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December 24-30, 2014 Vol. 16 Iss. 30
Cherokee pay raise controversy lingers Page 6 National park considers tighter firewood restrictions Page 11
WNC old-timers share holiday memories
CONTENTS
STAFF
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In years gone by, Christmas celebrations in the mountains were simple but perhaps more meaningful. Two couples talk about those old-time holiday traditions and how different today’s Christmas celebrations are. (Pages 24-25) Donated photo
News Jackson to transform community services center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Costs mount to close old Haywood landfill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Cherokee Tribal Council pay raise controversy lingers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 SMN reporter given police escort out of Cherokee council chambers. . . . . . . 7 Program helps female inmates transition to life on the outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Park tightens rules on firewood to protect against pests, diseases . . . . . . . . 11 Haywood needs new animal shelter, say advocates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Macon planners try to devise workable noise ordinance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Cherokee opens new justice center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Canton studies upgrades to pool, playground. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17
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Opinion Board games a part of our family Christmas traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Books Why The Great Gatsby endures as one of America’s greatest novels . . . . . 32
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Jackson considers renovations for service centers Jackson County Health Department Director Paula Carden sits inside the cavernous room at the Community Services Center that is slated for major renovations. Jeremy Morrison photo
BY J EREMY MORRISON SMN CORRESPONDENT he large, cavernous room at the heart of Jackson County’s Community Services Center doesn’t see much action these days. It’s no longer open to the public. A trash can sits solemnly collecting water dripping from a leak in the ceiling. But the room’s parquet floor still hints and harkens to better days gone by. “When I came to work here 21 years ago this floor was absolutely beautiful,” recalled Paula Carden, gazing around the room. The room is tentatively slated for dramatic renovations. There are plans to transform the lofty chamber into two stories of workable space, adding thousands of square feet that currently drifts in the open air. The cavern’s transformation is part of the larger plans to revamp the Community Services Center, providing much-needed space for the county’s health department. Carden, director of the department, is excited about the possibilities, but she’s keeping her expectations in check — renovation plans have been on the table before, to no avail.
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December 24-30, 2014
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“We’ve been this far before,” Carden said. “I tend not to be too excited until we have a groundbreaking.” Although Jackson County has had some preliminary plans drawn up for the center’s renovation, the price tag is formidable. The project involves renovating both the Community Services Center and the Skyland Services Center, and shifting departments around between the two facilities. “This is a pretty expensive project to do,” Carden said. “Six to eight million is a lot of money.” But, she said, the renovations are sorely needed. They will allow the health department, as well as the county’s environmental services department to stretch their legs. And their legs, to be sure, are currently cramped within too-small confines. “We stick people everywhere,” Carden said, giving a tour of the facility. Walking through the health department’s receiving area, the director steps into a small enclave of offices. She opens one of the doors to reveal a space about the size of a utility closet — in fact, the area used to be a closet.
Plans, in theory Although a timeline remains elusive, Jackson County has plans to renovate its Community Services Center and Skyland Services Center. The plans call for adding additional square footage to the Community Services Center in an effort to provide more space for the health department, and transferring some offices now housed at that center into the Skyland Services Center. The tentative, multi-part project was laid out in November for Jackson County commissioners. “OK, this is the goal, how do we get there?” said Architect Odell Thompson, going over schematic drawings
“This is an office,” Carden laughed, explaining that the space was supposed to accommodate a family seeking health services. “A mom and possibly two or three children need to be in this room.” Moving on to another office, she reveals more of the same. “This too is a closet,” Carden said. “It has no ventilation.” Aside from space issues, the center also has other problems that need tending. The heating and ventilation system is in “bad, bad shape” — there are fans and humidifiers set up throughout the facility — and the electric system is inadequate. “We can’t have coffee pots, microwaves and refrigerators,” Carden noted. “We just can’t carry it all with all the computers.” The health director is excited that the county is again discussing the possibility of taking on improvement at the two service centers. It’s been a long time coming. “For the last 20, 25 years we’ve been cramped for space,” Carden said. “It’s gotten worse as we’ve grown and as our clients have grown.”
with the commissioners. “How do we get there from here?” The tentative plans call for transferring the county’s soil and water, as well as cooperative extension offices into the Skyland center, while opening up additional space in the Community Services Center for the currently-cramped health department, as well as environmental services offices. The most dramatic aspect of the plans involve transforming a cavernous, open-air auditorium into two separate stories. When detailing the plans to commissioners, Thompson broke the project down into phases. Each phase had an estimated dollar amount attached, with the overall total surpassing $6 million. Firm dates, however, are not attached. At this point the plans are theoretical.
Tentative plans have offices and departments shuffled between and within the Community Services Center (top and middle) and the Skyland Services Center (lower). Donated illustration
And while she’s optimistic that the county will soon tackle the renovations — “They tell us that we’re top on the list” — the health department director also knows that such an expensive endeavor is a big bite for the county to take. “I do think it’s kind of theoretical still until they put it out to bid,” Carden said. “When they put that bid out, I’ll know it’s serious.”
“What do you think it’d take, start to finish?” Jackson County Manager Chuck Wooten asked Thompson. “I’d say two years,” the architect replied. Wooten later explained that the plans would need to be reintroduced to the newly seated board of commissioners, and that the project would need to be prioritized amongst other county interests. “I have discussed the project with the newly elected commissioners and they have requested that I prepare a capital plan that addresses all the potential capital needs of the county,” Wooten said. “Fortunately, our list is short so hopefully this can be completed during the first quarter of 2015.” At this point, no design contract has been awarded for the project.
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Shouldering the cost of Haywood’s old landfill contamination
QUESTION: What's the difference between an organic label and the non-gmo project seal? Answer: WHO: The USDA certified organic label is overseen by the US government through the Department of Agriculture for the certified organic program. ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop WHAT: Organic means: "...a food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods that integrate cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used. HOW/HOW MUCH: Manufacturers, producers and suppliers must apply to the USDA for a USDA organic seal. The approval process for organic certification involves submission of information and a site visit. The cost can range $200-1500. www.quicklabel.com/blog/2010/10/how-to-get-a-certified-organic-product-label-in-the-usa WHO: The non-gmo(genetically engineeered or genetically modifed) project seal is run by the Non-GMO Project, not affiliated with the US government, and is not an organic certification program .
The old Francis Farm landfill wasn't lined and leaching contaminants have polluted surrounding properties. The clean-up cost could top $12 to $13 million over coming years. Donated photo
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HOW/HOW MUCH: Manufacturers, producers, and suppliers submit their information or product through a 3rd party verification process. According to Non-GMO project website the cost is "customized" www.nongmoproject.org/product-verification/process/
What's the bottom line?: If you purchase products that are USDA certified organic or contain ingredients that are USDA certified organic, these by definition are "non-GMO".
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landfill with an impenetrable cover to stop pollution from migrating any further. The total cost could be as much as $13 million, with $3 million of that already spent and the rest yet to come. State regulators have forced the county’s hand to clean up the site, and the county now has no choice but to pass the cost along. “We didn’t cause the problem, but we are left with solving the problem. It is mandated,” Commission Chairman Mark Swanger said. There are only two options to foot the bill. One is property taxes. The other is the annual trash fee paid by homeowners and businesses. That option seems fairer, since those who generate trash would all pay in equally, commissioners concluded. “I hate to see it go up, but it has to be done and it has to be paid for. I see no other alternative,” Swanger said. The trash fee is tacked on to property tax bills but differs from property taxes. It is a flat fee across the board, and not contingent on individual property values. Also, the trash fee doesn’t apply to raw tracts of land or vacant lots. Unfortunately, the county has to pay for the cleanup work as it goes. It can’t borrow the amount and pay it back slowly over time. Borrowing money would mean putting up collateral, but offering a contaminated landfill as collateral for a loan would go over like a lead balloon. “If we forfeit on the loan, then you can have the landfill … that just won’t work,” Swanger said.
December 24-30, 2014
BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER nderground contamination leaching from an old, closed-down landfill in Haywood County will cost millions to clean up, a burden homeowners countywide will be forced to bear through higher trash fees over the coming decade. County commissioners got their first glimpse this month at how much each household will have to chip in over the next 10 years to pay for the cleanup. The proposed amortization schedule wasn’t pretty. It calls for a 35 percent increase in the trash fee for homeowners and businesses — from $92 a year to $155 a year — starting next year. The fee is tacked on to property tax bills but applies only to homes and businesses, not vacant lots or raw tracts of land. Of the roughly $60 annual fee increase, a portion will cover projected inflation associated with the current landfill operations and convenience center trash sites. Most of the hike, however, will be passalong costs due to pollution cleanup at the county’s former landfill. “It is basically paying for the sins of the past,” said David Francis, a county employee who has been spearheading the old landfill remediation work. Toxic pollutants seeping from the old, unlined Francis Farm landfill have contaminated groundwater and soil, spreading onto neighboring properties. The cleanup is twofold: buy out the surrounding properties that have been contaminated and cap the old
WHAT: The Non-GMO Project http://www.nongmoproject.org/about/ is a 501(c)3 non-profit started by retailers and members of the natural foods and organic industry http://www.nongmoproject.org/product-verification/ that charges a fee for companies to verify that products and ingredients are not from genetically engineered seeds and that products can be traced and tested at "critical control points".
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Questions continue about Cherokee council raises Council opts to examine issue in work session Editor’s note: Cherokee Tribal Police would not allow Smoky Mountain News Staff Writer Holly Kays entry into the Cherokee Tribal Council chambers to report on this meeting, which took place on Dec. 11. This story was written after watching a DVD recording of the meeting. BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER t’s been two months since Cherokee Tribal Council members voted to increase their salaries by $10,800 — and receive backpay for the years when the raises supposedly should have gone into effect — but that hasn’t been enough time for the public reaction to the increases, which many believe to be illegal, to cool down. However, it has been long enough for some councilmembers who at first seemed in confident support of the raises to become a bit more hesitant. “I haven’t even cashed the check. It’s in my pocketbook,” said Chairwoman Terri Henry, who had defended the rationale behind the increases, at the Dec. 11 council meeting. “I don’t know what to do with it.” “My check was for $22,000 backpay,” said Councilmember Adam Wachacha, who had voted for the budget containing the raises and against a pair of protests to them. “Honestly I didn’t realize that backpay … all I thought I was voting on was $80,600 [salary]. I’m not trying to lie to nobody.” The discussion took up a big chunk of the December council meeting, which lasted until the stars came out over Cherokee. The conversation began with a resolution brought forth by Soloman “Slick” Saunooke, a former councilman.
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IF IT’S BROKE, WHY KEEP IT?
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In 2004, an ordinance of Saunooke’s was adopted with the aim of keeping council raises in check. The legislation, Ordinance 352, states that raises for council members should be on level with those given to tribal employees. It also gave a nod to the section in Cherokee’s Charter and Governing Document that states any raises council votes for itself can’t take effect until the council elected by the next election is seated. But this month, Saunooke sought to repeal his 2004 ordinance, because, he said, “it doesn’t work.” “I need to know why Ordinance No. 352 is not working on council pay increase,” he said in the written comments he displayed at the meeting. “In 2004, Ordinance No. 352 became law. In 2007 council gave their self a $10,000.00 pay increase with Resolution No. 107.” An ordinance is more powerful than a resolution, so the 2004 ordinance should have trumped the 2007 resolution, not visa versa, Saunooke said. And this year, another $10,000 raise was given, this time including backpay, 6 without either a resolution or an ordinance
Hannah Smith, Cherokee Assistant Attorney General, (left) responds to a question about the legality of councilmembers’ salary increases posed by Solomon “Slick” Saunooke (right). Cherokee council chamber video image.
“I think part of the confusion might be that people are talking about these raises as if you individually are getting pay raises ... The law assigns increases and salaries to the seat, not the people in them, but to the seats.” — Hannah Smith, assistant attorney general
passing. The funds, totaling about $1 million, were simply included in the budget. Saunooke’s resolution ended up being tabled, but it elicited a long, circular discussion between councilmembers, tribal members and financial and legal staff.
RAISES FOR SEATS During that discussion, several councilmembers divulged the amount of backpay they were given. Though the backpay was given out of the tribal budget, the amounts of the checks written to individual councilmembers are private, Director of Finance and Management Cory Blankenship said last month. Henry and Wachacha both said they received checks for $22,000, while Teresa McCoy, who had reported her amount at last month’s meeting, repeated that hers was for $19,000. Albert Rose said he hasn’t even looked at his check — “I hid it in a basket,” he said — and Brandon Jones, a first-term councilmember, said he only recently opened his check to discover $10,637 in backpay. According to McCoy, that amount casts doubt on Blankenship’s previous explanation that a yearly rate of 2 percent — the average raise given to tribal employees from 2007 to
2013 — was applied to each councilmember’s salary to arrive at the backpay amount. “For him to get a $10,000 backpay check plus a $10,800 raise, what percentage did you use for the three gentlemen who have only been here for a year?” McCoy asked Blankenship. The answer, Blankenship said, has to do with the distinction between a salary given to a seat versus a salary given to an individual. “I think part of the confusion might be that people are talking about these raises as if you individually are getting pay raises like I would as an employee, because my paycheck is to me as an employee,” Hannah Smith, assistant attorney general, had explained earlier in the meeting. “The law assigns increases and salaries to the seat, not the people in them, but to the seats.” Which goes along with the explanation Principal Chief Michell Hicks gave last month as to why the salary increases are legal even though the Charter and Governing Document states that council raises can’t go into effect until the next council is seated. These raises should have been given incrementally all along, ever since Saunooke’s ordinance was passed in 2004. But they weren’t — though the sitting council did vote itself a $10,000 raise in 2007 — so this year’s
budget is adjusting for raises that should have occurred all along. The extra money isn’t a raise, Hicks said last month; it’s a pay adjustment. “The pay stayed stagnant and the pay adjustment is what happened recently,” Smith said. “No one individual was given a raise. It’s just the value of the chair was adjusted.” If there are issues with the outcome of that mode of implementation, Blankenship said, then maybe that’s something that council should address going forward. “If you’re a rookie Tribal Council member and this is the first time that you’ve been elected, do you start at a base pay that is lower than the veteran council members, and your reelection would then stipulate an increase in that pay based on this formula?” Blankenship posed. “Those things need to be hashed out in legislation.” McCoy believes that reasoning is a bit murky. “I’m still not clear on some things because in one sentence we’re treated like employees, and we’re not, and in the next sentence we’re councilmembers and we don’t have to do what employees do,” McCoy said. “Those are decisions, in my opinion, that are being made arbitrarily by persons who wanted this increase so bad that three times in 13 months the issue of 10,000 more dollars for councilmembers came up,” she continued.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE 2007 INCREASE The proposal to raise council salaries by $10,000 came to a vote
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an outside contractor who said that, based on their job duties, councilmembers should receive $10,000 more. “The pay increase should have never went from $60,000 to $70,000, so all of these calculations that are based on $70,000 are also a violation because that pay increase in 2007 should have never happened,” Walker said.
LEGISLATION THAT NEEDS MORE WORK Another key question, Walker said, is why councilmembers get backpay for increases they should have received but didn’t in the lean years following the recession when tribal employees don’t get the same. “I don’t know any law that we follow retro,” she said. “And as for those tribal employees, I would say there were years when they were appropriated pay increases they didn’t get.” Saunooke had made a similar point earlier in the meeting and was greeted by applause from the audience. But many councilmembers remained adamant that they hadn’t broken any law. “I don’t feel like we broke the law, because in 2004 when this [ordinance] was passed —— you’ve got the sheet here, most of us voted for that — we would get the same as an employee but then the cost con-
tainment went into effect [during the recession] and we didn’t get anything,” said Tommye Saunooke, councilmember from Painttown. Some, though, while maintaining they hadn’t broken the law admitted there could be improvements to how it was handled. “This was a compliance with the law,” said Perry Shell, councilmember from Big Cove. “It wasn’t a violation of the law, but I think there needs to be a lot of work on this.” “I’ve had 25 different explanations on this thing, and I have to laugh at it,” said Brandon Jones, councilmember from Snowbird. “Yeah, there may not have been a violation of some sort of law, the charter, the code, but there was a violation of the people’s trust, and that’s the issue I’ve had with this from the very beginning.” The audience met Jones’ comments with applause. The discussion likely could have gone on much longer — and probably will — but Shell moved to table the ordinance so that council could work on the issue more, a move council agreed to. “I would never vote to violate this oath of office, but I think we need to table this and work on it, because how far do we go?” Shell said. “We need to set limits on it and do it within what is a reasonable amount for persons acting in a role as a tribal council member and do it based on work done.”
DOT plans turnaround on US. 64/N.C. 28 The state Department of Transportation has awarded a contract to add a truck turnaround and information station on U.S. 64/N.C. 28, near U.S. 23/U.S. 441/U.S. 64 in Franklin. Currently, large trucks are not allowed to use this section of U.S. 64/N.C. 28 in Macon County. Some trucks, however, continue to use this route, despite warning signs. The existing road is a narrow, two-lane road with sharp curves and a steep grade, making it an unsafe route for truck drivers. This project will provide a place where truck drivers can obtain alternate route information, as well as access a location for them to turn their vehicles around safely. Work can begin in February 2015. All work except for reforestation should be finished by August 2015. Watson Contracting of Franklin was awarded the $559,935 contract for the project.
Senior fitness class held in Waynesville The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department now offers a fitness class designed specifically for seniors. The class will take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to noon at the Waynesville Recreation Center. It will begin Jan. 5 and end March 27. Overall improved health is the objective for each individual. Participants will learn about BMI, fat percentages and resting, working and recovery heart rates. Free to members or general admission to the Waynesville Recreation Center for non-members. 828.452.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.
Job workshop planned at Canton Library Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina is holding a free job search workshop from 3 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Canton Branch Library. The two-hour workshop will be conducted by Goodwill’s Career Connections Center and will offer attendees basic training on how and where to begin their job search. Instruction will include how to access online skills assessment tools in order to prepare for applying for any position; methods of identifying legitimate job leads and listings to avoid websites designed to attract job seekers with the sole purpose of gathering data; navigating various company employment websites; and means of effectively networking to discover job leads. Door prizes and refreshments will be served. Free, but registration is required as class space is limited. 828.648.2924. 7
Smoky Mountain News
on Oct. 6, 2013, in the last session before the inauguration of new members following the 2013 elections. It was voted down both then and later in the same month, on Oct. 22, 2013. But McCoy doesn’t just have an issue with the pay increase from $70,000 to $80,000. She believes that council should, in fact, be making $60,000. That’s an issue first brought up at this month’s council by Becky Walker, a tribal member from the Wolfetown. “I’m glad that you brought up what happened in 2007, because I want to talk about that,” she said. In an explanation not disputed by anyone present, Walker said that the video of the council session when the raises were passed — Sept. 24, 2007 — showed that the raises, not on the agenda at first, were brought in at the very end of the day by the acting attorney general. When council members questioned the attorney about how the raises would square with the 2004 ordinance, a straight legal answer was not forthcoming, Walker said. “At that time, that attorney couldn’t figure it out,” Walker said. “He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know whether to look at a percentage or a dollar amount so he didn’t even use the law.” Instead, Walker said, he based the rationale for giving the raises on an assessment by
also bring my things with me. At this, the tribal members in the waiting room, as well as Councilmember Teresa McCoy, who was passing by at the time, followed the officer and me out of the building. I asked the officer why I was being asked to leave the councilhouse, especially considering that a TV reporter earlier in the day had been allowed to stay. The officer merely responded that he was doing as he had been told. McCoy said she was going to head back into council and see if she could get me back in. When I asked the officer whether I could stand on the sidewalk while waiting for an outcome, he instructed me U.S. laws state that nearly every to return to my car. After waiting for about 20 minutes withscrap of paper and every docuout anyone coming to bring me ment produced by a public body is back in, I left, eventually reporting on the meeting public record. While Cherokee has through digital means rather than in person. public records laws, they apply Unlike in U.S. government, only to tribal members, not to the in which meetings are open to the public unless they fall within press as a whole. a finite list of exclusions, Cherokee meetings are open Having been told by other tribal memonly to tribal members. Because the Cherokee bers that day that a television reporter newspaper is owned by tribal government whose request had also been denied was still and reporters from other media outlets are allowed to stay in the TV room and film not typically Cherokee, tribal council is often from there, I assumed that the denial able to limit which stories get reported. referred to my presence in the council chamSimilarly, U.S. laws state that nearly ber specifically rather than in the councilevery scrap of paper and every document house in general. produced by a public body — again, with But a few minutes later, a police officer some exceptions — is public record. While appeared at the door and asked me to follow Cherokee has public records laws, those him. When I got up to leave, letting my bag records are available only to tribal members, stay next to my chair, he told me I should not to the press as a whole.
December 24-30, 2014
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER Though Cherokee Tribal Council meetings are broadcast live online and through tribal television — as well as recorded on DVDs — council retains the right to exclude non-Cherokee people from its chamber. During its Dec. 11 meeting, it did just that, requesting that police officers escort a reporter from The Smoky Mountain News — me — off the premises. The newspaper had opted to send me to the December meeting following a couple of controversy-filled council meetings in October and November, which eventually resulted in publication of a story on the topic the day before the December meeting. Upon arrival to the building, an officer asked me to retrace my steps back to the front office. “You have to ask permission to go into the meeting,” the woman managing the office told me. That is standard procedure for a Cherokee meeting, but at previous meetings I’d been allowed to enter the chamber on my own to request that council allow me to stay. In this instance, the office manager told me that two media requests had been denied already that day, and, when I insisted on asking permission on my own, took down my name, company and the agenda items I was there to hear.
She instructed me to wait in a room outside the council chamber, which housed coffee, a television broadcasting the meeting and several tribal members chatting, while she took the note to Council Chairwoman Terri Henry. I sat there for the better part of an hour before council went on a short break and the office manager came back to inform me that my request to enter the chamber had been denied. The council never voted on the request — rather, Henry took a silent poll of members’ opinions on the matter before making the decision to deny the request.
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Council excludes media from tribal meeting
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A clean slate Home helps women transition to independent life after prison, substance abuse BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he future was looking increasingly frightening to 54-year-old Anita as she got to the end of her six-year prison sentence. All along, she had assumed that she’d be able to live with her mother while she got back on her feet, but a couple months before Anita’s sentence ended, her mother changed her mind. Anita had nowhere to go. Until a prison chaplain told her about a program called Clean Slate Coalition that took in women like Anita, helping them to transition from prison back into real life. Anita put in an application. “They accepted me. I would have been out on the streets without them,” said Anita, who asked that her last name not be used. Unfortunately, “the streets” are exactly where many recently released prisoners end up, said Marsha Crites, executive director of Clean Slate, which is based in Sylva. Inmates often leave the prison walls with little to no money, debt from fines, fees and missed payments such as child support, and
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scant help from family. Building a life after prison is an uphill battle. “When you come out, there is really no safety net for you,” Crites said. “If you have committed certain crimes, you can’t get food stamps, you can’t get financial aid to go to school. You can’t vote. You probably owe a lot of money. People probably don’t want to hire you. We expect these people to regain their lives, but we put every obstacle in their path.” Without help, the easiest path is often the one that leads right back to prison — even for people who want to make a change. “I didn’t do anything real bad,” Anita said. “I just made a couple of mistakes, and that’s all it took. Thank God that I have Clean Slate to come to or I might be in some crazy predicament in the hometown.”
Marsha Crites works at her computer in the Clean Slate House living room (above). The women plug into Clean Slate’s social enterprise business wherever they’re the best fit. For some of them, that means sewing the tote bags that Clean Slate sells for its cleaning supplies.
FORMING CLEAN SLATE Crites started realizing all of this several years ago when she and co-organizer Alice Mason served as chaplains to women at the Jackson County Jail. She’d say goodbye to
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someone when their release date came up only to see them come back through the jail doors later, driven by the traps of abusive relationships or destructive situations that had been waiting for them outside. “We decided what they needed was a place to live, not just support,” Crites said. So, Clean Slate was born, envisioned as a one-year program to get women leaving incarceration or addiction treatment — primarily from Western North Carolina — the help they needed to start life anew as successful adults. The organization got its start in 2011, renting a house in Sylva to serve up to eight women at a time. “They come to us sometimes straight out of homelessness, sometimes straight out of an institution,” Crites said. “We get referrals from a lot of agencies. But they all come with a certain amount of brokenness and a sense of hopelessness about where they’re going. Our job is to restore their hope.” Originally, the concept was that the women would pay rent for their rooms, which would allow Clean Slate to pay rent for its building without raising extra funds. But it was quickly obvious that wasn’t going to work, because most of the Clean Slate women arrive with no financial resources at all and little prospect of finding a living wage job.
To get around that obstacle, last year Clean Slate began working on its own social enterprise, the term for a business whose profits go to support a social need. The women started formulating and packaging their own line of non-toxic cleaners and in June began selling them at the Jackson County Farmers Market, along with heavyduty tote bags they sew themselves from upholstery fabric. Clean Slate pays them for their work but requires them to give back one-third of what they earn to go toward rent. “Now we are reaching out to offices, businesses and individuals who might need to either buy our supplies or use our cleaning services. We’re right at the cusp of being financially sustainable,” Crites said. To further that end of financial sustainability, Clean Slate is looking for people to join the Clean Slate Investment Circle, a circle formed around the idea that, while it costs the state about $30,000 a year to keep someone in prison, helping them change their life for the better is much cheaper. Clean Slate is looking for 10 businesses, 10 churches or civic groups and 10 individuals to commit to giving $1,000 per year for a total of $30,000 to provide a baseline of support for eight Clean Slate Women.
In addition to working in the cleaning business — whether making the products, selling them, cleaning with them or sewing bags — the women also get individual attention to help them with their specific needs. They’re required to be in recovery services, do some volunteer work, either work or go to school, keep the house neat and abide by a curfew. Each has a one-onone meeting with a case manager once per week, and all the women get together for a weekly family meeting. Clean Slate also connects them with spiritual support and opportunities that fit their needs and goals. “One of the first wonderful things that happened at Clean Slate was that I was allowed to go swimming several times a week this past summer,” wrote Stephanie, a current resident who came to Clean Slate after an alcohol addiction relapse landed her in the hospital.
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“We get referrals from a lot of agencies. But they all come with a certain amount of brokenness and a sense of hopelessness about where they’re going. Our job is to restore their hope.”
December 24-30, 2014
Clean Slate is looking for businesses, individuals and organizations to join the Clean Slate Investment Circle, a group whose members should commit to donating $1,000 per year. Clean Slate is hoping to find 30 such donors whose help would mean that staff time focuses less on securing donations and more on helping the women. But donations of all amounts are welcome, and there are other ways to get involved as
well, including employing Clean Slate women to clean a space, joining the board of directors — it currently has nine members — volunteering to teach classes, helping drive the women where they need to go or donating household items, for starters. A full list of ways to help and needed items, as well as a donation link, are online at www.cleanslatecoalition.org/get-involved. To join the Investment Circle, contact Marsha Crites at 828.586.3939 or info@cleanslatecoalition.org.
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car, and now lives independently,” Crites said. Clean Slate has served people ranging in age from 19 to 60, whose life experiences are all over the map. But a pivotal part of the program is the way that everyone in the house comes together, forming a family whose love and support helps each member go farther than she would on her own. “There’s a lot of love and support in this house,” Crites said. “It’s not like an institution. It’s a family.” For many women, experiencing that safety and love is a game-changer. “I’m safe. I’m warm and I have food to eat and good people,” Anita said, “and that’s about anything I could possibly ask for.” That’s a pretty common reaction, Crites said. “Sometimes this is the safest place that the women have ever been,” she said. “When I worked in the jail as a chaplain, I heard that same thing — ‘This jail is the safest place I have ever been.’ That’ s a pretty dramatic statement.” Clean Slate is still working to come up with a good system to track its graduates,
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“If we’re not out trying to raise funds all the time, we’re more available to do what the women need out here in the house,” Crites explained.
— Marsha Crites, of Clean Slate
but while Crites says she knows of some who have relapsed, she knows of far more who have gone on to live full, independent lives. “We know that a very high percentage of those who have left us are successfully working within the community, because we see them when we go out in town,” she said. Running into a Clean Slate graduate, seeing that she’s got her own car, a job, a place of her own and a smile on her face is a big reward. But Crites would like to see Clean Slate’s impact grow. The house usually has a few empty beds, and there are plenty of women out there who would be good candidates to fill them. In the years ahead, Crites hopes to multiply the good done by Clean Slate. “I like to say that we are a hidden asset, and we don’t want to be hidden,” she said. “We want to be available.”
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“Swimming was good for my body and soul, and I began to have hope that I could recover”, she said. When Stephanie first arrived at Clean Slate, Crites said, she was “very broken.” It was that process of getting well, becoming close with the other women, learning to sew and make bags, that helped her to heal. “I felt busy, needed, productive and was earning a little money,” Stephanie said. “Today I feel like my addiction is under control. I rarely even think about alcohol, and I look forward to my future. I know that coming to Clean Slate was God’s plan for me, and I am so happy.” Crites still remembers one of the first women who ever came to Clean Slate. She had been in prison for many years and was “literally shut down.” “Over the course of the year she learned so many skills and got a job and bought a
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Jill Baker, co-owner of Lumber Jill, cuts up some lumber in Bethel. Baker supports the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s effort to restrict outside firewood and will be supplying her heat-treated firewood bundles to Smokemont and other campgrounds. Jessi Stone photo
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Dana Soehn. She added that a loss of forest canopy and tree mortality could lead to changes in fire behavior, stream temperatures — which could impact invertebrate, amphibian and fish habitats — exotic plant invasions, slope instability, availability of hard and soft mast, and increased cost to control fire, manage exotic species and maintain trails and park infrastructure. She said the park has received more than 120 comments from the public on the matter since June, and 13 people attended a Dec. 13 public informational meeting held to discuss the new proposed rule. Soehn said the feedback received overall has encouraged the park to move forward, but about 15 percent of the comments were opposed to the proposal primarily due to the cost of buying wood instead of bringing it from home. She said park officials spent time over the summer surveying areas around the park to check availability and cost of firewood. Based on the survey, she said firewood bundles were generally 25 cents to 50 cents more outside the park. The concession operators in the park have not yet submitted their pricing for 2015. David Monteith, a Swain County commissioner, attended the Dec. 13 meeting and
“I was the little guy,” she said. “My firewood is really dry and it’s not cheap to do that. I have two 1,000-galllon propane tanks supporting my kiln.” As someone who also worked in the forestry service for 12 years, she said she completely supports the initiative to only allow heat-treated firewood in the park. She also has a verbal commitment with Smokemont Campground to be its sole provider of firewood. While her bundles of firewood may cost a dollar more than other providers, she said customers are paying for heat-treated wood that is guaranteed to be dry. “I bought the market with quality,” Baker said. She said she has the highest of standards when it comes to providing firewood because she understands the importance of not allowing invasive species into the park. While the USDA standard for heat-treating is for the wood to be heated at 140 degrees for 40 minutes, Baker’s personal standard is 170 degrees for 75 minutes inside a large kiln. Monteith predicts the park will pass the regulation despite the opposition from local residents, but he said he has discussed his concerns with Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows. 11
Smoky Mountain News
BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR n an effort to protect the Great Smoky Mountains National Park forest from disease-carrying pests, park officials have proposed a new regulation that would prohibit campers from bringing firewood into the park unless it’s certified. If passed, the new regulation would only allow visitors to bring in firewood that has been heat-treated and bundled with a certification stamp by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or a state department of agriculture. Certified firewood will be available for purchase at the campgrounds inside the park. Firewood brought in from outside the park, whether it’s from outside the county or outside the state, can carry tree-killing insects and disease that pose health risks to the more than 30 species of native hardwoods in the Smokies. Some of these pests include the gypsy moth, Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, thousand canker disease, Asian long horned beetle, Sirex woodwasp and golden spotted oak borer. “Several of the impending pests have multiple hosts so cumulative acreage susceptible to all of the described pests would conservatively compose 50 percent of park forested area,” said GSMP spokesperson
— Dana Soehn, GSMNP spokesperson
December 24-30, 2014
Park officials consider banning outside firewood
expressed concerns about adding additional regulations to public park use. While he understands the need to keep out wood from out of state, he said the local residents should be allowed to bring in their own wood. “I fully oppose people bringing firewood from other states to burn but don’t understand why people in Swain County can’t bring in their wood,” he said, especially people who live adjacent to the park. “I just think their goal is to let no one burn anything in the park down the road.” Monteith said park officials said it was acceptable to cut up and burn wood that was already down inside the park but can’t burn wood that falls on his private property just outside the park. “That’s just crazy, and I told them that at the meeting,” he said. “People could bring in these bugs on their cars. Are they going to restrict cars?” Soehn said the park discussed a variety of alternatives that would allow locals to still bring in wood but the park was unable to come up with an efficient way to inspect wood for pests. Some of the pests are difficult to detect and there is not an identified method to screen wood individually at each campground. “Unfortunately, many areas near the park already have infestations of invasive forests pests. Bringing local wood from home may transport pests to new locations in the park including your favorite campgrounds,” she said. “While the pests may eventually get there on their own, the proposed regulations will help slow or stop the movement of foreign pests, enabling more time for management solutions to be found.”
“While the pests may eventually get there on their own, the proposed regulations will help slow or stop the movement of foreign pests, enabling more time for management solutions to be found.”
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Monteith said the proposed regulation would hurt people who sell firewood to campers outside the park for extra income. Those small-time suppliers probably won’t be able to afford the extra cost of heat-treating their product. “No one would have a problem restricting out-of-town wood — just not local. It’s a good income for lots of people,” he said. Jill Baker, co-owner of Lumber Jill in Bethel, has made a side business into a fulltime profitable business. She has been providing firewood for residents and park visitors for nearly 15 years and when she saw the park was moving toward this new rule a couple of years ago, she invested the money to purchase a kiln. The process is expensive — not something every small-time firewood seller would be able to undertake without the proper equipment. Baker said she understands the new proposed rule might hinder “the little guy” selling wood from the back of a truck, but she also knows the risk of anther large blight is too high to allow outside wood inside the park.
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New animal shelter gains traction in Haywood
BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER movement to build a new animal shelter in Haywood County is in the early conceptual stages. Animal lovers say a modern, more spacious animal shelter is needed, despite a daunting price tag and a sizeable drop in animals taken in to the shelter each year. “The animal shelter we have now is outdated,” said Dr. Kristen Hammett, owner of the Animal Hospital of Waynesville. The current animal shelter is a utilitarian, no frills cinderblock building on a concrete slab. Rows of cages and kennels stretch the length of the long, narrow shelter. The design does the job it was intended for when built in the late 1980s: a temporary storage house for animals awaiting adoption or euthanasia. But the public’s expectation of an animal shelter today has changed, Haywood County Animal Services director Jean Hazzard said. Hammett and Hazzard broached the idea with county commissioners earlier this month, detailing the shortcomings of the current shelter and making a case for a new one. Haywood County commissioners seemed receptive. “We know it is needed and we know the problem is never going to go away,” Commissioner Mike Sorrells said. Hammett and Hazzard said they got the signal of support they needed to now begin a more formal planning process. “I think this county needs an up-to-date modern animal shelter,” Commissioner Mark Swanger said in an interview. “There is no doubt about it. It is who we are as a society, and I support it.” However, commissioners’ willingness to put up money for a new animal shelter will hinge on fundraising. Private donations would be needed to offset the cost of the shelter. Swanger believes donors will be willing to contribute to the cause. “Many people of this county have expressed desire to have adequate facilities for animals,” Swanger said. A new animal shelter in Transylvania County recently leveraged $300,000 in private donations, but the cost to the county was still more than $1 million. Swanger said the shelter won’t happen any time soon, but will be pursued at a “measured pace.” Space is the biggest complaint for the animal shelter. Animals are euthanized at the shelter on a twice-a-week schedule. Hazzard tries to avoid putting down dogs and cats that have a chance at adoption. Most that get euthanized are old, sick, injured, aggressive, or have demeanors that make them unlikely candidates for pets. “Many of these are unadoptable for what12
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December 24-30, 2014
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ever reason,” Hammett said. But at times the shelter gets so full Hazzard has to pick animals to put down simply to make room. They are theoretically adoptable, but the shelter can’t hang on to them. “So one of us has to go back there and play God,” Hazzard said. Overcrowding has occasionally prompted Hazzard to turn away voluntary surrenders — pets being brought in by people who can no longer care for them for whatever reason. Animals in the shelter aren’t just strays, lost pets or no-longer-wanted animals. Animal control officers are routinely called by police and deputies to come get animals when the pet’s owner has died and there’s no one to take it. They also retrieve pets from homes where the owner has been arrested, or pets found at crime scenes. “I’ve climbed over bodies to get to a dog,” Hazzard said. The animal control officers are also called in when deputies do an eviction. “If no one is there and they are padlocking the door, we have to go get any pets out,” Hazzard said.
DECLINING NUMBERS Despite the periodic space crunch, the number of animals coming in to the shelter has declined dramatically over the past two to three years — from around 4,200 in 2011 to only 2,700 this year. Hazzard believes the decline is not just an anomaly, but is likely to stay down. The reason: aggressive spay-neuter campaigns by local animal welfare groups, including monthly low-cost spay-neuter clinics. Meanwhile, the population of feral cats has taken a huge hit thanks to a “trap-spayrelease” initiative, also undertaken by local animal welfare groups. The reduction in feral cat colonies has alleviated volume at the shelter. “There would be days when we would have to put down 20 to 30 feral kittens. We just aren’t getting those in near the numbers that we did,” Hammett said. The 35-percent decline in animals coming in to the shelter looks better on paper than it really is, however. Most of the drop is in the cat department — particularly feral cats, which weren’t candidates for adoption anyway. They were usually put down fairly soon upon intake, and not kept around in hopes of finding an owner. On top of fewer animals coming in to the shelter in the first place, more are being saved now than in the past thanks to the proactive work of Sarge’s Animal Rescue group. “Volunteers from Sarge’s are in here every single day,” Hazzard said. They even have their own desk space. They photograph animals and post them online to spark adoptions. The group also
Hazzard said. “Sometimes we lose people coming in to adopt because the sound of the barking dogs is so loud they can’t stand it. Little kids will be screaming that it is hurting their ears.” The dogs get stressed by the cacophony of barking as well. “The little guys don’t know the big guys can’t get to them and injure them,” Hazzard said. Aside from needing more space, Hammett and Hazzard said the floor layout of the existing shelter doesn’t function efficiently, particular in the frontof-house. A cramped lobby at the front of the shelter is a catch-all for everyone and everything coming and going A Haywood County Animal Services officer brings in from the shelter. a lost or stray dog in to the animal shelter where it On a typical day, will wait until its owner retreives it, it gets adopted, the entry foyer is a or must be euthanized. Becky Johnson photo bustling place. People looking for a missing helps with the cost of adoptions — picking pet are filling out paperwork with the aniup part of the tab for animals to be vaccinat- mal’s description. Those adopting a pet are ed and spayed or neutered, which is manda- cradling their new companions while paying tory before people can take pets home from their fees. Animal rescue volunteers are comthe shelter. ing and going. Sarge’s also has a foster pet program, As the main egress and ingress to the shelwhere a robust network of volunteers harbor ter, animal control officers bringing in stray dogs and cats in their own homes until a per- animals are trying to squeeze through the manent owner is found. commotion to get back to the kennels. On a recent weekday, the shelter was not “The animals and the public are coming even half full. But that’s not always the case. in and out the same door,” Hammett said. Animal adoptions are always up around There’s no separate office space for Christmas, so more dogs and cats had been employees, so their desks are tucked against moving out the door than normal this month. walls in the cramped entry way, not only Numbers are also higher at certain times of adding to the crowding, but forcing them to year when litters are being born. handle the steady stream of phone calls from Hammett said even though the shelter the public within earshot of all. isn’t at capacity all the time, the hope would “It is totally unprofessional,” Hazzard said. be to double the space when building a new one. EXT STEPS “We would want to look down the road another 20 to 30 years. We don’t want to A nonprofit called Friends of the build an animal shelter just for the needs of Haywood County Animal Shelter has been today,” Hammett said. created and will serve as a vehicle for fundraising and rallying community support. step is to create a rough sketch of DELICATE DANCE whatThethenext animal shelter would look like to There are other deficits with the current make fundraising more tangible. animal shelter. It has nowhere to house large “If we had a schematic drawing, then you animals. Malnourished horses are sometimes can start on working donations. People need confiscated, and must be housed for a fee at to be able to see it,” Commissioner Kevin private farms. Ensley said. The shelter also lacks an adequate quaranWith a site not yet selected, however, tine area, potentially exposing healthy ani- drawings would be conceptual only. mals to sick ones, or forcing animals to be The current animal shelter is in the euthanized prematurely. Hazelwood area of Waynesville and is not a The all-concrete walls and floor pose candidate for expansion, according to comanother issue. missioners. Where a new shelter might be “The sound in there is deafening,” located has not been discussed.
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BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR wo residents shared their horror story experiences dealing with nuisance neighbors during a Dec. 18 Macon County Planning Board meeting. The board is considering drafting a noise ordinance to address these residents’ complaints about loud music and gunshots coming from their neighbors’ homes. Donna Majerus and James Wright are frustrated because without a noise ordinance in place, they have no recourse other than calling law enforcement. An officer can come out and ask the neighbor to turn down the music, but the situation usually gets worse once the officer leaves, according to Majerus and Wright. “Every time I file a police report, a deputy comes 20 minutes later because I live so far out and once they leave the property, they (the neighbors) come to the property line and fire shotguns,” Wright said. Majerus has been attending planning board meetings for several months trying to get the board to draft an ordinance. In September, she brought the board a petition with 200 signatures from residents supporting the passage of some kind of noise ordinance.
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Planning board discusses noise ordinance for Macon County ordinance comparisons ■ Haywood County — Noise Control Ordinance passed July 7, 1981, to prohibit loud, disturbing noise that disrupts, injures, or endangers reasonable persons. ■ Swain County — Ordinance passed Nov. 14, 1996, to regulate the production or emission of noises or amplified speech, music, or other sounds that tend to annoy, disturb or frighten the county’s citizens. ■ Jackson County — A noise ordinance to regulate loud, disturbing noise that disrupts, injures, or endangers reasonable persons was passed Dec. 2, 1991. Commissioners discussed amending the ordinance to address barking dogs but now it is “permanently tabled,” according to planning director Gerald Green. ■ Macon County — No noise ordinance
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good starting point to figuring out what Macon’s noise ordinance should look like. Mason said the planning board was tasked by the board of commissioners to produce an ordinance that would solve the problems being discussed today but not one that would necessarily solve “every day noises,” including barking dogs. “The consensus of our board was that we’re not looking for a cure-all but noises going on Macon County residents Donna Majerus and James Wright explain to the considered planning board about the problems they’ve had with nuisance noise coming malicious in from their neighbors. Jessi Stone photo nature and harmful for a reasonable person’s peace and quiet,” said She said she has a neighbor who blasts Commissioner Jim Tate. loud music at all hours of the night to intenBoard members said they would like to tionally disturb her sleep. take the Clay County draft home and bring “My neighbor knows officers can’t do proposed changes back to the next board anything because there is no ordinance,” meeting in January. she said. “Please don’t wait forever. He is on “I don’t think dogs will be part of the supervised probation so the next time the issue as is mentioned in the Clay County police come, he will go to jail.” ordinance,” Mason said. Matt Mason, Macon County planning The board’s next meeting will be held at director, handed board members a noise 4 p.m. on Jan. 13 at the Macon County ordinance drafted by County Attorney Human Services building located at 1830 Chester Jones for Clay County. He said the Lakeside Drive in Franklin. ordinance was never passed but would be a
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Keeping justice on the boundary Cherokee cuts the ribbon on $26 million justice center, tribe’s first jail BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER t’s not every day that the scent of barbecue meatballs wafts through the open doors of a jail filled with smiling people wearing slacks, sport coats and blouses. But it’s also not every day that a sovereign nation finishes building its first-ever justice facility. “This is not just about a building,” said Principle Chief Michell Hicks as he prepared to cut the ribbon on the $26-million building in a ceremony that had nearly all of the building’s 175 parking spaces full. “It’s not just about having a place to put our stuff. We’re going to change who we are as a people.”
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Above: Tribal leaders stand together as the new Cherokee Justice Center is officially opened. Glen Weeks, a consultant on the project, explains the building’s surveillance technology from the jail’s control room (left). Holly Kays photos
PLANS FOR THE JAIL
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December 24-30, 2014
Cherokee has never had its own jail before, instead sending inmates to other counties to await sentencing and to any of a variety of detention centers afterward. The tribe pays Swain County, which houses a large share of the inmates, $40 per inmate per night, with Cherokee inmates making up about 20 to 30 of the 80 to 100 inmates the Swain jail typically holds, Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran said. That situation had a few different drawbacks for Cherokee. Getting an inmate from the jail to the Cherokee courtroom takes a lot of time and man-hours, and all of that transportation has made the process less secure than it will be now. In addition to a 96-bed jail, the justice center will house the police department and the court system, meaning inmates won’t have to leave the building to move from one to the other. But most importantly, said Cherokee Police Chief Ben Reed, the new facility will bring with it increased opportunity for Cherokee to look after its own, providing rehabilitation resources to inmates to reduce the likelihood that they’ll return to a jail cell. “We want it to be a firm, strict jail environment, but we also want to reach out to the resources we can,” Reed said. “We want to give folks what they need to come out of jail and be productive.” Inmates will be given access to resources to cope with mental health, substance abuse and physical abuse issues. Reed would like the jail to offer religious services and high school equivalency classes and to eventually incorporate work programs teaching job skills into the offerings. But, he emphasized, the jail regimen won’t be “playtime.” The tribe will hire 24 detention officers and a jail administrator to maintain a strict atmosphere. “There’s not going to be much idle time. We want to keep them busy,” Reed said. “We don’t want them to like it and want to 14 come back.”
A BOON FOR THE JUSTICE SYSTEM The ribbon-cutting ceremony featured speakers including Tribal Council Chairwoman Terri Henry, Cherokee Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Boyum, Vice Chief Larry Blythe, Director of Planning and Development Jason Lambert and Project Manager Damon Lambert, in addition to Hicks and Reed. Nearly all of them spoke of their hope for a better form of justice in Cherokee, one that provides consequences for crime while also helping inmates turn their lives in a more positive direction before leaving. “This is a very important day for us,” Henry said. Important because of the opportunities offered by the jail, but also because of the union of the tribe’s law enforcement and criminal justice systems under one roof. The second story of the 76,000-square-foot building is mainly jail facilities, while the first floor is split between the police department and the court system. Boyum is looking forward to moving in under the same roof as the police and jail. The Cherokee court has found a lot of unlikely homes over the years — the living room of a home, an “old, moldy building,” an unused classroom, and most recently the old civic
By the numbers • • • • • •
76,000 square feet $26 million 96-bed jail, split into four pods 150 security cameras 2 courtrooms 24 detention officers and 1 jail administrator to be hired
center on Acquoni Road where Boyum used to play basketball — so Boyum is glad to finally be able to hold court in a building built for that purpose. Because the new facility is nicer, sure, but also because it’s more secure. The new justice center features separate entrances and passages for attorneys, inmates and the public as well as cells just outside the courtroom where inmates can be held safely until the court is ready for them. That makes it much more secure than the situation now, and the new setup will come with a time advantage, too. “It goes back to the security aspect and the economy of time,” Boyum said. “If we needed to get somebody from Swain County, we’d have to call two hours ahead of time. Here it’s probably 15 minutes as opposed to a couple of hours.” Besides the more limited functions of the tribal court, though, Boyum is also hoping to
provide other services inside the new facility. For one, he said, Federal Magistrate Judge Dennis Howell will begin coming to Cherokee three to five times each year, starting in April, to rule on routine items like traffic tickets that occur on federal land, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway. Right now, getting that kind of ticket lands a mandatory court appearance in Asheville, a long ways from Cherokee. This is likely the first time federal magistrate court has been held on an Indian reservation, Boyum said. Cherokee courts are also in talks about bringing a federal probation officer to Cherokee, and over the long term, Boyum would like to see a full-blown district court in Cherokee. That would make things a lot more convenient, because tribal court can handle only crimes that carry penalties of three years or less with a maximum cumulative sentence of nine years. Crimes that warrant more prison time and crimes committed by nonIndians against Indians on tribal land must be tried in federal court, if at all. Crimes committed between non-Indians on tribal land go to state court. “We’re in discussions with them about having some regular district court here,” Boyum said, adding, “Whether that happens or not I don’t know for sure.”
A CHALLENGING PROJECT
Getting this far with the project hasn’t been easy. The $26 million building was paid for largely through a grant from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with funding provided by a U.S. Department of Justice program to construct and renovate correctional facilities on tribal lands. The tribe’s $18 million grant, the third largest given nationwide, required a $2 million match to unlock. About one year into the construction phase, tribal council was informed that the project was going over budget and would require an additional $6 million to complete. The extra funds were needed because the scope of the project had changed from building just a jail to housing a new courthouse and police station as well, Deputy Finance Director Kim Peone told council at the time. It was a challenging project to figure out, Lambert said, because of all of the security and legal aspects that are unique to jails and courthouses. Surveillance technology, fire prevention and the separate passageways required to keep inmates, legal personnel and the public separate all require special consideration. One of the hardest parts to design, he said, was a drive-in evidence garage to allow officers to examine large pieces of evidence — like a car, couch or bed — in a protected area. “That’s something they really wanted,” Lambert said. “It was really hard to figure out the design of it.” But figure it out they did, along with a myriad of other puzzles and conundrums along the way. The result, Chairwoman Henry said, is a building that everyone in the tribe can be proud of. “It’s my honor to work with the tribal council, to work with the chiefs and put all our hands under this to lift it to where it is today,” she said at the ribbon cutting.
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December 24-30, 2014
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER lans to memorialize a Cherokee gravesite found earlier this year in the midst of construction for a new baseball tournament complex in Macon County now have some hard costs attached to them, and the county has requested funding from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation to make them happen. “It was well received,” Commissioner Ronnie Beale said of the request, which he brought to the foundation’s director, Annette Clapsaddle, earlier this month. Clapsaddle will look over the plans with her staff and bring them to the Preservation Foundation’s board of directors — of which Beale is a member — in January. Beale will abstain from any resulting vote. “They can use our design or come up with one of their own,” Beale explained. Macon County submitted two options for the site, one estimated to cost $25,400 and the other $19,400. Both designs would feature a rebar grate over the grave to protect it as well as concrete walkways around the site and dirt with plantings to cover the rebar. The costlier design, though, would dedicate more space to the site, featuring a park-like atmosphere with more elaborate plantings of trees and shrubs, as well as a rock salt finish upgrading the sidewalks. The cost estimates, said Macon County Planner Matt Mason, are “assuming that maintenance constructs the rebar grate and installs the benches. The number does not include the informational kiosks.” The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has a contact who can do the kiosks more cheaply than Macon could arrange for them to be done, Mason said. The county is asking for the Preservation Foundation to provide total funding for the gravesite memorial but is also hoping that Cherokee will help offset the cost of changing site plans to accommodate the gravesite after its discovery in July. Macon County will make that separate request to Tribal Council sometime in early 2015.
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Harris hosts wellness education event Harris Regional Hospital will host a wellness education event centered around healthy eating and living a fit lifestyle from 6 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, in the main lobby at Harris Regional Hospital. This event is part of a year-long series of wellness events held in partnership with Jackson County Department of Public Health the first Tuesday of each month. The hour-long event features a panel of experts clinically trained in nutrition and the benefits of regular exercise, including internal medicine physician Dr. Randall Provost, who will give a presentation entitled “Exercise is Medicine”. Refreshments and door prizes will be available during the event. No reservations are necessary. 828.586.7734.
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Macon requests funding for Cherokee gravesite memorial
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BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR he town of Canton is moving forward with plans to upgrade its public swimming pool after interviewing several design consultants last week. Town Manager Seth Hendler-Voss said the board of aldermen decided this spring to make renovations to the town pool and approved funding to hire consultants to walk them through the design process. “It was a good decision because our pool is in bad shape and has been piecemealed together and patched up,” he said. The town put out a request for qualifications and heard back from seven firms. The submittals were reviewed and scored by the recreation board, and the top three were interviewed. The Clark Patterson and Lee firm in Asheville came out on top and met with the mayor and aldermen Friday to discuss possibilities before the board decides to contract with the firm. “Upon your approval of the firm, staff will go through negotiations to set a price for the contract so we can move forward,” Hendler-Voss said. Jeff Sherer, vice president of Clark Patterson and Lee, gave a presentation showing other municipal pool projects his company had completed and introduced two other consultants who would be working on the Canton pool project. Tammy Ellis started Aquatics H20 several years ago and has already completed major pool projects for the town of Franklin and Loudon, Tennessee. “Tammy has an impressive portfolio that exemplifies what we’re looking for — a modern dynamic design,” Hendler-Voss
said. “With the Macon County pool project, attendance increased 300 percent. I’m not saying that will happen here, but that’s what can happen with a better design.” Jeff Ashbaugh, senior project manager for Benesch in Charlotte, said he would assist the town in going after grant funding to help pay for the renovation project. The town plans to submit a grant to North Carolina State Park’s Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. The consultants talked about the challenges of renovating pools, and one solution has been to build on top of the existing pool, which ultimately takes away depth. Ellis said she had many projects in which regular lap pools were transformed into a pool that could accommodate everyone’s needs, from small children to senior citizens. Popular features could include a zero entry portion or a separate splash pad area for small children, waterslides and basketball hoops for teenagers, a lazy river and a roped-off shallow part for water aerobics. “You’ve got plenty of room on your site to do a variety of things,” Sherer said. “If we go into the pool with a similar pool, we still have to deal with the problems underneath. We’ll work with a team on boring to make sure things are structurally solid.” Alderman Zeb Smathers and Mayor Mike Ray both said they would like to keep the diving board at the pool because it is a popular feature. However, most of the projects the consultants were showing didn’t have deep enough water for diving. “Diving boards do get a lot of use, but the con is the insurance expense and liability,” Ellis said. Hendler-Voss said having a
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Canton uses crowdsourcing to improve playground With a focus on improving recreation options for residents with limited funding, the town of Canton is using crowdsourcing methods for the first time to raise money to make playground repairs. “Our playground is the only one in town,” said Canton Town Manager Seth Hendler-Voss. “It gets a lot of use, but unfortunately it is not efficient in many of the safety standards. We are making an effort to make specific improvements to bring it into national playground safety compliance.” The town plans to add mulch, install a fencing system to prevent children from running out into the street, repaint the playground equipment, replace missing swings and replace a section of the slide that was taken down a few years ago. “The impetus for this project is really a concern for safety,” Hendler-Voss said. “We want to try to establish a safer and more attractive playground. We’re going to pull in the separate swing bays into the larger play area to have one centralized playground.” The entire project will cost about $10,000, and the town is raising money through www.citizinvestor.com and collecting private donations to get the renovations
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started. The town is using the crowdsourcing website specifically to raise about $900, which is the cost of the slide repair. “It’s our first time dabbling with crowdsourcing, so we aren’t sure of the outcome but wanted to see how responsive people are to it,” Hendler-Voss said. The town has raised about $5,000 through its fundraising efforts thanks to donations from Champion Credit Union, local law firms, insurance brokers, the local steelworkers union, First Citizens Bank, Single Stop and more. “We’ve had great civic participation so far,” Hendler-Voss said. “Our Canton recreation park. goal is to make Canton a volunteer community plete the work. and challenge residents to give back to The crowdsourcing site has so far raised Canton, because we’re really going to need $155 of its $864 goal for the slide repairs. the help while trying to grow our econoThe campaign will continue for 50 more my.” days. To make a donation, visit www.citizAs donations continue to be collected, investor.com/project/canton-rec-tunnelthe town plans to start renovation work in slide or contact town hall at 828.648.2363. early spring. To help save more money, vol— By Jessi Stone, News Editor unteer and town labor will be used to com-
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diving board also costs extra because of the expense of staffing lifeguards. The next round of PARTF grant applications must be submitted by the end of January. Ray asked the consultants if they would be able to get a grant application together for the pool by then if the town enters into a contract soon. Ashbaugh said it was possible, but he recommended waiting for the following year so they would have time to collect data, submit a stronger application and build up some community engagement, because the grant money is competitive. In the meantime, he said, the town could look for private donors to partner with on the project. Aldermen agreed they’d rather wait and have a better chance of receiving a large pot of money for the project. Once a contract is in place, the consultants will work with the town to produce a master plan for the site while looking at a budget, possible private and grant funding, different potential pool features and a timeline for completion. Sherer said public input would be a crucial component to the process. “When this is all said and done, we want the community to feel like it’s their pool — something they wanted,” said Alderwoman Gail Mull. Hendler-Voss asked the consultants to prepare their contract proposal so he could present it to the board at one of its January meetings. The board meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second and third Thursday of the month at town hall.
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• Old Grouch’s Military Surplus has donated a supply of flu protection kits to the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office. “Anything we can do to help protect our officers and keep them healthy and strong is vital,” said Sheriff Greg Christopher. “The public counts on us to be there to protect and serve.” Owner Tim Glance, owner of Old Grouch’s in Clyde, has done a brisk business selling the flu protection kits online given predilections of a bad flu season.
• Haywood Tourism Director Lynn Collins has been named to the Southeast Tourism Society board. The Southeast Tourism Society promotes travel and tourism throughout a 12-state region. Collins has served on the board before.
• Employees at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort collected 10,264 needed items for the Cherokee Public Health and Human Services – including toothbrushes, toothpaste, bath soap, wash towels, dish soap, sponges, and toilet paper over a three-month period for needy families and seniors.
• Employees at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort raised $5,000 for the ALS Association during the national Ice Bucket Challenge craze, which raise money and awareness for Lou Gehrig’s disease.
• The Village Green in Cashiers has received official nonprofit status to support its mission of managing, preserving and operating the community commons. While it is used for public enjoyment – including walking trails, gardens, picnic areas, sculptures, a concert stage, festival venue, and playground – it gets no public funds, and relies on donations and fundraising. “I cannot imagine Cashiers without The Village Green. The Village Green is a vital asset for Cashiers,” said Ann Self, executive director of The Village Green. “This new status gives us access not only to additional funding opportunities but it also gives our donors confidence to partner with us to maintain and improve the park for future generations.” The Village Green previously operated as an affiliate of The Village Conservancy. The Village Green was created more than two decades ago by visionaries. A bronze bust sculpture of the primary founder, Al Balestiere, was recently installed in the park. www.villagegreencashiersnc.com or 828.743.3434.
• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort was named the Outstanding Business in Philanthropy this year by the WNC Association of Fundraising Professionals. Harrah’s employees have volunteered more than 15,000 hours this year, and more than 70 local organizations have recevied fundraising and volunteer support from
Harrah’s. “It is a pleasure and an honor for us to get involved and support various missions that make a difference in the communities our employees live in,” said Jo Blaylock, Harrah’s Cherokee vice president of HR and external relations. • Andy Shaw Ford of Sylva donated $4,500 to the Jackson County Early College thanks to a Drive 4UR School event. The donation will fund field trips the students couldn’t take otherwise. “We really strive to provide real world experiences for our students and these funds will help us do that,” Rebecca Ensley, Principal of the Early College. • The Maggie Valley Area Lodging Association delivered 250 food boxes to needy residents over Thanksgiving as a result of its turkey drive this fall. • Swain County Commissioner David Monteith has been appointed to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioner’s Legislative Goals Committee to help determine the legislative priorities that matter most to counties, and in turn determine what the association will lobby for in the General Assembly. • Talmadge “Stoney” Blevins has been hired as the director of the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency, a new central agency following the consolidation of the health department and social services. Blevins, director of the Transylvania County Department of Social Services for the past five years, was selected from a field of 20 applicants. “Stoney has a reputation in social services circles for his compassionate commitment to human services and he understands the system of service delivery in North Carolina very well,” County Manager Ira Dove said. A native of Statesville, Blevins has 17 years of human services experience at the county level and six years of human service experience at the state level. • Haywood County Habitat for Humanity won first place for its float in the Canton Christmas parade. The parade entry for Relay for Life got second, followed by the Lake Junaluska Fire Department. • Several Haywood County athletes brought home medals in the North Carolina Senior Games State Finals, including swimmer Diane Byers of Waynesville; track and field competitor Wanda Kenney of Waynesville; and golfers Suzanne Stello of Balsam and Betty Henderson of Canton. 828.452.6789 or recreation@haywoodnc.net. • Macon County youth were part of a 4-H delegation from North Carolina to attended the 93rd annual National 4-H Congress recently.
Mom with deployed son leads card drive A Christmas card drive on the campus of Western Carolina University netted more than 4,000 cards for soldiers stationed overseas. Tables were set up across campus during various times this fall for students to sign cards for deployed soldiers or veterans spending the holidays in VA hospitals. Cards collected during the drive are distributed randomly to U.S. military men and women by the Red Cross. The cards are a “big morale booster” for service, said Briana Ford, director of WCU’s Office of Military Student Services, whose own son happens to be stationed in Qatar. “I think of all the other families who are especially missing their sons and daughters during this time of year, just as we are missing our son, and that inspires me to continue this card drive to show these service members we miss them, we are thinking of them, and we appreciate them for their many sacrifices,” said Ford.
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Pisgah High students get inspired by real author Dr. Donna Glee Williams, author and fellow at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee, recently paid a visit to a World Literature class at Pisgah High School to talk about writing. Williams newly-published young adult literary fantasy novel The Braided Path follows allegorical characters who live in a vertical landscape as a society of craftspeople. Williams talked to stuDonna Glee dents about the writing Williams process and encouaged them to write about their own experiences, to record details, not just what they saw but what they felt — and to trust themselves as writers. At NCCAT, Williams coaches and trains teachers all over the state to motivate and inspire their own students in the field of writing. “I’ve become more and more aware that literacy skills — reading, writing, and speaking — take the kind of intense practice that students will only get if they enjoy the process enough to keep doing it, over and over again,” Williams said.
State accolades for Macon lead cracker An investigation of elevated lead levels found in certain private drinking water wells in Macon County won Harold Faircloth of Macon County
the state “Environmental Specialist of the Year” by the N.C. Public Health Association. In 2012, Faircloth identified elevated levels of lead in a disproportionate number of newly permitted private drinking water wells. His discovery began an investigation that revealed leaching of lead from galvanized pipe imported from certain foreign countries. Currently over 240 wells in Macon County have been identified with lead levels in excess of the EPA maximum allowable contaminate levels. Faircloth was cited for his dedication in understanding the complex chemistry of lead in groundwater and his sense of responsibility to the health of the public. Faircloth continues toN work with property owners to educate them about how to safely use their water.
Knitting for a greater good
For eight years the Nifty Needles group in Jackson County has been knitting and crocheting warm items for those in need. They knit year round in preparation for the cold weather, and have more than 300 items to distribute this winter. “We make hats, scarves, gloves, stoles, and lap blankets and knee warmers for wheelchair bound patients in nursing homes. We love giving children matching hats, sweaters and turtle necks,” said Anne Rhyne, one of the knitters. As a special Christmas gift, the knitters have made dish cloths which they will wrap with ribbons to give to the Meals on Wheels recipients. The group meets at First United Methodist Church in Sylva.
Opinion
Smoky Mountain News
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Board games – most of the time – are a fun holiday tradition
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Real vs. fake facts, and knowing the difference
To the Editor: Denying facts because they conflict with a belief is a survival tactic for the human race. We all do it. But now it seems a lot easier for everyone to have their own “facts.” On the Internet you can find “facts” to justify any opinion. Of course, observable, provable, documented facts are out there, but we must be smart enough and honest enough to pick them out of the sea of fake facts . Here is a good example. In a recent letter defending the Obama administration, I
Monopoly, plain Monopoly, Beat the Parents, you name it. Board games are as much a part of our Christmas traditions as singing carols or reading “The Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve. We usually make hot chocolate while we are playing. In years past, Tammy and I would help the kids if they couldn’t find words in their assembly of Scrabble tiles, but now that they have both become very good readers, we encourage them to find their own words and use us a last resort. Jack has read every Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Percy Jackson book he can get his hands on, and Kayden has read twice as many novels this year as I have. Yes, I thought, Scrabble should be Columnist much more fun this year. And it was Jack’s idea to play, which was a first. We made our hot chocolate and gathered around the board, and right away I noticed that Kayden, who is 13, was in a state. She is as delightful young woman as you could ever imagine — courteous, kind, impeccably well-mannered, bright, and charming. But as a newly minted teenager, she is at the mercy of vicious mood swings that no one, including her, can predict or alleviate. She has no more control over her moods than I have over my hair loss. The difference is that when you sit with me, you know that you are sitting with a balding (yet undeniably dashing) man. When you sit with her, you have no idea who that person is across from you. “Daddy, you know I can’t stand Scrabble,” she whines. “Do I really have to play?” She exerts tremendous effort picking up her seven tiles, lifting each one slowly, as if they weigh approximately 85 pounds apiece. She then looks at her mix of vowels and consonants and rolls her eyes. OMG, what an absolutely ATROCIOUS mix of vowels and consonants! “Daddy, can I just wash the dishes or something? I mean, really, I would do just about anything not to have to play this stupid, stupid game. Did I mention that I hate Scrabble?” We go in a circle, contributing our words. I come up with “miners,” while Tammy and Jack add “peace” and “chimp” to the board. Kayden spends about three minutes looking at the board as if it just threw up on her cell phone, and then places two “t’s” on either side of one of the “i’s” in “miners.” “T-I-T.” She doesn’t say the word, but mumbles something about it being a British word. Hmmm, well, Merriam-Webster informs us that the word is indeed UK slang for “stupid person,” so
Chris Cox
e’re all at home, on vacation at last. Ella Fitzgerald is wishing us a swinging Christmas, as she does every December. First “Jingle Bells,” then “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” then “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and on and on, her voice like honey butter on a hot dinner roll. Tammy and Kayden are in the kitchen baking Christmas cookies and joking about the utter foolishness of boys of all ages, including the one who keeps darting in and out of the kitchen to swipe Hershey Kisses — which are intended for the cookies — and another one who is sitting in the living room, enjoying a glass of Pinot noir while watching the cat make a punching bag out of a silver ornament hanging on one of the bottom branches of the tree. The dog is curled up on one arm of the recliner, also watching the cat, as he often does. What will that cat try next? Just yesterday, she knocked a lamp off a shelf, and a few days before that, she unceremoniously dumped a potted plant all over the dining room floor. It is my daughter’s cat, and I often tease her about it. “That cat is a menace,” I’ll say. “I read something about cat tasers online. Do you think they sell those on eBay? I thought you promised to train that cat not to destroy the house.” Of course, the truth is that I’ve grown attached to the cat in the past few months since we got her. The dog has, too, though he makes a big show of chasing her around the house if one of us fusses at her about something. Just now, I am finding her boxing match with Christmas ornaments more entertaining than the novel I have been trying, without much success, to read for the past three days. Maybe it’s the Pinot, but I actually feel very good. In fact, I am so filled with the Christmas spirit this year that I cannot imagine what could spoil it. “Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad!” Jack shouts, bounding into the room as if riding an invisible pogo stick. “Let’s play Xbox.” “Jack,” intones mom from the kitchen, stretching his name into two syllables. “What did we say about video games? I think you’ve had your fill of those already today.” “Then let’s play Scrabble!” One of the things I love most about Christmas is that it gives our family time to slow down from the chaos of “normal life” — work, school, piano lessons, baseball practice, homework, church, chores, scrambling to fit six hours of stuff into four while figuring out something for dinner. Now we can sleep in if we like, watch Christmas movies in bed with heaping bowls of popcorn, sip hot chocolate around the tree while listening to Ella or singing carols ourselves, maybe “Silver Bells” or “Silent Night.” If it is snowing, we get out and make snowmen or snow cream, or have snowball fights. And we play board games. Trouble, Bingo, Mayberry
claimed that, “Illegal immigration is currently net zero.” That means that there are just as many illegal aliens leaving the country as are entering. If true it would call into question the fear that the country is being overrun by illegals. This number can be quantified and documented and thus can be a real fact. So how do you determine that it is a real fact and not something made up because someone wants it to be true? Go to Google and put in “immigration is net zero.” On the first three pages there are 30 links, every link except one agrees with the net zero “fact.” Google “Immigration is NOT net Zero” and you get the same 30 links. Almost all the links quote from the same
She exerts tremendous effort picking up her seven tiles, lifting each one slowly, as if they weigh approximately 85 pounds apiece. She then looks at her mix of vowels and consonants and rolls her eyes. OMG, what an absolutely ATROCIOUS mix of vowels and consonants!
there. We move on without discussing other applications. “Daddy, can’t we do something else, I mean ANYTHING else?” she pleads, collapsing in her chair like a house of cards suddenly blown apart by a violent gust of wind. On her next two turns, she contributes “he” and “lol,” the latter of which manages to push the buttons I suppose she is intending to push. I have lost patience. “You can’t use abbreviations in Scrabble,” I say. “Well, Mom said I could,” she said. “It’s a word.” “No, it is not,” I said, drawing a stern look from Tammy, a look that says, at least she’s here, at least she’s playing, can you just let it go and not make a thing out of it? I know that look. What I want to know is why can’t Ella Fitzgerald just shut up for a minute? We are in the middle of something here, a “kerfuffle,” I believe the British would call it. The dog, sensing the tension, lunges at the cat, who immediately scampers up the Christmas tree like Spiderman scaling a high rise. Ornaments fall like heavy, metallic rain. Jack says, “We should have stuck with Xbox, Dad.” A few hours later, all is well again. Scrabble is boxed up and put away, Doris Day is singing “Silver Bells,’ more cookies are baking, and we are discussing whether we ought to watch “Elf ” or “A Christmas Carol” or “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” tomorrow. The dog is half asleep on the recliner, and the cat is now under the tree on her back, staring up into the constellations of twinkling white lights with a mixture of awe and pity. What will she make of eight tiny reindeer? We’ll know soon enough. (Chris Cox is a writer and teacher who lives in Haywood County. His most recent book of essays, The Way We Say Goodbye, is available at local bookstores and online. He can be reached at jchriscox@live.com.)
LOOKING FOR OPINIONS The Smoky Mountain News encourages readers to express their opinions. All viewpoints are welcome. Send to Scott McLeod at info@smokymountainnews.com., or mail to PO Box 629, Waynesville, NC, 28786. source, the “Net Migration from Mexico Falls to Zero — and Perhaps Less,” a Pew Research Center report dated Aug. 6, 2012 (www.pewresearch.org ). Numerous sites have reviewed the data from Pew Research and have found it to be valid. They include
Reuters, Politifact, The National Journal, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and the National Journal. In fact, highly respected fivethirtyeight.com reviewed the data in July and found it to be accurate. So who disagrees? It is NEWSMAX, and who is NEWSMAX? It is like Fox News on steroids. You will notice I did not list any obviously left wing or progressive site in the above list. One would be hard put to call the Christian Science Monitor a left wing propaganda outlet. So is “immigration is net zero" a real fact, or is it fake fact? You decide. Louis Vitale Franklin
December 24-30, 2014
Serendipity: an aptitude for making significant discoveries by accident. I have always loved that word, and I have had numerous serendipity moments. I would like to tell you about the one that happened today. I have been bemoaning the fact that I am not “a Christmas person.” Without children or family, and having the restraints of living on social security, I have come to feel left out of “the season to be jolly.” Of course, I have found that there are others who seem to be condemned to spend the holidays alone or at the Huddle House. Today, I called an old friend with whom I had lost touch, Sherry Austin, who lives in Hendersonville. About five years ago, Sherry told her friends that she had decided to stop communicating with them. Indeed, she said that for a variety of reasons, mental and physical, she had decided to “become a hermit.” Perhaps it should be noted that Sherry Austin has published several books and she is famous for her quick wit and an amazing talent for conversation. In fact, she was once something of a legend due to her knack for freewheeling discussions on the Internet, frequently under the guise of several different “personas.” I have missed her presence tremendously, especially one of per personas who was an elderly lady named Trixie Goforth who attended church regularly, despised politicians and had a robust appreciation for young men. Sherry answered the phone and once she remembered who I was, she launched a lively conversation about writing, the state of the arts and the likelihood that she might begin publishing again. When I told her about my own frustrations as a writer and a storyteller, she immediately said, “Well, Gary, I feel that you should be an ornamental hermit. I have always felt that this would be the ideal occupation for you.” That comment bewildered me. I reminded her that my hearing was whimsical and said that it sounded like she said I should be “an ornamental hermit.” “Yes, that is right,” she said and obligingly spelled it several times. “Pray tell, what is that?” I said. Sherry then explained that in Europe, beginning in the 14th century, a kind of “garden craze” swept through Germany, France and Italy in which extremely wealthy
lords, kings and popes designed awesome gardens, complete with lakes, domesticated animals, ornate (but rustic) buildings and bridges. Such places served as a backdrop for church services and royal entertainments. Eventually, it became customary to create a hermit’s dwelling in every garden, and although it was not absolutely necessary, a living hermit was usually in residence. Wealthy aristocrats selected hermits on their aptitude for learning. Most were elderly. In time, many gardens contained an ornate hut well-stocked with great books and the “hermit’s table” which always had a pair of reading Columnist glasses, a human skull and an impressive collection of books. If the wealthy owner did not choose to have a real hermit in residence, the room was always equipped to look as though the hermit has just stepped out, and would be back shortly. Ornamental hermits became popular all over the world and gradually the job qualifications became more detailed. The most interesting qualification is: that hermits were expected to be “melancholy.” Most hermits dressed in black (like Hamlet, who is definitely a gloomy fellow). The image of hermits as depicted in art and philosophy, suggested that hermits were solitary and given to introspection. This being the case, then the owner was free to be lighthearted. His hermit would be sad or despondent for him! If the world seemed dark due to wars or a bad economy, the hermit would ponder that fact. All of this, of course, sounds like an early means of dealing with depression. Also, the hermit was expected to be “on call.” If a dinner party was in progress elsewhere, the hermit was often summonsed to “entertain” the guests with stories of strange lands and quaint customs. There are accounts of hermits living in forest reserves and there are accounts of benefits and disadvantages. Hermits were not required to bathe regularly and in some instances, were forbidden to do so. They were well paid and customarily signed contracts for seven years. They were always retired with benefits and the means of living
Gary Carden
opinion
Lonely this Christmas? Hire an old-time hermit
well in retirement. They were allowed to marry and there are accounts of husbands and wives who served with considerable honor. Have you figured out where I am going with this? I did a little research and it turns out that many aristocrats, aging popes and retired kings sought ornamental hermits for “companionship.” They wanted to sit in their garden and discuss interesting topics ... the transmigration of souls, free will and the sex lives of angels. They wanted to talk about ideas, art and philosophy. I think Sherry is right. I would be an excellent ornamental hermit. Further, now bear with me ... further, I think the employment of ornamental hermits is the ideal solution to another growing problem: what we should do with creative people — writers, musicians, artists? Why doesn’t the North Carolina Arts Council take heed? Why don’t they gather all of our “economically disadvantaged artists” and distribute us to the state’s gardens and parks? There would be some real plums like Biltmore House in Asheville and the Folk Art Center. Why don’t we sing for our supper, or if not sing, then brood and ponder. Is it possible that there are some wealthy senators, retired ministers, generals who live on Beech Mountain, Linville Falls and the like, who need an ornamental hermit? Is there room for a hermit at nearby Tallulah Falls down in Georgia? (If I’m not mistaken, they used to have one!) Do the campgrounds in Cades Cove and Smokemont need an elderly gnome that could be enlisted to tell stories to the tourists? How about the Carl Sandburg Home? Maybe Cracker Barrel would cut us a deal. OK, perhaps I am becoming a bit irrational and that the majority of our creative souls would prefer comfort, good food and wine rather than porridge and sawmill gravy. Perhaps they would prefer the Grove Park Inn rather than a hut made of mud and twigs. We could work it out, I’m sure. But, I am still interested and would gladly settle for a house of wattles and some good conversation. So, If you are lonely this Christmas, hire a19th century hermit (Me, I can do that!). I would strive to be more than merely “ornamental” (like today’s garden gnomes which are all that is left of this once venerable tradition.) (Gary Carden is a writer and storyteller who lives in Sylva. He can be reached at gcarden498@aol.com.)
Smoky Mountain News
Somehow, I was meant to be right here
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BY LAURA AMOUR G UEST COLUMNIST “The mountains attract seekers.” That comment was made by a cherished friend that I have known most of my life. We grew up together in Memphis, went our separate ways, and ended up about an hour away from each other ... here in the mountains. We have always enjoyed thinking “outside the box.” We always looked for meaning in our lives, whether it existed or not. Did the fact that we are kindred spirits in this way have anything to do with both of us moving to the mountains? If so, does that mean that different terrains attract different types of people? What a strange concept. Or is it? We’ve all heard stories of holy men living in mountain caves. Many prophets and devotees of major religions went to the mountains for comfort and
guidance. The Old Testament says that Moses climbed to the top of Mt. Sinai to receive instructions from God. According to books of Mark and Matthew, Jesus went to a mountain to pray. I’m just an average person, but I do feel a reverence in the mountains, almost an awe. But what about other types of typography? What about deserts? It does seem like the desert has been a source of inspiration throughout the ages, but I wonder if it’s because no mountains were around. It seems that cultures who lived in flat or desert like terrains build temples, royal tombs and holy structures that went up. The Pyramids, the Tower of Babel and Mayan temples come to mind. There seemed to be something about getting physically higher that was appealing. Lakes? Lots of people want to live by the lake. Lakes and rivers have always been
important in religious ceremonies. They have symbolized cleansing and transformation in Hindu, Jewish, and Christian cultures for thousands of years. The place where all your sins are washed away. But for most people, I dare say that is not the reason they want to be lakeside. Most people enjoy fast boats for water skis or tubes or jet skis to buzz around on. Fishing? The argument can certainly be made that fishing can be a contemplative time. A coworker told me once that when he retired, he wanted to fish without bait. Understood. Oceans? I don’t know of any figures in the major religions making a pilgrimage to the ocean, although the Camino de Santiago in Spain comes close to the Atlantic. The ocean seems a logical place to travel for inspiration. It certain seems to tune a person into the rhythms of life. What kind of people
would chose to live ocean-side? Rich ones! For me, and I think countless others, a source of inspiration and comfort has always been the mountains ... and I really can’t explain why. I grew up almost in the delta of Memphis, Tennessee. No mountains there, although the mighty Mississippi River is certainly a majestic sight. It seemed to inspire Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, and was the source for several of his wonderful books. I vividly remember my first mountain experience. I was 19 years old. A group of friends drove to the Smokies on the Tennessee side for a hiking trip. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to cross the last bridge coming back to the parking lot from the hike to Rainbow Falls. It was snowing, and I was enthralled. I spent the next 40 years of my life in East Tennessee, but not as close to the mountains as I wanted. Some say that people go to the mountains because they feel closer to God there.
All are welcome at Pigeon Center To the Editor: An article in the Dec. 17-23 issue of The Smoky Mountain News states that the Pigeon Center in Waynesville serves “the black community and ... underserved populations.” In fact, the programs offered there draw many of us who belong to neither of those groups. Changemakers for Racial Understanding is a joint project with Grace Episcopal Church, facilitated by trained leaders from the Center for Participatory Change. Members of “Lift Every Voice,” both black and white, are collecting the history of the African-American community in Haywood County, and this program offers internships to history students at Western Carolina University. The Pigeon Center board is very diverse. I believe anybody who’s been there will agree that the Pigeon Center is a place of open-hearted community where all are welcome. Sara Jenkins Lake Junaluska
Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251 A TASTE OF NEW ORLEANS 67 Branner Ave., Waynesville, 828.246.0885. 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days a week. Curtis Henry opened A Taste of New Orleans to cater to the locals and become the place that’s always open that you can rely on for different, flavorful dishes every day. Serving Cajun, French and Creole Cuisine in a lovingly restored space, Curtis looks forward to serving you up a delicious dish soon. AMMONS DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT & DAIRY BAR 1451 Dellwwod Rd., Waynesville. 828.926.0734. Open 7 days a week 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Celebrating over 25 years. Enjoy world famous hot dogs as well as burgers, seafood, hushpuppies, hot wings and chicken. Be sure to save room for dessert. The cobbler, pie and cake selections are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth. BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza
at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun 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. BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE 454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Lunch served 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner nightly from 4 p.m. Closed on Sunday. We specialize in hand-cut, all natural steaks, fresh fish, and other classic American comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available. We also feature a great selection of craft beers from local artisan brewers, and of course an extensive selection of small batch bourbons and whiskey. The Barrel is a friendly and casual neighborhood dining experience where our guests enjoy a great meal without breaking the bank. BREAKING BREAD CAFÉ 6147 Hwy 276 S. Bethel (at the Mobil Gas Station) 828.648.3838 Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Sat. & Sun. Chef owned and operated. Our salads are made in house using local seasonal vegetables. Fresh roasted ham, turkey and roast beef used in our hoagies. We hand make our own eggplant and chicken parmesan, pork meatballs and hamburgers. We use 1st quality fresh not
pre-prepared products to make sure you get the best food for a reasonable price. We make vegetarian, gluten free and sugar free items. Call or go to Facebook (Breaking Bread Café NC) to find out what our specials are. BRYSON CITY CORK & BEAN A MOUNTAIN SOCIAL HOUSE 16 Everett St.,Bryson City. 828.488.1934. Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday brunch 9 a.m. to 3p.m., Full Menu 3 to 9 p.m. Serving fresh and delicious weekday morning lite fare, lunch, dinner, and brunch. Freshly prepared menu offerings range from house-made soups & salads, lite fare & tapas, crepes, specialty sandwiches and burgers. Be sure not to miss the bold flavors and creative combinations that make up the daily Chef Supper Specials starting at 5pm every day. Followed by a tempting selection of desserts prepared daily by our chefs and other local bakers. Enjoy craft beers on tap, as well as our full bar and eclectic wine list. CATALOOCHEE RANCH 119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1401. We serve three meals a day on Friday and Saturday, and some Sundays. Join us for family-style breakfast from 8 to 9:30 am – with eggs, bacon, sausage, grits and oatmeal, fresh fruit, sometimes French toast or pancakes, and always all-you-caneat. Lunch from 12:00 till 2. In the evening, social hour begins at 6:00pm. Dinner is served at 7:00 pm, with entrees that include
Ring In 2015! Holiday Hours: Though January 2nd We will be Open Daily 7-12 Closed Thursdays
December 24-30, 2014
HORS D’OEUVRES BUFFET 9 P.M.-MIDNIGHT
MIDNIGHT CHAMPAGNE TOAST
MUSIC BY DUSTIN MARTIN & THE RAMBLERS DANCING & PARTY FAVORS MIDNIGHT BREAKFAST BUFFET
Smoky Mountain News
As if there were some sort of connection between altitude and holiness. My husband and I have always been drawn to the mountains. We have been lucky enough to choose to live here. A lot of people don’t get that choice in life, and remain tethered to the cities and towns where they grew up. We wanted to leave, even though we didn’t go far. But it still seems odd that we were willing to leave our families and friends in Tennessee and move to a place where we didn’t know anybody. Why would we do such a thing? If we are seekers, what are we seeking? Time will tell. All I know is that it felt like the right thing to do. We have met interesting people from all over the United States that have also moved here. Why? The beauty of the area is undeniable, but is there something else? There’s a saying that “biology is destiny,” meaning that we are genetically predisposed to travel certain pathways physically and mentally due to the chemical makeup of our cells. And there is certainly some truth to that. But how about, “typography is destiny?” Somehow I feel like I need to be here. Maybe it’s something in my DNA. Maybe it’s something in my soul. Maybe it’s something in the air. Maybe there is no way to explain it at all. (Laura Amour can be reached at lauraarmour@yahoo.com.)
tasteTHEmountains
INCLUDING LUCKY NEW YEAR’S FOODS
$5995/COUPLE PARTY ONLY
OR
$9995/COUPLE INCLUDES ROOM
Find us at: facebook.com/smnews
Maggie Valley (828) 926-0212 Reservations Accepted
Single Rates Available Reservations Recommended
70 Soco Road • Maggie Valley Reservations: 828.926.0201
272-189
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Café
Deli & So Much More
prime rib, baked ham and herb-baked chicken, complemented by seasonal vegetables, homemade breads, jellies and desserts. We also offer a fine selection of wine and beer. So come enjoy mile-high mountaintop dining with a spectacular view. Please call for reservations and more dining information.
Happy Holidays! 272-18
REOPENING JANUARY 12 with winter hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 - 3:00
6147 Highway 276 S. Bethel, North Carolina (at the Mobil Gas Station)
tasteTHEmountains
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.
bbcafenc.com • 828.648.3838
CITY BAKERY 18 N. Main St. Waynesville 828.452.3881. Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Join us in our historic location for scratch made soups and daily specials. Breakfast is made to order daily: Gourmet cheddar & scallion biscuits served with bacon, sausage and eggs; smoked trout bagel plate; quiche and fresh fruit parfait. We bake a wide variety of breads daily, specializing in traditional french breads. All of our breads are hand shaped. Lunch: Fresh salads, panini sandwiches. Enjoy outdoor dinning on the deck. Private room available for meetings.
272-190
December 24-30, 2014
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. Friday and Saturday serving freshly prepared small plate and tapas-style fare. Enjoy local, regional, or national talent live each Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. www.classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter. CORK & CLEAVER 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville. 828.456.7179. Reservations recommended. 4:30-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Tucked away inside Waynesville Inn, Cork & Cleaver has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Executive Chef Corey Green prepares innovative and unique Southern fare from local, organic vegetables grown in Western North Carolina. Full bar and wine cellar. www.waynesvilleinn.com. COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT 3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley. 828.926.1820 Open Daily 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., closed Tuesday. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many
New New Year’s Year’s Eve Eve Gala Gala 2014 2014
refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service. FILLING STATION DELI 145 Everett St., Bryson City, 828.488.1919. Open Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sundays (in October) 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Locals always know best, and this is one place they know well. From the high-quality hot pressed sandwiches and the huge portions of hand-cut fries to the specialty frozen sandwiches and homemade Southern desserts, you will not leave this top-rated deli hungry. FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St. Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors. HERREN HOUSE 94 East St., Waynesville 828.452.7837. Lunch: Wednesday - Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday Brunch 11 a. m. to 2 p.m. Enjoy fresh local products, created daily. Join us in our beautiful patio garden. We are your local neighborhood host for special events: business party’s, luncheons, weddings, showers and more. Private parties & catering are available 7 days a week by reservation only.
PRESENTS TICKETS AVAILABLE
ONLINE
Starts at 7pm $35 VIP Seating
$25 General Seating
Delicious Buffet & Champagne Toast MUSIC BY THE RIVER RATS & LOCAL
Smoky Mountain News
LUNCH DAILY 11:30 A.M.-2:30 P.M. DINNER NIGHTLY AT 4 P.M. MONDAY-SATURDAY
Voted Best Steak in Waynesville
828.586.3555 617 W. Main St. Sylva NC
We’ll feed your spirit, too.
Classic local American comfort foods, craft beers & small batch bourbons & whiskey. Join us for Prime Rib Thursdays. Vegetarian options available Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. • Dinner Nightly at 4 p.m. • CLOSED ON SUNDAY 454 HAZELWOOD AVENUE • WAYNESVILLE • Call 828-452-9191 for reservations
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Proceeds go to Jackson Neighbors in Need LIVE TIMES SQUARE STREAMING www.MadBatterFoodandFilm.com
272-183
Cataloochee Ranch 119 Ranch Drive, Maggie Valley, NC 28751 | CataloocheeRanch.com | (828)926-1401
JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era. MAD BATTER FOOD & FILM 617 W. Main Street Downtown Sylva. 828.586.3555. Open Tuesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Hand-tossed pizza, steak sandwiches, wraps, salads and desserts. All made from scratch. Beer and wine. Free movies with showtimes at 6:30 and 9 p.m. with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Visit madbatterfoodandfilm.com for this week’s shows. MAGGIE VALLEY CLUB 1819 Country Club Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Fine and casual fireside dining in welcoming atmosphere. Full bar. Reservations accepted.
Grown, and Organic, all slow-roasted to bring out every note of indigenous flavor. Bakery offerings include cakes, muffins, cookies and more. Each one is made from scratch in Asheville using only the freshest, all natural ingredients available. We are proud to offer gluten-free and vegan options.
www.CityLightsCafe.com City Lights Cafe Holiday Hours: 12/24:11am-4pm, 12/25: Closed, 12/26:11am-9pm 12/31:11am-4pm, 1/1: 11am-9pm
FRIDAY, DEC. 26TH
GIFT CARDS, GIFT BASKETS & PARTY PLATTERS AVAILABLE AT BOTH LOCATIONS. Perk & Pastry Holiday Hours:
Karaoke w/Chris Monteith
PASQUALE’S 1863 South Main Street, Waynesville. Off exit 98, 828.454.5002. Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Classic Italian dishes, exceptional steaks and seafood (available in full and lighter sizes), thin crust pizza, homemade soups, salads hand tossed at your table. Fine wine and beer selection. Casual atmosphere, dine indoor, outside on the patio or at the bar. Reservations appreciated.
NEW YEARS’ EVE
12/24:7am-4pm, 12/25: Closed, 12/26:7am-4pm 12/31:7am-4pm, 1/1: 9am-4pm
Karaoke no cover charge FREE Champagne Toast
DOWNTOWN SYLVA • NC
83 Asheville Hwy. Sylva Music Starts @ 9 • 631.0554
Mon.-Fri. 7-4 Sat. 8-4
272-180
PATIO BISTRO 30 Church Street, Waynesville. 828.454.0070. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Breakfast bagels and sandwiches, gourmet coffee, deli sandwiches for lunch with homemade soups, quiches, and desserts. Wide selection of wine and beer. Outdoor and indoor dining. RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 828.926.0201 Bar open Monday thru Saturday; dining room open Tuesday thru Saturday at 5 p.m. Full service restaurant serving steaks, prime rib, seafood and dinner specials.
Whole Cakes, Pies & Fall Goodies – Call 828-631-9856
Oscar Fright A New Year’s Eve Murder Mystery Presented by Killer Theater
MEDITERRANEAN
ITALIAN CUISINE
Wednesday
Open for dinner New Year’s Eve!
Dec. 31
65
$
per person
Call for reservations.
+tax & gratuity
ORGANIC BEANS COFFEE COMPANY 1110 Soco Road, Maggie Valley. 828.668.2326. Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Happily committed to brewing and serving innovative, uniquely delicious coffees — and making the world a better place. 100% of our coffee is Fair Trade, Shade
TAP ROOM SPORTS BAR & GRILL 176 Country Club Dr. Waynesville 828.456.5988. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Enjoy soups, sandwiches, salads and hearty appetizers along with a full bar menu in our casual, smoke-free neighborhood grill.
Bed & Breakfast Lunch Wed-Fri 11:30-2 Sunday Brunch 11-2 and Restaurant
Nutrition Facts
Burgers to Salads Southern Favorites & Classics
serving size : ab out 50 p ag es
-Local beers now on draft-
Am ount per Serving
Live Music
Calories 0 % Daily Value * Tot al Fat 0g
0%
Reg ional New s
100%
Op inion
100%
Outd oors
100%
Art s
100%
Entert ainm ent
100%
Classified s
100%
* Percent Weekly values b ased on Hayw ood, Jackson, M acon, Sw ain and Buncom b e d iet s.
SID’S ——————————————————
ON MAIN
117 Main Street, Canton NC 828.492.0618 • SidsOnMain.com Serving Lunch & Dinner
Country Vittles RESTAURANT
Holiday Hours:
& GIFT SHOP
CLOSED Dec. 23-25
OPEN DAILY Dec. 26-Jan 4
236-50
Smoky Mountain News
272-221
APPÉTIT Y’AL N L BO
828-452-7837 herrenhouse.com
December 24-30, 2014
MOUNTAIN PERKS ESPRESSO BAR & CAFÉ 9 Depot St., Bryson City. 828.488.9561. Open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. With music at the Depot. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Life is too short for bad coffee. We feature wonderful breakfast and lunch selections. Bagels, wraps, soups, sandwiches, salads and quiche with a variety of specialty coffees, teas and smoothies. Various desserts.
LUNCH & DINNER EVERYDAY CLOSED WEDNESDAYS
NOMINEES ON THE RED CARPET AT 7 P.M. AND INDULGE IN A THREE COURSE DINNER WITH WINE & CHAMPAGNE
94 East St. Waynesville
1863 S. Main Street • Waynesville 828.454.5002 Hwy. 19/23 Exit 98
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JOEY'S PANCAKE HOUSE 4309 Soco Rd Maggie Valley. 828.926.0212. Winter hours; Friday through Sunday and Mondays, 7 a.m. to noon. Joey’s is a family style restaurant that has been serving breakfast to the locals and visitors of Western North Carolina since 1966. 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. Joey & Brenda O’Keefe invite you to join what has become a tradition in these parts, breakfast at Joey’s.
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William “Gene” Gibson in front of his abandoned childhood home in Jackson County, a place he spent many Christmases as a child. Garret K. Woodward photo
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER ooking up at the old chimney, William “Gene” Gibson still wonders how Santa Claus ever managed to fit in it. “I never could figure how’d he come down through there and not get all covered in black,” the 87-year-old chuckled. On a dirt road in the backwoods of Jackson County, Gibson stands in front of his abandoned childhood home. It’s still situated on his 112-acre property, a testament to his youth and the hardships faced by his family growing up in the Great Depression. “No electricity, no telephone, no indoor plumbing,” he said. “We got water from a hand pumped well. Back then all we had was the fireplace to heat the house. I remember days when a bucket of water would freeze in the kitchen during the winter.” And with the cold winds of an impending winter currently flowing through Western North Carolina, Gibson thinks about what Christmas was like when he was kid, when times were rough but you always kept your head up. “You’ve heard of the ‘have’ and ‘have nots’? Well, most people around the community here during the Depression were ‘have nots,’” he
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solemnly stated. “Of course, we enjoyed Christmas when I was young, maybe even more so than today, because it was a special occasion, and we didn’t have many celebrations back then.” These days, Gene and his wife of 67 years, Estella, reside in a more modern home just down the dirt road from the abandoned abode. It looms just up the hill, and Gene remembers what the true meaning of Christmas was in that old house. “Firstly, it’s about the birth of the baby Jesus,” he said. “And that’s the reason we celebrate Christmas. Today, we’re smothered to death with commercials and presents, and I’m afraid a lot of the younger generations doesn’t even know or remember why we even celebrate Christmas.” An only child, Gene spoke of those early years going outside, chopping down your own tree, making your own decorations — out of red and green paper and popcorn — and simply being thankful for whatever you got, even if it was nothing more than being grateful for having a roof over your head and food in your belly. “As far as Christmas went, we’d get an orange and a stick of candy usually,” he said. “Or we’d get a coconut and bust it open. You see oranges and coconuts were only available
“There’s a reason we celebrate Christmas, and celebrate it with loved ones. You can’t help but look back and think about those days. Children today get so much that I sometimes wonder if they even appreciate any of it.” — William “Gene” Gibson
up here once a year, around Christmas. I remember one year getting a box of crayons. That was a big deal. We were more appreciative in those days, I think.” One of 12 children, Estella’s father owned a country store. “We believed in Santa Claus and we tried our hardest to be good,” she said. “We’d have oranges, apples and different kinds of candy. My favorite gift was a baby doll.”
Though they didn’t have an automobile, Gene and his family would walk everywhere, visiting neighbors or going to the nearby church to decorate the tree and partake in a sing-along. “It was a local celebration, with neighbors all gathering together. There’s a reason we celebrate Christmas, and celebrate it with loved ones,” he said. “You can’t help but look back and think about those days. Children today get so much that I sometimes wonder if they even appreciate any of it.”
TIS’ THE SEASON
On a rural hillside in Cruso, off of U.S. 276 in Haywood County, Carroll and Eva Mae Burress can only shake their heads when theyy think of Christmas in the 21st century. “When we were young, we were taught that Christmas was Jesus’ birthday and now it’s just a ‘holiday,’” Carroll said. “What is a holiday without any meaning?” “Nowadays, it seems people just dready Christmas,” Eva Mae added. “They spend all this money and buy all of these things, which will take all of the next year to pay off.”
S EE CHRISTMAS, PAGE 26
time Sylva had a location for craft beer enthusiasts, run by craft beer enthusiasts.
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
n a beloved mountain town already filled with great restaurants, cafes, breweries and independent businesses, Sylva recently became home to two new downtown locations — The Winged Lion and Tonic Delivers. The Smoky Mountain News tracked down the owners of both of these establishments just to see exactly what they’re all about:
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THE WINGED LION
arts & entertainment
Smoky Mountain News: Why Sylva? KS Laguna: Honestly, this town is the whole reason we’re here. When my band first played a show here, I fell in love with Sylva. Angelica Caporuscio: Everyone in this town is very easygoing and very supportive of us. KL: I mean, just yesterday, we over-nighted a shipment to get the kegerator ready to open, but they sent us the wrong ball joints and connectors. So, Innovation Brewing gave us four of the correct ones to make sure we opened on time, and Dieter Kuhn from Heinzelmannchen Brewing came by to help us set up some of the equipment. That’s not the way it works everywhere else, and it’s a special thing here in this town.
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KS Laguna and Angelica Caporuscio of Tonic Delivers. Garret K. Woodward photo AC: We want to educate people when they come in, to try a new beer you’ve never had before or even heard of — we want this to be an experience for anyone who walks in the door. SMN: Your also going to deliver craft beer and restaurant food, too? AC: We have a Tonic Delivers app for smart phones. You download the app, then click on it to see menus from all the restaurants in Sylva. You can either order food and craft beer or just craft beer. We also have an app that you can use to scan your ID that goes through a database to verify your age. You present that ID again upon delivery, it gets scanned again, then you sign a liability waiver. SMN: You’re open now, what’s next? KL: We want to partner with Mad Batter and host events, maybe even put together a stage behind our buildings for live music. Yes, we just opened, but we’re already ready to see what else can we do? How can we make this better? It’s surreal to see how it has all come together.
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Waynesville. Smoky Mountain News: What The Balsam Range “Winter Concert Series” is The Winged Lion? (bluegrass/Americana) will continue with the Charles Pringle: This is meant Jeff Little Trio at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 at the to be a place where people can Colonial Theatre in Canton. come together, have good conversations and a great cocktail. It’s Humps & The Blackouts (psychobilly/rock) not necessarily a place to party, will play at 9 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Water’n rather it’s a place to gather and Hole Bar & Grill in Waynesville. celebrate. I don’t think we have enough places anymore to meet, CP: It feels good for me to walk in and talk and converse with each other face-toface. We do too much “talking” through elec- see this place here, but what I really like is when someone walks in and they feel good tronic means or not at all. This is another space to have conversations we so desperate- in here. My hope is that this is some place ly need these days. The loss of that conversa- for everybody, more than bar, more than a cocktail lounge — a location to make contion and discourse, I think, is at the root of a nections, and to use those connections to lot of our social issues that we face today. take outside and into your community. SMN: Your tactic of getting known is through word-of-mouth. Why? ONIC ELIVERS CP: We don’t have any signage or lights outside signaling what this place is. We want Putting the final touches on his homeyou to hear about it, maybe be curious made kegerator, KS Laguna twists on the last enough to come inside. This place isn’t of six pour handles attached to the contrapmeant to be a spot for folks who already tion. Alongside his girlfriend Angelica have a comfortable watering hole of their Caporuscio, Laguna took off from Atlanta to own. This space is for people who don’t have start of new chapter of their lives in Western a spot to feel comfortable. There are times North Carolina. you may want a high-energy crowded place, Situated between Signature Brew Coffee but there are times you want a quiet place to Roasting Company and Mad Batter Food & simply talk with a friend or significant other. Film on Main Street, Tonic Delivers is part craft beer market, part restaurant take out SMN: And you want to connect the dots service. Offering an array of local and within the community, too. national brands, the company felt it was
SMN: Why a craft beer market? KL: I saw there was a need for something, for craft beer enthusiasts, a place for them to come, to not feel like they’re just running into a gas station or grocery story and grabbing some beer. We have fresh, rare beers on tap and everything is hand selected. If it’s not the best of the best, we’re not going to carry it.
December 24-30, 2014
The only way to know where this spot is comes by word-of-mouth. A modern-day speakeasy, The Winged Charles Pringle of Lion seemingly popped up overnight. The Winged Lion. Behind the counter, owner Charles Pringle Garret K. Woodward photo stands proudly, eagerly awaiting another opportunity to play host to the next customer entering in search of a comfortable space, one with Prohibition-era style cocktails to boot. It’s about taking pride in your conversations, your attire, Brad Boulet & Friends Holiday Show your social graces and getting to (bluegrass/Americana) will be at 8 p.m. Dec. know all those anonymous faces 26 at Innovation Brewing in Sylva. you see around town. Simply put, Superstar comedian Jeff Foxworthy will hit the it’s a place you don’t know anystage at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 at Harrah’s thing about, not just yet, but you Cherokee. know you have to be there, part of a new and exciting scene in your Porch 40 Lite (funk/rock) will perform at 9 own backyard. p.m. Dec. 27 at Tipping Point Brewing in
828-456-3551ext 351 www.BalsamSpa.com
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Estella and Gene Gibson.
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ment of fireworks,” he laughed. “The whole family would go outside and up on a hill at night, lighting off the fireworks and having a real good time.” Carroll fondly remembers the Christmas dinners, where everyone they knew and loved showed up to spend time together, sitting
Carroll is 84, Eva Mae 81. They’ve been married 66 years, and throughout that time have tried to retain what makes Christmas special — friends and family. They both grew up during the Depression. Times were hard, as was the case around the country at that time, but, even with seemingly nothing, people were happy just to be alive, to make it through another year with hopes for better things to come. “Although we didn’t have a lot of money, not like they spend today, everybody then had a happy feeling in their hearts,” Eva Mae said. “It was a cheerful time. You didn’t have to have anything to be happy. Everybody was smiling and would holler ‘Merry Christmas’ at you — it was just a different time.” Growing up in Clay County, Eva Mae was one of nine chil- Married 66 years, Carroll and Eva Mae Burress remember dren. When she was five years happy Christmases even though their families didn’t have old, her father passed away a coumuch back then. Garret K. Woodward photo ple months before Christmas. “That Christmas we didn’t expect much,” she quietly said. “Although we didn’t have a But, even in the midst of a tragedy, Eva Mae and her family always tried to make the lot of money, not like they best of things. They’d spend all year collectspend today, everybody ing discarded candy wrappers from the side of the road, ideal for decorating the tree then had a happy feeling alongside popcorn stringed around it. A good Christmas for them was getting an orange, an in their hearts. It was a apple and maybe some candy. cheerful time. You didn’t “It’d be the only time of the year we’d get candy,” Eva Mae smiled. have to have anything to One year, a lady at Eva Mae’s church bought presents for all the children in the be happy.” congregation who weren’t getting anything. — Eva Mae Burress And when the small gifts were plucked off the church tree and handed out, it appeared Eva down for a rare but graciously appreciated Mae’s was nowhere to be found. “Oh, I was heart was broke, probably the feast. Though those days were difficult, finansaddest I’d ever been,” she said. “But, they cially and emotionally, what has remained for searched and found the little box way up the both Carroll and Eva Mae is the notion that top of the tree. It was my gift, which was two though tomorrow is another day of possibililittle Scottie dog hair clasps — I was so happy.” ty, today is a day to be thankful for life and all Raised in Cruso, Carroll was ecstatic the beautiful things in it. “Back then, no matter what you got, you when his father would give him a small box were proud to have it,” he said. “Nobody had of fireworks. “You know how boys are, and was I excit- much money, but we enjoyed the peace and ed to death when he’d bought me that assort- happiness of visiting friends and family.”
On the beat Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist “Mean Mary” James will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, at The Classic Wine Seller in Waynesville. Known internationally for lightning-fast fingers, haunting vocals, and intricate story songs, James explores the genres of folk-rock, bluegrass, and blues with banjo, fiddle, and guitar. Born in Alabama and raised in Florida, she was a musical prodigy. She could read music before she could read words, and she co-wrote songs at age 5. She recorded her first album at age 6. By age 7 she was proficient on the guitar, banjo, and violin, and entertained audiences across the U.S. Based in Nashville, James plays 11 instruments and is known for her alluring story songs, incredible instrumental speed, and rich voice that can travel from deep emotion to sparkling trills. Tickets are $10 per person. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com or www.meanmarry.com.
“Mean Mary” James. Donated photo
Balsam Range welcomes Jeff Little Trio
Spivey of ERA Sunburst Realty, The Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa, and Smoky Mountain Roasters Coffee. Tickets are $22. 828.235.2760 or www.balsamnation.com.
Tickets for southern rocker Gregg Allman, rock act Heart and country icon Willie Nelson at Harrah’s Cherokee are currently available for purchase. Founder of The Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman will perform at 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. An legend of southern rock and blues, his hits include “Rambin’ Man,” “Midnight Rider” and “Whipping Post.” Tickets start at $27. Heart will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21. The acclaimed female group is known for their chart-topping hits “Magic Man” and “Barracuda.” Tickets start at $42. Willie Nelson & Friends will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28. A country-rock megastar, Nelson penned such classics as “Crazy,” “Always On My Mind” and “Whiskey River.” Tickets start at $53. www.harrahscherokee.com.
Smoky Mountain News
Allman, Nelson and Heart to hit Harrah’s Cherokee
ALSO:
December 24-30, 2014
Renowned bluegrass group Balsam Range’s “Winter Concert Series” will continue with the Jeff Little Trio at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Colonial Theatre in Canton. Balsam Range, winner of the 2014 International Bluegrass Music Association award for “Entertainer of the Year,” will perform, with Little opening the show. Much influenced by mountain flat-pick guitar tradition, Little’s style is breathtaking in its speed, precision and clarity. He is conversant with traditional jazz, old-time, country, bluegrass, rockabilly and blues. “We try to get our own musical heroes and influences to the shows,” said Balsam Range mandolinist Darren Nicholson. “We want our hometown folks to enjoy the artists that we admire and who inspire us. Plus, these are guest artists who don’t get to play in this area very often.” The Balsam Range Winter Concert Series is sponsored by Amy
Balsam Range. Garret K. Woodward photo
• Balsam Mountain Inn will host a New Year’s Eve “Songwriters in the Round” at 6 p.m. Dec. 31. Performers include Marshall Chapman, Thom Bresh, Casey Kelly and Leslie Ellis. Tickets are $85 per person, which includes a buffet dinner and New Year’s celebration. 828.456.9498. • BearWaters Brewing (Waynesville) will have Josh Wager (singer-songwriter) Dec. 26 and The Robinsons Dec. 27. All shows begin at 7 p.m. www.bwbrewing.com or 828.246.0602. • Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will have Craig Summers & Lee Kram at 6 p.m. Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Free. 828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com. • Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have the Kittle/Collings Duo (jazz) on Dec. 25, The Brad Boulet & Friends Holiday Show (bluegrass/Americana) Dec. 26 and Sam Stringfield (piano/singer-songwriter) Dec. 27. All shows are free and start at 8 p.m. There will also be a New Year’s Eve Bash with PMA (rock) on Dec. 31. www.innovationbrewing.com. • Mad Batter Food & Film (Sylva) will host a New Year’s Gala with Local and The River Rats (blues/rock) on Dec. 31. For tickets, call 828.586.3555. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com. • No Name Sports Pub (Sylva) will have If Birds Could Fly (Americana) at 9 p.m. Dec. 27 and an Open Mic Night with Darren Curtis Dec. 30. Free. There will also be a special New Year’s Eve celebration on Dec. 31. 828.586.2750 or www.nonamesportspub.com. • Tipping Point Brewing (Waynesville) will have Ashli Rose (singer-songwriter) on Dec. 26, Porch 40 Lite (funk/rock) on Dec. 27, DJ Shane Dec. 31 and ‘Round The Fire (Grateful Dead tribute) at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 2. All shows are free and begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. • Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will have Humps & The Blackouts (psychobilly/rock) at 9 p.m. Dec. 31. $5 preticket, $7 at the door.
arts & entertainment
‘Mean Mary’ brings folk-rock to Waynesville
Gregg Allman will play Harrah’s Cherokee on Jan. 16. 27
arts & entertainment
Rob Roland & Fred Alter
offer more than 30 years of real estate brokerage experience to the Western North Carolina market with the formation of their new realty firm. Every real estate transaction we handle is treated as a unique situation – which is why every one of our clients feels like our only client. We may handle several purchases and sales each year, but to us, each one is a new and exciting opportunity to help a new friend find the perfect home, the ideal neighborhood – or the best buyer for their property.
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On the stage arts & entertainment
Jeff Foxworthy will play Harrah’s Cherokee on Jan. 3
Foxworthy to bring laughs to Harrah’s
On the street Register at the center. • A New Year’s Eve Bash will be held at 5 p.m. Dec. 31 at Fontana Village Resort. The celebration includes a dinner buffet by Chef Tracy Williams in the Mountview Restaurant, a party with live music featuring the Aaron Tracy Band, and a champagne toast to ring in the New Year at midnight. Dinner will run from 5 to 9 p.m., with beverages available at the Bears Den Lounge until 12:30 a.m. The party package is $25.95 for adults, $11.95 for children, with special room rates available. www.fontanavillage.com. • New Year’s Eve Fireworks will be at 8 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Cherokee Acquoni Expo Center. • The inaugural Franklin Ruby Drop will start at 7 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Motor Company Grill.
Smoky Mountain News
• The Cherokee Lights and Legends Christmas will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. through Jan. 3 at the Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds. Interactive displays of Cherokee legends, ice skating, carnival rides, and more. An Elvis impersonator will perform at 7 p.m. Dec. 31. Tickets for the celebration are $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 6-12 and free for children under age 5. www.visitcherokeenc.com. • A wine tasting will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 27 at Papou’s Wine Shop and Bar in Sylva. Additional savings on the tasting wines will also be available. 828.586.6300. • Western Style Square Dancing Lessons will be offered from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays from Jan. 12-April 20 at the Recreation Center in Cullowhee. $65 per person.
December 24-30, 2014
Superstar comedian Jeff Foxworthy will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 at Harrah’s Cherokee. Foxworthy is one of the most respected and successful comedians in the country. He is the largest selling comedy-recording artist in history, a multiple Grammy Award nominee and best selling author of 11 books. Widely known for his redneck jokes, his act goes well beyond that to explore the humor in everyday family interactions and human nature, a style that has been compared to Mark Twain’s. Tickets start at $53. www.harrahscherokee.com.
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Smoky Mountain News
December 24-30, 2014
arts & entertainment
On the wall
WCU assists with Cherokee documentary
Two Western Carolina University faculty members assisted on a recently released award-winning film that chronicles efforts to revitalize the Cherokee language in Western North Carolina. Hartwell Francis, director of WCU’s Cherokee language program, and Tom Belt, coordinator of the program and a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, were interviewed and credited as associate producers for “First Language – The Race to Save Cherokee.” “Being part of this film project, for me, was about being part of the continuing effort to re-establish, to re-affirm and to revitalize our language,” said Belt, whose first language is Cherokee. Only about 200 of the 13,000 members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians still speak Cherokee fluently, and most are over the age of 55, he said. The project began in fall 2012 after Walt Wolfram, the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Sociolinguistics and director of the North Carolina Language and Life Project at N.C. State University, and Wolfram’s students visited WNC. Discussions with Francis and Belt turned to the challenges of revitalizing the Cherokee language, how WCU supports language revitalization efforts and the work of the Atse Kituwah Cherokee Language Immersion School, where children speak and are taught in the Cherokee language.
Mountain Heritage exhibits in Sylva
Four exhibits from the Mountain Heritage Center that celebrate Western Carolina University’s 125th anniversary are now on display at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. The exhibits will remain on view through Jan. 24. At the front entrance to the library, the Noble Nine face jugs are displayed, characterizing the original trustees of WCU’s precursor 30 Cullowhee Academy. The Noble Nine supported
The filmmakers made a half dozen trips to WNC for filming, and returned to share versions of the documentary during editing with members of the community. In one scene of the film, a parent of a child in the immersion school tearfully shares the story of how her child responded to a tribal elder who spoke Cherokee in a store — and the elder’s delighted surprise to hear a child speaking the language. About 75 students take Cherokee language classes at WCU, and the university offers Cherokee language courses online and via distance education technology to other institutions in the University of North Carolina system. The system requires member institutions to have a Cherokee language plan in place, and students from UNCWilmington, UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Pembroke have taken Cherokee language courses offered through WCU. The documentary was bestowed the Best Public Service Film award at the 2014 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. A trailer for the “First Language” documentary and order form to purchase copies of the film can be accessed through www.talkingnc.com. In addition, copies are being sold at WNC businesses and venues, and have been placed at WCU’s Hunter Library and shared with schools on the Qualla Boundary and in Swain, Jackson, Cherokee and Graham counties. hfrancis@wcu.edu or tbelt@wcu.edu.
the institution’s first president, Robert Lee Madison, in realizing his dream of creating a teacher training school for Western North Carolina. Students in the ceramics class of recently-retired professor Joan Byrd brought to life her colleague Matt Liddle’s idea of immortalizing these gentlemen as face jugs, an art form in the Southern Appalachian folk tradition. Produced in collaboration with Anna Fariello of WCU’s Hunter Library Digital Initiatives, another exhibit of pottery traditions in Western North Carolina features examples ranging from archaeological fragments through early and mid-20th century
potters such as Walter Stephen (Pisgah Forest Pottery) and Louise Bigmeat Maney (Bigmeat House of Pottery), as well as some of today’s ceramic artists from the region. Drawn from several collections of the Mountain Heritage Center, a vintage toys and dolls exhibit represents the wide range of playthings owned and used by children in Western North Carolina during the 20th century. From handmade slingshots, noisemakers and rag dolls to commercially produced roller skates, marbles, record players and paper dolls, the exhibit is designed to spark memories of area residents.
Art classes for children, adults at WCU
Western Carolina University’s Office of Continuing and Professional Education will start off the New Year by offering community art classes for both children and adults. Local children can stay busy on their day off from school Monday, Jan. 19, by participating in Arts of Metallica Art Day. The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Room 150 of the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. The hands-on workshop will provide an opportunity to learn about various art forms such as repousse, wire sculpture, hammered copper jewelry and more. Participants will be divided into two age groups, 7-10 and 11 and up. Each group will be led by a member of the WCU Art Club. The cost of attendance is $25 per child, which includes lunch in the Courtyard Dining Hall. WCU also will offer six weeks of unusual art projects for adults and children age 8 and up through a Community Art Workshops series. Participants will learn a new art form each week. Art forms will include wool felting, ceramic bowls, fused glass, dry-point printing, carousel bookmaking and jewelry making. The series will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays from Jan. 26-March 2 in Room 150 of the Bardo Arts Center. The fee is $40 for students and $99 for all others, and it covers all supplies. www.conferences.wcu.edu or 828.227.7397. • “Before I Disappear” (indie/comedy/drama) will be shown Dec. 26-Jan. 7 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. Tickets are $6 per person, $4 for children, with free daytime showings. The horror/thriller “The Babadook” will also be screened Dec. 26-27 and Jan. 2-3. Saturday morning cartoons will also be shown at 11 a.m. For screening times, click on www.38main.com or call 828.283.0079. • “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (Dec. 27), “Captain America 2” (Jan. 2) and “Frozen” (Jan. 3) will be screened at the Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Screenings are free and begin at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.
ALSO:
“Qualla Arts & Crafts: Tradition and Innovation,” an exhibit developed by the Mountain Heritage Center with funding from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, features the work of artist-members of Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual Inc. Founded in 1946, this organization is the oldest Native American artists’ cooperative in the United States. It has played a key role in perpetuating the artistry, design and durability of worldrenowned Cherokee crafts and is keeping those traditions alive while encouraging experimentation and innovation. 828.227.3192 or pameister@email.wcu.edu.
arts & entertainment December 24-30, 2014
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A renewed appreciation for ‘The Great Gatsby’
Jeff Minick
In 1977 I fell in love with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. That was a year of deep reading for me — Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Faulkner, Flaubert, and so many others — but it was Gatsby I loved. The novel obsessed me, not so much for its characters or its plot or its literary symbols as for the rhythms of its sentences and the juxtaposition of unlikely adjectives and nouns. I wanted to write, and every day I would open Gatsby at random and read sentences like this one — “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, Writer then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.” Here was a music I wanted to make my own. This love for The Great Gatsby has ridden in the nighttime skies of my heart like phases of the moon, waxing and waning, sometimes shining bright, sometimes thinning to just a sliver of light. But it was always there, a constant in my own inconstancy, always waiting for me when I returned, always giving me on each of those returns new gifts. This was a love that never let me down, that always rewarded me for my attention, which offered new insights of heart and mind with each visit. Over the years, Gatsby led me deeper and deeper into Fitzgerald himself. I read his other novels and many of his stories, his letters, and the biographies of him and Zelda. I explored the places where he had lived in Asheville when Zelda was here being treated for her madness; I visited their grave in Old Saint Mary’s cemetery in Maryland. I have debated doubters on the greatness of Gatsby and have annually taught Fitzgerald’s book in the Advanced Placement English seminars I offer to homeschool students in the Asheville area.
So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan. Little, Brown and Company, 2014. 352 pages. My admiration for the book eventually became comfortable as the proverbial old shoes. I never became jaded or blasé about its importance, and maintained my high regard for its many wonders, but time and familiarity had left a patina of dust on my ardor. Like the shoes, the book fit me well, and I thought less
and less about its place in literature and in my life. Well, that sense of comfortable familiarity has been blasted away, and the luster of Gatsby is restored. In the last two weeks, I have read and reread Maureen Corrigan’s So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures (Little, Brown and Company, 2014, $25). Corrigan, the book critic for NRP’s Fresh Air, has polished up my spectacles and made me look at Gatsby with a new pair of eyes. Corrigan is as deeply enamored of Gatsby as the rest of us who love this book, but unlike the rest of us, she conveys her passion in a splendid mix of biography, anecdote, and personal musings. She examines the origins of the book, its initial failure to sell well — Fitzgerald died believing himself a complete failure — its impact in classrooms and reading groups, its place
in film and theater. Even better, So We Read On illuminates again and again points from The Great Gatsby that others of us, including at times Corrigan herself, have missed in our many readings. At the end of Gatsby, for example,
Nick visits Gatsby’s darkened mansion one last time. Standing outside, he sees “on the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick,” and he erases the word, “drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone.” A reader whom Corrigan meets in her travels points out that this erasure is Nick’s final act of cleaning up the mess caused by Gatsby’s murder, thus bringing closure to the novel. Neither Corrigan nor I had ever made this connection. Finally, in a chapter titled “A Second-Rate, Midwest Hack and the Masterpiece He Wrote,” Corrigan points out that “the more you read Gatsby, the curiouser and curiouser it gets.” She then lists these peculiarities: that Gatsby contains a great deal of humor; that in spite of its brevity — Fitzgerald told his story in less than 50,000 words — it is as an elaborate tapestry as any modernist novel; that it is the only great novel that Fitzgerald ever wrote. (Some readers may challenge that statement with Tender Is The Night, but I side with Corrigan). But it is Corrigan’s first point in her list of peculiarities that made me understand why I had fallen in love with The Great Gatsby so many years ago. Corrigan writes that “Gatsby is neither a character-driven nor a plot-driven novel; instead, it’s that rarest of literary animals: a voice-driven novel.” As I say, when I read those words, I understood at last why my younger self had fallen in love with a book. At the time I thought that I wanted those singing words and beautifully crafted sentences, but what had really captivated me, I see now, was Nick’s voice. As Corrigan tells us, “Fitzgerald summons up a voice — call it the omniscient American voice — that renders the American dream irresistible and heartbreaking and buoyant, all at once.” At the end of the novel, Fitzgerald wrote of “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.” Reading Maureen Corrigan has restored my own sense of wonder regarding The Great Gatsby. Highly recommended.
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Smoky Mountain News
Christmas on the Chimney Claus gears up for Christmas, spreads the joy of climbing BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER t was still a couple weeks till Christmas, but Santa Claus already had his boots shined and suit cleaned in preparation for the second most important day of the year — his annual practice run at Chimney Rock State Park. “Getting to practice here at Chimney Rock,
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digm shift for me. I had to see just how it worked, just how the world’s most well-known philanthropist applies the techniques of rock climbing to the delivery of gifts. Some of those specifics, Claus said, are classified trade secrets. But he agreed to show me the ropes on Vista Rock, an outcropping about 100 feet high, just downhill from Chimney.
But as it turned out, none of that apprehension was warranted. There was no adrenaline rush, no moment of questioning whether this climb was, in fact, a death wish. Instead, an opposite and almost equal reaction countered my lean backward — the friction of an extremely thick rope. The chunky rope coupled with the belay device it fed through to produce enough resistance that
A young park visitor inspects a snake held by a ranger at the bottom of the Chimney. Rangers had a variety of animals on display for visitors to see up close. Holly Kays photos I find the first chimneys I have to go down [on Christmas Eve] are a lot smoother,” explained Claus, who during his off-duty months works as a climbing guide with Fox Mountain Guides under the name Travis Weil. Rock climbing might seem like a puzzling second career for Santa Claus, but the fact is that summers spent on belay serve as excellent professional development for the wintertime role of Santa Claus. Because, the little-known fact is that Claus descends chimneys using, not magic, but a rope and harness. And every year, he comes to Chimney Rock to refine his December technique.
THE CLAUS TECHNIQUE It’s probably not an overstatement to say that this revelation caused a bona fide para-
It had been a couple years since I’d been in a harness, but I was relieved to see how readily I remembered how to tie in with a figure eight knot — with Claus supervising, of course — and how to gauge the proper tightness of a harness, the correct fit of a helmet. But to my surprise, one memory did not come rushing back to me as I leaned backward off the vertical rock face — the adrenaline. Ordinarily, that first step of a rappel is when the adrenaline surges, the body’s natural fear reaction protesting the ridiculous notion of stepping off a cliff into thin air, holding nothing but a rope that seems all too slack. I’d spent all week preparing for that moment, giving myself intermittent pep talks about how strong the ropes are and how much fun it is to be on the rocks once that first transfer of trust in the rope is over with.
I had to manually feed the rope through the device in order to move.
APPREHENSIVE SPECTATORS I was cheated of my thrill, but that kind of friction comes in handy for Claus, who carries extra pounds in his belly year-round and in his sack on Christmas Eve. Anything that makes it easier to handle rope, sack, beard and climb is a boon. On this practice run, though, he didn’t bring his sack, and that left him enough flexibility to play a little trick on the kids who gathered at the base of the mountain to watch his descent. The last time Claus gave his hearty ho, ho, ho atop the Chimney that day, he said, “I heard them saying ‘Don’t let go!’ So I let go and did it with no hands.” Sally Jacobs, who came with her husband
and 6-year-old son George to watch Santa on the Chimney, said she might have been one of those worried voices. George, on the other hand, had no concerns. “I think he would be OK,” George said. Luckily, George was right and is probably on track to get the Matchbox car he’s hoping to receive for Christmas — provided, at least, that he supplies Claus with some cinnamon cookies, which he says are Claus’s favorite. Timothy Curtis, 5, was a bit more apprehensive, however. He was afraid that Claus might fall off the rock, though he said he hadn’t been expecting to see that Claus would be tied in to a rope. That made things a little safer.
CHRISTMAS EVE PROTOCOL On Christmas Eve, Claus even takes some additional precautions. One small mistake could end up depriving entire regions of the world of Christmas gifts, so it’s important to do the delivery right. While Claus serves as his own belay at Chimney Rock, on Christmas Eve he travels with a team of belay-certified reindeer. But there’s only one ungulate that Claus trusts with his life. “Dasher is the only one I let belay me,” Claus said. “He’s the most attentive.” Somehow, even the reindeer’s lack of thumbs doesn’t hamper his skill with the rope. “They manage to stick the rope between their hooves,” Claus explained. More concerning than Dasher’s belay ability is danger from overzealous homeowners associations that aren’t fond of rope marks around the edges of their chimneys. “Sometimes the homeowners associations don’t like that kind of stuff,” Claus said. “I’ve been shot at a few times.” Still, he doesn’t travel armed save for the knife he sometimes carries in case he ever needs to cut his beard out of the belay device. And even that isn’t on him all the time — in all his years delivering gifts, he’s never gotten it stuck. Not even in England, which Claus said has some of the world’s tallest and most challenging chimneys.
A TWO-DECADE TRADITION Every year, it’s a challenge, but Claus isn’t shy about crediting his practice time at Chimney Rock with ensuring a magical outcome for the children of the world each year. “It’s kind of tricky that we don’t have anywhere to practice at the North Pole,” he said. He’s spent two Saturdays at Chimney Rock each December for the past couple decades, descending the 315-foot rock about six times each day for a total of nearly 4,000 feet each year. And while the second practice day, Dec. 13, dawned sunny and unseasonably warm for December, Claus is not a fair-weather climber. Even on cold and foggy Dec. 6, Claus put on his
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Santa Claus takes a seat in midair on his way down the Chimney (right). Park visitors young and old jostle to get a photo with Santa Claus (above).
with a neighbor in need FFall all brings beautiful colors, but it can also bring anxiety and concern for those who are facing colder wea weather ther and cannot afford hea heating ting for their homes. Champion Credit Union is taking a stand and challenging others to help. FFor or ever everyy dollar dona donated, ted, Champion Credit Union will ma match tch tha thatt dona donation, tion, up to $10,000! T Together oogether we can Share the W Warmth armth with residents of Haywood County County.. The process enthralls him, which is why he dedicates so much time to sharing it with others, in the warmer months teaching climbing customers ranging in age from 7 to 72. “I love climbing, so I think it’s something everyone should do,� he explained. Quinn-Tucker, meanwhile, loves Christmas, and a side benefit to working at the park that supplies Santa with his firstchoice climbing rock is that she often lands herself a pretty high toys-to-coal ratio on Christmas morning. “I expect that this Christmas will be very nice for me personally,� she said.
Seasonal road closures begin in national forest â– Ball Creek Road, FSR 83 â– Connelly Creek Road through Alarka Laurel, FSR 86 â– Wayah Bald Road, FSR 69 â– Winding Stairs Road, FSR 422 â– Little Yellow Mountain Road, FSR 367 â– Big Creek Road, FSR 4567 â– Cold Spring Gap Road, FSR 4663 â– Moses Creek Road, FSR 4651 â– Old Bald Road, FSR 4652 â– Sugar Creek Road, FSR 4665 â– Gage Creek Road, FSR 4648 â– Charley Knob Road, FSR 4654 â– Wolf Mountain, FSR 4663C â– Beech Flats, FSR 4668 In addition, the Wayehutta Off-Road Vehicle area will be closed through to April 1, 2015.
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Seasonal road closures are starting to kick in for the U.S. Forest Service. In the Appalachian Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest, 2.9 miles of Longarm Road, FSR-287, will close from its intersection with Blackgum Gap — FSR-288 — March 17 to Aug. 18, 2015. In the Nantahala Ranger District of Nantahala National Forest, the following roads will close from Jan. 2 to April 1, 2015. The roads are susceptible to the freeze-thaw cycle and easily damaged by winter traffic. ■Boardtree Road, FSR-388 ■Upper Nantahala Road, FSR- 67 ■Deep Gap Road, FSR-71 ■Shingletree Branch Road, FSR 713 ■Shope Fork Road, FSR 751
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December 24-30, 2014
game face and stayed in his harness for the entire three hours in his quest to pull off the perfect Christmas Eve. Quite a feat, said Shannon Quinn-Tucker, public relations manager for the park, “considering that we had a ton of fog that day and you could not see more than 50 feet.� The park has other activities clustered around Claus’ visit — there are cookies and hot chocolate; rangers displaying live animals like snakes, possums and groundhogs; music; poetry and even Mrs. Claus herself — but Santa’s appearances on the brink of Chimney Rock are undoubtedly the highlight. More than 300 people turned out to watch on Dec. 13. “I just think it’s really neat for folks to be able to come and watch something that’s that unique, especially in this region,� Quinn-Tucker said. It’s also an opportunity for Claus to share his first love, climbing, the cause he’s committed to when not busy overseeing elves or double-checking lists. “Each climb is like a little puzzle,� Claus said. “It’s not purely physical or purely mental. It’s a little bit of everything.�
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outdoors December 24-30, 2014
Land trust adds to wildlife corridor in Jackson County habitat ranging from forest to rocky outcrops to water. The land includes about 5,625 linear feet of perennial headwater tributary streams, including at least two springs, which join to feed into Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek is a Class III trout stream that feeds into Lake Glenville in the Tuckasegee River Basin. The property had been held by Tim and Emily Campbell, longtime friends of conservation. This is the sixth property they have conserved with HCLT, including The Mountain Retreat and Learning Black bear is just one of the species that will benefit from the recent- Center in ly finalized conservation easement near Panthertown Valley. Bill Lea photo Highlands, which Tim conserved with his business partA new conservation easement in Jackson ner, Jeff Murphy. County will provide a critical wildlife corriHCLT is also working with R.B. Haynes, dor, connecting three other easements and who is in the process of conserving a tract located less than 2 miles from Panthertown on Satulah Mountain contiguous to land Valley. HCLT already protects there. The 48-acre Black Bear Trail property, To learn more about starting a conservanow held by the Highlands-Cashiers Land tion easement, contact Julie at Trust, becomes part of a continuous natural Julie.hitrust@earthlink.net or 828.526.1111. area of more than 1,000 acres, including www.hicashlt.org.
Smoky Mountain News
Forest Service wins public engagement awards
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U.S. Forest Service employees in North Carolina recently received a handful of awards for their work in 2014, including a community engagement award for the forest planning process in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. “I’m extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of our Forest Service employees,” said Kristin Bail, forest supervisor of the Forest Service’s National Forests in North Carolina. “These employees went above and beyond the call of duty to fulfill the agency’s mission.” ■ A group of 16 Forest Service employees won for their “exemplary work in demonstrating innovative approaches to building partnerships and strengthening relationships” during the forest planning process. The team conducted three public input sessions during fiscal year 2014, attracting
hundreds of stakeholders. The meetings included both technical presentations and interactive tasks. Since the plan revision process began in 2012, the team has conducted more than 17 public meetings. ■ Five Forest Service employees received a group award for developing and enhancing community relationships with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. In July, the new Snowbird Youth Center in Robbinsville opened, constructed on 20 acres of land in the Nantahala National Forest close to the Cheoah Ranger District office. The center, affiliated with the Boys & Girls Club of America, serves children ages 5-18 with programs including Cherokee language classes, social skills development, cultural craft classes, a computer lab and physical fitness programs. The center will help connect kids with nature and the great outdoors.
A runner jogs along a country road.
Registration open for Smoky Mountain Overnight Relay Looking Glass, views from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mountains-to-Sea Trail, valleys framed by tree-covered mountains and glimpses of the Appalachian and Bartram trails along the upper Nantahala River. A tiered registration schedule offers lower rates for runners who plan ahead. Military and student discounts are available for registrants, and other discounts on outdoor adventures will be offered at the Nantahala Outdoor Center finish line. Registration stays open through April 10. smr.smokymountainrelay.com.
Women-only ski lessons launch in January
Cataloochee Ski Area photo
Call out for Clean Water grant applications The 2015 grant cycle for the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund is underway, with applications being accepted through Feb. 2 for projects that would address North Carolina’s natural resource needs. In the last grant cycle, counties in The Smoky Mountain News’ coverage area landed $2 million in funding, including $1 mil-
lion for a conservation easement by The Conservation Fund to protect 570 acres near Maggie Valley. For the first time, all applications will be submitted online rather than on paper. Forms are available at www.cwmtf.net. Grants are awarded once per year, and recipients will be announced by Aug. 26, 2015.
Smoky Mountain News
A six-session program aimed at female skiers and snowboarders will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley. Women on Wednesdays, called WOW, allows women who learn better with female instructors to take ski and snowboard lessons from female instructors. Sessions last from 10 a.m. to noon, and the slopes are available for practice afterward through 4:30 p.m. The six-lesson package is $185 if rentals are needed or $135 without rentals. Cost is $75 for season passholders. Enrollment closes Jan. 1. The registration form is online at www.cataloochee.com/downloads/wowreg.pdf. 828.926.0285.
leave at 10 a.m. from the Jacob Fork Parking Area. Space is limited, so pre-register for this hike at 828.433.4772. Hikes are listed at www.ncparks.gov/Education/firstday.php.
December 24-30, 2014
Registration is now open for the Smoky Mountain Overnight Relay, a grueling team race in which teams of six or 12 people together cover 212 miles of trail and country roads April 17-18. The race begins at Pink Beds Park in Brevard and ends at Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City. Each team member in the race runs either three legs for a 12-person team or six legs for a six-person team. At least one leg is run overnight. The route takes in the granite dome at
A North Carolina tradition continues on New Year’s Day with a schedule of First Day Hikes at every state park and recreation area in the state. The three-year-old tradition has so far had hikers joining rangers and volunteers to hike more than 10,000 miles of state park trails on Jan. 1. Statewide, more than 40 hikes, ranging from short leg-stretchers to 6-mile treks, will be offered. Those in the western counties include: ■ Chimney Rock State Park: A naturalist-led hike on the Hickory Nut Falls Trail will start at 1 p.m. at Chimney Rock, and a ranger-led, 1-mile roundtrip hike to Rumbling Bald will leave at 3 p.m. from the Rumbling Bald Climbing Access Area. 828.625.1823. ■ Gorges State Park: A short, easy hike to the Bearwallow Valley Overlook platform will leave at 9:30 a.m. from the park’s visitor center. A short, moderate hike to the Bearwallow Falls Overlook platform will start at 2:30 p.m. from the Bearwallow Picnic Shelter. Park Superintendent Steve Pagano will lead both hikes. 828.966.9099.
■ Grandfather Mountain State Park: A 2.5hour, ranger-led hike will take in the first mile of the Profile Trail, starting at 11:30 a.m. from the Profile Trail Parking Lot. No pets, and children under 16 must be with an adult. 828.963.9522. ■ Lake James State Park: A 2-mile rangerled hike in search of winter edibles will leave from the Paddy’s Creek Area boathouse breezeway at 10 a.m. 828.584.7728. ■ Mount Mitchell State Park: A 0.75-mile hike along the Balsam Nature Trail will leave from the Summit Parking Lot at 11 a.m. 828.675.4611. ■ South Mountains State Park: A 2.75-mile hike to the 80-foot High Shoals waterfall will
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N.C. Parks hold New Year’s hikes
Donated photo
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outdoors
Sounds in the night Nantahala Brewing supports the A.T.
BY B URT KORNEGAY CONTRIBUTING WRITER It was around 10:30 p.m., just as we were going to bed, when my wife Becky and I heard strange sounds outside our home in Cullowhee. I walked out on the porch and first heard the low, measured hoots of a great horned owl coming up faintly from the valley below, but then came these sharper, louder, impetuous cries from the woods right above our house — hoarse squeals and high-pitched whistles and low clucks. Becky and I went out into the backyard, closer to the sounds, and listened until we were shivering. Was it some kind of strange owl just passing through? Coyotes that had discovered punk rock? At first I was baffled, then realized, it was elk! The last time I’d heard weird sounds like these was when I ran a hike in the Tetons years ago during the elk rut. This time, I thought I could distinguish three different animals, and they were very vocal, kept crying out for half an hour. The next morning, when hiking up the
December 24-30, 2014
Nantahala Brewing Company in Bryson City celebrated the Christmas season with a generous donation to Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to support the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Smokies Ridgerunner program. The Ridgerunner program, around for more than 15 years, recruits caretakers to hike and camp along high-use sections of the A.T. Friends of the Smokies gives $37,000 toward the program annually. Ridgerunners educate hikers and backpackers, check backcountry permits and steward the trail by picking up litter and managing the privies. They work on more than 71 miles of the A.T. in the national park. This donation is just one more proof of Nantahala Brewing’s commitment to the trail. Since 2012, Nantahala Brewing has donated a portion of the sales of its limited release Trail Magic Ales, named for the random acts of kindness hikers encounter along the A.T.
Editor’s note: This account of a nighttime encounter with elk came in from Cullowhee area resident and outdoorsman Burt Kornegay, and we had to share. Kornegay and his wife Becky knew that the elk herd was expanding but were surprised to hear their mating calls pierce through the night from their backyard.
ridge trail, I found three fresh scrapes in the ground, and there was one small red maple next to one of the scrapes that had been broken across the trail. Lusty boy!
blown south by a dry north wind. And with this dramatic sky and these strange sounds coming from the woods, the mountains suddenly seem to regain some of the wildness they lost when the pioneers moved in and killed off the big wild animals that had lived here. That “bugling” is a sound that had been lost to this area for
A bull elk bugles in Cataloochee, the site of the original elk reintroduction. Holly Kays photo
I knew the elk herd introduced to Cataloochee years ago was expanding and moving out of the park, and a couple of elk were seen last year on upper Caney Fork. But this was a first encounter for Becky and me. It was a breezy, full-moon night, with a clear sky. Clouds were moving fast, the recent rainy weather being broken up and
200 years. Who knows, maybe someday mountain lion, bison and wolf will return to scream and snort and howl. But that night, for sure, there were bigger animals in our forest than just deer. If you want to hear what we heard, it went something like this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=20PET6-Hr_c
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Smoky Mountain News
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Author Denton Loving on one of life’s greatest questions The Chattanooga Zoo works to preserve hellbenders Historical and harrowing tales of snowstorm survival Carroll Best’s banjo legacy PLUS ADVENTURE, CUISINE, READING, MUSIC, ARTS & MORE
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A list of winners and a link to the photos is online at www.ncmst.org/getinvolved/photo-contest.
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Cherokee student wins photography contest
Summer scene wins Highlands contest
A Cherokee student won second place in a photography contest sponsored by Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Acecia Lambert’s entry, “Learning About Canopy,” is a photograph of the fall When Melanie Ham hiked to the top of leaves overhead on the Mountains-to-Sea Sunset Rock with her son and daughter this Trail near Mingus Creek and earned second summer, she probably had no idea that the in the youth photographer division. photo she would take that beautiful July day “In a science program about salamanwould win top honors in an historic phoders, we had to record what the canopy tography contest. cover was. Now I know what that actually is, “Brother and Sister in the Clouds” won I like looking Best in Show in Highlandsup at the Cashiers Land Trust’s canopy,” Sunsetennial Photography Lambert said. Contest Amateur Division, Lambert’s which was judged by Sallie submission Taylor, Executive Director was one of of The Bascom. The contest many sent in was held in honor of the by classmates Land Trust’s Sunsetennial: in Jessica 100 Years of Conserving Metz-Bugg’s Ravenel Park, home of Learning About Canopy. Acecia Lambert photo Seeking Paths Sunset and Sunrise Rocks in Nature proin Highlands. The Land gram, a partnership between Great Smoky Trust has been celebrating this historic Mountains National Park and Cherokee anniversary throughout the year. Central Schools. In 1914, the Ravenel family donated “All those photos, and about a million their family land to be used as a public park more, were taken when we gave students for all to enjoy in perpetuity — the HCLT digital cameras to use and document their now owns and cares for the park. hike and the whole day at the park. It was a The Amateur Division will be on display great experience for all involved!” Metzat the Hudson Library in Highlands Bugg said. through Jan. 15, 2015. www.hicashlt.org.
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CATAMOUNTS! DECEMBER 30 MEN vs. ST. CATHARINE’S (KY) — 7PM
JANUARY 5 WOMEN vs. MONTREAT — 5PM MEN vs. FURMAN — 7:30PM
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WO WOMEN’S MEN’S JJan. an. 110 0 M Mercer ercer * ((DH) DH) JJan. an. 112 2 S Samford amford *
2pm 2pm noon noon
(E (Education ducat ion Day-Free Day - Free Admission) A d m i s s i o n)
JJan. an. 24 24 U UNCG N CG * Feb. Feb. 7 ETSU ETSU * (DH) (DH) Feb. F eb. 116 6 C Chattanooga hat tanooga * Feb. F eb. 21 21 Wofford Wofford * ((DH) DH) Feb. F e b. 2 23 3 F Furman urman * Mar. M ar. 5 5-8 -8 S SoCon oCon T Tournament ournament
2 2pm pm 2pm 2pm 7pm 7p m 2pm 2pm 7pm 7p m T TBA BA
Asheville, A shev ille, N.C. N .C . **Southern S ou t hern C Conference onference game game ((DH) D H ) Men/women M en / women double-header doub le - header A All ll ttimes imes E Eastern a s te r n Dates subject D ates & ttimes imes sub b je c t tto o cchange hange
Smoky Mountain News
JANUARY 3 MEN vs. THE CITADEL — 2PM
MEN’S M E N ’S JJan. an. 110 0 U UNCG NCG * ((DH) DH) 4:30pm 4: 3 0 p m JJan. an. 115 5 E ETSU TSU * 7pm 7p m JJan. an. 2 22 2 Mercer M e r ce r * 7pm 7p m F Feb. e b. 5 S Samford amford * 7pm 7p m F Feb. e b. 7 C Chattanooga* hat tanooga* (DH) ( D H ) 4:30pm 4: 30 pm F Feb. eb. 114 4 W Wofford offord * 5pm 5pm F Feb. eb. 117 7 C Cleveland l eve l a n d S Stt 7pm 7p m F Feb. e b. 2 211 V VMI M I * ((DH) DH) 4:30pm 4: 3 0 p m M Mar. ar. 6 6-9 -9 S SoCon oCon Tournament Tournament TBA TBA
December 24-30, 2014
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WNC Calendar
Smoky Mountain News
COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Flea Market is set for 7 a.m.-2 p.m. on Jan. 3 at the Haywood County Fairgrounds. Haywoodcountyfairgrounds.org or 400.1704. • Tourism grant-funding workshops that are mandatory for entity seeking a tourism grant from the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 13, and at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15, in Room 202 of the Harrell Center at Lake Junaluska. haywoodcountytourismdevelopment.com/grants-info/.
BUSINESS & EDUCATION • A creative living class on “Reverse Mortgages” will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at the Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. Registration required. 356.2800. • Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina will hold a free job search workshop from 3-5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Haywood County Public Library. Free. Registration required: 648.2924 or at library’s front desk. • Free GED classes offered by Southwestern Community College, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, SCC Swain Center, Room 101. 366.2000.
THE SPIRITUAL SIDE • Christmas Eve services will be held at 5:30 p.m. (contemporary), 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. (traditional) on Dec. 24 at First United Methodist Church of Sylva. 586.2358. • A candlelit service featuring worship, singing, praising and remembrance will be held at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve at First Christian Church of Franklin. Hot chocolate and coffee afterward. 524.6840, www.fccfranklin.org or www.facebook.com/firstchristian. • Vespers service will be held at 6 p.m. on Dec. 24 at Coweeta Baptist Church in Otto. • New Year’s Eve service at 7 p.m. on Dec. 31 at Coweeta Baptist Church in Otto. Welcome the New Year with prayer and greetings.
HEALTH MATTERS • A wellness education event on healthy eating and fit lifestyles will be held from 6-7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, in the main lobby of Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva. 586.7734 or www.westcare.org/tuesdaystothrive. • The Red Cross will hold a blood drive from 1-5:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 at Evergreen Packaging in Canton. • A Red Cross Blood Drive will be held from 10 a.m.2:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 at First United Methodist Church in Franklin. • A Red Cross Blood Drive will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Jan. 2 at Waynesville Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
RECREATION AND FITNESS • A fitness class designed specifically for seniors will meet from 11 a.m.-noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting Jan. 5 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.
KIDS & FAMILIES • Mini-camps will be held for children ages 5-12 on Dec. 22-23 and Dec. 29-30 at Waynesville Recreation
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 Center. Each camp costs $15 for members ($20/nonmembers). Registration deadline is Dec. 15. tpetrea@waynesvillenc.org or 456.2030. • The Smart Start basketball program “Biddy Ball” will be held for ages 3-6 starting Jan. 17 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. $40 registration fee. Registration deadline is 5 p.m. on Jan. 3. Seven one-hour sessions. 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov. • A “Frozen” New Year’s Eve Party will be held from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 at Macon County Library. Books, games, music and snack. A special dropping of a star at noon. 524.3600. • Youth Golf Lessons will be offered for grades 6-8 at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 29-31 at Smoky Mountain Country Club. $150 per golfer. • Kids trip for 5th-through-8th grades will take place on Jan. 19 through the Jackson County Recreation Center to Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park and ice skating in Greenville, S.C. $40 includes transportation, entry fees (including skate rental) and lunch. Register by Jan. 14. 293.3053 or jenniferbennett@jacksonnc.org. • A community breastfeeding information and support group is held from 10:30-noon on the first Saturday of each month in the main lobby of the Smoky Mountain OB/GYN office in Sylva. Free.
ONGOING KIDS ACTIVITIES AND CLUBS • Saturday morning cartoons play for free at 11 a.m. at the Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. 283.0079 or www.38main.com. • A Lego Club meets on the third Tuesday of each month from 3:30-5 p.m. at Waynesville Library. 452.5169. • A Lego Club meets the second Thursday of the month at 4 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. at the Macon County Public Library. 526.3600. • A Lego Club meets the second Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. at Jackson County Public Library. 586-2016. • A Lego Club meet the second Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. at Cashiers Community Library. 743.0215. • Explorer’s Club for kids will be held on the third of each month at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Intended for all ages, with a special emphasis on cultural learning for children. Each Explorer’s Club will feature special guests, snacks and crafts that all are pertinent to the theme for that month. 586.2016. • Smoky Mountain Model Railroaders holds public viewing session from 2 to 4 p.m. the second Sunday of the month, 130 Frazier St. off Russ Avenue in Waynesville. The group runs Lionel-type 3rail O gauge trains. smokymountainmodelrailroaders.wordpress.com. • Teen time Thursdays, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Waynesville Library. A program for teens and tweens held each week. Each week is different, snacks provided. 3562511 • Homework Help, 3-5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays
for students in grades two through six, Canton Branch Library. Former schoolteacher-turned-Youth Services Librarian Katy Punch offers homework help on a firstcome, first-serve basis. 648.2924. •Teen Advisory Group, first Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m. For ages 13-18. Teens can enjoy snacks while discussing popular young adult books, help plan events and displays for children and teens at the library, and participate in community service projects. Canton Library, 648.2924. • The American Girls Club meets at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. The club meets one Saturday a month, call for details. Club is based on a book series about historical women. Club members read and do activities. Free. 586.9499. • Teen Time, 1st, 3rd, and 4th Tuesdays at 4 p.m. for ages 12 and up. Spend time with other teens talking about and sharing with each other. Jackson County Public Library. 586.2016. • Games for kids on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 4:30 p.m. at the Jackson County Public Library. Play a variety of games including AWE After School Edge Computers, board games and other fun activities. 586.2016. • Projects and activities after school Fridays, 3:30 p.m. for school age kids at Jackson County Public Library. Get your hands dirty with science experiments, discovering animals and making easy recipes. 586.2016. • Adventure Club on Tuesdays 3:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. for grades K-2 at the Macon County Public Library. 524.3600. • Book Club on Wednesdays 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Books and hands-on activities for grades 3-6. Macon County Library. 526.3600. • Culture Club on the first Wednesday of the month, 1 to 2 p.m. Guest speakers, books, photos, crafts and food from different countries and cultures. Macon County Public Library. 524.3600. • Crafty Kids on the second Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m. Children from Pre-K to fifth grade will meet after school and hear stories, share about what they are reading, play games and get creative with a craft. Canton Library. 648.2924.
KIDS MOVIES • A children’s movie will be shown at noon on Saturday, Dec. 27, at Jackson County Public Library. Call 586.2016 for movie title. • Animated children’s movie featuring characters made of popular building blocks will be shown at 1 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 29, at Macon County Public Library. Call 524.3600 or sign up for newsletter by writing maconkids@fontanalib.org to get movie titles. • Popular children’s movie about a young princess with power to freeze things will be shown at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at Macon County Public Library. Call 524.3600 or sign up for newsletter by writing maconkids@fontanalib.org to get movie titles. • Free family movies are shown at 3:30 p.m. each Tuesday at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Disney, Hallmark and other family-oriented movies. Popcorn is provided by Friends of the Library. Each attendee receives one free movie check-out. 488.3030. • Family movie time, 4 p.m. Mondays at Jackson County Public Library. Call for title of movie: 586.2016. • Family movie time Thursdays, 3:45 p.m at Albert Carlton, Cashiers Community Library. Free with popcorn. Call for title 743.0215 • Children’s craft time, 4th Wednesday, 3:45 p.m. at Cashiers Community Library. 743.0215
All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.
KIDS STORY TIMES HAYWOOD • Paws 4 Reading, a family story time, will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 18 at Macon County Public Library. Children can read to therapy dog Murray McFurry (grades K-6). 524.3600. • Mother Goose Time, a story time for babies and toddlers (five months to two years) and their parents/caregivers, is held at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays at the Waynesville Library. 452.5169 • Family Story Time, 11 a.m. Wednesdays at the Waynesville Public Library. Stories, songs, crafts. 452.5169. • Movers and Shakers story time is at 11 a.m. every Thursday at the Waynesville Library. For all ages. Movement, books, songs and more. 452.5169. • Family storytime with crafts, second Saturday of the month at 10:30 a.m. at the Waynesville library. 4525169 • Family Story Time, Tuesdays at 10:30 for children ages 1-5, themed stories, music, and a craft. Canton Library, 648.2924. • Mother Goose Story Time, Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. for babies ages 5 months to 24 months with rhymes, songs, stories, and free play. Canton Library, 648.2924. • Rompin’ Stompin’ Story Time, Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. for children ages 1-5 — children get to sing, dance, and get out all their energy during this movement-filled story time. Canton Library, 648.2924.
JACKSON • Kid’s story time Saturdays, 11 a.m., all ages at City Lights in Sylva 586.9449. • Rotary Reader Kid’s Story time, Mondays 11 a.m. at Jackson County Public Library. A rotary club volunteer reads stories with children. 586.2016. • Kids story time, Tuesdays and Fridays 11 a.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. at Jackson County Public Library. Story time includes books, puppets, finger plays, songs and crafts. 586.2016. • Pre-school story time, 2nd Wednesday, 11 a.m. at Cashiers Community Library. 743.0215.
SWAIN • Preschool Story time, Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m., Marianna Black Library. After a book or two is read, the children participate in games, songs, finger plays, puppet play and make a craft to take home. 488.3030.
MACON • Sing and Sing Story Time, 2nd and 4th Mondays, 10 a.m., Macon Public Library. Designed for children 0-24 months, but all ages are welcome. • Toddlers Rock, 1st and 3rd Mondays, 10 a.m., Macon Public Library. Music, movement and instruments (Designed for children 0-24 months, but all ages are welcome). • Family Story Time for ages 0 to 5 years is held from 10 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursdays at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. 524.3600. • Bilingual Story time – 6 to 6:30 p.m., 2nd and 4th
Wednesday. Program reads a children’s book in English and Spanish at the Macon County Public Library. 526.3600.
in Waynesville. He’s opened for Chicago, Bonnie Raitt and others. Dinner reservations: 452.6000.
• Balsam Range will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 at the Colonial Theatre in Canton. Balsamrange.com or 235.2760.
A&E FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL EVENTS • A New Year’s Eve Celebration will begin with a buffet at 5 p.m. on Dec. 31 at Fontana Village Resort in Fontana Dam. $25.95 includes dinner, live music featuring Aaron Tracy Band and champagne toast for adults. $11.95 children. www.fontanavillage.com or 498.2211. • A Christmas concert will be held from 6-7 p.m. each Saturday in December at the corner of Main and Everett Streets in Bryson City. • Cherokee Lights & Legends, an opportunity to stroll under the lights at Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds, will be held Wednesdays through Saturdays until Jan. 3. 59 p.m. on Wednesday through Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 5 p.m.-12:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. $5 adults; free for kids under 5. Skates for synthetic rink: $3/30-minute session. www.visitcherokeenc.com. • The Polar Express-themed train by the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City runs through early January. Event features hot cocoa, Santa Claus and caroling. www.gsmr.com or 800.872.4681. • A New Year’s Eve Reception and Gala on an excursion train will be offered on Wednesday, Dec. 31, by the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Info at www.gsmr.com or 800.872.4681.
ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • Grammy Award nominee and best-selling author Jeff Foxworthy will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. Ticketmaster.com. mfisher@cherokee.harrahs.com. • Elvis impersonator Travis Ledoyt will perform the music and moves of Elvis Presley (circa 1954-1959) as part of the Galaxy of Stars Series at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31 at WCU’s Bardo Center in Cullowhee. Single-show tickets are $21/adults; $16/WCU faculty and staff; $7 students and children. 227.2479 or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.
• A game day will occur from 2 to 9 p.m. every third Saturday of the month at Papou’s Wine Shop & Bar in Sylva. Bring dice, cards or board games. 586.6300.
BOOKS & AUTHORS • A Haywood county non-fiction book club meets the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at various locations. 456.8428. • Write a Novel this November at the Canton Library, 3:30-6 p.m. Every Monday in November, meeting room, Canton Branch Library. 648.2924.
CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • Western Style Square Dance Lessons will be offered from 7-8:30 p.m. Jan. 12-April 20 at the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee. $65 per person. No experience or partner required. Registration underway at Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee. 293.3053 • A basic knitting class will be offered from 10 a.m.noon each Tuesday at the Jackson County Senior Center. Free. Bring yarn and needles if you have them. 586.4944 or stop by the Jackson County Department on Aging and Senior Center in Sylva. • Nifty Needles group, which meets at First United Methodist Church in Sylva, is seeking new members to help knit and crochet warm, useful items for those in need. Supplies (yarn and needles) and lessons provided. • Oil, Watercolor, Acrylics and Drawing classes by Dominick DePaolo, 1-3 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays, Frog Level’s Mahogany House Fine Art Gallery and Studios. 246.0818. www.DominickDepaolo.com. • Drawing Lessons for Adults, by Char Avrunin, 1 to 4 p.m. Mondays and painting lessons from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays. www.iamclasses.webs.com or contact Char at 456.9197, orcharspaintings@msn.com. • Watercolor classes with Dominick DePaolo from 10 a.m. to noon and oil painting classes from 1 to 3 p.m. on Mondays, at Uptown Gallery, Franklin. 349.4607.
ART SHOWINGS AND • Art by library patron Jeannie Welch will be displayed in the Meeting Room of the Macon County Public Library during December and January.
• Josh Wager (singer/songwriter) will play at 7 p.m. on Dec. 26 at BearWaters Brewing Company in Waynesville. www.bwbrewing.com or 828.246.0602.
• A photography show featuring the work of Robert Ludlow is on display from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Monday through Friday and from 1:30-5 p.m. on Sunday through December at Canton Branch Library. smokychess@gmail.com.
• The Robinsons will play at 7 p.m. on Dec. 27 at BearWaters Brewing Company in Waynesville. www.bwbrewing.com or 828.246.0602.
• The Appalachian Pastel Society Juried National Exhibition will be held through Jan. 4 at The Bascom in Highlands. www.thebascom.org.
• If Birds Could Fly (Americana) will play at 9 p.m. on Dec. 27 at No Name Sports Pub in Sylva. 586.2750 or www.nonamesportspub.com. • Joe Cruz (piano, vocals) performs songs made famous by the Beatles, Elton John and James Taylor at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Classic Wineseller
FILM & SCREEN • “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” will be shown Dec. 19-24 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. www.38main.com or 283.0079. • A new comedy directed by Wes Anderson about a
• The Indie Comedic Drama “Before I Disappear” will be shown Dec. 26-Jan. 7 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. www.38main.com or 283.0079. • Free movie for adults at noon on Dec. 27 at the Jackson County Library. Call 586.2016 for title of movie. • Free movie for adults at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 at the Jackson County Library. Call 586.2016 for title of movie. • The Mad Batter Food & Film now showing featured films, 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays, downtown Sylva location. Special kids’ matinee at 2 p.m. Saturdays. Free. Movie listings and information, www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com. 586.3555.
MUSIC JAMS AND GROUPS • Old-time music jam from 1-3 p.m. the third Saturday of the month at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on U.S. 441 outside Cherokee. 452.1068. • Cruso Circle Play & Jam, 7 p.m. every Tuesday, Cruso Community Center and Friendship Club in Cruso. www.facebook.com/crusocircleplayjam. • Signature Brew Coffee Company holds Sylva Open Jam nights on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. Shop provides the instruments, you provide the talent. Chris Coopers’ Fusion band hosts. • An open jam session is held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. each Thursday at Heinzelmannchen Brewery in Sylva. All skill levels and instruments welcome. 631.4466 or www.yourgnometownbrewery.com
ARTS GROUP MEETINGS • Blue Ridge Mountain Quilt Guild, 6 to 9 p.m. fourth Thursday, January through October, and third Thursday, November and December in Canton. 316.1517 or on Facebook at Blue Ridge Mtn. Quilt Guild. • Smoky Mountain Knitting Guild meets every Wednesday from 1-3 p.m. Blue Ridge Books, Waynesville. 246.0789. • The Tuesday Quilters meet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church on N.C. 107. Bring your machine and whatever quilt you are working on. • The WNC Fiber Folk Group meets weekly from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursdays in the Star Atrium of the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at WCU. 227.2553 or ddrury@wcu.edu. • Thursday Painters meet at the Uptown Gallery in Franklin every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bring your project and a bag lunch and join us for a day of creativity and fun. All artists are welcome. 349.4607. • Rug Hooking Group, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Jackson County Public Library. Beginners welcome. 631.2561. • Jackson County Arts Council meets at 5:30 p.m. the first Monday of each month at the Jackson County Library Complex conference room. 293.3407.
Outdoors
• Golden Aires singing group meets at 10:30 a.m. every Thursday at the Golden Age Senior Center in Sylva. Secular and religious music. Performances given at area nursing homes. Singers need not be seniors to join. goldenagecenter1@verizon.net.
• “Run in 2015,” a 5K run, walk & fun run, will be held on Jan. 1 starting at the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee. Pre-registration ($20) accepted until Dec. 30; race-day registration ($25) begins at 9:30 a.m. Race starts at 11 a.m.; Fun Run starts at 11:45 a.m. 293.3053, jeniferpressley@jacksonnc.org, or www.imathlete.com.
• Karaoke is held at 7 p.m. every other Friday at the American Legion Post 47 in Waynesville. Open to all members and their guests. 456.8691.
• A line-up of “First Day” hikes will be held in state parks to celebrate the New Year on Jan. 1. The hikes include:
• Karaoke is held from 8:30 to 12:30 p.m. every Friday at the Tap Room at the Waynesville Inn. 800.627.6250.
- a moderate hike starting at 2:30 p.m. from the Bearwallow Picnic Shelter in Gorges State Park. 966.9099.
• Men Macon Music, canella singing, meets at 5:30 p.m. every Monday in the Chapel of First Presbyterian Church, 26 Church St., Franklin. Visitors welcome. 524.9692.
- an easy hike starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Gorges State Park visitor center. 966.9099.
• Mountain Dulcimer Players Club meets from 2 to 4 p.m. on the first and third Sundays of each month at the Bryson City United Methodist Church. Knowledge of music not required, tablature method used. 488.6697. • Pick and Play Dulcimer Group of Sylva meets at 1:30 p.m. on the first, third and fifth Saturday of every month in the fellowship hall of St. John’s Episcopal Church. 293.0074. • The Franklin Early Music Group meets every Monday at 9 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. 369.5192. • The Nikwasi Dulcimer Players meet every Thursday afternoon from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Franklin. All are welcome. 524.1040 or 524.2294.
- a moderate hike starting at 1 p.m. on the Hickory Nut Falls Trail at Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park. 625.1823. -a moderate hike starting a 3 p.m. at Rumbling Bald Climbing Access area at Chimney Rock State Park. 625.1823. • The Franklin Bird Club will hold its bird count early on Saturday, Jan. 3. 524.4707. • Beginning ski and snowboard lessons start Jan. 5 at Cataloochee Ski Area. $49 for a 1-3/4-hour lesson. Offer valid on non-holiday Monday through Friday in January. Register online: www.learntoskiandsnowboard.org.
Smoky Mountain News
NIGHTLIFE • Mike Pilgrim (mandolin), Don Mercz (guitar) and Drew Kirkpatrick (guitar) will perform “gypsy jazz” at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 26, at the Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. He’s opened for Chicago, Bonnie Raitt and others. Dinner reservations: 452.6000.
GALLERIES
• “The Babadook” — official Sundance 2014 Selection Horror Thriller — will be shown at 9 p.m. Dec. 26-27 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. www.38main.com or 283.0079.
December 24-30, 2014
• New Year’s Eve fireworks will light up the skies over Cherokee starting at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31, at the Acquoni Expo Center.
• Multi-instrumentalist “Mean Mary” James will be at the Classic Wine Seller at 7 p.m. on Jan. 3 in Waynesville. James lays 11 instruments and is an author and star of Nashville TV Show “Never-Ending Street.” $10. Classicwineseller.com or 452.6000.
• A classic 1949 comedy starring Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh and Wendell Corey will be shown at 2 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 19, at the Macon County Public Library. Run time: 1:17. 524.3600.
• A community music jam will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month at the Marianna Black Library in Downtown Bryson City. Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer – anything unplugged – is invited to join. Singers and listeners are also welcome.
wnc calendar
• Craig Neidlinger performs at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2 at the Classic Wine Seller in Waynesville. Classicwineseller.com or 452.6000.
legendary concierge at a famous hotel from the Republic of Zubrowska will be shown Thursday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Macon County Public Library. Run time: 1:40. Rated R. 524.3600.
• A learn-to-ski series organized by Waynesville Parks and Recreation will be held 4-9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays in January and February. Prices per trip for rec center members are $23 for lift ticket only; $35 for ticket and rentals; $7 for helmets and $10 for lessons. 41
wnc calendar
Prices for non-members are $25, $38, $7 and $10, respectively. 828.456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov • A six-week training program for females entitled “Women on Wednesdays” will start at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at Cataloochee Ski Area, and will run each Wednesday. Ski and snowboard lessons. www.cataloochee.com/downloads/wow-reg.pdf or 926.0285. • A learn-to-ski series, organized by the Jackson County Recreation Center and held at Cataloochee Ski Area, will be held over five weeks starting Jan. 11. Lessons are from 1:30-3 p.m. on Sundays. For ages 8 and up. $175 for lift, lesson and rental; $140 for lift and lesson; $90 for lesson alone (available only to season-pass holders with their own equipment). 293.3053.
HIKING CLUBS • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate-tostrenuous 7-mile hike with an elevation change of 1,300 feet on Saturday, Dec. 27, on the Bradley Fork/Smokemont Loop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 456.8895. • An 8.1-mile hike near Bracken Mtn. organized by Carolina Mountain Club, will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 28. Contact Stuart English for more information at 384.4870 or stuengo@comporium.net.
• The Historic Haywood Farmer’s Market will continue through December at a new indoor location at The Folkmoot Center in Hazelwood. Held from 9 a.m. to noon featuring meats, eggs, baked goods, and winter produce. Located at 112 Virginia Ave. 550.4774. • The Jackson County Farmer’s Market has moved indoors for the winter. It is held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at the Community Table, located in downtown Sylva off Central Street between the playground and pool. 399.0290 www.jacksoncountyfarmersmarket.org.
• Haywood County offers an HIV/AIDS Support Group, 4 p.m., first Tuesday of each month at the Health Department. Anonymity and confidentiality are strongly enforced. 476.0103 or haywoodhiv@yahoo.com. • AA meetings, 7 p.m., Saturdays, Maggie Valley United Methodist Church, 4192 Soco Road. 926.8036. • Al-Anon, a support group for families and friends of alcoholics, 8 p.m., Tuesdays, Grace Episcopal Church, 394 N. Haywood St. Use Miller St. entrance. 926.8721.
Ongoing
FARM & GARDEN • A training class for Haywood County’s 2015 Extension Master Gardener Volunteer program will be held from 9 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays from January through April. 456.3575. $120. Must complete class and participate in 40 hours of volunteer efforts through extension center.
• Haywood County Aphasia Support Group, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., second Monday of each month in the Haywood Regional Medical Center Fitness Center classrooms. 227.3834.
SUPPORT GROUPS Haywood • The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has started a club at Haywood Community College for students with mental illness. The student-led group meets twice a month. 627.4504. • The Compassionate Friends of Western North Carolina, for families who have had a child die, holds monthly meetings at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of each month in the Dugan Classroom of Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church, Clyde. John Chapman, chapter leader, 356.6877 or tcfofwnc@gmail.com. • Men’s Only Grief Support Group, 9 to 10:30 a.m. the second Tuesday of each month, First Presbyterian Church, 305 Main St., Waynesville. John Woods, facilitator. 551.2095 or jhwoods55@yahoo.com.
• Alzheimer’s Association, 4:30 p.m., fourth Tuesday of each month, First United Methodist Church, Waynesville and 2:30 p.m., third Thursday of each month, Silver Bluff Care Center in Canton. 254.7363. • Celebrate Recovery, 6 p.m. every Thursday, Long’s Chapel UMC, Waynesville. A Christ-centered 12-step recovery ministry open to all adults with hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Childcare available. 456.3993, ext. 32. • HOPEful Living: Women’s Cancer Support Group, third Tuesday of each month from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Haywood Regional Medical Center, Fitness Center, Health Educ. Room, Waynesville. 627.9666 or riggs_sandi@msn.com or 627.0227. • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) chapter, 7 p.m., third Thursday of each month, Asbury Sunday School Room, First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. 400.1041. • Recovery from Food Addiction, a 12-step recovery program for individuals suffering from food addiction, 5:45 p.m. Wednesdays, Friendship House, Academy St. beside Waynesville’s First United Methodist Church, 400.7239.
Jackson
Smoky Mountain News
December 24-30, 2014
• “A to Z” support group for all cancer patients (such as lung, colon, urologic, head and neck, skin) and patient caregivers, 5 to 6 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month, Harris Medical Park Conference Room. 631.8100. • WNC Breast Cancer Support Group, 6 to 7 p.m. fourth Tuesday of each month, Harris Medical Park Conference Room, and for Swain County residents from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. second Tuesday of each month, Harris Medical Park private dining room, next to the cafeteria. 631.8100. • Prostate Survivors Alliance, a special support group for men with a current diagnosis of prostate cancer, as well as prostate cancer survivors, 7 to 8 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Harris Medical Park conference room, Sylva. 586.5724.
A million miles away is just down the road. visitnc.com
42
• Grief Support Group, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Friday’s First Baptist Church, 669 W. Main St., Sylva. Hosted by Four Seasons Compassion for Life. Michael Lee, bereavement counselor, mlee@fourseasonscfl.org. • Breastfeeding Mothers’ Support Group, 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, Alliance Bible Church, 501 River Rd., Dillsboro. 770.519.2930. • Parkinson’s Support in the Mountains will hold its regular monthly meeting, 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, room 164 of the Jackson County Department on Aging, 100 County Services Park, Sylva. wncpd@yahoo.com. • New chapter of Co-Dependent’s Anonymous, 6 to 7 p.m. Mondays, Dogwood Wellness, Dillsboro. Connie, 477.4380 or e-mail seascat@gmail.com. • Harris Monthly Grief Support Group, 3 to 4 p.m. every third Tuesday of the month, Chaplain’s Conference Room, Harris Hospital, Sylva. 586.7979. • Men’s discussion circle, 7 p.m. Mondays, The Center in Sylva. Join an open circle of men to discuss the challenges of life that are specific to men in a safe environment of confidentiality. $5. Chuck Willhide, 586.2892 or e-mail chuckwillhide@hotmail.com.
• Al-Anon Meetings are held at 4 p.m. Tuesdays at Grace Community Church. The meetings bring hope for families and friends of alcoholics. 743.9814. • Jackson County Alcoholics Anonymous, 7:30 p.m., Mondays, Sylva First Presbyterian Church, Grindstaff Cove Road. • Cashiers Cancer Care Group for cancer patients, survivors, spouses and caregivers offers support, encouragement, hope and understanding. 7 p.m., first Thursday of the month, Grace Community Church. 743.3158. • Look Good, Feel Better is for women dealing with the appearance related side effects that occur with cancer treatments. A trained volunteer cosmetologist shares expertise in dealing with hair loss and skin change. 10 a.m. to noon, bimonthly, the first Monday of every month, at Harris Regional Hospital. RSVP required, 631.8100. • WestCare Hospice Bereavement Support Group meets at 3:30 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month in the Chapel Conference Room at Harris Regional Hospital. 586.7410.
Macon AA Meetings are held every Saturday at 10 a.m. Macon County Public Library, Franklin. 524.3600 or www.fontanalib.org. • Angel Medical Center Hospice offers three bereavement support groups for people who have lost loved ones. Two Women’s support groups both meet on the third Wednesday of each month at the Sunset Restaurant on Highway 28 at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. A Men’s Support Group meets the first Monday of each month also at the same location at 11:30 a.m. 369.4417. • Look Good…Feel Better is an ongoing program for cancer patients at Angel Medical Center, Cancer Infusion Center, Franklin. 349.6900. • Angel Medical Center offers a monthly Diabetes Support Group the last Monday of each month. The group meets in the Angel Medical Center dining room beginning at 4 p.m. Pre-registration is required by calling 369.4181. • Anxiety, nervousness and/or panic disorders support group meets at 7 p.m. on Fridays in the basement of Highlands United Methodist Church. 526.3433. • Al-Anon meetings are held at noon every Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church at Fifth and Main in the community room in Highlands. All are welcome. • Alzheimer’s Caregivers Support Group meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at the Macon Co. Department on Aging. 369.5845. • Angel Medical Center’s Diabetes Support Group meets at 6 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month in the Center’s dining room. • Chronic Pain Support Group meets at 7 p.m. the fourth Monday of every month in the dining room of Angle Medical Center. 369.6717 or 369.2607. • Miracles Happen group of Overeaters Anonymous meets at 5:30 p.m. each Thursday and 5 p.m. each Sunday in the downstairs chapel of First United Methodist Church. 349.1438. • Overeaters Anonymous meets at 5 p.m. on Sundays at First United Methodist Church at 86 Harrison Ave in Franklin. 508.2586 • NAMI Appalachian South (National Alliance on Mental Illness), the local affiliate of NAMI NC, meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7 p.m. at the Community Facilities Building, Georgia Road Contact Ann Nandrea 369.7385. • Suicide Survivors Support Group. Angel Hospice sponsors a monthly support group for those who have suffered a loss due to the suicide of a loved one. This meeting is open to everyone in our community and meets the fourth Wednesday of each month at 10:30 a.m. in the back room. 369.4417.
PRIME REAL ESTATE Advertise in The Smoky Mountain News
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MarketPlace information:
REACH READERS Across North Carolina for only $375. Run your 25-word classified line ad in 99 newspapers with one call to this newspaper by dialing 828.452.4251, or call NCPS at 919.516.8009.
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.
ARTS & CRAFTS ALLISON CREEK Iron Works & Woodworking. Crafting custom metal & woodwork in rustic, country & lodge designs with reclaimed woods! Design & consultation, Barry Downs 828.524.5763, Franklin NC
Rates: ■ Free — Residential yard sale ads, lost or found pet ads. ■ Free — Non-business items that sell for less than $150. ■ $12 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2. ■ $12 — If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type. ■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad. ■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold. ■ $300 — Statewide classifieds run in 117 participating newspapers with 1.6 million circulation. Up to 25 words. ■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.
AUCTION HARPER’S AUCTION COMPANY Join Us for a Fun & Entertaining Auction on Fridays @ 6p.m. You Never Know What Treasures You Might Find. We Offer Online Bidding and are Always Accepting Consignments, Call for Apt. 47 Macon Center Dr. Franklin, NC. 828.369.6999. harpersauctioncompany.com Debra Harper, NCAL #9659, NCFL #9671.
Classified Advertising: Scott Collier, phone 828.452.4251; fax 828.452.3585 | classads@smokymountainnews.com
WAYNESVILLE TIRE, COO
INC.
R
Di
sC Ov E R E
ATR
PE
Serving Haywood, Jackson & Surrounding Counties
AUCTION: Tractors, Tools, Forklift, Boats, Shop & Power Equipment, Specialty & Plumbing Tools, Fiberglass Equipment - Online Only Auction, Jones County, NC. www.HouseAuctionCompany.com 252.729.1162 NCAL#7889
Offering:
MAJOR-BRAND TIRES FOR CARS, LIGHT & MEDIUM-DUTY TRUCKS, AND FARM TIRES.
Service truck available for on-site repairs
272-235
LEE & PATTY ENSLEY, OWNERS
MON-FRI 7:30-5:00 • WAYNESVILLE PLAZA
828-456-5387
AUCTION Construction Equipment & Trucks, Richmond, VA. Excavators, Dozers, Dumps & More. Accepting Items Daily thru 12/5. Motleys Asset Disposition Group, 804.232.3300 x.4, www.motleys.com/industrial, VAAL#16. PUBLIC AUCTION 201 S. Central Ave., Locust, NC. Selling Tax Seized, Repo & Estate Vehicles, Heavy Equipment, Trucks, ATVs, Tools, Equipment, '65 Mustang 2+2 Fast Back, Street Rods, Pickup, Cars, Track Loader, Box Trucks. 704.791.8825. ncaf5479. www.ClassicAuctions.com
BUILDING MATERIALS HAYWOOD BUILDERS Garage Doors, New Installations Service & Repairs, 828.456.6051 100 Charles St. Waynesville Employee Owned.
CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING ACORN STAIRLIFTS. The AFFORDABLE solution to your stairs! **Limited time -$250 Off Your Stairlift Purchase!** Buy Direct & SAVE. Please call 1.800.291.2712 for FREE DVD and brochure. ALL THINGS BASEMENTY! Basement Systems Inc. Call us for all of your basement needs! Waterproofing, Finishing, Structural Repairs, Humidity and Mold Control. FREE ESTIMATES! Call 1.800.698.9217 DAVE’S CUSTOM HOMES OF WNC, INC Free Estimates & Competitive rates. References avail. upon request. Specializing in: Log Homes, remodeling, decks, new construction, repairs & additions. Owner/Builder: Dave Donaldson. Licensed/Insured. 828.631.0747 or 828.508.0316 SAFE STEP WALK-IN TUB. Alert for Seniors. Bathroom falls can be fatal. Approved by Arthritis Foundation. Therapeutic Jets. Less Than 4 Inch Step-In. Wide Door. Anti-Slip Floors. American Made. Installation Included. Call 800.807.7219 for $750 Off. SULLIVAN HARDWOOD FLOORS Installation- Finish - Refinish 828.399.1847.
AUTO PARTS BLOWN HEAD GASKET Cracked Heads/Block. State of the art 2-part Carbon Composite Repair! All Vehicles Foreign or Domestic including Northstars! 100% guaranteed. Call Now: 1.866.780.9038 SAPA
CARS *CASH TODAY* We’ll Buy Any Car (Any Condition) + Free Same-Day Removal. Best Cash Offer Guaranteed! Call For FREE Quote: 888.472.2113 SAPA DISABLED VETERAN Is in need of Cheap Transportation for tri-weekly VA Hospital Commute If you can help please call Jeff at 828.316.8930. DONATE YOUR CAR, Truck or Boat to Heritage for the Blind. Free 3 Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. 800.337.9038. TOP CASH FOR CARS, Call Now For An Instant Offer. Top Dollar Paid, Any Car/Truck, Any Condition. Running or Not. Free Pick-up/Tow. 1.800.761.9396 SAPA
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES HOME BASED BUSINESS Serious impact on retirement for self-motivated people. Create your own safety net. Flex hours. FREE online training! Escalating income potential! For more info visit: www.project4wellness.com SAPA BE YOUR OWN BOSS! PT/FT No Exp Needed. Training Provided Not MLM No Cold Calling Earn Up to $5000 per month! Set Your Own Hours Schedule your Interviews Now at: www.bizpro104.com GET PAID WEEKLY! FT and PT mail work from home. For full details visit: www.750weekly.com or call 512.827.0060 (24/7) SAPA ATTN: DRIVERS $2K Sign-on Bonus Accelerate your Career! $$ RECENT PAY INCREASE $$ Make $55,000 your first year! CDL-A Req 1.888.592.4752. www.ad-drivers.com SAPA
R
PET ADOPTIONS
PETS ADOPTIONS
WNC MarketPlace
HAYWOOD SPAY/NEUTER 828.452.1329
FROSTY A 3 YR OLD CHIHUAHUA MIX IN NEED OF A VERY SPECIAL PERSON TO TEACH HIM LOVE, GIVE HIM SECURITY AND ALLOW HIM TO TRUST. HE WILL PICK HIS PERSON AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND - IS THAT YOU?
December 24-30, 2014
SOCKS A FRIENDLY, OUTGOING KITTY ALL DRESSED UP IN HIS TUX AND READY TO FIND HIS NEW FAMILY. HE IS ONLY ABOUT ONE YEAR OLD, SO FULL-GROWN BUT STILL FULL OF KITTEN PLAYFULNESS.
Prevent Unwanted Litters! The Heat Is On! Spay/Neuter For Haywood Pets As Low As $10. Operation Pit is in Effect! Free Spay/Neuter, Microchip & Vaccines For Haywood Pitbull Types & Mixes! Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 12 Noon - 6 pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville
EMPLOYMENT ADMINSTRATIVE ASSISTANT Appointment coordination, event and meeting planning, make travel arrangements, record, monitor expenses, raise monthly invoices. Send your resume and salary expectations to: ffwn90@gmail.com
Great Selection. Great Prices. Great Service ... Great People
www.smokymountainnews.com
(828) 452-5111 Shop us online @ www.taylorfordonline.com
$1,000 WEEKLY!! Mailing Brochures From Home. Helping home workers since 2001. Genuine Opportunity. NO Experience Required. Start Immediately. www.MailingMembers.com SAPA 25 DRIVER TRAINEES NEEDED! Become a driver for Stevens Transport! NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED! New drivers earn $800+ per week! PAID CDL TRAINING! Stevens covers all costs! 1.888.748.4137 drive4stevens.com ABUNDANT FREIGHT In NC to multiple destinations for Steps & RGNs. Come with your own Step/RGN or pull ours AT NO COST! www.dailyrecruiting.com or 1.800.669.6414 ATTN: Drivers-$2K Sign-on Bonus Same Day Approvals Stay Warm W/APU New KW Trucks! Earn $55K p/yr! CDL-A Req 1.888.592.4752. www.ad-drivers.com SAPA AVIATION MANUFACTURING CAREERS- Get started by training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance Now by dialing 877.300.9494. POSITION AVAILABLE: Individual to do Medicaid Billing. 25 Hours per week. Proficient in Math Required. Accounting Background Helpful. Billing Experience a Plus. Application Available at 525 Mineral Springs Drive, Sylva, NC 28779. Call Gale Anglin at 828.631.1167 for more info. WELDING CAREERS Hands on training for career opportunities in aviation, automotive, manufacturing and more. Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call AIM 888.205.1735.
EMPLOYMENT
FINANCIAL
WE ARE LOOKING FOR A Full Time, Experienced Kitchen Manager. Resumes can be emailed to: 2014employmentopportunity@ gmail.com Interested & Qualified Personnel For More Info Can Contact 407.509.7882 or 407.509.7879 JOIN OUR TEAM! Guaranteed pay for Class A CDL Flatbed Drivers! Regional and OTR. Great pay/benefits/401k match. CALL TODAY 864.299.9645. www.jgr-inc.com ATTENTION: Drivers - $2K Sign-On Bonus. Accelerate your Career! $$ RECENT PAY INCREASE $$ Make $55,000 your first year! CDL-A Req 877.258.8782 or visit us at: www.ad-drivers.com CAN YOU DIG IT? Heavy Equipment Operator Training! 3 Week Program. Bulldozers, Backhoes, Excavators. Lifetime Job Placement Assistance with National Certifications. VA Benefits Eligible! 866.288.6896 DRIVERS: *New Year - New Opportunities* Looking for: Better Pay? Better Home-time? Better Equipment? Better Compensation??? CDL-A 1yr. Exp. 877.704.3773. FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Computer Support Technician II. Electrical Systems Technology Instructor (10-month). For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com. Human Resources Office. Phone: 910.678.8378. Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu. CRC Preferred Employer. An Equal Opportunity Employer.
BEWARE OF LOAN FRAUD. Please check with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection Agency before sending any money to any loan company. SAPA INJURED? IN A LAWSUIT? Need Cash Now? We Can Help! No Monthly Payments to Make. No Credit Check. Fast Service and Low Rates. Call Now 1.866.386.3692. www.lawcapital.com (Not available in NC, CO, MD & TN) SAPA SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY Benefits. Unable to work? Denied benefits? We Can Help! WIN or Pay Nothing! Contact Bill Gordon & Associates at 1.800.371.1734 to start your application today!
FURNITURE COMPARE QUALITY & PRICE Shop Tupelo’s, 828.926.8778. HAYWOOD BEDDING, INC. The best bedding at the best price! 533 Hazelwood Ave. Waynesville 828.456.4240
LAWN & GARDEN HEMLOCK HEALERS, INC. Dedicated to Saving Our Hemlocks. Owner/Operator Frank Varvoutis, NC Pesticide Applicator’s License #22864. 48 Spruce St. Maggie Valley, NC 828.734.7819 828.926.7883, Email: hemlockhealers@yahoo.com
MEDICAL ATTENTION VIAGRA USERS: Viagra 100MG and Cialis 20 MG! 40 pills + 4 Free, Only $99. No prescription needed! Satisfaction Guaranteed! 1.800.491.8751 SAPA MEDICAL GUARDIAN Top-rated medical alarm and 24/7 medical alert monitoring. For a limited time, get free equipment, no activation fees, no commitment, a 2nd waterproof alert button for free and more - only $29.95 per month. 800.983.4906. SAPA
272-26
Great Smokies Storage 10’x20’
92
$
20’x20’
160
$
ONE MONTH
FREE WITH 12-MONTH CONTRACT
828.506.4112 or 828.507.8828 44
EMPLOYMENT
Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction
Puzzles can be found on page 46. These are only the answers.
REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination� Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18 This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised on an equal opportunity basis. BANNER ELK, NC 10 acre tract adjoining National Forest, huge panoramic views of Grandfather Mountain & access to 2 lakes & 9 parks! Taking a loss, $49,900. 877.717.5263, extention 691.
AMERICA’S BEST BUY! 20 Acres - Only $99/mo! $0 Down. No Credit Checks. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE & Owner Financing. Near El Paso, Texas. Beautiful Mountain Views! Free Color Brochure. 1.877.284.2072 www.TexasLandBuys.com SAPA
BEST PRICE EVERYDAY
10-5 M-SAT. 12-4 SUN.
STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT BULLFROG STORAGE Convenient Location 19/23 Between Clyde and Canton
ON DELLWOOD RD. (HWY. 19) AT 20 SWANGER LANE WAYNESVILLE/MAGGIE VALLEY 828.926.8778
Beverly Hanks & Associates
272-187
beverly-hanks.com 272-01
5 x 10 = $25 10 x 10 = $40 10 x 20 = $75 • NO CONTRACTS • Nobody Beats Our Rates
828.342.8700
• • • •
Full Service Property Management 828-456-6111
CLIMATE CONTROLLED STORAGE UNITS FOR RENT
www.selecthomeswnc.com
1 Month Free with 12 Month Rental. Maggie Valley, Hwy. 19, 1106 Soco Rd. For more information call Torry
Residential and Commercial Long-Term Rentals
maggievalleyselfstorage.com
101 South Main St. Waynesville, NC 28786 |
Haywood Properties — haywoodproperties.com
Keller Williams Realty kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • Ron Kwiatkowski — ronk.kwrealty.com
Mountain Home Properties — mountaindream.com • Sammie Powell — smokiesproperty.com
Main Street Realty — mainstreetrealty.net
• Bruce McGovern — shamrock13.com
info@mainstreetrealty.net
mainstreetrealty.net
ERA Sunburst Realty — sunburstrealty.com
McGovern Real Estate & Property Management
(828) 452-2227 • (800) 467-7144 (828) 456-6836 FAX
Michelle McElroy — beverly-hanks.com Marilynn Obrig — beverly-hanks.com Mike Stamey — beverly-hanks.com Ellen Sither — esither@beverly-hanks.com
• Steve Cox — info@haywoodproperties.com
Main Street Realty
828.734.6500, 828.734.6700
GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160. Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.
Haywood County Real Estate Agents
Emerson Group 272-230
• George Escaravage — gke333@gmail.com
Prudential Lifestyle Realty — vistasofwestfield.com
VACATION RENTALS
Realty World Heritage Realty realtyworldheritage.com • Carolyn Lauter realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7766 • Martha Sawyer realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7769 • Linda Wester realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7771
CAVENDER CREEK CABINS Dahlonega, North Georgia Mountains. **WINTER SPECIAL: Buy 2 Nights, 3rd FREE** 1,2,& 3 Bedroom Cabins with HOT TUBS! Virtual Tour: www.CavendarCreek.com Call Now Toll Free 1.866.373.6307 SAPA
NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Offering 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments, Starting at $400 Section 8 Accepted - Handicapped Accessible Units When Available
OFFICE HOURS: Tues. & Wed. 10:00am - 5:00pm & Thurs. 10:00am- 12:00pm 168 E. Nicol Arms Road Sylva, NC 28779
Phone# 1.828.586.3346 TDD# 1.800.725.2962 Equal Housing Opportunity
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• • • • • • •
remax-waynesvillenc.com | remax-maggievalleync.com Brian K. Noland — brianknoland.com Mieko Thomson — ncsmokies.com The Morris Team — maggievalleyproperty.com The Real Team — the-real-team.com Ron Breese — ronbreese.com Dan Womack — womackdan@aol.com Catherine Proben — cp@catherineproben.com
smokymountainnews.com
RE/MAX — Mountain Realty
NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS
December 24-30, 2014
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
BRUCE MCGOVERN A Full Service Realtor shamrock13@charter.net McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112.
WNC MarketPlace
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE
Your Local Big Green Egg Dealer
HOMES FOR SALE
%UXFH 0F*RYHUQ P F J R Y H U Q S UR S H U W \ P J W # J P D L O F R P
The Seller’s Agency — listwithphil.com • Phil Ferguson — philferguson@bellsouth.net 272-186
find us at: facebook.com/smnews
TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com 45
www.smokymountainnews.com
December 24-30, 2014
WNC MarketPlace
Super
46
CROSSWORD
MASKED DESTRUCTION ACROSS 1 Hair grows out of them 7 Flip out 13 Encroaches upon 20 He served with Bill Clinton 21 Charm 22 Life stories on film 23 Persist in 24 Sneezer’s sheet 25 Takes 26 Start of a riddle 29 Howard or Paul 30 Liquor option 31 Comedienne Imogene 34 Riddle, part 2 45 Acts theatrically 46 Relieved sighs 47 Any time at all 48 Pal, in Brest 49 - metabolic rate 50 Affirms, with “to” 53 Zany comic Philips 54 Pro-school gp. 55 Riddle, part 3 59 Suffix with Ecuador or Caesar 60 Long of “Alfie” 61 Do a post office job 62 Peace-keeping gp. 63 Airplane seat restraint 67 Letter between vee and ex 71 “The Sun - Rises” 74 Bottom part of a hair 76 Org. that aids the stranded 77 Raises, as the ante
10 “- sorry!” 11 Recline lazily 12 Enticed 13 Bridge beam 14 Actor Nolte 15 Viva - (orally) 16 Quick glance 17 Sot’s cravings 18 Outer: Prefix 19 Military draft org. 27 E-mail giggle 28 With 42-Down, quick inspection 32 Bonding stuff 33 Hard Italian cheese 34 “What a tangled weave” 35 City in Nebraska 36 Violin bow application 37 And others, for short 38 Montana’s capital 39 Like Cheerios 40 “Boy, that was close!” 41 Twisty road curves 42 See 28-Down 43 Road rig 44 1982 film and video game 50 “Moby-Dick” helmsman DOWN 1 H.H. Munro’s pseudo- 51 Stomped (on) 52 Blood fluid: Prefix nym 56 Advice bit 2 Staff symbol 57 Abbr. on an A/C 3 Grew mature 58 Lions’ quarry 4 Bound along 63 Horror film star 5 Gala for grads Chaney 6 Bilbao brides 7 Arrive on the redeye, 64 Before, in verses 65 Western wolf e.g. 8 Tending to the matter 66 Group of gigs 68 Embargoes 9 “What - to do?” 80 Riddle, part 4 88 “- have to?” 89 “- big girl now” 90 New - (Mardi Gras locale) 91 Make fun of 92 Jillian of TV 93 Tetra, e.g. 95 Nick Jr.’s “- the Explorer” 96 Mistreat 97 End of the riddle 102 Utah’s state flower 103 Tankard drink 104 Orangutan, for one 105 Riddle’s answer 117 Classic dancer Fred 119 Up-and-down park fixture 120 Awful 121 Small African mongoose 122 Abdominal injury 123 Surfing the Net, say 124 Pale colors 125 Storage site for weapons 126 Brand of cooking oil
69 Fall behind 70 Calif. barrio locale 71 Last name of Uncle Fester 72 Canadian one-dollar coin 73 Fence “doors” that automatically return to their closed positions 75 “Niña” mark 77 Moving van 78 Outmoded 79 Spirited horse 81 Comb (through) 82 Don’t include 83 Pulpy mixture 84 Author Uris 85 Taser missile 86 Doing terribly 87 In fine fettle 94 Miami team 96 Skating spectacle 98 Capital of Tasmania 99 “24” actress Cuthbert 100 Shiny wood overlay 101 Prefix with center 106 Be fond of 107 With 118-Down, shrinking body of water in Asia 108 Gelatinizes 109 “Cootie” 110 “This - joke!” 111 Hair remover brand 112 Absent 113 Addresses for techies 114 Purple bloom 115 - -Tibetan 116 Ideal garden 117 Electrical unit 118 See 107-Down
answers on page 44
ENTERTAINMENT SCOTTISH TARTANS MUSEUM 86 East Main St., Franklin, Open 10am- 5pm, Mon - Sat. Come & let us find your Scottish Connection! 828.584.7472 or visit us at: www.scottishtartans.org.
PERSONAL A UNIQUE ADOPTIONS, Let Us Help! Personalized Adoption Plans. Financial Assistance, Housing, Relocation And More. Giving The Gift Of Life? You Deserve The Best. Call Us First! 1.888.637.8200. 24 hour HOTLINE. SAPA MAKE A CONNECTION. Real People, Flirty Chat. Meet singles right now! Call LiveLinks. Try it FREE. Call now 1.888.909.9978 18+. SAPA 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- 118 NC newspapers for a low cost of $330 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
MUSIC LESSONS LEARN GUITAR & BANJO With Leigh Hilger. Many guitar styles. Clawhammer banjo. All skill levels welcome. Fun, relaxed teaching style for kids & adults. Located near Waynesville Library. 828.456.4435
SCHOOLS/ INSTRUCTION FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Computer Support Technician II. Electrical Systems Technology Instructor (10-month). For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com. Human Resources Office. Phone: 910.678.8378. Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu. CRC Preferred Employer. An Equal Opportunity Employer.
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WEEKLY SUDOKU Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine. Answers on Page 44
The naturalist’s corner BY DON H ENDERSHOT
Golden poster-bird
I
Golden-winged warbler. creative commons photo Appalachian Region where populations are declining most rapidly.” So, if my math is right, let’s see … carry the one, yep that would be since 1970. If the clearcutting of our national forests in the
70s and 80s did nothing to enhance GWWA populations, I don’t believe the “build it and they will come” philosophy will pay off now. (Don Hendershot is a naturalist and a writer. He can be reached at ddihen1@bellsouth.net.)
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Smoky Mountain News
t seems like the golden-winged warbler (GWWA) has become the non-game poster bird for everything from clearcuts to shelterwood cuts to overstory removal to seed tree harvests in our national forests. The philosophy appears to be “if you build it they will come,” see — www.srs.fs.usda.gov/compass/2014/07/03/ young-forests-can-benefit-wildlife/. As an avid birder and one who contracted with the USDA Forest Service for nine years doing bird point surveys across Western North Carolina on the Tusquitee, Cheoah, Pisgah, Appalachian/Toecane, French Broad and Grandfather Districts of the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests, I can assure you that no one would be happier than I to see an uptick in this beautiful little bird’s population. But it ain’t as simple as just sawing trees down. There are a lot of competent scientists out there working on ways to help this neotropical migrant, especially in light of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2011 announcement that the GWWA had been petitioned for listing as an endangered species. The Golden-winged Warbler Working Group partners in our area include the Ruffed Grouse Society, The Audubon Society, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, University of Tennessee, U.S. Forest Service, Audubon North Carolina, Partners in Flight and many more. Not all cogs turn in the same direction all the time, but much information is being gathered and best management plans are being drafted. Some of the nuances of managing for golden-winged warblers and/or other early successional habitat species were pointed out by Curtis Smalling, Audubon North Carolina’s director of land bird conservation, back in 2004 when he commented on a proposed stewardship program that would impact about 100,000 acres of national forest in North Carolina. The program’s proponents touted improvements to wildlife habitat, especially early successional obligates like golden-winged warblers. Smalling pointed out the folly of this kind of one-sizefits-all approach to creating good habitat for different species. He wrote: “The golden-winged warbler is a good example of this complex of issues facing early successional habitat creation and maintenance. The golden-winged warbler is often cited as a potential beneficiary of the type of management proposed by the Ruffed Grouse Society. It is experiencing dramatic regional declines, is an early successional obligate and is currently rare on the landscape and is being considered for potential listing by the USFWS (Buehler et al, 2003). In Western North Carolina it is rare with probably no more than 1,000 pairs currently in the state (Smalling,
unpublished data). The distribution of these breeding pairs is not uniform across the mountain region however. Some researchers feel that the populations are clustered around prime areas of suitable habitat, and these may be limited to only about five or so major core areas. A couple of these are in the Nantahala, but few are in the Pisgah. Historical land use patterns and other factors may be influencing this current distribution. They are also elevationally restricted to between 2400 and 4800 feet in elevation and have been found to be much more plentiful in western drainages (Watauga, North Fork of the New) in the northwestern portions of the mountains, and almost non-existent on the east facing escarpment areas. New habitat may need to be close to population centers before colonization occurs, at least fast enough so that suitable habitat does not age out before colonization occurs.” Just another extreme Audubon tree-hugger, right? Well the next paragraph states: “Using this information it becomes clear that success is unlikely in-east-draining forests below 2,500 feet. Much of the Pisgah in the Harpers Creek, Lost Cove, Wilson Creek areas would be unsuitable using that criteria. Conversely, some areas of the Nantahala may be very suitable including such areas as Miser’s Creek, Cheoah Mountains or Wayah Bald. These areas have stable populations for colonization, and elevation and aspect parameters that meet the needs of the species. This type of information is necessary for all of the species of conservation concern, and unfortunately is very lacking for most.” All Smalling was imploring was, use the best available science. The above-mentioned Golden-winged Working Group published a “Goldenwinged Warbler Status Review and Conservation Plan” detailing some of the other concerns regarding successfully creating GWWA habitat. Some of the considerations: “Places within focal areas where applying the management guidelines from this plan should be avoided include: 1) places where management and protection of other rare or imperiled resources are higher priority (e.g., national forest wilderness areas) or have conflicting management needs, and 2) places where Blue-winged Warbler populations co-occur and management for Golden-winged Warbler might hasten Blue-winged Warbler invasion of Golden-winged Warbler territories, increasing the probability for hybridization.” And one that struck me, “Given the golden-winged warbler’s consistent population decline during the past 45 years, it is likely that contemporary land-use patterns are not generating adequate amounts of habitat to sustain stable populations. This trend appears to be especially true in the
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NEW LOCATION
Our mission is to provide high quality, personalized and compassionate obstetrical and gynecological care to women beginning in adolescence and continuing through menopause. We strive to consistently exceed the expectations of all of our patients. Dr. Janine Keever earned her Bachelor's degree at Western Carolina University in 1996. After earning her M.D. at East Carolina University and completing a residency at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, she returned to the mountains to open Smoky Mountain Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2006. Since then, her main focus has been to provide the best possible health care for the women of Western North Carolina. Keever is a skilled surgeon specializing in minimally invasive gynecological procedures, including the 'no scar' vaginal hysterectomy. She is also active in community affairs. Keever lives in Sylva with her husband and adventurous 6 year old son.
December 24-30, 2014
Dr. Sabine Kelischek is a board certified OB/GYN physician who has practiced in WNC since 1994. She received her B.S. from Davidson College and M.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While there she also studied Health Policy and International Health at the School of Public Health. Her interest in health policy took her to Washington, D.C. where she served as Legislative Director for the American Medical Student Association.She completed her residency training at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and soon thereafter relocated to the mountains to enter private practice. Kelischek loves contra dancing and sings with the Asheville Choral Society. Other interests include gardening, quilting, and literature. Leah Trombly, WHNP is a board certified Women's Health Nurse Practitioner who joined the practice in August 2014. She received her B.S. from Mount Olive College in North Carolina, and MSN from Frontier in Hyden, Kentucky. Her clinical specialties include well woman/preventative care, childbirth education, breast health, and weight management. Leah was awarded Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships in 2005 and 2010 to study Spanish in Mexico and Nicaragua and offers bilingual services. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant as well as a certified Independent Beachbody Coach. She is an avid exerciser, and is happily married with five wonderful children.
Smoky Mountain News
Kathy Walsh, WHNP is our newest Board Certified Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. She recently relocated to the mountains from Illinois, where she worked for 31 years in the field of collaborative and holistic care for women. She earned a B.S. from Western Illinois University and MSN from the University of Wisconsin. Her clinical interests range from OB care and birth control to menopause and integrative medicine. She is also a Certified Lactation Educator. She enjoys hiking in our beautiful mountains. Among her many accomplishments, she is especially proud of raising four fabulous children and finishing the Chicago Marathon.
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Yearly Exams and Paps Contraception/ Birth Control Hormone Replacement Therapy Specialized Gynecologic Surgery Minimally Invasive Surgery Prenatal Care for both Low and High Risk Pregnancies In Office Ablations and Essure Procedures Vaginal hysterectomy specialist Childbirth Education Breastfeeding Support
Both physicians are Board certified by American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Both nurse practioners are Board Certified.
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828.631.1960 70 The Village Overlook Sylva, NC 28779