day to go for a walk, take an exercise class, lift weights, do sit-ups and push-ups or get to the gym.

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Eat mindfully. Don’t eat until you’re stuffed, stop eating when you’re satisfied. Tempted by a delicious dessert or a special side dish? Don’t deny yourself, have a bite but think about enjoying and savoring it slowly. Can you take it home and save it until later? Share it with a friend or loved one?

2

Think about what you drink. Some of the calories we are more likely to forget about ones that come in a cup, can, or a glass. High calorie drinks like alcoholic beverages, egg nog, sweetened sodas or sweet tea, and sweetened coffee drinks can add a lot of additional calories to our meals. Limit those types of beverages and have water instead.

3

Keep it Clean. Wash your hands before you eat and after you use the restroom. Cover your mouth when you cough. Stay home if you’re sick so you don’t make others sick.

4

Get some rest. Turn off the TV and other screens and get to bed.

A good night’s sleep will help your immune system and getting an appropriate amount of sleep may also help you maintain a healthy weight.

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Smoky Mountain News

I-40 Welcome Center relocating

Fundraiser planned for Shop with a Cop

Authorized Motor Fleet Management Maintenance

December 5-11, 2018

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will host the annual Festival of Christmas Past celebration from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at Sugarlands Visitor Center. The event, sponsored in cooperation with Great Smoky Mountains Association, is free to the public.

The festival will include mountain music, traditional shape note singing, mountain craft demonstrations, and a living history walk.

Visitors can experience these traditions through hands-on activities including make-and-take craft stations. Hot apple cider will also be served throughout the day.

The popular Christmas Memories Walk will be held at 11:30 a.m. Costumed interpreters will lead a short walk from the visitor center and talk about life in the mountains during the holidays. Through this living history program, visitors will experience the spirit of the season in the mountains during the early days.

Sugarlands Visitor Center is located on Newfound Gap Road, two miles south of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

The Welcome Center will be closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. To contact the I-40 West NC Welcome Center, call 828.627.6206, as the phone number remains the same, or contact Manager Mary Ann Teague at mteague@nccommerce.com.

DOT plans to upgrade several aspects of the Welcome Center building, as necessary, such as roofing, replacing windows, doors and other interior improvements, to maintain a safe and inviting environment for everyone. It will be enhancing the landscape, adding attractive décor such as waterfalls at the entrance of the buildings.

Additionally, it will improve the parking options by working on easier accessibility to the Welcome Center and enhancing the sidewalks. NCDOT will also conduct major work inside the Rest Area building, including new restrooms.

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, INC.

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the great things about this kind of case is that it’s a wonderful opportunity for young people who are in the process of becoming lawyers to have a chance to really be on the inside of it.”

And if at first they don’t succeed, the case could drag on and grow to an even more substantial level, per Powell.

“The judge has to make the judge’s decision, and in no way are we questioning that that is the judge’s role to undertake, but we think this suit is one that really needed to go away,” he said. “If necessary, we will litigate this until that is established by judicial decision.”

Cabe, con“This is precisely what the First Amendment tacted Dec. 2, said he welis about — political dispute. comed the assis— H. Jefferson Powell, First Amendment Clinic at Duke Law tance and thought it would be helpful, but showed no shortage of the fuel that started the case, Joe Bianco, Michael Fisher, Luke the fire in the first place.

Morgan and Bryant Wright, are all third“I think it just proves that this is a First year law students.

Amendment issue, and that the only thing “The North Carolina State Bar has a that the HCGOP wants to do is operate off very good rule that allows you to be certiof greed and political revenge,” he said. fied and practice law under the supervision “The worst mistake I ever made was volunof members of the bar, so our student teering for the HCGOP and the hundred lawyer members of the clinic are part of times they called me asking me to come in, this,” said Powell. “From the standpoint of I wished I’d hung up the phone.”

Duke Law School and the state bar, one of Carolina tort law, and if she had a claim,” he said, “that would run straightforwardly into the First Amendment.”

Should it come to that, Ligon, who did not file an appearance in the case, seemed confident that Cabe would prevail.

“The First Amendment protects somebody’s ability criticize those who they don’t agree with and certainly here, the speech issue was within the confines of First Amendment protections,” she said. “We feel very strongly that we will be victorious in asserting that as a legal defense.”

The other four who filed appearances in

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Lambert not giving up on future run for chief

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER atrick Lambert was removed from office following a controversial impeachment process in 2017, but with the 2019 election season underway he’s saying that the impeachment shouldn’t stop him from running again.

Cherokee’s election ordinance contains a law stating that anybody who has been impeached by Tribal Council is barred from candidacy, which would seem to mean that Lambert could never run again unless the impeachment verdict should be somehow overturned. However, Lambert pointed out that the tribe’s Charter and Governing Document, which occupies a similar place in tribal law as the U.S. Constitution does in federal law, also lays out qualifications and disqualifications for office, and in that list impeachment is not mentioned.

In Lambert’s view, the charter, like the U.S. Constitution, lays out a basic set of rights for citizens and a framework for government.

Because the stipulations in the charter don’t take away his right to run, an ordinance shouldn’t be able to do so, he said — the charter is the highest law of the land, and an ordinance can’t override it.

“Think of the constitution as being the floor. States can pass laws that give people more rights, but they can’t go below that floor and give people less rights,” said Lambert, who is a member of the N.C. Bar. “The constitution guarantees people certain inalienable rights, and those rights must be adhered to.

The states can add more rights to you, but they can’t take rights away from you. I think of the charter as being in the same light, as being our ‘constitution,’ our governing document.”

That may be, but the charter contains a clause that gives Tribal Council the power to “adopt laws and regulations for the general government of the Tribe.” In other words, the charter doesn’t contain all the laws necessary to run a government, so Tribal Council has the power to flesh out that legal framework to serve the needs of the tribe.

In fact, the tribe has a whole section of code dealing with elections, more than 11,000 words in all covering everything from voter registration to election board procedures. Tribal Council is in the midst of an overhaul of that code that will likely yield even more volume.

The question, then, is not whether Tribal Council can make laws about elections but whether the law in question overrides what is already spelled out in the charter.

At fewer than 2,000 words — just 25 percent longer than this story — the charter is a relatively short document considering that it’s attempting to outline an entire government, so there is much that it leaves unaddressed; hence the clause giving Tribal

Patrick Lambert speaks to his supporters in front of the Cherokee Council House after Tribal Council voted to remove him from office in May 2017.

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Former chief alleges law disqualifying impeached officials is invalid

Holly Kays photo

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impeachment. One hearing dealt with whether Rob Saunooke, the attorney who had represented Tribal Council in the impeachment, should be allowed to practice law in Cherokee — he is licensed in Florida but not in North Carolina, as Cherokee law requires.

The second hearing dealt with a motion to dismiss Lambert’s lawsuit claiming that the impeachment process had violated his due process rights.

While the court did release a ruling May 1 banning Saunooke from practicing law in Cherokee, it has yet to rule on the second part of that March 29 dual hearing determining whether Lambert’s suit can move forward.

The lawsuit holds the potential for the impeachment to be found to be invalid, which would free up Lambert to run again even under the existing ordinance.

The clock is ticking to amend the election ordinance, because it can’t be changed during an election year. Any changes would have to be approved by the end of the year.

Tribal Council is currently in the midst of revamping its election ordinance, and the current draft is scheduled for a vote Dec. 6. A look at the document shows that Tribal Council is not operating with the same assumptions as Lambert when it comes to how the ordinance and the charter should relate to each other.

Rather than taking away disqualifications for office so that the code mirrors the charter, the proposed ordinance adds two disqualifications. According to the draft document, being more than 90 days in default of a debt to the tribe or failing to meet residency requirements would disqualify somebody from running.

Attorney General Mike McConnell and Principal Chief Richard Sneed both declined to comment for this story. Sneed has already announced his candidacy for the chief ’s office in 2019, as have Teresa McCoy and Missy Crowe.

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Smoky Mountain News

invalid and pass legislation to repeal them — conveniently, the body is expected to vote on a revised election ordinance at its next meeting on Thursday, Dec. 6. If that doesn’t work, Lambert could start a petition to put a referendum question on the ballot asking voters whether they’re in favor of repealing the law.

Alternatively, Lambert could file a lawsuit asking the courts to strike down the law.

According to Lambert, none of this talk is because he has a “burning personal desire” to serve as chief again. Rather, he said, it’s because tribal members ask him on a daily basis whether he’s running again.

“If I’m not wanted and people don’t want me I accept that, but to have a handful of political people decide that is what I find so wrong and what I have difficulty getting beyond,” he said.

Lambert, who was elected principal chief in 2015 with 71 percent of the vote, was removed from office in May 2017 after nine of the 12 council members sitting at the time found him guilty on eight of 12 charges. The articles of impeachment were adopted on the same day that FBI agents raided the Qualla Housing Authority, part of an investigation that resulted when Lambert sent that agency the results of an incriminating audit he’d had done on Qualla Housing.

Six of the 12 councilmembers sat on the Qualla Housing Authority board; Lambert consistently maintained that he was innocent of any wrongdoing and that the impeachment was merely retribution for his efforts to expose corruption in tribal government. Of the 1,140 people who voted at a Grand Council Lambert called in April 2017, 84 percent wanted to stop the impeachment.

While Lambert has been out of office for nearly as long as he was in it, the legal fallout of the impeachment is still ongoing. On March 29, the Cherokee Supreme Court held a dual hearing on matters related to the

December 5-11, 2018

Council the power to make additional laws and regulations.

However, one area in which the charter is very clear is what makes a person eligible or ineligible to run for office. Section 9 of the charter states that candidates for chief and vice chief must be at least 35 years old by Election Day and have resided on Cherokee lands for at least two years immediately before Election Day. Section 17 goes on to say that anybody who has defrauded the tribe, helped anyone else defraud the tribe or been convicted of a felony will be ineligible to run.

Taken together, those sections comprise 10 percent of the charter’s word count.

“Can an ordinance override the charter?

And everything I’ve ever known about law and our tribe, the answer is no,” said Lambert. “If it spells out the qualifications as well as the disqualifications, then I should be allowed to run.”

Lambert’s detractors would likely point out that he should also be ineligible from the standpoint that anybody who has defrauded the tribe is disqualified. The impeachment articles contended that Lambert illegally entered his hotel into a profitable contract with the tribe and unlawfully racked up legal expenses, billed to the tribe, before his inauguration. However, Lambert pointed out, while the majority of Tribal Council voted to convict him he was never charged with any crime, much less convicted.

“If they knew that I had violated law and the prosecutors or anyone else — whether that’s tribal or federal — thought there was a valid case there and they could prosecute me for doing something illegal or wrong, they certainly would have,” he said. “I wouldn’t be sitting here a free man.”

If Lambert wants his name on the ballot, however, one of three things will have to happen. Tribal Council could agree with him that the ordinance’s additional restrictions are

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Casino profits set records Tribal members receive highest-ever per capita distribution

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ribal members received the largest per capita distribution ever released from casino profits when payments of $7,007 were released Monday, Dec. 3, bringing the yearly distribution for 2018 to $12,559 before taxes.

In an Oct. 31 statement announcing the distribution, Principal Chief Richard Sneed called the record-setting payment “a testament to leadership and strong financial and operational management.”

The money comes from Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos, with locations in Cherokee and Murphy. Harrah’s manages the casinos and the tribe receives the profits — half of those profits fund tribal operations and half are distributed between tribal members as per capita payments.

“The way that translates into per capita is extremely impactful to the individual members of this tribe,” said Brian Saunooke, regional vice president of marketing for Harrah’s. “However, the overall tribal distribution impacts tribal programs, which also impact the well-being of our members through tribal operations. I think the eco-

Smoky Mountain News

December 5-11, 2018

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nomic impact there is just phenomenal.”

Like most things economic, casino profits — and, therefore, per capita payments — took a nosedive following the recession in 2008, but they’ve been rising steadily since 2013, according to numbers from the tribe’s finance office.

In 2007, before the recession hit, per capita payments totaled $9,318, with 13,851 tribal members receiving the June distribution and 13,934 receiving the December distribution. In 2008 Per capita distributions have more than recovered from a dip during the recession, with payments topping that number began to fall, reaching a low point $7,000 for the first time since the casino was created. EBCI graph of $7,347 for the year in 2010. It wasn’t until 2014 that the annual distribution surpassed 2007 the number of tribal members has risen by the June payments cover profits from October to March — the $1,455 gap between the two levels, with about 15,000 members receiving 13.9 percent.

The December distribution represents a payments this year is wider than usual. $9,809. Numbers have risen every year since, According to Saunooke, this year’s growth with a 6.08 percent increase in 2015, a 12.45 marked increase over even the June payment, percent increase in 2016, 0.28 percent in 2017 when 15,709 members received $5,552. was primarily driven by the Valley River and 7.04 percent in 2018 — all this despite a While December payments are typically larg- Casino in Murphy. Valley River provided 24 parallel increase in tribal members receiving er than June payments — they reflect sum- percent of the profits while 76 pershares. From June 2007 to December 2018, mer profits from April to September, while cent came from Cherokee.

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December 15, 2018 Penalty refunds for 2016.

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CERTIFIED APPLICATION COUNSELORS Cherokee: Marian Sparks 828-400-3149 Clay: Susan Rose 828-476-9194 Graham & Swain: Linda Fitzsimmons 828-550-7908 Haywood & Jackson: Jan Plummer 828-492-4111, Vicky Gribble 828-452-1447, Jane Harrison 828-452-1447 Macon: Cynthia Solesbee 828-400-4177 or WWW.HEALTHCARE.GOV 1-800-318-2596 LOCAL LAST CHANCE EVENTS

• Haywood: Canton Public Library: Dec. 13, 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. (828) 452-1447 • Jackson: Mountain Projects: Dec. 14, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (828) 492-4111 • Swain: FUMC Bryson City: Dec. 15, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (828) 550-1908 • Franklin: FUMC Outreach Center: Dec. 15, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (828) 400-4177 *Appointments available in all counties *

This information is made possible by the generous support of the Cherokee County Community Foundation and Dr. Brian Mitchell.

Our consumer assistance is made possible through the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.

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We are pleased to announce the opening of our third location in Haywood County at 33 Bennett Street in Waynesville. We are located just off Brown Ave below Hazelwood Tire and beside Pioneer Supply. Thanks to our customers, we are the largest self storage provider in Haywood County.

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“Most of the big growth we saw came from the Valley River market,” said Saunooke. “I think one of the major things that contributes to that is the proximity to some of our major markets, especially Atlanta. Players are able to make more frequent visits, and that really helped us during the year.”

Visitation at Valley River has increased from 851,000 visits in fiscal year 2016, the first full year the casino was open, to 862,000 visits in 2018. Most of the increase comes from known customers, said Saunooke — people who have chosen Valley River as their preferred casino over Cherokee or are simply able to make additional trips due to the shorter drive from home.

This $250 million expansion, expected to be complete in early 2021, will add 750 hotel rooms, a parking deck and 83,000 square feet for event space to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. Donated rendering

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December 5-11, 2018

Recent improvements at Valley River may have also played a role — the casino held a grand opening for an addition offering bowling, dining, a stage and arcade games on July 23. Cherokee, meanwhile, is a case of “same store,” said Saunooke. Not much has changed with the resort’s offerings over the past year, but that’s soon to change.

Construction is underway on a $250 million expansion that will add more than 700 hotel rooms, a parking deck and an 83,000-squarefoot event center. The expansion is expected to open in 2021.

While Valley River brought most of the growth, both locations are doing well, said Saunooke, with margins improving at both properties. While nothing is ever certain, for now the future is looking good.

“The goal of this business is to set realistic and continued goals for growth,” he said.

“The way that works out in the future is all signs are positive. Everything looks positive.”

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State releases annual economic tier rankings Jackson, Macon move up to tier 2 county

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR acon and Jackson counties will be considered less economically distressed in 2019, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

At the end of each year, the state releases the Economic Development Tier Ranking designations for each county — tier 1, tier 2 or tier 3 — and those rankings play a major role in how program funding for economic development is distributed throughout the state for the following year.

The recently released data shows that Macon and Jackson moved up from the most distress designation of tier 1 in 2018 to tier 2. Macon County was moved from a tier 2 to tier 1 county in 2015, mainly because it’s population is under 50,000 and its poverty rate increased to nearly 20 percent.

Jackson County dropped from a tier 2 to a tier 1 county in 2013 and stayed there until this year— also mainly due to its population and poverty rate.

Haywood County will remain a tier 3 county for the third year in a row after mov-

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December 5-11, 2018

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ing up from a tier 2 county in 2017. For 2017, Haywood ranked 79 in the Economic Distress Ranking. The rise in the rankings was due to improvements in population growth and median household income.

Adjustments for counties with populations less than 50,000 shifted three counties from tier three to tier two, which bumped Haywood County into tier three for 2017.

Meanwhile Swain County hasn’t budged from its tier 1 designation in many years.

The economic rankings present a catch 22 for local governments and economic development leaders. On one hand a county’s goal is to improve economic development opportunities and wages for its residents, but on the other hand having a higher ranking means those counties are less likely to receive funding for economic development and infrastructure projects.

The 2019 rankings comply with changes made by the North Carolina General Assembly that alter the formula used to calculate final tier designations. These changes, implemented with the adoption of the 2018 Appropriations Act, eliminate several ‘adjustment factors’ previously incorporated into the methodology. Otherwise, the formula, which identifies four economic factors to be compiled and calculated by N.C.

2019 COUNTY TIER DESIGNATIONS

Commerce, were used to analyze and rank each of North Carolina’s 100 counties.

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 1, 40 counties to be designated as tier 2, and 20 counties to be designated tier 3.

There are 28 counties that will change tier designations for 2019. Counties moving to a less distressed tier ranking include Alleghany, Ashe, Camden, Cherokee, Clay, Jackson, Macon, McDowell, Montgomery, Person, Yadkin, and Yancey (from tier 1 to tier 2); and Currituck and Davie (from tier 2 to tier 3).

Counties moving to a more distressed

tier ranking include Beaufort, Cleveland, Cumberland, Duplin, Hoke, Nash, Rockingham, Rutherford, Sampson, Surry, Wayne, and Wilson (from tier 2 to tier 1); and Carteret and Granville (from tier 3 to tier 2).

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 program, serving as a mechanism to channel funds for infrastructure improvements to less populated areas of the state.

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This year several galleries, restaurants and merchants in downtown Waynesville will be collecting items that will be boxed, wrapped and delivered to elderly residents in Haywood County.

This effort is affiliated with Mountain Projects through a program called “Operation Christmas Boxes” that is administered by their Senior Resource Center. Through Dec. 15, drop off blankets, socks, gloves and scarves (adult sizes) to participating merchants during business hours. For your ease in finding a drop off location, each business participating in the collection of items will have a large green star in their window.

The collection of items will culminate on Saturday, Dec. 15, during the Jingle Mingle downtown celebration. Children dressed as elves will pull wagons to the participating merchants’ locations to pick up the items.

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Be a Santa to a senior

Happy Holdays

December 5-11, 2018

BY HOLLY KAYS sis were three of her major goals. She also STAFF WRITER said she opposed changes the Republican he Jackson County commissioners said board made over the past year to the coungoodbye to a longtime member, welty’s health and social services departments comed a new member and changed and would look to reverse them. their meeting schedule during an organizaWhile commissioners’ regular meetings tional meeting Monday, Dec. 3. have been held on Mondays during the past “It’s been a pleasure, a great pleasure, two years, the board will now meet on serving Jackson County for 12 years,” said Tuesdays instead. Beginning in January, the outgoing Commissioner Charles Elders. board will meet on the first Tuesday of each “I’ve worked with some good friends, made friends, and I’m grateful to all those friends.”

Elders lost his bid for re-election this year to political newcomer Gayle Woody, who was sworn in to a term that will last through 2022. Elders sat on the board of commissioners from 1994 to 1998 and again from 2010 to 2018.

“You are on the list of a very short number of people who have exceeded a decade serving,” said Chairman Brian McMahan as he presented Elders with a plaque of appreciation. “Jackson County is a unique place. Very few commissioners serve more than a decade, Gayle Woody is sworn in for her first term as a and I think that’s quite an honor county commissioner. Holly Kays photo that you can say you’ve served that many years for our county.”

Commissioner Mickey Luker added that month at 6 p.m. and on the third Tuesday Elders had always been a “true mentor” at 3 p.m. It will also hold a monthly work throughout his growing up in Jackson session beginning at 1 p.m. on the second County and praised his “dedication to this Tuesday. county, your commitment, always working Commissioners also decided who of them in this area, staying employed in this area, will represent the county on various other serving the people, running a business.” boards and organizations. Woody will serve Commissioner Ron Mau agreed with on the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board those sentiments, saying that he’ll still plan and on the Road Naming Board. Deitz will to stop by Elders’ store in the Barkers Creek serve on the Fire Commission, Juvenile area to get his thoughts on issues facing the Crime Prevention Council and Transit county.

Advisory boards. McMahan will serve on the Elders, a Republican, lost the election to CTP Steering Committee, the Road Naming Woody, a Democrat, with the board’s two Board, the Southwestern Commission RPO other Democrats — McMahan and and the Vaya Health County Commissioner Commissioner Boyce Deitz — keeping their Advisory Board. Luker will serve on the seats against Republican challengers. Thus, Council on Aging, Emergency Food and as of Dec. 3, the board has flipped from a 3Shelter and Public Library boards. Mau will 2 Republican majority to a 3-2 Democratic serve on the Tourism Development majority.

Authority and Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer In election season interviews, Woody Authority boards. said that she looked forward to serving and Contact information for commissioners listening to Jackson County’s citizens, and is online at www.jacksonnc.org/countythat supporting education, protecting the commissioners, with meeting agendas and environment and combating the opioid crischedules also available.

Diane E. Sherrill, Attorney news

Jackson swears in commissioners, sets meeting schedule

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HCA Healthcare Home is Where the Heart is Home for the holidays might mean something different for everyone, but this time of year reminds all of us that home is where the heart is.

December 5-11, 2018

Since our first day, especially on holidays, our heart has always been home providing high-quality care with warmth and compassion.

Whether your family prefers turkey, ham or tofu turkey, we wish western North Carolina a very safe, restful, gratitude-filled holiday season.

Smoky Mountain News

At HCA Healthcare we are reecting on loved ones near and far, and are thankful to help so many patients and families throughout the year.

We invite you to learn more about HCA Healthcare.

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Care. Together.

Education Elementary Battle of the Books Students from three Jackson County Public Schools competed in the ninth annual Elementary Battle of the Books competition on Nov. 29.

The competition was limited to students in third through fifth grade.

This year, teams from Cullowhee Valley, Scotts Creek, and Smokey Mountain Elementary competed. Each participant has had since August to read 17 books and had to provide the correct title and author after hearing book details and working in teams. This year, Scotts Creek took the honors with the other teams not far behind in a very close competition. The JCPS Elementary Battle of the Books competition is organized by the school library media coordinators in the county and was held in the Smoky Mountain High School Auditorium.

WCU to hold fall commencement Western Carolina University will hold a pair of commencement ceremonies Saturday, Dec. 15, to recognize its fall graduating class and a group of newly minted university alumni who were awarded degrees after this year’s summer school sessions.

Commencement for undergraduate and graduate students from the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Allied Professions, and Fine and Performing Arts will begin at 10 a.m. That will be followed by a 3 p.m. ceremony for undergraduate and graduate students from the colleges of Business, Health and Human Sciences, and Engineering and Technology. Both events will take place at Ramsey Regional Activity Center and are open to everyone, with no tickets are required for admission.

WCU’s fall class includes about 770 students who currently are working on final academic requirements to receive their degrees and who qualify to participate in the ceremony. A group of about 300 WCU graduates who completed degree requirements during summer school and who already have been conferred degrees also are eligible to don caps and gowns for the events.

For those who cannot attend, the ceremonies will be streamed live through a link on the WCU home page — www.wcu.edu.

Apply for NP tuition support Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital are joining Western Carolina University to announce a call for applicants for The Ascent Partnership nurse practitioner tuition support pro-

gram for the 2019 fall semester start.

The Ascent Partnership is the formal relationship between WCU and the hospitals. In the partnership, the hospitals provide full tuition coverage each year for two selected nurse practitioner students who commit to a minimum of three years of employment by the hospitals after graduation.

Since The Ascent Partnership began in 2015, three WCU nurse practitioner students have successfully participated in the program. The main requirement for consideration of partnership funding is for the student to have been formally accepted to the WCU nurse practitioner program. An application, interview, and reference process are also included.

To apply, visit www.myharrisregional.com/ascent or call 828.586.7100.

Smoky Mountain News

contact Kelly McIntyre, MBA program manager, at 828.654.6533 or kumcintyre@wcu.edu.

Maker Space at East Franklin East Franklin School now has a new exciting addition to the media center — a Maker Apace.

Maker Space is a place where students can gather to create, invent, tinker, explore, and discover, using a variety of tools and materials.

This area came about after months of researching the benefits of a Maker Space by Librarian Lynda Elliott. Studies show that students can greatly benefit from this hands-on approach. A Maker Space can transform student learning by addressing multiple intelligences, offering student choice, encourages collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and other 21st century skills.

Some of the resources in the Maker Space that students will be using include Legos, Knex, Marble mazes, Coding robots, Circuit boards, stik bots and stik bots studio, where students create and animate their own video to share, using a green screen.

WCU opens Veterans Resource Center The Western Carolina University community came together recently to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Veterans Resource Center located on campus.

“We are very excited to be able to offer this resource to our students,” said Briana Ford, director of Military Student Services at WCU. “This center offers a quiet space to study, participate in group activities, get career information and connect with fellow veterans adjusting to campus life.”

This space also houses the SVA, a participationbased program for student veterans, dependents and supporters to help them transition to campus life by providing group activities, volunteer opportunities and support in and out of the classroom.

WCU MBA ranked top in nation

Swain leaders take trauma training

The Princeton Review lists Western Carolina University’s College of Business as one of the nation’s best schools at which to earn a master’s degree in business administration.

The education services company (not affiliated with Princeton University) has included the WCU college in its profiles of 252 outstanding on-campus programs, with results based on surveys of 23,000 MBA students attending the institutions, as well as assessment of academics and institutional data.

In addition to praising the MBA program, students surveyed said WCU’s College of Business provides solid preparation in finance and general management. WCU’s MBA curriculum was designed in collaboration with regional employers and is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the internationally recognized accrediting agency for business schools.

For more information about WCU’s MBA program,

Resources for Resilience from Asheville, funded by a Safe Schools grant, provided two days of specialized social-emotional learning training to many Swain community members.

Swain County Schools hosted the professional development, and partnered with C4C (Congregations for Children,) and multiple other community organizations designed to learn how to help children “Reconnect for Resilience.” The resilience training enables educators and community organizations to further assist children in our community who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) learn how to develop critical resilience tools for life success.

To learn more about ACEs research via a brief video, online search “Adverse Childhood Experiences, TED Med Talk, Nadine Burke-Harris.” More information about resilience development is available at https://resourcesforresilience.com.

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• Haywood Community College has Early Childhood Scholarships funded by Dr. Doris Hammett available for spring semester. To be eligible, students must be Haywood County residents and be enrolled in the infant/toddler care certificate program. To apply or for more information, visit https://haywood.academicworks.com, call 828.565.4170 or email tjones4@haywood.edu.

• Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment will be offering an eight-week online beginning German course Jan. 14 through March 8. Topics to be covered include: formal and informal introductions, origins and hometowns, shopping, traveling, eating, clothing and colors, among others.

The cost for registration is $79.

Visit learn.wcu.edu or call 828.227.7397.

ALSO:

• The Jackson County Cooperative Extension congratulates all Extension & Community Association (ECA) members that won ribbons for their handcrafted entries in the North Carolina ECA State Cultural Arts competition this year. Elaine Haskett earned first place for her crocheted tablecloth and her 3 Bears & Goldilocks dolls and second place for her jewelry and photography. Juli Hisey earned First place for her scrapbooking pages.

Second place winners were Mary Ann Budahl for her quilt, Jane McClure, wood painting, and Doris Mackey, hand-stitched greeting cards.

• The second grade students of East Franklin Elementary recently held their annual Wax Museum.

Students were assigned a famous character in history and created boards and props to go along with their character and also wrote a biography on their character. For the event, the students dressed as their character and held a live wax museum for the faculty, students and families in the school gym.

• The Franklin FFA Quiz bowl Team recently competed at National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Team placed first against the other North Carolina teams and 14th in the nation. Team members include Carey Deal, Gabe Pickens, Will Gray, Gregory Spala, Morgan Byrd, Olivia Hedden, Courtney Tippett and Maddie O’Neil.

20

Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Nurturing the ties that bind Jackson County commissioner who came over to Waynesville because of the music.

Come Thursday, I was at the Folkmoot Center to hear the Songwriters Showcase, a show featuring Balsam Range’s Buddy Melton and Nicholson, along with Miller and Aaron Biblehauser, Mark Bumgarner and John Wiggins. It was a fantastic show as the songwriters traded time at the mic. The place was packed and I could see excitement on Folkmoot Executive Director Angie Schwab’s face. She’s talked for years about the Folkmoot Center becoming a community hub, and this is just Editor what she had in mind. Volunteers — including Folkmoot Board President David Francis — even had to haul in more chairs to accommodate the overflow.

Three shows in three nights is a lot of music for me, but it didn’t stop there. On Saturday my wife Lori and I were back at Lake Junaluska’s Stuart Auditorium to hear the final performance of the 2018 Art of Music Festival, a night that was capped off with Balsam Range on stage with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra. As the night drew to a close I looked around and saw a packed house, most fans staying until the performers took the final bows.

And there was more: workshops on Friday and Saturday at Lake Junaluska, a Thursday show at the Colonial Theater in Canton that included Balsam Range’s Caleb Smith and a Wednesday performance at Elevated Mountain Distillery in Maggie Valley.

When the Art of Music Festival started two years ago, Balsam Range members and others had a plan. They wanted to showcase this area and in particular Haywood County.

They wanted to do it during the early winter when there

Scott McLeod

I’ve spent most of my career at small newspapers, and one thing I’ve learned is the value of making connections.

I’m not talking connections that bring personal gain, but rather those that bring people together. One of my former publishers used some variation of that word almost every time he talked to reporters and editors responsible for getting out on the street and developing story ideas: “How many people would such and such story connect?” “How can we reach out to that particular community and make some connections?”

“We should follow up with that story and connect the dots.”

It’s like taking the six degrees of separation hypothesis and narrowing the gap, make it so people are connected on an even more intimate level. Despite the crimes and misdeeds you’ll read about in these pages, telling those feel-good stories is also a vital part of what the media does.

Finding that commonality is something we should all be trying to do. Lord knows there seems to enough vitriol and petty political posturing driving us apart.

That’s why I wanted to tell a portion of a story that is ongoing, that of the Art of Music Festival, which wrapped up Saturday night at Lake Junaluska’s Stuart Auditorium. It’s a story about good intentions, good people, and good music turning a flicker of an idea into something that is great for this region.

Last Tuesday night, I was at Frog Level Brewing listening to Balsam Range’s Darren Nicholson play to a packed house. Ran into a half-dozen people I hadn’t seen in a while. On Wednesday I was at Boojum and enjoyed a show by Ol’ Dirty Bathtub and Nicholson with Milan Miller, who is from Haywood but is a successful Nashville songwriter who has penned several of Balsam Range’s songs. Also joining in was the young fiddle sensation Alma Russ, who is from Bryson City The crowd was large and diverse, including local arts supporters Stephen and Betsy Wall. Ran into Whittier farmer William Shelton and his son, Will. Shelton is a former

aren’t many tourists around, when things start to slow down and they could therefore boost the economy. Mission accomplished.

Another part of the vision was to turn it into a week-long celebration, to have shows throughout the county where the guest musicians from out of town would play in venues around Haywood and mix it up with local bands and performers. Again, this year’s festival did just that.

Perhaps the greatest thing about this festival, though, is how it is building community connections and social engagement. Sounds corny, but the reason I was dropping the names of some of the people I ran into last week and of some of those who helped organize the festival is because it’s those people who made the festival a success. People around here wanted it to succeed and wanted to be a part of it. So they showed up, paid their money, and took part.

While in college, my middle child, Hannah, introduced me to the book about the “blue zones,” places where people lived the longest, where centenarians were not so uncommon.

I remember reading her college essays on the subject where she delved into the characteristics that people in these diverse places around the world had in common. The one that struck me was social interaction. Old and young continued to interact with each other, each finding real meaning in those relationships and in spending time together.

At each venue I went to last week, I thought about that.

Old and young, professional and blue collar, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, musicians and music lovers, people having fun, people connecting, all helping make this festival work. In the interactions with each other, they were strengthening a community, creating something greater than the sum of the parts.

The Art of Music Festival is already a success. I sense it could become something special.

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

No regrets after a clean, heartfelt campaign

I

to hate, fear, anger, racism, name-calling or personalities that seek to divide us. No one person in our county, state or country makes us great. What makes us great is our ability to come together, find the things that unite us and work for the common good so that all of us can have a better future and move our county forward for all.

Haywood County as well as this state and country are at a crossroads and will need a strong vision and leaders for the future to address the almost certain difficult challenges of Guest Columnist the future. It will not be enough to preserve the status quo and simply react to the present. We must have strategic planning so that we can define the future of this county. Otherwise, our destiny and future will be decided by others.

Democracy is very fragile. It requires — as it should — an educated electorate to choose its leaders wisely. I hope with all my heart that is the case for this county. Our founding forefathers set out in our Constitution a system of checks and balances as well as institutions to protect the rule of law.

These institutions have served us well for over 200 years, but

Danny Davis

wish to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of you who voted for and supported me in my recent campaign for Haywood County commissioner. I am indeed humbled by the 10,916 votes I received. Unfortunately, we fell short by 471 votes. The people of this county have spoken and I respect their decision and congratulate the new board.

It was great making new friends and renewing old friendships. I will be forever grateful to my wife, my children, my family and friends. I worked as hard as I could and have no regrets.

I ran a clean campaign based on issues and my vision for the future of this county. That vision was to improve our infrastructure, especially high-speed internet that would attract the jobs of the future so that our children and grandchildren could live and work here again. I have seen too many of our children have to move away and take their talents elsewhere to find good-paying jobs, often to other counties and state that are in competition with us for those same jobs.

I tried very hard not to let divisive national issues or personalities permeate my campaign or this county. However, I observed first hand others at early voting and at the polis attempt to do just that. I also read the comments in the news by certain party leaders that attempted to do the same.

Elections should be decided by issues and not by pandering

as has been said many times before, “democracy is not a spectator sport.” It requires us to be forever vigilant to educate ourselves about those who would disregard these institutions and principles for their own personal gain. The rule of law and the truth matter. Where there is no rule of law, there can be no truth or justice, and where there is no justice, freedom and democracy are in peril.

As for me, I know not what the future holds or even where I may be. I do know that I have more years behind me than ahead of me. I have spent over half of my life in a courtroom as an attorney and judge defending our Constitution and the rule of law. I have enjoyed the support of the people of this county and district all of my career and for that I am truly grateful and blessed. I have always tried to do the right thing, be truthful and fight for what is right regardless of the consequences. I am human and so I know at times I fell short of these principles and for that I apologize, but I assure you it was not for lack of effort. I know that I will continue to defend the rule of law and the Constitution, speak out against injustice when I see it, spend more time with my family and continue to try to help those less fortunate than me. So again, I thank all of you and may God bless you.

Danny E. Davis is a retired District Court judge and former attorney general in Cherokee.

Susanna Barbee

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

To the Editor: Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, continues to lie, even after he pled guilty to 175 pages of exceedingly detailed evidence of a multiplicity of federal and state crimes, such as state tax evasion, fraud, money laundering, etc.

The inclusion of the enumerated state crimes means that when the Virginia attorney general brings those charges in a state court, Manafort has already agreed under oath that he is guilty.

Manafort was already facing what is effectively a life sentence even if he had cooperated fully. Going fallaciously through the motions of cooperating with

tampering and obstruction. Trump and Manafort have just enough hubris and idiocy to try it.

What a sad day for us all when federal prosecutors can make their case because they can assume without challenge that our president is a liar.

John Barry Cartoogechaye

Smoky Mountain News

getting the tree up and ready. I could not have done that part myself.

A shared anchor has been our Elf on the Shelf named Frisbee. We adopted our elf when my 9-year-old was a toddler, so he’s been part of the family for a long time. He likes to fly from one house to another, so no matter where the boys wake up, Frisbee is there doing something silly or funny. I believe this brings some fluidity to the fact they have to go back and forth. It may be different when they are older but at ages 6 and 9, it’s important for everything not to feel so dichotomous.

A third anchor has been our Advent wreath. My faith is dear to me and I work hard for my boys to see that. Before adulthood, I never thought about the season of Advent nor did I own an Advent wreath.

Now that I understand Advent to be a time of preparing and reflecting, leading up to the joy of Christmas Day, I love embracing it and helping my boys understand the holidays aren’t just about presents and parades.

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent. We lit the candle of hope. Each night this week, we’ll light the same candle, talk about our hopes and say a prayer. In the following weeks, we’ll light a second candle for peace, a third candle for joy and a fourth candle for love. Finally, we’ll light the candle in the middle on Christmas morning. Even when the boys are with their dad, I will continue the candle lighting ritual on my own.

It’s so true that when life feels tumultuous, we grab onto things that feel sturdy and normal. Throughout every experience over the past three years, this has been my saving grace. Further, the pride I have for my boys’ ability to deal with change is indescribable. Their strength and understanding overwhelms me daily.

As outsiders, it’s easy to make assumptions about divorced parents or broken homes. I admittedly did it myself before I was the one in the hail storm. As with anything, it’s hard to imagine the gravity or enormity of a situation until you’ve experienced it. Now I understand.

A wise woman in my life often says, “Nothing is as bad as it seems.” I try to keep that mantra in mind at all times. Instead of looking at each set of 24 hours as a set of obstacles or tasks to be accomplished, I work to view each day as an adventure full of new experiences and little surprises. I’ve found this change in perception can mean everything when it comes to happiness.

(Susanna Barbee is a columnist, editor and marketing specialist for The Smoky Mountain News, Smoky Mountain Living and Mountain South Media. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com)

December 5-11, 2018

When the winds rage the sea, we look for an anchor.

As my life continues to unfold, I’m learning there are things over which I have little control. Like any human, I at first try to manhandle situations. Every single time, I try to come up with a solution or fix the issue before I realize God and the universe have other plans. I’m working hard to stop this and rather, approach each day with curious expectation.

With it being the third December after my mom’s passing and the second after separation/divorce, a lot feels different when compared to several years ago.

Luckily, I’m an optimist by nature so Columnist while the hard emotions come, sometimes in full force, I don’t let them overtake me completely. At the start of this season, those dark feelings and desire to control started creeping up, but I’m keeping them at bay.

But to do this, I had to find some anchors.

When you go through a divorce, one parent doesn’t get to keep all of the Christmas traditions while the other sits and twiddles his or her thumbs. Granted, I would love to hoard all the festive fun to myself, but I realize this isn’t fair.

It’s hard to give up longstanding traditions, but the main thing is my children still experience them, no matter which parent is driving them to the event or behind the lens of a camera. And better yet, some traditions can be shared or bounced from house to house. Once I realized all of this, the heaviness in my heart dissipated a bit.

Decorating our Christmas tree was an obvious anchor. It’s different than before.

This year there was no tree farm experience or grandiosity in setting up the tree. I needed help transporting the tree and situating it in the stand, so my boyfriend helped me do all of that before the boys came back to my house this past Sunday. They weren’t upset that we didn’t pick out the tree together. They were just excited that I still got a real tree instead of an artificial one.

We spent Sunday evening wearing reindeer antlers and Santa hats listening to Christmas music and decorating our tree. I love my little house in Maggie Valley and whether I live in it indefinitely or not, I know I’ll look back on our little trio stringing lights and hanging ornaments with a smile on my face and nostalgia in my heart.

And much gratitude for the help I received

Special Counsel Robert Mueller was likely a signal to Trump for a potential pardon.

We know now that Trump and Manafort have been in contact to coordinate stories and buy time.

Having now received Trump’s written responses to queries from the special counsel, Mueller will compare Manafort’s lies to Trump’s anticipated lies. If they match, then Trump is guilty of witness

opinion

Finding anchors in seasons of change

LETTERS President’s lies are simply sad

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tasteTHEmountains Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251 BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slow-simmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts. Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily. Brown bagging is permitted. Private parties, catering, and take-out available. Call-ahead seating available.

December 5-11, 2018

BOOJUM BREWING COMPANY 50 N Main Street, Waynesville.

828.246.0350. Taproom Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday & Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Gem Bar Open Tuesday through Sunday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Enjoy lunch, dinner or drinks at Boojum’s Downtown Waynesville restaurant & bar.

Choose from 16 taps of our fresh, delicious & ever rotating Boojum Beer plus cider, wine & craft cocktails. The taproom features seasonal pub faire including tasty burgers, sandwiches,

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE 454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Lunch daily 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner nightly at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Wine Down Wednesday’s: ½ off wine by the bottle. We specialize in hand-cut, all natural steaks from local farms, incredible burgers, and other classic american comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available.

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

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

CHURCH STREET DEPOT 34 Church Street, downtown Waynesville.

828.246.6505. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Mouthwatering all beef burgers and dogs, hand-dipped, hand-spun real ice cream shakes and floats, fresh hand-cut fries.

Locally sourced beef. Indoor and outdoor dining. facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot, twitter.com/ChurchStDepot.

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30

a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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

Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly.

Live music and lots of events. Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m.

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

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

828.926.1820 Winter hours: Wednesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

DELLWOOD FARMHOUSE RESTAURANT 651 Dellwood Rd., Waynesville.

828.944.0010. Warm, inviting restaurant serving delicious, freshly-made Southern comfort foods. Cozy atmosphere; spacious to accommodate large parties. Big Farmhouse Breakfast and other morning menu items

RESTAURANT

FERRARA PIZZA & PASTA 243 Paragon Parkway, Clyde. 828.476.5058.

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

FIREFLY TAPS & GRILL 128 N. Main St., Waynesville 828.454.5400. Simple, delicious food. A must experience in WNC. Located in downtown Waynesville with an atmosphere that will warm your heart and your belly! Local and regional beers on tap. Full bar, vegetarian options, kids menu, and more. Reservations accepted. Daily specials. Live music every Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. Open Mon.-Sat. 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St., Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving dinner 5 to 9 p.m.

Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes.

& GIFT SHOP

Featuring a Full Menu with Daily Specials Real New Yorkers.

Real Italians. Real Pizza.

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

Just to serve you!

PRIVATE DINING ROOM AVAILABLE FOR EVENTS 3589 SOCO RD. MAGGIE VALLEY

828.926.1820 APPÉTIT Y’AL N L BO

243 Paragon Parkway | Clyde

828-476-5058 499 Champion Drive | Canton

828-492-0641

NEW LOCATION OPEN!

Present this coupon and recieve:

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Meetings, Events, Parties & More Sun.–Thurs. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

172 Sylva Plaza | Sylva All location hours: Mon-Sat 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Closed Sundays

Whatever the Occasion, Let Us Do the Cooking!

Monday-Sunday 7:00-2:00pm Closed Tuesday

828-492-0641

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served 8 a.m. to noon. Lunch/dinner menu offered 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Come see us. You’ll be glad you did! Closed Wednesdays.

Country Vittles Dine-In ~ Take Out ~ Delivery

Smoky Mountain News

shareables and daily specials that pair perfectly with our beer. Cozy up inside or take in the mountain air on our back deck.”

207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde

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

Real Local Families, Real Local Farms, Real Local Food

1941 Champion Dr. • Canton 828−646−3750 895 Russ Ave. • Waynesville 828−452−5822

tasteTHEmountains HARMON’S DEN BISTRO 250 Pigeon St., Waynesville 828.456.6322. Harmon’s Den is located in the Fangmeyer Theater at HART. Open 5:309 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday (Bistro closes at 7:30 p.m. on nights when there is a show in the Fangmeyer Theater) with Sunday brunch at 11 a.m. that includes breakfast and lunch items. Harmon’s Den offers a complete menu with cocktails, wine list, and area beers on tap. Enjoy casual dining with the guarantee of making it to the performance in time, then rub shoulders with the cast afterward with post-show food and beverage service. Reservations recommended. www.harmonsden.harttheatre.org J. ARTHUR’S RESTAURANT AT MAGGIE VALLEY U.S. 19 in Maggie Valley. 828.926.1817.

Open for dinner at 4:30 to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round. Children always welcome. Takeout menu. Excellent service and hospitality.

Reservations appreciated.

JOEY’S PANCAKE HOUSE 4309 Soco Rd Maggie Valley.

828.926.0212. Open seven days a week! 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. Joey’s is a family-friendly restaurant that has been serving breakfast to locals and visitors of Western North Carolina for decades. Featuring a large variety of tempting pancakes, golden waffles, country style cured ham and seasonal specials spiked with flavor, Joey’s is sure to please all appetites. Join us for what has become a tradition in these parts, breakfast at Joey’s.

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

828.586.3555. Open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with Sunday Brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Hand-

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

828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine.

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

MAGGIE VALLEY RESTAURANT 2804 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

828.926.0425. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Daily specials including soups, sandwiches and southern dishes along with featured dishes such as fresh fried chicken, rainbow trout, country ham, pork chops and more. Breakfast all day including omelets, pancakes, biscuits & gravy. facebook.com/carversmvr; instagram @carvers_mvr.

PIGEON RIVER GRILLE 101 Park St., Canton.

828.492.1422. Open Tuesday through Thursday 3 to 8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday noon to 9 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m. Southerninspired restaurant serving simply prepared, fresh food sourced from top purveyors.

Located riverside at Bearwaters Brewing, enjoy daily specials, sandwiches, wings, fish and chips, flatbreads, soups, salads, and more. Be sure to save room for a slice of the delicious house made cake. Relaxing inside/outside dining and spacious gathering areas for large groups.

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley 828.926.0201 Home of the Maggie Valley Pizzeria. We deliver after 4 p.m. daily to all of Maggie Valley, J-Creek area, and Lake Junaluska.

Monday through Wednesday: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. country buffet and salad bar from 5 to 9 p.m. $11.95 with Steve Whiddon on piano.

Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11:30 to 8 p.m. 11:30 to 3 p.m. family style, fried chicken, ham, fried fish, salad bar, along with all the fixings, $11.95.

Check out our events and menu at rendezvousmaggievalley.com SAGEBRUSH STEAKHOUSE 1941 Champion Drive, Canton

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

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

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

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

Located across from the Fire Station.

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

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

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

VITO’S PIZZA 607 Highlands Rd., Franklin.

828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998.

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

WAYNESVILLE PIZZA COMPANY 32 Felmet Street, Waynesville.

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

Breakfast : Omelets, Pancakes, Biscuits & Gravy!

Breakfast served all day!

Closed Wednesdays and Thursdays Closed Christmas Eve OPEN Christmas Day! 8:00 am to 7:00 pm 2804 SOCO RD. • MAGGIE VALLEY 828.926.0425 • Facebook.com/carversmvr Instagram- @carvers_mvr

101 PARK ST. CANTON 828.492.1422

PIGEONRIVERGRILLE.COM

Retail Restaurant LIVE Music

Events begin at 7:15pm unless otherwise noted.

Dinner & Music Reservations at 828-452-6000

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7 Dulci Ellenberger & Kevin Williams guitar, piano, vocals. Americana, Pop, Originals.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 ANNUAL JINGLE BELL BASH w/Joseph Hasty rhythm guitar, vocals, Dick Hull jazz guitar, Danny Iannucci bass.

Join the Singalong of all your favorite Christmas carols.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14 James Hammel guitar, vocals.

Jazz, Pop, Originals.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 Joe Cruz piano, vocals. Beatles, Elton John, James Taylor + More.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21 Tina & Her Pony ukulele, banjo, cello, vocals. Americana, Originals.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22 Russ Wilson & Hank Bones guitar, percussion, vocals. BeBop, Jazz Standards.

828-452-6000 · classicwineseller.com 20 Church Street, Waynesville, NC

Mon/Wed/Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Friday/Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Closed Tuesday

Sunday 12-9 p.m.

Sandwiches • Burgers • Wraps 32 Felmet Street (828) 246-0927

Order Catering or Take-Out NO LINES NO WAITING! 828.587.2233 3 E JACKSON ST. • SYLVA, NC

www.CityLightsCafe.com

Smoky Mountain News

Featured Dishes: Fresh Fried Chicken, Rainbow Trout, Country Ham, Pork-chops & more

AT BEARWATERS BREWING

WAYNESVILLE’S BEST BURGERS

MAGGIE VALLEY RESTAURANT Daily Specials: Soups, Sandwiches & Southern Dishes

Sunday: 12pm-6pm Tue-Thurs 3pm-8pm Fri-Sat: 12pm-9pm Monday: Closed

December 5-11, 2018

KANINI’S 1196 N. Main St., Waynesville.

828.452.5187. Lunch Monday-Saturday from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., eat in or carry out. Closed Sunday. A made-from-scratch kitchen using fresh ingredients and supporting the local food and local farm-to-table program. Offering a variety of meals to go from frozen meals to be stored and cooked later to “Dinners to Go” that are made fresh and ready to enjoyed that day. We also specialize in catering any event from from corporate lunches to weddings. Menus created to fit your special event. kaninis.com

tossed pizza, house-ground burgers, steak sandwiches & fresh salmon all from scratch.

Casual family friendly atmosphere. Craft beer and interesting wine. Free movies Thursday through Saturday. Visit madbatterfoodfilm.com for this week’s shows & events.

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

34 CHURCH ST. WAYNESVILLE 828.246.6505 twitter.com/ChurchStDepot

facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot

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The face behind the lens Longtime journalist to hold photo showcase

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER or over 25 years, journalist Quintin Ellison has roamed our region documenting the people, places and things that make up the distinctive history and culture of Western North Carolina. And now, she finds herself on the other side of the conversation.

In an upcoming showcase of her photography, Ellison will be displaying moments of mountain life frozen in time, captured from behind the lens by someone who spreads the urgent nature of what’s inside each image. It is a heritage that — for the most part — is rapidly disappearing from our daily lives, whether you realize it or not.

It’s the break-of-dawn discussions at the local diner where all the world’s problems are

F

A&E

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Want to go?

‘The Coffee Shop’ in downtown Sylva.

Quintin Ellison

world of journalism has become a rollercoaster of an industry in the last two decades, Quintin has held on tight — with notepad and camera in hand.

‘Boys at the Macon County Fair.’ Quintin Ellison solved over endless cups of coffee. It’s the independent farmer headed to market or the auction in hopes that their hard-fought labors will result in economic survival. It’s the artisan whose precise and articulate hands tell the story of multi-generational talents used to innovate amid a veil of unique creativity.

Currently the general manager of The Sylva Herald, Ellison grew up in Bryson City.

The daughter of George and Elizabeth Ellison, Quintin was raised by parents who valued not only creative outlets and pursuits, but also the importance of preserving and perpetuating the history of where you stand. George is a beloved writer and historian, with Elizabeth a well-known painter — both whose works are steeped in the natural beauty of Southern Appalachia.

Originally setting out to be a musician, it wasn’t long before Quintin found herself back in Western North Carolina, following in the journalistic footsteps of her father. And as the

Smoky Mountain News: What did you like about journalism?

Quintin Ellison: I went into newspapers because of dad, stringing for Asheville Citizen Times, and went to [The Franklin Press] in 1992 as a staff writer. It was a natural fit, I think. It’s challenging. You’re always learning.

And then, I grew to believe in the mission, which is to serve as a witness. And I still believe in newspapers. I saw myself as a budding writer.

SMN: Was photography something you enjoyed or was it something you had to learn to do in this business?

QE: I liked it, I knew I liked it. [The Franklin Press] was a pretty small paper, so you would shoot your own photos. But, it was one of the things I had to do in this business.

[Franklin] was a small paper, two times a week. It was an expectation. Dad had gotten me a Pentax K-1000. He had one for his stories, too. We shot everything — a lot of ribbon cuttings, a lot of fender benders. I’m really good at fender benders. [Laughs].

SMN: What is it about taking a photo that you can’t get across in words?

QE: That’s a good question. A photograph is just as interpretive as writing. There’s an immediacy to it — that moment is frozen as it

Longtime journalist and photographer Quintin Ellison will hold an artist’s reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7 at Cullowhee Mountain Arts at 598 West Main Street in Sylva.

The next day, at 10 a.m. (Saturday, Dec. 8), also at Cullowhee Mountain Arts, Ellison will talk about the highs and lows of shooting street photography in small, rural towns such as Sylva, Bryson City, Franklin and Waynesville.

She’ll also discuss her Quintin Ellison efforts to record as much of the mountain culture as possible, in fear that one day, the traditional ways of life in Western North Carolina will be lost. The photographs will be shown by appointment only after the Dec. 7 reception and Dec. 8 artist’s talk.

For more information, call Ellison at 828.507.8697 or email her at qlellison@icloud.com.

is, to see something visually, and make that connection with the reader. You make an engagement with somebody. It’s very personal engagement when you take somebody’s picture. I believe we’re recording history, and this is part of that.

SMN: Why is it important that you’re preserving this mountain culture?

QE: It’s a whole way of life. It’s a people’s way of life, generations of people that lived in these mountains and loved these mountains.

It was a hard existence, and it’s going to be gone. Is it important? I don’t know, but I feel the engagement.

“It’s very personal engagement when you take somebody’s picture.”

— Quintin Ellison

SMN: What have learned from your parents that you’ve applied to your career?

QE: To live a creative life, and they validated that growing up — photography, writing, music. I was really fortunate, because it just opened doors for me. It validated to me that what I was putting out there wasn’t junk.

What sticks out for me is the chance to engage with the community — I think people in the mountains here appreciate there’s somebody recording all of this.

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

‘I will walk alone, by the black muddy river’

“Striding towards the great finality / amidst the imitations of mortality / some few recognize the banality / of this thing we call reality / At homes, in our jobs, in our families too / all mean different things to me and you / friends and lovers now long lost / can help us direct the final cost / but when I’m in my grave / and my ashes are scattered / my soul will still know / that love is all that mattered.”

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December 5-11, 2018

Many folks here in Waynesville knew Louie Bing as “the homeless guy with the dog.” Well, Louie and his Australian pit bull, Sid, were way more than that. They were family to me. And I was saddened to hear of Louie’s passing last weekend.

I snapped the portrait of Louie you see above when we first crossed paths in the spring of 2013. He was 65 at the time, and a big dude, kind of like this Popeye-type character. But, as strong as he was, he had a kind and troubled soul. You could see it and feel it, especially in his words. And I wrote an article on his life back then.

He spoke of growing up in a blue-collar Irish-German famiLouie Bing. ly in post-World War II Philadelphia, the second oldest of seven siblings in a row house. By the mid-1960s, Bing immersed himself into the rock-n-roll of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, only to The First Thursday Old-Time and Bluegrass dive deep into the counterculSeries continues with traditional musicians ture of the rapidly changing Sarah Elizabeth Burkey and Erich Overhultz at times.

7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at Western Carolina “It was the dawn of the Age University. of Aquarius and I was a ‘freak,’” Boojum Brewing Company (Waynesville) will Bing said. “You could feel it, host Modern Strangers (rock/pop) 9 p.m. Friday, something was happening. It Dec. 7. was the beginning of the revolution.”

A production of “The Best Christmas Pageant The political and cultural Ever” will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 6-8 at the revolution of the late 1960s was Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in full force and he was in the in Franklin. thick of things as a student at A special production of “A Christmas Carol” will Temple University in be staged at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 and 15, and at 2 Philadelphia. He found himself p.m. Dec. 9 and 16, at the Haywood Arts in the presence of the infamous Regional Theatre.

Black Panthers movement, city police brutality and peaceful The Western Carolina Civic Orchestra will prescivil disobedience through sitent the annual “Community Christmas Concert” ins and be-ins. He was standing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Jackson at the forefront of history, tryCounty Public Library in Sylva. ing to make sense of it all.

“I wanted to see the movewandering out west to Colorado seeking his ment for peace and equality come to somedestiny, only to ricochet back east to thing,” he said. “But, here I was seeing the Connecticut where he opened up a health Black Panthers with their guns and city food store. police with riot gear. I wasn’t out there “We were pioneers, learning along the because I was a political animal, I just had way, and there I was a vegetarian, a cosmic no intention of getting killed in Vietnam.” cowboy,” Bing smiled.

Then the 1970s rolled around, with Bing

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This must be the place

By the 1980s, Bing had relocated to Western North Carolina, where he became a carpenter, picking up work when he could through the 1990s. But, a lifelong dark cloud of mental illness always hung overhead. Well aware of his constant battles with manic depression and bipolar disorder, Bing’s career advancements always seemed to take a backseat to his mental state.

From there, the house of cards began to fall. He bounced around between the homes of friends and strangers, ended up flat out on the street with empty pockets, a hungry belly and nobody to call for help.

“I was freaking out that first night out here. I had no survival skills, no backup plan, nobody except for street people who robbed me,” Bing said in 2013, misty eyed.

“I had never been homeless, never been hungry and all of a sudden there I was on the street, and here I’ve been for the last seven years.”

Louie and I remained friends all the way until his passing. He would walk by my apartment in downtown Waynesville everyso-often, Sid (short for “Siddartha,” the birth name of Gautama Buddha — the founder of Buddhism) always a few yards back. We’d drink cold beers on my porch in the hot summer sun, Sid sprawled out on the ground, only to give him a small bag of whatever canned food I had in my cabinets before he moved on.

And sometimes we’d cross paths at the Waynesville Rec Park. He’d be strolling along in a large field with Sid, myself jogging by, but never too fast to not stop and catch up.

He really meant something to me, a cosmic force I was “supposed to know,” you know?

I actually saw him the other day. He looked haggard, an old man now, with a large white beard, Sid moseying along right behind him. I hugged him, hello and goodbye. “Hey, son. How yah doin’?” he said with that trademark devil-may-care grin. Though he had been living in a tent way out in the woods for several years, he had recently moved into a small all-in-one, more like a shack with a heater. But, it was home, to him at least. We shook hands and I told him I loved him, to which he quietly mumbled, “I love you, too, son.”

I knew this day would someday come, just didn’t know it would be today. I love you, my brother, wherever you are. And what about Sid? Right after Louie passed, Sid was quickly taken in by a close friend of his, tail wagging in anticipation of some attention and belly scratches.

As well, when I first interviewed Louie, he read me some of his poetry. This is one of those poems:

743 HAYWOOD RD • WEST ASHEVILLE

Rest easy, my brother. Your work in this lifetime is done.

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Smoky Mountain News

December 5-11, 2018

arts & entertainment

On the holidays

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‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ A production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 6-8 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, say things they shouldn’t, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant. None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before.

Their interpretation of the tale, the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating–has a lot of people up in arms. But it will make this year’s pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is a powerful story of misunderstanding, faith and redemption. Through most of the play, the audience can’t stop laughing, but by the end most will be watching the show through tears. A great, fun holiday experience for any age and sure to become a modern Christmas classic. A one-act production, approximately one hour in length.

Presented by the Overlook Theatre Company. Tickets are $12. For more information, call 828.524.1598 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com.

‘A Tuna Christmas’ A special stage production of “A Tuna Christmas” presented at 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 7-8, 14-15 and 17, and at 4 p.m.

Dec. 9 and 16 at the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre in Bryson City.

The plot centers on the Tuna, Texas, annual Christmas Yard Display Contest, won 14 times in a row by Vera Carp. A mysterious “Christmas Phantom,” known for vandalizing the yard displays, threatens to throw the contest into turmoil.

Among the subplots are Stanley Bumiller’s attempts to end his probation and leave Tuna, Bertha Bumiller’s trying to hold her family together at Christmas time, and Joe Bob Lipsey’s struggle to mount successfully his production of A Christmas Carol despite numerous vexations and obstacles.

Tickets are $14 for adults, $8 for children 6-17. Cash only at the door. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/smctheatre.

‘Lights & Luminaries’ returns to Dillsboro The annual “Lights & Luminaries” will return to the streets of downtown from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 7-8 and 14-15.

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 visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Live Nativity at Jarrett Memorial Baptist Church.

Free shuttle service from Monteith Park.

For more information, visit www.visitdillsboro.org.

Nick Breedlove photo

Sylva library to host Christmas Concert The Western Carolina Civic Orchestra will present the annual “Community Christmas Concert” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

The musical celebration will begin at 6:30 p.m. with caroling on the library steps.

Caroling will again be led by Phil & Gayle Woody. They encourage everyone to come and join their friends and neighbors in singing traditional carols.

Members of the Civic Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Damon Sink, will begin the concert at 7 p.m. with portions of the Corelli Christmas Concerto, La Rejouissance and Winter Wonderland.

Two guitarists from Franklin, Paul Savaiko and Ray Olson, will perform seasonal favorites.

Their duo is known as Jazz Mountain, “a place where great songs are turned into a listening experience by two guys who know their craft.”

Area students who study violin with Cathy Arps and Kathy Hill will join in.

The concert is free and the public is welcome. The Jackson County Arts Council will serve refreshments after the concert.

The Western Carolina Civic Orchestra is supported by the Jackson County Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and

Cultural Resources.

For more information, call 828.586.2016.

This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org).

Ready for the ‘Christmas Cantata’?

The Chancel Choir will present a “Christmas Cantata” at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16, at the First United Methodist Church in Sylva.

The choir will present “Night of

Miracles”/”A Christmas Cantata” by John W. Peterson. The Christmas story will be narrated by Jeff Goss. Tommy Ginn is the director of the chancel choir. Actors from the church will portray the nativity scene.

The Sylva Bells, a community handbell choir, under the direction of Lori Merservey, will play holiday selections prior to the concert. Following the cantata, heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served in the church’s Christian Life Center for all to enjoy. Various instrumental groups will perform at this time.

The public is invited to attend this evening of music, joy and fellowship, First United Methodist Church’s gift to the community. For more information, call the church office at 828.586.2358.

On the holidays

Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts students will host a holiday craft sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, in the Mary Cornwell Gallery of the Creative Arts Building. There will be a special preview from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6.

The sale will feature work by students in fiber, jewelry, pottery and woodworking. Pieces

available at the holiday sale showcase students’ technical skills learned in the program as well as their individual style and creativity.

HCC’s Professional Crafts programs offer an innovative, affordable, groundbreaking craft education. Through a unique blend of studio experience, classroom education and hands-on business experience, students can

• The “Polar Express” will depart on select times through Dec. 31 from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot. For more information on departures or to purchase tickets, visit www.gsmr.com.

CASHIERS

CHEROKEE • “Cherokee Lights & Legends Christmas” will be Dec. 15-17 at 31 Tsali Boulevard.

Highlights include performances by the Kenya Safari Acrobats, a country-style cake walk, a raffle for a big gingerbread house, and hourly drawings for door prizes. Visit Santa’s Workshop to enjoy craft making,

A special production of “A Christmas Carol” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 and 15, and at 2 p.m. Dec. 9 and 16, at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre.

It has been three years since HART last presented its spectacular production of the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol,” and now it’s back. The story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his visit by three ghosts is timeless and HART’s production is sure to remind audiences of the true spirit of the holidays.

The production features elaborate scenery designed by HART’s scenic artist, Lyle Baskin.

This year’s production is under the direction of Julie Kinter, who is bringing a new take to the staging. The show will feature a cast of 35 with Pasquale LaCorte in the role of Scrooge. LaCorte was last seen in the role of Nunzio in HART’s “Over the River and Through the Woods.”

Ticket prices are $13 for adults and $7 for children. For reservations, call 828.456.6322 or visit www.harttheatre.org.

games for the kids, a bouncy house, and pictures with Santa. There is no admission cost for this event, but individual activities require a nominal fee ($5 or less). Vendors will be on hand for you to buy that Christmas craft or get a bite to eat.

DILLSBORO • Innovation Station will host a “Holiday Market” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13. www.innovation-brewing.com.

FRANKLIN • The Brasstown Ringers community handbell ensemble will present its Christmas concerts at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, at The First United Methodist Church. The program features a selection of songs and carols from Christmas classics to joyous international numbers. Other highlights include smaller ensembles featuring talented ringers ringing multiple bells. For details about handbell workshops, beginning bell classes or to schedule a performance, contact Pat Meinecke after the concerts or call at 828.837.8822.

SYLVA • The Jackson County Cooperative Extension’s “Holiday Craft Market” will be

Lake Junaluska’s ‘Appalachian Christmas’ All are invited to Lake Junaluska for the “Appalachian Christmas,” a holiday concert weekend including a local craft show.

The Lake Junaluska Singers will return to perform Handel’s Messiah at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 7, in the Stuart Auditorium.

Handel’s Messiah is a baroque-era music composition by George Frideric Handel, composed in 1741-1742 and the Lake Junaluska Singers will perform alongside a regional chorus and area musicians.

The “Appalachian Christmas Craft Show” will include dozens of artisans exhibiting all hand-crafted items. The show is run by the Junaluska Woman’s Club and the profits go toward scholarships the Woman’s Club puts together for Lake Junaluska staff members every summer. All are welcome to attend the craft show from 9

from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 and 15. Unique gift ideas handcrafted from over 20 local vendors at this event. The 4-H Youth Leadership Council is also holding a food and winter clothing drive so bring your nonperishable food items and gently used coats, gloves, scarves, and sweaters along with you to help support your community.

For more information, call the Extension Office at 828.586.4009.

• The Mountain Winds Community Band will present “Tis the Season” at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, at Smoky Mountain High School. Come and enjoy all your Christmas favorites. Donations will go toward helping the Smoky Mountain Band program. 828.586.2177.

• “Gingerbread House Workshop” will be held at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 3 to 5 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 15, and at noon to 2 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 16, at the First Baptist Church. Make your very own Gingerbread House. This two-hour class will be hosted

by Cotton Leigh Bakery. To sign up, visit the bakery at 628 West Main Street or call 828.477.4566.

ALSO:

WAYNESVILLE • “A Night Before Christmas” will be Saturday, Dec. 8, at the Haywood County Arts Council in downtown. “Sip, Shop &

a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, in the Harrell Center.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter and storyteller Sheila Kay Adams will perform at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, in the Stuart Auditorium.

“Appalachian Christmas” festivities wrap up with a Christmas concert by the Lake Junaluska Singers at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 8, in the Stuart Auditorium.

Members of the ensemble will return from across the country to perform at “Appalachian Christmas.” Carols with audience participation, “Appalachian Christmas” songs, and poignant readings will round out the evening.

To buy tickets, call 800.222.4930 or visit www.lakejunaluska.com/christmas.

Lodging packages are also available.

Save” from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Artist demonstrations by jeweler Toni Carroll fro 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and mixed media artist Caryl Brt from 6 to 8 p.m.

• Voices in the Laurel “A Holiday Concert” will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, at Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church. Music tribute to holiday films. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door for adults, and $8 in advance, $10 at the door for children ages 12 and under. www.voicesinthelaurel.org/tickets.

• “Old Fashioned Appalachian Christmas & Grand Illumination” will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, at The Shelton House.

Bring your lawn chairs and blankets, sing along with the carolers, warm up inside the barn with hot chocolate, cider, and treats.

Don’t forget to bring your wish list. Santa Claus will be in the barn from 4 to 6:15 p.m. The Illumination of The Shelton House will happen at 6:30 p.m. on the front lawn after a reading of “The Night Before Christmas.” The Shelton House gift shop will be open with local crafts for sale. This is a free event.

• “Winter Arts Smokies Style” artist reception will be Saturday, Dec. 15, at the Haywood County Arts Council in downtown. Kid’s Crafts from noon to 3 p.m. with an artist demonstration by painter Melissa Moss from 3 to 6 p.m. The artist reception will be from 27 6 to 8 p.m.

Smoky Mountain News

• The 44th annual “Cashiers Christmas Parade” will be held at noon Saturday, Dec. 8, in downtown. This year’s theme is “Over the River and Through the Woodes” in celebration of Camp Merrie-Woode’s 100th anniversary, who will serve as this year’s Grand Marshal.

• The annual “Christmas On the Green” celebration will run through New Year’s Day at The Village Green. The 13-acre park in the heart of Cashiers will feature thousands of twinkling lights. For more information, visit www.villagegreencashiersnc.com.

HART presents ‘A Christmas Carol’

December 5-11, 2018

BRYSON CITY

achieve the skills necessary to become viable independent studio artists or to become valuable, skilled employees in the craft industry.

Both the preview party and the sale are free and open to the public. For more information, call 828.627.4671 or email eareason@haywood.edu.

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HCC Professional Crafts holiday sale

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WCU traditional music series Sarah Elizabeth Burkey.

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The First Thursday Old-Time and Bluegrass Series continues with a concert featuring traditional musicians Sarah Elizabeth Burkey and Erich Overhultz at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at Western Carolina University.

The performance and the open jam session that follows will be held at MadStone Cafe and Catching Light Books, which is located on the ground floor of Noble Hall on the WCU campus.

A veteran performer at Mountain Heritage Day, WCU’s annual fall festival, Burkey “enraptures listeners by sharing personal roots and fresh authenticity,” said Peter Koch, education associate at the university’s Mountain Heritage Center, which sponsors the concert and jam series. “Her musical work places strong emphasis on the cultural heritage of the Appalachians and on

rural life in general.”

Burkey has been featured on five solo or collaborative albums and has performed on another 10 albums. She will be accompanied on hammered dulcimer by Erich Overhultz, a long-time member of the south Florida music scene who is featured on the 2011 album “Okeechobee Moon.”

The First Thursday concerts and jam sessions will continue through next spring, with programs from 7 to 9 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month.

The events are free and open to the public. Pickers and singers of all ages and experience levels are invited to take part in the jam sessions, which also are open to those who just want to listen.

For more information, call the Mountain Heritage Center at 828.227.7129 or visit mhc.wcu.edu.

On the beat

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host an acoustic jam with Main St. NoTones from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6 and 13. Free and open to the public. www.blueridgebeerhub.com.

• Boojum Brewing Company (Waynesville) will host a bluegrass open mic every Wednesday, an all-genres open mic every Thursday and Modern Strangers (rock/pop) 9 p.m. Dec. 7.

All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.boojumbrewing.com.

ALSO:

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host “The Jingle Bell Bash” w/Joseph Hasty Trio Dec. 8 and Joe Cruz (piano/vocals) Dec. 15. All shows are free and begin at 7:15 p.m.

828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host Twelfth Fret (Americana/folk) Dec. 8. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.curraheebrew.com.

• Harmon’s Den Bistro at HART (Waynesville) will host karaoke and an open mic at 8 p.m. on Saturdays. All are welcome. www.harttheatre.org.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night Dec. 5 and 12, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo Dec. 6 and 13. All events are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

Manna FoodBank Benefit concert The inaugural “Feed the Need: Manna FoodBank Benefit” musician showcase will be held at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Isis Music Hall in Asheville.

Musicians will include Leeda “Lyric” Jones, Jack Victor (of Midnight Snack),

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host an open mic night at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday, Rats Sabbath (Black Sabbath tribute) Dec. 15 and Andalyn (Americana) Dec. 22. All shows begin at 8 p.m. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• The Macon County Public Library (Franklin) will host The Vagabonds (old country/gospel) at 2 p.m. Dec. 10. Free to attend.

CaroMia, Juan Holladay (of the Secret BSides), Stephanie Morgan, David Earl Tomlinson, Ashley Heath, Stevie Lee Combs, and more.

There will also be spoken word poets.

The emcee will be Barbie Angell. Prizes will also be raffled off, including an “Ultimate Music Lovers” package.

Manna FoodBank is a private, not-forprofit service organization, providing food with hope and dignity to Western North Carolina since 1983. Manna links the food industry with over 200 partner agencies in 16 counties of WNC. The organization is a member of Feeding America, a national umbrella organization that links together other food banks throughout the United States.

Tickets are $15. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.isisasheville.com.

• Mad Anthony’s Taproom & Restaurant (Waynesville) will host Wyatt Edmonson Dec. 7, Billingsley Dec. 21 and 28 Pages Dec. 29.

All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host an open mic night every Thursday and Aces Down Dec. 7 and 14, Frank & Allie (Americana/folk) Dec. 8 and Twelfth Fret (singer-songwriter) Dec. 15. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.

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

Free and open to the public. www.pub319socialhouse.com.

• Salty Dog’s (Maggie Valley) will have Karaoke with Jason Wyatt at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, Mile High (classic rock) 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays, and a Trivia w/Kelsey Jo 8 p.m. Thursdays.

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

• Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host Pepper & Devine 7 p.m. Dec. 7.

828.586.1717 or www.soulinfusion.com.

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

• Isis Music Hall (West Asheville) will host Caroline Cotter (Americana/folk) 7 p.m. Dec. 5, “Feed the Need: Manna FoodBank Benefit” (Americana/soul) 8:30 p.m. Dec. 5, Sarah Peacock (Americana) 7 p.m. Dec. 6, Sarah

• The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic Night” on Mondays, karaoke on Thursdays and Doyle & Merrell (variety) Dec. 8. All events at 10 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.456.4750.

smokymountainnews.com

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Smoky Mountain News

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Scott Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) Dec. 8. All events are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

Lyric.

December 5-11, 2018

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Mindframe Dec. 8, “Pints For A Purpose: Toys for Tots” 5 p.m. Dec. 12, ‘Round the Fire (rock/Americana) Dec. 14 and Bonafide (Americana) Dec. 15. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com.

Potenza (blues/soul) 7 p.m. Dec. 7, Claudia Nygaard (Americana) 5:30 p.m. Dec. 9, Joe Jencks & Si Kahn (old-time/folk) 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 9, Darren Nicholson Band (bluegrass/classic country) 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11, Jacob Johnson (Americana/folk) 7 p.m.

Dec. 12 and State Birds w/Sipe, Seal, Fountain & Lopes (jazz/funk) 8:30 p.m. Dec. 12. www.isisasheville.com.

arts & entertainment

• Andrews Brewing Company (Andrews) will host the “Lounge Series” at its Calaboose location with Troy Underwood (singer-songwriter) Dec. 7, Dana Rogers (Americana) Dec. 8, Scott Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) Dec. 14 and Jody West (singer-songwriter) Dec. 15. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

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arts & entertainment

On the street

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The final “Art After Dark” of the year will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, in downtown Waynesville.

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

Participants include Burr Studio, Cedar Hill Studios, Earthworks Gallery, Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery & Gifts, The Jeweler’s Workbench, Moose Crossing Burl Wood Gallery, T. Pennington Art Gallery, Twigs and Leaves Gallery and The Village Framer.

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

On the table

Smoky Mountain News

Bosu’s tastings, small plates

The #1 Listing & Selling Team In Haywood County

Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville will host an array of wine tastings and small plates.

• Dec. 6/13: Five for $5 Wine Tasting from 5 to 9 p.m. Taste five wines and dine on Chef Stacy’s gourmet cuisine.

• Dec. 7/14: Secret Wine Bar Night from 5 to 9 p.m.. Gourmet food, and a great wine & beer menu.

• Dec. 8/15: There will be a free wine tasting from 1 to 5 p.m.

828.452.0120 or visit www.waynesvillewine.com.

• Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host “Wine & Cheese for the Soul” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11.

828.586.1717 or www.soulinfusion.com.

ALSO:

• A free wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 8 and 15 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. www.papouswineshop.com or 828.631.3075.

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

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On the wall

Haywood Community College’s continuing education creative arts department will host American Bladesmith Society (ABS) fall workshops on its campus.

Those interested can choose between “Leather Sheath” Dec. 7-8 and “Friction Folder” Dec. 7-9.

• ABS Journeyman Ken Hall will lead the

Throughout the academic year, Western Carolina University in Cullowhee hosts an array of ongoing exhibits at the Fine Art Museum in the Bardo Arts Center and also the Mountain Heritage Center.

• “Glass Catalyst: Littleton’s Legacy in Contemporary Sculpture” will run through Dec. 7. Celebrating the efforts of the late Harvey Littleton, one of the greatest proponents of using glass as an expressive medium, the exhibition explores the

Eclectic art exhibit at Gallery 1

work of contemporary artists concentrating in glass and how they are building off the foundations laid by Littleton during the early years of the Studio Glass Movement. A key work in the exhibition is the recent acquisition to the museum’s collection: a glass sculpture by Harvey Littleton entitled “Terracotta Arc.” • The WCU Campus Theme, the “Defining America” exhibit brings together artists with different perspectives on the concept of “America” and asks visitors to reflect on the values, definitions, and assumptions attached to this concept. The exhibition will be on view through May 3.

Regular museum hours at the BAC are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays until 7 p.m. For information, call 828.227.ARTS or visit bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Brush & Brew” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Our Summerhouse Pottery in downtown Waynesville will host after-school art classes for elementary/middle-schoolers. Classes begin Jan. 8-9. Pottery/art classes will be held weekly for six weeks. Elementary (8-10 years olds) will be Tuesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.. Middle-schoolers (11-14 years olds) will be Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuition is $95, which includes all supplies. Class size is limited to eight. For more information and/or to register, contact Amy

• Our Summerhouse Pottery in downtown Waynesville will host adult pottery classes on Tuesdays evenings (starting Jan. 8) from 6 to 8:30 p.m. or Thursday afternoons (starting Jan. 10) from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Tuition is $225, which includes all supplies. Class size is limited to six. For more information and/or to register, contact Amy at amy@oursummerhousepottery.com or call 828.734.5737.

at amy@oursummerhousepottery.com or call 828.734.5737.

ALSO:

• Mad Batter Food & Film (Sylva) will host a free movie night at 7:30 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

• The Waynesville Fiber Friends will meet from 10 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of the month at the Panacea Coffee House in Waynesville. All are invited. You can keep up with them through their Facebook group or by calling 828.276.6226.

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

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

Smoky Mountain News

• A “Beginner Step-By-Step” painting class will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursdays (Dec. 6 and 20) at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville.

Cost is $25 with all supplies provided. RSVP by contacting Robin Arramae at 828.400.9560 or paintnitewaynesville@gmail.com.

The eclectic art work of Isabella R. Jacovino will be featured in a show in the Backstreet Gallery Room of Gallery 1 at 604 West Main Street in Sylva. The exhibit will remain available for viewing and sale though Dec. 7.

As a visual artist working with recycled materials, Isabella explores combining the aesthetics of steampunk, dieselpunk, street art, and interpretations on retro-futurism.

Her works focus on the “punk” suffix attached to both the steam and diesel aesthetics and highlight the counterculture nature of the genre with regards to its opposition to contemporary artistic canons.

Admission is free. For more information, email art@galley1sylva.com.

December 5-11, 2018

Have you visited WCU’s art exhibits?

arts & entertainment

Bladesmith Society workshops at HCC

“Leather Sheath” class. The class will cover leather selection, making a pattern, cutting leather, basic tooling, dyeing and hand stitching.

Students will complete sheath for a medium sized knife that they bring to class. Cost is $190.

• ABS Master Smith Andrew Meer will lead the “Friction Folder” class. The class will cover material selection, blade and handle design, construction, techniques of proper fit and finishing. Each student will complete a friction folder. Space is limited for this workshop. Cost is $252.

Coming this spring, HCC Continuing Education Creative Arts will host “Introduction to Bladesmithing” March 1819, as well as the “Smoky Mountain HammerIn” March 21-24.

For more information, visit creativearts.haywood.edu or call 828.565.4240.

• Free classes and open studio times are being offered at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Join others at a painting open studio session from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Tuesday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays.

For information on days open, hours and additional art classes and workshops, contact the gallery on 30 East Main Street at 828.349.4607.

31

On the stage arts & entertainment

Kids at HART auditions PERFECT FOR THOSE LONG WINTER NIGHTS

Members of a past Kids at HART production.

December 5-11, 2018

www.affairsoftheheartnc.com

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre’s youth drama program, Kids at HART, will hold auditions for its spring musical “Godspell Jr.� at 6 p.m. Dec. 9-10. The auditions are open to young actors from fifth to 12th grades. The production will run at 2 p.m. March 9-10 and 16-17.

The original “Godspell� was the first major musical theatre offering from three-time Grammy and Academy Award-winner, Stephen Schwartz, and it took the world by storm.

Boasting a score with chart topping songs, “Godspell Jr.� is a sensation that continues to touch audiences. Schwartz is also known for the musicals “Wicked� and “Pippin.� “Godspell�tells the story of a group of disciples who help Jesus Christ tell different parables by using a wide variety of games and storytelling techniques with a hefty dose of comic timing. An eclectic blend of songs, ranging in style from pop to vaudeville, is employed as the story of Jesus’ life dances across the stage. Dissolving hauntingly into the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, Jesus’ messages of kindness, tolerance and love come vibrantly to life.

For further information visit the website www.harttheater.org or visit the Kids at Hart Facebook page.

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Diplomate

‘The Madness of King George III’ The Highlands Performing Arts Center will present “Live via Satellite� the National Theatre of London’s production of “The Madness of King George III� at 1 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 8.

It’s 1786 and King George III is the most powerful man in the world. But his behavior is becoming increasingly erratic as he succumbs to fits of lunacy. With the King’s mind unravelling at a dramatic pace, ambitious politicians and the scheming Prince of Wales threaten to undermine the power of the Crown, and expose the fine line between a King and a man.

Tickets can be purchased by going to www.highlandspac.org, the HPAC box office or by calling 828.526.9047. All students will be admitted free of charge. • There is free comedy improv class from 7 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday in Maggie Valley. No experience necessary, just come to watch or join in the fun. Improv teacher Wayne Porter studied at Sak Comedy Lab in Orlando, Florida, and performed improvisation with several groups. Join Improv WNC on Facebook or just call 828.316.8761 to RSVP for directions.

ALSO:

@SmokyMtnNews

Books

Smoky Mountain News

Playing with a net: ‘Formal Salutations’ hen I was teaching homeschool students in AP Literature, I would on occasion ask them to write a sonnet.

The first time I did so, I promised to write a sonnet with them. The writing of that sonnet hooked me, and I eventually Writer composed around 30 such poems.

Below is one of them, “To My Errant Cousins.” Robert Frost, who famously said that free verse is like playing tennis without a net, provided my inspiration.

Jeff Minick

W

Most poets now eschew — how that chew fits!

— The waltz and formal sway of metered lines; Their neoteric noses twitch at rhyme; Their guts are churned when brushed by lyric tits.

Sestinas, sonnets, villanelles galore Beget from modern pens frenetic raves; Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Brings shrieks of pain — O pentametric gore!

By blight, by blast, by slug and cankered mold The ancient gardens, lily, lilac, rose, The measured bed, the beaten path, the flow — Were all laid waste as false (or too damned old).

A plague on modernists whom no one reads — On all who made this garden rank with weeds.

In this review I wish to dedicate this sonnet to William Baer, Guggenheim fellow, playwright and novelist, translator and academic, founding editor of The Formalist, founder of the St. Robert Southwell Institute, which teaches and encourages young writers of fiction, poems, and plays, fellow Catholic, and poet.

In Baer’s Formal Salutations: New & Selected Poems (Measure Press, 2019, 184 pages), readers receive a basket of gifts, verse from Baer’s previous books and poetry appear for the first time. Here are sonnets and ballads, blank verse and villanelle, couplets, anapests, and quatrains.

Here we find love sonnets, a psalter in verse, several parodies (which if you are acquainted with modern verse are hilarious), and lessons in history, biography, and culture. Here is the delightful and hilarious “New Jersey Noir,” a hard-boiled detective story in verse celebrating the novels of Ross Macdonald.

Most importantly, here is a poet who

with rhythm, rhyme, humor, wit, and insight can entertain and educate an audience. Allow me to introduce you to just a few of these fine poems.

In “Conspiracy,” Baer gives us a sonnet reflecting the paranoia and mistrust well and alive in our time: You know the truth about the suicide of the emissary’s wife, the cocaine bust in Venice and the plagues at Passiontide.

But whom can you tell? Whom can you really trust?

Desperate, you fly to Washington, D.C., to your ex-lover. “Meet me anywhere.”

“Of course,” she says. “Let’s meet at the N.S.C.” Later, walking from McPherson Square, you start to tell her on the Mall, but “No,” she puts a finger to your lips. “Don’t say a word. Please. I really don’t want to know.”

Instead, she kisses your mouth: you pull away.

You check your watch. It’s two a.m.

There’s not much time. Your love is one of them.

In “The Red-Haired Poet,” Baer parodies William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow,” a poem whose vague meaning and high place on the modernist ladder of honors confused most of my students. The original reads: so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.

Baer humorously transforms these lines into a shot at both the poem and modernism with this imitation: so much depends upon the red-haired harrow smashing the metronomes amid the literary chickens.

Many of the poems in Formal Salutations have to do with chances missed, good intentions gone awry, or actions misinterpreted. In “Cage,” a husband and wife, in attempting to create a perfect marriage, instead build bars around themselves until “The whole house pulsates with her frustrated rage.”

“Bookstore” tells of a woman who looks in the index of a celebrity’s best-selling memoir to see if he remembers their long-ago love for each other. When she finds no mention of her name, she leaves the bookshop and drives away, unaware that the author has given her the pseudonym “Marie” and has written that she “was his ‘only, ever, perfect love’/whom he was ‘still and always’ thinking of.”

A number of Baer’s sonnets look at romantic love in its various guises, ranging from relationships that have fallen apart to the mystery and beauty of a marriage. In “Swimming Pool,” a man whom we first think a peeping tom watches as a woman “drops her robe to the ground” before entering her swimming pool unclothed.

The unobserved man relishes the woman’s beauty, then follows her into the house “where his wife is waiting, still damp with the wet of the pool.” In “The Swimming Pool Float,” a man whose wife has died remembers her blowing up a yellow swimming pool float: Tonight, holding the float, when the night is cool, he moves her chair to exactly the same place, opens the valve, and sits beside the pool, then feels her breath rush gently over his face, alone with loneliness, alone with death, he inhales her last remaining breath.

Readers may also enjoy Baer’s translations of Portuguese poet Luis de Camoes work and his ruminations on the Argentinian writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges.

Once Americans read and knew their poets, from Whittier and Whitman to Frost and Sandburg. Though many today may still read the poets of the past, fewer people are familiar with our living poets.

This move away from reading contemporary poets likely occurred for two reasons. First, some of our modern poets are best known as songwriters, musicians like Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. Perhaps stronger reasons for this neglect are the obscure meanings and difficult form of some modern poetry. Like many academics who write for technical journals or modernist painters who deliver abstracts, a good number of poets today write solely for themselves or a limited audience rather than for a broader audience.

William Baer is an exception. Clear and lucent, his verse can be understood and enjoyed by any reader.

Formal Salutations will be available on March 1, 2019. Other titles by Baer may be ordered from your local bookstore or online.

(Jeff Minick is a writer and teacher. minick0301@gmail.com)

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Author reading at Marianna Mason Lakey, author of Come Walk with Me and Horris the Horrible Germy Worm, will host a book reading and discussion at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Come Walk With Me opens a window into the author’s thoughts and feelings. Her poems give inspiration to help us be cheerful and uplifted. Horris the Horrible Germy Worm is a playful story with an important message to children about health issues.

Lakey grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Retirement has brought more time for numerous hobbies. She loves to crochet, read, paint, cook, garden and, of course, write.

“God has graciously given me the talent to write,” she said.

Light snacks and beverages will also be provided. For more information, call the library at 828.488.3030.

New book about ‘Backyard Bears’ Children’s author Amy Cherrix will host a reading and signing for Backyard Bears from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

Join an expedition with three wildlife biologists studying an unusual population of black bears in Asheville, the author’s hometown. This quest won’t take them to the high country of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains.

To study these bears, they will visit the least likely place most people would expect to find them — living in the city’s backyards and neighborhoods. Can Asheville residents coexist with the city’s growing urban bear population?

Meet the researchers and citizen scientists in this amazing ecological story. Then, travel around the world to discover other urban animal populations. From Boston to Berlin, and Honolulu to Mumbai, the world is facing a new and wilder frontier.

Appropriate for grades 4 through 8. For more information, call 828.456.6000 or click on www.blueridgebooksnc.com.

Heritage foods of Carolina Georgann Eubanks will present her latest book, The Month of Their Ripening: North Carolina Heritage Foods Through the Year, at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Telling the stories of 12 North Carolina heritage foods, each matched to the month of its peak readiness for eating, Eubanks takes readers on a flavorful journey across the state.

She begins in January with the most ephemeral of southern ingredients-snow-to witness Tar Heels making snow cream. In March, she takes a midnight canoe ride on the Trent River in search of shad, a bony fish with a savory history. In April, she highlights how garlicky green ramps, traditionally savored by many Cherokee people, is endangered by its increasing popularity in fine restaurants. In November, she visits a Chatham County sawmill where the possums are always first into the persimmon trees.

To reserve copies, call the bookstore at 828.586.9499.

34

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

Sochan in springtime Cherokee looks to reclaim plant gathering traditions in the Smokies Sochan leaves emerge from the ground in early spring. NPS photo

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER or centuries and even millennia, the early spring greens of the sochan plant have served as a celebration of spring for the Cherokee people. If a proposal now out for public comment meets approval, in a few months tribal members could hold that celebration with greens harvested in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“Our culture is not linear. It’s more circular, and going back to places like the park, to where we once inhabited and lived and collected, it takes on a different meaning of spirituality,” said Tommy Cabe, forest resource specialist for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and a sochan gatherer himself. “It takes on a different meaning of who we are as Cherokee.”

Before Europeans arrived in the Southern Appalachians, the Cherokee nation was expansive, covering portions of eight states and including all of what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But a series of treaties and forced removals shrank that territory dramatically, and since the park was created in 1934, it’s been illegal for anybody — including Cherokee tribal members — to gather plants or plant parts in its boundaries.

Sochan gathering has been an important part of life for Cabe, who can remember seeking the plant out with his mom and her sisters from a young age.

“We all gathered up there on the (Qualla) Boundary, and I always felt like we were kind of limited,” he said.

Because right up against the edge of the Qualla Boundary is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 831 square miles of wilderness that must surely contain some impressive stores of sochan and other culturally important plants as well. When he was older, Cabe started to fly fish in the park, and as he cast his line through the water he’d see sochan growing along the banks. It would

F

What is sochan?

Sochan, Rudbeckia laciniata, is an herbaceous perennial plant that grows and spreads from its roots. Its early spring leaves were traditionally gathered by the Cherokee, and mature plants reach 3 to 10 feet, producing yellow flowers from July through October.

have been illegal to cut, so he let it be. But it wasn’t for lack of desire.

“I wanted to so bad,” he said. “But I never did.”

THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT As far as Cabe knew, that would be that for years and decades to come. But a 2016 federal rule opened the door for tribes like Cherokee to reclaim their traditions on national park lands. The rule allowed federally recognized tribes to ask the National Park Service to enter into an agreement that would allow them to gather and remove culturally important plants and plant parts. The EBCI was quick to seize the opportunity.

“Right after the final rule was finalized and published, we had a meeting with the tribe, in August 2016, to start discussions on how to go about the process outlined in the final rule,” said Mark Collins, environmental protection specialist for the park. “Soon after that the tribe submitted a formal letter to the superintendent requesting to gather.”

That request triggered a process that is only now, more than two years later, nearing its conclusion. In order to let tribal members gather sochan, the park had to come up with a specific proposal, including numbers of permits and regulations governing where and how much people could gather. It had to have data showing that the proposed gathering wouldn’t harm the natural environment the park is charged with protecting, and it had to

go through an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Protection Act to vet the proposed rules and findings of expected impact — because the Park Service didn’t have funding to complete that process, the tribe appropriated $68,100 to make it happen.

“Frankly I’m kind of pleased and impressed with how well it has worked,” said Collins. “It seems like it’s taken a while to get where we are, but I don’t think it was because of any controversy. It’s just that’s the way it is when two governments try to work together.

But I feel like it’s been a good, cooperative effort.”

The park left it up to the tribe to develop a draft gathering agreement, and very little changed between that original proposal and the system outlined in the draft environmental assessment now out for public comment.

According to the proposal, an initial 36 tribal members — to be selected through their community clubs — would be given gathering permits. All permitees would be required to go through a training, providing an overview of gathering regulations, sochan identification, acceptable gathering methods, the EBCI’s cultural connection to the plant and food preparation methods.

Permitees would be allowed to bring along up to five unpermitted people when they gather, but would always be limited to gathering a half-bushel of leaves per day, with a weekly maximum of one bushel and an annual maximum of 12 bushels. Gathering would be allowed only in areas within 100 meters of official roads, trails or along the park’s border with tribal land, and gathering activities would have to remain out of sight of high visitor use areas like roads and trailheads.

Gatherers would then have to submit a weekly sochan gathering report to the EBCI Natural Resources Department throughout the gathering season, to run from March 1 to May 31.

The EBCI would forward those reports to

the park, and the two organizations would hold weekly conference calls throughout the season to discuss monitoring activities, results and concerns. The park would monitor throughout the season, working to see if gathering hurts sochan populations or adversely impacts other plant species due to trampling.

A 20 percent decline of sochan within a gathering unit would trigger a suspension of sochan gathering within that unit.

To finalize the agreement, park staff will need to review the comments and deliver a finding of no significant impact. That finding will then have to be signed off on by Smokies Superintendent Cassius Cash and NPS Regional Director Bob Vogle. Approval would give the EBCI the go-ahead to identify permitees and create a training program. If all goes smoothly, the first permit-holders could start hunting sochan in March. The agreement would be good for five years.

‘LIKE A TESTIMONY’ While the plan contains provisions for what to do if gathering is found to damage the sochan population, that’s an unlikely outcome.

Even before the 2016 rule was finalized, Cherokee has been conducting research on sochan growth and harvest with Joe-Ann McCoy of the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville.

Those results were key to the current proposal.

Traditional Cherokee sochan harvest follows a specific method. When the first spring leaves come up — known as the “turkey foot,” the first leaves come in a set of three — the Cherokee cut them off and leave the root intact. According to McCoy’s research published earlier this year, a study comparing plants in which the turkey foot was harvested to those on which no harvesting occurred not only showed that harvesting didn’t harm the plants but indicated that it could benefit them.

“The results of the sochan leaf gathering study did indicate that there was an increase in sochan stem size, flowering and fruiting as a result of the removal of a portion of the early spring leaves,” said a summary of the research in the environmental assessment.

“These changes could be interpreted as a response to stress, potentially from the removal of a portion of the spring leaves.

Studies have indicated that various stressors such as flooding can result in more plant growth.”

For Cabe, seeing the centuries-old traditions of his people validated by modern scientific research is a gratifying thing.

“It’s like a testimony to see our way of life, our way of harvesting these plants is not detrimental to the plant,” said Cabe.

WORK TO BE DONE Sochan is an important plant for Cherokee people, but it’s not the only important plant.

Going forward, the EBCI plans to continue working to secure gathering agreements for other culturally vital species.

Sochan was viewed as a good start-

Red wolf management decision delayed and Dare counties. Outside those public lands, red wolves could be killed with no hunting restrictions. A five-county area in Eastern North Carolina is home to the world’s only wild population of red wolves, which is now down from a peak of 150 individuals 10 years ago to about 35 today.

The initial 30-day public comment period was extended for an additional 30 days to close Aug. 28, and a final rule was expected Nov. 30. The Fish and Wildlife Service statement announcing the extended review time did not include a revised timeline.

The conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife is opposed to the extended review, saying that the Fish and Wildlife Service should be starting from

scratch rather than trying to salvage something from its controversial plan.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service should throw out its contested plan for red wolves and instead fulfill its duties by conserving the species, taking concrete steps to protect this species and charting a path towards recovery,” said Ben Prater, Southeast program director for Defenders. “Red wolves need help now.”

According to an analysis from the Wildlands Network, Wolf Conservation Center, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Welfare Institute, the proposed rule drew 108,124 comments, of which 99.9 percent favored stronger federal protections for red wolves.

Santa to visit Chimney Rock Old Saint Nick will visit Chimney Rock State Park Saturday, Dec. 8, practicing his chimney-climbing game on the iconic rock as festivities abound.

Santa will rappel down the Chimney at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., taking a break at the top of every hour to meet visiting children with Mrs. Claus.

The day will also include breakfast with the elves from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., Mrs. Claus reading her favorite Christmas story at 10 a.m., complimentary Santa photos and one-of-a-kind wish lists typed up on a vintage typewriter.

Christmas music will be performed 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and an assortment of craft stations with complimentary cookies and cocoa will be available. The event will end with an elf-guided hike along the Great Wonderland Adventure Trail at 2 p.m. that includes a scavenger hunt with Santa’s helpers.

The event is free with park admission.

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In response to a Nov. 5 federal court ruling that found the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s rollback of protections for wild red wolves “operate(d) to violate [the Fish and Wildlife Service’s] mandate to recover this species in the wild,” the Fish and Wildlife Service announced Nov. 30 that it would extend its review of a proposed red wolf management rule.

“The additional review time will provide the Service the opportunity to fully evaluate the implications of the court decision,” said a statement from the agency.

The proposed rule, first published June 28, would stop management of red wolves living on private lands and restrict conservation efforts to certain public lands in Hyde

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An environmental assessment laying out a proposed policy that would allow Cherokee tribal members to gather sochan in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is available for public comment through Dec. 13.

The document lays out the proposed agreement, as well as a plethora of background information and the scientific basis for its assertion that the agreement would not adversely impact park resources. It is available at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/grsm, along with a portal for comments.

ing point because it’s relatively common and hardy, and the tribe already had research underway that could be used in the environmental assessment.

The tribe is currently funding research to evaluate traditional methods of harvesting ramps and is interested in an agreement to harvest mountain salad — the name given to an assortment of early spring

leaves cut from various plants. While ramps are well known to suffer from overharvesting, the Cherokee method of harvesting is said to be sustainable for future generations.

“We all hold our breath for ramps, because there’s a lot of concern that ramps are going to be one of those commodities that’s going to be very rare if we don’t do

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December 5-11, 2018

Joe-Ann McCoy (left) and Tommy Cabe harvest sochan seed late in the season. Donated photo

something quickly,” said Cabe. “With sochan being the first plant, I think it eases everybody’s concerns and brings more ideas to the table.”

While the ramp research has been going on for about five years now, it’s taking longer than expected to reach its conclusion due to the ramp’s life cycle and various environmental factors. It could be another three to five years until the research is over.

In the meantime, the tribe may look at a potential agreement for mountain salad, though that has its own challenges, since mountain salad doesn’t involve just one species but a varying recipe composed of several species.

“There are different plants that could be considered mountain salad for different people, so what we need to do is get out to the community and say, ‘What are potentially the plants that can be listed in a mountain salad, but let’s not get crazy,’” said Cabe.

Regardless of what comes next, what’s come already is certainly an accomplishment — if the agreement is approved, the EBCI will be the second tribe nationwide to establish a gathering agreement with the National Park Service.

That’s an achievement that will benefit not only the tribe, but the land that has birthed it, said Cabe.

“I know there are people that are just strict preservation of the landscape and don’t think anybody should do anything in the park,” said Cabe, “but in the eyes of the natives it’s pretty much a sin to not work within the landscape … If we don’t start thinking about management and sharing some of these things about sochan, what does it mean for the future of the plants?”

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Paddlers to save Green River hemlocks An $8,000 grant will benefit hemlock trees growing in the Green River Gorge, hopefully saving them from the deadly hemlock wooly adelgid.

The grant, from the Perry N. Rudnick Endowment Fund of the Community Foundation of Henderson County, went to the Paddlers Hemlock Health Action Taskforce, which is a group of whitewater kayakers, nonprofit and government partners working to save hemlock trees in the Green River Gorge.

The partners train local paddlers in hemlock treatment techniques and safety protocols.

Paddlers then navigate the Green Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tricky waters to bury pellets of hydrophobic pesticide around the roots of hemlock trees. Currently the only reliable remedy, the treatment protects trees from the hemlock wooly adelgid for up to five years.

The hemlock wooly adelgid is a nonnative sap-sucking insect that kills hemlocks, a huge loss for forests that depend on the trees for wildlife habitat, food, water storage and stream shading.

New Sylva outdoors store to hold grand opening Sylvaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest outdoors store will hold a grand opening party noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at 562 West Main Street.

Black Balsam Outdoors opened in November, occupying the space formerly inhabited by Blackrock Outdoor Company. Founded by two A.T. thru-hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, Black Balsam Outdoors is an outfitter specializing in backpacking, camping, hiking and trail running gear.

The event will include music from the Tyler Kittle Trio and drinks sponsored by The Paper Mill Lounge from 3 to 6 p.m., with Brew Dawgs serving up local hot dogs out front all day long.

Raffle tickets for products from Keen, Big Agnes, Bison, Darn Tough, Crazy Creek, Eno, Mountain Hardware and more will be available for a $5 donation with winners announced at 5:30 p.m. Raffle proceeds will benefit The Community Table. www.blackbalsamoutdoors.com.

Hike for cookies

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The Carolina Mountain Club will hold its annual cookie hike at Bent Creek in Asheville Wednesday, Dec. 12, with shorter and longer hiking options offered.

The longer hike, 7 miles, will begin at 8:30 a.m. and include Bent Creek and Mountains-toSea Trail routes. The shorter, 4-mile hike, will begin at 10 a.m. on the Lake Powhatan Connector. The two groups will meet up for lunch at the picnic area to share their cookies before returning to their respective trailheads.

RSVP to Keiko Merl for the 7-mile hike, 828.231.2126 or keikomerl@att.net, or to Diane Stickney for the 4-mile hike, 828.254.9054 or magenta97@charter.net. No dogs.

Explore Kephart Prong A 4-mile hike along Kephart Prong in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will show off historical and natural highlights Tuesday, Dec. 11.

Located near Cherokee, the trail parallels the water on its way to Kephart Prong Shelter, passing an historic fish hatchery, railroad and Civilian Conservation Corps camp along the way. Local hiker Rob Howard will guide the excursion.

The hike is the last of the year for Friends of the Smokies’ Classic Hikes of the Smokies series. After it concludes, a small potluck gathering at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center will celebrate all the miles hiked in 2018. $20 for Friends members and $35 for nonmembers, with one-year membership included. Funds benefit Trails Forever, a partnership between Friends of the Smokies and the National Park Service to reconstruct and rehabilitate the park’s most impacted trails.

Meeting locations available in Asheville, Waynesville and at the trailhead. Register at hike.friendsofthesmokies.org.

Kephart Prong speeds along over a rocky creek bed. Donated photo

Loop Camp Branch A moderate-to-strenuous hike will traverse Camp Branch Loop in Macon County on Sunday, Dec. 9.

The hike will include 6 to 8 miles and an elevation change of 700 feet, with the sometimes-rugged trail crossing the creek in several places. The hike returns on a logging road.

Organized by the Nantahala Hiking Club, the event will start with an 11 a.m. meeting in Franklin to carpool for the 18-mile roundtrip. RSVP to Katharine Brown, 828.421.4178. Dogs welcome.

A document detailing greenhouse gas emissions in North Carolina from 1990 to 2017 is now available for review, with public comment open through Dec. 14.

The draft inventory, released by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, contains a detailed accounting of greenhouse gases from human activity in key source categories for each year, including both emissions and reductions.

It also projects N.C.’s emissions from 2018 to 2030 based on forecasted changes in fuel use, land use, population, historic trends and other factors.

In October, Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order setting a goal of a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for 2005 levels by the year 2025. In 2017, statewide net greenhouse gas emissions were down 25.2 percent from 2005 levels.

Submit comments to daq.publiccomments@ncdenr.gov with the subject line “Inventory.” A revised final inventory will be posted by Jan. 31, 2019. The full report is available at deq.nc.gov/energyclimate/climate-change/greenhouse-gasinventory.

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{Celebrating the Southern Appalachians}

Smoky Mountain Living celebrates the mountain region’s culture, music, art, and special places. We tell our stories for those who are lucky enough to live here and those who want to stay in touch with the place they love.

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The Balsam Mountain Trust’s resident opossum enjoys a snack. Donated photo

Eat like an animal An animal-centric afternoon will be offered 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, at the Balsam Mountain Trust in Jackson County.

During this animal feeding program, participants will get to explore the diets and eating habits of resident animal ambassa-

dors at the Trust. After the birds, snakes and opossum eat, the group will go on a short hike to look for signs of animal foraging in the wild.

Free, with donations appreciated. RSVP required by Dec. 12 to Jen Knight, education@bmtrust.org or 828.631.1061.

Smoky Mountain News

December 5-11, 2018

Taste the holidays

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Learn an easy new recipe that’s perfect for winter while exploring holiday food traditions with a workshop 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, at the Macon County Cooperative Extension Center in Franklin.

Julie Sawyer will teach this class, focusing on a healthy one-pot meal that can simmer and stew. While the meal is cooking, Sawyer will explore and experiment with some favorite holiday food traditions. $5. 828.349.2046.

Christmas bird count Birders across the globe are gearing up to celebrate the season with the 119th annual Christmas Bird Count, and the Smokies region is no exception.

Each Christmas Bird Count circle is 15 miles in diameter, and participants are tasked with finding as many bird species in that area as possible during the single-day count. All counts are held between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5. Data gleaned from the yearly count goes into what is now a massive citizen science database.

Counts in Western North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are: n Friday, Dec. 14, in Highlands. Led by the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society, this count will convene at 7:30 a.m. at Kelly Hutchinson Park. Groups will disburse and search for birds until about 1 p.m. RSVP to Brock Hutchins at 404.295.0663. n Monday, Dec. 17, in Franklin. Led by the Franklin Bird Club, this count will begin at 8:30 a.m. with groups splitting up to cover five zones designated in this Macon County circle. The count will last until 4 p.m., with

birders reconvening at a local restaurant for a “tally rally.” RSVP to Rita St. Clair, rstcl10609@aol.com. n Monday, Dec. 17, in Brevard. Several routes are available that could use some more coverage. RSVP to Michael Plauche, captainbluegill@gmail.com. n Saturday, Dec. 22, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg.

Routes will vary depending on weatherrelated closures of some roads or trails.

RSVP to Warren Bielenberg at 865.681.7884. n Saturday, Dec. 29, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Cades Cove.

While Cades Cove itself is well covered by returning birders, routes are available on various hiking trails. RSVP to Susan Hoyle, hoyleshrike@gmail.com.

Most routes contain a mix of driving and walking. No expertise in bird identification is needed, as counts are conducted in groups led by experienced birders.

More information, including an interactive map showing circles in locations ranging from Argentina to Alaska, is available at www.audubon.org/conservation/joinchristmas-bird-count.

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Cashiers Area Chamber is seeking feedback to improve visitors’ experiences to the area. Take the survey at: tinyurl.com/y6w4uqyo.

• Registration is underway for Marriage Enrichment Retreats that will be offered three more times over the next year at Lake Junaluska. Led by Ned Martin, an expert in marriage counseling. Price is $699 per couple. Dates are March 10-12, Aug. 18-20 of 2019 and Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in 2019. Registration and info: www.lakejunaluska.com/marriage or 800.222.4930.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Balsam Mountain Business Matters meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 10 a.m. Great opportunity to network with other business owners. Meeting is held in the clubhouse of Balsam Mountain apartments located at 17 Wilkinson Pass Ln in Waynesville. lgaddy@balsammountainapartments.com.

• Haywood Community College will host American Bladesmith Society workshops on Dec. 7-8 (leather sheath) and Dec. 7-9 (friction folder). The tomahawk and friction folder classes cost $252; the sheath class is $190. Info: creativearts.haywood.edu or 565.4240.

• Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center will offer a five-part QuickBooks Series on consecutive Fridays, Dec. 7 and 14, in building 200, room 203, on Haywood Community College’s campus in Clyde.

Speaker is Alicia Sisk Morris. In-depth seminars on the accounting software system. Registration and more info: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512.

• Haywood Community College will host a Career and College Promise Dual Enrollment Program Open House at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13, in the college’s auditorium in Clyde. 565.4419.

• Registration is underway for an online beginning German Language course, which will be offered through Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and enrichment from Jan. 14-March 8. Cost: $79. For info and to register: learn.wcu.edu or 227.7397.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS

⦁ Annual “Holiday Shopping Auction” benefiting Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society is scheduled for Dec. 6. This is an evening of live music by Jesse & Friends, fun and frivolity and an opportunity to do your holiday shopping by purchasing unique gifts via a silent auction. The “auction-party” is open to everyone and there is no charge to attend. Items are needed for the auction, which include handmade crafts, artwork, subscriptions, sports equipment, tickets to area attractions, gift cards, gift baskets, and much more. Auction items may be dropped off at the Society Library (200 Main Street, Bryson City) between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday. Items will be accepted through noon Dec. 5. 488.2932.

• A number of businesses in downtown Waynesville are collecting items for Haywood County’s elderly residents through Dec. 15. Blankets, socks, gloves and scarves can be delivered to any of the following during regular business hours: Twigs and Leaves Gallery, Smoky Mountain Dog Bakery, T. Pennington Art Gallery, Moonlight and Garbo, J. Gabriel, Main Street Mercantile, Mountain Favors/Art by Mollie, Mast General, The Jeweler’s Workbench, Affairs of the Heart, United Community Bank, Goblin Lane, Sweet Onion, Haywood County Art Council, Blue Ridge Beer Hub, The Olde Brick House, Cedar Hill Studio, Moose Crossing Burlwood Gallery, Boojum Brewing Co. and Earthworks Gallery. Info: 452.1447.

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

• REACH of Haywood will host its Holiday Gala at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. Fine dining, champagne toast, live music, dancing and cash bar. Proceeds benefit REACH’s vital services, providing aid to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse. Tickets: $100 each and available at reachofhaywood.org or 456.7898.

• The Episcopal Church Women of Grace Church in the Mountains will sell a variety of homemade Christmas cookies from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 394 Haywood Street in Waynesville. Proceeds benefit Pathways Center, the local homeless shelter. 456.6029.

VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS

⦁ Senior Companion volunteers are being sought to serve with the Land of the Sky Senior Companion Program in Henderson, Buncombe, Transylvania and Madison Counties. Serve older adults who want to remain living independently at home in those counties.

HEALTH MATTERS • Jackson County Department of Public Health is offering diabetes self-management education as well as medical nutrition therapy. Info: 587.8240 or http://health.jacksonnc.org/wic.

• The Haywood County Senior Resource Center holds a dementia caregivers support group from 4:30-6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday each month in Waynesville.

356.2800 or www.haywoodseniors.org.

• A four-part series on creating a Wellness Lifestyle Enhanced with Essential Oils will continue on Thursday, Dec. 6 10:30 a.m. and continue for the next two consecutive Thursdays. This class will dive deeper into the use of essential oils for your wellness. Topics of discussion will be rest & managing stress, reducing toxin load, informed self-care, and proactive medical care.

Participates are encouraged to attend all sessions but are not required. Free • “Riding the Waves of Cancer” meets from 2:30-4 p.m. on Thursdays at the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center. Physician referral from an oncologist or cancer doctor is required: Myhaywoodregional.com/yogaforcancer. 452.8691.

• Smoky Mountain High School and Tobin Lee (regional tobacco prevention manager) will host an educational parents’ night focusing on the basic facts of e-cigarettes from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, at the high school in Sylva.

Smoky Mountain News

39

scheduled from 4:30 PM until 6:00 PM on the fourth Tuesday. 926.0018. ⦁ A support group for persons with Multiple Sclerosis as well as family, friends and caregivers meets at 6:45 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the conference room of the Jackson county Public Library in Sylva.

293.2503.

• Nutrition counseling and diabetes education are offered through Macon County Public Health in Franklin.

349.2455.

• Western Carolina University’s student-run, Mountain Area Pro Bono Physical Therapy Clinic will be open from 6-8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays of each month. 227.3527. ⦁ National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) holds a support group for family, friends, and those dealing with mental illness on the 1st Thursday of each month in the 2nd floor classroom at Haywood Regional Medical Center at 6:30 p.m.

• HIV and syphilis testing will is offered during normal business hours at Jackson County Health Department.

• A support group for anyone with MS, family & friends meets monthly at 6:45 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the conference room of Jackson Co. Library in Sylva. No Fee, sponsored by National MS Society. Local contact: Gordon Gaebel 828-293-2503.

• “Laughing Balsam Sangha,” a meeting for Mindfullness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, will meet from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays at 318 Skyland Drive in Sylva. Included are sitting and walking meditation, and Dharma discussion. Free admission.

335.8210, and “Like” them on Facebook.

• A “Walk With A Doc” program is scheduled for 10 a.m. each Saturday at the Lake Junaluska Kern Center or Canton Rec Park.

MyHaywoodRegional.com/WalkwithaDoc. • Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA) meets at noon on Saturdays at the First United Methodist Church Outreach Center at 171 Main St. in Franklin. 407.758.6433 or adultchildren.org.

• The Haywood County Health & Human Services Public Health Services Division is offering a Night Clinic from 4-6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of every month in Waynesville. Services include family planning, immunizations, pregnancy testing, STD testing and treatment. Appointments: 452.6675.

• The Jackson County Department of Public Health will offer a general clinic from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 587.8225.

• A Food Addicts Anonymous Twelve-Step fellowship group meets at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays at Grace Church in the Mountains in Waynesville. www.foodaddictsanonymous.org.

• Codependents Anonymous (CoDA) meets at 5:30 p.m. on Fridays at the Friendship House on Academy Street, behind and adjoining the First United Methodist Church of Waynesville. Group of persons desiring healthy and fulfilling relationships. 775.2782 or www.coda.org.

• Big Brother/Big Sister, a one-evening preparation class for children who are about to greet a new baby into their family, is offered for children ages 3-10 at Haywood Regional Medical Center. 452.8440 or MyHaywoodRegional.com/ParentClasses.

• The American Red Cross has an urgent need for blood donors due to an emergency shortage. To schedule an appointment or donate, use the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 800.RED.CROSS (800.733.2767).

• Mothers Connection, an ongoing social gathering for mothers and their babies, meets from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Thursdays excluding holidays at Haywood Regional Medical Center. 452.8440 or MyHaywoodRegional.com/ParentClasses.

• The Jackson County Senior Center will offer a Caregiver Education Class at 10 a.m. on the third Monday of every month in the Board Room of the Department of Aging in Sylva. 586.5494.

• A support group meeting for those with Parkinsons Disease and their caregivers will be held at 2 p.m. on the last Wednesday of the month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• The Haywood County Dementia Caregivers’ Support Group has change the location of its meetings. The group will meet at the Haywood Senior Resource Center (81 Elmwood Way, Waynesville). The meetings are

• Dogwood Insight Center presents health talks at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month.

• Free childbirth and breastfeeding classes are available at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva. Classes are

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings offered bimonthly on an ongoing basis. Register or get more info: 586.7907.

• Angel Medical Center’s diabetes support group meets at 4 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month in the AMC dining room. 369.4166.

• A free weekly grief support group is open to the public from 12:30-2 p.m. on Thursdays at SECU Hospice House in Franklin. Hosted by Four Seasons Compassion for Life Bereavement Team. 692.6178 or mlee@fourseasonscfl.org.

• A monthly grief processing support group will meet from 4-5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the Homestead Hospice and Palliative Care in Clyde.

452.5039.

• A free, weekly grief support group will meet from 12:30-2 p.m. on Thursdays at the SECU Hospice House in Franklin. 692.6178 or mlee@fourseasonscfl.org.

• “ECA on the Move!” – a walking program organized

by Jackson County Extension and Community Association – meets from 9-10 a.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. It’s an effort to meet the American Heart Association’s recommendation of 10,000 steps per day. 586.4009.

• A Tuesday Meditation Group meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Franklin.

RECREATION AND FITNESS • The High Mountain Squares will host their annual “Toys for Tots” dance from 6:15-8: $5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, at the Macon County Community building in Franklin. Western-style square dancing, mainstream and levels. Support the local Marine Corps Reserve; admission is a new unwrapped toy. 787.2324, 706.746.5426, 332.0001 or www.highmountainsquares.com.

• Qi Gong for Health is set for 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Tai Chi and Qi Gong are ancient Chinese mind/body exercises. Donations accepted: 321.759.3141 or leaswain@yahoo.com.

• “Walk This Way” – a fitness program for safely exercising during the fall and winter – will be offered from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Mondays, Dec. 17 and Jan. 7, at the Waynesville Library.

• The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department is now offering pickleball on four indoor courts from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Equipment provided; free for members or daily admission for nonmembers.

456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• ZUMBA! Class with Monica Green, are offered from 67 p.m. on Monday & Wednesday, at the Canton Armory. $5 per class. 648.2363 or parks@cantonnc.com.

• ZUMBA is offered at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville on Thursdays at 6 p.m. with Patti Burke.

Check Facebook page Patti Burke Zumba Students for

wnc calendar

additional information such as holiday or weather related cancelations. $5 per class.

Organized by Jackson County Parks & Recreation.

Pick-up style. 293.2053 or www.rec.jacksonnc.org.

• There will be several ballroom and Latin dance classes offered on Sundays and Mondays at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. Classes for beginners, intermediate and all levels. $10 per class. For more information, click on www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• The Wednesday Croquet Group meets from 10 a.m.noon at the Vance Street Park across from the shelter.

For senior players ages 55 or older. 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• Line Dance Lessons will be held on Tuesdays in Waynesville. Times are 7 to 8 p.m. every other Tuesday.

Cost is $10 per class and will feature modern/traditional line dancing. 734.0873 or kimcampbellross@gmail.com for more information.

• Flow + Center Yoga is offered from 9-9:55 a.m. on Wednesdays at Maggie Valley Wellness Center.

944.0288 or maggievalleywellness.com.

• Gentle Vin Yin Yoga is offered from 9-9:55 a.m. on Fridays through November at Maggie Valley Wellness Center. 944.0288 or maggievalleywellness.com.

• Pickleball is offered from 9 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at the Old Armory in Waynesville. 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• The Safekids USA/Blue Dragon Taekwondo School is offering self-defense classes from 9-10 a.m. on Saturdays. $5 per class. For females 14-older. Classes are at 93 Jones Cove Road in Clyde. ⦁ The Maggie Valley Wellness Center is offering two yoga classes from 9-9:55 a.m. on Wednesdays through March: Gentle Flow with Candra and Gentle Vin Yin with Jamie. 944.0288 or maggievalleywellness.com.

• Line dance lessons will be offered from 7-8 p.m. every other Tuesday in Waynesville. $10 per class.

Modern/traditional line dancing. 734.0873 or kimcampbellross@gmail.com.

December 5-11, 2018

• Pickleball, a cross between tennis, badminton and ping-pong, will be offered from 9 a.m.-noon on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Old Hazelwood Gym in Waynesville. $3 per visit, or $20 for a 10-visit card.

452.6789 or iansmith@haywoodcountync.gov.

• Yoga classes designed specifically for those who have experienced trauma are being offered at the Fitness Connection in Waynesville. www.sonshineyoga.com.

• Tai chi is offered from 10:45-11:45 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center. It’s also offered from 1-2 p.m. on Thursdays. Taught by Bill Muerdter. For info about the classes or HRHFC memberships and offerings, call 452.8080 or visit MyHaywoodRegional.com/Fitness.

• Ultimate Frisbee games are held from 5:30-8 p.m. on Mondays at the Cullowhee Recreation Park.

Smoky Mountain News

• Cardio Lunch class will meet from noon-1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Waynesville Recreation Center. For ages 16 and above. Cost is regular admission fee to the rec center or free for members.

456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• Flexible Fitness class will meet from 4:30-5:15 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Waynesville Recreation Center. For ages 16 and above. Cost is regular admission fee to the rec center or free for members. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• Pump It Up class will meet from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Waynesville Recreation Center. For ages 16 and above. Cost is regular admission fee to the rec center or free for members. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• The Waynesville Recreation Center will offer additional courts for pickleball for seniors from 7 a.m.noon on Mondays through Fridays. For ages 60-up.

Free for members; $3 for nonmembers. 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• The Mexican Train Dominoes Group seeks new players to join games at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• Book Club is held at 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800

• Pickle ball is offered from 8 a.m.-noon on Mondays through Fridays at the Waynesville Recreation Center.

456.2030 or www.waynesvillnc.gov.

• A Hand & Foot card game is held at 1 p.m. on Thursdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• Haywood County Democrats will host a Holiday Open House from 5:30-7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Democratic Headquarters, 734 N. Main St. in Waynesville. Marta Christmas Culp will perform popular seasonal selections. Donations of $10 or more requested to benefit the Community Kitchen in Canton.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS

(12 or 13 of your favorite photos)

641 North Main St. • Waynesville, NC

509 Asheville Hwy., Suite B • Sylva, NC

828.456.HAUS (4287)

828.586.HAUS (4287)

(3/10 Mile North of the CCoourthouse)

(Loccaatteed iin the NAPA PA Auto to PPaarts CCeentteer)

• The “Polar Express” will depart on select times through Dec. 31 from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot. www.gsmr.com.

• A Lego club will meet at 4 p.m. every fourth Thursday of the month, at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Library provides Legos and Duplos for ages 3 and up. Free. 488.3030. ⦁ Registration is underway for Lake Junaluska’s Winter Youth Retreats, which are held from December through February in Haywood County for middle school and high school youth groups. Two-night events start at $186 per person; three-night events start at $249 per person. To register or view schedule, including speakers, band and entertainers: www.lakejunaluska.com/winteryouth.

Register: 800.222.4930.

⦁ “Ralph Breaks the Internet” is showing at 7 p.m. on Dec. 5 at The Strand On Main. See www.38main.com for tickets.

• Mah Jongg is played at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• Family Game Night is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 89 Sierra Drive, in Franklin. 524.3691.

50 cards $79.95 100 cards $99.95 Calendar Special $14 95 ea $$14.95

• Registration is underway for after-school art classes for elementary and middle-school students starting Jan. 8-9 at Our Summerhouse Pottery, 225 Wall St., in Waynesville. Ages 8-10 meet from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays; and ages 11-14 meet from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Tuition: $95 (includes supplies). amy@oursummerhousepottery.com or 734.5737.

• Pinochle game is played at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

⦁ Georgann Eubanks will present her latest book, The Month of Their Ripening: North Carolina Heritage Foods Through the Year, at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. To reserve copies, please call the bookstore at 586.9499.

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

• The Haywood County Arts Council will have “Jingle Mingle” activities for children and adults starting at noon on Saturday, Dec. 15, at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts, 86 N. Main Street in Waynesville. Crafts, caroling and painting technique demonstration. www.HaywoodArts.org.

⦁ “Incredibles 2”, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 7 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. 586.3555.

• A Parkinson’s Support Group is held at 2 p.m. on the last Wednesdays of each month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville.

356.2800.

⦁ The North Carolina Writers’ Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour on the third Thursday of the

• Teen Game Night is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Video games and cards welcome. 524.3600.

• Senior Sale Day is on the third Friday of every month at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore. Patrons 60 and older get 20 percent off all purchases.

Proceeds benefit the Sylva Library.

⦁ Mason Lakey, author of Come Walk with Me and Horris the Horrible Germy Worm, will host a book reading and discussion at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Light snacks and beverages will also be provided. For more information, call the library at 488.3030.

5 1/2“ x 4 1/4” folded • Coolor both sides Comes with blank enveloppes

SSiince 1982

• The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department has set a time for senior citizens (55-older) to play tennis from 9 a.m.-noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through Oct. 28 at the Donnie Pankiw Tennis Center in Waynesville. For players intermediate or higher skill level. $1 per day. 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• The Canton Armory is open to the public for walking from 7:45-9 a.m. on Monday through Friday unless the facility is booked till spring. 648.2363. parks@cantonnc.com.

Custom Chrriistmas Carrd d & Calendar Special

Check out our new website

SENIOR ACTIVITIES

• Senior croquet for ages 55 and older is offered from 9-11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Vance Street Park in front of Waynesville Recreation Center.

Free. For info, contact Donald Hummel at 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

POLITICAL

• A wide variety of yoga classes are offered daily through the Waynesville Yoga Center. For updated, current listings, visit: http://waynesvilleyogacenter.com/class-schedule.

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• Pickleball is from 1-3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday nights at First Methodist Church in Sylva. $1 each time you play; equipment provided. 293.3053.

month unless otherwise indicated at the Keith House on the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown.

This reading is free of charge and open to the public.

KIDS & FAMILIES • Auditions for Kids at HART’s production of Godspell Jr. will be held at 5 p.m. on Dec. 9-10. Performances are March 9-10 and 16-17 at HART in Waynesville. www.harttheater.org.

KIDS FILMS

⦁ “The Grinch” released in 2018 is showing at 7 p.m. on Dec. 19-23 & 26, and 29-30 and matinees on Dec. 22-23 at The Strand On Main. See www.38main.com for tickets.

A&E FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL EVENTS • The “Art After Dark” in downtown Waynesville is hosted on the first Friday of the month (MayDecember), Main Street transforms into an evening of

Puzzles can be found on page 46 These are only the answers.

art, music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors. www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.

• Winter Lights at the N.C. Arboretum has begun.

Nightly from 6-10 p.m. through Dec. 31. Tickets: $18 for 12-up, $12 for ages 5-11 and free for ages 4under. $15 for groups of 20 or more. Purchase tickets at www.ncwinterlights.com.

• A Very Merry Oily Christmas Make and Take will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at Mad Batter Food & Film in beautiful downtown Sylva. Come learn about essential oils and make some holiday rollerbottle blends. Each roller you make and take is $5. RSVP at 507.0452 or goodeoils@gmail.com.

• “Holidays at the University Center” will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 5-6, at Western Carolina University’s A.K. Hinds University Center. Ice rink, a sledding hill, train ride, photos with Santa and more. $15 for all activities. Dca.wcu.edu.

• A production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 6-8 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $12. 524.1598 or www.greatmountainmusic.com.

• Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts students will host a holiday craft sale from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, in the Mary Cornwell Gallery of the Creative Arts Building in Clyde. Featuring work by students in fiber, jewelry, pottery and woodworking.

627.4671 or eareason@haywood.edu.

• Canton Christmas Parade is at 6 p.m. on Dec. 7, on Main Street. Theme is “A Wonderful Life in Canton.”

• A special production of “A Christmas Carol” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 and 15, and at 2 p.m. Dec. 9 and 16, at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre.

• The annual “Lights & Luminaries” will return to the streets of downtown from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 7-8 and 14-15. 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 visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Live Nativity at Jarrett Memorial Baptist Church. Free shuttle service from Monteith Park. www.visitdillsboro.org.

• Santa Claus will rappel down Chimney Rock at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at Chimney Rock Park. Breakfast with elves from 7:3010:30 a.m. Christmas music and elf-guided hike.

• The 44th annual Cashiers Christmas Parade is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Dec. 8. Theme is “Over the River and Through the Woodes” – in celebration of Camp Merrie-Woode’s centennial anniversary.

• “A NIGHT before CHRISTMAS” in downtown Waynesville is scheduled for Dec 8 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Live music, caroling, Bethlehem Market Place, Live Nativity, old-fashioned wagon rides, Santa, luminaries line the street. Shops, galleries & restaurants remain open.

• The Western Carolina Civic Orchestra will present the annual “Community Christmas Concert” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. The musical celebration will begin at 6:30 p.m. with caroling on the library steps. Caroling will again be led by Phil & Gayle Woody. They encourage everyone to come and join their friends and neighbors in singing traditional carols. (www.fontanalib.org).

• The Mountain Winds Community Band will present “Tis the Season” at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, at Smoky Mountain High School. Come and enjoy all your Christmas favorites. Donations will go toward helping the Smoky Mountain Band program. 586.2177.

• The inaugural “Gingerbread House Workshop” will be held at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, and at noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16, at the First Baptist Church. Make your very own Gingerbread House. This two-hour class will be hosted by Cotton Leigh Bakery. To sign up, visit the bakery at 628 West Main Street or call 477.4566.

• Cherokee Christmas Parade will be help Dec. 15 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. from the Cherokee Bear Zoo to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

• Shop Local for Christmas vendor, food & craft event will be hosted at the Cherokee Fairgrounds on Saturday, Dec. 15 from noon to 5 p.m.

• The chancel choir will present its annual Christmas Cantata, “Night of Miracles” by John W. Peterson at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 16, at First United Methodist Church in Sylva. The Sylva Bells, a community hand bell choir, will play holiday selections prior to the concert. 586.2358.

FOOD & DRINK • Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host “Wine & Cheese for the Soul” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11. 828.586.1717 or www.soulinfusion.com.

• Learn how to make a healthy one-pot meal that can simmer and stew from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at the Macon County Cooperative Extension Office at 193 Thomas Heights Road in Franklin. Led by Julie Sawyer, FCS Agent in Macon County.

• Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville will host five for $5 Wine Tasting from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6\13. Come taste five magnificent wines and dine on Chef Stacy’s gourmet cuisine. 452.0120 or www.waynesvillewine.com.

• Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesvill will host a Secret Wine Bar Night from 5 to 9 p.m on Dec. 7/14. Gourmet food, and a great wine & beer menu. 452.0120 or www.waynesvillewine.com.

• “Brown Bag at the Depot” – an opportunity to gather with neighbors – is at noon every Friday at Sylva’s newest park at the corner of Spring and Mill Street along Railroad Ave. For info, contact Paige Dowling at townmanager@townofsylva.org.

Smoky Mountain News

• Mistletoe Market, a vendor event will be held at the Swain West Elementary School in Bryson City on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Crafts, sales and food vendors will be on site to finish your Christmas List. Vendor fees and food sales benefit the schools PTO so come out and support a good cause. https://www.facebook.com/events/453723441783262/

• The Highlands Cashiers Players will hold their annual holiday program of music and dramatic readings at 7 p.m. on Dec. 13, at Highlands Performing Center and at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 17, at the Cashiers Library.

December 5-11, 2018

• Voices in the Laurel Youth Choirs will hold “A Holiday Concert” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9, at Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Waynesville. Tickets: $13 in advance or $15 at the door ($8 advance/$10 at door for ages 12-under).

564.3310 or www.voicesinthelaurel.org/tickets.

• The Shelton House Museum will hold an “Old Fashioned Christmas and Grand Illumination Event” from 4-7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9, at 49 Shelton House in Waynesville. Carolers, hot chocolate, cider, baked goods and a visit from Santa.

wnc calendar

HOLIDAYS

• The Jackson County Cooperative Extension’s Holiday Craft Market is set for 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on consecutive Saturdays, Dec. 8 and 15, at the Extension Office, 876 Skyland Drive in Sylva. Handcrafted gifts for sale from more than 20 local vendors. Info: 586.4009.

• Graceann’s Amazing Breakfast is 8-10 a.m. every Tuesday in the Sapphire Room at the Sapphire Valley Community Center. $8.50 for adults; $5 for children.

Includes coffee and orange juice. 743.7663.

• Free cooking demonstrations will be held from 5-7

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p.m. on Saturdays at Country Traditions in Dillsboro.

Watch the demonstrations, eat samples and taste house wines for $3 a glass. All recipes posted online. www.countrytraditionsnc.com.

• A game day will occur from 2-9 p.m. every third Saturday of the month at Papou’s Wine Shop & Bar in Sylva. Bring dice, cards or board games.

586.6300.

• A wine tasting will be held from 2-5 p.m. on Saturdays at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. $5 per person. www.papouswineshop.com or 586.6300.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Saturdays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 452.0120.

• A wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville.

Free with dinner ($15 minimum). 452.6000.

ble will hold a Christmas concert at 7 p.m. on Dec. 13 at St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Andrews.

837.8822.

shown by appointment only after the Dec. 7 reception and Dec. 8 artist’s talk. 507.8697 or qlellison@icloud.com.

• Tickets are on sale now for National Theater’s production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Room,” which will be screened as part of the Bardo Arts Center’s Sunday Cinema Series at 3 p.m. on Jan. 20 in Cullowhee. $15 for adults; $10 for WCU faculty/staff and seniors and $5 for students. Arts.wcu.cinema or 828.227.ARTS.

• The Haywood County Arts Council will host a demonstration of icon painting techniques featuring local artist Melissa Goss from 3-6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15, at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts, 86 N. Main Street in Waynesville. www.HaywoodArts.org.

• Tickets are on sale now for National Theater’s production of “Hamlet” which will be screened as part of the Bardo Arts Center’s Sunday Cinema Series at 3 p.m. on Feb. 10 in Cullowhee. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch. $15 for adults; $10 for WCU faculty/staff and seniors and $5 for students.

Arts.wcu.cinema or 828.227.ARTS.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • The First Thursday Old-Time and Bluegrass Series is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, at MadStone Café and Catching Light Books on the ground floor of Noble Hall on Western Carolina University’s campus in Cullowhee. Featuring traditional musicians Sarah Elizabeth Burkey and Erich Overhultz. 227.7129 or mhc.wcu.edu.

• The Brasstown Ringers community handbell ensemble will hold a Christmas concert at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, at Franklin’s First United Methodist Church.

837.8822.

December 5-11, 2018

• The Western Carolina University School of Stage and Screen and Bardo Arts Center will present “Light Chasers” as part of a “Weekend of Dance” at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 6-8 in Hoey Auditorium in Cullowhee.

Tickets are $10 for students, $15 for ages 65-up and $20 for adults.

• Tickets are on sale now for “Appalachian Christmas,” a weekend of music, meals and artistry from Dec. 6-9 at Lake Junaluska. Handel’s “Messiah” is Dec. 7. The Appalachian Craft Show, a performance by seventh-generation Appalachian storyteller and ballad singer and a performance by Lake Junaluska Singers will be held on Dec. 8. www.lakejunaluska.com/specials_packages/holiday_p ackages/christmas, 800.222.4930 or communications@lakejunaluska.com.

• A special stage production of “A Tuna Christmas” presented at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7-8, 14-15 and 17, and at 4 p.m. Dec. 9 and 16 at the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre in Bryson City. Tickets are $14 for adults, $8 for children 6-17. Cash only at the door. www.facebook.com/smctheatre.

Smoky Mountain News

• The Highlands Performing Arts Center will present “Live via Satellite” the National Theatre of London’s production of “The Madness of King George III” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8. www.highlandspac.org, the HPAC box office or 526.9047. All students will be admitted free of charge.

• Western Carolina University’s BFA Musical Theatre Senior Showcase will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9, on the HART stage in Waynesville. It’s the same performance this seniors will give in New York for prospective agents and producers.

• Tickets are on sale now for Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of “Don Quixote,” which will be screened as part of the Bardo Arts Center’s Sunday Cinema Series at 3 p.m. on Dec. 9 in Cullowhee. $15 for adults; $10 for WCU faculty/staff and seniors and $5 for students.

Arts.wcu.cinema or 828.227.ARTS. • Blue Ridge Orchestra will perform at 1 and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, mile post 382. Cost: $25 general admission; $15 for students and Friends of the Blue Ridge Orchestra. Tickets & info: 782.3354 or www.blueridgeorchestra.org.

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• The Brasstown Ringers community handbell ensem-

• A “Beginner Step-By-Step” painting class will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursdays (Dec. 6, and 20) at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. Cost is $25 with all supplies provided. RSVP by contacting Robin Arramae at 400.9560 or paintnitewaynesville@gmail.com.

• Local artist Caryl Brt will demonstrate handcrafted home accessories from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at the HCAC Gallery and Gifts, 86 N. Main Street, in Waynesville. HaywoodArts.org, info@haywoodarts.org or 452.0593.

• Local artist Toni Caroll will demonstrate the jewelrymaking process from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at the HCAC Gallery and Gifts, 86 N. Main Street, in Waynesville. HaywoodArts.org, info@haywoodarts.org or 452.0593.

• Folkmoot will host a Second Saturday Market from 6-9 p.m. on Dec. 8 in the cafeteria of the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville. Folkmoot.org or 452.2997.

• Registration is underway for adult pottery classes that will start on Jan. 7 at Our Summerhouse Pottery, 225 Wall St., in Waynesville. Two options for timing: 68:30 p.m. on Tuesdays or 1-3:30 p.m. on Thursdays.

Six-week classes will focus on hand-building techniques in creating functional pottery. Tuition: $225 (includes supplies). amy@oursummerhousepottery.com or 734.5737.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • The eclectic art work of Isabella R. Jacovino will be featured in a show in the Backstreet Gallery Room of Gallery 1 at 604 West Main Street in Sylva. The exhibit will remain available for viewing and sale through Dec. 7. As a visual artist working with recycled materials, Isabella explores combining the aesthetics of steampunk, dieselpunk, street art, and interpretations on retro-futurism. Admission is free. art@galley1sylva.com.

• The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at the Bardo Arts Center is pleased to announce the opening of its newest exhibition “Glass Catalyst: Littleton’s Legacy in Contemporary Sculpture,” which will run through Dec. 7. Littleton’s work and other glass artist will be on display. A key work in the exhibition will be a new acquisition to the Museum’s collection: a glass sculpture by Harvey Littleton entitled “Terracotta Arc.” Regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Thursdays until 7 p.m. 227.ARTS or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

• Longtime journalist and photographer Quintin Ellison will hold an artist’s reception from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, in downtown Sylva at Cullowhee Mountain Arts at 598 West Main Street. Dec. 8 at 10 a.m. Ellison will talk about the highs and lows of shooting street photography in small, rural towns such as Sylva, Bryson City, Franklin and Waynesville.

Photos will be on display at the Cullowhee Mountain Arts’ gallery space for about two weeks. They will be

⦁ The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center will have a yearlong exhibition on “Defining America” through May 3 in Cullowhee. Info: 227.ARTS or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

FILM & SCREEN

⦁ “Crazy Rich Asians”, will be shown at7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. 586.3555.

• A documentary viewing of “Wilhemina’s War” will be shown at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. In recognition of World AIDS Day. Panel discussion. ⦁ “Mission: Impossible Fallout”, will be shown at 7 p.m. on Dec. 8 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva.

Free. 586.3555. ⦁ “The Equalizer 2”, will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free.

586.3555. ⦁ “Smallfoot”, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. 586.3555.

• Free movies are shown every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. See website for listings and times at madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

Outdoors

• The Asheville Winter Bike League offers rides weekly at 10 a.m. on Saturdays through Jan. 26. Upcoming rides: Dec. 8 at Bold Rock Hard Cider in Pisgah Forest.

Structures, long winter road training rides.

Bit.ly/2qS3YP8.

• Black Balsam Outdoors, Sylva’s newest outdoors store, will hold a grand opening party from noon-6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 562 West Main Street. www.blackbalsamoutdoors.com.

• The Tuckaseigee Water & Sewer Authority will hold a combined Work Session and Business Meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the TWSA Boardroom, 1246 West Main Street in Sylva.

• The Franklin Appalachian Trail Community Council will hold its December meeting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

• Trout Unlimited Cataloochee will hold its annual Christmas party at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 11, at Rendezvous Restaurant in Maggie Valley.

• A weekly fly-tying class is held from 6-8 p.m. every Wednesday at Outdoor 76 in Franklin. 349.7676.

• FUR will hold it holiday adoption event from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 38 Safe Haven Drive in Waynesville. Kitten adoption fees: $35. Adult cat fees: $50. All cats are spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. www.furofwnc.org, www.facebook.com/furofwnc or 844.888.CATS. • A Christmas Bird Count is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 14, at Kelly Hutchinson Park in Highlands. Groups disburse and search for birds in a 15-mile radius until 1 p.m. RSVP: 404.295.0663. Data goes into a citizen-science database.

• Balsam Mountain Trust will hold a Creature Feature

from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 81 Preserve Road in Sylva. Explore the diets and eating habits of resident animal ambassadors. RSVP by Dec. 12: education@bmtrust.org or 631.1061.

• The Franklin Bird Club will host a Christmas Bird Count from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 17.

Search for birds in a 15-mile radius. RSVP: rstcl10609@aol.com. Data goes into a citizen-science database. ⦁ Registration is underway for “Winter Tree ID” – a moderate hike scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 29, at Chimney Rock State Park. $23 adults; $8 for annual passholder; $13 youth (ages 5-15) and $6 per Rockin’ Discovery Passholder. Led by naturalist and author Ron Lance, who will show how to identify trees without their leaves. Advance registration required: chimneyrockpark.com.

FARM AND GARDEN • The Jackson County Farmers Market operates from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays through Dec. 22 in the Bridge Park parking lot in Sylva. www.jacksoncountyfarmersmarket.org.

• Haywood County Extension is accepting applications for the 2019 Master Gardener class with training sessions scheduled for Tuesdays mornings from January through April. 456.3575 or mgarticles@charter.net.

• The Haywood County Plant Clinic is open every business day at the Haywood County Extension Center on Raccoon Road in Waynesville. To discuss any gardening problem, call 456.3575 or stop by.

• Local farmers can stop by the Cooperative Extension Office on Acquoni Road from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. every fourth Friday to learn about USDA Farm Service Agency programs in the 2014 Farm Bill. Info: 488.2684, ext. 2 (Wednesday through Friday) or 524.3175, ext. 2 (Monday through Wednesday).

• The Macon County Poultry Club of Franklin meets at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Cooperative Extension Office on Thomas Heights Rd, Open to the public. 369.3916.

HIKING CLUBS • Carolina Mountain Club will hold a six-mile hike on Sunday, Dec. 9, at Turkey Pen Ramble. Info and reservations: 696.9117, 712.0736 or luchat@bellsouth.net.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate-tostrenuous six-mile hike with an elevation change of 1,400 feet on Saturday, Dec. 8, to Big Sam Knob in Pisgah National Forest. Info and reservations: 456.8895.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate-tostrenuous 6-8 mile hike with an elevation change of 700 feet on Sunday, Dec. 9, on Camp Branch Loop off Wayah Road. Info and reservations: 421.4178.

• The year’s final Classic Hike of the Smokies is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 11, on Kephart Prong Trail. A small potluck gathering will be held at Oconaluftee Visitor Center afterward to celebrate all miles hiked in the past year. $20 for Friends of the Smokies members; $35 for new members.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have its annual Cookie Hike Bent Creek Ramble - a seven-mile hike with a 300-foot ascent on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Info and reservations: 298.7634, 231.2126 or keikomerl@att.net.

• Carolina Mountain Club will host an alternate/shorter version of its annual Cookie Hike – a four-mile hike with a 300-foot ascent – on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Info and reservations: 254.9054 or magenta97@charter.net.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate four-mile hike on Saturday, Dec. 15, to the summit of Scaly Mountain on the Bartram Trail. Elevation change of 1,050 feet. Info and reservations: 524.5298.

PRIME REAL ESTATE Advertise in The Smoky Mountain News

MarketPlace information: The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 every week to over 500 locations across in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties along with the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. For a link to our MarketPlace Web site, which also contains a link to all of our MarketPlace display advertisers’ Web sites, visit www.smokymountainnews.com.

Rates:

■ Free — Lost or found pet ads.

■ $5 — Residential yard sale ads, ■ $5 — Non-business items that sell for less than $150.

■ $15 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2.

If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type.

■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad or colored background.

■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold.

■ $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. Up to 25 words.

■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

Classified Advertising: Scott Collier, phone 828.452.4251; fax 828.452.3585 classads@smokymountainnews.com

Great Smokies Storage

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE Mountain Projects, Inc. is planning to submit a proposal to the North Carolina Office of Economic Opportunity for a oneyear grant under the Community Services Block Grant Program.

Public input is requested to utilize funding.

The public hearings will be held in Haywood County at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday December 20, 2018 at Mountain Projects office located at 2177 Asheville Road, Waynesville, NC 28786 and in Jackson County at 1:30 p.m. at Thursday December 20, 2018 at Mountain Projects Office located at 25 Schulman Street, Sylva, NC 28779.

AUCTION

24TH ANNUAL AUCTION Construction-Truck-Farm Auction.

Thursday December 27th @ 8:00 a.m. Lumberton, NC. 10% Buyers Premium, visit our website: www.MeekinsAuction.com NCLN 858 OCEAN VIEW LOT In Holden Beach, NC in Brunswick County, Online Only Auction, Begins Closing 12/7 at 5pm, Address is 702 Ocean Blvd., West, Holden Beach, NC, ironhorseauction.com, 800.997.2248, NCAL#3936

AUCTION

YOUR AD COULD REACH 1.6 MILLION HOMES ACROSS NC! Your classified ad could be reaching over 1.6 Million Homes across North Carolina! Place your ad with The Smoky Mountain News on the NC Statewide Classified Ad Network- Over 100 NC newspapers for a low cost of $375 for 25-word ad to appear in each paper! Additional words are $10 each. The whole state at your fingertips! It's a smart advertising buy! Call Scott Collier at 828.452.4251 or for more information visit the N.C. Press Association's website at: www.ncpress.com, or call us at 919.516.8009

FURNITURE

LARGE, LIKE NEW 2-Tone Country Farm Dining Room Table w/ Leaf, Seats 8-10. $400.

2 Maple Windsor Side Chairs, $100 for Pair. For more information call 828.246.9035 CRAFTMATIC ADJUSTABLE BEDS For less! Up to 50% Off Leading Competitors. #1 Rated Adjustable Bed. Trusted Over 40 Years.

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FURNITURE

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BUILDING MATERIAL HAYWOOD BUILDERS Garage Doors, New Installations Service & Repairs, 828.456.6051 100 Charles St. Waynesville Employee Owned.

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING

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BATHROOM RENOVATIONS. Easy, One Day Updates! We specialize in safe bathing. Grab bars, no slip flooring & seated showers.

Call for a free in-home consultation: 877.661.6587 SAPA CALL EMPIRE TODAY To schedule a FREE in-home estimate on Carpeting & Flooring.

Call Today! 1.855.929.7756 SAPA GOT MOLDOr think you might have it? Mold can be hazardous to you and your family’s health! Get rid of it now!

Call our experts and get a quote today! 844.766.3858 SAPA ROOFING: REPLACE OR REPAIR. All types of materials available.

Flat roofs too. www.highlandroofingnc.com From the Crystal coast, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Triad, and the Triangle.

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WNC MarketPlace

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING

CARS -

DAVE’S CUSTOM HOMES OF WNC, Free Estimates & Competitive rates. References avail. upon request. Specializing in: Log Homes, remodeling, decks, new construction, repairs & additions.

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December 5-11, 2018

CARS A-1 DONATE YOUR CAR For Breast Cancer! Help United Breast Foundation Education, Prevention, & Support Programs.

Fast Free Pickup -24 Hr ResponseTax Deduction 855.701.6346 SAPA FREE AUTO INSURANCE QUOTES. See how much you can save! High risk SR22 driver policies available!

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GOT AN OLDER CAR, Van or SUV? Do the humane thing.

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Call 1.888.342.9355 SAPA

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We help everyday inventors try to patent and submit their ideas to companies! Call InventHelp®, FREE INFO! 866.783.0557 SAPA DISCOVER INTERNET INCOME Earn 5 Figures (+) Monthly Eliminate Traditional 9 to 5 Work Stress Opt-in To Learn More: get.webinnsite.com/wealth SAPA NEW AUTHORS WANTED! Page Publishing will help you self-publish your own book. FREE author submission kit! Limited offer! Why wait? Call now: 844.660.6943 SAPA

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

- HOUSEKEEPING Full Time & Part Time Available: Maggie Valley Cabin Resort Seeks Energetic & Experienced Housekeeper. Weekends and Holidays a Must!

Valid Driver’s License Required.

For more info Call 828.926.1388 GOT CANDIDATES? Find your next hire in over 100 newspapers across the state for only $375. Call Wendi Ray at NC Press Services for more info 919.516.8009.

BOATBUILDING CAREERS Bayliss Boatworks is Hiring!

Carpenters, painters, welders, electricians and CNC operators and programmers. Full-time work and great benefits. Visit us online at our website: www.baylissboatworks.com/about/careers, For More Information

AIRLINES ARE HIRING Get FAA approved hands on Aviation training. Financial aid for qualified students - Career placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 866.441.6890 LICENSED THERAPIST: The Long Center for Psychology in Franklin is Hiring a Full-Time Licensed Mental Health Therapist with Child/Adolescent Experience. Send Resume to Dr. Long at: DrRLong@msn.com or fax to: 828.349.8983

DEDICATED REGIONAL ROUTES Owner Operators, Drivers, Fleet Owners. Weekly Settlements. Minimum 12 months 48-53' tractor trailer experience. 800.832.7036 ext. 1626, cwsapps@ilgi.com. www.cwsdedicated.com

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Student Services Assistant PT Assistant & Substitute Teachers – Day Care Center Apply via www.haywood.edu at the jobs page or directly at governmentjobs.com/careers/haywoodedu Contact Beverly Balliot in HR at 828-627-4562 if you have any questions.

www.smokymountainnews.com

Security: Management on site Interior & Exterior Cameras

Climate Controlled

Find Us One mile past State MaggieValleySelfStorage.com Rd. 276 and Hwy-19 on the right side, torry@torry1.com across from Frankie’s Torry Pinter, Sr. 828-734-6500 Italian Restaurant

Call:

828.734.5201 74 North Main Street Waynesville, NC 28786

828.452.5809 44

Sizes from 5’x5’ to 10’x20’

1106 Soco Road (Hwy 19), Maggie Valley, NC 28751

bknoland@beverly-hanks.com

beverly-hanks.com

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At Tractor Supply, or visit us at: www.kennelvax.com USE KENNEL DIP To control Fleas, Ticks, Mange Mites & Stable Flies. Control Mosquitos where they breed! At Junaluska Feed Center; or visit: www.kennelvax.com.

GET THE FUNDING FIRST! Build Your Business Next! Start Your Business First. Visit us at: www.startingmybusinesscredit.com We Can Help You!

CAMEO ONE OF A LITTER OF FIVE PUPPIES ABOUT FOUR MONTHS OLD. THEY ARE ALL ADORABLE OF COURSE! CAMEO IS THE LARGEST BABY OF THE BUNCH AND IS EXPECTED TO BE A FAIRLY LARGE ADULT. HE HAS A BEAUTIFUL DARK BLUE MERLE COAT WITH WHITE ACCENTS.

STARGAZE A BEAUTIFUL LONG-HAIRED ORANGE TABBY BOY ABOUT SIX MONTHS OLD. HE HAS COME A LONG WAY COMING OUT OF HIS SHELL, AND IS STILL A LITTLE SHY. HE IS SWEET THOUGH, AND WARMS UP TO HUMANS WHO GO SLOW AND ARE GENTLE WITH HIM.

COMPLETE HOME INSPECTION SERVICES

Storage

Brian Noland

- FRONT DESK Full Time or Part Time: Maggie Valley Cabin Resort Seeks a Versatile, Energetic & Experienced Front Desk Employee. Customer Service & Computer Exp. Req. Weekends, Nights & Holidays a Must! Call 828.926.1388

Haywood Community College is an Equal Opportunity Employment Institution.

Climate Control

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EARN $500 A DAY: Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Wants Insurance Agents • Leads, No Cold Calls • Commissions Paid Daily • Agency Training • Life License Required.

Call Now for more information 1.888.713.6020 SAPA

EMPLOYMENT OWNER OPERATORS, DRIVERS, Fleet Owners for DEDICATED Regional routes. Weekly Settlements.

Minimum 12 months 48-53’ tractor trailer experience. 800.832.7036 ext.1626, cwsapps@ilgi.com. www.cwsdedicated.com

EMPLOYMENT

828-476-8999

Moving or Buying?

Let Us Help You.

HAYWOOD

HOME INSPECTIONS

828.734.3609 | haywoodhomeinsp@gmail.com

Steve Mauldin

828.734.4864

smauldin@beverly-hanks.com

74 N. Main St.,Waynesville

828.452.5809

beverly-hanks.com

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT

GATED, LEVEL, ALL WOODED, 5+acre building lots, utilities available in S.E. Tennessee, between Chattanooga and Nashville. www.timber-wood.com Call now to schedule a tour 423.802.0296.

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE

HOMES FOR SALE BRUCE MCGOVERN A Full Service Realtor, Locally Owned and Operated mcgovernpropertymgt@gmail.com McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112.

SAVE YOUR HOME! Are you behind paying your Mortgage? Denied a Loan Modification?

Is the bank threatening foreclosure? Call Homeowner's Relief Line! Free Consult! 855.995.4199

BROKER, REALTOR®

828-564-3914 ira@4Smokys.com

Your Agent. Your Neighbor.

WAYNESVILLE OFFICE:

STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE Conveniently located off 19/23

by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160.

Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more information.

TRAVEL/VACATION OFFER: Book Your Flight Today on United, Delta, American, Air France, Air Canada. We have the best rates.

Call today to learn more 1.855.613.1407 Mon-Fri:10:00am to 7:00pm Sat & Sun: 11:30 am to 7:00 pm (all times Eastern). SAPA

Great Smokys Realty

EXECUTIVE

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.

Mike Stamey

mstamey@beverly-hanks.com

828-508-9607

We Are Offering 2 Bedroom Apartments, Starting From $460.00 Section 8 Accepted - Handicapped Accessible Units When Available

OFFICE HOURS: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm 168E Nicol Arms Road Sylva, NC 28779

Phone# 1.828.586.3346 TDD# 1.800.735.2962 Equal Housing Opportunity

• George Escaravage - george@emersongroupus.com

ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com • Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com • Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com • Pam James - pjames@sunburstrealty.com

74 NORTH MAIN ST. • WAYNESVILLE, NC

www.beverly-hanks.com

Jerry Lee Hatley- jerryhatley@bellsouth.net Keller Williams Realty - kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com • Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff@kw.com • Yvonne Kolomechuk - yvonneksells@kw.com

Lakeshore Realty • Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

Mountain Creek Realty

$641,00

4BD 4B 4BD/5BA BD/ D/5 /5B 5BA BA - 34 349 3494 494 94 Sq Ft 4BD/4BA 4BD 4B BD/ D/4 /4B 4BA BA on on Main Mai Ma ain in Level Lev Le eve vel el 2 Bonus Boonu nus us Rooms/1BA Roo Ro oooms ms/ s/1 /1B 1BA BA Lower Low owe wer er Level Lev eve vel ell Gorg rggeou eous F Fiirreeepppllac lace in Gr Gre rreea eat Roo oom Fiirreeepplac F lace & JJaac acuzz uzzzzi in M Maaste aster BD BD Exxcel xcell xc elle e leent ent en Vac acat cati atio a ioon Re Rent Ren enta ntaal Dec De Deck eck ck w/Hot w/H w/ /Ho Hoot Tub Tuub Facing Fa Fac accing inng V Viiew ieews ws Innnco com come Coomp Complete mpl ple leete Privacy Pri Pr riv iva vac acy cy on on 8.62 8.62 Acr Acrreess

BrLLocally Bruce uoca ce Own M McG cGOpe oper vatetedeedrn rn occaally Ow Owned wne ned ed & Op Operated pera rat m c g overn o v err npp ropertymgt@gmail opp err ty t y m g tt@ @ g m a i l . coo m

828-452-1519 8282 1519

Vii s ual V al T Too urr at at s h a mrr o cck13 sha kk11 3 .cco com com MLS LS## 340062 400626

• Ron Rosendahl - ron@mountaincreekrealestate.com

Mountain Dreams Realty- maggievalleyhomesales.com • Shirley Cole - shirleycole13@gmail.com Mountain Home Properties mountaindream.com • Cindy Dubose - cdubose@mountaindream.com

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com remax-maggievalleync.com • Holly Fletcher - hollyfletcher1975@gmail.com • The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com • Ron Breese - ronbreese.com • Landen Stevenson- Landen@landenstevenson.com • Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com • Mary & Roger Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net • Judy Meyers - jameyers@charter.net • David Rogers - davidr@remax-waynesvillenc.com • Marsha Block- marshablockestates@gmail.com Rob Roland Realty - robrolandrealty.com

• Rob Roland - rroland33@gmail.com

smokymountainnews.com

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

• Carolyn Lauter - carolyn@bhgheritage.com Beverly Hanks & Associates- beverly-hanks.com • Ann Eavenson - anneavenson@beverly-hanks.com • Billie Green - bgreen@beverly-hanks.com • Michelle McElroy- michellemcelroy@beverly-hanks.com • Marilynn Obrig - mobrig@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 • Steve Mauldin- smauldin@beverly-hanks.com • Jerry Powell - jpowell@beverly-hanks.com • Mike Stamey - mstamey@beverly-hanks.com

Jerry Lee Mountain Realty

LARGE, LIKE NEW 2-Tone Country Farm Dining Room Table w/ Leaf, Seats 8-10. $400.

2 Maple Windsor Side Chairs, $100 for Pair. For more information call 828.246.9035

NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices/Great Smokys Realty - www.4Smokys.com Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate- Heritage

Emerson Group

SCENTSY PRODUCTS Your Local Independent Consultant to Handle All Your Scentsy Wants & Needs.

Amanda P. Collier 828.246.8468 Amandacollier.scentsy.us apcollier1978@gmail.com Start Own Business for Only $99

COMPARE QUALITY & PRICE Shop Tupelo’s, 828.926.8778.

36 S. Main St. Waynesville

RE/MAX

ITEMS FOR SALE

BORING/CARPENTER BEE TRAPS No Chemicals, Poisons or Anything to Harm the Environment.

Handmade in Haywood County. 1 for $20, 2 or More for $15 each.

828.593.8321

828-564-1950 www.4smokys.com

Haywood Co. Real Estate Agents

December 5-11, 2018

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18 This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All dwellings advertised on equal opportunity basis.

Ira Atkins WNC MarketPlace

LEASE TO OWN 1/2 Acre Lots with Mobile Homes & Empty 1/2 Acre + Lots!

Located Next to Cherokee Indian Reservation, 2.5 Miles from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

For More Information Please Call 828.506.0578

HOMES FOR SALE BEHIND ON YOUR MORTGAGE? Denied a Loan Modification?

Bank threatening foreclosure?

CALL Homeowner Protection Services now! New laws are in effect that may help. Call Now 1.866.214.4534 SAPA

The Smoky Mountain Retreat at Eagles Nest • Tom Johnson - tomsj7@gmail.com • Sherell Johnson - sherellwj@aol.com

TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com 45

WNC MarketPlace December 5-11, 2018 www.smokymountainnews.com 46

SUPER

CROSSWORD

NATURALLY SWEET MELANGE ACROSS 1 Temporarily trendy things 5 Huge chasm 10 Nile serpents 14 Navajo neighbors 19 “Oh, gotcha” 20 Flip (out) 21 Mets’ old home 22 Blue color of the clear 9-Down 23 Eau de vie applied to a head injury to reduce swelling?

25 Having the same figure as Sheriff Wyatt?

27 Verb suffix in London 28 Vast age 29 Average golf scores 30 Kindhearted 31 Clutch, e.g.

33 Sets of two 37 Gyro holder 39 “Fish Magic” painter Paul 40 Drink you can only get by contacting someone by beeper?

43 See 8-Down 45 Her cow was notorious 46 Bite slightly 47 Q-V linkup 49 Designer Schiaparelli and others 54 Jethro -- (rock band) 56 Strong Dutch gin that’s inexpensive?

59 “The gloves are off!”

62 Like alfresco events 64 Obedient dogs, maybe 65 Rival of HBO 66 Male bud 67 Bert’s bud 69 14th-century Russian

ruler 70 Golf club for extremely long shots?

74 Unit for measuring the force of some PC picture files?

77 “I pass,” in cards 78 Cantina cooking pots 82 Chast of cartoons 83 The sun, e.g.

84 Negatively charged, as an atom 86 Banned diet-drug combo 88 Major alarm 90 Pie topping that originated in Edison’s lab?

92 Base for poi 94 Lung, for one 95 Mail, e.g.

96 Lacerate 98 Taking the middle out of 102 Santa -- (some hot winds) 104 Surrounded by a spicy Indian condiment?

107 Grungy sort 111 Fierce whale 113 Tatum with an Oscar 114 Post office gizmo 115 Sushi condiment 117 Like hand-me-downs 119 Altar vow 121 Vitamin no.

122 Gusto shown by a wild Asian ass?

124 Apt alternate title for this puzzle 128 Did a fall yard chore 129 “I concur!”

130 Circus site 131 Concept, in Soissons 132 Clock parts 133 Org. against dogfights

134 Shindig 135 Unhip type DOWN 1 Painter Fra -- Lippi 2 Predictably 3 Split up, as a corporation 4 Summer and fall mo.

5 “Hair” hairdo 6 Marlon of movies 7 Appetite 8 With 43-Across, tearjerking tune 9 Pilot’s milieu 10 Far offshore 11 On the ball 12 Soldiers on 13 Undermine 14 Taunting cry 15 County in Missouri 16 Iris part 17 Dunne of old Hollywood 18 Bog plant 24 Trip during a kegger, say 26 Eye carefully 29 Chi-omega link 32 1954-77 treaty gp.

34 Over there, old-style 35 Wonderland visitor 36 Wife of Niles on “Frasier” 38 Feel 41 1995-2013 Arizona senator Jon 42 Free of fluid 44 Capital of Suisse 48 Bit of parsley 50 Onetime TV legal drama 51 Shelled out for 52 Deduced, not observed 53 Mil. draft inits.

55 British noble

57 58 59 60 61 63 66 68 71 72 73 75 76 79 80 81 84 you”) 85 87 88 89 91 93 97 99 100 101 103 105 106 107 108 109 110 112 116 118 120 123 124 125 126 127

Stirrup site Big name in ketchup Suffix with capital Paint diluter Going it alone -- stick Obfuscate St. Pat’s isle Virus in 2014 news Ryder of “Black Swan” Puckish Courier, e.g.

“Grimm” network -- helping hand Film director Lee Goad “Ti --” (Italian “I love French film award Poet Heinrich Bragging about Vena cava neighbor Cry for help Wilhelm’s “Woe is me!”

Links org. since 1916 Trespass Less well-off Whirled Film genre In vogue, in the ‘60s Customer Fencing tool Oahu porch Port in Japan Deli nosh Good thing Nap spots Peak in Sicily Attack time in WWII Tase, e.g.

Road guide Nest egg inits.

Reagan-era teen, e.g.

-- Tin Tin

ANSWERS ON PAGE 40

WANTED TO BUY FREON R12 WANTED: Certified Buyer Will Pay Ca$H For R12 Cylinders Or Cases Of Cans. www.refrigerantfinders.com, 312.291.9169

MEDICAL A PLACE FOR MOM. The nation’s largest senior living referral service. Contact our trustworthy, local experts today! Our service is FREE/no obligation.

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Photo of Camp Fire. NASA photo

The naturalist’s corner

BY DON H ENDERSHOT

At last hose radical environmentalists and their aiding and abetting scientists are finally called out.

After the deadliest wildfire in history — the Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people — our climate-denier-inchief ’s Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, after declaring that this was not the time for finger pointing went on to tell Brietbart News, “I will lay this on the foot of those environmental radicals that have prevented us from managing the forests for years. And you know what? This is on them.”

Doubling down in a phone conference, Zinke noted that radical environmental groups that would rather burn down the entire forest than cut a single tree or thin the forest have brought lawsuits to stop forest management.

And you know what — he’s right.

Radical environmentalist Randi Spivak, lands director for the Center of Biological Diversity, admitted as much. According to Spivak, between 2009 and 2017 there have been 576 federal forest management decisions in California and radical environmentalists have sued a whopping 38 times. Can

T

you believe it, 38 lawsuits in a span of only eight years regarding a mere 576 forest management decisions? It’s pretty obvious radical environmentalists in California are hamstringing the federal government with this deluge of frivolous litigation.

And the sad thing is, it’s time the feds could have used to rake the forests in California. After all, our climate-denier-inchief took the time, during a tour of the effects of the Camp Fire, to point out that Finland doesn’t have many forest fires because Finn spends, “… a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don’t have any problem. And when it is, it’s a very small problem. So I know everybody’s looking at that to that end.”

And Finnish president Sauli Niinsto corroborated that by telling the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat that while he and the American president did discuss the California wildfires, the subject of raking never came up.

The sad thing is scientists in this country haven’t caught on yet. The climate-denierin-chief and his Interior Secretary poohpooh climate change and this administration’s own climate report, which states, among other things, “The effects of climate

change, including deadly wildfires, increasingly debilitating hurricanes and heat waves, are already battering the United States, and the danger of more such catastrophes is worsening.”

Now that Trump has turned away from the Paris climate accord and is leading

America boldly into its blistering future, we need only to corral the radical environmentalists and America will be great enough to burn rivers once again.

(Don Hendershot is a naturalist and a writer who lives in Haywood County. He can be reached at ddihen1@bellsouth.net)

December 5-11, 2018 Smoky Mountain News 47

2018 CHRISTMAS

DECEMBER 6-8

DECEMBER 18

DECEMBER 21

UNTAIN CE MO

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Smoky Mountain News

December 5-11, 2018

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48

Jan 25........................................................................The Oak Ridge Boys - Season Opener!

Feb 2............................................................................................................ Balsam Range Feb 15 & 16.............................................................................................Valentine Cabaret Dinner & a Show, Served Live On Stage Feb 22.............................................................Jay Allen - A Benefit for Alzheimer’s Research Presented By the FHS FBLA Club Feb 23..................................................................Macon Robotics Tournament & Exhibition Mar 9.....................................................................................................For King & Country Mar 15 & 16................................................................................. Disney’s The Jungle Book The Musical Live On Stage presented by the Overlook Theatre Company April 12 & 13.......................................................A Glimpse His Last Days, An Easter Drama April 26...................................................................................An Evening of One-Act Plays April 27.............................................Sisters: Dynamic Harmonies & A Deep Love For Christ May 2..............................................................................................................Trace Adkins May 11...............................................................................NBPF Competition & Exhibition May 18............................Candid Camera Live - Eight Decades of Smiles Starring Peter Funt June 1.................................................................Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives June 8.................................................................................Betsy’s School of Dance Recital June 28..................................................................Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone July 3............................................................................................The Grains of Sand Band A Free Outdoor Birthday Concert & Beach Party July 4.....................................The Isaacs’ Musication Nation Fan Jam & 4th of July Cookout

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From all of us to all of you: A Very Merry Christmas & Blessed New Year!

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July 5..................The Isaacs’ Musication Nation With Special Guest, Shenandoah July 6................The Isaacs’ Musication Nation With Special Guest, Doyle Lawson July 12..........................................................................................The Sock Hops July 26, 27 & Aug 2, 3................................Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory The Musical Live On Stage presented by the Overlook Theatre Company Aug 9 ...................................MJ Live- The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience Sept 7..............................................................................................Steel Drivers Sept 14........................................................................The Collingsworth Family Sept 21..................................................................................................Lonestar Sept 27..................................................................................The Music of ABBA Sept 28...........................................................................................Art-Rageous An Artistic Experience Like No Other Oct 4..........................................................................................Rhonda Vincent Oct 12.............................................................................................Tim Hawkins Oct 19.......................................................Departure - The Journey Tribute Band Oct 26....................................................The National Dance Company of Siberia Nov 8, 9 & 15, 16..................................................The Hunchback of Notre Dame The Musical Live On Stage presented by the Overlook Theatre Company Dec 5................................................Andrew Peterson- Behold the Lamb Of God

And so much more to come!

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