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Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016 Vol. 17 Iss. 31

Warm weather puts damper on winter tourism Page 18 Former commissioner booted from TWSA board Page 19

A look back ba

CONTENTS On the Cover: Another year has gone by in the blink of an eye. Hopefully by the end of every year readers can reflect back on the major news of 2015 with a sense of humor and have a few laughs. The Smoky Mountain News has compiled its annual list of “award” winners for those individuals and issues that graced our pages throughout the year. If you received one of our coveted awards, congrats; and if you didn’t, there’s always next year. (Page 4)

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Warm weather puts damper on winter tourism ....................................................18 Former Jackson commissioner booted from TWSA board ..............................19

Opinion

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Time for county leaders to tackle zoning issues ..................................................23

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Bringing the outdoors in.............................................................................................. 34

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Beer, Bluegrass and Bloodshed ..............................................................................26

E.M. Forster 1907 novel relevant today ..................................................................32

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SUBSCRIPTIONS

Plants and animals that choose to hunker down ..................................................47

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THE HOMECOMING QUEEN AWARD

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2015

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ime to put a bow on 2015 and call it wrapped. But not just yet, at least not for all of the hundreds of people, events, happenings and mishaps we reported on and covered this past year. A little time perusing the 2015 archives uncovered plenty of fodder for our annual tonguein-cheek awards, our tribute to all those who held our attention for at least a few moments during the past year.

he Great Smoky Mountains National Park gets this one, because if it were a teenage girl, it would be the most popular kid in school.

The Smokies — the most visited of America’s national parks — is set to hit record numbers of visitation this year, topping the 10 million mark for the second year in a row. As of the end of November, visitation for 2015 had already reached a level 12 percent higher than for the entire year of 2011. With the National Park Service rolling out a big media push to promote its centennial in 2016 and gas prices projected to stay low, visitation is likely to continue rising, bringing both opportunity and challenge to a cashstrapped national park.

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THE JEDI AWARD hen Tribal Council adjourned Oct. 29, councilmembers were in support of a study looking at legalizing marijuana for recreational, medicinal and industrial use. Completely, for sure, totally in support. After all, they’d voted unanimously to approve funding.

Until Principal Chief Patrick Lambert, the recipient of this award, vetoed the decision.

Using what might be best described as Jedilike powers of persuaPatrick Lambert sion reminiscent of the famous “These aren’t the Droids you’re looking for” line from the movie, Lambert not only got enough councilmembers on his side to keep council from getting the two-thirds majority it would need to overturn his veto — he got an 11-1 vote to uphold his decision.

The reason they should uphold the veto, he told council, was the piece in there about recreational use. Permitting the recreational sale and use of the drug would “create a haven for outsiders to come onto our boundary and use an otherwise illegal substance,” he wrote.

“The detrimental impacts this would have on our communities is immeasurable in its human toll.”

Lambert indicated that he might support legalized medical marijuana, and the group Common Sense Cannabis, which submitted the original resolution, plans to create a new version that focuses on the medical component. So the issue is not dead, but the Force never dies either.

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MICHELE KNOWS BEST AWARD he doesn’t live at Lake Junaluska, and technically doesn’t even represent Waynesville. But that hasn’t stopped N.C. Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, from bestowing her wisdom from afar.

Presnell has blockaded the merger of Lake Junaluska with the town of Waynesville for three years running. Not one to let pesky details get in the way of a good old-fashioned hunch, Presnell has discounted things like

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Michele Presnell.

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engineering reports, financial economies of scale and the people’s own wishes — insisting she’s saving both the Lake and the town from what’s in fact a bad deal for both of them.

Presnell even blocked the latest version of a merger bill that called for the chance to let residents decide for themselves by holding a vote.

BIG COJONES AWARD

ranklin Mayor Bob Scott never imagined his swearing-in ceremony would cause uproar in the community. All he did was place his hand on the Constitution while swearing to uphold the same document, but it’s what he didn’t do that has many Christians throwing stones at Scott.

While it’s traditional to place your hand upon the Bible to take an oath, Scott said he thought it made more sense to swear on the document he is supposed to uphold as mayor.

In a region sometimes described as the buckle of the Bible Belt, many have questioned his personal religious beliefs, accused him of not having morals and said he is an embarrassment to Franklin. For someone who has given more than 12 years of service to the town he loves, the lambasting has Bob Scott been tough for Scott to understand.

As a former journalist, Scott has an immense respect for the First Amendment.

He said he would stand up for anyone’s right to take an oath on the Bible, the Quran or any other religious text because that’s their personal right. So it’s a bit ironic that his critics are acting as though his actions are an attack on Christianity.

It takes courage and conviction to stand up for something you believe in — especially when you know it isn’t going to be a popular decision among your conservative and religious constituency. The second-term mayor has had overwhelming support in office and was even unopposed in the last election. His decision will probably cost the well-liked mayor some support in the next election, but Scott refuses to make decisions based on political games.

He could have placed his beliefs on the backburner by swearing on a Bible and moving on, but he should be commended for having the backbone to hold fast to his principles no matter the consequences.

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ANIMAL HOUSE AWARD

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The Biggest Loser Award onnie Cure made a big splash when she entered the race for Waynesville’s mayor, erecting the largest campaign signs Waynesville has ever seen. These mini-billboards were so big a few had to be moved for impeding the visibility of drivers.

Cure’s signs were so prolific, they cropped up in unorthodox places — like the lawn of the courthouse, the local middle school, a town park and flower planters on Main Street during a fall festival — where they weren’t legally allowed to be.

The signs were certainly a fitting accouterment for Cure, who’s been a larger-than-life figure in Waynesville. A conservative activist, Cure was railing against government long before railing against government was trendy.

However, her run for mayor was the first time she stepped into the ring to take on town hall from the inside, instead of, in her words “always being on the outside, shouting through the windows.”

It didn’t go so well for Cure, however, who lost to Mayor Gavin Brown in a landslide of 1,394 votes to 216.

Cure gave new meaning to the saying “Go big or go home.” She went big … and went home.

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WHERE’S WALDO AWARD

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Matthews countered that the county officials are “full of shit” and are still bitter that he won election as tax collector. He beat out the long-time tax collector in a shocking upset election last year.

While Matthews is a county employee — he makes $55,000 a year — because he’s elected he can’t be fired or even reprimanded until his elected term is up. Matthews said county commissioners will just have to “suck it up for the next three years.”

Haywood County is the last county in the state that still elects its tax collector.

ontroversy erupted at award winner Western Carolina University this year when a conservative foundation backed by the Koch brothers offered to put up $2 million to found a free enterprise center on campus. Free enterprise sounds benign, but its tenets are rooted in the Libertarian economic agenda the Kochs espouse.

Many faculty objected to taking the money, Ed Lopez fearing the university would be corrupted and manipulated as part of the Koch propaganda machine. The professor behind the plan, Dr. Ed Lopez — who has long-standing ties to the Koch network — vehemently insisted any research and teachings that came out of the Koch-backed center would be entirely objective.

WCU administration and trustees decided to take the money.

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I Y JACKSON COUNTY AWARD

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL AWARD ust as the character in the classic “The Wizard of Oz” movie, it seemed as though Canton Mayor Mike Ray was trying to control everything from behind the big curtain during the last election. However, once Dorothy and her crew pulled back the cloak of secrecy, they realized Oz didn’t possess the power he claimed to have.

Ray is serving his second term as mayor after running unopposed in 2011 and 2013.

Many respect his opinion as a lifelong Canton

FALL FROM GRACE AWARD

he search process to land a director for the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority might have been a long one, but in the end the TDA reeled in Jackson County’s biggest cheerleader for the position — Nick Breedlove, recipient of this award.

Born in Sylva, a graduate of Western Carolina University and — until a couple weeks ago — mayor of Webster, Breedlove is a homegrown act. Though only 30 years old, his resume also includes 13 years as a reporter and photographer for The Sylva Herald, owner of a photography business and head of 5

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Canton Alderwoman Gail Mull poses next to her campaign sign on Election Day. Jessi Stone photo

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Mike Matthews.

ecember 2015 wins this award, as most of us are still just coming up empty on how to explain a month of Florida-like weather when it’s December in the Smokies.

Let’s see, this crazy month of weather is responsible for dashing the plans of children everywhere for a white (or even a cool) Christmas, dealing out a stocking full of coal to the local ski area that counts on the rush of holiday business to make its season profitable, throwing a curve ball to Mother Nature as flowers and shrubbery are already blooming, forcing people into attics to retrieve warm-weather clothing, and essentially smirking at everyone who kept telling themselves it was eventually going to get cold in December.

It never did, and instead we’ve been dealing with flooding and incessant rain as the month draws to a close. The historic average high temperature for December in the region is 49 degrees; this year only two days were below that mark, and many days were almost 20 degrees above average. What the f*@#?

resident and businessman. Even though the mayor only has a vote on the town board in the event of a tie, Ray’s input into town business has carried a lot of weight in the past.

Ray tried to throw that weight around during the 2015 municipal election by supporting the two challenging candidates instead of the two incumbents running for re-election.

While Ray wouldn’t come out and say he would rather have the challengers in office than see incumbents back on the board, he did admit to making monetary contributions

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

hometown version of Where’s Waldo has been all the rage in Haywood County this year, but instead of searching for the quirky cartoon character in redand-white stripes, this game centers around sightings of Mike Matthews, the newly elected Haywood County tax collector. f County officials went public with their irritation over Matthews’ spotty office attendance record this year, claiming he’s at work less than 50 percent of the time.

WTF AWARD

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ust like the frat brothers in the National Lampoon movie, members of the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at Western Carolina University have had their share of misteps, earning the fraternity this award.

From a pledge’s claim that PKA members had waterboarded him — he said they forced him to recite the frat’s preamble while holding a running water hose to his mouth — to a fist-fight that resulted in assault charges against two frat brothers and left freshman Zachary Denson, who was not a member of PKA, with injuries rendering him unable to finish the semester, the frat’s had its share of fpress time this year. And that’s not even mentioning PKA’s troubles in 2010, when the university found the frat guilty of violating multiple policies. PKA was stripped of recognition until spring 2014, just one year before losing its status once again.

This spring, WCU handed the fraternity a five-year suspension, and the national fraternity later suspended the chapter was well.

That means members can’t meet on PKA business or use the frat’s marks. If the Council votes to revoke the chapter’s charter at its next big meeting in 2016, this installment of Animal House could be headed toward the ending credits.

to the challengers. Alderman Ralph Hamlett and Alderwoman Gail Mull said Ray did not make any contributions to their respective campaigns.

Of course there is nothing wrong with the mayor openly supporting other candidates if they are the best for the job, but Ray never could explain his reasoning behind encouraging Kate Brown and Neal McCracken to run against the incumbents. Mull and Hamlett felt like the board and Ray had the same goals during the last two years in office and had accomplished many of those goals together. Meanwhile, the candidates challenging them for office didn’t really offer any new ideas that the current board wasn’t already working toward.

So what was this divide really about? The incumbents’ best guess was that it had to do with Ray’s discontent with the new town manager Seth Hendler-Voss. If Ray could get two of his supporters on the board to replace Mull and Hamlett — who fully support HendlerVoss’ leadership — he could theoretically have the majority vote to fire the manager.

Although Ray said Hendler-Voss had room for improvement, he denied allegations that he was trying to get the challengers elected so he could fire the manager. In the end, the incumbents were re-elected and the current board can continue on its path down the yellow brick road toward a brighter future for Canton.

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Go Ahead, Make My Day Award

Nick Breedlove.

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Macon County bus driver Alice Bradley is pictured with Jeff Terlep, vice president of marketing and product planning at Blue Bird Corporation during the National Association for Pupil Transportation Summit in Richmond, Virginia. Blue Bird is the corporate sponsor of the Heroism Award, which was presented to Bradley. Jaime Gallego/JG Photos lice Bradley definitely channeled her inner Clint Eastwood back in June when she went above the call of duty to ensure South Macon Elementary School wouldn’t be in danger.

Bradley has been a bus driver for Macon County Schools for nearly 30 years and treats all of her students as her own children.

Perhaps it was that motherly instinct that made Bradley risk her own life to protect the school against armed intruders in the early morning hours of June 4.

She was warming up her bus around 5 a.m. before heading out on her morning route when she saw two heavily armed suspects coming toward her. She jumped into her personal vehicle and got in the floorboard to hide, but when she looked up again, the two suspects were heading for her bus.

Not wanting them to take off with her bus, Bradley cranked up her car and charged at the two gunmen like she was going to run them over. The plan may have been unsafe

Smoky Mountain News

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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and reactionary, but it worked. She chased the intruders away from the bus and away from the school until law enforcement officers arrived and apprehended them.

Based on police interviews with the two gunmen — Adam Conley and Kathryn Jetter — intended to shoot students and staff “if it was God’s will.”

Macon County Sheriff Robbie Holland and Macon County commissioners have recognized Bradley for her bravery during the incident. She went on to win the Heroism Award from the National Association for Pupil Transportation and served as the grand marshal in Franklin’s Christmas parade this year.

Bradley remains humble about all the honors being bestowed upon her, which makes her even more of an inspiration in the community.

“I feel like I didn’t do anything someone else wouldn’t have done, but evidently they feel like I did,” she said in a previous interview.

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NB Management. He formed the corporation in preparation to bid for the director’s job, which the TDA initially awarded as a oneyear contracted position.

As director, Breedlove will be responsible for planning Jackson’s future in tourism and selling the county as a destination. Though he stops short of brandishing pom-poms or wearing an “I Y Jackson County” T-shirt, it’s hard to imagine a more enthusiastic candidate for the position.

“I don’t just reside here. This place is home to me and I absolutely love it,” Breedlove told the TDA board earlier this month. “I can’t think of a place I would rather live than Jackson County.”

OH NO YOU DIDN’T AWARD his one goes to the group behind a lawsuit filed this October against a slew of current and former leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Their protests against the salary bumps Tribal Council gave itself were shut down, but they didn’t let that stop them. They took the matter to court.

Tribal Council’s October 2014 vote to hand its members $10,000 raises and fat backpay checks — backpay was also given to Principal Chief Michell Hicks, Vice Chief Larry Blythe and four former councilmembers — was a quiet one, but reaction from tribal members was swift. They showed up in force at council meetings following the decision, demanding explanation for what they saw as an action that went directly against the tribe’s Charter and Governing Document.

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The ensuing debate involved gavel-banging, the filing of formal protests by two councilmembers and the exclusion of multiple media outlets, though the proceedings continued to be streamed live online. The Smoky Mountain News reporter was given a police escort off the premises.

After it had become apparent she and others who felt the same way would get nowhere with Tribal Council, Cherokee tribal member Peggy Hill asked council, frustrated, “Where do we go now? What do we do now?”

“If you choose to bring a lawsuit against the tribal council, you have the right to do that,” then-Chairwoman Terri Henry had responded.

Hill and the others who joined her in forming the EBCI for Justice and Accountability did just that, in April having a letter sent warning councilmembers that if the raises were not rescinded and backpay returned, a suit would be filed in Tribal Court.

The raises were not rescinded, and the backpay was not returned. A suit was filed.

Fifteen people given raises and/or backpay were named as individuals, with former Finance Director Kim Peone named in her professional capacity as well.

Judging by discussions that have taken place in council chambers since the suit’s filing, it seems likely that sovereign immunity will play a part in the defense. Because the alleged offense happened in the course of the defendants’ duties as elected officials — with the exception of Peone, whose position is appointed — the tribe’s sovereign immunity, which protects its government from suit, could come into play. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss earlier this month.

But one thing’s for sure: The EBCI for Justice and Accountability won’t go down without a fight.

FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES AWARD

rog Level merchants in Waynesville pitched a fit this year over a homeless encampment in their midst stymieing their attempts to revitalize the eclectic commercial district in the outskirts of downtown.

While Garth Brook cherished his “Friends in Low Places,” the Frog Level merchants were fed up with the public drunkenness,

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s the famous poet wrote, “good, soundproof fences make good neighbors.”

Well, maybe Frost didn’t use the word “soundproof,” but if he had the line would sum up Sylva resident Drew Hooper’s philosophy — at least when it comes to one particular neighbor, No Name Sports Pub.

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SHOWSTOPPER AWARD hough Brasstown will ring in this New Year in the traditional manner — lowering a plexiglass case containing a live opossum — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals did its best to save the star of the annual Possum Drop from its fate and last

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2016 Food Predictions

Each year I like to predict how food fads and taste trends will show up on the shelves at Ingles. Here are my predictions for 2016.

1. The year of the POUCH This year the theme in packaging seems to be all about the pouch.

These shelf stable pouches can be found in produce, the grocery aisle with fruit and in the baby food section.

Mostly the pouches are full of blended fruit mixture but some also contain vegetables, quinoa, Greek yogurt or grains. Since the pouches are easy to pack and shelf stable they are good for travel, a snack, or in lunches.

Prediction: There will be a plethora of pouches!

Tip: These pouches can be pricey so be sure and weigh the cost over buying whole fruit or vegetables. Pick pouches with no added sugar.

2. Great Grains - Last year it was all about quinoa, but it seems like the grains for 2016 are going to be hemp and sorghum. Hemp is showing up in many hot and cold cereals ( see Nature's Path) and sorghum ( also known as milo) seems poised to become popular in the United States as well as chefs embrace it for its versatility and lower cost than quinoa.

Prediction: Expect to see more hemp and sorghum products.

Tip: Be open to trying new grains!

3. "Clean" labels - Increasingly brands are striving to shorten their ingredient lists and make ingredients more understandable to the average consumer. While this may seem to be a good thing we are also seeing vitamin and mineral enrichment packages disappear in an effort to shorten a lengthy ingredient list and this may not be a benefit.

Prediction: More companies will proclaim they have "cleaned up" ingredient lists by dropping additives or colorings.

Tip: Be aware that a "clean" ingredient list may mean vitamins and minerals have been dropped and the price per serving may also increase.

4. Plenty of Protein Thanks to the Paleo diet, the emphasis is still on protein. We've seen protein added to cereals, meal replacement and snack bars, and even water. Jerky, long a staple for hunters, has surged in popularity, whether it is turkey or beef or even trout (see Sunburst Trout).

Prediction: Expect to see even more products that typically would have little or no protein released with protein added to them like oats, pasta and even juices.

Tip: Be aware that a "clean" ingredient list may mean vitamins and minerals have been dropped and the price per serving may also increase.

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Controversy over noise levels emanating from No Name Sports Pub in Sylva briefly put a hold on the music acts the bar had scheduled to bring through town this year. Holly Kays photo

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ROBERT FROST AWARD

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Hooper has lived in his house off of Skyland Drive for 30 years, but ever since the bar opened in 2010, he said, his quality of life has been driven way down by what he termed the “loud hollering and noise and cussing” emanating from No Name.

Hooper and No Name owner Gregg Fuller went head-to-head this year over the issue, with Fuller contending that Hooper was out to get him, angry more because a dog of his had been killed crossing the road to eat scraps from the bar than because of the noise. After that incident, Hooper fenced his yard. Fuller told the town board he’d done everything possible to soundproof his building and work with the neighbors, even cancelling No Name’s music acts for a while following that town meeting.

Meanwhile, Hooper presented the town with a petition bearing Frog Level merchants took issue this year with homeless 50 signatures to show he wasn’t the only one who had a problem people hanging around the Waynesville commercial dis- with No Name. trict, saying they were scaring customers off by violating The controversy brought up a the very rules, above, posted outside the soup kitchen larger discussion about the many of them visit frequently. File photo town’s noise ordinance. The language was too subjective, Fuller homeless people sleeping in the bushes and said. No Name launched a petition asking public urination. They blamed the soup Sylva to change its noise ordinance to set spekitchen the Open Door for enticing the home- cific decibel and duration limits, but the ordiless people to the neighborhood with the lure nance has not changed.

These days, music is back at No Name and of free meals. the noise violations were dismissed.

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year kept Possum Drop possum-free. For that, PETA gets this award.

This will be the 22nd year Clay’s Corner General Store has sponsored the alcohol-free, possum-centered New Year’s Eve event, but when its existence came to PETA’s attention, the animal rights group took action against the “abhorrent” event that it believes constitutes animal cruelty. It first filed suit in 2012, claiming the drop violated state wildlife laws.

When the N.C. General Assembly passed a 2013 law to exempt Clay County from possum-related laws between Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 each year, another round in courts followed, PETA decrying the legislation as favoritism.

The Legislature responded by passing another law, extending the possum rules exemption across the entire state.

The issue is still playing out in court, but for this year the folks of Brasstown will have themselves a live possum. After the event, the marsupial will get checked over by a vet before its release, but there’s no word on whether it will also be given a bodyguard to protect it from subsequent run-ins with roads.

STICKER SHOCK AWARD nd how much will that cost?” has been a common question in Jackson County’s commissioner chambers this year, earning the board this award.

Renovating the old Drexel factory, building a new Health Department building, revamping the Skyland Services Center, adding onto the Green Energy Park, expanding the Justice Center, replacing roofs in the school system, building a new animal shelter — the number of wish-listed capital projects is quite extensive.

But wait, there’s more. With the county’s real estate values set to tank in 2016 as new, post-recession tax values go into effect, commissioners will be faced with the possibility of raising tax rates to keep its budget the same.

That will make prioritization and justification of expenditures all the more important.

Unfortunately, when it comes to building projects, Black Friday discounts are hard to find.

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Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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THE BEATING A DEAD HORSE AWARD

ylva’s Main Street — or, more specifically, its one-way traffic pattern — gets this one in recognition of the endless discussion and study it’s endured over the past couple years.

The N.C. Department of Transportation 8 finished a study in 2014 looking into the pos-

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The Stop the Presses! Award

Hicks had appointed the board members and negotiated his salary while still holding office.

THE “HE SAID, SHE SAID” AWARD

hen questions arose this spring about who was responsible for enforcing Jackson County’s steep slope ordinance, finger-pointing and blame-shifting promptly ensued, earning this award for the county’s Permitting and Code Enforcement Department and Planning Department.

The issue blew up after former planning director Gerald Green sent in his two-week notice in May. During Green’s last planning board meeting, he brought up the fact that Tony Elders, director of the Permitting and Code Enforcement Department, had not been enforcing the county’s steep slope ordinance. Elders said that was Green’s job. Green replied that back in 2012, when his department split off from Elders’, he’d been told not to enforce those rules, that it was Elders’ responsibility now.

Other questions later Tony Elders arose about Elders’ office. He hadn’t been collecting some of the paperwork on construction the state requires, and he also disagreed with Green on the legality of a construction project in Dillsoboro.

Green said it shouldn’t be allowed under the steep slope rules, with Elders maintaining that it was grandfathered into the rules governing construction before the county’s 2007 steep slope ordinance passed.

Jackson County commissioners then requested a performance audit to investigate goings-on in the two departments. The report came back saying that, while errors had been made, there was no nefarious intent.

However, the company put forth a number of recommendations for improvement, some of which the county is now implementing.

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The Cherokee Councilhouse, where Tribal Council holds its meetings. Holly Kays photo t made for an exciting day of work Dec. 11, 2014, when an attempt by The Smoky Mountain News to cover a meeting of Cherokee Tribal Council ended with the reporter being excluded from council chambers and escorted from the building by a police officer.

So, too, did July 9, when council once more denied the reporter’s request to sit in on the meeting. Then there was Aug. 6, when council allowed the reporter to stay only after spending 15 minutes criticizing the newspaper on live television. No substantial reasons were given for these exclusions, though they did all follow publication of news stories unflattering to some actions of Tribal Council.

For all of this, the 2013-15 Cherokee Tribal Council gets the Stop the Presses! Award.

Free press has long been a struggle in Cherokee, as well as on Native American lands across the country. Laws allowing a free press are on the books in Cherokee, but enforcement often depends on the priorities of those in power. And because the Cherokee newspaper is owned by the tribal government, that government is used to interacting with a different model of hometown paper than exists in many other places.

The 2015 election brought a turnover in membership to Tribal Council as well as new administration in the executive branch. In the three months since the new councilmembers have been seated, The Smoky Mountain News has been allowed to stay at all the meetings it has attended; the current administration campaigned in favor of solidifying a free press in Cherokee. However, no changes have yet been made to portions of Cherokee code dealing with free press or to the Cherokee One Feather’s place in the tribe’s organizational chart.

Though as it stands now, even when we’re kicked out, The Smoky Mountain News can watch what’s happening in council chambers as it streams live online.

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sibility of changing Main Street back to the two-way thoroughfare it was in the 1950s, and later that year Sylva commissioned another study on the same topic from J.M. Teague Engineering. Similar studies had been done in 1996 and in 1977, but Main Street has remained one way.

The discussion, in town board meetings and the two public hearings held on the topic this year always tread the same circular ground. Two-way traffic is said to be better for business, but Mill Street merchants would likely get shorted if traffic bypassed them.

The street isn’t wide enough for modern cars to travel both directions and also park, and how would delivery trucks make turns?

Nearly everyone, it seemed, was against twoway traffic on Main Street — though many said the town should look at increasing parking capacity — but the subject continued to turn up at town hall.

By all accounts, the topic is now down for the count — though, if the past is any indication, a resurrection is still possible.

THE FREAKY FRIDAY AWARD his one goes to Patrick Lambert and Michell Hicks, who, like Lindsey Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis’ characters in the film, got the chance to experience life in one

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another’s shoes — almost.

Until stepping down to run for chief, Lambert had served as executive director of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Tribal Gaming Commission. Hicks, on the tail end of his 12 years as principal chief, was named to take over Lambert’s old job as TGC director, the highest-paying position in Cherokee.

But the switch never happened. Hours after his inauguration, Lambert asked Tribal Council to remove all three members of the TGC board, which had Michell Hicks hired Hicks. Council complied unanimously, approving Lambert’s appointments for replacement members. The new board was quick to yank Hicks’ offer of employment.

The former TGC members protested, pointing out that they’d used an outside firm to rank the applications and merely offered the job to the top-ranked candidate, who, incidentally, had not been Hicks. Hicks was made an offer after salary negotiations with the first pick failed. But many tribal members felt Hicks hadn’t been honest with money during his time in office and said the hiring process itself represented a conflict of interest, as

J. EDGAR HOOVER AWARD

he ringleader of Haywood County’s selfproclaimed “tyranny response unit” has taken a page from Hoover’s playbook, wielding the tools of intimidation and harassment to keep political foes in line.

Monroe Miller and his band of conservative activists are always at the ready, waiting to pounce on any poor sap who draws a government paycheck. Those who speak up to defend Miller’s target du jour run the risk of having the tables turned on them next.

Forget the secret files and covert recordings of Hoover’s day, however. These days, fabricated claims of malfeasance and conspiracy theories about local corruption get posted online and plastered over mass emails.

Miller’s snarky keyboard lashings landed him in court earlier this year on cyber stalking charges, but a judge threw it out, claiming it was protected political speech.

Miller went to the trouble of getting the charges officially expunged from the criminal record.

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THE FINDERS KEEPERS AWARD

T Monroe Miller.

File photo

“My record is now, once again, as clean as the driven snow. It would be appreciated if you wrote a front page piece on this (expunction) like the ones you created when I was arrested on this charge,” Miller wrote to local media outlets on his website Toeprints last week.

ndercover wildlife agents aiming to infiltrate bear poaching circles in the backwoods of Western North Carolina nearly came up empty-handed. But like the characters in Joseph Conrad’s famous novel, they went rogue, becoming the very image of the native savages they sought.

Undercover agents with state and federal wildlife agencies enticed hunters to break the law, often engaging in bear poaching themselves and then pinning it on the hunters they’d befriended. A state and federal probe into allegations of entrapment followed, and Operation Something Bruin will live in infamy as a compromised mission.

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MANIFEST DESTINY AWARD

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THE STRAIGHTSHOOTER AWARD

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panies. It is the timeless tale of “David versus Goliath,” with public opinion and ramped-up legal teams throwing gasoline on what began as a small spark of controversy between Innovation and Bell’s.

The case is still currently in a holding pattern in the courts after mounting lawyer fees (in the tens of thousands of dollars), with no clear resolution in sight.

THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE AWARD ust because something looks good on paper doesn’t mean it’ll work in method, as is the case with this award winner, the book Serena by acclaimed author Ron Rash.

The novel, a Great Depression-era murder drama amid the Western North Carolina logging industry, was a New York Times bestseller, and the film roped in two of the hottest stars in modern-day cinema — Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.

Even though Rash wrote the book, once he sold the movie rights, the story, and its fate, was out of his control. Add in post-production delays, editing issues, a moving target for a release date, a heap of bad reviews and a lack of marketing and promotion, and you have yourself a $30 million Hollywood production falling through the cracks of 21stcentury pop culture.

Upon viewing the film, one is easily lost in the plot points, where rather large segments of the story are rushed through to get to the next scene. Characters are thrown into and

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iking the Appalachian Trail used to be an accomplishment that only a select few could claim, but these days doing the trail has become something of a fad — like the Tickle Me Elmo, the namesake for the A.T.’s award.

In 1977, fewer than 100 people hiked the trail’s entire 2,189-mile length. Compare that to 2013, when nearly 900 made the trip. The number of hikers who begin the trail but drop out somewhere along the way is far higher. In 2016, numbers are expected to surge by somewhere between 30 and 60 percent.

Many factors are at play in the trail’s rising popularity, but movies and books are one of the biggest, with the release of works glorifying the A.T. and other long-distance hikes historically coinciding with spikes in the number of hikers. That’s what’s at play with the projected influx for 2016. The September movie “A Walk in the Woods,” which chronicles the adventures of a pair of out-of-shape older men as they attempt to hike the trail, is expected to inspire a lot of people to give the A.T. a go.

By all accounts, the trail’s popularity is set to last a good bit longer than that of the Tickle Me Elmo.

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Smoky Mountain News

his might seem an unlikely award to bestow upon a lawyer, but Western Carolina University’s attorney Mary Ann Lochner earned it for her explanation of why fthe board of trustees should expand the university’s tailgating zone.

“We want to drink in more places than we currently do,” Lochner told the board’s Administration, Governance and Trusteeship Committee in March. “What else? Are there more questions?”

Her presentation led to a unanimous vote to approve the Belk Building parking lot as a new space for tailgating. The move was spurred by increased attendance at football games, due to rising enrollment and better performance from the marching band and football team, which had a 7-4 record this year.

The Tickle Me Elmo Award Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

takeover of the Haywood County Republican Party by a bloc of conservative ideologues was both righteous and inevitable. It was the fulfillment of a moral calling to wrest the party from the clutches of liberals masquerading as Republicans and set it on a pure and uncompromising path.

At least that’s how John O’Sullivan, the journalist who coined the term manifest destiny, would tell it if he were around today. But in reality, the new guard of Haywood’s GOP is hard-pressed to claim a mandate, as they really only won by default.

Two years of party infighting culminated in a showdown this year between two camps — the mainstream Republicans and a new guard with libertarian, Tea Party leanings.

A Haywood GOP convention would finally settle who would rule the party.

While the new guard rallied its troops for battle, legions of disaffected Republicans ftired of the tug-of-war and the discord simply fwalked away, handing over the party rather than deal with the bickering.

A takeover of the party was a self-fulfilling prophecy in the end. As for changes the new guard’s made: “Waterboarding Instructor” Tshirts are now for sale at the GOP booth at local festivals.

The Heart of Darkness Award news

his goes to Innovation Brewing in Sylva, a small brewery making upwards of 500 barrels a year, which filed a federal trademark application to register its brand name, Innovation Brewing. In opposition of the application, Bell’s Brewery, a Kalamazoo, Michigan-based microbrewery powerhouse producing upwards of 310,000 barrels a year, felt it had common law ownership of the word “innovation” in terms of the craft beer industry, seeing as it’s used the word in their marketing (“Bottling innovation since 1985”) for several years already. Bell’s also claims it’s trademarked slogan “Inspired Brewing” may also confuse consumers when comparing the two breweries.

This dispute has been dragged out into social media, with a microscope of worldwide media attention being placed over both com-

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out of the film as if a tornado rolled through the screenwriting process. And those main actors that do put the film on their shoulders barely scratch the surface of the people they portray. Granted, the cinematography and mountainous landscape are beautiful, but that is all too easily dismissed with simple dialogue, a cheesy panther attack that appears to be computer-generated, and not to mention the bear hunting scene, which shows a grizzly being shot at (an animal not native or documented to have existed in Western North Carolina).

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The Mulligan Award

MAGELLAN AWARD young bull elk with a case of wanderlust was on the adventure of a lifetime when he struck out from the green pastures of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a cross-country voyage this summer. But like Magellan, he would never make it home from the expedition.

Venturing more than 60 miles to the Nantahala community of Macon County, he tucked into a ripe cornfield that would ultimately prove his demise. After day three of watching the elk feast on his corn, the farmer hauled off and shot him.

The ill-fated elk isn’t the first pioneer to ply unchartered waters, nor the first one to stray into unwanted territory. Following their reintroduction in the Smokies 15 years ago, the elk have more than tripled in number from their original herd of 50 and expanded their range, leading to increased run-ins between wayward elk and landowners.

A Cars back up in the turn lane leading to Ingles in Waynesville. File photo he infamous median in front of McDonald’s on Russ Avenue in Waynesville seemed like the perfect fix to an imperfect problem when it was put in several years ago. Lured by the siren song of Big Macs and Egg McMuffins, drivers were throwing caution to the wind, throttling across oncoming traffic and causing a rash of accidents in their fast food quest.

While a median put an end to the ill-fated left turns, it had a downside: it was built on top of the turn lane leading to Ingles. The waiting queue of grocery-bound motorists was clogging the busy thoroughfare, causing back-ups.

So the DOT took another stab at the median this year, tearing up the old one and building it back with a slimmer profile — it’s more of a long, thin parking bumper down the middle of the road than a true median — restoring the vital turn-lane capacity for Ingles while still putting the brakes on McDonald’s dare devils.

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SMOKE AND MIRRORS AWARD

aynesville leaders made a noble statement this year by banning smoking on town sidewalks. Smokers shouldn’t foist their habit on the general public by stinking up the sidewalks everyone has to share, so the reasoning went.

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Smoky Mountain News

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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007 AWARD

angers weren’t taking any chances when it came to tracking down the black bear that mauled a camper in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this summer. They had a license to kill.

Given the nature of the bear attack, they were told to shoot first, ask questions later. A bear had dragged a sleeping teenage boy from his hammock by his head. He was saved by his dad, who jumped on the bear’s back and repeatedly wailed on it until it let go.

During stakeouts of the backcountry campsite in Swain County where the mauling occurred, two bears returned to the scene of the crime over the next couple days. Both were shot on a presumption of guilt.

One of them, obviously, wasn’t the right one, according to DNA tests that came back a week later.

The other bear they shot ran off and couldn’t be tracked after a rainstorm came up. Rangers believe that bear was in fact the right one based on DNA recovered from the bullet.

The teenager was expected to make a full recovery aside from facial scars.

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Sybil Mann and Swain County Commissioner Ben Bushyhead lead a public meeting regarding a proposed animal control ordinance. Jessi Stone photo

No one seems to be racing for the ashtray, however.

The town pledged to gently “educate” the public about the smoking ban — like handing out friendly no smoking brochures during the Waynesville Christmas parade — rather than crack the whip on offenders.

Smokers are either undeterred by the new ban or haven’t gotten the memo.

thousands of dollars in property taxes was a top rationale for selling off the industrial park land. But county leaders failed to realize recycling plants are exempt from local property taxes. It was a bombshell moment when opponents shared this fact during a public hearing, a revelation that ultimately proved to be the project’s death knell.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE AWARD

PAUL REVERE AWARD

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hen mentioning the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad to a local in Bryson City, be prepared to receive an earful.

Since the railroad moved its depot from Dillsboro to downtown Bryson City more than five years ago, the company has made promises and enemies all over town. Not everyone is resentful of the train — it has brought hundreds of thousands of tourists to town throughout the years — but many residents and businesses feel like the train gets special treatment when it comes to financial assistance and governmental cooperation.

The major train controversy this year has been the potential closure of Fry Street, which is located between the train depot and several downtown businesses. The railroad owns all the storefront and roadway proper-

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proposal to sell off land in the Haywood County industrial park outside Canton to a private recycling sorting plant proved fatally flawed, thanks to a grassroots army that sounded the alarm.

The controversial plan to import trash, mine it for recyclables and ship it back out brought together demographics that rarely — if ever — intersect in Haywood County.

Natives and newcomers, hippy environmentalists and staunch conservatives, old-school farmers and new-age types, local laborers and Asheville business commuters united to save their community’s character.

From Facebook forums to old-fashioned community meetings, the opponents launched a campaign to defeat the proposal, and in the process, turned up a critical detail.

The promise of bringing in hundreds of

WITH THE WEATHER! IT MAY BE WARM NOW BUT WINTER IS COMING!

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

For many years, Swain County has put the leash before the dog when it comes to addressing animal control issues.

Commissioners have tried a number of temporary fixes to tackling the problem, but without any kind of animal control ordinance in place, all of the attempts have fallen through.

With more and more complaints popping up about stray dogs and feral cats throughout the county, commissioners finally agreed to try solving the issue once and for all. Many would say it’s about dang time, as Swain is only one of two counties left in North Carolina without an animal control ordinance.

Commissioner Ben Bushyhead took the charge this year of coming up with an ordinance everyone could be happy with, which is a tall order when it comes to balancing nuisance animals with personal property rights. With a committee formed to explore different options, the public meetings held to gather input have gotten serious … but still pretty funny at times.

Everyone wants some kind of recourse when a nuisance dog is damaging their property, but no one wants to be held accountable for their own dog when it wanders off their property. A draft ordinance is nearly complete and more public meetings will be held once the document is available to the public. Even if an ordinance is passed, the county will still have to deal with the lack of infrastructure needed to enforce such an ordinance. Currently the county has no animal control officers or a shelter to house stray animals. That will be a whole other dog and pony show.

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Great Prices • Large Inventory DON’T MONKEY AROUND

Dawg Gone Time Award

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The Mission Accomplished Award

hen Haywood County commissioners unveiled a plan to create a few dozen low-skill jobs sorting tin cans and bottles, they were ready to unfurl the Mission Accomplished banner — just like George Bush during his infamous victory speech on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

But we know now the Iraq war was far from over, and the jobs commissioners had so proudly announced would ultimately go up in smoke.

A plan to sell off land in the county industrial park to a private recycling sorting plant was considered all but a done deal when initially announced. After all, landing new jobs in a depressed economy is tantamount to finding the Holy Grail.

But instead of being cheered, the proposal unleashed a furry of grassroots opposition — an angry mob of more than 150 people packed a public hearing in protest — that led to the project’s unraveling.

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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ty, but asked the town board to relinquish its right of way on the street so they can shut it down to vehicle traffic. The railroad and the Swain County Tourism Development Authority hatched a plan to turn the area into a pedestrian plaza, which would improve safety concerns.

Everyone agrees it’s a great plan, but those opposed to the street closure don’t trust the train to follow through with its promise.

Maybe it would be different if the railroad was willing to pay for the construction project, but the plan is for the TDA and railroad to apply for grants in the future. In the meantime, Bryson City residents and business owners don’t want the street to be shut down without being assured improvements will be made to the area. The topic has made for two heated public hearings with strong opinions on both sides. Bryson City Alderman Rick Bryson has called it the most controversial issue he’s seen while on the board.

It wouldn’t be the first time the railroad has made grand plans that haven’t come to fruition. Opposition to the Fry Street clo-

The Bryson City Board of Aldermen deemed a temporary closure of Fry Street a failure after barricades put up by the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad made it seem like the Fry Street businesses were closed. Jessi Stone photo

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sure keep reminding people of the railroad’s 2012 promise to rehabilitate an old steam engine and install a turntable on the railroad tracks downtown. The county pitched in $700,000 through a low-interest loan to build the turntable but the steam engine still isn’t in place.

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immediately began making plans for more office space in the Macon County Courthouse. Macon County News reported that the DA’s office was moving to Macon County for the first time in state and the county commissioners were more than thrilled to accommodate Welch’s needs.

They approved about $1,000 worth of renovations in the courthouse so she could locate a couple more staff members there and thanked her for staying in Macon County.

From the territorial comments about Welch’s new digs, you would have thought she was moving the entire office, but Welch said the Haywood County courthouse would still be fully staffed. She likened the adjustments to having two DA headquarters on either side of the district and claimed to divide her time equally between the offices. She may even spend more time on the road than behind any of her desks.

It’s understandable why Macon County officials would want to lay claim to Welch’s home base — she’s smart, young, hardworking and homegrown.

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HOMETOWN HERO AWARD hen Macon County native Ashley Welch was elected District Attorney of the 30th Judicial District in a landslide victory, constituents weren’t too concerned about whether she would do a good job. They were more concerned with whether Welch would keep the DA’s office based at the Haywood County Courthouse.

Ashley Welch Historically, the DA’s main office has been in Haywood County because it’s the largest county with the most cases in the district.

However, Welch resides in Franklin and

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OLIVER TWIST AWARD

his wasn’t the first year Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran has asked for a raise — and it’s not the first time he’s been turned down either.

During this year’s budget process, Cochran sent commissioners a written request for a $20,000 raise to his $73,000 annual salary. Cochran said his request was completely justified.

“I know it sounds like a lot of money, but if you figure the time spent on the job it is not a high hourly rate,” Cochran wrote in the letter. “It would equal around $25.00/hour at 12 hours/day and 6 days/week. The salary now figures out to about $19.50/hour with the work hours I put in.”

The hefty request didn’t sit well with commissioners who were already working with a tight budget. Commissioner Ben Bushyhead called in an exorbitant amount of money, especially since all other county employees were only getting a 2-percent raise in the budget. If the $20,000 raise would have been granted, Cochran would be making $15,000 more a year than the Haywood County sheriff

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THE DUMB AND DUMBER AWARD

ow do you pass the time when it’s a slow day at work? Well, if you’re award recipient Shawn Solitis, the answer is to grab a Taser and try it out on your co-worker.

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Solitis was fired for just that this year, barely six months into his hire as a Jackson County detention officer. He was so new he wasn’t even authorized to use a Taser or a gun yet, picking up the weapon generally assigned to detention and deploying it on a female coworker, who thankfully wasn’t injured.

Solitis wasn’t the only officer from the Jackson County Sheriff ’s Department to make the news this year. James Henry Wesley Jr. was fired from his job as a sheriff ’s deputy after attending a 2014 Halloween party that allegedly involved underage drinking and led to charges of statutory rape against two other men. Wesley pled guilty to obstruction of justice. In addition, two detention officers were given five days of leave without pay after the second suicide within a four-month period occurred in the jail on their watch. The suicides prompted an investigation from the State Bureau of Investigation, whose report is now in the District Attorney’s office.

THE TASKMASTER AWARD uperior Court Judge Brad Letts has been working hard the past couple of years to convince Jackson County to create more space for the court system. It hasn’t been an easy sell, but if anyone’s up to the task, it’s Letts, the recipient of this award.

With only two courtrooms, Letts has been saying, the outdated Jackson County Justice Center is just too small to meet the county’s current needs. A study conducted in 2014 came back saying the courts needed a whopping 36,000 additional square feet, a project

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The Duh! Award fter several years of trying to revive Ghost Town in the Sky, owner Alaska Presley has finally come to grips with the fact that the outdated amusement park can’t survive and thrive if it continues to use the same tired old tricks.

For several decades Maggie Valley’s economy relied on Ghost Town to bring in tourists, but what was popular in the ’70s and ’80s is no longer relevant to current audiences. The western motif doesn’t make sense anymore, which is one of the reasons Presley’s plans to revive Ghost Town haven’t worked since she bought it out of foreclosure in 2012.

When Ghost Town announced its plans last month to rebrand the western town as Alaska an Appalachian Village, the overall Presley. response was “Duh!” With local icons like File photo Popcorn Sutton and a history of moonshining in the valley, highlighting that heritage makes perfect sense for Ghost Town and for Maggie Valley. The old gunfighters will be replaced with outlaw moonshiners and the saloon girl entertainment will be replaced by bluegrass.

Another obstacle Presley has had a hard time overcoming is the ticket prices to enter the park. A $25 ticket was once justified when Ghost Town had carnival rides and plenty of entertainment, but now the only things left on top of the mountain are a few kiddie rides and the old western town. Ghost Town Village now plans to offer $10 tickets, which basically pays for the chairlift to take you up the mountain. With a 20-minute ascent and beautiful views, it’s a good deal.

Ghost Town promises to have plenty of live entertainment, restaurants and retail shops in the new Appalachian Village, which will hopefully entice locals and tourists to visit the attraction throughout the year. Presley has always said her No. 1 goal when buying Ghost Town was to help Maggie Valley’s economy, and hopefully with these changes she’ll be able to do so.

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the whole foot!

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January 14, 2016.

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Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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even though Swain’s population is a fraction of Haywood’s.

When first discussing the request, it looked like commissioners were willing to compromise and give the sheriff an $8,000 raise, but when it came time to approve the final budget, commissioners approved a $5,000 raise instead, which equals out to a 5-percent pay increase.

Cochran asking for a raise has been a regular occurrence since he first took office in 2006. He even filed a civil lawsuit against the county commissioners regarding his salary, but it was shot down in court in early 2011. Cochran Curtis Cochran accused commissioners of cutting his pay in 2006 as a form of partisan retribution after he narrowly defeated the Democratic incumbent.

To his credit, the sheriff ’s salary in 2006 was only $38,000, which was one of the lowest in the state. Commissioners have given him incremental raises since then bringing him up to a competitive wage, but he just keeps coming back to ask for more.

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For more information contact Melissa McKnight at Jackson County Health Department: 828.587.8288

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The Alamo Award news

that would cost millions to complete.

This year, Letts did convince commissioners to improve courthouse security by hiring security guards, buying metal detectors and restricting the county building to a single entrance. The next order of business is to come up with a plan to meet space needs.

Commissioners have asked the county manager to start talking with Heery International, the company that did the 2014 study and designed the Haywood County Justice Center, about putting together a proposal, but budgets are tight. It’s a safe bet that Letts will continue to keep a close eye on progress through 2016 and beyond.

PINK SLIP AWARD

Seth Hendler-Voss

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HILLBILLY HANG-UP AWARD

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Timm Muth, director of the Jackson County Green Energy Park, leans against a beam of what he hopes one day will become the park’s new ceramics studio. Holly Kays photo It’s been battered, it’s been bruised, but the Jackson County Green Energy Park is still standing, earning it this award.

Launched in 2006 as a way to turn methane gas from the recently closed landfill into something valuable — methane fuels blacksmithing forges, a foundry and a glassblowing workshop — the Green Energy Park enjoyed a few years in the sun as the golden child of the board of county commissioners sitting at the time.

But when the 2010 elections brought a board more critical of the park — the majority saw the park as a cash drain on the county that amounted to government subsidy of private artisan businesses — the Green Energy Park came under fire. The park was hit with a $44,000 cut in county contribution in the new board’s first year of office. The next year, $53,000 less was given. The next year, $34,000 less.

However, the Green Energy Park weathered the storm and saw a $44,022 increase in its budget this year with a new board in office. The board is also considering building an addition to the park. It’s quite possible the Green Energy Park’s ultimate fate will be much different than that of its award’s namesake. the other hand, Ramey and Frady can’t help but feel honored to get notoriety from the big-city lawyers. It just means Hillbilly Woodstock — now Hillbilly Jam — has made it to the big time. The two-day music festival will return to Maggie Valley Festival Grounds July 29-30, 2016.

HANGIN’ TOUGH AWARD o one is more deserving of the Hangin’ Tough Award than Canton Town Manager Seth Hendler-Voss. His first year has not been easy, but he has been able to stay calm, cool and collected as he leads Canton into the new millennium.

Hendler-Voss faced a number of obstacles — he was new to Canton, new to being a town manager and wants to see Canton progress more quickly than some people are comfortable with. When people have been set in their ways for so long, it can be difficult to make progress, but Hendler-Voss isn’t letting it get him down.

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Since leaving his job with the city of Asheville to take on Canton less than a year ago, he has tucked a fairly extensive list of accomplishments under his belt. With direction and support from the board of aldermen, Hendler-Voss has revamped the beloved Labor Day Celebration, created downtown commercial building standards, put an economic development plan in place to attract new businesses and come up with a plan for replacing the town’s community pool.

But Hendler-Voss’ leadership capabilities came under fire in September when he was reprimanded via email by Canton Alderwoman Carole Edwards for speaking to the press about the pending settlement for Camp Hope. She also told him residents were saying he was dismissive of their concerns about certain issues had approached her.

“I wanted to give you a chance. I have wanted to work with you and support you but I simply cannot do that if you cannot listen and be mindful of how you treat and respond to others,” Edwards wrote.

Mayor Mike Ray also had some criticism aimed at the manager for expenses associated with the revamped Canton Labor Day Celebration, and all of these issues were discussed at length during a closed session between the board, mayor and town manager to discuss “personnel.”

There was no doubt Hendler-Voss must have been fearful of losing his job pending the outcome of the election in November, but you’d never know it. He continued to work on the Camp Hope settlement, the pool restoration project and other tasks with a smile on his face. Hendler-Voss has experienced some first-timer faux pas during his first year, but overall he has shown a genuine desire to help Canton get back on its feet.

Staff of Mainspring Conservation Trust announce their new name. Donated photo

CHANGE OF HEART AWARD Smoky Mountain News

ecky Ramey and Terry Frady have been working to build their grassroots music and moonshine festival in Maggie Valley for more than six years. While they are usually thrilled to get any kind of publicity for Hillbilly Woodstock, they were shocked earlier this year when their festival got the attention of some influential people in New York City. These people were actually lawyers who work to protect the Woodstock Ventures trademark. Yes, that Woodstock — the producer of the world-famous WOODSTOCK Music Festival, which was held in upstate New York in 1969.

Ramey and Frady received a cease and desist letter from the Woodstock lawyers just nine days before Hillbilly Woodstock was set to start. On one hand it was truly a pain for the organizers to rename the festival, re-order new banners and T-shirts and change all their promotional gear right before the event. On

File photo

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

atrick Lambert, newly elected principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, gets this one for the batch of 14 letters he sent out in his first full day on the job this October.

The tribal employees who received them discovered that their services would no longer be needed, and their protests prompted an emotional emergency meeting of Tribal Council. Fired and demoted employees packed the house with their spouses, children and former co-workers, testifying at length as to what the change in employment would mean for them personally and claiming that they’d been serving the tribe well in their jobs — the firings and demotions were politically motivated, they said.

Lambert, meanwhile, pointed out that the six people who were fired were deputy-level employees who are typically considered political appointees. Those positions were being reworked as part of Lambert’s larger project of reorganizing lines of reporting within the tribe. The other eight were transferred to different — typically much lower — positions.

He maintained that the reasons had nothing to do with politics, and the demoted employees were well aware of what those were.

There’s a lot of cleanup to do in tribal government, he said, and with a 71 percent majority of voters putting him in office he believes he has a clear mandate to do what he feels must be done.

t’s hard to change the name of an institution people have come to know and love without feeling like the heart and soul of that institution has also changed.

Two Macon County institutions changed their names this year and have lost a sense of place in the process. Macon Bank is now Entegra and Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) has changed its name to Mainspring Conservation Trust.

As both of these organizations have grown over the years and now operate beyond the borders of Macon County, it’s understandable that their names should better reflect the business, but it doesn’t mean everyone will like it. Change is hard and name recognition is important. So perhaps the staff 15

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Whack-A-Mole Award

Old Town Bank in Waynesville was recently acquired by Entegra Bank, which until recently was known as Macon Bank. Margaret Hester photo

Smoky Mountain News

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

at Mainspring didn’t like being referred to as an abbreviation, but LTLT had a meaning in these parts. For people who hadn’t heard of it, they could at least guestimate the organization did something to conserve the Little Tennessee River.

The same goes for Macon Bank — the strong, popular financial institution has long been branching out of the county and the state, but here in North Carolina, everyone knows where the bank’s roots are. Even though it has grown, Macon Bank still gives people a feeling of a small, hometown bank where people stop to smile and say hello when you walk through the door.

Of course, it’s pretty safe to assume the great work Mainspring and Entegra do will not be diminished by a simple name change.

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LIFE ISN’T FAIR AWARD fter more than 30 years as Swain County’s elections director, Joan Weeks would probably like to retire sometime soon. She deserves to get the retirement benefits she’s earned during her years of service, but sometimes life just isn’t fair. People don’t always get what they deserve.

From the looks of it, Weeks may not get what she think she deserves when she retires and there has been quite a bit of finger pointing as county officials try to figure out who is at fault. The board of elections has gone to

A

bat on Weeks’ behalf on several occasions, but this year Board of Elections Chairman John Herrin was determined to get a final ruling on the issue.

When he went before the Swain County commissioners in March, he appeared to be prepared for a trial and verdict. He had an entire box of documents containing what he called proof that Weeks had been a full-time employee since 1983 and the county owed her more than $76,000 in retirement benefits.

On the other side, commissioners argued Weeks wasn’t eligible for county retirement benefits until she became a full-time employee in 1992. Prior to that, she was only working an average of 23 hours a week and didn’t qualify for benefits.

Herrin said local boards of elections and their employees are considered an arm of the state board of elections. Since the state doesn’t distinguish election directors as part-time and full-time, Herrin said she’s been a full-time employee since she started in 1983.

Well if she is considered a state employee, the commissioners argued she should get state retirement benefits. These arguments have gone on for months without an end in sight. Herrin has since presented his evidence to the state board of elections for review, and the Swain County Board of Elections has hired a lawyer to provide guidance on the dispute.

John Herrin, chairman of the Swain County Board of Elections, explains to commissioners why he thinks the county owes Elections Director Joan Weeks more than $76,000 in retirement benefits. Jessi Stone photo

Everywhere they turned this year someone would knock them down, but no matter how hard they were hit, they just kept popping back up.

Shining Rock Classical Academy — Haywood County’s first charter school — opened its doors for the first time in August at the Wilson Children’s Complex at Lake Junaluska.

Knowing the location was only temporary, the school’s all-volunteer board of directors continued to look for more permanent options.

When the school submitted its charter application to the state, several site options were listed — including Long’s Chapel Methodist Church and Haywood Christian Academy — but both leaders of those institutions said they were never officially approached by Shining Rock folks and probably wouldn’t be able to accommodate them even if they were.

Back in June, Shining Rock happily announced its intentions to purchase a piece of property near the intersection of Ratcliffe Cove Road and Old Asheville Highway to set up its modular classrooms. That plan had to be abandoned a couple of months later.

No biggie, it happens — so they moved on to plan B. The school set its sights on a 35acre tract on the corner of U.S. 276 and Raccoon Road just outside Waynesville. The farmland belongs to Charles Collins, who had been leasing it out to another farmer to grow his corn every year. With the clock ticking, Shining Rock signed a contract to purchase the property and started due diligence right away.

But the surrounding farming community in Francis Cove banded together to put a stop to a charter school moving into their neighborhood. The series of events was set off when a truck came out to begin the environmental testing process for Shining Rock and ended up damaging the farmer’s corn crop that was still growing there.

The community didn’t want the school there and they made it clear to the town of Waynesville when the planning board held a public hearing on whether to grant Shining Rock a special-use permit for the location. The permit was denied, but Shining Rock kept holding out hope that they could create a more detailed plan to present to the town and also work out a truce with the farmer with the damaged corn.

School officials just kept getting kicked while they were down, but eventually Lake Junaluska offered them a long-term lease on the other side of Dellwood Road. The five-year lease will allow them to set up their modulars, but they aren’t allowed to build a permanent structure.

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Security training available for churches

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Franklin to hold hearing on Drake development

With 3D Touch, Live Photos, 7000 series aluminum, A9 chip, advanced cameras, 4.7-inch Retina HD display, and so much more, you’ll see how with iPhone 6s the only thing that’s changed is everything.

HCC to hold special registration for spring

Haywood Community College will hold Special Registration for spring semester 2016 for new and current students from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5 and Wednesday, Jan. 6.

Instruction begins on Monday, Jan. 11. In addition, courses are available in eight week, 12 week, and 16 week formats. Financial aid and scholarships are available. Call 828.627.4500.

Things we want you to know: Shared Connect Plan, Retail Installment Contract and port-in required for all lines. Credit approval also required. A $25 Device Activation Fee applies. Valid for new accounts only.

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Promotional Cards issued by MetaBank,® Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Valid only for purchases at U.S. Cellular® stores and uscellular.com. For online and telesales transactions, see uscellular.com for redemption details. $150 Apple Incentive: $150 instant MSRP savings when activating any new iPhone on EIP. Device Protection+: Enrollment in Device Protection+ required. The monthly charge for Device Protection+ is $8.99 for Smartphones. A deductible per approved claim applies. You may cancel Device Protection+ anytime. Federal Warranty Service Corporation is the Provider of the Device Protection+ ESC benefits, except in CA and OK. Limitations and exclusions apply. For complete details, see an associate for a Device Protection+ brochure. Kansas Customers: In areas in which U.S. Cellular receives support from the Federal Universal Service Fund, all reasonable requests for service must be met. Unresolved questions concerning services availability can be directed to the Kansas Corporation Commission Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at 1-800-662-0027. Offers valid at participating locations only and cannot be combined. ©2015 U.S. Cellular

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A public hearing for a special-use application for the Scenic Ridge development will be held at 7:05 p.m. Jan. 4 during the Franklin Board of Aldermen meeting at town hall. The public is invited to hear about the project and offer comments.

Drake Enterprises and Providence Builders in Franklin are working toward developing 68 singlefamily lots and 32 units of single family attached housing, but need a special permit to create zoning designations of PRD and C-2SU and a comprehensive subdivision development plan with regard to access and roads.

The property is located off of Highlands Road between Thomas Heights Road and Tennessee View Street. The property is currently vacant and consists of woodlands, pasture, house, small barn and some small streams.

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The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association has convened a group of sheriffs and sheriffs’ personnel from across the state to develop training materials that will help places of worship create security plans to keep citizens safe during the holiday season.

“I’m glad the North Carolina Sheriff ’s Association has taken this proactive step in providing this training to all 100 counties,” said Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher. “It is very important for congregations to feel safe in their house of worship.”

The group’s goal was to prepare materials to be used by sheriffs and their personnel to train places of worship to develop security plans designed to minimize harm done in the event of an active shooter.

The NCSA Church Security Group worked this fall to develop materials that all sheriffs’ offices in North Carolina can use to provide training, upon request, to places of worship in their county. The training is designed to teach church personnel and members how to attempt to prevent critical incidents and how to react if a critical incident occurs during worship services.

The Haywood County Sheriff ’s Office offered similar locally produced training seminars in August and September, with an estimated 500 worship leaders in attendance.

Christopher said the Haywood County Sheriff ’s Office has and will continue to offer site safety assessments for houses of worship, as well. Leaders of churches and places of worship that wish to learn more about the training available in our county should contact the Lt. Tony Cope at 828.356.2929.

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news

Warm start to winter puts dent in ski-based tourism

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER he winter tourism industry in Haywood County is reeling from unseasonably warm temperatures that have shuttered Cataloochee Ski Area during what’s usually one of its busiest times of the year.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s, when kids are out of school and people are off work, is usually one of the most lucrative weeks of the year. But Cataloochee was forced to close Sunday and remains in a holding pattern until winter returns later in the week.

Cataloochee isn’t the only one that’s suffering. Cataloochee Ski Area’s popularity is a vital drawing card for the hotels, restaurants and shops in nearby Maggie Valley during what are otherwise lean winter months.

“I think it’s hurt a lot of people. We have a lot of cancelations,” said Jay Culkin, coowner of Mountain Joy Cottages. “Not having a big winter season has really hurt.”

The biggest hit has been from church youth groups who planned trips exclusively centered around skiing, Culkin said.

Winter in the South is always a bit of a wildcard and goes with the territory, said Chris Bates, the general manager of Cataloochee Ski Area. Skiing is often a stopgo affair during November and early December before winter sets in for good.

But Bates can’t recall a scenario like this before.

“We have had these sort of challenges, but never at such a critical period,” Bates said.

An astute follower of meteorology, Bates was bracing for a tough start to the ski season.

“All the long-range forecasters knew December was going to be a warm month,” Bates said. “We didn’t know it would be this warm, but it wasn’t unforecasted.”

By that token, predictions call for a colder-than-normal winter come January, February and even into March — if the strong El Niño year plays out as expected.

Bates hopes by March, no one will remember the warm bout in December.

“My biggest message is don’t give up on winter,” Bates said.

Cataloochee’s snow crews are now primed for the arrival of colder weather later this week, planning to pummel the slopes with their powerful snow-making machines as soon as the mercury drops.

If the forecast holds, they should be able to starting laying down a new base Thursday night and open at some point during the day Friday.

Cataloochee’s snow-making prowess has left it in a better position than most ski areas.

“We have skied more days than anyone else in North Carolina this year and almost anyone in the Southeast,” Bates said.

Despite the balmy winter, Cataloochee Ski Area has defied the odds and been open more than it might seem — with 29 days of 18 skiing since the season began 40 days ago.

Smoky Mountain News

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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do than just skiing,’” Crider said.

The Haywood tourism authority has whipped up a cheat sheet of alternative itineraries for people who came to ski and can’t.

Collins said visitors who couldn’t go skiing over the winter break will hopefully come back later in the season. She’s been in contact with one family who was on a week-long vacation slated to end Friday, but they have added a couple extra nights to their stay.

“Their children got snowboards for Christmas, so they extended their stay until Sunday in hopes Cataloochee will be able to make snow and they can use their snowboards,” Collins said.

Winter tourism has seen steady growth over the past decade, a trend that’s paralleled Cataloochee’s advancements in its snowmaking infrastructure. Many of Maggie Valley’s shops, restaurants and hotels historically closed up shop for the winter, but more and more have made the move to stay open.

The Five Star Inn in Maggie Valley began staying open through the winter three years ago, and has been quite successful, said Jordan Shuford, the general manager. Business isn’t solely dependent on the ski area, but also includes people coming to the nearby Harrah’s Cherokee Casino or simply looking for a winter get-away. Still, the ski area is the big drawing card, especially when it comes to landing groups.

Haywood TDA photo “Just today, I booked the entire place to a youth group “We’ve been telling them to go fishing. We’ve been telling them to for a ski weekend in January.

They completely booked out go play golf. We’ve been telling them to go hiking.”

Smoky Falls Lodge next door — Teresa Smith, Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce also,” Shuford said.

Bates said he is acutely aware of the tourism partners that depend on the ski area. A recent “There is somebody up front right now pared to the year before. The trend has constudy conducted by the N.C. Ski Area asking what to do,” Collins said during an tinued, with room tax collection up 17 perAssociation pegged Cataloochee’s economic interview Monday. cent for July through October of this year Luckily, the mild weather has opened the impact in the county at almost $40 million a compared to last year. year.

Hopefully, it will make up for what’s like- door for all sorts of outdoor recreation that But he said the relationship is a symbiotnormally isn’t conducive to this time of year. ly to be a dip for the month of December, ic one.

“We’ve been telling them to go fishing.

Collins said.

“Without other attractions and restauWe’ve been telling them to go play golf.

“We desperately could use a little snow We’ve been telling them to go hiking,” Smith rants and gas stations and hotels, — well, I’ll take the cold weather, and they Cataloochee doesn’t exist either.” It is all said. can make the snow,” Collins said during a intertwined,” Bates said.

Terri Crider, co-owner and manager of quarterly tourism report to county commisBates was recently appointed to the Smoky View Cottages in Maggie Valley, said sioners last week. she has done her best to convince people not county Tourism Development Authority Collins recounted a call she fielded from Board. One of his goals will be diversifying to cancel their travel plans. a man in Florida earlier that day asking tourism attractions in the county.

“We had a handful of people who were about the status of snow at Cataloochee.

“My goal is to have more attractions in just coming to ski. So we lost a few people “He said ‘You just don’t understand how Haywood County — in summer and winter frustrated I am that you all don’t have snow,’ who were dead set on skiing,” Crider said. and 12 months. Anything we can do to supBut she talked most of her bookings into and I said ‘Sir, not as frustrated as I am,’” port those venues is going bring more peocoming anyway.

Collins said. ple in and raise everyone up,” Bates said.

“I would tell them, ‘well there is more to The tourism industry is trying to put a Despite shirt-sleeve weather over Christmas, for example, Cataloochee had managed to put down three to four feet of snow the previous weekend and was able to keep some runs open through Christmas weekend before it melted away, Bates said.

Lynn Collins, the director of the Haywood County tourism authority, said the warm winter will likely take a bite out of the steady growth the tourism industry has seen over the past few years.

The county saw an 11 percent increase in room tax collected by overnight accommodations for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, com-

positive spin on the skiing doldrums, however.

“For the most part I think people have come on,” said Teresa Smith, director of the Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce. “I think there are a lot of people who travel as a family at Christmas and skiing is an added bonus. I think the mountain experience is what they are looking for.”

Those who stuck to their trip plans and came anyway have fueled a steady stream of calls and walk-ins at the Haywood County tourism agency’s visitor center in downtown Waynesville this week.

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defeated in previous terms, would have resigned and allowed the board to choose a replacement for him, but he chose not to do that.”

“The tradition has been when a commissioner is no longer in office that he resigns from the position that he was appointed to based on him being a commissioner,” agreed Commissioner Vicki Greene.

That’s what McMahan did in 2010, when he lost reelection to the board seat he’d held at the time. And it’s what Jack Debnam, McMahan’s predecessor as chairman, did when McMahan beat him in 2014.

The convention extends beyond the county commission.

When Nick Doug Cody Breedlove resigned his post as mayor of Webster earlier this month to take a job as the county’s tourism director, he also divested himself of his seats on the TWSA and Southwestern Commission boards, to which he’d been appointed in his capacity as mayor.

“Consider doing the gracious thing when a board’s composition changes and resign, and don’t expect to be reappointed if you have chosen to continue that position,” Greene said.

Cody sees it another way. In his view, he was appointed to the seat on the basis of his ability to contribute. With him gone, the board will not have anyone on it with a substantial background in infrastructure development. Holding a commissioners’ seat was not a condition of his appointment to the board, he said, and anyway the thing that matters should be his qualifications as a board member.

“I think if you don’t look at it from that perspective then you’re shortchanging your citizens,” he said.

But according to McMahan, the citizens are in no way getting short-changed. Ward’s a quality candidate, he said, with experience in agriculture, railroad management and on the planning board. He has “good common sense” and lives in the Whittier area, which is not currently represented on the TWSA board. TWSA does not own the facility that serves Whittier but manages it for the Whittier Sanitary District.

“He per say may not have a water and sewer background, but I don’t think that’s really that important sometimes,” McMahan said. “I think it’s good to have people from different types of backgrounds to complement each other.”

Open for Sunday Brunch rd January 3 11:30am - 3pm

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER oug Cody was quite clear in his request to the Jackson County Commissioners when he showed up at their meeting this month. He likes serving on the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority board, and with his term set to expire Dec. 31, he wanted to be reappointed.

“I feel that I bring a technical skill set to the TWSA board that allows me to relate to issues from a different perspective than is commonly found on such boards,” the former county commissioner and veteran engineer told commissioners. “My feedback from other members of the TWSA board has always been positive.”

Ralph Slaughter, chairman of the Jackson County Republican Party, backed Cody up, asking commissioners to make appointments based on qualifications rather than political affiliation, while Carl Iobst, a frequent commenter in commission meetings, voiced the opinion that Cody is “extremely competent” and should be reappointed. TWSA Director Dan Harbaugh had earlier emailed County Manager Chuck Wooten asserting that Cody had “represented Jackson County well” on the board and that TWSA was “confident he would continue to contribute in the future.”

But when Commissioner Charles Elders, the sole Republican on the board, moved to reappoint Cody, nobody provided a second and the motion died on the floor. Instead, Commissioner Boyce Dietz nominated Joe Ward, a Whittier farmer and former planning board member. Commissioners, including Elders, voted unanimously to appoint Ward.

The decision left Cody crying foul, saying that the board will now be left without anyone to replace the technical skill he’d brought to the table. Cody’s worked in engineering for almost 40 years, 35 of those years in positions dealing with issues related to water.

“I realize that politics plays a big role in lots of things, but just because you have a certain letter after your name, be it a D or an R, that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily the right person for the job,” said Cody, a Republican who lost reelection as commissioner in 2014.

Finding the right person for the right job is important, Commission Chairman Brian McMahan said, but at the end of the day board appointments are political appointments. As a commissioner, he’s looking for someone who will represent his views on the board.

“Doug Cody was representing Jackson County on that board, and I’ll be very clear that Doug Cody was not reelected as a county commissioner and Doug Cody does not represent my views on that board,” McMahan said. “Doug Cody, if he had done like the other commissioners that had been

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NEW YEAR NEW YOU We can help you keep your resolutions this year at the Family Care Center.

Call 828-554-5565 to make an appointment.

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Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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Business

Smoky Mountain News

Champion Credit hires business development manager Lori Chappell of Canton has been hired to join Champion Credit Union as its new business development manager.

Chappell has a bachelor’s degree in sport management with a minor in marketing from Western Carolina University. She has worked in the mortgage field in the Asheville and Hendersonville markets. In 2007, she began her career in education, where she was the career development coordinator for Henderson County Public Schools and most recently a teacher at Canton Middle School.

As the business development manager, she will be responsible for leading the credit union’s business development and community partnership efforts. Chappell and her family currently reside in Canton.

Meditation Center opens in Sylva The Meditation Center, a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people “Find Your Peace” through meditation, recently opened in Sylva.

The Meditation Center will hold a special New Year Renewal Meditation Service at noon Saturday, Jan. 2.

The service will include an inspirational lecture, followed by a guided meditation, accompanied by chimes and music, designed to start the new year off with a refreshed and peaceful outlook. All are welcome. Seating is limited. The Meditation Center is located at 894 E. Main Street in Sylva.

The Meditation Center has also launched a support group called WINGS (Widows in Need of Grief Support) for anyone who has survived the death of their spouse, partner, child or other closed loved one. The group will meet at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month to share experiences and help each other on a journey of finding peace. Call to register. www.meditate-wnc.org or 828.356.1105.

HCC celebrates Career Development Week Each year in recognition of Career Development Week, Haywood Community College brings back alumni from various programs of study to share work experiences after graduation with current students.

This year, speakers included Becky Burnette, 2014 Professional Crafts Jewelry graduate, who is a metalsmith and designer who also works part-time at Twigs and Leaves Gallery in Waynesville; John Chapman, 2013 HCC Machining graduate who works as a CNC Machinist at AlphaTech in Fletcher; and Lauren Greene, 2013 HCC Medical Assisting graduate who works at Haywood Women’s Medical Center as a Certified Medical Assistant.

HCC offers more than 45 associate, diploma and certificate programs. www.haywood.edu or 828.627.4500.

Blue Ridge Bone & Joint expands hospital care While continuing to provide patient care at Mission and Pardee hospitals, Blue Ridge Bone & Joint is expanding its tradition of consistently offering the residents of Western North Carolina the highest level of musculoskeletal care.

By providing orthopedic services to those patients who receive their health care through PRH and its affiliated programs, BRBJ will be able to serve a greater number of people in the region. As an independent, physician owned orthopedic group, BRBJ will now have physicians practicing at all three hospitals in the Asheville/Hendersonville area — Mission, Pardee and Park Ridge. www.brbj.com.

Railroad, merchants give to Christmas Connection Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and members of the Dillsboro Merchants Association donated about $1,250 to the Christmas Connection, Jackson County’s holiday charity.

GSMR gave $500 and several Dillsboro businesses combined to generate an additional $741.

Pictured (from left) are Mike Potts, coowner of Nancy Tut’s Christmas Shop; Kim Albritton, GSMR vice president and general manager; and David Marker, coowner of Monkey Toes and DMA president.

Numerous Dillsboro businesses also supported the Christmas Connection by donating items for a silent auction held earlier in the year. The Christmas Connection provides new toys and clothing for children of families who need assistance during the holidays.

The volunteer-run charity served more than 1100 children, a record, in 2015.

Maggie Valley received TripAdvisor award The latest rankings just released by TripAdvisor ranks Maggie Valley as the second “Most Affordable US Ski Town” in the U.S. TripAdvisor ranks Maggie Valley with an average Vacation Rental Score of 4.85/5.00 and an average Weekly Rate of $847. Just 5 miles to Cataloochee Ski Area, you can rent a two-bedroom home in Maggie Valley this winter for the low weekly rate of $847. That’s only $140 per night or less if you split it with a group.

• Main Street Mercantile recently opened in downtown Waynesville.

Occupying the former Main Street Realty building at 101 S. Main St,, the boutique gift shop offers jewelry, accessories, unique gifts, bath and body and more. 828.246.6176.

SCC’s Tiffany Henry earns another state honor For the second straight year, the director of Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center has earned a statewide award.

Tiffany Henry, who was named “Rookie of the Year” last fall, received the “Innovation Award – Services and Collaboration” from the N.C. Community College System Small Business Center Network. Each of the state’s 58 community college’s has a Small Business Center.

Henry’s most-recent honor was based on her efforts in organizing the inaugural Appalachian Farm School, which helped 20 farmer entrepreneurs become more proficient in business management. Henry is in the process of planning the second-annual event, which runs from Jan. 12March 1.

828.339.4211.

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• Church Street Depot, located in the former Smoky Mountain News office on Church Street in downtown Waynesville, is now open and serving burgers, shakes and fries. 828.246.6505.

Tiffany Henry (center), director of SCC’s Small Business Center, recently won an “Innovation Award” from the N.C. Community College System Small Business Center Network.

Pictured with Henry are Linda H. Weiner (left), N.C. Community College System vice president for engagement and strategic innovation, and Anne Shaw, interim state director for the Small Business Center Network

• Apple Creek Café will be moving from 32 Felmet Street into the former Nick & Nate’s pizzeria building in downtown Waynesville.

Though they aim for a Feb. 1 opening, there will be interviews held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 30 and Jan. 6 at the Main Street business. Anyone with experience is encouraged to apply, especially those who worked at Nick & Nate’s before it closed.

ALSO:

• Cats in the Attic Treasures and Treats is expanding and moving from 132 N. Main St. in Waynesville to 163 Wall St. in downtown Waynesville. The new location will offer more retail space and more room for customer parking. The new location will be open Jan. 15. 828.356.MEOW or www.acatintheattic.com.

Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Haywood just not prepared for growth f there was ever a time in recent memory when Haywood County leaders and its citizens need reminding that they live in a county too large and too populous and too beautiful to be without land-use planning, it’s right now.

Just last week at a county board meeting, we learned that Jule Morrow wants to put an indoor shooting range and gun store on his property in the Francis Farm area of Haywood County. Some neighbors (who plan to attend the 9 a.m., Jan. 4, Haywood County Board meeting to voice their objections) say the range and gun store will be a blight in what for generations has been a cove of farm fields and pastures. As someone who travels that area frequently since my own home is not far away, I personally agree with those neighbors.

But it really doesn’t matter what I, those neighbors or anyone else thinks.

Morrow’s a builder, and he knows that Haywood County has nothing even Editor remotely close to zoning or land-use districts. You get outside any of the town limits and it’s pretty much do as you please. Who can blame him for trying to earn a living and get the best use out of his land?

Sure, there are some slope and sediment control ordinances (thankfully, for those are valuable). There are ordinances about junkyards and subdivisions, off-premise signs and manufactured home parks. But Haywood’s leaders have never undertaken the herculean task of implementing countywide land-use planning.

By this I mean designating particular areas as OK for certain types of commercial or industrial development while declaring such activity won’t be allowed in other areas. That kind of zoning sounds very restrictive and controlling, and in some cases it can be.

But it can also be very liberating. Think about those Francis Farm residents who’ve lived in the rural valley for decades. If that part of Haywood County had been zoned and that particular tract or area deemed unfit for the type of commercial development now being proposed, those residents would not be in the situation they find themselves in now. They would have a measure of protection.

Just a couple months ago a facility that would have recycled and sorted commercial waste wanted to locate in the Beaverdam Industrial Park. Those living close to the proposed facility and others who are against certain commercial activities rallied against the proposal. In this case, the company wanted to locate in the county owned industrial park, and county officials backed off their offer to sell the land after the public outcry. If that company had found private property for sale at the right cost, nothing could have been done to stop it. Nothing, because Haywood has no comprehensive land-use plan.

The grassroots coalition that came out against the recycling and sorting plant represented a broad spectrum of residents, many who usually aren’t on the same side of any issue: farmers, conservative business types, avid environmentalists, factory workers, and more.

What they shared was a passion to protect their lifestyle.

Over the holiday weekend I drove Francis Farm Road and saw Morrow. He was on his land, putting little orange flags in the ground, apparently mapping out where the range and store would sit on the property. He’s apparently eager to get started.

I only wish citizens and leaders of Haywood were as eager to start working on a land-use plan. Look east and we see Asheville and Buncombe County bursting at the seams, development spreading quickly. It’ll come to Haywood, and the county really isn’t prepared.

(Contact Scott McLeod at info@smokymountainnews.com)

Scott McLeod

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Weather doesn’t trip up traditions hen we wake up on Christmas Eve, it is nearly 70 degrees and raining so hard that when our miniature dachshund is about to go out for his morning trip to the bathroom, he takes a look up at me instead as if to say, “Are you kidding me, man? No thanks, I’ll just hold it.”

What he means, of course, is that he will go back to bed just long enough for us to jump in the shower or start making breakfast, whereupon he will find a nice, quiet room somewhere in the house and surreptitiously relieve himself on the leg of a chair, reappearing minutes later, with another look that says, “No worries, mate.

That room is all clear and secure.”

I can’t really blame him for not wanting to pee in this weather. It is raining so hard that rivers all over the county are overflowing their banks, flooding pastures and roads and basements and anything else not situated on high ground. People on Facebook post terrifying photos of angry, swollen rivers tearing through trees and over bridges. Put one foot in that current, you risk being swept away.

Someone posts a video of some poor, deranged soul trying to drive through what must be 15 inches of water on some road near the Tuckasegee River in Sylva, maybe for some last minute Christmas shopping.

I need to get off of Facebook. It is Christmas Eve, and we have been doing our best to get in the Christmas spirit for the past few days, though the warm temperatures and dreary skies have made it seem more like late April then late December. The trees certainly think so, with so many of them budding and about to blossom, probably by New Year’s Day if it doesn’t freeze before then.

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” my daughter yells as she flashes into the living room. “Would you please turn on Ella Fitzgerald? It is time to make some Christmas cookies!”

Like so many families, we have

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People of Franklin in good hands To the Editor: Kudos to Bob Scott, mayor of Franklin, for his decision to take his oath of office on the U.S. Constitution rather than the Bible. I applaud a man manifesting the courage to “do what is right, not popular,” by taking an action, both symbolic and significant, to stand for the constitutional princi-

our own little Christmas traditions.

One is the more or less constant playing of the album, “Ella Fitzgerald Wishes You a Swinging Christmas” during the Christmas season. My daughter knows this album song for song and note for note. Once in a while, I might sneak in a little “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” if I am feeling a bit of nostalgia for my own childhood Columnist Christmas memories. But the kids much prefer Ella and will endure old Charlie Brown for a song or two until pestering me to switch it back, switch it back, switch it back.

We’ve got some family coming over in a few hours for a Christmas Eve lunch, and then we will head on to church for a Christmas Eve service at 4 pm. Somewhere, we need to find some time to watch “The Andy Griffith Show” Christmas episode in which mean, old Ben Weaver gets himself locked up on purpose so that he can celebrate Christmas with Andy, Barney, Aunt Bee, Opie, and the beautiful lady druggist, Ellie Walker. Watching this episode is another Christmas tradition.

But first the cookies and Ella.

Tammy appears from the bedroom, groggy and in need of coffee. She looks like she would kill an elf if one got between her and the Keurig.

“Mama, Mama, Mama,” my daughter says, suddenly materializing in the kitchen. “Are you ready to bake some Christmas cookies?”

Before she can fully register this question, our son appears on the other side of her.

“Mama, Mama, Mama,” he says.

“Do you know what day this is?”

Chris Cox

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LETTERS ple of separation of church and state.

His statement, “Our government should not favor one group of people over another, and that is what you do when you allow religion into government,” puts Mayor Scott in exceedingly good company. Witness: • “If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure ... no one

She looks at him blankly, fumbling for a pod of Starbucks, high test.

“Everybody knows what day this is,” I call out from the living room.

“It’s Thursday!”

This elicits predictable shrieks of disgust from both children.

The phone rings. It is a lady from Creature Comforts, where we are boarding our dog while we are out of town to see more family on Christmas day and night. She informs us that County Road near Lake Junaluska is closed due to flooding. We’ll need to come another way.

I stand out on the deck in my pajama bottoms and a tee shirt and watch the rain pelt our backyard. Not a creature is stirring. Even the squirrels and birds have taken shelter wherever they can find it.

“Oh, the weather outside is frightful …”

But I am thinking of another song, one by Led Zeppelin, not the first band I think of for Christmas music.

“If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s gonna break.”

When I step back inside, I can smell that first batch of sugar cookies, fresh out of the oven. The kids and Tammy are hunched over them like a team of mad scientists, decorating them with green and red icing.

“Here, Daddy,” my daughter says, offering me a bell-shaped cookie.

“You decorate this one.”

Instead, I take a huge bite, nearly half the cookie, which results in another round of groans.

It may not be a white Christmas, just like the ones we used to know, but it is still Christmas. I grab a tube of red icing and go to work on a stocking-shaped cookie.

Ella informs us that Santa Claus is coming to town. I expect he will, even if he comes in on a boat instead of a sleigh.

(Contact Chris Cox at jchriscox@live.com.) would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.” George Washington, 1789.

• “In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced ....” Samuel Adams, 1771.

• “Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always

the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.” Thomas Paine, 1791.

• “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people [which] built a wall of separation between Church and State.” Thomas Jefferson, 1802.

• “Christian establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which facilitate the execution of mischievous projects.”

James Madison, 1774.

• “During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.”

James Madison, 1785.

Those who contend that the United States was founded as a strictly Christian country do not know their history. Our forefathers cited above knew firsthand the perils and “mischief ” (oppression and persecution) that a merger of two powerful institutions, uninhibited by legal and constitutional restraints, could inflict on religious minorities. As a wise person has said, “Those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it.”

Mayor Bob Scott not only knows his history, but by his actions is in line with the best of our history, stands with others as a bulwark protecting our constitutional rights and freedoms. The people of Franklin are in good hands.

Doug Wingeier, Waynesville

tasteTHEmountains Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251 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.

APPLE ANDY'S RESTAURANT 3483 Soco Road, Maggie Valley located in Market Square. 828.944.0626. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Wednesday and Thursday.

Serving the freshest homemade sandwiches, wraps, and entrees such as country fried steak and grilled flounder. Full salad bar and made from scratch sides like potato salad, pinto beans and macaroni and cheese. www.appleandys.com APPLE CREEK CAFE 32 Felmet St., Waynesville. 828.456.9888.

Traditional Lunch Monday-Saturday 10:30

a.m. to 3 p.m.; Family Style Lunch Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Family Style Dinner Wednesday-Saturday 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Home to an extensive build your own sandwich menu as well as specialty salads, soups burgers and more. With local ingredients and made-from-scratch recipes using a variety of good-for-you ingredients Apple Creek Cafe is sure to become your favorite spot.

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.

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

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

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

BREAKING BREAD CAFÉ 6147 Hwy 276 S. Bethel (at the Mobil Gas Station) 828.648.3838 Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 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.,

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016 Smoky Mountain News

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tasteTHEmountains 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 a.m. – with eggs, bacon, sausage, grits and oatmeal, fresh fruit, sometimes French toast or pancakes, and always all-you-can-eat.

Lunch from 12 to 2 p.m. In the evening, social hour begins at 6 p.m. Dinner is served at 7 p.m., with entrees that include 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.

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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

From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday dinner starting at 5 p.m. “Best of”

Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine. Set in a distinguished atmosphere with an exceptional menu. Extensive selection of wine and beer. Reservations honored.

CHURCH STREET DEPOT 34 Church Street, downtown Waynesville.

828.246.6505. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Mouthwatering all beef burgers and dogs, hand-dipped, hand-spun real ice cream shakes and floats, fresh handcut fries. Locally sourced beef. Indoor and outdoor dining. facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot, twitter.com/ChurchStDepot.

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.

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

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

Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, espresso, beer and wine. Come taste

the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more.

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

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

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville. 828.452.6000.

Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue.

Kitchen opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday serving freshly prepared small plates, tapas, charcuterie, desserts. Enjoy live music every Friday and Saturday night at 7pm. www.classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter.

CORK & CLEAVER 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville.

828.456.3551. Reservations recommended.

4:30-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday Sunday brunch 11 a.m. to 2 pm. Tucked away inside Waynesville Inn, Cork & Cleaver has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Chef Ed Kaminski prepares American cuisine from local, organic vegetables grown in Western North Carolina. Full bar and wine cellar. www.thewaynesvilleinn.com.

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

828.926.1820 Open Wednesday and Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to

your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

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.

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

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

Monday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley.

FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St. Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors. www.frogsleappublichouse.com.

Ring In 2016

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70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley • 828.926.0201

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

Wednesday-Saturday dinner starting at 4:30 p.m.; Sunday Noon to 8 p.m. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round. Children always welcome.

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

JOEY'S PANCAKE HOUSE 4309 Soco Rd Maggie Valley.

828.926.0212. Winter hours: Friday-Monday 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. 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. Join us for what has become a tradition in these parts, breakfast at Joey’s.

JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel.

828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

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

828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine.

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

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

ORGANIC BEANS COFFEE COMPANY 1110 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

828.668.2326. Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Happily committed to brewing and serving innovative, uniquely delicious coffees — and making the world a better place.

100% of our coffee is Fair Trade, Shade Grown, and Organic, all slow-roasted to bring out every note of indigenous flavor. Bakery offerings include cakes, muffins, cookies and more. Each one is made from scratch in Asheville using only the freshest, all natural ingredients available. We are proud to offer gluten-free and vegan options.

PAPERTOWN GRILL 153 Main St., Canton. 828.648.1455 Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Serving the local community with great, scratch-made country cooking. Breakfast is served all day.

Daily specials including Monday meatloaf, chicken and dumplings on Thursdays and Friday fish.

PASQUALE’S 1863 South Main Street, Waynesville. Off exit 98, 828.454.5002. Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday. 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 indoors, outside on the patio or at the bar.

Reservations appreciated.

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 Open Monday-Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m and Sunday 7:30 a.m to 9 p.m. Full service restaurant serving steaks, prime rib, seafood and dinner specials.

ROB’S HOT DOG SHACK 42 Montgomery St., Waynesville 828.707.7033. Open Monday through

Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rob’s serves gourmet hot dogs and has homemade side items. Outdoor and indoor dining, café style restaurant. Locally owned and operated.

Family oriented business.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN SUB SHOP 29 Miller Street Waynesville 828.456.3400.

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

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

Locally owned and operated.

42 Montgomery St. Waynesville 11-3 Monday-Saturday

CALL IN YOUR ORDER:

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

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

Located across from the Fire Station.

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

TWIN MAPLES FARMHOUSE 63 North Hill Street, Waynesville.

828.452.7837. Open for Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Located just two blocks from downtown Waynesville, Twin Maples is available for weddings, receptions, family reunions, birthday parties, showers, luncheons, corporate meetings and retreats.

VITO’S PIZZA 607 Highlands Rd., Franklin.

828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998. Come to Franklin and enjoy our laid back place, a place you can sit back, relax and enjoy our 62” HDTV. Our Pizza dough, sauce, meatballs, and sausage are all made from scratch by Vito. The recipes have been in the family for 50 years (don't ask for the recipes cuz’ you won't get it!)

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

34 CHURCH ST. WAYNESVILLE 828.246.6505 Mtwitter.com/ChurchStDepot C facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot

REEKSIDE COYSTER HOUSE & GRILL

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Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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

828.586.3555. Open Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Handtossed 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.

with a variety of specialty coffees, teas and smoothies. Various desserts.

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UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP

HALF OFF an appetizer with any food purchase.

DINE IN ONLY. EXPIRES 1/31/16.

O PEN UNTIL 10 P. M . • C LOSED M ONDAYS O PEN UNTIL 11 P. M . F RIDAYS & S ATURDAYS

828.586.1985

438 Skyland Drive • Sylva

Exit 85 to Skyland Dr., two blocks from McDonalds

We’ll feed your spirit, too.

Cataloochee Ranch 119 Ranch Drive, Maggie Valley, NC 28751 | CataloocheeRanch.com | (828)926-1401

828-456-1997 blueroostersoutherngrill.com

— Real Local People, Real Local Food — 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, North Carolina Monday-Friday Open at 11am

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A&E

Smoky Mountain News

The Best of Arts & Entertainment 2015

Garret K. Woodward photo

RAYMOND FAIRCHILD GETS INDUCTED INTO

BLUEGRASS HALL OF FAME ucked away in the Maggie Valley Opry House for the better part of the last 30 years, Fairchild, at 76, has been performing and touring since he was a teenager. Once crowned “The Fastest Banjo Player in the World,” he has played from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo and everywhere in between, selling millions of records and captivating audiences every night of the week. If there was a stage to play, he would unbuckle his case, pull out his

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banjo and stun whoever was in earshot.

And when Fairchild was chosen this year to be inducted into Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame in Bean Blossom, Indiana on Sept. 26, a renewed sense of interest also emerged. Some folks thought he was long dead. Some figured he was unable to play anymore. But, nobody questioned his place in the Hall of Fame or whether he was deserving of the honor.

“Well, I think it’s great because all of them are masters. It does mean something to be in there — it’s an honor,” Fairchild said about being inducted. “I’m 76 years old, and been at it and in the music industry for 62 years. I’m glad I made it, you know? I’ve traveled thousands upon thousands upon thousands of miles, and I’m still here.”

MOUNTAIN FAITH BREAKS INTO THE MAINSTREAM ylva-based Mountain Faith, the family bluegrass band featuring Summer McMahan (lead singer/fiddle), her father Sam (bassist), brother Brayden (banjoist), and close friends Luke Dotson (guitar) and Cory Piatt (mandolin), took the stage this year to perform on the NBC hit show “America’s Got Talent” at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

In its 15 years together, the Jackson County group has crisscrossed the greater Southeast and beyond, taking the stage several nights a

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week — every week — all in an effort to make their dream of becoming a sustainable, viable touring act a reality. And now with four appearances on AGT (before being eliminated in the semifinals earlier this month), the group is taking its exposure to countless viewers and perpetuating it into a lifelong career. Recently, the also got their first number one hit song on the bluegrass charts, with Summer receiving the International Bluegrass Music Association “Momentum Award – Vocalist.”

“We play bluegrass because we love it so much. We fell in love with it 15 years ago, and to think that we put bluegrass in 13 million households with AGT is so incredible,” Summer said. “We’ve had so much positive feedback from all of this. All these people who perhaps didn’t like bluegrass before are now coming up to us and saying how much they love it because of the show. It’s just an honor for us because we love playing this music.”

BOOJUM BREWING SIGNS DISTRIBUTION DEAL ithin the first year of operation, the Waynesville brewery has quickly established itself as one of the “must try” craft beer destinations in Western North Carolina.

Amid a highly competitive industry — locally, regionally and nationally — where your reputation resides in every beverage poured, Boojum has risen to the upper echelon of flavor, style and selection. Between its off-site brewery and downtown taproom, the business is a social

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BALSAM RANGE WINS BIG (AGAIN) IN RALEIGH

s the reigning “Entertainer of the Year,” Balsam Range watched The Earls of Leicester pick up the honor this year at the International Bluegrass Music Association awards in Raleigh in October.

The Haywood County quintet did, however, defend its title of “Vocal Group of the Year” and once again brought home “Song of the Year” for “Moon Over Memphis.” The band also was decorated by Gov. Pat McCrory with “The Order of the Long Leaf Pine,” the highest civilian honor in the state for a proven record of service in North Carolina.

“I’ve only ever seen one ‘Order of the Long Leaf Pine’ award in my life,” bassist Tim Surrett said. “So, Sen. Jim Davis goes up there and lists off who else has received it. He says Billy Graham, Andy Griffith, Michael Jordan, and

A Donated photo

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ith each impending New Year, we tend to take a look back and reflect on just what made the last 365 days unique to the folks of Western North Carolina. Just when you think you couldn’t top the past and its special moments, another year of unknown beauty and milestones is revealed.

And for 2015, it was another banner year in the world of arts and entertainment. From brewery expansions to national music awards, and everything in between, we all once again either witnessed or participated in the glorious essence of Southern Appalachia — a region as magical and mesmerizing as the people who inhabit it.

Cheers to 2015. Onward and upward in 2016.

Donated photo

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD • STAFF WRITER

and economic beacon within the community.

Teaming up with Budweiser of Asheville (an independent, family-owned company that sells Anheuser-Busch products, and is not owned by them), Boojum will now be sold around 12 Western North Carolina counties, as well as in Ingles grocery stores. The distribution deal came about with Boojum’s brewery expansion.

Concocting hop-heavy brews and delicious seasonals, Boojum will increase its numbers from 800 barrels this year to a projected 2,500 or more for 2016. The brewery currently runs on a 15-barrel system (465 gallons per batch), with five 15-barrel fermenters and two 30-barrel fermenters. They also have three bright tanks and recently purchased six bourbon barrels for aging certain styles.

“One thing this past year has taught us is that if you want to start a craft brewery and feel ownership for it, you have to be willing and able to pretty much do anything that is needed,” said Boojum co-owner Kelsie Baker. “With the people here in Western North Carolina and in the craft beer industry, it’s an amazing feeling to have all these people supporting you and being excited about what you’re doing.”

S EE 2015, PAGE 29

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD Garret K. Woodward photo

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Smoky Mountain News

of it, all of it. But, I must keep moving. Always keep moving. See and do the impossible. Be part of the present. Never rely on the past or its dusty victories. Learn from it all, but never point to it as the “be all, end all.”

Which brings me back to here, and now.

At the airport. Awaiting my ride. Awaiting a cold beer wherever the neon beer signs buzz brightly and the faces remember who you were before you ever decided to set foot outside the town limits.

I’m looking forward to sitting in my parents’ living room, next to a warm stove burning wood my father chopped last summer, a few feet away from a rollicking toddler eager to see just what Santa left her under the large pine tree situated in the corner of a house filled with not only love, but memories and promise for an ever-better tomorrow.

I’ll never stop running. It’s part of my nature. Run. Run far. Run fast. Always chase after whatever your heart desires. You’ll never know all the answers until you’re too old to physically and emotionally do anything about it. Might as well pursue the madness you know resides somewhere in the ocean of secrets that’s your heart and soul.

Life. It shifts and evolves as the seasons pass, the years sliding off the calendar and into the garbage can with the slightest breeze. Grab a cold one, and a seat, and hold on for dear life, for it’ll be the wildest, most magnificent ride you could ever imagine.

ON DELLWOOD ROAD (HWY. 19) AT 20 SWANGER LANE WAYNESVILLE/MAGGIE VALLEY 10-5 M-SAT. 12-4 SUN. 828.926.8778 tupelosonline.com

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

cracked the foamy Sam Adams Boston Lager and relaxed into my seat.

Christmas Eve. Red-eye flight.

Charlotte to Burlington, Vermont.

Mad Batter Food & Film (Sylva) will host a All in an effort to be in the living New Year’s Eve Party with Porch 40 room of my parent’s farmhouse in (rock/funk) at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31. the morning to watch my yearand-a-half old niece open her Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have a New mountain of gifts.

Year’s Eve Party with Ol’ Dirty Bathtub The holidays. What can you (Americana/bluegrass) at 8 p.m. Dec. 31. say about them? These days, I find The Rendezvous at the Maggie Valley Inn will my “vacation” time away from the have a New Year’s Eve Party with Stone Crazy newsroom is more out of family Band (rock/pop) at 9 p.m. Dec. 31. obligation than actually “getting away from it all.” This isn’t to say I Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will don’t look forward to spending have a New Year’s Eve Party with The Dirty time with my family, I do, but Soul Revival (rock/blues) at 9 p.m. Dec. 31. there’s a growing need within me to actually unplug and try to find A New Year’s Eve Masquerade Party will be some mental stability away from held from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Thursday, the unknown and chaotic jungle Dec. 31, at The Imperial in Canton. that is journalism.

The ole trek down to Charlotte post-high school reality, I run for the hills. from Waynesville. Depending on traffic, a This isn’t out of fear of being pinned good haul down I-40, I-26 and U.S. 64. I’ve down. Quite the opposite. It’s out of passion done it so many times the drive is almost and being able to meander into the depths of subconscious at this point. Winter holidays. the world around me. I didn’t look at high Weddings. Fourth of July. Whatever it takes school or college graduation as a finish line, to make it work, I’ll figure it out. nor did I when I got my first newspaper gig Lately, I find myself wrestling with this or promotion or actually lived in a town idea of “family.” What does it really mean? longer than a year (next August will be four And how it shifts and evolves as the seasons years in Haywood County). pass, the years sliding off the calendar and Legendary banjoist Marc Pruett (of into the garbage can with the slightest breeze.

Balsam Range) once pulled me aside and Now, let me put it out there in the clear. I adore my family. Deeply. But, I’ve been on the said, “Son, you’re not done paying your dues run for a long time, with no intentions of ever until you’re dead and cold in the ground.”

His words have ricocheted around my mind turning back. While hometown friends and ever since then. I agree with him, which is family move through the usual channels of a

“Never lose sight of the fact that the moment you were birthed and flipped over into life, the sands of time, and of your destiny, were also flipped — grains slowly falling down, seconds ticking away.

Better Quality, Better Prices arts & entertainment

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why I press ahead, full-throttle, each morning I awake into the unknown day.

We are all mortal, and we tend to forget that, too. I’m not saying you should dwell on your own demise. Of course not. I’m saying you never lose sight of the fact that the moment you were birthed and flipped over into life, the sands of time, and of your destiny, were also flipped — grains slowly falling down, seconds ticking away.

So, where does that leave me? Well, a 30year-old who is a freewheelin’ circle peg unable to fit into the 9-to-5 rat race that is the square hole. Journalism — the only ticket out of a normal life, for me at least.

I use written word as a vehicle to wander, to provoke and discover. Childlike wonder has never left my side, so I pick it up and run with it, often. I’ve also used my fingertips across the keyboard as an utter defiance of all that resides back in my hometown.

The people way up yonder in Upstate New York are captivating, as are most groups of folks who live in a bad weather prone region tucked away from the bustle of city traffic jams and dirty tap water. That is my base, the foundation I launched from. And I’m proud

27

arts & entertainment

On the beat • BearWaters Brewing Company (Waynesville) will have Claw Hoss & Friends (Americana) at 6 p.m. Dec. 31. www.bwbrewing.com.

• Cherokee High School will host a New Year’s gospel singing event at 6 p.m. Jan. 2 in the auditorium. Acts include Walking by Faith, Journey Home, Smokey Mountain Reunion and The Primitive Quartet. Call for advance tickets. Concessions available. 828.735.9025.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will have Hope Griffin (singer-songwriter) Jan. 1, Joe Cruz (piano/pop) Jan. 2 and 9, and Daniel Shearin (folk/rock) Jan. 8. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will have Jimandi (folk/rock) every Wednesday at 7 p.m. and a rotating series of local performers on Fridays at 9 p.m. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com.

• Sneak-E-Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) will host a night of traditional bluegrass during their New Year’s Eve party at 8 p.m. Dec. 31. Craft beer tastings and a mountain food buffet will also be available. 828.586.6440.

Balsam Range Winter Concert Series returns to the Colonial The ‘Winter Concert Series’ hosted by Balsam Range will be Jan. 2 at the Colonial Theatre in Canton.

• Tipping Point Brewing (Waynesville) will have a New Year’s Eve party with ‘Round The Fire (Grateful Dead tribute) Dec. 31. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.tippingpointtavern.com.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will have karaoke at Dec. 30, a New Year’s Eve Party with Tonology and Mineframe Dec. 31, and Bohemian Jean (rock/pop) 8 p.m. Jan. 8. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an open mic night Dec. 30 and Jan. 6, a New Year’s Eve party Dec. 31 with Ol’ Dirty Bathtub (Americana/bluegrass) and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo Jan. 7. All events begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

Smoky Mountain News

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host a New Year’s Eve party with DJ Justin Moe 9 p.m.

Dec. 31 and Colby Dietz (Americana/folk) 7 p.m. Jan. 9. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Mad Batter Food & Film (Sylva) will host a New Year’s Eve Party with Porch 40 (rock/funk) at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31. $25 in advance, $28 at the door. Hors d’oeuvre buffet and midnight champagne toast. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

• No Name Sports Pub (Sylva) will host Darren & The Buttered Toast (soul/funk) Dec. 31, Loudmouth Karaoke Party Jan. 1, Colby Dietz (Americana/folk) Jan. 2, Hopes Sets Sail & Summer Wars Jan. 8, If Birds Could Fly (Americana) Jan. 9 and The Hooten Hallers (rock/blues) Jan. 10. All shows are free and begin at 9 p.m. www.nonamesportspub.com.

• The Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Cherokee) will host a back porch old-time music jam from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 2. All are welcome to come play or simply sit and listen.

• O’Malley’s Sports Bar & Grill (Sylva) will have a New Year’s Eve party with Queen Bee & The Stingers at 9 p.m. Dec. 31.

• The Rendezvous at the Maggie Valley Inn will have a New Year’s Eve party with Stone Crazy Band (rock/pop) at 9 p.m. Dec. 31.

• Salty Dog’s (Maggie Valley) will have karaoke with Jason Wyatt on Tuesdays, with Mile High (rock) on Wednesdays and Smokerise (rock) Jan. 2. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Smokerise will also host a New Year’s Eve party at 9 28 p.m. Dec. 31.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mean Mary will perform at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 31, at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. She will be joined by The Contrarys. 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. Dinner and show is $65 per person. To reserve a table, call 828.452.6000. www.meanmary.com.

Renowned bluegrass/gospel group Balsam Range will kick off the sixth annual “Winter Concert Series” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 2, at the Colonial Theatre in Canton.

Balsam Range, winner of the 2014 International Bluegrass Music Association award for “Entertainer of the Year,” will perform solo on Jan. 2, with other renowned acts to join them for the Feb. 6 (Ricky Ickes & Trey Hensley), March 5 (Bryan Sutton) and April 2 (The Studio Dream Team) shows.

“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.”

In addition to the 2015 IBMA “Vocal Group of the Year” award, Balsam Range was also honored with the “Song of the Year” for “Moon Over Memphis.” The milestone year for the band also included honors by the House and Senate of the state of North Carolina, as well as the band being inducted into the “Order of the Long Leaf Pine,” the highest civilian honor presented by the Governor of the State of North Carolina.

Tickets available at the box office or by calling 828.235.2760. www.balsamrange.com.

Johnny Giles photo

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will have Nitrograss (bluegrass) at 7:30 p.m. every Wednesday, New Year’s Eve Bash with Fish Out of Water Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, and Red Honey (Americana) Jan. 8. All shows are at 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

828.526.8364 or www.theuglydogpub.com.

• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will have a New Year’s Eve party with The Dirty Soul Revival (rock/blues) Dec. 31, Ginny McAfee (singer-songwriter) Jan. 2, The Freeway Revival (rock) Jan. 8 and The Hooten Hallers (rock/blues) Jan. 9. All shows begin at 9 p.m.

ALLMAN TO PLAY HARRAH’S Southern rock legend Gregg Allman will perform at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 9 at Harrah’s Cherokee. Founder of The Allman Brothers Band, Allman is an icon of southern rock and blues, with hits including ‘Ramblin’ Man,’ ‘Midnight Rider’ and ‘Whipping Post.’

Tickets available at www.harrahscherokee.com.

DAVID JOY RELEASES

Soldier’s Heart performing at the Canton Labor Day Festival. Haywood TDA photo richness of Canton. At its core, this community is fiercely proud of its history and loyal to the people and institutions that paved the way before them. We also have a welcoming spirit — not just to other people, but also to new ideas. This year’s festival is a case-in-point.”

after that I didn’t hear anything else. You’ve got to be kidding me, right? It was incredible.”

And though his group returned to Haywood County triumphant, it was Surrett himself who seemingly had the best week in Raleigh. Alongside his awards with Balsam Range, the musician also won “Bass Player of the Year” and was selected to be the incoming chairman of the IBMA Board of Directors — as much an honor as a responsibility to not only preserve bluegrass music, but also perpetuate it into the next generation of pickers and listeners.

NANTAHALA BREWING CELEBRATES FIVE YEARS

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CANTON REVAMPS LABOR DAY CELEBRATION

In its first year of operation, Nantahala Brewing had an output of 400 barrels. In 2015, the end-of-year barrel numbers are expected to fall somewhere around 4,000 to 5,000, with projections doubling that for 2016. These days, they brew on a 10-barrel system with two 30-barrel (and four 10-barrel) fermenters.

Nantahala also signed with regional distributor Budweiser of Asheville, a deal that will put the Bryson City craft beer in restaurants, pubs and on store shelves in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Polk, Madison and Transylvania counties. The

weight, if you’re willing to burn a thousand pages because you recognize that it’s not worth a damn, then I think you can have it,” Joy said.

“I sacrificed a lot of things to get where I am, and I think that’s what it boils down to is what you’re willing to sacrifice. I’m not very talented, but I’m stubborn as hell and will toe the line with the best of them. There are a lot of people who are a whole lot more talented than I’ll ever be, but I’ve just never been scared of work.”

Smoky Mountain News

Garret K. Woodward photo

C

A

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

n May 15, Nantahala Brewing in Bryson City hosted its “5th Anniversary Party,” an event that signifies more than just hundreds of passing days on the calendar.

Rather, it is a testament to a brewery and brand that is the epitome of the small town — the last, wild outpost to the Great Smokies — that it represents. It’s more than simply making craft beer, it’s about taking pride in your product, your community and your never-ending quest to achieve your dreams, come hell or high water.

t 31, Sylva writer David Joy’s life was surely never the same following the release of his highly acclaimed debut novel Where All Light Tends to Go this past spring.

Set in the backwoods and small communities of Jackson County, the Southern Appalachian crime noir mixes the two most toxic substances known to humanity — love and drugs.

Hailing from the same rich literary vein of acclaimed Western North Carolina author Ron Rash, Joy seamlessly combines the small town character development of William Faulkner and seedy societal underbelly lore of Cormac McCarthy (where bad situations tend to rapidly turn into worst-case scenarios).

It is a style of writing that has held steady

Garret K. Woodward photo

DEBUT NOVEL TO SUCCESS

2015, CONTINUED FROM 26

oming into its 109th year, the Canton Labor Day Festival was held Sept. 5-7 at Sorrells Street Park in downtown Canton. Known as the “Oldest Labor Day festival in the South,” the event, which got a long-awaiting reboot, hosted 20 bands over the course of three days, all free and open to the public. And with the theme, “A celebration of all things made in Western North Carolina,” the festival brought the essence of Canton and greater Haywood County into the regional spotlight.

Though the annual festival has always maintained a steady level of appreciation and support, it was the Canton town board, local organizations and members of the community this past year who felt the event was ready for some new blood. It was time to expand it from the Canton Rec Park and bring some events back to its origins in downtown — a decision meant to spur connectivity within the community, and at the same time showcase the ultimate trajectory of Canton. Add that to new economic and residential initiatives and you have yourself a community vision aiming at a renewed sense of pride and purpose.

“As an administrator who is tasked with resolving the revitalization puzzle that has stumped Canton for over a decade, this festival means shedding new light on the value of our economy,” said Town Manager Seth HendlerVoss. “This festival means having a chance to enlighten visitors to the value and cultural

arts & entertainment

throughout the history of literature, throughout the sacred storytelling of Southern Appalachia, and now has its next torchbearer in an evolving craft that spills out of Joy’s fingertips with a reckless abandon.

“I think success or failure all boils down to who is willing to do the work. If you’re willing to put in the hours and keep your head down and recognize that you’re probably going to work for a decade before you have anything that holds

extensive distribution network was originally created by Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser), with Budweiser of Asheville an independent entity these days, one that teams up with breweries around Western North Carolina to promote local products. Nantahala Brewing will still personally distribute its craft beer around Jackson, Swain and Macon counties.

“We’ve worked really hard. We held steady for awhile and grew incrementally,” co-owner/brewer Joe Rowland said. “We saved our money and pushed ahead, putting ourselves in a position to where we are now, where we could execute getting from one small point to a bigger one correctly.”

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On the street arts & entertainment

New direction for ‘Stories of Mountain Folk’ n 2008, Catch the Spirit of Appalachia (CSA), a Western North Carolina not-forprofit 501c3 organization, began recording “Stories of Mountain Folk,” a radio program that aired weekly on local radio station WRGC. When WRGC closed in September 2011, the organization teamed up with Hunter Library to preserve the recorded material. The “Stories of Mountain Folk” collection was Hunter Library’s first all-sound oral history collection.

WRGC Radio came back on the air in April 2012, and once again, CSA’s program became a feature on the radio. At the end of 2015, within the 378 programs produced were 1156 interviews, plus 276 storytelling segments — all which capture “local memory” detailing traditions, events, and the life stories of mountain people. A wide range of interviewees include down-home gardeners, herbalists and farmers, as well as musicians, artists, local writers and more.

“Each program stands alone, each story is unique, for everyone is creative and worthy,” says Amy Ammons Garza, cofounder of CSA. “Each of us is the product of our heritage. It is through realizing the value of who came before that we realize the true importance of who we are today — for we are the

I

The Greening Up the Mountains Festival will be held on April 23 in Sylva.

Smoky Mountain News

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

Open call for vendors

30

An open call is currently underway for artists, crafters, environmental groups and food vendors for the 19th annual Greening Up the Mountains Festival in downtown Sylva.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 23. Sponsored by the Town of Sylva, the festival is a cultural showcase. Demonstrating visual artists and traditional crafters are joined by a mountain community that honors art and the natural environment.

Daylong events will be held on Main Street and in Bridge Park, beginning with a 5K race sponsored by the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department. Children’s activities, demonstrations, a youth talent contest and live performances by a wide variety of Jackson County musicians will be featured throughout the day.

Applications can be downloaded from the website, www.greeningupthemountains.com or picked up at Sylva’s Town Hall, 83 Allen Street (828.586.2719).

Applications will be accepted through April 1. 828.631.4587.

New Year’s Eve at The Imperial A New Year’s Eve Masquerade Party will be held from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Thursday, Dec. 31, at The Imperial Restaurant in Canton.

The event is sponsored

by The Canton Lion’s Club to benefit the Pisgah High S c h o o l Marching Band. There will be heavy hor d’oeuvres and a cash bar.

The evening will be filled with activities including entertainment by Canton’s own DJ KO Keith Howell, The Haywood Swing Band with PHS Band Director Adam Stewart, magician Steve Holt, carriage rides through town, “Football on the Patio” via big screen TV, Dynamic

Point of View Photography, live broadcast by WPTL with local radio personality Tim Hodges, 50/50 raffle and complimentary champagne at midnight. Ring in the New Year in true Canton fashion at the sound of the old mill whistle.

Semi-formal dress appreciated. Bring

The Imperial.

Margaret Hester photo

a mask if you choose. There will be a contest, with a winner will be awarded a gift certificate. Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased at Smathers & Smathers, The Imperial Restaurant, WPTL or www.brownpapertickets.com.

Presentation on Cherokee farmsteads Dr. Brett H. Riggs will host a presentation “51 Citizen Cherokee farmsteads of Swain and Macon counties: Who owned them and what happened” at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society in Bryson City.

The program will present information about the 51 Cherokee farmsteads that were located in these counties, their ownership and what happened to them. Some of these farmsteads were in Swain County at what is now Governor’s Island, the Deep Creek area, and Alarka. Others were in the Macon County area.

Riggs authored the book An Historical and Archaeological Reconaissance of Citizen Cherokee Reservations in Macon, Swain and Jackson Counties of North Carolina.

All are welcome. Refreshments will be served following the meeting.

• There will be a “Black, White & Fun All Over” New Year’s Eve party at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Books, games, crafts, light refreshments and more. www.fontanalib.org.

individuals who link, bridge and fulfill destiny of all the ages.”

As of January 2016, although no longer heard on WRGC radio, CSA will continue “Stories of Mountain Folk” as an online podcast with a new format, highlighting one interview per release, with one interviewer and a longer version per interview (30 minutes to one hour). The program posted on the website www.storiesofmountainfolk.com is available to all who come to the site or call it up on their cell phone. Those listeners who sign up at the website to receive the postings via an RSS feed, a format for delivering regularly changing web content, will receive notification of each new posting automatically.

Supported by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Jackson County Arts Council, WRGC Radio and Mountain Manor Nursing Home, “Stories of Mountain Folk” could not have been possible without the hard work of a team of dedicated professionals and volunteers. Producer/editor Neal Hearn, a professional radio personality, worked with CSA’s cofounders, Amy Ammons Garza and Doreyl Ammons Cain, to produce each program, keeping to the time constraints of a radio program format.

Along with the core team, the project benefited from the volunteer efforts of all interviewers, including the Ammons sisters, Judy Rhodes, Joe Rhinehart, Robert Jumper, Shawn Crowe, Victoria A. Casey McDonald (deceased) and Mary Sue Casey.

Catch the Spirit of Appalachian continues to work with Hunter Library to archive its programs on their site, www.wcu.edu/hunter-library/ collections/digital-collections.asp.

• New Year’s Eve Fireworks will be Dec. 31 at the Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds. Gates open at 5 p.m., with live entertainment at 9 p.m. and fireworks at 10 p.m. www.greatsmokies.com.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Jan. 2 and 9 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 828.452.0120.

ALSO:

• A wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.

Dec. 30 and Jan. 6 at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. Free with dinner ($15 minimum). 828.452.6000.

• There will be a “Tasty Tuesday: Winter Seasonals” at 7 p.m. Jan. 5 and 12 at Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden.

• An “Appalachian Dance” class for kids will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Jan. 5, 12, 19 and 26 at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville. Classes feature flat-foot dancing, buck dancing, clogging and square dance styles unique to the Haywood County mountains. For kids sixth grade and under. $40 per person for four classes.

828.452.2997 and info@folkmoot.org.

Art by painter Marilyn-Sue Walsh will be on display for the month of January at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. “A love of nature is what inspires my artwork, especially birds, animals, flowers, mountains and dogs,” Walsh said. “I’ve been a bird watcher since I was 7, when my dad gave me my first pair of binoculars. As a child I watched birds and learned their names. Now I’m learning to paint the details that make each one so special, those same details that as a child allowed me to identify each individual species.”

Special screening of ‘Skylight’

An encore presentation of “Skylight” will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, at the Highlands Performing Arts Center.

Starring Bill Nighy (Love Actually, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) and Carey Mulligan (Inside Llewyn Davis, The Great Gatsby) is the highly anticipated production of David Hare’s “Skylight,” directed by Stephen Daldry (The Audience), captured live from the West End by National Theatre Live.

On a bitterly cold London evening, schoolteacher Kyra Hollis (Carey Mulligan) receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant (Bill Nighy), a successful and charis-

matic restaurateur whose wife has recently died.

As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.

Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for PAC members. Available online at www.highlandspac.org or at the box office or by calling 828.526.9047.

• The film “Walt Before Mickey” will be screened at 7 p.m. Dec. 30-31 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. Tickets are $6.50, with a $3.25 matinee pass for 2 and 4 p.m. showings. www.38main.com or call 828.283.0079.

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32

Books

Smoky Mountain News

E.M. Forster 1907 novel relevant today hen I was in graduate school at Western Carolina University back in 1970, I encountered a remarkable teacher, Dr. Louise Rorabacker, a retired professor from Purdue who had decided to move to Western North Carolina. There were only 12 of us in her “honors class” on dystopian and utopian literature, and we read a dozen works in about eight weeks. Dr. Rorabacher’s classes were the most memorable events of my entire experience as a Writer graduate student, and the works on her required reading list are still among my favorite books. This unique little novel (actually a novella due to its brevity) went out of print some 50 years ago, shortly after it was judged to be one of the greatest works in science fiction.

Originally published in 1907, it has recently been “rediscovered,” largely due to recent advancements in technology. I have attempted to find a copy of The Machine Stops many times in the past and failed. Now, it is readily available on the Internet and can be downloaded free of charge from several publishing houses.

It is still a chilling work that describes a world in which humanity has withdrawn from the Earth and lives in a kind of “paradise” in which every need is met by “The Machine.” It is a world in which people “never touch one another. The custom has become obsolete.”

As their dependence on the machine grows, people begin to find eye contact during communication difficult, and gradually they begin to avoid it.

In Forster’s future world, humanity has evolved into cities that resemble honeycombs, with individuals living in pod-like rooms that are multi-layered and underground. All necessities and physical comforts — food, clothing

Gary Carden

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However, the reader quickly learns that this utopia has flaws.

The inhabitants are frequently troubled by anxiety and have developed a habit of praying, “Oh, Machine, thank you for bringing me peace.” Of course, peace comes in the form of soothing drugs or vague music without melodies. If Vashti desires diversion, she does not have to go out and find it; diversion is brought to her in her cell by the Machine.

(Now, that does sound a warning note in my head!) Further, the Machine offers mankind “simulations” for reality ... a pale copy of “real” life.

There are two major characters in The Machine Stops.

Vashti, a female who spends her time preparing complex lectures on past history; and Kuno, Vashti’s son, who is “a critic of the underground culture.”

Communication between mother and son is without direct contact and is usually carried out through speaking through an apparatus that produces vague images. When Kuno expresses a wish to come and see his mother, she is offended.

She finds direct contact The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster. Wildside Press, LLC. 47 unpleasant. However, she relents pages. but regrets the decision since Kuno tells her he wants to do the and shelter — are provided by the revered “forbidden.” He wants to break out of the “Machine.” The walls of the pods are studded underground world and journey to the surface with buttons which can produce music, clothof the Earth — a place that is filled with poiing, a hot bath or a lecture on literature. Every sonous vapors and violent winds. pod has an instruction manual. However, this Vashti believes that a return to the surface manual is the only book in the room. At one of the Earth is impossible because we have point, Forster notes that all of the forests in been too long dependent on the Machine. the world had been destroyed in order to Men no longer pride themselves on physical make newspaper pulp. Now, there is nothing stamina and strength. In fact, physical activity left but the instruction manuals. is viewed with distaste. Vashti warns her son

Davis to present military wife memoir Polly Davis will discuss her memoir Stumbling Toward Enlightenment at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Married to a Special Forces soldier during the Vietnam War, Davis was a soldier’s wife with a difference: she often led, always followed, and sometimes fought alongside her Green Beret. Whether leaping out of airplanes, scuba diving off the coast of Massachusetts, hauling her family and their dogs over two continents or battling a lifethreatening disease, Davis’ life story is superbly rich with courage, compassion and a sly humor that overcomes all obstacles. Failure is not an option with this warm and enticing tale.

Stumbling Toward Enlightenment is a companion book to her husband Tom’s memoir, The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March from Private to Colonel. The couple will present their works together at the reading.

828.586.9499.

Fontana receives state award Fontana Regional Library’s Read Local Book Fair was named the “Best Service Innovation Project” for a public library of its size across the state of North Carolina for the fiscal year 2014-2015.

The award was presented to the library director, Karen Wallace, at the annual banquet of the North Carolina Public Library Directors Association on Dec. 3.

The November 2014 Read Local Book Fair was designed to intro-

that he is in danger of becoming “homeless,” which is a kind of exile from the Machine. In other words, those who rebel against the Machine will be cast out. However, Kuno persists in his rebellion and finds his way through the abandoned tunnels that go to the Earth’s surface.

Of course, the title of Forster’s dystopian tale gives the reader a sober warning. At first, the Machine merely falters. Services break down and the intricate pipes that deliver the food and the warm baths begin to emit unpleasant odors. The Bureau of Repairs is notified, but for the first time in hundreds of years, the repairs are ineffectual. At length, it is obvious that the Machine has stopped, and humanity begins to blunder out of the cells like half-blind grubs, feeble creatures incapable of existing in the sunlight.

Forster’s message is a bleak one. At the time he wrote The Machine Stops, technology was just on the verge of imparting marvelous advantages. The telephone had just been invented and its use had already spread across the world. We were yet to see television or to be seduced by a multitude of “wonders” that would make it possible for us turn our faces away from one another. Obviously, Forster felt that science had created a technology that, under the guise of making our lives easier, was actually a “guilded prison.” We were condemning ourselves to live in a world of simulations.

Gradually, we were relinquishing control of our lives and substituting distraction for reality.

E.M. Forster is not thought of as a sciencefiction writer. However, The Machine Stops was written between his third and fourth novels, A Room With a View and Howard’s End. Now that this unique little novella has been rediscovered and is being widely discussed for its depiction of a technology capable of creating “gilded prisons,” it will doubtless soon claim a place in current film. Certainly, when it was discussed 40 years ago in my class with Dr. Rorabacher, it definitely has something to say about our age of smart phones and computers.

duce the reading public to some of the local authors in Macon County. It also supported the “shop local” efforts of independently owned businesses in this rural part of western North Carolina in the weeks leading up to the holiday season.

An additional highlight was the sense of connection it gave the writers, and the opportunity they had to network with, and learn from, each other and introduce their books to local readers. A partnership with the local independent bookstore was critical to the success of the Book Fair.

Both authors and the public praised the Fair, which was repeated in November 2015 and expanded to include a parallel event at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva featuring Jackson County authors. Plans for the 2016 Book Fair are already underway, including consideration of the Marianna Black Library in Swain County as a third location.

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

Smoky Mountain News

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Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

Bringing the outdoors in Students learn about chemistry, fish and water quality through trout raising project

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER hen the holidays wind down and schools go back in session, kids in some Western North Carolina classrooms will have more to look forward to than just books and lessons. For some, the first day back at school will also be a reunion with the tank full of trout sitting in their classroom.

“It’s just pretty cool to have a tank of fish to watch grow over the course of the year,” said Ben Davis, a science teacher at Robbinsville High School who’s in his fourth year participating in Trout Unlimited’s Trout in the Classroom program.

The Tuckaseigee TU chapter has been dealing with classrooms, kids and trout since 2014, when it first dipped its toes into the national organization’s Trout in the Classroom program. Basically, the program allows classroom teachers — through a partnership with TU — to get rainbow trout eggs from the state fish hatchery, raise them up into small fish over the course of the school year and release them into stocked waters nearby.

In its first year, TU got just one classroom to sign on, that of eighth-grade teacher Jeff Zamzakias at Cullowhee Valley School. It’s hard, said longtime Tuckaseigee TU member Craig Forrest, for teachers to commit to the project, and the reason why is quite under-

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Young trout swim about indoors at the Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery in Brevard.

Hunter Collins, a student at Blue Ridge School in Cashiers, pours trout eggs into the school’s aquarium. Donated photos

standable.

“Really it hinges on having a teacher willing to devote the time and energy to doing it, because it does take a lot,” Forrest said.

“Especially the first year, setting up the aquarium.”

Participating in the program requires obtaining and setting up a 60-gallon aquarium, complete with a filtration system and a chiller to keep the water cool. TU provides the funds and the equipment — about $1,200 to get started and $400 for supplies each year after that — but much of the work falls to the teacher.

Now in its second year, TU has had a few more takers. Max Lanning’s class at Blue Ridge Early College got its eggs just this month, and Ben Davis’ science students at Robbinsville High School also started with the Tuck TU chapter, as the chapter it had been working with in Graham County no longer exists. Davis’ program has also found support from the Graham County branch of the N.C. Farm Bureau and the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

It is indeed a lot of work, said Davis, an avid angler himself, especially when it comes to cleaning out and setting up the tank each year. But it’s easy for him to see the program’s value.

“It really is enjoyable — much more so

Sign up Teachers are wanted to participate in the Trout in the Classroom program with the Tuckaseigee chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Through the program, teachers can bring a tankful of trout eggs into their classrooms and enlist students to learn firsthand about water quality, chemistry and fish life cycles by ushering the trout through their various stages of life. TU provides the materials and delivers the eggs.

The chapter serves Jackson, Swain and Macon counties.

Craig Forrest, craigforrest@sleepyhollowstudio.com. www.troutintheclassroom.org.

than a tank of goldfish,” Davis said. “It helps connect my students to a resource that they may take for granted and gives them an insight into the natural world.”

When a classroom receives its eggs — transported from the fish hatchery in Brevard

by TU members — the first task is to get them to hatch. Every day, students have to monitor the water chemistry and pick out the dead or unfertilized eggs from the basket holding them near the tank’s surface.

Within a couple of weeks, the eggs hatch into “sac fry” — small fish that still have part of the egg sac attached to their abdomen.

Once the fish have absorbed the egg sac and begun swimming near the surface, it’s time to let them out of the basket and give them the run of the tank.

That’s when students have to get serious about chemistry, figuring out how much to feed the fish so they’re nourished without gunking up the water more than necessary.

TU provides a chemistry kit that allows students to test for parameters such as pH, nitrogen and ammonia, and the whole process gives the teacher an opportunity to talk about topics like the nitrogen cycle, a fish’s life cycle and the importance of clean water in a much more meaningful way than would be possible with textbooks alone.

“This program has a great educational value,” Davis said. “I can use the trout to discuss life cycles and development with my biology students — there are usually some mutants or genetic defects, and that is always interesting. Since we have to maintain a certain environmental balance within the tank, my physical science students monitor chemical composition, pH and temperature of the water, and we relate that to the natural environment and effects of pollution. In years past, my students have put together lessons on aspects of trout life cycles and conservation and presented to younger classes, giving them valuable public speaking and presentation skills.”

Sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned. This fall, Davis’ class mysteriously lost half of its fish. That’s unfortunate, but dealing with the results had some educational value of its own.

F

Plan your skywatching for 2016 An overview of celestial observing opportunities coming in 2016 will be held 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8, at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute near Rosman.

PARI astronomers will talk about the night sky shows coming up over the next year and offer tips to maximize the observing experience for all knowledge levels. If the sky is clear, the group will move outside after the presentation to take a look through the telescopes. The evening will include a campus tour. $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and military; free for children 10 and under. RSVP by 3 p.m. Jan. 8 at www.pari.edu or 828.862.5554. schappell@pari.edu.

N.C. national forests get new supervisor

Smoky Mountain News

released — because they’re non-native rainbow trout, they can only be let go in streams where rainbow trout have already been introduced — but generally speaking success in the wild is better for Trout in the Classrooms fish in WNC than elsewhere in the state, Forrest said.

“Statewide here in North Carolina there were very few classes that had successful releases last year,” Forrest said. “You go down east and the water quality is terrible down there. We’re blessed with really nice water here.”

So, by the time spring rolls around, Forrest hopes to Newly hatched trout with their see big batches of little trout yolk sacs still attached swim in ready to make their way into the basket. Donated photo WNC waters. And, too, for the area to one day reap the results of students who have grown up learning firsthand about the haps due to low populations of nitrogenimportance of water and its inhabitants. reducing bacteria. Luckily, Davis’ class was “When I was growing up, I think all the able to get some replacement eggs from the kids had a home aquarium, but nowadays I fish hatchery to make up for the deceased. don’t think it’s done that much, so it gives Come springtime, the classes will get to them exposure,” he said. “I think this is celebrate their fish-raising accomplishments probably one of the most beneficial projects by releasing the trout into the water. There we do as a Trout Unlimited chapter.” are limits on where, exactly, they can be “This gives us the chance to play detective and use science to figure out what happened to our fish,” Davis said.

They ended up figuring out that the fish died due to a spike in nitrogen levels, per-

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

North Carolina has a new U.S. Forest Service forest supervisor in Allen Nicholas, who currently works as forest supervisor for the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. Nicholas will be the fourth forest supervisor North Carolina has seen in 10 years.

“North Carolina’s national forests are home to some of the most pristine and picturesque tracts of public land available, and it’s a great honor to join this amazing team of talented individuals that manage these treasured resources,” said Nicholas.”I look forward to building on the collabora-

tive efforts already underway between the staff in North Carolina and our regional leaders as we continue to work toward new and innovative ways to engage the communities we serve.”

In his new role, Nicholas will oversee more than 1.25 million acres of public land in the state’s four national forests.

His career thus far has spanned more than 30 years and included stops in the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Francis Marion and Sumter national forests and the Eastern Regional Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with titles ranging from deputy manager to acting director before his most recent role as forest supervisor in Illinois.

Nicholas will begin work in February.

outdoors

PARI visitors take in the night sky from the outdoor observatory. Donated photo

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Chimney Rock. SMN photo

Smoky Mountain News

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

Start the New Year off in the outdoors

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North Carolina State Parks will ring in the New Year with a schedule of Jan. 1 hikes giving families a chance to get started early enjoying the best of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outdoor landmarks. The hikes, offered every year, will also kick off a yearlong celebration of N.C. State Parksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 100th anniversary in 2016. â&#x2013; Gorges State Park. Three hikes of different lengths will be offered. At 9 a.m., a 1mile hike from the Bearwallow Falls Picnic Area will depart for the Upper Bearwallow Falls observation deck. At 11 a.m., a second hike will leave from the same place for a half-mile hike to the Bearwallow Valley observation deck, whose views of the park and surroundings areas include Lake Jocassee when weather is clear. The third hike will leave Grassy Ridge Parking Lot at 2 p.m. for a 1.5-mile roundtrip through the forest to the Raymond Fisher primitive campsites and pond.

Cookies and hot chocolate will be served at the Bearwallow Picnic Area fireplace after each hike.

Free, sponsored by Friends of Gorges State Park. Gorges State Park is located on the border of Jackson and Transylvania counties near Sapphire. 828.966.9099, ext.

203 or ej.dwigans@ncparks.gov. â&#x2013; Chimney Rock State Park. Hear about the parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history from its superintendent while walking the 3.2-mile entrance road of the park from 8 to 10 a.m. Typically, the road is open to vehicles only, but on this particular morning no cars will be allowed.

Shuttle transportation will take hikers back to their cars.

Chimney Rock State Park is located off U.S. 64 in Rutherford County. 800.277.9611 For all hikes, bring water and wear sturdy hiking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing, remembering that higher elevations may result in chillier weather on the trails than down below. www.ncparks.gov/first-day-hikes.

Appalachian Trail use breaks records in 2015 interest in the trail among a broad range of people, inspiring new audiences to learn about and explore this national treasure.

“These numbers reveal the importance of

a proactive stewardship plan that will address the impact of growing numbers of hikers on the Appalachian Trail,” said Ron

Tipton, the ATC’s executive director. “With the help of our partners, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy plans to meet the challenge of ensuring all hikers are able to have a high quality hiking experience.”

The ATC has developed a plan to protect the A.T. hiking experience, focusing on hike planning and registration; visitor use analysis; creating new campsites and restoring existing ones; and increasing education and outreach. The organization is seeking $1.3 million in funding to implement the plan. www.appalachiantrail.org/awalkinthewoods.

Get the 411 on winter angling A talk on winter fly selection and fishing techniques will be held at the next meeting of the Tuckaseigee chapter of Trout Unlimited at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the United Community Bank in Sylva.

With changing weather comes a shift in what makes fish bite, but tips from Rivers Edge Outfitters will help anglers sort it out. $5 for dinner.

Anticipating an onslaught of thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail this year, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is planning a full schedule of classes in North Carolina and Georgia to help would-be hikers prepare for the adventure.

Each of the classes will be taught by accredited instructors who will cover all aspects of planning a long-distance hike on the A.T., from essential gear to the diversity of the A.T. experience. Each hiker will find his or her personal approach to hiking the trail, but it’s always important to be well-prepared and responsible while doing it.

■ 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12 at Second Gear Outfitters in Asheville.

■ 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, at Mast General Store in Asheville.

■ 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 at Diamond Brand Outfitters in Asheville.

■ 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7, at Black Dome Mountain Sports in Asheville.

The number of thru-hikers on the trail has increased drastically over the years, and with the release of the movie A Walk in the Woods this year, the ATC is expecting a spike in 2016.

Free. Chloe de Camara, 828.357.6542 or cdecamara@appalachiantrail.org. www.appalachiantrail.org/events.

outdoors

The number of Appalachian Trail hikers passing through the trail’s “psychological midpoint” in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, hit an all-time high this year.

As of Dec. 1, 385 northbound hikers had come through, a 9 percent increase over last year, with the number of southbound hikers increasing 14 percent to total 192.

The number of people choosing to thruhike the A.T. using an alternative route shot up 139 percent from last year, with 291 people passing through Harpers Ferry who were thru-hikers, but not of the traditional Georgia-to-Maine variety.

Release of the movies A Walk in the Woods (2015) and Wild (2014), both of which depict hiking experiences on long-distance trails, are thought to be at least partially responsible for the increase. Since the release of “A Walk in the Woods” on Sept. 2, the number of visitors to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s visitor center at Harpers Ferry has increased more than 50 percent.

The movie, which chronicled the adventures of a pair of ill-prepared older men attempting to hike the A.T., has sparked

Get educated on the Appalachian Trail

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

828-421-8566

THE FITNESS

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Suspension Training using your body weight to develop strength, balance and flexibility.

Start the new year with an appointment with Eileen!

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A federal fund that supports parks and open spaces across the nation has been spared, but was reduced to half its former funding level.

The 50-year-old Land and Water Conservation Fund lapsed when Congress failed to reauthorize it by Sept. 30, but it was reinstated as part of the federal spending bill earlier this month — albeit at half its former funding level.

The fund sets aside $900 million a year to fund projects such as trails, playgrounds and recreation centers. However, opponents said a greater portion should go to state and local projects and to maintain existing park infrastructure rather than to purchase more land, which they argued takes away from the local tax base.

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Sales of license plates supporting the Friends of the Smokies were strong in 2015, with sales in North Carolina and Tennessee generating $805,000 this year. Since the program launched in 1999, specialty plates have raised more than $12.5 million to support America’s most-visited national park.

Because the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is not allowed to charge an entrance fee, it relies on partner organizations like Friends of the Smokies to help meet its needs. Plate sales fund many projects for the park, including supporting seasonal environmental internship positions, giving children hands-on education through the Parks as Classrooms program, elk habitat management and trail work.

North Carolina plates are $30 and can be purchased regardless of plate expiration date. www.FriendsOfTheSmokies.org.

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Smoky Mountain News

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

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Get schooled in the business of farming

RECREATION RESOLUTION Friday, January 1 to Sunday, January 3

Supporters of the bill celebrated its resuscitation as a victory for natural resources and cultural heritage.

“The Congress has reaffirmed America’s commitment to conservation and our outdoor recreation heritage,” said Bob Brown, vice chairman of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.

However, supporters of the fund say there is still more work to do, as the spending bill gave the program only a three-year reprieve and funds it at only half of the original funding level.

A map of projects funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund — including many in Western North Carolina, is available at www.wilderness.org/mapping-landand-water-conservation-fund-lwcf.

Smokies plates raise $800K in 2015

828.452.0911 kimsrx.com kimswellnessinfo.org

An eight-week series to help farmers with the business side of agriculture will kick off from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, at Southwestern Community College’s Swain County campus.

Topics for the Appalachian Farm School will include farm evaluation and goal-setting; marketing insights; understanding numbers; current issues facing small agribusinesses; rules and regulations; and funding options and other resources. $75 for all eight sessions (held Tuesday evenings through March 1), geared toward those operating small or medium farms, whether new or already existing. Offered through N.C. Cooperative Extension, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and The Support Center.

Residents of Haywood County will be admitted FREE each day.

Friday: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sunday: 1 to 7 p.m.

www.southwesterncc.edu/sbc or 828.339.4426.

Seed ordering day coming up in Sylva The annual seed ordering day at the Jackson County Farmers Market will give growers of all stripes a chance to get a jump on garden planning from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 9. The farmers market is held indoors for the winter at The Community Table in Sylva.

Combined orders allow bulk pricing on seeds from Fedco and Johnny’s Selected Seeds, as well as organic seed potatoes from New Sprout Farms, sweet potato slips from George’s Plant Farm and onion plants from Dixondale farms.

Catalogs will be available for browsing. www.jacksoncountyfarmersmarket.org/

WAYNESVILLE

RECREATION CENTER

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Funds for open spaces cut by half

townofwaynesville.org

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WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • An Open Door Meal & Sing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 30, at the First United Methodist Church of Sylva. The Old Friends Quartet will perform.

Community is invited. 586.2358.

• The Museum of the Cherokee Indian will offer free programs on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Friday through Dec. 31. Cherokee Friends will provide guided tours at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; demonstrations at 2 p.m.

From 1-2 p.m. every Friday, Jerry Wolfe, Beloved Man of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, will tell stories in the education wing. 497.3481, ext. 300, or www.cherokeemuseum.org.

• Swain County Geological and Historical Society will have a program on “1819 Cherokee Citizen Farmsteads of Swain and Macon Counties: Who Owned Them and What Happened” at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, at the SCGHS Library, 200 Main Street, in Bryson City. Presenter is Dr. Brett H. Riggs, Ph.D., the Sequoyah Distinguished Professor of Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University.

• Tickets are being sold for Burns Night, a celebration of Robert Burns – the national poet of Scotland – that will be held from 5-8 p.m. on Jan. 23 in Tartan Hall of First Presbyterian Church in Franklin. Tickets are available at the Scottish Tartans Museum and the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. 421.7771 or bordeaux64@hotmail.com.

• The N.C. Arboretum’s second-annual Winter Lights exhibit runs from through Jan. 2. Three-acre nightly walking tour featuring more than 200,000 lights. http://tinyurl.com/nerqsq9.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • A special registration for spring classes is scheduled for 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 5-6, at Haywood Community College in Clyde. Classes start Jan. 1. College is closed through Jan. 3. 627.4500.

• An Alcoholic Beverage Seller/Server Training Seminar will be offered at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, in room 102D of the Burrell Building at Southwestern Community College’s Jackson Campus in Sylva. Free.

Offered exclusively for businesses that hold ABC permits. Part of an effort by law enforcement agencies, the ABC Commission, DMV License and Theft Bureau, local ABC Boards and Prevention Coalitions. 919.779.0700 or Jeff.Strickland@ABC.nc.gov.

• An Alcoholic Beverage Seller/Server Training Seminar will be offered at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, at Haywood Community College’s Regional High Technology Center in Waynesville. Free. Offered exclusively for businesses that hold ABC permits. Part of an effort by law enforcement agencies, the ABC Commission, DMV License and Theft Bureau, local ABC Boards and Prevention Coalitions. 919.779.0700 or Jeff.Strickland@ABC.nc.gov.

• An Alcoholic Beverage Seller/Server Training Seminar will be offered at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, in Room 217 of Brown Hall at UNC Asheville. Free.

Offered exclusively for businesses that hold ABC permits. Part of an effort by law enforcement agencies, the ABC Commission, DMV License and Theft Bureau, local ABC Boards and Prevention Coalitions. 919.779.0700 or Jeff.Strickland@ABC.nc.gov.

• Registration is underway for Southwestern Community College’s second Appalachian Farm School, designed for new and existing, small-to-medium size farm owners to get the school they need to create or revise their business plans. The school will meet Tuesday evenings from Jan. 12 through March 1 at SCC’s Swain Center. Fee: $75. t_henry@southwesterncc.edu or 339.4211.

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 • Applications are being accepted for 1 & 3% partnership funding through the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority, and workshops are scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 12, and Thursday, Jan. 14, at Lake Junaluska’s Bethea Welcome Center. http://haywoodcountytourismdevelopment.com/partnership-funding/

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • Contributions are being sought for the Glenville Area Historical Society’s historical museum, which plans to open next year. historicalsocietyglenvillearea@yahoo.com or 743.1658.

VENDORS

Smoky Mountain News

Sylva. Classes are sponsored by MountainWise. Anyone interested in attending should contact Melissa McKnight at 587.8288.

• A new support group called WINGS (Widows in Need of Grief Support) will meet at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at The Meditation Center at 894 E. Main St. in Sylva. www.meditate-wnc.org or 356.1105.

• A free, weekly grief support group will meet from 12:30-2 p.m. on Thursdays at the SECU Hospice House in Franklin. 692.6178 or mlee@fourseasonscfl.org.

• “ECA on the Move!” – a walking program organized

by Jackson County Extension and Community Association – meets from 9-10 a.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. It’s an effort to meet the American Heart Association’s recommendation of 10,000 steps per day. 586.4009.

• Al-Anon, a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who believe their lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking, meets at 10 a.m. on Saturdays at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

356.2800.

• “Health on Wheels” road ride, a relaxing social ride supporting physical and mental recovery from illness or injury – as well as anyone who hasn’t ridden in awhile – starts at 10:30 a.m. every Thursday at Canton Rec Park. For info, contact Michelle Trantham at mttrantham@hotmail.com or Melissa Rockett at mrockett@mountainwise.com/

• Vendor applications are being accepted for WinterFest Smoky Style, which is Feb. 26-28 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. Weekend rental fee is $75 if paid by Dec. 15; $100 after. seaycharlesl@yahoo.com.

Sponsored in part by Haywood County Tourism Development Authority.

• A Tuesday Meditation Group meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Franklin.

• Greening Up the Mountains Festival is seeking artists, mountain crafters, environmental and food vendors to apply for booths in the upcoming 19th annual event, which is April 23 in Sylva. www.greeningupthemountains.com, 586.2719 or at Sylva’s Town Hall. Info: 631.4587.

• A Ski Lake Junaluska youth event is scheduled for Dec. 30-Jan. 1 with skiing at Cataloochee Ski Area and Wolf Ridge Ski Area. Worship, ski and fellowship. One, two and three-night packages available. For info, contact Jennifer Martin at jmartin@lakejunaluska.com or 454.6716. www.lakejunaluska.com/ski. The same retreats will be available Jan. 15-18, Jan. 29-31, Feb. 5-7, Feb. 12-15 and Feb. 19-21.

HEALTH MATTERS • The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 30, in the Asbury Room of the First United Methodist Church in Sylva. mary@corsmary or 586.2358.

• A New Year Renewal Meditation Service will be held

by The Meditation Center at noon on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 894 E. Main St. in Sylva. www.meditate-wnc.org or 356.1105.

• A free diabetes risk assessment is scheduled for 8 a.m.-noon on Monday, Jan. 4, at Macon County Public Health. Blood sugar checks and an opportunity to speak with a dietitian about risk and prevention. The county’s year-long Diabetes Prevention Program starts in January and is free for qualifying participants; $60 for others.

349.2455.

• A two-day diabetes management class will be offered from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on consecutive Tuesdays, Jan. 12 and 19, by Angel Medical Center’s diabetes management services in Franklin. Fee is covered by most insurance companies. 369.4166.

• Angel Medical Center will hold the American Lung Associaton’s “Freedom From Smoking” program, a sixweek series starting at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays beginning Jan. 14 in the hospital’s dining room. Pre-registration required: $25. 369.4181.

• Registration is underway for a series of Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Classes that will be offered starting Jan. 14 at the Jackson County Health Department in

RECREATION AND FITNESS

• Registration is underway for a winter coed volleyball league that will be offered through the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. An organizational meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at the rec center. Fee will be based on number of teams at organizational meeting; payment is due by 9 p.m. on Jan. 27. 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• The Canton Armory is open to the public for walking from 8-10 a.m. on Monday through Friday unless the facility is booked. 648.2363.

• Pickle ball is offered from 8 a.m.-noon on Mondays through Fridays at the Waynesville Recreation Center.

456.2030 or www.waynesvillnc.gov.

• A high-impact fitness class entitled “Pump It Up” will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Waynesville Recreation Center. High energy, quick pace. Fee is daily admission or membership. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• A high-impact fitness class entitled “FIT 25” will be held from 5-5:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Core-concentration exercise. Fee is daily admission or membership. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov.

• A 25-minute, full-body workout class is held at 5 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Waynesville Recreation Center. Cost is daily admission or membership. For info, call 456.2030.

• A lunchtime fitness class will be held from noon-1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Waynesville

39

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

Recreation Center. Melissa Tinsley is the instructor.

456.2030.

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE • Winter Shabbat Services are held at 10:30 a.m. on the first and third Saturdays of each month by Congregation Bamidbar in the Fellowship Hall of Andrews Methodist Church in Andrews. 369.9270.

• First United Methodist Church of Sylva’s meeting times will be 9 a.m. for contemporary worship service and 11 a.m. for traditional worship service. 586.2358.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • “What will the world look like in 2016? Predictions for the coming year” is the topic for the Franklin Open Forum, which is at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 4, at Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub in Franklin. Open to anyone interested in an open exchange of ideas (dialog, not debate). 371.1020.

• “Stories of Mountain Folk” will be made available online by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia starting in January at www.storiesofmountainfolk.com. Archived programs are available at www.wcu.edu/hunterlibrary/collections/digital-collections.asp.

SENIOR ACTIVITIES • Registration is underway for the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department’s January Senior Trips, which include a Sierra Nevada Brewery Tour (Jan. 6), Dinner and a Movie (Jan. 13), Frozen Waterfall Ramble (Jan. 20), and Local Artisan Ramble (Jan. 27). For details or to register, contact Tim Petrea at 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov.

• A weekly manipulation card game group is forming through the Haywood County Senior Resource Center. If interested, contact Michelle Claytor at mclaytor@mountainprojects.org or 356.2813.

• Senior croquet for ages 55 and older is offered from 9-11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Vance Street Park in front of Waynesville Recreation Center.

Free. For info, contact Donald Hummel at 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• A Hand & Foot card game is held at 10 a.m. on Mondays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2813.

• Senior Sale Day is on the third Friday of every month at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore. Patrons 60 and older get 20 percent off all purchases. Proceeds benefit the Sylva Library.

• Pinochie game is played at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville.

356.2813.

• Hearts is played at 12 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville.

356.2813.

• Mah Jongg is played at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville.

356.2813.

KIDS & FAMILIES • The Appalachian Toymaker & Storyteller will be making wooden toys and telling tales on select dates and times at The Storytelling Center of the Southern Appalachian. www.psalmsofthesouth.com or 488.5705.

wnc calendar

• The Robot Zoo, an opportunity to see how real animals work by exploring biomechanics of robots, is on display through Jan. 3 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. www.ncarboretum.org.

• Registration is underway for Folkmoot’s Appalachian Dance Class 101 for kids in the sixth grade and younger starting Jan. 5 in Waynesville. Flat-foot dancing, buck dancing, clogging and square dance styles.

Classes meet from 6-7 p.m. every Tuesday in January.

452.2997 or info@folkmoot.org.

• Registration is underway for a Smart Start Sports Development program for 4-5 year olds at the Waynesville Recreation Center. $65 registration cost includes equipment, bag and participant manual.

Deadline to register is 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19; program starts Feb. 9. dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov or 456.2030.

ONGOING KIDS ACTIVITIES AND CLUBS • Wednesdays in the Stacks, “WITS”, a new program for children in grades 3-6, on the third Wednesdays of the month from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Macon County Library. WITS will include lots of fun games, prizes, and hands-on activities. This club replaces book club previous held on the third Thursdays of the month. 526.3600.

• Fun Friday, everything science, is held at 4 p.m. on Fridays at Jackson County Public Library. 586.2016.

• Family Fun Night is at 6 p.m. on Thursdays at Jackson County Public Library. 586.2016.

• Just Write is at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Jackson County Public Library. 586.2016.

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

• Teen Coffeehouse is at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at Jackson County Public Library. 586.2016.

• Youth Outright meets every Sunday from 4 p.m. -6 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheville for ages 14-20. Youth Outright is a youth advocacy and leadership program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in 18 counties in Western North Carolina. www.youthoutright.org.

• Youth Outright meets the third Saturday of the month from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheville for ages 11-13. Youth Outright is a youth advocacy and leadership program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in 18 counties in Western North Carolina. www.youthoutright.org.

• Rock and Read is Tuesdays at 11 a.m. at Jackson County Public Library. 586-2016.

• Teen Coffeehouse meets Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. at Jackson County Public Library. 586-2016.

Smoky Mountain News

• WNC Martial Arts will hold karate classes from 67:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at the Old Armory in Waynesville. For more info, contact Margaret Williams at 301.0649 or mvwilliams39@gmail.com.

months to four years. Visit www.haywoodlibrary.org or call 452.5169 or 648.2924.

• Anime Night is held for teens on the second Monday of each month at the Canton Library. For anime titles that will be shown, call 648.2924.

• Book Buddies for ages 0-3 is from 9:30-10:15 a.m. on Tuesday at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

• Page Pals for ages 3-5 is from 10:30-11:15 a.m. on Tuesday at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

• Story time and kids can make their own piece of art from 10 a.m.-noon every Saturday during the Family Art event sponsored by the Jackson County Arts Council at the Jackson County Farmers Market located at the Community Table, downtown Sylva. On the first Saturday of each month, there is a scavenger hunt with prizes. 399.0290 or www.jacksoncountyfarmermarket.org.

• A Teen Advisory Group meets at 4 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month to discuss YA books and teen program events. http://haywoodlibrary.libguides.com/teen or 648.2924.

• Tennis lessons for ages 5-8 (5:30-6:15 on Tuesdays) and 9-13 (9:30-10:15 a.m. on Saturdays) are offered through the Jackson County Recreation Center. $45.

293.3053.

• Michael’s Kids Club will be held for ages 3-and-up from 10 a.m.-noon on Saturdays at Michael’s in Waynesville. $2 per child for 30 minutes of creative crafts. 452.7680.

• A Lowe’s Build and Grow session for ages 3-and-up is scheduled from 10-11 a.m. on Saturdays at the Sylva (586.1170) and Waynesville (456.9999) Lowe’s stores. Free.

• Art classes are available for kids 10 and older from 4:15-5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Bascom in Highlands. $15 per class. 787.2865 or www.thebascom.org.

• Art Adventure classes are taught for ages 5-10 from 3:30-4:45 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Bascom in Highlands. Theme: metal. Instructor: Bonnie Abbott. $20 per month. 787.2865.

•A Lego club will meet at 4 p.m. every fourth Thursday of the month, at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Library provides Legos and Duplos for ages 3 and up.

Free. 488.3030.

• Science Club is held at 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month for grades K-6 at the Macon County Public Library. 524.3600.

•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, first, third, and fourth 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.

• A Teen Writing Group will meet at 6 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month at Jackson County Library, ages 12 and up. 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.

• The Wee Naturalist program, which is for children ages 2-5 (with a parent or guardian), is held from 1011:30 a.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays at the North Carolina Arboretum. Age-appropriate activities such as nature walks, garden exploration, stories, crafts and visits from classroom animals $7 cost per child; $3 more for each additional child in a family. Register at: www.ncarboretumregistration.org/Wee-Naturalists-forPre-K-2014-15-C264.aspx

KIDS MOVIES • A screening of “Minions” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 1 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com

• A Franklin Kids’ Creation Station is held from 10 a.m.-noon on Saturdays at uptown Gallery in Franklin.

Snacks provided. $20 tuition. 743.0200.

• A screening of “The Princess Bride” will be shown at 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 9 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com

• A Lego Club meets on the third Tuesday of each month from 3:30-5 p.m. at Waynesville Library.

452.5169.

524.3600.

• A Lego Club meets the second Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. at Jackson County Public Library. 586-2016.

• “Baby/Toddler Sensory Play Time” is set for 10:30 a.m. on the third Wednesday of each month in the 40 Canton Library Meeting Room. For children ages three

• Homework Help, 3 to 5 p.m. Mondays for students in grades 2 through 6, Canton Branch Library. Former schoolteacher turned Youth Services Librarian Katy Punch offers homework help on a first-come, firstserved basis. Katy, 648.2924.

• A screening of “Ant Man” will be shown at 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 2 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com

• 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.

• “Plug in and Read,” a digital story time designed to help preschoolers (ages 3-6) learn early literacy skills, is held at 10:30 a.m. on the second Friday or fourth Monday of each month at Haywood County Public Library. Visit www.haywoodlibrary.org or call 452.5169 or 648.2924.

• Teen time 3:30-4:30 p.m. Thursdays at Waynesville Library. A program for teens and tweens held each week. Each week is different, snacks provided. 3562511

• Macon County 4-H Needlers club, a group of youth learning the art and expression of knitting and crochet crafts, meets on the second Tuesday of each month.

For information, call 349.2046.

• Full STEAM Ahead (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m. Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. ages 5+. 586.2016.

• Children’s Yoga is at 10:30 a.m. (for ages 3-7) and noon (for ages 8-11) on the second Thursday of each month at Canton Public Library. Sign-up required: 648.2924.

month, 130 Frazier St. off Russ Avenue in Waynesville.

The group runs Lionel-type 3 rail O gauge trains. smokymountainmodelrailroaders.wordpress.com.

• 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

HOLIDAY EVENTS • Mad Batter Food & Film (Sylva) will host a New Year’s Eve Party with Porch 40 (rock/funk) at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. $25 in advance, $28 at the door. Hors d’oeuvre buffet and midnight champagne toast. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

• A Black, White and Fun All Over Children’s New Year’s Eve Party is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31, at the Macon County Library in Franklin.

Stories, games, crafts, music and snacks. Wear black and white (or dress as your favorite animal). cdando@fontanalib.org or 524.3600.

• The inaugural New Year’s Eve Masquerade Party is scheduled for 8 p.m.-12:30 a.m. on Dec. 31, at the Imperial Restaurant in Canton. Sponsored by the Canton Lions Club; benefits the Pisgah High School Marching Band. Heavy Hors D’oeuvres and cash bar.

Tickets: $50 per person. Tickets available at Smathers & Smathers, The Imperial Restaurant, WPTL or brownpapertickets.com.

• Cherokee High School will host a New Year’s gospel singing event at 6 p.m. on Jan. 2 in the auditorium.

Acts include Walking by Faith, Journey Home, Smokey Mountain Reunion and The Primitive Quartet. Call for advance tickets. Concessions available. 735.9025.

• The Polar Express themed train is now running at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot. The classic children’s book comes to life as the train departs for a special visit at the “North Pole.” For times and prices, click on www.gsmr.com or 800.872.4681.

FOOD & DRINK • There will be a “Tasty Tuesday: Winter Seasonals” at 7 p.m. on Jan. 5 and 12 at Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden in Waynesville.

• “Brown Bag at the Depot” – an opportunity to gather with neighbors – is at noon every Friday at Sylva’s newest park at the corner of Spring and Mill Street along Railroad Ave. For info, contact Paige Dowling at townmanager@townofsylva.org.

• Graceann’s Amazing Breakfast is 8-10 a.m. every Tuesday in the Sapphire Room at the Sapphire Valley Community Center. $8.50 for adults; $5 for children.

Includes coffee and orange juice. 743.7663.

• There will be a free tasting and cooking demonstration from 5-7 p.m. every Saturday at Country Traditions in Dillsboro. Try a wide variety of wines while a gourmet chef prepares delicious treats that are available for purchase. Free. www.dillsborowineandgourmet.net.

• “Wine on Wednesday” is set for 6-8 p.m. at the Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. Free wine tasting with dinner ($15 minimum) or $6 per person.

452.6000.

• 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.

• A wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at Papou’s Wine Shop & Bar in Sylva. 586.6300.

A&E FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL EVENTS • Cherokee Lights and Legends event will be held from 6-9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through Jan. 2 at the Cherokee Fair Grounds. Lights display, live Santa Claus, synthetic ice rink, bizarre, food vendors, interactive legend exhibits and a 40-foot Christmas tree.

Food. Fireworks start at 9 p.m. $5 for everyone 13 and over; $3 for ages 6-12; children five and younger are free. friehusk@nc-cherokee.com, angehern@nc-cherokee.com, 359.6492 or 359.6473.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Jan. 2 and 9 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 828.452.0120.

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • A New Year’s Eve dinner and show featuring Mean Mary and The Contrarys is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Dec. 31 at the Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. $65 per person. 452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• A New Year’s Eve event featuring performances by Thom Bresh, Casey Kelly, Leslie Ellis and Becky Hobbs is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Dec. 31 at Balsam Mountain Inn. $85 per person. Buffet dinner and all the champagne, hats, honkers and whistles you can handle. 456.9498.

wnc calendar

MountainEats.com Let your smartphone be your guide!

• Find restaurants nearby • Read descriptions and explore menus • View photos and interactive maps It’s that simple!

An online dining directory for Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: 866.452.2251

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

A

bi-monthly magazine that covers the southern Appalachian mountains and celebrates the area’s environmental riches, its people, culture, music, art, crafts and special places. Each issue relies on regional writers and photographers to bring the Appalachians to life.

In this issue:

PLUS ADVENTURE, CUISINE, READING, MUSIC, ARTS & MORE

SUBSCRIBE:

Smoky Mountain News

Holiday Musings from Regional Writers Historic Postcards: Dispatches from the Smokies Santa Rappels Down Chimney Rock and Pigs Fly A Look at the Region’s Newest Inn Homes

www.smliv.com OR

866.452.2251

41

wnc calendar

• Singer-songwriter Hope Griffin (guitar, vocals) will perform at 7 p.m. Jan. 1 at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. Free. 452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Joe Cruz (piano/pop) will perform at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2 and 9 at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. Free.

452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Balsam Range (bluegrass/gospel) performs at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 2, at the Colonial Theatre in Canton. Tickets available at the box office or by calling 235.2760.

• Daniel Shearin (guitar, vocals) performs at 7 p.m. on Jan. 8 at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville.

Free. 452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com. www.ncparks.gov.

• Southern rock legend Gregg Allman performs at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 9 at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.

Tickets available at www.harrahscherokee.com.

• Polly Davis will present her military wife memoir “Stumbling Toward Enlightenment” at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

586.9499.

• An encore presentation of “Skylight” will be presented by the Highlands Performing Arts Center at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, in Highlands. Starring Bill Nighy (“Love Actually,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”) and Carey Mulligan (“Island Llewyn Davis,” “The Great Gatsby”); directed by Stephen Daldry (“The Audience”). Tickets: $22 for adults; $20 for PAC members. highlandspac.org or 526.9047.

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

• Tickets are on sale for a performance by rapper Waka Flocka Flame, who will be on stage Thursday, Jan. 14, at Western Carolina University’s Ramsey Center. Advance tickets are $5 for students and $10 for nonstudents or $15 at the door. 227.7722 or ramsey.wcu.edu.

• Country music star Pam Tillis will be a featured performer at a Galaxy of Stars Series performance at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

Tickets are $21 for adults, $16 for WCU faculty/staff, and $7 for students/children. bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or 227.2479.

• The Magnetic Theatre in Asheville is seeking one-act plays, actors and directors for “Brief Encounters 2016.” Deadline for submissions is Feb. 7. ldv@themagnetictheatre.org. Open-call audtions are in March. www.themagnetictheatre.org. Directors can write ss@themagnetictheatre.org.

• Bogart’s Live Bluegrass/String Band is at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday at 303 S. Main Street in Waynesville.

452.1313.

• Papertown Country Music & Dance Parlor is from 710 p.m. on Saturdays at 61-1/2 Main Street in Canton. $8. 736.8925.

Smoky Mountain News

• Music and Clogging is held from 8-10:30 p.m. on

Fridays and Saturdays at the Stomping Ground at 3116 Soco Road in Maggie Valley. 926.1288.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • Tickets are on sale for “Art and Craft,” the Southern Circuit’s fourth feature, which will be shown at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9, in the Western Carolina University Center theater in Cullowhee. The documentary details how one of the most prolific art forgers in U.S. history was finally exposed. www.artandcraftfilm. Tickets available at www.bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or 227.2479.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • The 10th Annual Autumn Juried Group Exhibit of the Carolinas’ Nature Photographers Association Asheville Region entitled “Southern Appalachian Splendor Through the Seasons,” will be hosted through the New Year by the Green Sage Cafe in Asheville. www.cnpaasheville.org.

• Fine Feathered Friends and Flowers, oil paintings by Mary Webster, will be on display at the N.C. Arboretum through Jan. 3 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. www.ncarboretum.org.

• Art by Marilyn-Sue Walsh (oils, water colors, acrylics and drawings) will be on display throughout January in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. 524.3600.

• The “Star Wars: The FORCE of Popular Culture” exhibit is on display through Jan. 16 at the Western Office of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in Asheville. Free. 296.7230 or jeff.futch@ncdcr.gov.

• Haywood County Arts Council will host artists from the Haywood Art Studio Tour at the Gallery & Gifts Space in Waynesville. www.HaywoodArts.org.

• The Mountain Heritage Center is hosting the exhibit “Collecting for the Community,” an exploration of the diversity and variety to be found in Western North Carolina. Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, with extended hours until 7 p.m. on Thursdays.

• A contemporary exhibit is open at the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

The exhibit is intended to challenge the way beliefs about the natural world are formed. Entitled “Connections: Diane Fox & Beauvais Lyons,” the exhibit pairs photographs by Fox with lithography by Lyons.

The exhibit remains at WCU through Friday, Jan. 15.

The museum is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays with extended hours to 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Admission and parking are free. 227.3591 or fineartmuseum.wcu.edu.

• A new movie starring Raffey Cassidy, Britt Robertson and George Clooney will be shown at 2 and 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Movie is about a teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius. PG; 2:10. 524.3600.

• A screening of “He named me Malala” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 8 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com • A classic movie starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara will be shown at 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 8, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Movie is about an all-out battle of the sexes when a powerful cattle baron’s wife returns to town after a two-year absence. 2:07.

• A screening of “The Martian” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 and 15 and 2 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 16 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com • Adult movie time, 6:30 p.m. Mondays at Jackson County Public Library. Call for title of movie.

586.2016.

Outdoors • The Tuckaseigee River Chapter No. 373 of Trout Unlimited meets at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5, at United Community Bank in Sylva.

• A skywatching program is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 8, at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman. Reservations are required and accepted until 3 p.m. on the day of the event. $20 per adult; $15 for seniors/military. Children 10 and under are free. Register and pay online at www.pari.edu or 862.5554. More info: schappell@pari.edu.

• A class for people interested in a long-distance hike on the Appalachian Trail will be offered from 5:307:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 12, by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy at Second Gear Outfitters in Asheville. Course covers all aspects of planning the long-distance hike, including essential gear to the diversity of the trail experience. Free. www.appalachiantrail.org/events, 357.6542 or cdecamara@appalachiantrail.org.

FARM AND GARDEN • The Jackson County Farmers Market will hold its

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 seed-ordering day from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Jan. 9 at the Community Table in Sylva. www.jacksoncountyfarmersmarket.org.

• Applications are being accepted for the Haywood County Extension’s 2016 Master Gardener Class.

Trainings are Tuesday mornings from Jan. 5-April 19.

Apply by Dec. 30. 456.3575 or sarah_scott@ncsu.edu.

• The Macon County Poultry Club of Franklin meets at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Cooperative Extension Office on Thomas Heights Rd,.

Open to the public. 369.3916.

COMPETITIVE EDGE • Registration is underway for the Run in 2016 5K Run, Walk & Fun Run, which is set for 11 a.m. on Jan. 1. Entry fees are $20 if received by Dec. 30 or $25 on race day. 293.3053 or jeniferpressley@jacksonnc.org.

HIKING CLUBS • Chimney Rock State Park’s superintendent will tell about the park’s history during a 3.2-mile hike up Chimney Park Road starting at 8 a.m. on Jan. 1 in Rutherford County. 800.277.9611. www.ncparks.gov.

• A 1.5-mile roundtrip hike will explore the high elevations of Grandfather Mountain starting at 1 p.m. on Jan. 1 near Banner Elk. 963.9522. www.ncparks.gov.

• Three hikes are being offered on New Year’s Day at Gorges State Park in Sapphire. Hikes start at 9 a.m. (one mile), 11 a.m. (half-mile), and 2 p.m. (1.5 miles) Sponsored by Friends of the Gorges State Park.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have an eight-mile hike with a 1,800-foot ascent from Case Camp to Seniard Ridge Loop on Jan. 6. For more info, contact leader Mary Beth Gwynn at 545.6487 or mbgwynn@gmail.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have an eight-mile hike with a 1,800-foot ascent on Jan. 10. For more info, contact leader Mary Beth Gwynn at 545.6487 or mbgcmc@gmail.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will hold a five-mile hike with a 900-foot elevation gain on Jan. 10. For more info, contact leader Dick Zimmerer at 989.0480 or dd1zz@yahoo.com.

325-52

Great Smokies Storage 10’x20’ $

92

20’x20’ $

160

ONE MONTH

FREE WITH 12-MONTH CONTRACT

828.506.4112 or 828.507.8828

42

FILM & SCREEN .

• “Walt Before Disney” will be shown at 7 p.m. on Dec. 30-31 at The Strand in Waynesville. www.38main.com.

Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction

Puzzles can be found on page 46.

These are only the answers.

PRIME REAL ESTATE Advertise in The Smoky Mountain News

ARTS & CRAFTS

MarketPlace information:

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

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.

AUCTION

Rates:

■ Free — Lost or found pet ads.

■ $5 — Residential yard sale ads, ■ $5 — Non-business items that sell for less than $150.

■ $15 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2.

If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type.

■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad or colored background.

■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold.

■ $300 — Statewide classifieds run in 117 participating newspapers with 1.6 million circulation. Up to 25 words.

■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

RUN YOUR CLASSIFIED In 101 North Carolina newspapers for only $375 for a 25-word ad.

Call this newspaper or 919.516.8009 for details.

AUCTIONS Wagner's Auto Salvage, Durham Commercial Trucks, Generators, Vehicles; Lots Orange Co & Log Home Chapel Hill; 72 Acres Sanford Divided. 919.545.0412 www.RogersAuction.com.

NCFL7360.

Classified Advertising: Scott Collier, phone 828.452.4251; fax 828.452.3585 classads@smokymountainnews.com

ONLINE REAL ESTATE AUCTION 721 Moody Bridge Rd., Cullowhee, NC. 3br/2bath home and 10 acres.

Bidding starts Dec. 1st, 2015. Full details on our web site, BrooksAuctionServices.com 864.379.1011.

NCRE#25534.

NCAUC#9822.

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, COO

Serving Haywood, Jackson & Surrounding Counties

R

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SC OV ER E

ATR

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INC.

Offering:

MAJOR-BRAND TIRES FOR CARS, LIGHT & MEDIUM-DUTY TRUCKS, AND FARM TIRES.

Service truck available for on-site repairs LEE & PATTY ENSLEY, OWNERS

MON-FRI 7:30-5:00 • WAYNESVILLE PLAZA

828-456-5387

325-68

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

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 FIND THE RIGHT CARPET, Flooring & Window Treatments.

Ask about our 50% off specials & our Low Price Guarantee. Offer Expires Soon. Call now 888.546.0135 SAPA 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.

CARS -

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 A-1 DONATE YOUR CAR For Breast Cancer! Help United Breast Foundation education, prevention, & support programs.

Fast Free Pickup - 24 Hr Response Tax Deduction 855.306.7348 SAPA

FINANCIAL BEWARE OF LOAN FRAUD. Please check with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection Agency before sending any money to any loan company.

SAPA SELL YOUR STRUCTURED Settlement or annuity payments for CASH NOW. You don't have to wait for your future payments any longer! Call 1.800.316.0271.

SOCIAL SECURITY Disability Benefits. Unable to work? Denied benefits? We Can Help! WIN or Pay Nothing! Contact Bill Gordon & Associates at 1.800.670.4805 to start your application today! SAPA

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES $1000 WEEKLY!!

Mailing Brochures From Home.

Helping home workers since 2001.

Genuine Opportunity. NO Experience Required. Start Immediately. www.MailingMembers.com SAPA CONTROVERSIAL HUD Insider reveals how to flip HUD houses for pennies on the dollar.

Free book exposes all. Limited offer. Watch the video now!

HUDCAROLINA.COM NEW YEAR, NEW CAREER Aviation Grads Work With American, Boeing, Southwest And Others - Get Hands On Maintenance Training. Financial Aid If Qualified.

Call Aim 1.866.724.5403 SAPA

EMPLOYMENT APPLE CREEK CAFE Will be holding open interviews on Wed. Dec. 30th and Wed. Jan. 6th from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. both days.

We are hiring cooks, waitstaff and two experienced bartenders. Anyone with experience is encouraged to apply, especially those who worked at Nick & Nates until it closed. Interviews will be held at the restaurant on Main Street.

R

WNC MarketPlace

EMPLOYMENT NEED MEDICAL BILLING TRAINEES! Doctors & Hospitals need Medical Office Staff! No Experience Needed! Online Training gets you job ready! HS Diploma/GED & Computer needed. Careertechnical.edu/nc.

1.888.512.7122 NEW CAREER, NEW YEAR Aviation grads work with Boeing, Southwest and others - Get handson training for FAA certification.

Financial aid if qualified. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance.

877.300.9494.

ATTN: DRIVERS $2K Sign-On Bonus. Keep your Motor Running in New KW! $55K+ per/yr! Quality HomeTime. CDL-A Req - 877.258.8782. www.drive4melton.com WEEKLY HOME TIME For SE Regional! Earn up to $0.45 CPM w/bonuses. Plus $2500 Sign On Bonus! Call 888.408.5275 or SuperServiceLLC.com

EMPLOYMENT MAD BATTER FOOD & FILM Is Hiring Servers & Cooks. 2 Years Exp. a Bonus. Located in Beautiful Downtown Sylva, come by Tues-Fri. Between 2 - 4p.m.

TEAMS/SINGLES Dedicated lanes, Tennessee, North/South Carolina to Northwest and Southwest. Refrigerator and dry vans. CDLA with six months minimum verifiable experience or driver training. Also accepting owner operators. Call 937.417.8380 or 828.475.1356.

LAW OFFICE And Legal Assistant Training Law Firms & Government Offices need Legal Staff! No Experience Needed!

Online Career training can get you job ready! HS Diploma/GED & PC/Internet needed!

1.888.926.6073 SAPA

Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

TOOTSIE - A GORGEOUS LAB MIX GIRL ABOUT TWO YEARS OLD. SHE IS STILL VERY MUCH A PUPPY AT HEART, AND WILL DO BEST WITH AN ACTIVE FAMILY INTERESTED IN PLAYING WITH HER AND TAKING HER ON ADVENTURES. SHE LOVES TO ROMP AND PLAY, AND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A SECURE YARD TO PLAY FETCH OR TAG WITH THE KIDS.

www.smokymountainnews.com

325-60

MOUNTAIN REALTY

Mieko Thomson

Thomson

EMPLOYMENT

*NOW HIRING, Enrollment Specialist. Weekly Compensation By Direct Deposit, Training, Flexible Hours, Basic Computer Skills+. Must Leave Message for a Phone Interview. No Exceptions.

1.800.417.6360 Ext. 7201 www.CardNetworkSpecialist.INFO SAPA

HELP WANTED!!

Make $1000 Weekly!! Mailing Brochures From Home. Helping home workers since 2001. Genuine Opportunity. NO Experience Required.

Start Immediately. www.MailingHelp.com SAPA

ATTN: DRIVERS $2K Sign-On Bonus. Make $55k+ a Year. Great Benefits + 401K. Paid Orientation. CDL-A Req 877.258.8782.

LAW OFFICE & LEGAL Assistant Training Law Firms & Government Offices Need Legal Staff! No Experience Needed! Online Career training can get you job ready! HS Diploma/GED & PC/Internet needed! 1.888.926.6073 SAPA

AVIATION GRADS Work With Jetblue, Boeing, Delta, And Others- Start Here With Hands-On Training For FAA Certification. Financial Aid If Qualified.

Call Aviation Institute Of Maintenance 1.866.724.5403 SAPA DRIVER TRAINEES Paid CDL Training! Stevens Transport will cover all costs! No Experience Needed! Earn $800 per week!

Local CDL Training!

1.888.748.4137 drive4stevens.com FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following position: Director of Management Information Services (MIS). For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com /. Human Resources Office. Phone: 910.678.8378 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu. An Equal Opportunity Employer.

SCOOTER - A 17 LB. HUNK OF LOVE KITTY! SHE WAS BROUGHT TO SHELTER WHEN ELDERLY OWNER COULD NO LONGER CARE FOR HER. WE'RE HELPING HER LOSE SOME WEIGHT SO SHE'LL BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY IN HER NEW HOME FOR YEARS TO COME. SHE ADORES PETTING AND SITTING IN LAPS.

CAN YOU DIG IT? Heavy Equipment Operator Career!

We Offer Training and Certifications Running Bulldozers, Backhoes and Excavators. Lifetime Job Placement. VA Benefits Eligible!

1.866.362.6497 SAPA HIGH-TECH CAREER With U.S. Navy. Elite tech training w/great pay, benefits, vacation, $ for school. HS grads ages 17-34.

Call Mon-Fri 800.662.7419 WANT TO FLATBED? Call us! - Free Healthcare! Hiring Class A CDL Drivers for Regional & OTR. Pay starting at 40cpm. Call 864.649.2063 or visit drive4jgr.com EOE.

DRIVER TRAINEES Paid CDL Training! Stevens Transport Will Cover All Costs! No Experience Needed! Earn $800 per week! Local CDL Training!

1.888.748.4137 drive4stevens.com NOW HIRING Class A CDL Drivers! - Free Healthcare! Regional & OTR positions open. Pay starting at 40cpm.

1yr. experience required. Call 864.649.2063 or visit Drive4JGR.com. EOE. IMMEDIATE OPENINGS NOW! Home Every Week. Excellent Pay w/Benefits, 100% No Touch Freight, 75% Drop & Hook. Class A CDL w/1 Yr. Exp. Req. Call Today Call 888.219.8039.

WEEKLY HOME TIME For SE Regional! Earn up to $0.45 CPM w/bonuses. Plus $2500 Sign On Bonus! Call 888.408.5275 or SuperServiceLLC.com SAPA THE NAVY IS HIRING Top-notch training, medical/dental, 30 days vacation/yr, $ for school. HS grads ages 17-34. Call Mon-Fri 800.662.7419 APPLE CREEK CAFE Will be holding open interviews on Wed. Dec. 30th and Wed. Jan. 6th from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. both days.

We are hiring cooks, waitstaff and two experienced bartenders. Anyone with experience is encouraged to apply, especially those who worked at Nick & Nates until it closed. Interviews will be held at the restaurant on Main Street.

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

PETS HAYWOOD SPAY/NEUTER 828.452.1329

Prevent Unwanted Litters!

The Heat Is On! Spay/Neuter For Haywood Pets As Low As $10.

Operation Pit is in Effect!

Free Spay/Neuter, Microchip & Vaccines For Haywood Pitbull Types & Mixes!

Hours:

Tuesday-Friday, 12 Noon - 6 pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville, NC.

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT 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 BLUE RIDGE MTNS NCViews, views, views! New 1,300 sf.

2bed/2bath cabin features loft, pict. windows, large stone fpl, huge deck. $154,900.

828.286.2981.

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18 This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All dwellings advertised on an equal opportunity basis.

NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS 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

EMERSON ——————————————

GROUP

ROKER/R /REALTOR EALTOR®® BBROKER

George Escaravage BROKER/REALTOR

mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com www.ncsmokies.com www.ncsmokies.com

PO BOX 54 | 46 SOUTH MAIN STREET WAYNESVILLE | WWW.EMERSONGROUPUS.COM

Cell (828) 226-2298 Cell 2177 Russ Avenue Waynesville NC 28786

44

EMPLOYMENT

828.400.0901 • 828.456.7705 george@emersongroupus.com

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1.800.578.1363 Ext.300N

COMM. PROP. FOR RENT

VACATION RENTALS NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS Winter Vacations Cabins, Condos, Homes. Pets Welcome! Nightly, Weekly & Monthly Rentals. Best Rates! Boone, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock. Foscoe Rentals 800.723.7341 FoscoeRentals.com SAPA

STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT CLIMATE CONTROLLED STORAGE FOR YOU

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by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10â&#x20AC;&#x2122;x10â&#x20AC;&#x2122; units for $55, 20â&#x20AC;&#x2122;x20â&#x20AC;&#x2122; units for $160.

Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.

FOR SALE

CHAMPION SUPPLY Janitorial supplies. Professional cleaning products, vacuums, janitorial paper products, swimming pool chemicals, environmentally friendly chemicals, indoor & outdoor light bulbs, odor elimination products, equipment repair including household vacuums. Free delivery across WNC. www.championsupply.com 800.222.0581, 828.225.1075.

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.

SWITCH & SAVE EVENT From DirecTV! Packages starting at $19.99/mo. Free 3-Months of HBO, STARZ, SHOWTIME & CINEMAX FREE GENIE HD/DVR Upgrade!

2015 NFL Sunday Ticket Included with Select Packages. Some exclusions apply - Call for details 1.800.421.2049 SAPA

MEDICAL A PLACE FOR MOM. The nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest senior living referral service. Contact our trusted, local experts today! Our service is FREE/no obligation. CALL 1.800.319.8705 SAPA ACORN STAIRLIFTS. The Affordable solution to your stairs! **Limited time -$250 Off Your Stairlift Purchase!**Buy Direct & Save. Please call 1.800.211.9233 for Free DVD and brochure. SAPA GOT KNEE PAIN? Back Pain? Shoulder Pain? Get a pain-relieving brace at little or NO cost to you. Medicare Patients Call Health Hotline Now! 1.800.480.7503 SAPA HEALTH INSURANCE IS REQUIRED. You might be paying too much.

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828.506.7137

aspivey@sunburstrealty.com

www.sunburstrealty.com/amy-spivey

Ann Eavenson R B A ESIDENTIAL

ROKER

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Lifestyle Properties â&#x20AC;&#x201D; vistasofwestfield.com Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices â&#x20AC;˘ Margie MacDonald - margie@4smokys.com

SSOCIATE

Beverly Hanks & Associates

ann@beverly-hanks.com

â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

www.beverly-hanks.com

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828.452.5809 office

beverly-hanks.com Michelle McElroy - MichelleMcElroy@beverly-hanks.com Marilynn Obrig - MarilynnObrig@beverly-hanks.com Mike Stamey - MikeStamey@beverly-hanks.com Ellen Sither - EllenSither@beverly-hanks.com Brooke Parrott - BrookeParrott@beverly-hanks.com Randy Flanigan - RandyFlanigan@beverly-hanks.com Pamela Williams - PamelaWilliams@beverly-hanks.com

Emerson Group â&#x20AC;˘ George Escaravage â&#x20AC;&#x201D; gke333@gmail.com

ERA Sunburst Realty â&#x20AC;&#x201D; sunburstrealty.com â&#x20AC;˘ Amy Spivey â&#x20AC;&#x201D; sunburstrealty.com

Commitment, consistency, results.

Haywood Properties â&#x20AC;&#x201D; haywoodproperties.com â&#x20AC;˘ Steve Cox â&#x20AC;&#x201D; info@haywoodproperties.com Keller Williams Realty kellerwilliamswaynesville.com â&#x20AC;˘ Sam Hopkins â&#x20AC;&#x201D; samhopkins.kwrealty.com

Carolyn Lauter Broker/ABR 1986 SOCO ROAD, HWY 19 â&#x20AC;˘ MAGGIE VALLEY, NC 28751

828.734.4822 Cell â&#x20AC;˘ www.carolynlauter.com carolyn.lauter@realtyworldheritage.com

325-01

Lakeshore Realty â&#x20AC;˘ Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

Mountain Home Properties $GM GMMD DFHQ QW WR :D :D\QHVVY YLOO OOOHH &RX XQWU\ QWU &OXE X 9LLLVVX 9LVXDO 9 XDO D 7 7RRXU DW 7RXU D VVKDPUR VKDP KDPURFN FRP RRFN FRP

mountaindream.com â&#x20AC;˘ Sammie Powell â&#x20AC;&#x201D; smokiesproperty.com

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management â&#x20AC;˘ Bruce McGovern â&#x20AC;&#x201D; shamrock13.com

Realty World Heritage Realty

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realtyworldheritage.com â&#x20AC;˘ Carolyn Lauter realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7766 â&#x20AC;˘ Martha Sawyer realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7769

RE/MAX â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Mountain Realty

MOUNTAIN REALTY Steve D. Mauldin smauldin61@charter.net

828.734.4864 MOUNTAIN REALTY 26 North Main Street Waynesville, NC 28785

828.564.9393

â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

remax-waynesvillenc.com | remax-maggievalleync.com Brian K. Noland â&#x20AC;&#x201D; brianknoland.com Mieko Thomson â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ncsmokies.com The Morris Team â&#x20AC;&#x201D; maggievalleyproperty.com The Real Team â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the-real-team.com Ron Breese â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ronbreese.com Dan Womack â&#x20AC;&#x201D; womackdan@aol.com Catherine Proben â&#x20AC;&#x201D; cp@catherineproben.com

smokymountainnews.com

BORING/CARPENTER BEE TRAPS No Chemicals, Poisons or Anything to Harm the Environment.

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Haywood County Real Estate Agents 325-06

OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT Approx. 450 sq. ft., Kitchenette with Microwave, Sink and Undercounter Fridge. 2 Seperate areas for 2 Offices and a Storage Room in Back. All Heat, AC & Util. are Included at $695/mo. High Traffic Area at 850 N. Main St. Waynesville. Contact Sharon 828.421.8812

ENTERTAINMENT

SFR, ECO, GREEN

WNC MarketPlace

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TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com 45

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Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016

WNC MarketPlace

Super

46

A COMMON THREAD

CROSSWORD 79 Pickle juice 82 Brisket dish 85 Toll rds.

86 War fronts 89 Pale yellow 91 LPs’ supplanters 92 Indiana basketballer 93 Weapon used with a quiver 98 Lay siege to 101 Nickname of Israel’s Netanyahu 102 Corals, e.g.

103 Incorrect inference 108 Not many 109 Really vexed 110 Watched 111 Like some 53Acrosses 114 - II (razor brand) 115 Theme of this puzzle 121 Undertaking 122 Emerson’s middle name 123 Off the mark 124 “El -” (1961 epic) 125 1974 CIA spoof film 126 “- right with the world!”

127 Take care of 128 Hospital trauma ctrs.

ups 11 Dominant theme ACROSS 12 Sister in “Three 1 Madison Ave. products Sisters” 4 Stocking-cap dangler 13 “What am - think?”

10 Year the U.S. declared 14 007 creator Fleming war on Iraq 15 “Nothing Compares 2 15 Store lure U” singer O’Connor 19 Perfecta, e.g.

16 Provides with furnish20 Residence-based ings 21 Vital vessel 17 Stoops 22 Pastry decorator 18 Rub off 23 Easily seen contrast 24 Like many a British 26 March Madness gp. bishop 27 Musical inaptitude 25 Beatty and Romero 28 Poet’s Ireland 29 “Pale” brew 29 Near-eternities 30 Ad - committee 30 - Kong 32 Agatha Christie’s “A 31 Encore elicitor Pocket Full -” 37 Ominous last words 33 Geller of spoon-bend40 Frizzy dos, for short ing 41 No longer fazed by 34 Trio after M 42 “Blondie” or “Beetle 35 Hockey disk Bailey” 36 Frat letters 44 Italian for “friends” 38 Kind of oar 47 A Gabor sister 39 Twisty path 49 Very easy, as a job 43 Person held in bondage 50 Absent looks 44 Quickly, in a score 53 Transferable design 45 Alluring West 56 Upsized or downsized 46 Jaipur locale 59 Iraq’s only port city 48 Tight - drum 60 “Anne of -” (1909 50 Flags novel) DOWN 51 Conan O’Brien’s net62 English composer 1 Alphabet starter work Thomas 2 “Traffic” co-star Benicio 52 Ooh and 63 “Would that it were 3 “Ms.” co-founder Gloria 53 Beaver’s construction true!”

4 Pit stop item 54 Night before 66 Nation south of the U.S. 5 “Shave - haircut ...”

55 Racing boat steerer 67 Jack or king 6 Bake in a shallow dish, 57 Articulate 70 Tree with red berrylike as eggs 58 Beastie fruit 7 Urgent call 61 MPG-rating org.

73 River ducks 8 911 VIP 64 Unfortunate sort 75 Garr of “Oh, God!” 9 Maui gift 65 Photo badges, e.g.

76 Adopt 10 Lens used for close68 Jellied dish

69 Covert U.S. org.

70 Laugh loudly 71 Siam or Japan suffix 72 Film director Craven 73 It blasts 74 Slippery fish 77 Lead-in to dactyl 78 Nashville amusement park of the 1970s-’90s 79 Programme broadcaster 80 Police setup to catch speeders 81 1977 Linda Ronstadt hit 83 Smackeroo 84 Prefix with economic 87 Grand tale 88 French composer Edouard 90 Cool, to a 1940s cat 93 Sue Grafton’s “- for Alibi” 94 Baseball stat 95 Via coercion 96 Alfresco 97 Nashville-to-Memphis dir.

99 Mini-meals 100 G-man, e.g.

101 Good friends 103 Bulb units 104 Playwright Eugene O’105 Singer Lauper 106 Kids’ bricks 107 Battery type 112 Angry talk 113 Savvy about 115 It had a hub at JFK 116 “Into the Wild” actor Holbrook 117 Despite that 118 Cuprite, e.g.

119 Tea vessel 120 Dict. entries

answers on page 42

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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 42

48

Smoky Mountain News Dec. 30-Jan. 5, 2016