Capital at Play April 2016

Beau Martin & Brandi Morrow

Autumn Woodward

Pick a Peck of Pickles p.12

A Touching Practice p.62

The Free Spirit Of Enterprise

colu m ns

What Not To Pair

Food & Wine Pairing Disasters and How to Avoid Them. p.54

Flexible Leasing Entrepreneurs have different workspace challenges. p.70

Sport OF

Kings

Passion, hobby, and business for Jeff Curtis

p. 44

Volume VI - Edition IV complimentary edition

capitalatplay.com

April 2016

The BMW X3

bmwofasheville.com

CRUISE THE ROAD. OR THE WEB. THE BMW X3.

Get away. Stay connected. Now it’s easier than ever with optional ConnectedDrive Services, Real Time Traffic Information, and apps like Twitter and Spotify.*

Special lease and finance offers will be available through BMW Financial Services.

BMW of Asheville | 649 New Airport Road | Fletcher, NC 28732 | 828-681-9900 | bmwofasheville.com

Experience the Difference. *Twitter and Spotify are trademarked brands. All rights and regulations apply. ©2016 BMW of North America, LLC. The BMW name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.

2

| April 2016

B:11.375” T:10.875”

S:10.125”

Bank Local.

You choose to live, work and shop locally. Doesn’t it make sense to turn to your neighborhood bank to help you realize your dreams for a fuller life?

First Bank is a full-service bank with the emphasis on “service”, by providing local decisions and local faces.

I N CLUDI N G

PERSONAL BANKING BUSINESS BANKING MORTGAGE SERVICES WEALTH MANAGEMENT

LEARN MORE AT

LOCALFIRSTBANK.COM A SHE V ILLE DOW N TOW N 828-252-1735 LE ICE STE R 828- 251- 9254 | ASHEVILLE SO UTH 828-687-7450 Equal Housing Lender | Member April 2016FDIC| capitalatplay.com

3

70

TickeTs ON sale NOw!

6 1 20

Editor’s Thoughts

saturday, may 7, 2016

•

at fence

•

tryon, nc

Artwork by Laurie Sullivan

Buy Tickets Online Now BlockHouseRaces.com Entry to the races is by the carload.

All patrons must have a reserved parking space.

All proceeds benefit Tryon Riding & Hunt Club, a non-profit organization

Feature Race Sponsor

Amateur Race Sponsors

ft

4

n li

Media Sponsors

If all that change worries you, however, never fear; we have just the ticket. Again, literally: Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find our tribute to a mostly bygone era, the railroad, which in its time was also a powerful force of change, one which shaped the entire region in so many ways that its arrival was arguably the single most significant event in modern history for Western North Carolina. In 2016, a number of railroad-themed attractions are available throughout the area, and judging by the comments of some of the train enthusiasts around here, this represents more than just a chance to partake of some retro-themed fun—it’s a much needed escape and release.

The evolution will continue, of course. To quote author Cormac McCarthy, you can’t stop what’s comin’. But you can make yourself aware of it, and become part of the discussion.

In that regard, we hope that we are doing our part to help bring you into it. All aboard.

Fred Mills

O

Bu y

Lingerfelt Landscape Management Services

Just the same, news out of Asheville still tends to dominate any regional discussion and probably always will, given its central location and cultural/business hub status. Which makes, in a sense, our Local Industry feature this issue a kind of journalistic metaphor: If you turn to the photo spread on pages 24-25 you’ll see a recent shot of the Asheville skyline, and you’ll also notice how massive construction cranes dominate that skyline. Change is literally in the air here—architectural, financial, cultural, even the intangibles of aesthetics—so we felt it was appropriate to examine some of the ramifications of the current building boom, in particular the numerous hotels that are in the works, given how those will directly impact everything from tourism to downtown parking access to longtime residents’ evolving opinion of their city.

Sincerely,

bee

ne

a

r

cr

Race Sponsors

M

ost of you know that Capital at Play is based in Asheville, but the magazine’s purview extends to the 18 counties that comprise the Western North Carolina region, and we intend to always do our best to cover the people and businesses throughout the area.

Ti c k ets

| April 2016

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

5

The Free Spirit Of Enterprise

publisher

Classic Wicker

Oby Morgan associate publisher

Jeffrey Green managing editor

Fred Mills briefs and events editor

Leslee Kulba

Traditional outdoor wicker furniture, originally designed using the diamond back pattern with a braided frame, and generous proportions for total comfort. Classic features a high back and wide arms accentuated by our ball foot in UV resistant woven N-dura™ resin and aluminum frame.

copy editors

Dasha O. Morgan, Brenda Murphy contributing writers & photogr aphers

Emily Ballard, Thomas Calder, Anthony Harden, John Kerr, Roger McCredie, Craig Melby, Marla Hardee Milling, Jason Sandford, Arthur Treff

Regent

gr aphic designer

Bonnie Roberson marketing & advertising David Morgan, Katrina Morgan, Pat Starnes Club Aluminum

Information & Inquiries

Featuring a contemporary woven design, Regent combines generous proportions and delicate curves.

This collection is constructed using our patented N-dura™ Resin, intricately twisted across the back and arms of the frame creating a unique pattern.

As distinguished as the name implies, Regent was designed with slightly broader arms for comfortable lounge seating. Easily paired with multiple existing collections, relax in a collection as transitional as it is timeless.

gener al advertising inquiries

e-mail advertising@capitalatplay.com or call 828.274.7305 for subscription information

Regent

subscribe online at www.capitalatplay.com or call 828.274.7305

M

for editorial inquiries

l

ive rs a

Un

l

rs a

ive

Un

UM ia

ed

M

ia

ed

M

| April 2016

e

M

This magazine is printed with soy based ink on recycled paper. Please recycle.

UM UniversalMedia

Copyright © 2016, Universal Media Inc. All rights reserved.

Capital At Play is a trademark of Universal Media, Inc.

UM Universal

Media

6

M

U n ive rs al

Mon. - Sat. 9am - 5:30pm TysonFurniture.com

M

l

(828) 669-5000

Un ive rs a

BLACK MOUNTAIN

UM

109 BROADWAY

e

dia ia selected and produced Editorial contentdis because of its interest to our readership. Editorial content is not for sale and cannot be bought. Capital At Play is financially sustained by advertisers who find value in exposure alongside our unique content and with the readers who follow it.

U

M

M

U

e-mail editor@capitalatplay.com

Published by Universal Media Inc. PO Box 5615, Asheville, NC. 28813

U

Capital At Play is protec ted through Tr ademar k Regis tr ation in the United States. The content found within this publication does not necessar ily ref lec t the views of Univer sal Media , Inc. and its companies. Univer sal Media , Inc. and its employees are not liable for any adver tising or editor ial content found in Capital At Play. The ar ticles, photogr aphy, and illus tr ations found in Capital at Play may not be reproduced or used in any fashion without express wr it ten consent by Univer sal Media , Inc.

U

YOUR WHOLE WORLD IN

EXPERT HANDS

We do Estate Planning.

We do it Well.

Estate Planning/Asset Protection and Business Succession Planning Lawyers

Licensed in North Carolina, Florida & South Carolina 77 Central Avenue, Suite F Asheville, NC 28801 828-258-0994

104 N. Washington Street Hendersonville, NC 28739 828-696-1811

http://strausslaw.com

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

7

Look what’s

SHOPPING: aabani Salon Biltmore Village Bette Ladies Clothing Bohême blue jewelry Bon Vivant Co (Antiques & Interiors) Brooks Brothers Chico’s Estate Jewelry, Ltd. Gardener’s Cottage J. Crew Jos. A. Bank Clothiers lululemon athletica Monkee’s (Ladies Clothing) Mtn Merch

Origami Ink Luxury Stationer & Gallery Palm Village - A Lilly Pulitzer Signature Store Porter & Prince Fine Linens Posedian Spa Southern Highland Craft Gallery Spa at Biltmore Village Style

Blooming this Spring!

Surface Gallery Talbots Turner & Scott Village Antiques & Interiors White House Black Market William and Grace (Children’s Clothing) Williams-Sonoma Yummi Yarns

RESTAURANTS: Appalachian Vintner, Wine, Beer, and Local Market The Cantina Catawba Brewing Company Tasting House The Corner Kitchen Fig Bistro Ichiban Japanese

Red Stag Grill Rezaz Restaurant & Enoteca Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse TGI Friday’s Village Wayside Bar & Grill ACCOMMODATIONS: Baymont Inn & Suites Biltmore Village Inn Biltmore Village Lodge

Clarion Inn & Suites DoubleTree Biltmore Hotel Grand Bohemian Hotel Posh Boutique Hotel Residence Inn Biltmore

by Marriott SERVICES: Carolina Mountain Sales Gray Line Trolley Mountain Oak Properties Real Estate Services

ww.historicbiltmorevillage.com www.facebook.com/biltmorevillage

Village Shops Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10AM-6PM Sundays 12PM-5PM

8

| April 2016

info@biltmorepropertygroup.com • 828-398-6854

National Retailers Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10AM-7PM Sundays 12PM-5PM

this page :

Beau Martin of Green River Picklers, gets in a pickle, photo by Anthony Harden

F E AT U R E S vol. vi

12

PICK A PECK OF PICKLES

BEAU MARTIN & BRANDI MORROW

ed. iv

44

SPORT OF KINGS JEFF CURTIS

62 A TOUCHING PRACTICE

AUTUMN WOODWARD

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

9

C ON T EN T S a p r i l 2 016

L cl ass is in session at BMW’s driving school photo by Anthony Harden

23

34

78

Reach For the Sky

Railroad Redux

The rise, fall, and return of trains in Western North Carolina.

My GPA Gets Calculated in RPMs

briefs

p e o p l e at p l ay

lo c a l i n d u s t r y

Asheville’s current hotel construction boom and its implications.

colu m ns

54 W hat Not To Pair

Food and Wine Pairing Disasters and the Simple Steps to Avoid Them.

Written by John Kerr

70 F lexible Leasing

l e i s u r e & l i b at i o n

30 Carolina in the West 58 The Old North State 74 National & World News

Modern entrepreneurs have a new set of workspace challenges.

Written by Craig Melby

on the cover :

Jeff Curtis and one of his hunting falcons, photo by Anthony Harden.

10

| April 2016

c a p i ta l a d v e n t u r i s t

Capital at Play goes to BMW’s driving school.

88 The Mountain BizWorks

ScaleUp WNC Kickoff at Highland Brewing Co.

events

90 Welcome to Spring

From American bluegrass to African blues; from chamber recitals to poetry festivals; from Spring Fest and A Capella Fest to Merlefest and a Cheese Fest: Get out and do something!

Applying for for jobs and hiring employees can be andtime time Applying Applying jobs Applying for jobs and hiring and hiring employees employees be candifficult difficult be difficult and for timeand time jobs Applying for jobs and hiringcan employees can be and difficult consuming.

But, with Express Employment Professionals, finding consuming. consuming.

But, consuming.

But, with with Express Express Employment Employment Professionals, Professionals, finding finding findingBut, w consuming.

But, with Express Employment Professionals, the right jobright or filling right position is Express your the right the job or the job filling orthe filling the right thefilling right position right position iseasy. easy. is easy.

Express Express isisyour job is your is your or fill the right job or the right position is easy.

Express one-stop shop for employment, recruiters one-stop one-stop shop one-stop shop for employment, forshop employment, andour our andprofessional professional our and professional recruiters shop for one-stop forand employment, our recruiters professional recruiters havehave thehave solutions tothe meet the solutions thehave solutions to meet toyour meet yourneeds. your needs. needs. the solutions have solutions to meet your needs.

Call,Call, come in,come or go online today toonline Call, come in,Call, orin, go oronline go in, online today tosee see towhat come what see what in, or g Call, come or gotoday today to see what Express cancan do Express forfor you.

Express Express do can doyou. for can do fo Express canyou. do for you.

Positions include: Positions Positions include: include: Positions include: Positions include: • Accounting • Accounting • Accounting • Accounting• Accounting • Engineering • Engineering • Engineering • Engineering • Engineering • Administrative • Administrative • Administrative • Administrative • Administrative • Commercial • Commercial • Commercial • Commercial • Commercial

(828) 654-8101 (828) (828) 654-8101 654-8101 (828) 654-8101 (828) 654-8101 1979 Hendersonville RdRdSuite 1979 1979 Hendersonville Hendersonville 1979 Suite Rd B Suite B Rd B Suite B Henderson 1979 Hendersonville Asheville, NCNC 28803 Asheville, Asheville, 28803 NC Asheville, 28803 NC 28 Asheville, NC 28803

source: source: American Staffing Association American source: American Staffing Association Staffing source: Association source: American Staffing Association

American

Staffing

Associa

ashevillenc.expresspros.com ashevillenc.expresspros.com ashevillenc.expresspros.com ashevillenc.expressp ashevillenc.expresspros.com April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

11

PICK A PECK OF

PICKLES Beau Martin and Brandi Morrow tap into a family tradition to yield some of the tastiest products in the region.

12

written by marl a hardee milling photos by anthony harden | April 2016

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

13

B

Beau Martin couldn’t get enough of one particular taste sensation when he was a boy.

He could gobble up a jar of his grandfather’s famous spicy green tomatoes in one sitting. Since his granddad, David Martin, Sr., only made 10 jars or so a year, he knew he had to take some drastic steps to fuel his addiction. Around age 14, he asked for the recipe and began making his own.

Today, Martin and his fiancée, Brandi Morrow, keep that family tradition alive by producing limited edition batches of Dave’s Spicy Green Tomatoes, seasonal specialties (like pickled ramps and watermelon rinds, relishes and chow chow), along with a line-up of seven regular offerings—Willy’s Dilly’s dill pickles, Spicy Appalachian Okra, Blue Ridge Beets, Tuxedo Beans, Southern Sweeties, The Narrows, and MF’s Jalapenos.

They sell at area tailgate markets and festivals, as well as to select stores and restaurants.

The name of the pair’s Weaverville-based business, Green River Picklers, pays further homage to Beau’s roots—he grew up in Tuxedo in the Green River fire district of Henderson County—and they also chose regional names or family names for their products. (For example, MF’s Jalapenos refers to a “Mary Francis.” One that may not be immediately recognizable is “The Narrows.” This sweet and spicy pickle is named for a grueling part of the Green River favored by daredevil kayakers.

It’s known as the “bread and butter” run of the Asheville area Class V paddling scene.) Meanwhile, Brandi grew up in West Asheville as a seventh generation resident of Western North Carolina. Their roots run deep in these mountains and they understand the importance of producing products that are well connected to locally grown produce and area farmers. They have a variety of farmers they source produce from, but they also buy up left-overs at the tailgate markets.

“Our goal is to only source local, but garlic is tough for us,” says Brandi. “When it’s coming in locally, it’s a lot to process.”

“There’s a lot of work in peeling garlic. It will burn your hands.

It’s the only thing we get from California,” says Beau. “We’d like to do a pickled garlic just by itself and that would highlight the local garlic. Instead of being an ingredient, it would be the whole jar.”

Born to Pickle Beau says he has always had his hands in the food. While he learned how to make the spicy green tomatoes from his paternal grandfather, he also soaked up kitchen techniques by watching and helping his maternal Italian grandmother.

14

| April 2016

“He’s the only one who can roll the dough for the ravioli like his grandma,” says Brandi.

Beau spent 15 years as a chef in establishments as varied as the Grove Park Inn and Waffle House, additionally serving as a live-in/on-call chef for a boutique hotel in Costa Rica and working as a private cook for a team of professional skateboarders.

All along, though, he thought of starting his own business, and he already had an understanding of pickling. He was working at Roots Hummus in the River Arts District of Asheville when he met Brandi. “Once we were together for six months, I knew I had a partner who would go at it with me,” he recalls.

As it turns out, Beau had recently inherited $20,000 worth of Walmart, and Coca-Cola stock from his grandmother, so he decided to use that as seed money to begin the business. “I boycott Walmart and I try not to support Coca-Cola for what they’ve done around the world,” explains Beau, “so I promptly sold the stock. I bought a travel trailer for $10,000 and used the remaining $10,000 to go to ‘pickle school,’ buy some equipment, a couple pallets of jars, and file papers for the business.”

They began some initial test runs in Tuxedo, with Beau’s family, then moved to a shared use kitchen, formerly known as Grow Down Home Kitchen, in Black Mountain when they were ready to start producing products for sale. They were in that space with other producers like Imladris Jams, Fire on the Mountain hot sauce, and a couple of food trucks who used it as their commissary.

“It was great for all the folks at our level—just starting out or just wanting to scale products locally,” says Brandi. “None of us were thinking about our products nationally so it was nice to have a cheap option to start a business, and then we benefited from all the networking and connections and ideas and suggestions that we would get from one another.”

“Black Mountain is a hub for free thinkers,” Beau adds.

They began selling at the tailgate market in Black Mountain in 2012, and then branched out to include the Asheville City Market on Charlotte Street, the North Asheville tailgate market on the campus of UNC Asheville, and the TD Market in Greenville, South Carolina. Beau’s mother also sells at the Flat Rock tailgate market on Thursdays.

“We used to do more weekday markets,” says Brandi, “but we started to stretch ourselves too thin. It’s hard to be at the markets and be able to make the pickles when the produce comes in.”

Customers also find Green River Picklers in a variety of artisan markets, shops, and restaurants around Western North Carolina. That includes Duncan & York, the Fresh Quarter in the Grove Arcade, and French Broad Co-Op, all in Asheville, Food Matters in Brevard, Montgomery Street Market in Waynesville, Trout Lily in Fairview, Black Mountain’s Roots & Fruits Organic Market and Town Hardware, and Hendersonville Co-op.

be au martin and br andi morrow

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

15

e ach jar is hand filled.

a bay le af goes into

every jar of pickles.

Their products are also in three Southern Season stores in Raleigh, the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge, and several stores in Knoxville. In addition, they are working this year to build a distribution route in Charlotte and Gastonia. They believe in “full truck in, full truck out” so they team up with other companies to deliver their products.

“The idea for them to deliver for us hasn’t come to fruition,” says Beau, “but we’ve been making deliveries and charging 10% of the total invoice. We’re basically just doing it now for people who contact us who know we have a van and we’re going that way.”

“When we go to Charlotte to deliver to some retailers, we pick up Uncle Scott’s Root Beer at their warehouse and bring it here,” says Brandi.

“Let’s say the Knoxville Co-op orders pickles and root beer; we take it there. We’re also trying to help get the other in stores they aren’t in. So if I’m already delivering pickles here or they’re delivering root beer here, then we try to get the other in there.”

Beau and Brandi have also been talking with Ingles, Earth Fare, and Harris Teeter about getting in select stores. If everything goes according to plan, Beau says they expect to soon be in 10 Ingles stores, a few Earth Fares, and three Harris Teeter locations.

They’re also moving more food service buckets in restaurants.

Currently, Homegrown, Bonfire BBQ, City Bakery, and Foothills Butchery are putting in the largest orders among restaurants.

A not her bi g d r aw, for those flying in and out of the Asheville Regional Airport, is finding Green River Picklers’ products there.

“If we have tourists who visit us at the tailgate market, they can’t take them through the airport,” explains Brandi.

“But once they pass through security, they can buy them at the airport store. Tourists are buying a lot of our jalapenos at the airport.”

Getting into the airport was a bit of serendipity, as one of the managers for Paradies (a company that operate kiosks in more

Beau and Brandi appreciate the Western North Carolina connections they have with their business, from sourcing locally grown produce, to enlisting the help of family and friends, to getting connected with the land.

16

| April 2016

栀愀渀搀挀爀愀昀琀攀搀 漀渀攀ⴀ漀昀ⴀ愀ⴀ欀椀渀搀 猀漀甀琀栀攀爀渀 氀甀砀甀爀礀

戀氀甀攀 昀氀愀琀 椀爀漀渀 戀甀椀氀搀椀渀最

than 80 airports in the United States) tasted the pickles at a local market and asked Brandi and Beau to send samples to the corporate office in Atlanta. They were actually in Atlanta when that request came in, so they delivered samples in person.

“They order from us about once a month,” says Beau. “Right now we’re just in the Asheville Airport, but we’re opening up talks to be in other airports, including Greensboro and Charlotte. They are the big ones we want to push for.”

戀氀甀攀最漀氀搀猀洀椀琀栀猀⸀挀漀洀 㠀㈀㠀⸀㈀㜀㜀⸀㈀㔀㠀㌀

戀椀氀琀洀漀爀攀 瘀椀氀氀愀最攀

Staying Connected There’s a string art map of North Carolina hanging in their office that Brandi made for Beau and it shows a small triangle with points at Asheville, Brevard, and Tuxedo. When the map is mentioned, Beau quickly rolls up his right sleeve to reveal a similar design on his arm. His tattoo features the outline of the state, again with the triangle emphasizing the area that is closest to his heart.

Beau and Brandi appreciate the Western North Carolina connections they have with their business, from sourcing locally grown produce, to enlisting the help of family and friends, to getting connected with the land as they venture this year into growing some of their own spices and peppers. In August of 2014, they located a home for themselves and their business, and they’re getting ready to plow up a small garden.

61 Weaver Blvd, Weaverville, NC 28787 ✆828.645.8811 1888 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC 28803 ✆828.676.0047 3340 Boylston Hwy, Mills River, NC 28759 ✆828.891.4545 April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

17

orders ready to

be shipped.

The two had been living for a year in that travel trailer Beau had bought with his inheritance and spent a summer at the base of Mount Pisgah without electricity or water. (Beau: “It was a 2010 Keystone Hideout travel trailer.

We pulled it into the middle of the woods and built a little deck around it. I could turn on the generator and plug in our incinerator toilet—it burns the matter—they use them on sailboats and things like that.”)

They drove to the shared use kitchen in Black Mountain to make the pickles, but with high gas prices at the time and the need to be more efficient, they scanned offerings on the Western North Carolina Commercial Property Exchange. They moved to a house in Oakley, where they shared the rent with a roommate to keep expenses low while they continued their business and kept searching for their own production facility.

They had intended to find a place closer to Beau’s family home in Tuxedo, but efforts to find what they were looking for in Fletcher or Arden didn’t pan out. They ultimately landed on a 5,000-square-foot building on seven acres just off the Flat Creek Exit of Northern Buncombe County near Weaverville. Not only did it have a ready to use building for pickle production, there’s also a brick house where they can live, a barn, and open land.

The business is located on the former site of a Greek Orthodox Church, and they are leasing to own the property from St. Nicholas Brotherhood of Theotokos, notes Brandi. “We looked at a lot of properties, and a lot we looked at are now leased by some sort of production— cider and beer. Any other buildings we saw of this size were all raw and unfinished, but this building was finished. They had already planned on making a commercial kitchen [in the church] so it was ready to become that.

We didn’t have to frame it out. We just had to do a little plumbing and electric.”

After about two years into running their business, they sought private investments from family and friends to expand. Once they secured their new property, they also ran a successful Kickstarter campaign that provided funding to get through the transition period while they finished the kitchen space and walk-in cooler, and to purchase a van for direct deliveries. Six of their Kickstarter backers will get quarterly shipments all year, 18

| April 2016

no machines here , even the lids are sealed by hand.

so that will aid them in learning the best shipping methods as they work to beef up online sales.

“When we got this space, I already had 60 or 70% of the equipment we needed,” says Beau. “I would buy it when I spotted it cheap on Craigslist—things like sinks and stainless steel tables and racks. It slowly accumulated over the course of a couple of years. It was just scrounging around and making it work.”

There are actually remnants of the worship that took place in the converted church. As Beau and Brandi lead a tour through the various rooms—including an office, storage rooms, walk-in cooler, employee lounge, bathrooms, and commercial kitchen—they finally come to closed wooden doors that open to reveal what was once the church’s chapel.

Looking around this large room, there are frequent big white circles punctuating the outlying blue paint detailing where art work had once hung.

“They had over $100,000 worth of art that they came in here and removed,” remembers Brandi.

“They were painted on canvas and glued to the walls,” adds Beau. “So they peeled it all off and then rented it.”

Right now, this former chapel serves as a storage area and they even rent space to some other businesses, but they have a vision for what this area will eventually become: a tasting area. They don’t expect it to become a public gathering spot, but instead will be used for private events.

They also have a food truck that they take on the road.

“We’re looking at taking our food trailer once a month to some of the breweries like Highland and Green Man,”

says Brandi. They sell a variety of things from jars of their products, from fried pickles to burgers with pickles.

Brandi and Beau aren’t afraid of long hours to build their business and achieve their goals. As Beau quips, “You haven’t even started working until you’ve hit 12 hours.” They both devote full-time hours to running Green River Picklers, but it doesn’t stop there. Brandi is taking online classes through Western Carolina University, with three semesters left to graduate with a degree in business administration and law.

For his part, Beau has had many part-time jobs that have run simultaneously with operating his own business. He spends time doing catering for events and has worked for a countertop business doing heavy lifting. “I still occasionally work at Homegrown on Merrimon Avenue,” he says. “I’m number one on their emergency call list as a line cook, as well as coordinating and running festivals with them. I also save my cans and take them to the scrap yard. That’s always good for a tank of gas.”

Best Laid Plans The current production schedule requires about four days for making pickles. Sometimes, especially in season, they are running two shifts 8AM to 5PM and 5PM to 10 or 11PM. Fridays are spent prepping for markets and/or festivals, and then they may spend time doing some vegetable prep on Sunday nights as well.

Okra is the number one best seller followed by the beets and Willy’s Dilly’s, but sales can fluctuate for no apparent April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 19

reason. “We’ll sell a lot of everything, but just when we say ‘Oh those beans aren’t really selling that well,’ the next time we turn around we’re out of beans,” says Beau. “It’s really hard to say why one product goes more than another at a certain event.

It really depends on the people. If they grew up eating pickled beans, they’ll buy that.”

They’ve also learned to expect the unexpected.

“Once you think you know all the back-up plans, there’s always something you didn’t think of that’s going to happen.

There’s only so much planning you can do, because reality still happens,” says Brandi.

Case in point: An unexpected setback came last summer when they had an issue with their jar manufacturer and supplier.

“They were on backorder for almost three months,” she notes.

“They are the only manufacturer of Kerr Jars—the wide mouth, flat sided, made in America.”

Adds Beau, “There are probably other companies that would have seen that obstacle and thought, ‘Okay, great, we can start using cheaper jars now,’ but we didn’t do that. We waited it out.

We wanted to use that jar.”

“We tried using Ball jars, but we couldn’t put our label on them correctly,” Brandi continues. “It set us back a little bit, but getting to the end of 2015 and comparing it to 2014, even

with two months of not selling any wholesale, we did better than the year before. That was a surprise.”

The company is poised for exponential growth this year and expects to sell close to 90 cases a week in season. “I think Brandi will actually get a paycheck this year,” says Beau. “I still won’t, but I’m the sole member of the LLC. I don’t get a paycheck, I get profits. The way I like to spend money when I have it, there won’t be any profits, but I have a new tool in the kitchen to make my life easier.”

“Every year we put all of the profit back into the business,” says Brandi.

Moving Forward Green River Picklers has a small crew of people who work with them, but one thing is a requirement: Everyone has to make pickles, even if they’re the graphic designer or salesperson.

“You have to eat them, too,” laughs Beau. “That’s the trouble I have with one employee. He’ll eat a cheeseburger—just the cheese, meat, and bread. I say, ‘Come on man, put a pickle on it.’ If you make pickles, you’ve gotta like to eat them.”

“We’ve definitely taught a lot of people how to make pickles,” says Brandi.

Friends Forever!

And now celebrating 13 years in business together We use supply-and-demand technical charting to help us manage risk and determine not only what to buy and sell but when. This is a sensible and disciplined approach to investing that allows us to react unemotionally to rising and falling markets and to the news or media noise of the day.

White Oak can design and manage your personal investment and income planning strategies. Please call — we might just be the right fit for you.

Priestley Cummings Ford and Laura Cummings McCue

828.274.7844 20

| April 2016

|

info@wofm.us

| www.WhiteOakFinancialManagement.com

And they hope to teach even more. One big goal is to make their business employee owned. “If we could grow it to the point of having a couple people on staff full-time in a salaried position, they could eventually start buying their way into it and taking on more leadership roles,” says Beau. “Already this year we’re looking for someone to take the burden off of me making

“We’ve also tossed around the idea of becoming the people who make the vinegar that we sell to Green River Picklers. If Green River Picklers was up and running as its own entity and people reported to us that everything is going smoothly, then we could concentrate on making one of the products that Green River Picklers already has to buy.”

They’ve also explored options regarding how big they want the company to grow. “We would never want to distribute pickles on the West Coast,” says Brandi, “but if it went well, we could replicate this idea out west and distribute from there.”

“It would be a reverse New Belgium” says Beau. “Doing well here and then moving to Colorado and starting grassroots and building it up again.”

Another big goal is finding time amid all the pickling to get married. Beau and Brandi got engaged at New Year’s, but when the “I Do’s” will take place is still up in the air. Of course, there’s a former chapel just steps away from their commercial kitchen. Maybe it will be the first event in their new tasting room.

“Once you think you know all the back-up plans, there’s always something you didn’t think of that’s going to happen. There’s only so much planning you can do because reality still happens.” pickles so I can make more deliveries. Hopefully we’ll find the right person and see how long it takes to build a company that would consider itself employee owned and have the right kind of employees to understand that position and work in it. I think it’s going to be a tough thing to do, but that’s the goal for sure.

for all your

BEACHSIDE OCCASIONS

One All Souls Crescent • Historic Biltmore Village Asheville, NC • 828.505.8140 • www.shoppalmvillage.com www.facebook.com/Palm.Village.Asheville April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

21

carry a wide selection sportcoats made WeWecarry a wide selection of of sportcoats made with thethe finest materials andand constructed with finest materials constructed with a tailored fit.fit. with a tailored

ASHEVILLE: ASHEVILLE: Historic Biltmore Village Historic Biltmore Village 9 Kitchin Place 9 Kitchin Place 828-274-2630 828-274-2630

22

| April 2016

STORE HOURS: STORE HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-7pm Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-7pm Sat.Sat. 9:30am-6pm 9:30am-6pm Sun. 12pm-5pm Sun. 12pm-5pm

GENERAL ELEVATION NOTES FOR HISTORIC BUILDINGS:

local industry

MASONRY CLEANING: CLEANING OF EXTERIOR MASONRY WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED USING THE GENTLEST MEANS POSSIBLE WITHOUT DAMAGING THE SURFACE OF THE MASONRY. THIS WORK MUST BE ACCOMPLISHED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE GUIDANCE PROVIDED IN PRESERVATION BRIEF 1: ASSESSING,CLEANING,3&4 AND WATER-REPELLENT TREATMENTS FOR HISTORIC MASONRY A300A BUILDINGS. SPECIFICATIONS AND TEST CLEANING SAMPLES WILL BE REVIEWED AND APPROVED

BY THE STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE (HPO) BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THIS WORK. GOOD QUALITY OVER ALL AND CLOSE-UP COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE MASONRY BEFORE AND AFTER CLEANING TO BE SUBMITTED WITH THE REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATION OF COMPLETED WORK.

1&2 A300A

PAINT OVER HISTORIC WOOD: REMOVE PAINT, LOOSE WOOD, AND OTHER FOREIGN MATERIALS

LOW PROFILE ELEVATOR PENTHOUSE & STAIRWAY ACCESS TO SUITE. ALL ROOF TOP SIDING MATERIALS TO BE METAL SIDING PANELS WITH WHITE OR NON-REFLECTIVE FINISH TO MATCH ROOFING MATERIAL.

FROM FACE OF CEILING AND CLEAN TO BARE WOOD. REMOVE ANY ROTTEN WOOD AND PREPARE ANY OTHER DAMAGE FOR PATCH AND REPAIR. SEE SPECS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. DOORS TO BE REMOVED BUT RETAINED FOR REUSE: DOOR TO BE RESTORED: REMOVE EXISTING 3&4 DOOR IN ITS ENTIRETY AND PRESERVE AND PROTECT FOR RESTORATION. IF PART OF A WALL IS A300A TO BE DEMOLISHED, INVENTORY FOR POSSIBLE REUSE ELSEWHERE. IF DOOR IS TO BE REUSED IN ITS PRESENT LOCATION, IT IS THE DISCRETION OF THE CONTRACTOR TO LEAVE AND RESTORE IN PLACE. USABLE DOORS NOT NEEDED ON SITE TO BE SALVAGED OR DISPOSED OF AS APPROVED

BY ARCHITECT. SEE SPECS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. BRICK/BLOCKED UP WINDOWS: REMOVE EXISTING BRICK/CMU INFILL PANELS. PROTECT WINDOWS TO REMAIN AS REQUIRED TO PREVENT FURTHER DAMAGE TO UNBROKEN GLASS PANELS.

LOW PROFILE STAIRWAY ACCESS TO ROOF. ALL ROOF TOP SIDING MATERIALS TO BE METAL SIDING PANELS WITH WHITE OR NON-REFLECTIVE FINISH TO MATCH ROOFING MATERIAL.

REMOVE PAINT FROM STEEL (OR WOOD) WINDOWS: REMOVE EXISTING PAINT & GLAZING FROM EXISTING STEEL & WOOD WINDOWS USING THE GENTLEST MEANS POSSIBLE . HARVEST REUSEABLE PANES FOR REINSTALLATION DURING RESTORATION. PRESERVE & PROTECT IN STAGING AREA OR OTHER APPROVE STORAGE FACILITY ONCE REMOVED. PREPARE EXISTING OPENINGS FOR NEW REPLACEMENT CONSTRUCTION. SEE SPECS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. ALL HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SHALL BE ADDRESSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH OSHA AND NCDENR REQUIREMENTS. ANY QUESTIONABLE MATERIALS SHALL BE REPORTED TO THE ARCHITECT IMMEDIATELY IN THE WRITTEN FORM OF AN RFI. THE OWNER WILL SAMPLE AND TEST MATERIALS. IF DEEMED HAZARDOUS, THE OWNER WILL ARRANGE ABATEMENT OF THE MATERIAL. VERIFY WITH ARCHITECT THE LOCATION OF ANY LEAD-BASED PAINTS THAT WILL NOT BE REMOVED AND ENCAPSULATED AS PART OF THE RENOVATION. ALL ASBESTOS LADEN PLASTER AND OTHER HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SHALL BE REMOVED BY A QUALIFIED ABATEMENT SPECIALIST AND DISPOSED OF ACCORDING TO STATE AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS.

www

EXISTING BRICK PARAPET. SEE GENERAL ELEVATION NOTES FOR BRICK RESTORATION.

OWNER

ASHEVILLE FOUNDRY INN, LLC 1854 WALLACE SCHOOL ROAD, SUITE B CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 29407 CONTACT: DAVID SWENTOR

TOP OF PARARPET +61'-4"

11'-112"

CONTACT

MATT SPROUSE, PLA SITEWORK STUDIOS, PLLC 352 DEPOT STREET, SUITE 120 ASHEVILLE, NC 28801 (O) (828) 225-4945 msprouse@siteworkstudios.com

EXISTING GHOST SIGN TO BE RESTORED & REPAINTED.

PROJECT ADDRESS:

PIN: 9648-49-9858 (0.765AC.) 35 EAGLE STREET 9648-49-8860 (0.254 AC.) 51 S MARKET STREET TOTAL ACREAGE: 1.019 AC.

FIFTH FLOOR +50'-2 12"

A-A

A-C

A-A

A-B

A-C

A-A

A-B

ZONING:

EXISTING BRICK FACADE. SEE GENERAL ELEVATION NOTES FOR BRICK RESTORATION.

A-C

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

SETBACKS:

FRONT: NONE SIDE: NONE REAR: NONE

11'-012"

A-B

FOURTH FLOOR +39'-2 18"

A-B

A-A

A-A

A-B

A-C

A-A

A-B

A-C

A-C 11'-014"

NEW BUILDING B (BEYOND)

As Fo

NEW WOOD SASHES TO MATCH ORIGINALS BASED ON PHOTOGRAPHS & PHYSICAL EVIDENCE TO BE INSTALLED IN EXISTING FRAMES. SEE GENERAL ELEVATION NOTES FOR WINDOW RESTORATION.

THIRD FLOOR +28'-1 7 8"

A-A

A-A

A-B

A-C

A-A

A-B

A-C

A-C 11'-014"

A-B

L

EXISTING BONDED ARCH OVER WINDOWS (TYPICAL) ON FRONT FACADE. SEE GENERAL ELEVATION NOTES FOR BRICK RESTORATION.

1854 W

Cha

EXISTING CONCRETE SILLS ON FRONT FACADE TO BE RESTORED.

NOT FO

SECOND FLOOR +17'-1 3 4"

A-E

A-D

A-D

8'-914"

Reach Sky ORIGINAL WOOD STOREFRONT ASSEMBLEY TO BE RESTORED & REBUILT BASED ON EXISTING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE.

SEE CIVIL FOR EXACT GRADES

R

8'-412"

#

MEZZANINE +8-9 14" ORIGINAL WOOD STOREFRONT ASSEMBLEY TO BE REBUILT BASED ON PHOTOGRAPHS & EXISTING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE.

FIRST FLOOR 0'-0" (2179.65')

PROJEC

ORIGINAL RECESSED ENTRY DOOR & STOREFRONT ASSEMBLEY TO BE REBUILT BASED ON PHOTOGRAPHS & EXISTING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE & SERVE AS KITCHEN SERVICE ENTRANCE.

DRAWN

CHECK

5 LEVELS UDO CBD HEIGHT - 39'-2 1/8"

NOTE: THESE CALCULATIONS ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. OPENINGS ON THIS FACADE ARE DICTATED BY WHAT IS ALLOWED AND REQUIRED BY THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE AND THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

FIRST FLOOR FACADE: 1043.64 SF TOTAL AREA 571.02 SF WALL OPENINGS 54.71% WALL AREA 76.58% WALL LENGTH

1

SECOND FLOOR FACADE: 664.61 SF TOTAL AREA 239.04 SF WALL OPENINGS 35.96% WALL AREA 58.83% WALL LENGTH

THIRD FLOOR FACADE: 664.61 SF TOTAL AREA 239.04 SF WALL OPENINGS 35.96% WALL AREA 58.83% WALL LENGTH

NORTH ELEVATION - BUILDING A SCALE: 1/4" = 1'-0"

FOR THE

FOURTH FLOOR FACADE: 664.61 SF TOTAL AREA 239.04 SF WALL OPENINGS 35.96% WALL AREA 58.83% WALL LENGTH

FIFTH FLOOR FACADE: NO EXISTING WINDOWS AND NO NEW WINDOWS ALLOWED PER SHPO AND NPS

B

A2

FROM EAGLE ST

written by jason sandford

Asheville’s current hotel construction boom and its implications

dr awing of

Asheville Foundry Inn, that will become a Hilton Hotel using three buildings plus two new ones. Est. opening: Dec. 2016.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 23

ASHEVILLE SKYLINE: photo taken from Mission local industry Hospital area, south of downtown looking North, photo by Anthony Harden

T

he national media’s infatuation with Asheville has been almost embarrassingly lavish the past few years. The accolades came showering down in shareable online lists and splayed across fullcolor glossy magazine centerpieces. Some were straightforward and simple: Coolest town. Best kept secret.

Friendliest. The mentions piled up and so did the adjectives: Great location for honeymooners. Top beer town with a mountain biking problem. Perfect dog-friendly city.

The hype finally hit its high point when the respected Frommer’s travel guide named Asheville its top destination to visit in the summer of 2015.

It wasn’t just tourists who took notice. Hoteliers, looking to take advantage of a rebounding economy and the apparently insatiable desire of travelers to find the next hot spot, began putting Asheville on their list of top construction sites. On paper, it made sense. Tourists have sought respite in the city’s cool, green mountains since the turn of the century. More recently, with a dreary national recession firmly in the rearview mirror, visitors began setting out in droves. Some nine million arrived in Buncombe County last year, according to local tourism officials.

A relatively small number of center-city hotels were open to greet them. So hotel companies started buying key land tracts and drawing up architectural plans. Construction crews hit the ground, and a handful of towering cranes now frame 24

| April 2016

the Asheville city skyline. They mark the rough outline of an unprecedented hotel building boom that will see an estimated 2,100 new hotel rooms open in Buncombe County over the next three years. It’s a 25% increase in the number of available hotel rooms; an increase that no other competing destination city is grappling with. The majority of those will open in downtown Asheville, a thrumming entertainment and business district with its eyes set, more often that not, on out-of-towners.

Inevitably, the rush to build new hotel rooms has created tensions among various factions. Hoteliers are worried that a wave of new supply will push down occupancy rates and the amount they can charge for a room. Some city residents see the visiting masses taking an ever-increasing toll on city infrastructure, while others are pushing for greater flexibility in city rules that govern how they can rent their own rooms to tourists. In the short term, downtown parking will be tight, creating its own headaches. In the long term, some are already questioning the sustainability of the swelling hotel numbers.

The McKibbon Effect

How is the construction boom playing out? Just ask John McKibbon of Georgia-based McKibbon Hotel Group, Inc. No single hotel owner has been more influential, and faced more obstacles, in trying to open in downtown than McKibbon, who

has at times been variously foiled, frustrated, and fruitful in seeing his vision through. McKibbon’s company, along with Florida-based McKibbon Hotel Management, Inc., owns and manages nearly 100 hotels around the United States.

The company opened the 115-room Aloft Asheville Downtown on Biltmore Avenue in 2012 after an unsuccessful attempt to develop a plot of property across town near the historic Basilica of St. Lawrence. The

But as 2015 began to unfold, some city residents began to voice concerns about all the new downtown hotel construction. effects of the recession were still lingering, and the project, which included some much-needed public parking, was generally well-received (though more than a few questioned the colorful neon lighting that brightens the Aloft sign at night).

McKibbon then moved to secure what some might consider a crown jewel in downtown property. In November 2013, McKibbon purchased the

JOHN MCKIBBON photo courtesy McKibbon Hotel Management, Inc. April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 25

local industry

Step up to the stand with A400 Xcel Multitarget…

and they know

you are serious.

828-633-1806 www.wingsnclays.com Your Beretta dealer in asheville:

BB&T building, Asheville’s tallest building and largest office complex, and an associated parking deck for $7.5 million. He announced plans to remake both locations into separate hotels.

Meanwhile, other hotel companies began announcing their own plans to build around the city. Companies planted their own flags, from Hilton to Hyatt, at key locations.

McKibbon’s crews got to work demolishing the parking lot of the former BB&T building at the corner of Broadway and College. A nine-story, 132-room, Marriott-branded hotel called the AC Asheville Downtown would go in that location, McKibbon announced. The hotel, which includes a 336-space parking deck, is on track to open later this year. Once finished with that property, McKibbon said, he would move his focus just up the street to start remodeling the BB&T building itself.

But as 2015 began to unfold, some city residents began to voice concerns about all the new downtown hotel construction. Was there enough political oversight of big downtown construction projects? Would the masses of resulting tourists fatally erode city infrastructure? City politicians, some facing election, also took notice. After all, for the old skyscraper, McKibbon was proposing to redo the shell of the edifice, renovate more than 200,000-square-feet of office space, and create another 133-room hotel inside, as well as 39 condos, two new restaurants, and add office and retail space.

When final approval for the project came in January, McKibbon made sure he got his green light by agreeing to pay full-time employees a living wage ($12.50 an hour without employer-provided health insurance, or $11 an hour with insurance, which McKibbon said he already pays), contributing $250,000 to the city’s affordable housing trust fund, and spending $750,000 to improve the public infrastructure around the building. It was a remarkable deal, and one that city leaders said they hoped would be noticed by future downtown developers.

Of course, the McKibbon Hotel Group isn’t the only player contributing to the hotel building boom. Tony Fraga and his FIRC Group, with offices in both Asheville and South Florida, is building a new 92-room Country Inn & Suites in a four-story building next to the Westgate Shopping Center just west of downtown. Fraga’s company, which owns the Haywood Park Hotel on Battery Park Avenue in downtown, is also building a 136-room Cambria Suites hotel on the corner of Battery Park and Page Avenues. Hilton, Hyatt, and Holiday Inn are all in various stages of building new hotels in the city as well.

The Strategy trident program

offering introduction to sporting clays classes monthly course description & schedule under training on our website

26

| April 2016

As construction crews have swung into gear over the past couple of years, so too has the marketing and promotional machinery to try and keep all those new hotel rooms full.

Nervous hoteliers scrambled in 2015 to secure an increase in Buncombe County’s hotel room tax, the first increase in decades. Working with the local delegation of state legislators, tourism officials secured a rate increase, from 4% to 6%.

boom cit y

Here’s a quick look at the hotel building boom in Asheville.

recently opened Hyatt Place Asheville Downtown, corner of Haywood and Montford opened in March 2016.

The Biltmore Village Inn at Biltmore Estate opened in December 2015.

The Windsor Hotel, a small boutique hotel, opened in an existing building on Broadway in November 2014.

ABOVE: Future location of the AC Hotel Marriott

In the several years prior to those, The Aloft Hotel opened on Biltmore Avenue in 2012; Hotel Indigo, on Haywood Street, 2009; the Hilton Hotel, in Biltmore Park, 2010; and the Grand Bohemian Hotel, in Biltmore Village, 2009.

currently under construction Estimated Opening Date (EOD)

Hilton Garden, EOD: June 2016 corner of College and Charlotte streets AC Hotel by Marriott, EOD: 2017 corner of Broadway and College Country Inn and Suites, EOD: Spring 2016 Westgate Shopping Center Cambria Suites, EOD: 2017 corner of Page and Battery Park

ABOVE: AC Hotel by Marriott rendering,

photo courtesy McKibbon Hotel Management, Inc.

Holiday Inn, EOD: 4th quarter 2016 190 Hendersonville Road near Biltmore Village

in the pl anning stages The former BB&T office building at Broadway and College will be remade into a new boutique hotel, The Vandre Nouveau Hotel, with condos and retail. EOD: 2017 The Foundry Buildings at Eagle and South Market streets will be remade as a boutique hotel, The Asheville Foundry Inn, Curio Collection by Hilton. EOD: December 2016 A TownePlace Suites by Marriott is planned for 39 Elm Street, just off Merrimon. EOD: 4th quarter 2016 A La Quinta Inn will replace one of the existing buildings of the Ramada Asheville Southeast at River Ridge Shopping Center. EOD: 4th quarter 2016

ABOVE: Pack Square rendering of projected hotel at BB&T building, photo courtesy McKibbon Hotel Management, Inc.

A Hampton Inn & Suites will replace the existing Biltmore Village Lodge, 117 Hendersonville Road. EOD: 1st quarter 2017 A Comfort Suites will replace the existing Super 8, 180 Tunnel Road. EOD: TBD April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 27

local industry EXISTING FIRE HYDRANT

21'

W PARALLEL SPACES

EXISTING FIRE HYDRANT

SW

W

S

CONCRETE CURB AND GUTTER (TYP)

W

ASHEVILLE FOUNDRY INN, LLC 1854 WALLACE SCHOOL ROAD, SUITE B CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 29407 CONTACT: DAVID SWENTOR

CONTACT

OHU

HU O

U OH

HU O HU O

U OH

BRICK BED EDGING 2 (TYP) L-501

PATIO

FREESTADING 6' PIERCED BRICK WALL TO SCREEN UTILITY AREA

14'

FLAGSTONE PAVING

5

BUILDING INFORMATION:

MONOLITHIC SIDEWALK

5

L-500

OH S

OHU

UGE

W

UTILITY VEHICLE ACCESS AND GATE 5'

PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBLE RAMP WITH HANDRAIL@ 1:12.

"

FIRE PIT AREA (NATURAL GAS)

"

EXISTING GRANITE CURB TO REMAIN. REMOVE AN RESET AS NEEDED

OH

S

0"

U

5'-

PATIO

4

PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBLE RAMP WITH HANDRAIL @ 1:12.

U

RIVER GRAVEL S

OH

W

BUILDING E FOOTPRINT: 3,769 SF BUILDING E GROSS FLOOR AREA: 15,049 SF NUMBER OF STORIES: 4

BUILDING HEIGHT S (SEE ARCHITECTURAL ELEVATIONS FOR DETAILS): BLDG A = 50'-2-1/2"” BLDG B = 46'-7" BLDG C = 40'-8” BLDG D = 54'-11” BLDG E = 39'-2-1/2”

OH

U

0"

CONCRETE SIDEWALK RAMPS TO FLUSH @ 1:12

OH

PEDESTRIAN GUARDRAIL AND HANDRAIL COMBINATION ALONG RAMP SEE ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS

"

'-6

12

S

U

WHEELCHAIR RAMP 4 TYP. L-500

5'-0"

5

S

OHU U

2

OHU

OH

CONCRETE SIDEWALK OHU

OHU

OHU

OHU

OHU

ANY PROPOSED FIRE PITS WILL BE GAS FIRED.

2.

OVERHEAD UTILITY LINES ALONG EAGLE STREET S BE RELOCATED FROM IN FRONT OF BUILDINGS.

3.

4.

ALL PARCELS WILL BE COMBINED. STREET LIGHTING TO REMAIN ON SPRUCE ST, EAG AND MARKET STREET.

5.

CONCRETE SIDEWALK RAMPS TO FLUSH @1:12

VEHICULAR DROP-OFF AREA

SIDEWALKS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY WILL MEET AD COMPLIANCE.

6.

ANY ROOF TOP PATIO ON BUILDING A WILL HAVE F ACCESS FROM EAGLE STREET.

S

HU

L-500

1.

'

SIGHT VISIBILITY TRIANGLE, TYP.

GRAVEL PATH 9 W/ STONE EDGING L-500

OHU OHU

NOTES:

14

14'

6'-0"

OHU

S

0"

L-500

6'-

MONOLITHIC SIDEWALK

BUILDING C FOOTPRINT: 3,556 SF BUILDING C GROSS FLOOR AREA: 10,668 SF NUMBER OF STORIES: 3

6'-

HEAVY DUTY 8 CONCRETE PAVING L-500

BUILDING B FOOTPRINT: 5,390 SF BUILDING B GROSS FLOOR AREA: 20,573 SF NUMBER OF STORIES: 4

TOTAL PROJECT : 86,535 SF

OH U

S

W

GAS

'-0

L-500

STEPS AND LANDING WITH HANDRAIL

OH U

OH U

12

S

VEHICULAR GATE

DRIVEWAY APRON 3 TYP. L-500

BUILDING A FOOTPRINT: 3,741 SF BUILDING A GROSS FLOOR AREA: 17,170 SF NUMBER OF STORIES: 4

BUILDING D FOOTPRINT: 5,044 SF BUILDING D GROSS FLOOR AREA: 23,075 SF NUMBER OF STORIES: 5

PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBLE ROUTE

7'-0"

GAS

S

STORAGE AND TRASH ENCLOSURE BUILDING

EX. STREET LIGHTING, TYP.

OHU

5'-0 S

W

SIGHT VISIBILITY TRIANGLE, TYP.

4'-0 "

S

PEDESTRIAN ACCESIBLE ROUTE W/ ACCESS GATE TO PROPERTY

UGE

BRICK STEPS WITH HANDRAIL

IMPERVIOUS SURFACE PRE-CONSTRUCTION : PERVIOUS 0.28 AC (27%) IMPERVIOUS 0.74 AC (73%) POST-CONSTRUCTION : PERVIOUS 0.22 AC (21%) IMPERVIOUS 0.80 AC (79%)

L-501

U

6'

FRONT: NONE SIDE: NONE REAR: NONE

SITE CALCULATIONS

OHU

"

BRICK RETAINING WALL

UGE

FREESTANDING 6' PIERCED BRICK WALL WITH COLUMNS, TYP.

PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBLE ROUTE TO BUILDINGS C,D,& E FROM COURTYARD

6'-0

OHU

U OH U OH

UGE

1

L-501

W

L-500

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

SETBACKS:

4'-6"

CONCRETE SIDEWALK

ZONING:

OHU

CONCRETE SIDEWALK

W

SECURITY FENCE AND GATE

2

UGE

W

6

L-501

4'-6"

24" BRICK RETAINING WALL 1/L-501

2

PIN: 9648-49-9858 (0.765AC.) 35 EAGLE STREET 9648-49-8860 (0.254 AC.) 51 S MARKET STREET TOTAL ACREAGE: 1.019 AC.

PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBLE RAMP WITH HANDRAIL.

OH

U

PROJECT ADDRESS:

OHU

FLAGSTONE PAVING

5'-3"

L-500

MATT SPROUSE, PLA SITEWORK STUDIOS, PLLC 352 DEPOT STREET, SUITE 120 ASHEVILLE, NC 28801 (O) (828) 225-4945 msprouse@siteworkstudios.com

PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBLE ROUTE TO BUILDINGS A&B FROM COURTYARD

UGE

L-501

OWNER

WHEELCHAIR RAMP, TYP.

OHU

W

EXISTING GAS LINE

ROOF PATIO.

3

W

OHU

UGE

OHU

OHU

OHU W

OHU

OHU

OHU

W

S W

S S

OHU

W

W

OHU

W

OHU

OHU

S

S

OHU

W

OHU

UGE

W

S

ENLARGEMENT 1" =10'

S W

S

S

W

W

P. 22' TY

OHU

L-500

S W 7'-6"

1

BUILDING A

S

S 50'-0" S

S

EXISTING SEWER LINE

4'

SIDEWALK

UGE

4'

S

SIDEWALK TREE PIT (TYP)

OHU

10'-0"

6

12'

SITE VISIBILITY TRIANGLE, TYP. (10' X 50')

WHEELCHAIR RAMP 4 TYP. L-500

5 PARALLEL PARKING SPACES

W

L-500

OHU

1

5

L-500

4' x 12' COA TREE GRATE. (SEE DETAIL 3.22E)

TREE GRATE

OHU

MONOLITHIC SIDEWALK

OHU

W

SEE ENLARGEMENT, THIS SHEET

TOTAL AREA OF SURVEY 1.019 ACRES

6" CURB

EAGLE STREET

OH

HU

U

O

O

CONCRETE STEPS WITH HANDRAIL

U

OH

U

OH

OH

OH

U

U

EXISTING FIRE HYDRANT

dr awing of

Asheville Foundry 0

NOTABLE HOMES ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOODS

Jo Chandler

An Asheville native with a passion for her city’s treasures... both old and new 828.231.5444 jochandler@preferredprop.com www.preferredprop.com

28

| April 2016

10'

20'

The resulting revenue increase is significant—an additional estimated $5 million, bringing the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s (TDA) budget to an estimated $13.4 million. The money, which will be used to continue to market Asheville as a top tourist destination, is already coming in after the increase went into effect in November. The total occupancy tax revenue for that month was $1.44 million, compared to $833,795 for November 2014.

The room tax wasn’t without its own controversy. Some city residents told TDA officials and city leaders that part of the new monies should be devoted specifically to city infrastructure projects, noting that increased tourism is taking its toll on streets, sidewalks, and other core services.

Tourism officials have responded by pointing out that over the years, they’ve awarded a significant portion of tourism dollars to city projects through its Tourism Development Product Fund. (Last year, city projects received 25% of that fund, or $3.1 million.)

With the funding in place, tourism officials have turned their attention to strategy. They estimate that about 700 new rooms will open in Buncombe County each of the next three years. The 25% increase in hotel rooms poses “an unprecedented challenge” to tourism officials, says Stephanie Brown, executive director of the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau. The goal is to use an increased marketing budget to make bigger plays in existing markets, while

It’s all aimed at continuing the tourism industry’s recent growth surge and positioning Asheville firmly in the ranks of top travel destinations around the United States and even the world.

40'

60'

k e y s tat s f o r a s h e v i l l e i n

2015

Compared To 2014

revenue per available room (revpar) increased hotel occupancy incre ased

4.9 percent

13.4 percent

from 2014 to 2015

from 2014 to 2015

hotel room occupancy ta x revenue aver age daily room r ate incre ased

8.1 percent

from 2014 to 2015

eventually reaching out to new markets, all in an effort to keep hotel occupancy and hotel room rates at sustainable levels for hotel owners.

Asheville is becoming more and more of a “sustainable, yearround destination,” according to Brown, citing Smith Travel Research statistics from 2015 showing that Asheville’s hotel occupancy rate increased 4.9%, while its average daily room rate was up 8.1% and its revenue per available room shot up 13.4%.

Also, winter occupancy rates are edging upward past the 50% mark, another key indicator that, as Brown notes, “we aren’t as seasonal as we’ve been.”

The spring advertising plan for the Asheville area, in general terms, is to increase online video views, enhance broadcast coverage, expand native advertising, and increase advertising in Atlanta, according to Ellen Kempner, a vice president at Peter Mayer Advertising, the TDA’s New Orleans-based advertising agency. Key markets from which to draw visitors include Atlanta, Charleston, Raleigh, Cincinnati, and Dayton. Next year, local tourism officials plan to air broadcast advertising for Asheville in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and South Florida markets.

The goal of the advertising, Kempner says, is to: drive overnight visitation during slow periods, known as the “shoulder season”; convert day trips to overnight stays; extend the length of stays by one or two more days; create demand for increased lodging options; and draw visitors during midweek, rather than just weekends. In coming months, tourism officials plan to zero in on ways to increase meeting and convention business that would fill rooms on weekdays.

Another key will be targeting air travelers. Asheville is already a well-known weekend driving destination. Tourism officials

$833,795 $1.44 Million for month of november

2014

for month of november

2015

now have their sights firmly set on attracting visitors who will fly to town. The Asheville Regional Airport is in the midst of a federally funded $64 million construction project that will redevelop the airport with a new runway and make other structural improvements.

Asheville’s target audience is adults ranging in age from 25 to 64, with median household incomes of $75,000-plus a year.

The potential visitors are experienced travelers who tend to be women, more often than not, as well as frequent travelers who often visit places for food or other experiences, according to Kempner. Other “experiential visitors” include tourists who seek outdoor adventures, and those who travel to see specific musical acts. That topic—marketing Asheville as a music destination—will be an emphasis for tourism officials later this year as they roll out a new section of the ExploreAsheville.com website that spotlights local musicians.

It’s all aimed at continuing the tourism industry’s recent growth surge and positioning Asheville firmly in the ranks of top travel destinations around the United States and even the world. The city has long been a destination for visitors seeking everything from clean mountain air to a retreat from the hustle and bustle of big city life, featuring anchor attractions such as the historic Biltmore House to the Omni Grove Park Inn. The city has also seen cycles of boom and bust over the years. The latest trends clearly show a city, and a pillar industry, on the upswing, with forecasts for continued growth.

The projected completion dates and other information presented in this article are as accurate as possible at the time of publication. Please be aware they are still subject to change as construction circumstances change.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 29

CAROLINA in the

WEST [

news briefs

How Asheville Got Weird in the First Place buncombe county

Last year, Marilyn Ball came out with a book exploring what she considers an overlooked era in Asheville history.

The Rise of Asheville: An Exceptional History of Community Building tells the story of local business between 1970 and 2000. Following the opening of the Asheville Mall, downtown Asheville had a reputation of looking like it had been bombed-out. Ball considers herself to have been part of the city’s renaissance.

The way Ball sees it, a community of avant gardes—artists, entrepreneurs, and homesteaders—were drawn to the area seeking social justice and cooperation across diversity. Ball believes the low rents that followed the hollowing-out of the city enabled people with “more vision

]

than money” to start a lot of quirky, funky shops, flagships of the Keep Asheville Weird movement. The tale begins with a coming together to prevent the construction of a downtown mall, and a Stone Soup story that became a restaurant. Other symbols of cooperation whose stories are told range from Manna Food Bank to the YMI and The Block to the Great Smoky Mountains Golf Association. Ball collected stories from her experience at Kelso Advertising & Design, where she worked on a number of tourism and economic development projects.

A Charter School Is Born henderson county

Local luminaries were on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony for FernLeaf Community Charter School. The event

Ron J.TaxMiller Accountant 20% OFF

For New Clients!

was the culmination of four years of coming together. The 26-acre site, on Howard Gap Road across from Fletcher Park, was donated by businessman Charlie Owen. Samsel Architects donated their services generously. They worked with civil engineering firm WGLA to navigate the school through the Town of Fletcher’s design review and permitting processes.

Flat Rock’s Cooper Construction will oversee the on-site assembly of permanent modules constructed by THHC Building Systems in Durham. Cooper agreed to complete their assignment on-time and below cost. FernLeaf will open in August. In its first year, it will serve only grades K-3. Each subsequent year, it will add another grade until it becomes a K-8 school. FernLeaf will be tuition-free and specialize in hands-on learning. The 3R’s will be enmeshed in a culture that stresses sustainability, entrepreneurship, and comprehensive health and wellness. A variety of learning environments will be afforded to address different social-emotional learning styles.

A FernLeaf education will include, “small collaborative learning environments, personalized learning plans, mastery checklists for foundational skills in math, and meaningful assessments all designed to help students, parents, and teachers be successful.”

“Don’t pay Uncle Sam more than you have to”

Call for a FREE tax consult:

1-888-489-2590

www.ashetax.com

Expert & Accurate tax returns: · For Individuals · For Self-employed People · For Businesses & Partnerships · For Landlords All In One Financial Services

30

· For Trusts & Estates · Tax Inquires & Audits

1095 Hendersonville Road, Suite-D Asheville, NC 28803

| April 2016

“Established 1992”

Developing an Entertainment Complex

58

74

the old north state

national & world

with headquarters in Swain County’s Nantahala Gorge, where it opened an adventure park.

jackson county

Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) secured the approval of the Jackson County Commissioners for its worldclass outdoor entertainment complex in Dillsboro. Activities offered by the center would include kayak instruction, guided river tours, zip lines, canopy tours, and paddle sports. The park would also host events from national competitions to community festivals. On-site retailers would offer gear and apparel. And overnighting enthusiasts could stay in yurts, tents, bunkhouses, and cabins.

The deal would allow NOC to develop the 17.65 acres it owns, near the former dam location. The property was transferred to Dillsboro from Duke Energy in a relicensing agreement in 2014, and it was purchased by Jackson County later that year. In exchange for use of the land, NOC would pay the county $1 for the first three years. Thereafter, it will pay 5% of activity revenues, plus 3% of retail, food, and lodging sales. The contract is good for ten years. Ground is to be broken this year, but the complex is not expected to open for another year. Full buildout may take three years. NOC is one of the world’s largest outdoor companies,

Subtle Body Language

carolina in the west

paperwork. Studies published in eighteen peer-reviewed publications vouch for the helpfulness of the Rothman Index; one showing a 30% reduction in mortality in clientele serviced by a nurse rapid response team.

buncombe county

Mission Health will be using new, enhanced analytics software to detect subtle cues in patient data statistically determined to be highly predictive of future crises. PeraHealth’s suite of clinical surveillance software will use the Rothman Index to monitor patients both at Mission’s main campus and the five other hospitals it owns. The Rothman Index uses disease-agnostic algorithms to calculate probabilities of patient readmission and mortality. In a typical five-day hospital stay, a patient will be “handed off” no fewer than twenty-four times due to departmental transfers and shift changes. Deterioration may thus be missed. PeraHealth synthesizes data from all major electronic medical records tracked on the hospital’s Cerner system, and trends scores in real-time for the duration of a patient’s stay in color code. This information may be used to optimize bed use across departments, prioritize nurse schedules, and calculate safe discharge times. It will also help with

Pipe Down henderson county

Twelve miles of gas pipeline will be laid in Henderson County. Following tremendous hubbub over plans to draw overhead electric transmission wires in the same area, this installation is meeting absolutely no resistance. The pipeline, which will cost $75 million, will upgrade natural gas lines laid in the 1950s to 20-inch pipes. PSNC committed to the upgrades several years ago, but they are now deemed necessary because Duke Power will be converting its Lake Julian generation station to run on natural gas.

The line will run from Mill Spring to the Lake Julian plant. Other phases of the project will continue the line to Canton, where the Evergreen Packaging plant was recently converted from coal power to natural gas. From there, it will continue on to Bryson City. It is hoped the upgrades will encourage more manufacturing facilities to locate in the area. No

Protecting your assets, while providing the responsive service you deserve.

Business Home

Auto Life

Health Boat

Hometown Friendly. Multi-State Strong.

(828) 253-2371

77 Central Avenue, Suite C, Asheville, NC 28801 www.BankersInsurance.net April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

31

An investment in the future...

carolina in the west

public process or government oversight was required for the project, which will be carried out by Latex Construction Company. Open cuts and boring will be necessary to lay the pipe 28 inches underground. Minor, temporary traffic delays can be expected on 15-20 roads.

If any blasting is required, homeowners in the affected area will be notified.

Not That Kind of Diversity jackson county

...yields a lifetime of value.

With a passion for learning and teaching, our exceptional faculty leads by example and brings out your child’s personal bests.

The 47 Members of the Class of 2015: •

Included a United States Military Academy appointee, National Merit Commended Scholar, National Merit Semifinalist, National Merit Finalist, and National Achievement Boule Foundation Scholarship winner

•

Logged more than 4,000 hours of community service

•

Were accepted into 18 honors colleges/special programs

•

Were offered $4 million in academic and athletic merit scholarships

•

Are attending 30 different colleges in 16 states and two countries

Carolina Day School inspires students to become innovative thinkers who communicate with intelligence and clarity, create with vision and purpose, and act with courage and compassion to confidently make a meaningful difference in the world.

32

| April 2016

Alarms rang when word surfaced that the Charles Koch Foundation intended to create an educational center at Western Carolina University (WCU) for the purpose of teaching free-market economic principles. Educational centers exist on college campuses throughout the country providing focuses on all kinds of subjects. Some feared the Koch center would be a “vehicle to advance conservative, laissez-faire market theories.” After considerable back and forth, it appears the Center for the Study of Free Enterprise will get a green light, but it will be subject to an advisory board, a body charged with making sure it does not engage in one-sided advocacy. Not only does the existence of an advocacy board defy precedents for centers at any university, this board will be required to have as members persons critical and skeptical of the center’s stated mission.

WCU Provost Alison Morrison-Shetlar said the move was necessary “to ensure we had the right people thinking about the forward movement of the center.”

The foundation’s $2 million gift was almost rejected by faculty opposed to its involvement with think tanks and public policy analysis.

Un-Chain Chain Reaction transylvania county

Long-time Brevard retailers Dee Dee and Jimmy Perkins will be moving

their stores around. DD Bullwinkel’s General Store and Moosetracks Footwear will be combined in the former Belk’s Department Store building on Main Street. The structure was built for Belk in 1940, but was sold to Tim and Nancy Hall in 1994. The Halls run an architectural salvage company, which they will move to the Lumberyard District. The 15,000-sq.-ft. of commercial space, which includes 8000-sq.-ft. of retail space, will allow Bullwinkel’s and Moosetracks to merge under one roof. Bullwinkel’s will become a full-service outdoor outfitter.

It will capitalize on the facts that 42% of Transylvania County is public lands, and yet to date the county has not had a local outfitter. Bullwinkel’s will continue to offer the same lifestyle and technical apparel in the same classic brands.

Jimmy described the Belk building as “a lifetime’s worth of projects.” Long-range, he would like to restore the building to its original design. A third business the couple owns, Rocky’s Grill and Soda Shop, will expand into the current location of Bullwinkel’s. The extra floor space will be used to retail local and seasonal food and crafts and carry the T-shirt and candy sales from Rocky’s.

Alternative Fuel henderson county

Triangle Stop used to be a gas station.

Now, it’s become a full-service station for craft beer lovers. The chain, with ten locations in Western North Carolina, not only boasts an extensive selection of craft beer, it now has permits for serving and sampling wine and beer. Triangle Stop’s Vice President, Beau Waddell, said the filling station wanted to provide beverages that don’t come in bottles or cans. Triangle Stop sources its beers and ciders from local producers. The first Triangle Stop Mountain River Tap and Growlers (MRTG) bar opened in 2014 when the state legalized growlers.

Customers may purchase tap beer in either 32 or 64 oz. refillable growlers, or get a 32 oz., single-use, sealable can, which is less expensive and permitted

in locations where glass containers are banned. Triangle Stops also sell gear for the MRTG brand. The process of converting Triangle Stops to bars continues, with some even offering limited seating. Not all stores will undergo the conversion due to space constraints, but at least one store will be renovated solely for that purpose.

Triangle Stop launched in 1929 by the JH Reaben Oil & Supply Company and expanded into the convenience store business in 1970, when gas stations across the country were finding it difficult to turn a profit on fuel sales alone.

Asphalt Jungle watauga county

A citizen’s group says it plans to appeal the Watauga County Board of Adjustment’s decision to overturn the Watauga County Planning Department’s earlier decision to revoke a permit for an asphalt plant. In question was a JW Hampton Co. site leased to Maymead, Inc., a year ago. Maymead intended to provide asphalt for the widening of US 221 between Jefferson and Deep Gap. Hampton had secured a permit in 2011 without much ado, but the county subsequently changed its ordinances to require notification of adjacent property owners when High-Impact Land Uses were proposed. In June 2015 the planning department revoked Maymead’s permit, citing three reasons. First, additional permits required for the project—air quality, driveway connection, stormwater, grading, building, electrical permits—had never been procured or were not kept current. Secondly, no substantial development for the project had occurred since the original permit was issued. Finally, discrepancies were found in surveys. Maymead appealed the revocation to the Watauga Board of Adjustment, which after more than 50 hours of testimony, found the permit had not expired and ruled Maymead had a common-law vested right to continue.

Lower School

Grades Pre-K to 5 Critical foundational skills and exceptional co-curricular program including STEM, Art, Spanish Loving to Learn through Joyful Engagement

Key School

Grades 1-8 Model school for bright students with language-based learning differences Unlocking Potential

Middle School

Grades 6-8 Single-gender classrooms, peer group program, expedition learning Working Hard, Working Smart

Upper School

Grades 9-12 Full-time professional college counselor working with students to prepare for college and beyond Designing Their Own Futures

Asheville’s Pre-K/12 Independent Co-Ed Day School Academics ~ Athletics ~ Arts Service ~ Community A Balanced Approach to Building Character and Developing Intellect

APPLY NOW FOR 2016-17.

CarolinaDay.org/Apply 828.407.4442

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

33

leisure & libation

Railroad Redux

written by roger mccredie

engine no . 190 on Trestle, photo courtesy Tweetsie Railroad.

“ … with short explosive thunders, ripping the lilac night, 36 began to climb Saluda. She bucked helplessly, like a goat, her wheels spun furiously on the rails, Tom Cline stared seriously down into the milky boiling creek, and waited. She slipped, held, plowed slowly up, like a straining mule, into the dark. Content, he leaned far out the cab and looked: the starlight glimmered faintly on the rails. He ate a thick sandwich of cold buttered fried meat, tearing it raggedly and gluily staining it under his big black fingers. There was a smell of dogwood and laurel in the cool slow passage of the world.”

—Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel 34

| April 2016

L The rise, fall, and return of

Western North Carolina trains…

and how to experience it all.

mac mcconnel’s recreation of the Asheville roundhouse and railyard, photo courtesy Mac McConnel.

Young Thomas Wolfe used to lie awake in bed in the big, rambling house on Woodfin Street in Asheville and listen to the whistle of the night train as it passed through the silent town, drifting up from the tracks at the Biltmore crossing a couple of miles away. The sound was, to him, as hypnotic and sleep-inducing as a lullaby. As he grew older and restless, the whistle became for him the siren song of a world beyond the mountains; when he grew up, it became in his books an oftenused metaphor for the explosion of travel and commerce taking place across the whole American continent.

When Wolfe was born, in 1900, the locomotive—from Latin “locus,” meaning “place”; and “motivus,” meaning “causing movement”—was less than a century old. But since 1804, when Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick built the first practical one

for the purpose of hauling iron ore, steam-powered engines moving product and people along steel rails had literally changed the course of history. Railway lines became arteries of commerce and travel, stitching together the patchwork squares that made up America (as well as giving rise to a whole stack of laborious metaphors, like these). The Industrial Revolution began to take hold in America in the first decade of the nineteenth century, and the railroad became its handmaiden.

In 1828, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad emerged from among its fledgling competitors to become the first truly “modern” railroad in terms of types of service, management, and expansion methods. The B&O became the model for both smaller, local lines and such emerging titans as the New York Central and the Pennsylvania. The fire of railroad mania was April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

35

bryson cit y express,

photo courtesy Great Smoky Mountain Railroad

leisure & libation

temporarily muted by the financial Panic of 1873; but by 1878, the nation had shaken off its fiscal skittishness and railway construction shifted into high gear again.

Well, actually, except in the South, where as usual, things were a little different.

The South had been right in there along with everybody else when the railroad push first started, but it had concentrated its efforts on developing short lines designed to carry its cotton to river cities and seaports. So whereas by 1860, northern railroads had established links to every major city as far as the Midwest, the South’s railway activity was largely self-contained.

North Carolina, in fact, lagged behind both Virginia and South Carolina in railway development. Detractors called North Carolina “the Rip Van Winkle state,” implying that it was sleeping through the march of technology. The General Assembly had managed, in 1849, to charter a state railroad system, and the Southern Railway, a conglomerate based in Charleston, became its largest user until the War Between The States began, at which point all bets were off.

When war came, it served only to accelerate northern rail growth and development, but by 1865 the South’s railway system, which had been targeted for destruction early on as part of the North’s war strategy, was in ruins. Not to worry, though: One nation’s loss is often another’s opportunity, and the rejuvenated railway industry turned its face southward.

Shipping & Transportation

photo courtesy NC Transportation Museum, Spencer, NC

gr aham co r ailroad 125 Shay 012,

photo courtesy NC Transportation Museum, Spencer, NC

36

| April 2016

Down from the new northern railheads the network fanned out, eventually reaching North Carolina, where it began to creep westward, kudzu-like, until it reached the Eastern Continental Divide, the watershed where the Blue Ridge Mountains begin. The principal rail line bumped up against the mountains at the town of Old Fort, and if you wanted to go further west, you had to ride a horse or take a stagecoach from there on.

This would never do. This was the age of “Manifest Destiny,” when American capitalism was in the first bloom of youth and everybody was being urged to Go West and make America thoroughly American from Sea to Shining Sea. Well, you can’t manifest much destiny when the door of westward expansion—at least in North Carolina—is jammed at the hinge.

But American ingenuity was not to be trifled with. As one writer put it, “Cross ties and rails were laid across almost every conceivable terrain, [even] piedmont, and mountain grades.”

And when they couldn’t go up or around, railroaders just dug plumb through; eventually, there were seven tunnels on the new line from Old Fort to Asheville, with the longest of these at Swannanoa. It reached 1,800 feet through the mountain, and its completion, in March of 1879, marked the overcoming of the last real obstacle to the line’s completion. The attainment of this milestone was even captured in song. If you look it up on

L

photo courtesy Great Smoky Mountain Railroad YouTube, you can hear “The Minstrel of the Appalachians,” Bascom Lunsford, sing “Swannanoa Tunnel”: I’m a-goin’ back to Swannanoa Tunnel That’s my home, baby, that’s my home.

On October 3, 1880, a Western North Carolina Railroad train passed through Swannanoa Tunnel and stopped at the new station just south of Asheville, where the little village known as Best would eventually be bought up in its entirety by Mr. George Vanderbilt, from New York, and renamed Biltmore. The Continental Divide had been conquered, and the door to far Western North Carolina lay wide open. Past Asheville lay Balsam Gap, which, at 3,100 feet, became the highest railroad pass east of the Rocky Mountains. After that, it was downhill all the way, literally. The land dropped away to Dillsboro, Bryson City, and finally to Murphy, where the town celebrated by laying the cornerstone of the Cherokee County Courthouse on the same day train service started. The West was won. Now, timber and minerals could be hauled out of the mountains and tourists could be hauled in.

For the next half century, that was how it was. In Western North Carolina, as in the rest of the nation, goods and people traveled most quickly and dependably by train. Freight train engineers became folk heroes. Passenger trains were glamorized in the newfangled motion pictures. Political candidates crisscrossed the country, speaking from railway cars at whistle stops all along the line. And Thomas Wolfe, now grown to be a novelist, set whole chapters of his books in railway cars and used trains in general as symbol for both his own wanderlust and the restless, adventuresome spirit of America. In fact, in his last novel, You Can’t Go Home Again, he says of his protagonist and alter ego:

fred kirby, TV Cowboy, at Tweetsie photo courtesy Tweetsie Railroad

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 37

leisure & libation

Grades of Trial railroads and their accompanying lore and romance has often proved fodder for songwriters , most of them of the country or folk disciplines . r ailroads also make for good hymns , as this one from th e 1890 s —“ res pectfu lly de di cated to the r ailroad men ,”

Life Is like A Mountain Railroad

By M. E. Abbey & Charles Davis Tillman (Lyrics sometimes attributed to Eliza R. Snow); copyright 1891 by Charlie D. Tillman

“Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America—that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement. At any rate, that is how it seemed to young George Webber, who was never so assured of his purpose as when he was going somewhere on a train.”

The Second World War put an even higher demand on rail services. Trains were needed in nearly every logistics component of the war effort, from transporting troops to shipping supplies and equipment to carrying raw material. In the North Carolina mountains, though, the crowning achievement of rail service was its multifaceted role in the construction of Fontana Dam. From 1942 until 1945, the Western North Carolina Railroad served not only the construction site but also the former town of Welch Cove, which was rechristened Fontana Village, and which was swollen by workforce numbers until it became, for a time, the largest city west of Asheville.

Life is like a mountain railroad, with an engineer that’s brave; We must make the run successful, from the cradle to the grave; Watch the curves, the fills, the tunnels; never falter, never quail; Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.

CHORUS: Blessed Savior, Thou wilt guide us, Till we reach that blissful shore; Where the angels wait to join us In Thy praise forevermore.

You will roll up grades of trial; you will cross the bridge of strife; See that Christ is your Conductor on this lightning train of life; Always mindful of obstruction, do your duty, never fail; Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.

CHORUS You will often find obstructions; look for storms of wind and rain; On a fill, or curve, or trestle, they will almost ditch your train; Put your trust alone in Jesus; never falter, never fail; Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.

38

| April 2016

photo courtesy Great Smoky Mountain Railroad

Ironically, instead of taking railroading to new levels of sophistication and efficiency, peace and postwar prosperity pushed it into decline. The advances took place in rival modes of transportation instead. Aviation companies that had cranked out warplanes switched easily enough to building cargo and passenger aircraft, and planes were now anointed as the glamor mode of transport. As above, so below: Transcontinental bus coaches, less romantic, perhaps, but more affordable than trains, now crosshatched the country; America resumed its love affair with the automobile; and the family car, which could be parked in the driveway at night and did not require rails to run on, became a standard accessory of America’s ever-expanding middle class.

In little more than a century, the American railroad system had gone from fair-haired queen of commerce to redheaded stepchild. Railroad job numbers fell from a high of 2.1 million in 1920 to 1.2 million in 1950; by 2010, as computers came to do the work once done by people, this figure had fallen to 215,000.

The proud Western North Carolina Railroad discontinued its

L best dressed 6900,

photo courtesy NC Transportation Museum, Spencer, NC

passenger service in 1948; in fact, by the late 1960s, only a few major companies continued it, and most of those that did were absorbed into a new, government-operated entity called Amtrak.

In the same year, 1971, Arlo Guthrie made what turned out to be a hit recording of a song by folksinger Steve Goodman about

was like. And nowhere was this more the case than in North Carolina, where the railroad saga had been so unique. “The industrial focus of the rails,” one historian said, “now shifted to tourism and preservation.” Thanks to both private enterprise and public nonprofit support, there are now several places in

Passenger trains were glamorized in the newfangled motion pictures. Political candidates crisscrossed the country, speaking from railway cars at whistle stops all along the line. the decline of a once-great train, the Illinois Central’s “City of New Orleans”; it summed up the situation in a single sentence: “This train got the disappearin’ railroad blues.”

Tourism & Preservation But something in the American psyche would not turn loose of railroads and railroading—not the humdrum, barely-hanging-on present of it, but the magic and magnificence of what had been.

Americans who had had the magical train experience wanted to relive it, and even to show their kids and grandkids what it

and near the North Carolina mountains where young and old alike can partake of railroad history and legend, first-hand.

Spencer, North Carolina, isn’t in the mountains itself, but it lies between two sets of mountains, and the town is famous in song and story for being a destination that was never reached.

On September 27, 1903, Southern Railway’s fast mail train, pulled by an engine known affectionately as “Old 97,” left Monroe, Virginia, nearly an hour late and headed for Spencer.

It never got there. Speeding in order to make up time, engineer “Steve” Broadie lost control of his engine and plunged off the 45-foot-high Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, killing himself April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 39

leisure & libation

displ ay at the historic Saluda

Depot, now a train museum, photo courtesy Mac McConnel.

double he ader on Trestle, photo courtesy Tweetsie Railroad

going ‘ round in circles ’

photo courtesy Mac McConnel.

40

| April 2016

L and ten other people and giving rise to the second most popular train ballad (after “Casey Jones”) in American folk song, “Wreck of the Old 97.”

Spencer is home to the North Carolina Transportation Museum, which is housed in what used to be the Spencer Shops, once Southern Railway’s largest steam engine servicing center. In the late 1970s, Southern donated the land and buildings to the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

The museum was opened in 1983 and now hosts, on average, more than a hundred thousand visitors a year. Automobiles and planes are also on exhibit, but the museum’s main focus is on trains. Visitors can ride a steam locomotive as well as the 100-foot “turntable,” which was used to move mechanics and their tools and equipment from one engine to another inside the roundhouse.

> the

The sights… the seasons…

the lifestyle.

north carolina transportation museum

Museum Hours: 9AM-5PM (Tues-Sat); Noon-5PM (Sun) 411 S. Salisbury Ave., Spencer, NC 704-636-2889 | www.NCtrans.org Tweetsie Railroad is probably Western North Carolina’s senior rail-oriented tourist attraction. This piece of history between Boone and Blowing Rock dates back to the founding, in 1866, of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (known simply as the ET&WNC, which mountaineers claimed stood for “Eat Taters and Wear No Clothes”). In 1956, after the line itself had fallen dormant, cowboy singing tycoon Gene Autry, who had bought Engine Number 12—dubbed “Tweetsie” by locals, for its distinctive whistle—sold it back to Blowing Rock native Grover Robbins, Jr., for a dollar. The following year, Tweetsie Park opened as a steam train excursion venue along what eventually became a three-mile loop of track.

Over time the railroad morphed into a full-fledged theme park. An “authentic western town” was built around the train station. It’s populated by cowboys, gunslingers, and dance-hall girls (from the dance hall, naturally). The town also contains stores and shops, several eating spots, rides, a chairlift, a do-it-yourself gem mine, and a petting zoo. Special events take place all year, a favorite being the annual Halloween Festival, which showcases the Ghost Train, a spookily tricked-out engine driven by Casey Bones.

> tweetsie

railroad

Have it all at Deerfield – extraordinary surroundings, activity-

filled days and nights, an extensive list of amenities – all in one of America’s most desirable retirement destinations, minutes from historic Biltmore Estate, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Asheville’s vibrant downtown. You’ll be free to explore new interests and passions, embrace new friendships, and enjoy life at your pace.

Call to schedule a visit and learn how you can live the retirement of your dreams.

Hours: April 8 - May 22: 9AM-6PM (Fri-Sun); May 27 through August 21: 9AM-6PM (Mon-Sun), 300 Tweetsie Railroad Lane, Blowing Rock, NC 800-526-5740 | www.TweetsieRailroad.com For a more in-depth experience, there’s the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, which operates out of Bryson City, along with its stationary companion, the Smoky Mountain Trains Museum. The rail line commands a 53-mile stretch of track

AN EPISC OPAL R ET IR EM ENT CO MMU N I TY

1617 Hendersonville Road Asheville, NC 800-284-1531 828-210-4592 deerfieldwnc.org April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 41

leisure & libation

along what used to be the Murphy branch of the Western North Carolina Railroad—the same one that was christened the day they laid the courthouse cornerstone. The line takes in two tunnels and 25 bridges along two principal routes, one through Nantahala Gorge and the other along the banks of the Tuckasegee River. The railroad recently acquired a vintage steam engine to add to its diesel rolling stock, and regular steam tours are scheduled to begin this June.

The railroad offers all manner of individual and group packages, many paired with other local attractions and amenities.

Riders can also choose between open-air “gondola” seating or first class, which includes closed dining car seating complete with brunch or lunch. New packages and events are constantly being added to the regular schedules, so keeping up with them online is advised.

> great

smoky mountains railroad mountain trains museum

&

smoky

Trains Museum Hours: 8AM-5PM (train days). Train Ride Schedule: Nantahala Gorge rides April 1 through May 26 10:30AM (Tues-Sat) 3226 Everett St, Bryson City, NC (Museum: 100 Greenlee St) 800-872-4681 | www.GSMR.com

Urgent Care open every day,

including holidays.

At the old whistle stop of Craggy, just north of Asheville, visitors can get a taste not only of vintage railroading per se, but also of its urbanized offspring, the trolley (or, to be technically correct, a “street railroad”). Ashevillian and former engineer Rocky Hollifield formed Craggy Mountain Line, Inc., in 2001 as a nonprofit in order to acquire the last three existing miles of the line of that name, which ran across Asheville’s northern outskirts and was part of a thriving trolley system in and out of Asheville.

“At one time Asheville had the second largest trolley network in the country,” Hollifield says. “There were eight or ten separate trolley companies operating here. The Craggy Line was founded in 1898 and it ran over to Sunset Mountain and across it.”

The line has been gradually acquiring and restoring cars, including a genuine Asheville trolley and a genuine 1925 Chesapeake & Ohio caboose (yes, it’s red). Plans are also in the works for a new depot building. Excursions on a two-car train take place at 4PM on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month.

> craggy

mountain line

Current hours: 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month at 4PM. 111 North Woodfin Avenue, Asheville, NC 828-808-4877 | www.CraggyMountainLine.com

“Get outside,” she said.

“You’ll love it,” she said.

You did and you do. Thank goodness when your sense of adventure results in a minor accident requiring major attention, Pardee Urgent Care is here for you.

Two convenient locations, open every day of the year, including those days when adventure calls.

Hendersonville: 828.697.3232 212A Thompson Street Hendersonville, NC 28792

Fletcher/Arden: 828.651.6350 2695 Hendersonville Rd Arden, NC 28704 To learn more, visit us online at 42

| April 2016

pardeeurgentcare.com

L Probably no other area of Americana has more passionate devotees than does railroad history. Aficionados collect railroad memorabilia, publish periodicals, hold conventions, and author books and papers on every aspect of American railroading, from the most minute detail to the broadest overview. One such railroad devotee is Fred “Mac” McConnel, who can tell you all about the Western North Carolina Railroad. He knows it intimately. In fact, it’s in his basement.

“It’s O gauge, so it’s not to scale,” McConnel explains. “I had to take some liberties with the layout in order get everything I wanted in there. It’s pretty interpretive.” Nevertheless, McConnel’s diorama depicts the railroad’s route around Old Fort and Andrews Geyser in the east, to the Saluda Grade to the southwest. So painstaking is his modeling that a viewer half expects to see Thomas Wolfe’s fictional Tom Cline at the window of his cab, eating a sandwich. As it is, McConnel has mounted tiny GoPro cameras on his engines, which allow him to video “trips” along his railroad for showing during lectures to railroad hobbyists, as well as onsite at exhibits. (To watch a video clip of one of McConnel’s presentations that includes some of those tiny videos, visit our website.)

The future of railroads, at least in America, is murky, but the past is there in all its glory. There are vestiges enough of it in the present to call forth the ghosts.

• Aico • American Drew • Bassett • Hammary •

Discounting Name Brand Furniture since 1995 Town & Country Furniture Town Town106 & Country Country Furniture Furniture Town &&Sutton Country Furniture Avenue 106 Sutton Avenue •• Black Black Mountain Mountain 106 106 Sutton Sutton Avenue Avenue • •Black •Black Black Mountain Mountain 106 Sutton Avenue Mountain

• Rowe Furniture • Vaughn Bassett •

McConnel, an ear-nose-and-throat surgeon by profession, has spent the past 30 years or so constructing a faithful replica of the railroad line’s operation, circa 1903, downstairs in his home in Decatur, Georgia.

The future of railroads, at least in America, is murky, but the past is there in all its glory. And there are vestiges enough of it in the present to call forth the ghosts, sometimes unexpectedly. Engines now use horns instead of whistles, and around midnight, regular as clockwork, a train rumbling through the region sounds its claxon as it approaches each crossing. The call is faintly but plainly audible for miles, a drawn-out musical sigh leading down the peaceful tracks into the long tunnel of sleep.

828-669-0075 828-669-0075 www.towncountryfurniture.net www.towncountryfurniture.net 828-669-0075 828-669-0075 828-669-0075 www.towncountryfurniture.net www.towncountryfurniture.net www.towncountryfurniture.net

• Homelegance • Fairfield Chair • Flexsteel • Lea • Legacy Classics • Robin Bruce • April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 43

44

| April 2016

first in flight : Jeff Curtis

with his falcon, Sam Adams.

Sport OF

Kings

Passion, hobby, and business for Jeff Curtis

Despite following a circuitous career path, his childhood fascination with birds would one day fuel a permanent passion. written by THOMAS CALDER

|

photos by anthony harden

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 45

preparing to secure a hood on Sam Adams’ head

Falconr y—or pret t y much anything related to birds, flying, and the skies—is not the first thing that springs to mind when you enter Curtis Wright Outfitters in downtown Weaverville.

It’s hard to miss the fishing rods, hooks, sinkers, baits, and related apparel, from waders to wading boots, headgear to vests.

And of course, one of the main draws of the business is its wade and float fishing outings, as well as fly fishing classes. Beyond the immediate world of lakes, rivers, and creeks, however, owner Jeff Curtis does indeed deal in the realm of the flight. Customers might be surprised to learn that, while they’re in the front section of the store examining rods or learning how to tie a knot, Curtis is in his back office, going over inventory and taking care of orders and bills, all under the watchful eye of a wild Kestrel (a type of small falcon) named Little Sumpin, perched calmly on its rest—and minus a cage.

“All my birds,” he says, with a grin, “are named after beers.”

Jeff Curtis, as it turns out, is a licensed falconer, and for the past four years via his companion business, Curtis Wright Falconry, he has been trapping and training these wild birds of prey. During that time, he and fellow falconer Peter Kipp-DuPont have also offered guided falconry trips to guests interested in learning about the ancient practice.

“The first time a bird flies to your glove—it’s just one of those ‘Oh my goodness!’ moments,” says Jeff, whose enthusiasm for the topic of falconry is unwavering. An eager smile accompanies wide eyes. “And every time I take a person out, I get to experience that moment through them, while they get to fulfill a dream of being a falconer for a day.”

For many, a day is the closest they’ll ever get. The process of becoming a licensed falconer is tedious. Paperwork, time, and money are three very real components of the sport. As is a two-year apprenticeship. It’s no surprise, then, that it took Jeff nearly fifty years before he pursued the sport in earnest. And yet, as he tells his story, it’s hard not to see how his life’s various paths were leading him to falconry all along.

A Childhood with Birds Birds have played a prominent role throughout Jeff’s life. As a boy growing up in Clearwater, Florida, his father brought home a few homing pigeons for him and his younger brother. “I don’t know why he did it, but he did,” Jeff says.

Within a few years, he graduated from working with pigeons to volunteering at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in nearby Indian 46

| April 2016

securing the transmitter on the bird’s leg.

the man - bird bond

is built on trust.

Shores. His duties there were primarily housekeeping, with weekends spent cleaning bird cages.

Around that same time, his sister Katherine introduced him to bird watching. “She showed me the Loggerhead Shrike. These birds will catch grasshoppers and worms and impale them on a fence.”

By 1982, he had enrolled at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, majoring in psychology, but throughout his four years he also worked at bird rehabilitation centers both on and off campus.

“I knew so little back then,” he recalls. “I remember asking one of the attendants how you tell the difference between an owl and a hawk.” Experience soon taught him the distinction: “Hawks back away when you enter their cage. Owls attack.”

Birds of prey continued to fascinate Jeff, but in the mid-Eighties, the availability of literature on falconry was limited. By the time he graduated from Furman, in 1986, he had traded in his position as an assistant at the various bird rehabilitation centers in order to work as a Unit Counselor at Marshall Pickens, a psychiatric facility in Greenville.

Every so often the thought of falconry returned to him, but life had a way of redirecting his attention.

A Diverse Résumé After two years at Marshall Pickens, Jeff returned to Florida to partner with his father in retail. “I decided to go into business with my folks because my dad is an incredible businessman, and I wanted to learn all I could from him about retail and small business ownership. The transition was pretty smooth. Both jobs involved working with people and establishing relationships.”

His desire to work with and help children, however, led to his eventual return to the Carolinas. As the Director of Programs for Project SOAR (the acronym stands for “Success, Opportunity, Achievement, and Responsibility”), he worked outdoors, leading hikes and rock climbing adventures for children with ADHD/ADD and LD. The activities taught the kids both teamwork and self-reliance, in an effort to develop and increase healthy self-esteems. It also provided him plenty of opportunities for bird watching.

It was during this time at SOAR that he also met future wife Susan. Whereas candlelight dinners and wine might accompany the more traditional love story, they fell in love under the soaring wings of Peregrine Eagles, Red-Tailed Hawks, and American Kestrels. “She tells me bird watching is how I wooed her,” Jeff says.

The couple married in December of 1992.

Shortly thereafter, he returned to his former role as a Unit Counselor, this time at Park Ridge Hospital in Fletcher, before joining Susan and her family in the design, development, and management of the Sourwood Inn—a April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 47

sam adams swooping in

for a well-earned treat.

48

| April 2016

retreat style bed and breakfast that sits on 100 acres of hilly terrain on the northeast edge of Asheville.

By the early 2000s, while still running the Inn (he helps with bookkeeping there to this day), Jeff felt the call to return to retail. He and a friend, Carlton Wright Murrey, discussed opening a shop that would combine Curtis’ knowledge of retail, along with both men’s passion for the outdoors, specifically fly fishing.

By April of 2003, the doors to Curtis Wright Outfitters opened.

A second location opened in Saluda the following year. And in May of 2006 they added their third store, in Biltmore Village.

With growth, however, came growing pains. In October of 2011, the Saluda location closed its doors. “Being responsible for a business can get burdensome,” he notes. “I’m the last to get paid. Inventory, rent, and employee salaries come first.” Such financial realities would eventually lead to Murrey’s departure

from the business in 2011; by then it was becoming clear that the retail operation couldn’t support both men’s families. (Murrey went on to become the CEO of the Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association, and according to Jeff has “grown it [Cradle of Forestry] incredibly well.”)

Shortly thereafter, in early spring of 2012, a man by the name of Peter Kipp-DuPont emailed Jeff. He was raising money for the Quest Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates environmental education through the combination of the arts and sciences in an effort to preserve wildlife refuges, while championing sound environmental practices and defenses. He wanted to see about setting up a table in front of the Curtis Wright Asheville location. In addition to being an environmentalist, DuPont also happened to be a falconer.

By then it had been over 25 years since an owl had chased Jeff out of its cage during his time at Furman. Nevertheless, he knew this was his chance. He responded to DuPont’s email. He did not bring up his past interest in falconry. He did not bring up birds at all. He simply told the falconer that it would be fine for him to set up outside his shop.

Outfitters in Biltmore Village. Their presence drew people in.

Pictures were taken and feathers stroked, while DuPont spoke of environmental awareness.

“He has a way of making people see how everything is interconnected,” Jeff says.

One of DuPont’s many talking points involved DDT, a chemical used throughout the ‘60s and early ‘70s to kill mosquitoes. In 1972 the chemical was banned from agricultural use, but by then the damage had already been done, in that DDT magnifies through the food chain. Meaning by the time the falcon ate the duck that ate the insect that ate the crop that was sprayed with the chemical, the effects intensified, resulting in eggshell thinning.

By the mid-1970s there were only an estimated 300 pairs of Peregrine falcons left. In the 1980s, DuPont, along with other falconers, combated the Peregrine’s endangered status by breeding the birds in captivity, and by 1999, their numbers had sufficiently increased to have them delisted.

Jeff, of course, had immediate respect for DuPont’s knowledge and life’s devotion to the Peregrine. So much respect, that it took him a few weeks to work up the courage to ask if DuPont would be willing to sponsor him in the required two-year falconry apprenticeship.

“He told me no. He had had some bad experiences in the past with guys who thought they wanted to be a falconer, but who weren’t truly committed.”

DuPont did give him two other names, though. But even with DuPont as a reference, both falconers turned him down. “There’s a lot of risk involved in sponsoring,” Jeff says, explaining that romanticism combined with inexperience increases the likelihood of a bird being injured by an apprentice. And such a result—especially if the apprentice quits shortly thereafter—is devastating to the falconer.

After his second round of rejections, Jeff returned to DuPont with a simple request. “I asked him to come see my house. I wanted him to see that I had access to land. I also knew my wife’s cooking would win him over.”

Over a home-cooked meal, DuPont learned more about his history and passion for both birds and the sport. He saw the amount of property Jeff had to work with, as well. That, along with the fact that he was self-employed and therefore able to adjust his schedule at the stores, played into Jeff’s favor. By the night’s end, DuPont agreed to sponsor him under one condition.

“He wouldn’t help prep me for the tests,” Jeff says. “I’d have to study for that on my own. But he agreed to teach me the hands-on stuff of falconry.”

The Sponsor

A Brief History

Two Peregrine Falcons, named Zelda and Seymour, accompanied DuPont at his table outside Curtis Wright

In teaming up with DuPont, Jeff not only became an apprentice, but a member of a sport with a long history. One

Romanticism combined with inexperience increases the likelihood of a bird being injured by an apprentice. And such a result— especially if the apprentice quits shortly thereafter—is devastating to the falconer.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 49

that can be traced back as far as 1000 BC, to Mongolia, where falconry was refined on military campaigns by the Great Khans.

By 1030 BC, the Ancient Egyptians had discovered the sport as well. From there, it made its way to China, Indo-Pakistan, Japan, and the Islamic world. By the Middle Ages, it took hold in Europe, where it was considered the “sport of kings.” Falconry in the United States, however, would remain relatively dormant until the early 20th century.

Even with this extensive history, the techniques involved have seen little change. In particular, the falconer has to make sure that the birds aren’t over-fed, or they will not be sufficiently motivated to hunt or return to the falconer for food. “Most of what we do is weight management. You have to maintain a certain weight because a full bird isn’t coming back to you.”

The sport is also a test in patience. “This is the most unnatural thing in the world for them,” he says, while sitting in the Weaverville store’s back office with Little Sumpin perched on his hand. “We’re one of their few predators. This is an amazing display of trust. And that’s something that comes gradually.”

All Things Gradual As with most falconers, Jeff was eager to trap his first bird and participate in a hunt. To get to the hunt itself, however, he had to get through a series of preliminary steps. The first one involved confronting a moral issue: His wife Susan was initially opposed the idea. “She couldn’t understand how I could go from a bird watcher to wanting to capture a wild bird and put it in a cage,” he says.

Like DuPont, Jeff sees falconry as a vessel—a way for people to connect with the raptors in order to better understand their relationship with the creatures and, by extension, all wildlife.

“It’s the simple stuff we don’t even think about. When you throw an apple core out your car window you assume it’ll decompose.

What you don’t consider is that a mouse is just as likely to run out to get it. Well, up in the sky is a raptor. The raptor’s only focus is the mouse. Meaning when it swoops down to snatch the mouse, it doesn’t even see the grill of the 18-wheeler it’s about to crash into.”

In addition, Jeff spoke with Susan about falconry not as domestication, but behavior modification—a component of the sport that tied in nicely with his past experience as a Unit Counselor. As he puts it, “I understand small steps and positive reinforcement.”

And while the definition between domestication and behavior modification certainly blurs somewhat (these birds do learn to equate food with the glove), Jeff also went into the fact that the hunt itself is a partnership. Both the raptor and the falconer seek prey from their separate vantage points; the falconer walks the land, while the raptor follows, from tree to tree. In some instances, the bird spots the prey and takes off. In other instances, the falconer’s disruption of groundcover initiates a critter’s desperate dash. Either way, once caught by the raptor, 50

| April 2016

it is the falconer’s job to locate the bird, rather than the popular misconception that the bird brings the catch back to the falconer.

This, again, is where falconry turns into weight management.

If the falconer does not get to the raptor quick enough, the raptor will fill up on its kill and have no need for the falconer.

More often than not, though, the falconer gets to the scene in time. The leash is hooked back around the raptor’s feet, while an exchange occurs wherein the falconer offers a substitute in place of the kill. “You never have a bird think you’re stealing their food,” Jeff says. Otherwise, the partnership is off.

In the end, however, what swayed Susan was a simple agreement: Jeff agreed to never keep a bird for more than two years.

With the moral issue resolved, he moved onto the next step of licensing. This is where falconry as both a sport and an enterprise gets complicated. In the United States, an Apprentice Falconry License allows you to work as a falconer with a sponsor. During this two-year period, you can only possess one bird. Upon completion, the falconer is eligible to apply for the General Falconry License. In order to acquire this license, however, the apprentice must also get recommendations from two additional falconers. Once this license is obtained, the falconer can possess up to three birds. After five years, the General Falconry License can be upgraded to the Master Class Falconer License. This license allows the falconer to possess additional birds, with fewer restrictions regarding what types

Hang On Saint Hubert

like so many other specialized disciplines , falconry has its own roster of unique , at times unusual , terminology. master the glossary below and you won ’ t be left flapping in the breeze when you find yourself deep in discussion with an enthusiast.

MEW OR MEWS – the hawk’s secure enclosure (the hawk house).

CREANCE – a long line or cord attached to the raptor when it is flown outside during training; the creance is used in preparation for free flying the bird.

ANKLET – the leather strap that goes around the hawk’s leg—the jess passes through the anklet.

JESS – the leather strip that passes through the anklet, which allows the falconer to hold the bird; the swivel and leash attach to the jess to secure the raptor to the perch or glove.

COPING – to re-shape the bird’s beak back to its optimal form.

the aver age wingspan of a

Harris’ s Hawk is 42 inches.

like most of Curtis’

birds, Hoppy Boy is a Harris’s Hawk Falcon.

FEAK – the action of rubbing the beak against a surface to clean it; this is a sign of a content bird.

ROUSE – the action of a raptor erecting its feathers and then shaking them; part of preening and also a sign of a content bird.

FREE LOFT – a management technique of allowing the hawk to stay in the mews untethered; the raptor is given full roam of the mews.

GAUNTLET – the falconer’s glove (left handed glove for a right handed falconer).

HOOD – the leather head covering used on hawks and falcons, the purpose of which is to keep the bird calm.

STOOP – the act of a falcon folding its wings back and diving through the air, usually in pursuit of quarry; the Peregrine Falcon has been clocked at over 250mph in a stoop.

SAINT HUBERT – the patron saint of falconers and falconry.

BATE – the action of the raptor attempting to fly from a perch or glove while attached by a leash.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

51

of birds the falconer can capture. All licenses, incidentally, are acquired through state-administered written exams.

In addition to the licenses, there is also the matter of permits. In order for Jeff to take people on falconry outings, he is required to hold a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Permit.

Even with this permit, however, those who accompany the falconer are legally prohibited from handling a wild bird of prey, in that regulations specifically forbid financial gain through the use of wild birds. Jeff, who is licensed, is allowed to trap a wild falcon for the purposes of training it himself; but when he takes his customers out, they can only handle birds that have been bred in captivity—which, unlike wild birds, are forbidden by law from ever being released into the wild.

Lastly, falconers must have a state inspected facility built for their raptors. The facility, called a mews, must be a minimum of 8’x 8’.

Only after these requirements are met is a falconer legally permitted to capture that first bird. And much like young love, a falconer never forgets his first.

“I wanted to go right away,” he says. “Of course, Pete [DuPont] told me no. That we had to wait for the leaves to fall in order to see the birds.”

Like a child marking the days off the calendar until summer, Jeff spent the next few months waiting for the green leaves to

“Normally you hood a bird once it’s caught in order to calm it down, but Pete didn’t want to hood her. He wanted to see how she would act as I held her on my lap for the drive home.”

Taking the Bait Trapping season runs from August to the end of February. It overlaps with the hunting season, which runs from mid-October to the end February. The length of time spent training varies, depending on the bird. Some need only a few weeks to free fly.

For others it can require months. The uncertainty involved, along with the build-up that went into Jeff’s legal right to trap, resulted in his being an eager trapper.

52

| April 2016

turn orange, yellow, and red. Once they began to fall, he and DuPont loaded the truck.

There are three common traps used in falconry: dho gaza, bownet, and bal-chatri.

The dho gaza involves an upright net mounted in front of the bait. The bait can range from a mouse to a rat to a sparrow.

Just as a raptor might collide with the grill of an 18-wheeler in pursuit of a meal, so too will it collide with the net of the dho gaza, which subsequently collapses, trapping the bird.

Unlike the dho gaza, the bownet is a spring-loaded mechanism, operated either remotely or trigged by the raptor’s landing.

Either way, once the bird of prey swoops down to capture the bait secured at the center of the trap, the net springs open, capturing the bird.

The third and most commonly used trap is the bal-chatri.

Unlike the other two techniques, the bal-chatri does not rely on a netting system, but rather a noose-covered cage. As with

the other techniques, bait is placed inside the cage. Once the raptor attempts to capture the prey, its feet become tangled in the nooses.

The latter technique is what Jeff and DuPont were working with. They’d gone out twice before without any results. By their third outing the rain fell, and so, too, did the hours.

“We’d been driving for about four hours that day,” recalls Jeff.

“I came to the intersection of Ferncliff Park Drive and Highway 280. We were talking about which way to turn on 280 and had decided to go toward Mills River when Pete spotted her.”

They pulled off onto the shoulder in order to get a better look. Sure enough, a Red-Tailed Hawk sat perched on one of the landing lights at Asheville Regional Airport.

It is believed that most raptors breed for life. Because of this, the law prohibits falconers from capturing mature birds.

Initially, DuPont thought their bird on the landing light was indeed a mature hawk, based on her chest and eye-color.

Jeff, of course, did not want to believe this. With binoculars in hand, he studied the bird, certain he’d seen a barred brown tail—an indication of immaturity. Once DuPont confirmed Jeff’s observation, the two men laid out the bal-chatri along the side of the road, and drove 30 yards up.

“Once we pulled back over, Pete tells me not to look at the bird,” Jeff says. “He then tells me if it doesn’t land on the trap within the first five minutes, it isn’t going to.” After that, DuPont let him in on an additional observation he’d noted over the years:

“He told me if a bird spots your trap and poops, it’s a good sign.”

As things went, the hawk on the landing light defecated.

Seconds later it swooped down onto the cage. The predator’s speed would inspire its name, Rocket Girl (derived from the golden lager). Its feet tangled, Jeff and DuPont took off on foot.

Once they got to the hawk, DuPont held the wings while Jeff released its feet. DuPont then handed the hawk off for Jeff to hold.

“Normally you hood a bird once it’s caught in order to calm it down,” Jeff says. “But Pete didn’t want to hood her. He wanted to see how she would act as I held her on my lap for the drive home.”

Picture this final scene. DuPont is driving down the road, while Jeff sits beside him, holding an un-hooded hawk on his lap and observing her behavior.

Which, unsurprisingly, is more than just a little agitated. Gradually, though, the nervousness begins to subside—for both the bird and her handler.

“It was amazing to see the transformation,” marvels Jeff. “She started to calm down— her crest started to lower and her gape started to close. I think Pete just wanted the two of us to be able to see each other and start the process of getting to know each other.”

It was during this initial period that he felt everything come together.

“We were the only car out on the road that day with a hawk in it. My hands were starting to cramp as I was holding her, and we were just about to cross the Smoky Park Bridge.

“I was like a little kid sitting there, thinking that, this was it.”

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

53

column

What Not To Pair

Food and Wine Pairing Disasters and the Simple Steps to Avoid Them.

“

J

john kerr

is the co-owner of Metro Wines located on Charlotte Street in downtown Asheville.

54

I

’ M S O R R Y, B U T I D O N ’ T D R I N K S W E E T W I N E . ” The waiter had just placed a glass of off-dry Chenin Blanc in front of me along with the entrée. Earlier, the sommelier had offered to pair a glass of wine with each course and I had accepted the challenge. I wanted to see what wine someone other than me would pair with tonight’s dishes.

But with this pairing, it was time for me to hit the brakes.

The entrée? A sort of Caribbean pasta dish with hot chilies and mangoes. After tussling a bit with the sommelier, I agreed to buy a second glass of wine—one of my choosing. I took a sip of my old friend, a dry wine that’s normally versatile in pairing.

But when I accompanied it with a bite of the dish, it turned from fruity and balanced to harsh and alcoholic. I then did the same with the Chenin Blanc.

The sweetness disappeared, and instead was replaced with a beautiful fruit and crispness that was in perfect harmony with this spicy dish. Lesson learned.

So this month, my mission is to save you from common wine pairing disasters that we see every day. I’ll steer you around the wreckage and offer you a clear path to pairing bliss. But don’t take my word for it. Like the sommelier did for me, put yourself to the test and pour two different wines with your next entrée. I think you’ll be surprised.

But before we go on, I want to remind you of the Cardinal Rule of wine: “Drink and eat what you enjoy.” Hey, they’re your taste buds and no expert knows you better than you. I once had a friend who always looked forward to grilled halibut accompanied by a glass of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Suit yourself. But remember: At gatherings, it’s not

| April 2016

just your taste buds on the line. So, consider the guidelines if you want to keep your friends.

Disaster 1 – The Wedding Reception

Nearly every week, I am approached by a couple who wants a little guidance pairing beverages with the cuisine at their wedding reception. On this special day, they want everything to be right. The conversation goes well—at first. With a little give and take, we find the wines that work both as an apéritif and pair with the meal, but also fit the style that Aunt Hilda likes. But then we hit the rituals of the Champagne toast and the cutting of the cake.

The dialogue comes to a halt.

“We only like Brut sparkling,” they insist. Yes, both wedding cake and Brut sparkling are fine on their own. But when they are served together, they are the opposite of synergy. The wedding cake tastes both bitter and too sweet. And the sparkling wine tastes acidic and metallic.

The sparkling wine I often recommend for weddings is Weinbiet Secco, a value priced semisparkler from Germany. It has just enough sugar to make it taste rich and creamy but not perceptibly

J sweet (which is the same trick that made Kendal Jackson Chardonnay so popular).

The last couple who served Weinbiet Secco at their reception took time from their honeymoon to drop by and thank me for the pairing. To date, no newlywed has thanked me for selling them Brut.

If you want to see your favorite wine shop staffer sweat, tell him/her you’re planning a wine and chocolate party. In the world of foods, chocolate and wine are the most romantic and revered—the stuff dreams are made of. But serve them together, and you truly face a recipe for disaster. This pairing is so treacherous that a harmonious combination is hard to get right, even when you follow the guidelines. You’ll have to buy a pound of chocolate and several bottles of wine

T:10.5”

Disaster 2 – Wine and Chocolate

®

Music. Sports. Entertainment. News.

Affordable to buy, affordable to own.

Decision made.

With a Certified Pre-Owned Mercedes-Benz, driving the car of your dreams is a lot closer than you think. Each of our Certified Pre-Owned vehicles undergoes a rigorous inspection process, and now, get added confidence with our new unlimited mileage warranty, delivering continued assurance for up to three years.* Plus, enjoy three months’ SiriusXM Satellite Radio.** Available only at your authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer.

Visit today for exceptional offers. MBUSA.com/CPO

2015 ML 350 BlueTEC® shown in Diamond White metallic paint with optional equipment, 2015 C 300 Sedan shown in Lunar Blue metallic paint with optional equipment and 2015 E 550 Sport Sedan shown in Steel Grey metallic paint with optional equipment. See your authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer for details. *See dealer for complete details on warranty and Roadside Assistance. Certified Pre-Owned limited warranty coverage for one year from expiration date of the original 4-year/50,000-mile Mercedes-Benz new vehicle limited warranty. If the new vehicle limited warranty has expired, Certified Pre-Owned limited warranty coverage is for one year from the date of purchase. **SiriusXM satellite service available only to those at least 18 and older in the contiguous U.S. and D.C. Three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM Satellite Radio included on vehicles already equipped. Qualified customers only. ©SiriusXM Radio Inc. ©2016 Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC

Skyland Automotive, Inc.

HEADLINE: 34 pt. • BODY COPY: 11 pt

255 Smoky Park Hwy, Asheville, NC 28806• 828-667-5213 200 Varick St. New York, NY 10014 : Phone 212-805-7500 MBC_CPO_P64513_NYT_Half

Client: MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. Corporate

WO: ’16 CPO Sustaining “Affordable to buy...”

PATH: M.P_MECHANICALS:Mercedes:MBC:CPO:P64513:MBC_CPO_P64513_NYT_Half

FOLLOW AN OF TEN-IGNORED RULE: THE WINE SHOULD ALWAYS BE AS SWEET OR SWEETER THAN THE FOOD YOU SERVE.

and test drive the pairings. An expensive proposition, but not the worst way to spend an evening.

The dif ficulty comes from the combination of sweet and bitter flavors in the chocolate. The sweetness renders a dry wine even drier and turns the fruit sour. And the chocolate’s tannins can conflict with the wine.

You can fix this problem by following an often-ignored rule: The wine should always be as sweet or sweeter than the food you serve. With dessert, a quality port gets the job done. Or consider a dessert sherry made from the grape Pedro Ximenez, so good that it’s one of

SPECS L/S: None DOC SIZE: 11.55” x 10.5” B: None G: None

TEAM Creative: Brian Hall Chris Landi Acct: Amanda Ribeiro Prod/Traf: Janice Thor Lynn Mathis Studio: bd

IMAGES

MEDIA / PRINT INFO Pubs: New York TImes Media: Newsprint Line Screen: None Printed: 2-3-2016 6:31 PM @ None

COLORS Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

CMYK 0/0/0/99 FONTS Corporate S Light, Regular Corporate A Condensed T Regular Helvetica Neue 65 Medium TT Slug OTF Bold, Regular

Unlimited Confidence.eps (19.7%; SuperStudio:Logos:Mercedes:CPO:Unlimited Confidence.eps) MB-star_M_n_4C.eps (26.67%; SuperStudio:Logos:Mercedes:2015 Mercedes-Benz Brand Marks:M-B Starmark EPS:MB-star_M_n_4C.eps) MB_2016_CPO_Affordable_Cn_300_V4.tif (CMYK; 44%; 681 ppi; SuperStudio:ART:MNH:MERCEDES:2015:2015 CORP:2015 CPO:MB_2016_CPO_Affordable_Cn_300_V4.tif) SXM_SR_Logo_BLACK BIG ®.eps (24.03%; SuperStudio:Logos:Sirius XM:SXM_SR_Logo_BLACK BIG ®.eps)

BlueTerra P o o l

C o n s t r u c t i o n

“a rt i s a n s of n at u r a l a r c h i t e c t u r e ”

Asheville | 828.782.3060 blueterrapools.com | info@blueterrapools.com BlueTerraCapitalAtPlayAd.indd 1

55 April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 3/18/16 1:54 PM

1

column

my recommended wines for everyone’s bucket list. If you insist on a dry wine, make sure it has soft tannins and big, ripe fruit.

Many of the modern style Zinfandels will make a decent match.

Okay, we’ve covered two common sweet food disasters. Now it’s time to take on savory fare.

Disaster 3 – Asparagus or Artichokes and Just About Any Wine

No way around this combination. Red or white, most wine pairings here are mildly off at best and face scrunching at worst. You can try to cover these vegetables with a heavy sauce, but you miss the point of serving them in the first place. And eventually their flavor pops through. To a lesser extent, this applies to bitter vegetables as well.

There is one wine that works here and that is Grüner Veltliner. This Austrian white is sweeping the world as the new Sauvignon Blanc. And its new-found popularity is in part due to its universal versatility.

Disaster 4 – Fish and Tannins

The oils in fish can get even fishier when served with a tannic, dry red wine such as a Cabernet Sauvignon. And if you’re really

in a self-loathing mood, pair shellfish with a big, bold red. It’s best to serve an unoaked white wine in these situations. A great choice is Muscadet. People avoid it because they think it’s a sweet wine. But this is France’s secret weapon for shellfish, and is the go-to wine for fish lovers who have found this treasure.

If you insist on pairing your fish with red wine, select one that is oak free. Consider Gamay, Pinot Noir, a Rhone blend, or Frappato. Never heard of Frappato? It’s the other red wine from Sicily, where nearly all meals are based around fish.

Tannic wines are best served with cheese or red meat dishes. The tannins add structure and cut through the fat of these two foods.

Disaster 5 – Tomato Sauces and any Wine not Italian

There is no better place than here to apply the old adage, “what grows together goes together.” Tomatoes, introduced by Columbus, are served in many dishes throughout Europe. But tomato sauce dominates in Italian cuisine because it pairs so well with the country’s grapes and style of winemaking.

Tomato sauce is inherently acidic and only the flavors and acid in Italian wines can stand up to it. Yes, you can serve some Spanish reds or an Austrian Zweigelt with pizza. But if it’s a full blown tomato sauce you want, serve it with your favorite Italian red.

Credentialed advisors are part of our core values.

Individuals Businesses Trust Services parsecfinancial.com

The fact that each and every Parsec Financial advisor is certified sets us apart from the competition. Getting these credentials with organizations that require rigorous continuing education encourages career-long learning of industry and investment needs. Always with a non-biased, non-commission fee structure. When you succeed, we succeed.

56

| April 2016

J Disaster 6 – Spicy, Smoky, Salty

Disaster 7 – High Alcohol Wines

There is a time and place for high alcohol wines. Like when If you’re staring down at a dish with one or more of these you need to disinfect something, or you’ve had a bad day. But attributes, tread lightly. For spicy foods, combat the spice and when it comes to food pairing, the heat from the alcohol can dull heat with some sweetness in the wine (which is where we started your taste buds and stop you from tasting the food. And if you’re this article). serving chile-hot food, drinking For smoky foods, pair like flavors. alcohol just amps up the heat. It’s Consider a red northern Rhone which like pouring gasoline on a fire. High has notes of red meat and bacon. alcohol wines sacrifice complexity.

IF YOU’RE SERVING Waiters and wine shop staffers are If you can, keep the wine’s alcohol CHILE-HOT FOOD, often cautioned not to use these terms at 13.5% or lower and let the food’s with customers, lest they chase them DRINKING ALCOHOL flavors shine through. off. But if you ask, they’ll be happy JUST AMPS UP THE HEAT. to talk to you about a bacony wine.

Let’s sum up the rules for pairing IT ’S LIKE POURING Warning: When buying a northern success.

Pair a wine as sweet or GASOLINE ON A FIRE. Rhone, bring a fat wallet. Because sweeter than the meal. Unoaked and of limited production and its cult low tannin wines pair with just about following, prices are high. anything. Serve a tannic wine with For salty foods, pair with high acid cheese and red meat dishes. Save high alcohol wines for a bad wines. These wines more often hail from Europe although day. And when in doubt, serve what “grows together.” Your we’re seeing more of these food friendly wines coming from friends will be glad you did. the United States. And if you’ve never served Champagne with potato chips or French fries, you’re in for a treat.

Asheville’s Only App Development Summer Camp Asheville’s Only App Development Summer Camp Asheville’s Only App Development Summer Camp

Asheville School is offering a unique app camp experience Asheville School is offering a unique app camp experience Asheville School is offering a unique app camp experience for students interested in learning how to make exciting for students interested in learning how make exciting for apps students interested in learning how to to make new for the iPad, and even Apple TV.exciting new apps foriPhone, the iPhone, iPad, and even Apple TV. new apps for the iPhone, iPad, and even Apple TV. Using Apple’s Swift programming language, students will Using Apple’s Swift programming language, students will Usingthe Apple’s Swift programming language,what students will spend week developing apps and learning it takes spend the week developing apps and learning what it takes thean week apps and learning what it takes tospend produce appdeveloping for the Apple App Store. to produce an app for the Apple App Store. to produce an app for the Apple App Store.

Visit AshevilleSchool.org/appdevcamp to register today!

Visit AshevilleSchool.org/appdevcamp to register today!

Visit 8:30 AshevilleSchool.org/appdevcamp register today!

Hours: am - 4:30 pm (breakfast/lunchtoprovided) Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm (breakfast/lunch provided) Hours: When: July8:30 25 -am 29 - 4:30 pm (breakfast/lunch provided) When: July 25 - 29 When: 25$525 - 29 (includes T-shirt/textbook) Early BirdJuly Price: Early Bird Price: $525 (includes T-shirt/textbook) Early Bird Price: $525 T-shirt/textbook) Ages 13-18 (Must turn 13 (includes by 6-20-16) Ages 13-18 (Must turn 13 by 6-20-16) Ages 13-18 (Must turn 13 by 6-20-16) Skill Level: Beginner - Intermediate Skill Level: Beginner - Intermediate Skill Level: Intermediate Registration is Beginner limited to-20 students.

Registration is limited to 20 students.

Registration is limited to 20 students. ashevilleschool.org • 828.254.6345 x4042 • Visit ashevilleschool.org/appdevcamp • appdevcamp@ashevilleschool.org April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 57 ashevilleschool.org • 828.254.6345 x4042 • Visit ashevilleschool.org/appdevcamp • appdevcamp@ashevilleschool.org ashevilleschool.org • 828.254.6345 x4042 • Visit ashevilleschool.org/appdevcamp • appdevcamp@ashevilleschool.org

THE OLD

NORTH

STATE [

news briefs

Eighty Years Later kernersville

In 1938, a delegation of veterans went from Kernersville (near Winston-Salem) to Raleigh to request a new Veterans’ hospital. The request finally came to fruition in a ribbon-cutting ceremony February 26.

Ground was broken for the new facility two years ago, and, at 400,000-sq.-ft., it will be four times larger than the outpatient clinic that had been serving veterans in the Triad area. The hospital was developed by Lend Lease Healthcare Development, based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The project cost $130 million, and it will be leased to the Veterans Administration for twenty years at $13 million annually, including utilities and janitorial services. The facility will offer no inpatient services, but it will provide about 95% of health services the 30,000 veterans who use the facility are expected

]

to need. The building is expected to serve as a magnet to draw other businesses to Patriot’s Crossing, a largely undeveloped medical business park.

Race to the Top kannapolis

With $1 billion in annual sales, Haas Automation is the largest machine tool builder in North America. But to prove they are the best, founder Gene Haas has designed a Formula One car. “We feel that if we can prove to the rest of the world that we can compete in Formula One, then the parts we make must be the best in the world, too,” he said. Haas founded a NASCAR team in 2002 and brought Tony Stewart on as a driver and co-owner in 2009. From that experience, Haas said he

has learned how to manage inventory and track costs. Even so, he waited almost two years after procuring a Formula One license to make sure he could hit the ground running. Haas describes Formula One as a global showcase for the latest technology. He unveiled the VF-16 online on February 21, the day before it began preseason testing at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya. Haas’ will be the first American-led Formula One team in thirty years. Haas foresees significant opportunities for expanding his racing business interests in Kannapolis. It is not only home to his offices and machining facility; he recently completed a wind tunnel on campus.

Sweet Bumper Crop faison & wilson

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, sweet potato harvests in the United States increased from 2.47 billion pounds in 2013 to 3.1 billion in 2015. To keep up with demand, North Carolina packing companies are up fitting. Southern Produce Distributors, Inc., in Faison, is now installing an additional packing line with an electronic sizer. While expanding capacity, the

80 Charlotte Street Asheville, NC 28801 (828)252-1594 CarpetOneAsheville.com

58

| April 2016

move is expected to reduce costs. Before that, Southern Produce constructed a temperature-controlled facility that will increase its storage capacity by 20%. Vick Family Farms of Wilson moved operations to a 50,000-sq.-ft. facility, keeping its twenty-year-old plant for processing and overflow. The new setup was equipped with multiple lines and sizers as well.

The new setup will allow Vick to pack different sizes of potatoes at the same time. In the past, potatoes of the wrong size would have to be rerun, perhaps multiple times. Vick has also increased acreage and added three loading docks.

30

74

carolina in the west

national & world

committed to provide the public with year-over-year reports on the number of cage-free-eggs substituted. “We wholeheartedly applaud Delhaize America for taking these steps today to improve the lives of laying hens,” said Leah Garces, the US director of Compassion in World Farming. Delhaize’s broader sustainability plan includes four focus areas and fourteen group-wide goals, which involve programs on diversity and inclusion and associate well-being.

have big plans for using their store in other ways for community outreach.

Ideas include co-hosting a drink and draw with Rocky Mount Brewmill, sponsoring weekend events to showcase local artists and writers, and participating in the nationwide Free Comic Book Day in May. Tiffany says unlike other forms of print media, comic books sales have not been harmed appreciably in the digital age. (Related: See the March issue of Capital at Play for a profile of Asheville comic book store Comic Envy.)

To Have & To Hold

Stock Designer Packaging

rocky mount

Do You Want Them in a Cage? salisbury

As the latest step in its commitment to sustainability and animal welfare, Delhaize America announced a goal of selling 100% cage-free shell eggs by 2025. They may meet the goal sooner, depending on supply, affordability, and demand. Delhaize America sells as Food Lion and Hannaford grocery stores.

Delhaize will first aim for the goal with its store-brand eggs, which make up most of their egg sales. The company has further

“Our house got so full of collectibles and comic books that we basically decided to open a store,” explained Bill Young. He and his wife, Tiffany, both comic book enthusiasts, moved to Rocky Mount two years ago. While both have day jobs, they would travel to Raleigh or Chapel Hill to visit comic book stores. About a month ago, they opened Arkham Comix, and business has been booming. To celebrate, they held a customer appreciation day that drew between 300 and 400 visitors.

Featured at the event were Daniel Way, Louis Small, Jr., and Richard Case—all big names in the industry. The Youngs

the old north state

cary

Too many last-minute orders pushed Carrie Smith to the brink of innovating a new business. Harvest Creations offers downloadable packaging designs, as well as branding and web design for agricultural producers. Smith claims the “reverse design process” makes design more affordable. Her company takes the middle ground between free design that is a poor fit and custom design that might cost too much. Smith hired some of the biggest-name designers from her area to create the downloadable stock. She

your complete

Fabric center Largest selection of upholstery fabric in WNC

Fast, friendly service

Drapery material/lining | Comforter and bedspread material

U.S. 25 North

|

Fletcher, NC

|

684-0801

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 59

the old north state

believes well-designed packaging is like dressing nice for a job interview. Making a good impression is one way to show a company cares for their customers.

Packers in a rush can download designs and slap on their company names and logos. Those with a little more time and money can call upon the talents of Harvest Creations’ marketing and graphics teams. They may either purchase sole rights to a design or a limited number of boxes. Smith hopes to expand the stock designs to include labels and bags as well.

Seeing Like Degas durham

Feather Your Nest

CONSIGNMENT SHOP

Specializing in upscale one-of-a-kind furnishings, housewares, home decorative items and vintage & fine jewelry.

New items arriving daily!

Come see for yourself!

Tuesday through Saturday | 10am to 4pm 1215A Greenville Hwy. Hendersonville, NC

828.693.3535 Accepting Quality Consignments

60

| April 2016

Cree, Inc., continues to innovate better light bulbs. Catching a lot of attention is the TW Series TM PAR30 Cree ® LED bulb. It provides bright, high-quality, focused light for direct or dramatic lighting for residential and commercial uses. The bulb would mainly be used for displaying art, but it could also help people needing a brighter workspace. The bulb uses Cree TrueWhite® technology, to provide bright, white, and warm light to display items in their intended colors.

It is available as a 25o spot or 40 o flood light. The bulbs are ENERGY STAR® certified with a life expectancy of 25,000 hours. They are fully dimmable and come with long or short necks.

Cree is an innovator of lighting and semiconductor products for use in general illumination, signs and signals, and power supplies and inverters. Last month, the company also announced the demonstration of a single highpower LED capable of deliver ing 1,600 lumens at 134 lumens per watt and color quality similar to that of an incandescent bulb. This represented a 25% increase in lumens available from bulbs emitting similar color schemes.

The breakthrough would enable high LED light quality at affordable prices.

The Balance of Power wake forest

S o u t h e r n C o m p a ny w i l l b u y PowerSecure International for $431 million. Southern will pay $18.75 per share, which traded at $10.30 the day of the announcement. Shares were never valued higher than $16.94 last year.

Southern—which serves 4.5 million customers operating Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Mississippi Power, and Florida’s Gulf Power—entered into the deal to break into the customer-sited power business. PowerSecure, based in Wake Forest, specializes in on-site power management technology. Specifically, it makes integrated systems for backup power for large operations like utilities, hospitals, data centers, and food plants. Its biggest seller is Interactive Distributed Generation, or integrated controls and generation that work with utilities, “behind the meter,” to turn on and off during blackouts and peak power.

Peak power savings have, in fact, justified the investment for many companies. The deal will allow PowerSecure to remain in Wake Forest as a subsidiary, with no changes to management.

Gene-Repairing Viruses chapel hill

Bamboo Therapeutics, a gene therapy startup, raised $49.5 million in its first SEC fundraiser. Six investors participated. The company also received a donation in an undisclosed amount in January from CureDuchenne Ventures in January. Bamboo is advancing to the clinical stage the research of Dr. Richard Jude Samulski, director of the Gene Therapy Center at the University of North Carolina. Bamboo is specializing in the treatment of rare and less-researched neurologic diseases like Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, giant axonal neuropathy, Caravan disease, and Friedreich’s ataxia. Bamboo uses adeno-associated viruses (AAV)

to replace defective genes, and it holds twenty-some patents for AAV therapy.

AAVs are attractive for use in gene therapy because they are non-pathogenic, low-immunogenic, and functional over a broad base of tissues. Last month, Bamboo acquired University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Vector Core, a leading facility for manufacturing viral gene therapies. Bamboo developed a cell-based strategy for growing the AAV’s that, compared to traditional methods that use animal-serum, is cleaner and less labor-intensive.

One Piece at a Time

realize your

GIVING

POTENTIAL

cary

Everyone should have a personal strategy to complement their tax strategy.

Let the advisors at Webb Investment Services assist you in creating a plan that benefits you and the causes you support.

N

VE

STMENT

S

An Independent Wealth Management Firm

•

CES

WEB

VI

B

I

How will you make a difference?

ER B

RA

TING 20

Y

Laura Webb, CFP® President & Founder

LE

EA

CE

RS

•

Two cars priced over $1.6 million each recently sold from Taggart Autosport.

Taggart is a new factory specializing in the engineering, building, and customizing of exotic supercars. The on-site showroom is open only by appointment.

Mercedes, Bentley, Ferrari, and Jaguar are among the automobile makes that are custom-built from scratch at Taggart. The two $1.6 million cars, among the most expensive sold in the United States year-to-date, were both limited-edition Porsche 918 Spyders.

The Spyder is special because it is a mid-engine, hybrid hypercar. To translate: The engine is located in the middle of the car for four-wheel drive. The engine is a 608-horsepower V8 supplemented by two 140-horsepower electric motors. And hypercars are extremely lightweight and aerodynamic. The cars were sold to brothers, one in New York, and the other in Arizona. Owner Jim Taggart keeps at least eighteen models on the floor at any given time. Among those on-sale now are a 2016 McLaren 675 LT Coupe, with a sticker price of $488,500, and a number of other cars in the six-digit range.

828.252.5132 | laurawebb.com 82 Patton Ave., Suite 610 | Asheville, NC 28801

Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 61

A

Touching Practice Autumn Woodward finds power and healing in our most basic senses. written by emily ball ard

modest building resides off of Orange Street, just past the hustle and bustle of downtown Asheville and the busy Merrimon Avenue corridor. There is history within the walls, and each creaky stair alludes to the fact that this building must have been here long before this area was the destination that it has become today. There is also a calm quiet in the halls, and each step feels as if it is echoing loudly, disturbing the peace in each room.

At the end of the hall, Autumn Woodward emerges and leads clients to her treatment room, speaking in friendly, hushed tones so as not to disturb the other therapists and their clients in the building. A sparse room with a few antique looking chairs and a massage table fill the space, and relaxing spa music 62

| April 2016

|

photos by anthony harden

quietly plays in the background. The cloth that covers the table is decorated with penguins and bananas, a clear indication that this is not an ordinary massage studio.

Autumn is the owner of Autumn Woodward - Massage Therapy, a private practice that specializes in pediatric massage.

Connotations may lead to preconceptions of frivolity and self-indulgence, but this small business owner is a Certified Pediatric Massage Therapist and a Licensed Massage and Bodywork Practitioner, and has spent 14 years building a practice that guides families to alternative clinical treatments for both emotional and physical pain. Although she recognizes the importance of massage therapy as a means of relaxation, she has devoted her time and efforts to exploring modalities to

autumn woodward

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 63

a simple backrub can yield physical and emotional dividends.

offer to children and families experiencing outside stresses or daily difficulties. She finds that sometimes a basic back rub, or the soothing placement of her hands on tense areas, can trigger a profound reaction with her clients, a twinned physical response and emotional release that, in turn, can instill a lasting healing power.

An Organic Beginning Autumn comes from a big family of four brothers and a sister. She describes them as goofy and playful, and you can sense that they were not lacking in love and support.

She fondly recalls family rituals involving her siblings and her father circling around to give each other back scratches as he read them bedtime stories, and jokes that this was probably a clever technique he used to stay awake through story time. This family closeness was instrumental in Autumn’s later work and studies. Although she grew up in Western North Carolina, Autumn’s mother was from Washington state, and for a period of time, that is where they called home. They lived in a remote area at the end of a 55-mile lake in the Cascade Mountains, a national park not accessible by vehicle.

It was here that she began to cultivate her deep love and understanding of nature and healing as she developed an interest in plants and herbal medicine. “I was homeschooled, so I had a very hands-on education, which led to enjoying things and teaching things that are very literally hands-on, like massage,” Autumn remembers.

But it would be one very specific event that would change the course of Autumn’s future. On the way back from a group bike trip, the entire family was involved in a car accident after a wolf crossing the road caused them to be rear ended by a vehicle travelling 65 miles per hour.

Autumn suffered severe cervical whiplash.

She suddenly found that the things that she enjoyed doing, such as playing the fiddle, or simple acts of movement, were extremely difficult and painful. To treat the damaged area, her doctor prescribed neuromuscular treatment, and she went to see a specialist in this field that practiced massage therapy.

“It helped me because I was not able to do things that I was used to doing. I couldn’t put my head back or lift my head, because the muscles were so damaged in the front.

I thought, ‘Whoa, that’s kind of a big deal, that you are able to help me get through this injury’,” she recalls with incredulity, even after all these years.

Autumn went through a full year of treatment, but perhaps even more life changing for her was the spark of interest and inspiration she found in the unique world that had opened up to her. She felt drawn to delve deeper into this relatively unknown field of study that had helped her so immensely. Recognizing her strong curiosity, her parents and the herbalist she had been studying with arranged for 64

| April 2016

her to start an apprenticeship with the same therapist who had helped her heal from her injury.

It proved to be the perfect opportunity for Autumn. Because she was homeschooled, she was able to graduate a semester early. So at the young age of 17, she left home and spent a month taking in everything she possibly could from her mentor’s 25 years of experience as a doctor. As she fondly remembers the time, she jokes, “If you want to be a massage therapist, you have to start by folding a lot of laundry.” She admits that this occupied much of her routine, but it did not deter her enthusiasm: She now knew that this was the path she wanted to pursue.

Unexpected Discoveries Following the apprenticeship, Autumn set off on a road trip to seek out a formal program of study, and at the urging of a family friend, she met with the director of the Montana School of Massage in Missoula. She instantly felt that this was a great fit for her ambitions.

“I was 18 when I went to school,” she notes, “and I was really passionate about helping people with pain and healing from physical injury. Especially working with people who had whiplash, because I knew what that felt like.” Autumn studied traditional massage techniques, but it was really the clinical side of treatment that interested her the most.

She returned to North Carolina, but spent summers travelling back to Montana to work at a massage clinic. And it was a surprising encounter with a client at this clinic that would become the basis for a new path in her massage journey—a child around the age of eight.

Up until that point, massage therapy on children had never crossed Autumn’s mind. She remembers spending maybe a day on the subject in school, but at the time, it was still a relatively new concept.

On this particular day in the clinic, Autumn remembers hearing the child stomping down the hall and flopping onto the

couch. His mother disappeared into a room to have her massage treatment with another therapist, and there sat this prickly, angry little boy. Autumn thought there must be a mistake, but after checking the books she found that indeed, this was her next client. With no information to go on, she hesitantly took him to the treatment room.

Autumn really wasn’t sure of the best way to communicate with him and approached him cautiously. He jumped onto the table still wearing his soccer jersey. She asked him how he was feeling, and the boy seemed almost surprised that someone would ask him that question. A few words and a simple back rub ignited a palpable response from the child. And after a moment he opened up to Autumn about feeling sad and unhappy from an incident involving the family cat.

As the session progressed, there were tears—clearly, an emotional liberation for the boy. By the end of their time together, this oncesour tempered youngster was now joking with Autumn. “It was just interesting,” she now reflects, “because my initial reaction to him was that I didn’t want to go anywhere near him. He looked like he could cut you down, but he was just this very caring, gentle child. That was when I first encountered that idea that massage could help children in other ways than physical pain, and that children might be needing it.”

“That was when I first encountered that idea that massage could help children in other ways than physical pain, and that children might be needing it.”

An Emerging Field Pediatric massage is certainly gaining traction and respect in the mainstream medical community. When Autumn started her studies, there was relatively little information regarding the topic, but today, extensive studies are being conducted on the effects this treatment has on our younger population. Medical journals are publishing in-depth studies, and doctors and hospitals are presenting this as a valuable option for their patients.

The Jour nal of Pain Symptom Management, The International Journal of Neuroscience, and The Oncology Nursing Forum are just a few that have published articles on April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 65

autumn with one of

her young clients.

a session also includes listening.

the positive effects of pediatric massage therapy. The Journal of Applied Gerentology additionally presented an intriguing study (“Elder Retired Volunteers Benefit from Giving Massage Therapy to Infants”) in which a notable decrease in anxiety, depression, and stress was observed from these interactions, finding a correlation in the action of pediatric massage for both the elderly volunteers and infant patients. Another study, published in Current Directions in Psychological Science (“Massage Therapy Facilitates Weight Gain in Preterm Infants”), found that infant patients who underwent massage therapy gained 28-41% more weight than patients receiving no massage, a crucial period of growth in children.

Worth noting: As more evidence gets presented, and the general public continues to evolve in its acceptance of a real connection between massage and cognitive benefits for both adults and children, there is hope for more complete insurance coverage— which is often non-existent at this point—for such procedures.

Here in Western North Carolina, Mission Hospital now has a certified pediatric massage therapist on staff, and they have found positive results in this treatment. In a recent publication from Mission called My Healthy Life, pediatric oncologist and hematologist Dr. Krystal Bottom said, “In pediatric cancer patients, massage helps relieve pain and discomfort. In kids undergoing chemotherapy, massage can also help relieve nausea from medications.” St. Joseph’s Healthcare System in New Jersey utilizes similar integrative therapy techniques for children, and has had a great response to massage therapy, as well as acupuncture and reflexology.

This growth and recognition is the exciting part of Autumn’s practice. She has now spent years exploring the effects that 66

| April 2016

touch can have on individuals, and as she explains, “Touch is really fascinating and powerful in terms of immediate physiological response—even touch that is not ‘taught’.”

She continues, noting that when families are experiencing the traumatic experience of hospitalization, massage can have a profound effect. “That’s what I like to share with parents, because if they have a child in the hospital, just approaching massage can be so simple; they don’t have to be a master of technique. It can just be a hold, and that act of doing their best can calm down and focus their loving attention with the child.”

In her practice, she makes sure to also focus on providing information and techniques for the family that extend beyond their sessions. “Giving and receiving massage in a family has positive physiological benefits for both giver and receiver, and also gives a sense of closeness and deep bonding,” she says. Related to this is something she expounds upon, the theory that as technology advances, and children and adults grow attached to hand held devices and phones, a greater divide is wedged between individuals and the very basic act of touch. “With greater technological capacity than we’ve ever experienced, there has also been an impoverishment of our connectedness to one another. Eyes flick to phone screens, we answer one another distractedly, and work to save time, only to forget what we were saving it for.”

Autumn believes the practice and techniques of pediatric massage can ease this disparity and have a profound effect on both emotional and physical behavior.

Mountain Paint & Decorating, Inc. mountainpaintasheville.com

Charlotte Street 180 Charlotte Street Asheville, NC 28801 828.785.1940

Sweeten Creek 76 Sweeten Creek Rd. Asheville, NC 28803 828.258.5385

West Main Street 120 West Main Street Brevard, NC 28712 828.884.2285

Building a Business Starting a small business—here, a sole proprietorship — obviously has its advantages and disadvantages, and Autumn has been on the receiving end of both. “As an entrepreneur, I face a lot of the similar challenges that other small business owners do,” she says. “I think that one of the biggest steps for me was overcoming this feeling that I should just know business and should be able to do

LET’S PLAN YOUR

POOL!

NOW ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS FOR SPRING 2016 PROJECTS!

1200-C Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC • 828-277-8041 • waterworkswnc.com April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 67

that part, even though I trained for years to be able to do what I do on the practice side of it.”

With any new venture there is a learning curve, and luckily Autumn has found great resources within the community to help her along the way. She stumbled upon the small business center at A-B Tech, and has also worked with SCORE

she says. “We are lucky to live in a town that has so many good healing professionals that it could be really competitive, and of course it is to some degree. But there is a very supportive feeling among people practicing.” This comes in the form of referrals, collaborations, shared goals, and groups that flesh out the challenges and the accessibility of the industry.

Over time, Autumn has also experimented with different business approaches and ways of client care. In such a specialized practice, her success has come from trial and error, and a desire to deepen her understanding as well as educate the community. When she first started her practice, she implemented a structured process to her sessions, but quickly found that each patient reacted and evolved differently. In some cases, a certain technique can ease the pain of whiplash, but treatment for emotional and behavioral maladies may not be as measurable.

Teaching has been an important part of Autumn’s career.

She directed the Haywood Community College’s therapeutic massage program from 2008 -2010, strengthening her leadership and clinical supervision experience. Today, she

“Approaching touch as something that is positive and healing is like watering a seed in kids’ minds,” Autumn says, adding that she finds children really respond to the realization that they have the power to help others. (formerly the Service Corps of Retired Executives), a nonprofit organization that helps local businesses to grow. She has found that other small business owners are quick to offer support, and this has been invaluable to her. “I have been surprised,”

The curtain rises on another day

in historic Abingdon.

How will you spend iT? Catch a performance at

bArter theAtre. pedal along the scenic

VirginiA creeper trAil. sample the cuisine including

locAl beer And wine.

888.489.4144 · visitabingdonvirginia.com 68

| April 2016

enjoys leading classes for the younger generation, such as a recent one for the Rainbow Community School. In these classes she is able to work directly with students to demonstrate simple techniques that can act as support for peers. She hopes these can be used to abate the overwhelming daily pressures that children are faced with, and in some cases bullying behaviors, grief, and anxiety.

“Asking permission and making sure it feels okay is a way that they can help their friends when they are struggling. Approaching touch as something that is positive and healing is like watering a seed in kids’ minds,” Autumn says, adding that she finds children really respond to the realization that they have the power to help others. Beyond that is the simple recognition that daily societal demands can be extreme for many young kids. “I hold an intention for the child to have the experience of coming home to warmth, freedom, and a wholeness beyond the pressures and demands of school or social life.”

Moving Forward In addition to her current practice and her ongoing classes, Autumn has plans for expanding into an additional ground floor space so that she can work with children with limiting physical

conditions such as cerebral palsy (CP). When she was receiving her certification in pediatric massage, she found particular interest in a seminar she took on massage therapy for CP. Her new endeavor hopes to address the muscle contracture from neurological effects of the disease. Massage can release tension and increase circulation to help with the physical conditions, and it additionally can provide relief and relaxation from the emotional stress the patient is experiencing. The new space is only a few doors down on Orange Street, and she will be able to practice in both locations.

Autumn is well travelled and has spent time learning the art of presence (a spiritual technique used for achieving inner peace) from nuns in France; inspiring comedic reactions with clown therapy in Peru with famed physician Patch Adams; and studying massage techniques in India. In talking about her patients and her experiences, she visibly lights up, because the three elements that root her as well as her business are presence, connection, and belonging.

“I think it is easy to overlook things that aren’t hi-tech fixes to a problem, or that are right in front of our nose,” she says, urging people to remember, “we have hands.”

Those two very basic appendages hold a powerful source of kinship, commonality, and healing.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 69

column

Flexible Leasing

Modern entrepreneurs have a new set of workspace challenges.

T

HER E IS A L MOST NO INDUSTRY T ODAY that is not ripe for major disruption and unexpected consequences.

More than ever, part of a company’s risk assessment must include the liability they take on when they commit to a workspace, and how to keep things f lexible enough to roll with the punches.

C

cr aig melby

has offices in both Brevard, NC, and Florida and is founder of LeaseSmart. com, a nationwide business real estate advisory company.

70

Unlike the more traditional, est ablished businesses of yesterday with their slower growth rates and more predictable needs, today’s entrepreneurs are faced w ith accelerating technolog ical changes and changes to the marketplace. They need physical space and lease terms which are flexible and also allow their companies to grow quickly, or relocate, fail, adjust their business model, acquire another company, or be acquired. The horizon for predicting future events has become very short indeed.

While this new phenomenon continues to become more obvious every day as yet another new start-up throws another formerly-successful business model into disarray, the traditional commercial real estate business and finance model has, in my opinion, simply not kept up, and many times has to be dragged kicking and screaming into today’s business world.

Fortunately, some forward-thinking businesses don’t just accept the status quo, and with enough thought, all parties can come to terms that reflect the reality of the contemporary business-space marketplace.

In an effort to help you do the same, let me share some of the primary ways to avoid being hamstrung by obsolete work-space lease terms.

| April 2016

Flexible Length

Many of today’s start-ups don’t know how much space they are going to need in a year, never mind the typical three or five years most landlords typically demand. In 2016 it’s typical for the lessee to push for shorter terms, with several lease-renewal options.

That way, the tenant can better fit the growth needs of the company by moving more frequently if need be.

Sure, most landlords are disappointed with shorter lease terms, and some circumstances make it difficult; but done right, it is still very doable. Business owners need to prize their flexibility as a significant asset, and seek facilities which they can use pretty much as-is, so the landlord doesn’t have to invest a lot of money into their company’s interior improvements.

Lease Termination Clause

Depending on how successful a company is in obtaining f lexible lease length, startup entrepreneurs can build in an option to walk away from the space and go elsewhere if the situation requires. Typically called a “kick-out” clause by industry insiders, this clause is usually tied to specific time frames and penalties so it’s fair to both sides. Assuming a five-year lease term, a

Expansion Clause

Another way entrepreneurs build flexibility into their workspace lease is to obtain a right to increase the size of their space as their requirements evolve. This is fairly palatable with many landlords, for whom getting a bigger tenant with an extended term is always a good thing. It is fairly practicable, too, when the overall facility is large enough to absorb this type of requirement. Having many other tenants and spaces in a building provides a higher likelihood there will be space when needed. Typical expansion clause terms provide that the landlord receives a minimum six-month notice, and then the length of the new lease gets extended beyond the term remaining in the original lease. In some cases, the expansion clause is written with a specific space in mind (usually an

EILEEN FISHER

typical example would be to allow the termination anytime after the 30th month, and giving the landlord six month’s advance notice, along with reimbursing the landlord for unamortized expenses (including leasing and legal fees and tenant-improvement dollars contributed by the landlord).

Celebrating 20 Years

C

2onCrescent

828.274.1276 • 2oncrescent.com Sunday - Saturday 11 - 5 4 All Souls Crescent, Biltmore Village

IF YOU NEED TO PIVOT, OR PROVIDE A NEW SERVICE, AND NEED TO HIRE MORE PEOPLE, YOUR COMPANY’S GROWTH SHOULD NOT BE SLOWED BECAUSE OF THE LIMITED SPACE YOU ARE IN. adjacent one), plus a window of time during which the tenant can expand. The landlord then agrees not to rent that space to another tenant for any time period that goes beyond your right to expand into it. (This is not too difficult to do, especially if the landlord inserts a relocation/termination clause into the adjacent space’s lease.)

Do landlords like doing this? Of course not, but if given a choice between you renting from them or going elsewhere, they have to seriously consider it. This also depends on the strength and prestige of the tenant, and the other terms of the lease. Just remember: With all the massive industry disruption going on, the modern world is NOT business as usual. If you need to pivot, or provide a new service, and need to hire more people, your company’s growth should not be slowed because of the limited space you are in.

NEW & CONSIGNMENT FURNITURE!

The Largest Consignment Store in WNC… 20,000 sq ft of shopping fun!

3699 Hendersonville Rd. Fletcher, NC 28732 (Clothing, decor, furniture & more!)

Limited Personal Guaranty

Founders shouldn’t be hamstrung by financial obligations that aren’t absolutely necessary and which could complicate

MON – SAT: 10 – 6 828-687-7565

|

www.ilovelulus.net April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

71

column

future choices and options. By choosing space where the landlord Note that if things start to go sideways and you need to doesn’t have to invest a lot of money fixing things up to your unique negotiate an unexpected termination of the lease, it helps in specifications, company owners should not have to personally the negotiations if your exposure is limited from the outset. guarantee leases. Or if they Forward-thinking do personally guarantee a entrepreneurs a lways lease, the guaranty should get renewal options. If expire at some point, or their business is locationFORWARD-THINKING have a limit to the financial sensitive, it’s best to avoid ENTREPRENEURS ALWAYS exposure. I see leases where circumstances that may force GET RENEWAL OPTIONS. IF the personal guaranty—if you to move and suffer the THEIR BUSINESS IS LOCATIONneeded—expires after the business disruption and loss second year of a five-year of revenue. Without specific SENSITIVE, IT ’S BEST TO AVOID lease, or the maximum renewal options, even if CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MAY dollar amount of guaranty landlord and tenant agree FORCE YOU TO MOVE AND SUFFER is fixed at the amount of the on the business remaining THE BUSINESS DISRUPTION landlord’s cost of doing the for more time, tenants are deal (remodeling costs, legal at a disadvantage when AND LOSS OF REVENUE. and brokerage fees, etc.). Also negotiating the new rate and common in the industry is an terms. Typically, businesses “evergreen lease guaranty,” can get a three-year option to where the guarantor is always obligated for 12 months of term, renew when they sign a three-year lease, and five years on a fivewhich is way better than the full remaining term. year lease, but it’s also possible to get multiple renewal options,

Asheville’s professional wealth management since 1977.

Boys, Arnold has been helping generations of Asheville families achieve their financial goals and their long-term wealth management needs.

Our experienced and talented team of professionals bring an unparalleled level of service and guidance, from initial planning through to estate management.

Contact us to learn more about our full range of customized wealth management and trust solutions.

BOYSARNOLD.COM Asheville, NC | 828-274-1542 72

| April 2016

C which are obviously better. Rental rate at time of renewal?

Landlords prefer to make the renewal rate “at market,” a fixed percentage increase or the Consumer Price Index. We suggest entrepreneurs get a fixed rate, since the renewal can always be negotiated if the fixed rate option turns out to be higher than market, or accepted if it turns out to be below market rents.

Owners of fast-growing companies also need to pay attention to the assignment provision. This is usually buried in the “boiler plate” of leases and often overlooked, but it becomes more and more important with fast growing companies that have fast growing evaluations. Thinking of selling the company? Most standard assignment clauses prevent an assignment of the lease without landlord approval and negotiation; for an entrepreneur, this means that your company can’t be sold to another entity and subsequently assign the lease to the new owner without getting the landlord involved (and perhaps renegotiating everything). You obviously can’t cancel the lease and sell your company, but you also can’t “assign the lease” and sell the company either. I have seen lease assignment fees as high as $30,000—and perhaps even worse, another lease had language that gave the landlord the option to terminate the lease if the tenant even requested an assignment!

A Couple Other Elements To Which Entrepreneurs Should Pay Close Attention

Unlike the “old days” where large, corner offices were the badge of success and part of moving up the corporate ladder, today it’s flexibility and open floor plans that motivate the younger generation. Many companies place a high priority on amenities which attract and retain quality employees. Want to ride your bike or bring your dog to work? Got day care onsite or nearby?

Employees will be loathe to move away from those conveniences.

And remember: The cost of a little extra rent is peanuts compared to the costs of attracting, training, and keeping top talent.

Finally, be sure to negotiate the rental rate. Building in all the flexibility is key; but just as before, making sure you get all the rental discounts and landlord incentives to which you are entitled is still important. It’s nutty to work so hard for top-line gross sales, then give profits away needlessly because you are paying more than you have to.

GOOSMANN ROSE COLVARD & CRAMER, P.A. GOOSMANN- R OSE COLVARD & C-RAMER, P.A. ATTORNEYS AT LAW - ATTORNEYS AT LAW GEORGE F. GOOSMANN, IV • JOHN R. ROSE • VERONICA H. COLVARD • ELIZABETH L.M. CRAMER GEORGE F. GOOSMANN, IV • JOHN R. ROSE • VERONICA H. COLVARD • ELIZABETH L.M. CRAMER

CENTRAL AVENUE PROFESSIONAL PARK • 77 CENTRAL AVE. SUITE H • ASHEVILLE, NC 28801

828.258.0150 .GRCCLAW .COM CENTRAL AVENUE PROFESSIONAL PARK • •77WWW CENTRAL AVE. SUITE H • ASHEVILLE, NC 28801 828.258.0150 • WWW.GRCCLAW.COM

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 73

UPDATES FOR

&

NATIONAL WORLD [

news briefs

Getting to the Root of the Problem london, england

Cancer researchers from the University College London’s Cancer Institute published what may constitute a major breakthrough in cancer research in Science magazine. One of the problems to date with finding a cure has been the chaotic manner in which cancerous mutations occur within a single tumor.

Dr. Sergio Quezada likened the pursuit to the police chasing a diverse group of criminals involved in a bunch of different crimes. He said the new breakthrough was like putting the kingpin out of business. And so the path forward consists of identifying a common core in all tumor cells, which would be unique for each patient. Since cancer fights the body’s

]

immune system, T-cells that attack the common core would be grown in vitro and vaccinated back into the patient in sufficient quantities to vanquish the tumor. It will be two to five years before any kind of human trials begin.

Through the Cracks & Out of the Woodwork santa monica , ca

Not too many years ago, drug stores like Walgreens and CVS set up monitoring clinics. It was argued that costs of healthcare could be contained if people with diseases like diabetes or heart conditions were held accountable with scheduled maintenance, rather than letting things go until catastrophic surgery was required.

But, as economics often has it, insurance

Your town is my town.

companies are being bitten by one they didn’t see: people coming out of the woodwork. A study by RAND Corporation concluded retail clinics are increasing demand for a new service rather than supplanting anything old. Utilization of their less expensive services, combined with previously available options, nets higher than expected estimates of what consumption would have been without them. What’s more, the study indicated that the majority of people who could be served in the clinics continue to resort to traditional inpatient options.

Still Not Gonna Read the Small Print basking ridge, nj

Verizon Wireless was fined $1.35 million as part of a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The telecommunications giant was found guilty of using undeletable, unique identifier headers (UIDH) to track online behavior. UIDHs are also known as supercookies or zombie cookies. The data thus collected from Verizon’s 100 million users was used by the company and passed to others to help them target advertisements. And this was found to

Now proudly serving Arden.

I live and work here just like you. With all kinds of local insurance advice, I can help you get the coverage you need and save you money too. Call or stop by anytime. I’m always happy to help.

Bill Shytle 828-684-8582 100 Julian Ln., Ste. 140 Arden, NC 28704 billshytle@allstate.com

© 2014 Allstate Insurance Co.

74

| April 2016

163277

Let me help protect all that’s good in your life.

run afoul of the Communications Act and Open Internet Transparency Rule.

Verizon was using supercookies as early as 2012, and the FCC may not have had a problem had the company so stated in its privacy policy, which nobody reads, and offered customers an opt-out. As other terms of the settlement, Verizon will have to develop a three-year compliance plan, and it will only be able to plant supercookies with the active consent of clientele.

Intervention Counterproductive hong kong, china

Residential sales in Hong Kong are slowing at an alarming pace. Year over year sales for February were down 70%, reaching a 25-year low. Looming threats of increasing interest rates and government efforts to increase housing supply are distorting the market. Another reason for decreased sales is reports of falling prices that suggest to home hunters that they should postpone purchases. The combination of factors is compounding in a vicious cycle. Upscale housing has not been affected by the plunge, making development thereof enticing to

30

58

carolina in the west

the old north state

developers, who are taking advantage of depressed prices. Other developers are lowering sales targets. The downturn follows a steady increase in home prices that ran from 2003 through September 2015. Low mortgage rates and insufficient housing supply pushed prices up 370% over that period.

Manage That Portfolio, Junior

national & world

can have fun together. The lowest level is portfolio management, and higher levels integrate player integration and random financial events. Parker hopes his games will spare children the headache of learning from avoidable expensive mistakes.

He also hopes to roll out the new edition in time for the GrandCon in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

kalamazoo, mi

Five Hundredth Time’s the Charm

Richard Parker is scheduled to launch a Kickstarter campaign in March to develop a second edition of Riches or Ruin: Hogg Wild for Wealth. It is a tabletop game that teaches kids of all ages about financial principles—but with a pig theme that makes it fun and engaging. Finance and stock options trading are a couple of Parker’s hobbies, and he combined them with his fond memories of playing board games as a kid. Parker has five games in various stages of development, but he decided to release a second version of this one after incorporating feedback on a limited edition from players and prominent gaming magazine reviews. Topp Hogg Games are designed to be played at any of four levels so the whole family

The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), in conjunction with the BioEnergy Science Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Joint BioEnergy Institute at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, reported their 500th invention in their quest to bring advanced biofuels to market. The GLBRC is led by the University of Wisconsin—Madison, with partnership from Michigan State University. The collaboration involves 400 researchers trying to develop biofuels from the nonedible cellulose of vegetative matter. The endeavor runs on $25 million in funding received from the US Department of Energy each year.

The collaboration involves ecologists,

madison, wi

YOUR KEY TO TR ANQUILIT Y TRANQUILITY POOL Private Estate U n i c o i , Te n n e s s e e

M A R K D O R S E Y D E S I G N S

Mark Dorsey Designs and Medallion Pool Company Asheville, North Carolina MedallionPool.com • 828-684-5381 April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 75

national & world news

When You Need Someone Who

Knows The Ropes

economists, engineers, biologists, chemists, and computational analysts. Efforts focus on bottlenecks in research, and may involve combustion techniques, genetic engineering, or enabling technology. In addition to conducting research, the labs serve as an incubator to spin off startups and provide consulting to industry.

Year Starts Well for SpaceX cape canaveral, fl

John C. Hunter Attorney at Law

Providing experienced legal representation for over 30 years

One North Pack Square | Suite 421 Asheville, NC 28801 828.281.1940 johnhunter@jchlawfirm.com

a thriving small business Start Create my own financial plan Set up the right retirement plan for my employees and me Invest in sustainable and responsible companies As a small, locally-owned business, we know, first-hand, how that top task can monopolize your time. Let us help you knock out the rest of the list.

If you’d like to work with another small, independent, local business deeply invested in our great community, call us.

440 Montford Avenue, Asheville NC, 28801 | 828-285-8777 | 877-285-7537 | www.starksfinancial.com Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Member FINRA/SIPC.

76

| April 2016

SpaceX successfully completed its second mission this year. Following four cancellations over a period of nine days, a Falcon 9 rocket finally lifted a 11,620-pound SES-9 communications satellite to geostationary orbit, approximately 25,000 miles above sea level. The mission was the 22nd flight of a Falcon 9.

The upgraded model used nearly frozen liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene to make possible a smaller, lighter craft.

Thirty-two minutes after liftoff, the mission was declared a success. The satellite, made by Boeing, will service homes, businesses, boats, and airplanes in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and Indian oceans. A secondary mission was to recover the launch vehicle on Of Course I Still Love You, a drone ship with a name from a geek novel. Recycling space vehicles will greatly reduce the cost of spaceflight in the future. This mission, however, like many attempts before, proved unsuccessful.

New Rules, Definitions, Exceptions washington, dc

The Federal Reserve has proposed a cap for how much business banks can do with each other and other corporations.

The measure is described as applying a tourniquet to potential failures of banks the size of has-beens Lehman Brothers and American International Group.

The alternative could be contagious speculation and panic that might shut down financial transactions. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the last financial crisis revealed vast amounts of money was tied between large institutions in a number of complex ways. Dodd-Frank required the cap in 2011, but the first proposal, known as the single counterparty credit limit, was deemed too burdensome by financial leaders. While the new cap has been raised from 10 to 15% of a bank’s capital, the definition of capital has been changed. For example, bonds issued by the federal government are exempt. The new iteration imposes fewer regulations on derivatives trading, coming more in-line with international standards. Opponents were concerned the new rules do not address formulae that blow up in stress mode, and that the rule could force banks to become more strongly capitalized.

All Employees Paid Living Wage viken, sweden

A 24-hour convenience store has opened with no employees. Customers pay with their smartphones. In Robert Ilijason’s model, customers flash the Swedish banking app BankID to enter the store. They then use their smartphones to scan items they purchase. Customers are billed monthly, so Ilijason’s only physical involvement with the store is stocking the shelves. Propping up the honor system is the fact that the store services a town with a population of only 4,227. “I know who you are and will only allow you in if you have no history of credit issues,” said Ilijason. To reduce the risk of shoplifting, he runs six security cameras, and he is set up to receive text messages if the front door remains open more than eight seconds or is forced open. After two months of operation, Ilijason reports no abuses of the system.

Quick Fix boston, ma

Hackers have now found a way to infiltrate Macintosh computers with ransomware. Ransomware encrypts data on a computer and then prompts the user to deliver hard-to-trace digital currency, like BitCoin, in exchange for a key code to restore the data. Ransomware is believed to already collect hundreds of millions of dollars a year from people using Microsoft Windows. The Apple threat was carried by infected copies of Transmission version 2.90, a popular file-sharing program.

Working fast over the weekend following the incident, Apple indicated the ransomware in question had been contained.

The digital certificate that allowed the malware to install had been revoked, and other non-disclosed measures had been taken. Transmission, in turn, replaced the infected download of its software with one that automatically removes the malware. Transmission recommended all users install version 2.92 even if 2.90 had been running without incident.

Since 1977

HANDMADE

RUGS

Be Vewy Vewy Qwiet amsterdam, netherlands

Noise pollution has ascended to the No. 1 spot in hotel guest complaints worldwide.

Among the offenders: flushing toilets, closing doors, voices in corridors, and walking in the rooms above. In Europe, hotels are addressing the problems, and to date 140 of them have been awarded a special Quiet Room® designation.

No so with American hotels, according to Lucas Keizer, Dutch “silence guru,” who noted, “Often, the U.S. is way ahead when it comes to customer perception and friendliness. But they completely ignore hotel guests in one respect: noise pollution. I find that outrageous.” So The Quietroom Foundation has developed an online course, “Noise in Hotels,” to assist with the design of special walls, windows, A/C units, and floor coverings for their insulation qualities in order to substantially reduce the number of decibels.

Hand knotted one-of-a-kind rugs Turkish, Persian & Caucasian 562 Long Shoals Rd. Arden NC 28704

828-687-1968

TogarRugs.com April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 77

MY

GPA

IS

CALCULATED IN

RPMs

like l ambs to sl aughter — Jim Clark, in the gold M3, leads us out for our first look at ‘The Corkscrew.’

78

| April 2016

capital adventurist

written by arthur treff photos by anthony harden

The gas pedal is pressed to the floor.

My right fingers tap the paddle shifter up into 4th gear.

Speed is projected onto the windshield: 90mph, and I’m thundering into a 180-degree corner.

The landscape is a blur. My chest tightens as I fight the instinct to slow.

I’m behind the wheel of a BMW M4, on a quest for elevated driving skills.

Early in life, I penned a personal edict: “Thou shalt go where the action is.” Therefore, the two-day M School at the BMW Performance Center is nirvana… personal perfection. The curriculum is targeted toward drivers looking to push their personal limits regardless of what they drive.

But, why take a class at a racetrack like the Performance Center? Most of us have been driving since high school—and, other than Driver Ed class, have not received any further driving education since.

Ask yourself: Has your car ever drifted or spun, and how well did you react? Have you had any crashes? Does driving in rain or snow frighten you?

Maybe it’s time to tune up the driver in you. Education is never wasted.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 79

capital adventurist

Magic School

t went y minutes of fame : student in an

M3 running the 1.5 mile course on day two.

At M School, students are introduced to high speed cornering, aggressive braking, drifting, and skid control—the very things most of us want to avoid out on the street. The curriculum contains the magic that teaches a driver how to place a vehicle exactly where you want it to go, regardless of the situation.

Six walkie-talkie-wielding wizards guide our class of 14.

Seasoned car racers with years of teaching experience, they have all completed the rigorous instructor prep at BMW Germany.

During a short classroom session on our first morning, the instructors display an easygoing confidence and humility as they introduce themselves. This is a good group.

The driving alchemy takes place on BMW’s 150-acre facility, which boasts a 3.0-mile track and two skid pads. Staring at the aerial view during the initial classroom session, I feel a little giddy. The thought of being turned loose on that course in a powerful car brings excitement seasoned with a pinch of trepidation. Thou shalt go where the action is.

Thankfully, the track is designed with training in mind, so it can be configured to accommodate much smaller exercises.

Over the next two days, we will be divided into small groups to work on individual portions of the track under close scrutiny of an instructor with a radio, which is piped into each car. It’s an adult amusement park.

Water is for Drinking When we stop our cars at the skid pad for the first exercise, I’m feeling smug. Having lived in New England, I’m comfortable driving in slick conditions, I think. The skid pad is a polished concrete oval where it’s always raining hard, courtesy of the sprinklers, which drown the pavement.

The plan is for two cars to circle the pad with an instructor riding in each. Students are expected to increase speed until a skid is introduced, then react in time to avoid a spin.

“Okay, a little more speed,” says Paul, my instructor. I feel the rear kick sideways, but before I can initiate a recovery, the car snaps around and I’m sliding backwards in the downpour, windshield wipers clapping their amusement.

What?! Not me!, I think.

“Gotta move those hands, faster,” Paul chides. I get us back on course and begin to drive the circle.

“A little more speed, here it comes…”

This time I react quickly, but the car has a mind of its own and slides sideways, coming to rest on the outer edge of the pad. Dammit! Not again!

“Almost… you weren’t looking where you wanted the car to go. Try it again,” says Paul.

Eventually, I react quickly and keep my eyes where they should be. Confidence in my car handling skills goes up a 80

| April 2016

notch, but the experience has humbled me. Perhaps luck more than skill has kept me safe on slick roads all these years.

Paddling into a Corner We roll back into the paddock to switch cars and hydrate. Strapped into M5s, my group is off to practice proper corner entry. One at a time, we’re told to accelerate along a straightaway then brake very hard before the turn. Allison, our instructor, stands in the grass watching every mistake.

The exercise prepares us for the afternoon, when we’ll be driving a timed lap and approaching this same turn very quickly. We’re also introduced to the concept of trail braking—gradually removing brake pressure while steering into the turn—which assures better traction in corners.

“Gang, let’s not forget the eyes, they tell the car where to go,” says Allison. This corner is so tight; it requires that we look out the side window while we’re braking hard before turning the wheel. This is disorienting at first, but really fun once we get it.

Hell, the rapid acceleration is fun all by itself. These cars have 8-speed manual transmissions. Gears are shifted by tapping a paddle on the steering wheel without pressing a clutch or letting up on the gas.

All the driver does is press the gas pedal to the floor, then tap the paddle for each upshift; the car does the rest. When done right, you’re pressed into the seat, and the exhaust pipes snarl with a pronounced bark after each shift. To us gear heads, this is heavenly. We feel like stunt drivers.

After 20 minutes of rapid acceleration and very hard braking, we’re soaked with the sweat of exertion and passing each other thumbs-up and shouting encouragement from our vehicles. Learning a skill that requires us to overcome our fear is intoxicating. My group is tipsy and it’s not even lunchtime.

jim cl ark ready to show how it’s done,

photo courtesy of the author.

M is for Muscle Memory “The courses are experiential; they’re a comprehensive blend of car handling and dynamics, which can save lives in terms of accident avoidance,” says Jim Clark.

He ought to know, as Jim helped create the Performance Center’s curriculum. A motorcycle racer in his twenties, Jim then migrated to auto racing. His track successes provided him with opportunities to coach other racers.

Jim had been instructing at the prestigious Skip Barber Racing School for years when BMW asked him to create a driving school for the facility they were building April 2016 | capitalatplay.com

81

capital adventurist

bet ween he ats , Instructor Justin eggs on the competition via walkie talkie.

m 3 pr acticing high speed corner entry… many cones gave their lives in the process.

in Greenville, South Carolina. This was 2006. In the beginning, a few thousand drivers a year came to classes. In 2014, the track was open every day, and hosted 15,000 drivers.

Driving well is a combination of skill, experience, and muscle memory. The classroom sessions at M School introduce vital concepts such as weight distribution, oversteer, and understeer; but they’re not lengthy physics lessons. The curriculum is designed to accelerate a student’s acquisition of muscle memory skills. The car is where the real learning takes place.

…and Muscle Cars And what cars they are. During M School, you drive new M3, 4, and 5 models. The cars are bone stock, right down to the plush leather interiors. Once you’ve driven them, it’s hard to believe that they haven’t been race-prepared or tweaked in any way.

The tires are also standard consumer items that can be purchased at any Continental Tire dealer. Since the cars are driven hard, tires are replaced often. Technicians mount the retail equivalent of one million dollars worth of tires annually at the Performance Center.

When you’re not driving, students are treated to what marketing calls, “The BMW Experience.” In addition to the plush cars, M School drivers stay two nights at a 5-star hotel, a shuttle takes you to and from the track, and all meals are included.

82

| April 2016

The performance center has its own dedicated building with classrooms that open onto a dining area decorated with large, high definition photographs of BMW hardware in action. It is here that drivers are served tasty cuisine prepared by BMW chefs.

Lunch is Served This is good, because by lunchtime the drivers are hungry and need a break from the action. It’s also a good time for students to mingle.

They have come from all over the United States, and many have taken BMW driving classes before, and quite a few careers are represented. Present are two engineers, a psychologist, an IT person, a travel agent, a car salesman, a college student, and a few entrepreneurs. For some, M School is a birthday or anniversary gift, and for one individual, the course is a gift for achieving his weight loss goal. I’d lose weight to take this course again.

A middle-aged couple has flown in from San Diego, where they each own a BMW and regularly drive them in track events.

Their stop in Greenville was the beginning of a Southern United States vacation.

Incidentally, owning a BMW is not a requirement to attend classes, though everyone in our class owns one, except for myself and another gent who said that he was “between BMWs” right now.

pride goeth before a fall - the author losing control on the skid pad.

Shall we Race?

Trackside Eventide

The final session on day one is the treat we’ve been anticipating: The sections of the track we worked on will be woven into a small continuous circuit. This will allow us to experience the tricky sections at a greater speed, and we will be timed on six consecutive laps.

There are only three cars on the track at a time, so the rest of us wait our turn in the center of the course. We become giddy watching these beautiful, powerful cars roar around the track. The bark out the exhaust pipes makes us itchy to get out there. Thou shalt go where the action is.

For the students, this type of education is very rewarding, because all the learning comes automatically while having fun. I mean, who wouldn’t love throwing someone else’s expensive car around on a track, and watching yourself do better with each lap?

Running laps is a confidence-inducing end to the day, and when we park our mounts in the paddock, the class cannot contain our excitement. There are high-fives, shouts of joy, and the ubiquitous hand pantomime as drivers reenact moments of glory.

Rather than dropping the class back at the hotel, dinner is served in the performance center dining room. This way, instructors and students can relive the day and blow off steam.

During the meal Johan Schwartz, the instructor team leader, announces the lowest track times. He is quick to tell us that in our group of 14, our times vary by less than four seconds,

The learning comes automatically while having fun. I mean, who wouldn’t love throwing someone else’s expensive car around on a track, and watching yourself do better with each lap? which he claims is unusual for a random sampling of drivers.

To me, this tight grouping is indicative of how well the BMW curriculum works.

It’s been a busy day, and once dropped back at the hotel, many students fall asleep hours before their normal bed time, only to

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 83

capital adventurist

what fast really looks like: Johan Schwartz

treats a car load of students to a hot lap.

PERFORMANCE CENTER BY THE NUMBERS

2

skid pads

150 acre facility

3

miles of track

15,000 drivers educated annually

1,000,000 84

| April 2016

retail $ amount of tires used annually

After another water guzzling break, I find myself in an M4 headed to the very well-hydrated skid pad. Here, one car at a time, we race the clock in a very tight figure eight under the sprinklers.

Trying to make good time on a small, wet course is not easy, particularly in a 425 horsepower car with the traction control computer switched off. Slow and steady wins the race.

The spirit of competition is kept alive by instructor Justin’s running commentary on the radio.

“Sue is digging hard… looking good… she finds some traction, and…. yes! Sue’s shaved some off her last lap, we have a new leader in the clubhouse! Okay… into lap four, she’s braking hard… nice… looking for speed…. and oooohhhh!… that slide’s cost her a second...”

The other three drivers sit in the air conditioned comfort of our cars, but we have the windows down so we can listen to the beautiful exhaust note as Sue punches the gas, followed by the swish of the tires pushing water under hard braking.

Slow intense lapping puts us into a trance where something magical happens. We begin to develop a sense

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 85

BUY & SELL: HARLEY, HONDA, KAWASAKI, YAMAHA, SUZUKI, BMW // TOP DOLLAR ON TRADES SINCE 1998

828 505 7575

B LUE R IDGE R IDERS . COM

Research the competitors, then come inspect one of our performance or touring bikes.

We’ll guarantee our quality, price and customer service will leave the competition in the dust.

Water Everywhere

it’s about the journey ™

At the track, our bodily discomfort is quickly forgotten as we idle our M3s around a new section. We traverse a significant elevation change.

Affectionately called The Corkscrew, it’s a precipitous drop with an immediate S: a right turn followed by a left. But, there’s a catch: The S cannot be seen until the car is facing downhill. If you’re moving quickly and you’re out of position entering the corkscrew, you might find your car sliding in the grass off course.

Before we drive this section, students ride along with an instructor at the wheel to get a feel for what’s expected of us. Two of us buckle in an M3 to ride with Jim Clark. Initially, he takes us around fairly slowly, pointing out braking and turning points and where our eyes should be.

But on the second lap, Jim puts the hammer down in the straight and approaches the corkscrew at a much higher speed. My pulse rate has become wired to the speedometer.

“You have to hit this just right or you won’t make the next corner,” says a laconic Jim over the roar of the engine.

I feel a slight flicker of fear as the road in front of us disappears.

With only the horizon to look at, the car feels weightless for a millisecond. As soon as the pavement comes back into view, I see what he means—there is no room to recover a bad line.

But this section isn’t over yet. Jim snakes through the S, then accelerates into the downhill straight toward a tight corner. He hits the brakes hard, he makes a quick right, then grinds us through a 125-degree corner. I’m thrown forward against my harness, then forced sideways by the corners, my shoulder

Over the last 8 years we’ve proven a success formula; provide high-quality bikes at truly competitive prices.

Sure, we can do that.

banging into Jim’s. The low growl of the engine can be heard above the howling of the tires.

Exiting the car, my classmate and I feel disoriented as if we had been flying aerobatics. Sweaty palms close the door, my heart is beating rapidly, and walking is a challenge.

“That’s all you have to do! You guys got it?” asks Jim’s voice from inside the car.

This suddenly sounds ridiculous to us, “Riiiight, we can do that!” We erupt into laughter as we stagger back to our cars.

In truth, I did fine… we all did. We were coached to go slow at first, only increasing speed when we felt comfortable. Then we practiced the maneuvers repeatedly, a perfect combination for muscle memory education.

OUR PERSPECTIVE – IT ’ S ABOUT THE JOURNEY

awaken on the dawn of day two, bodies oozing muscle soreness. Breakfast is eaten at the hotel. Cloistered in a private section reserved for BMW school attendees, students wonder what day two has to offer.

capital adventurist

of where we can brake harder and accelerate quickly on the slick surface. We’re learning to feel for traction, and it becomes instinctive. There’s that muscle memory thing again.

Final Exams After a sumptuous hot lunch, we convene on the track, which has been converted to a complete one and a half mile course.

It includes all the sections we’ve worked over the last two days, including the corkscrew, a bunch of turns of varying radii, and a long straightaway followed by the 180-degree high-speed corner.

We find out we’ll be running this circuit continuously for 20 minutes… twice! Oh boy. We first run the circuit in the M3, and it’s a blast. With each lap, we loosen up and let the cars run. This is so much fun, it feels illegal.

Cars on the track are widely spaced, but there’s no room for passing, so when a driver is being blocked by traffic, he’s directed by radio into the shortcut built into the circuit. In

this way, the exercise allows everyone to push personal limits, regardless of their speed.

After we’ve had our way with the M3, we’re back to the paddock and strap into the M5 for the second session. We are coached that our technique might have to change a bit.

This car has a longer wheelbase, so it doesn’t turn as tightly.

It also weighs 1400 pounds more than the M3 and puts out 135 more horsepower. One hundred thirty-five horsepower more… (Does my Honda Accord even make 135 horsepower to begin with?)

Oh boy. We first run the circuit in the M3, and it’s a blast. With each lap, we loosen up and let the cars run. This is so much fun, it feels illegal.

Maintenance Repairs Service Maintenance Maintenance Repairs Repairs Service Service

Three Years in a Row! Three ThreeYears Yearsin inaaRow! Row!

Running so many laps in powerful cars makes us all feel like little speed racers, and back in the paddock we pop out of our cars like champagne corks, overflowing with excitement. We

Installati ons Installati Installations

HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES HAYNES

Electric Electric

Plumbing Plumbing Heating Heating & & Cooling Cooling Energy Energy Solutions Solutions

--- Solar Solar Systems = Solar Systems Systems =

FREE FREE Site Assessments FREE Site Site Assessments

Energy Source Energy Source

Outages --- Home Home Generators = NO NO Power Power Outages Home Generators Generators =

828.254.6141 828.254.6141 www.mbhaynes.com www.mbhaynes.com www.mbhaynes.com

Bringing Bringing you you Bringing you

86

| April 2016

24-7-365

24-7-365 24-7-365 you! for here We’re you! for you! here for We’re here We’re

We al, commercial, commercial, industrial industrial & insti tuti onal customers of We are proud to serve serve the the residenti residential, industrial & & insti instituti tutional onalcustomers customersof of We are are proud proud to Western NC and the surrounding areas.

Thank you for your business!

- Buzzy Cannady,CEO Western NC NC and the surrounding areas. Thank you for Western for your your business! business! -- Buzzy Buzzy Cannady, Cannady,CEO CEO since 1921.

1921. since since 1921.

We Accept Checks!

We We Accept AcceptChecks!

Checks!

An Equal Opportunity Employer An AnEqual EqualOpportunity OpportunityEmployer Employer

cannot believe how much we pushed these magnificent vehicles.

We’re all saddened to learn that the course is over.

Drive like a Pro But there’s a surprise. We are to pile into M3s piloted by our instructors for a “hot lap” of the 1.5-mile course. From the passenger seat, we will use up our remaining adrenaline as we experience how it feels to ride with a professional.

Jim Clark adjusts his seat, and his face is more serious now than it’s ever been over the last two days… the instructor is morphing back into a race driver. In a low voice he asks us about seat belts. After a quiet, “Everyone OK?” he hits the gas.

Traction control has been turned off, and the rear tires spew blue smoke. We’re two car lengths behind another instructor thundering into the 180-degree corner. The speed Jim holds in the turns is ridiculous, and our laughter is the only response possible. His face is locked in concentration, but Jim’s hands are relaxed as they dance over the wheel.

Rocketing through the back straight, I realize that his morning demonstration of The Corkscrew seemed fast, but this time, Jim shows us what fast really looks like.

In the post hot lap excitement, we conclude that as hard as we worked and as quick as our lap times were, there is always someone who can do better. This proves what is possible when you practice driving (or anything) for a lifetime.

Lessons Learned Piloting my demure Accord home was interesting. Compared to what I’d been driving the last two days, it felt grossly underpowered… more like a go-kart than a modern automobile.

But, I was still feeling for traction.

I was pleasantly surprised when, driving through a tight uphill corner, I could feel the front tires losing traction… it was very slight. Automatically, my foot let off the gas just a touch, and I felt the traction return.

I was not driving an M car, but my experience proves that the skills are applicable to any vehicle. I learned a great deal, most of which is stored in my muscles, applies to my everyday driving, and I had a blast. BMW M School wasn’t on my bucket list, but it should have been, because education is never wasted.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 87

People Play at

1

2

3

5

6

8

9

1. Nicole Dexter, Innovation Brewing 2. Kent Walker, Blue Ridge Energy Works 3. Ingrid Sander, Finance Manager at Mountain BizWorks

88

4

| April 2016

7

10

4. Alex Matisse, East Fork Pottery 5. Attendees enjoying food and beverages.

6. Mike Woliansky & Sadrah Scadel, No Evil Foods 7.Julia Staines, Business Coaching Coordinator at Mountain BizWorks

8. Patrick Fitzsimmons, Executive Director at Mountain BizWorks 9. Laura & David Stewart, Organic Planet Cleaning 10. Kenny & Murphy Capps, Kudzu Brands

Mountain BizWorks ScaleUp WNC 2016 Program (Cohort 3) Kickoff Dinner at Highland Brewing Company

March 18, 2016 | photos by Anthony Harden, Alt Media Pros

11

12

14

15

13

16

17

18

11. Rosanna Mulcahy, Small Business Lender & Latino Program Coordinator at Mountain BizWorks 12. Oby Morgan interviews Asheville Vice Mayor/ City Councilperson Gwen Wisler

13. Matt Raker, Director of Community Investments & Impact at Mountain BizWorks 14. Medea Galligan, Medea’s Espresso & Juice Bar 15. Patrick Doran, Director of Business Finance at Mountain BizWorks

16. Jessica DeMarco, Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon 17. Daniel Klein, Port City Amps 18. Jessica Puzzo & David Bowman, Black Mountain Ciderworks April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 89

events

april 1- 3 , 8 - 9

april

EVENTS april 1- 29

Storybook Characters On Parade Exhibit 10AM-8PM (Mon-Thu), 10AM-6PM (Fri), 10AM-5PM (Sat) Pack Memorial Library, Children’s Department 67 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC Thirty-three artists from Western North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee have collaborated to create one-of-a-kind dolls from an assortment of popular storybook characters. The dolls were prepared in celebration of National Reading Month.

> Free > 828-683-9048 > karena@charter.net

Southern Crescent, promises to push them to the next level. All ages show.

Dark Lady of the Sonnets and The Upstart Crow

>Tickets: $12 advance, $15 day of show.

> 828-232-5800 > thegreyeagle.com

7:30PM (Fri & Sat), 2:30PM (Sun) Asheville Masonic Temple 80 Broadway Street, Asheville, NC This is a short comedy written by George Bernard Shaw about William Shakespeare, in pursuit of the Dark Lady, accidentally appealing to Queen Elizabeth I to create a national theater. If you’re wondering where the upstart crow fits in, we don’t give spoilers!

> 828-254-5146 > montfordparkplayers.org

april 2

Corde Cantanti 7:30-9PM Ashe Arts Center 303 School Avenue, West Jefferson, NC Corde Cantanti, which translates to “singing strings,” is a string trio. They play baroque music on a number of instruments, ancient and modern, including the theorbo. Hazel sings, too.

> Admission: Adult $16, Student $5 > 336-846-2787 > ashecountyarts.org

april 1

Town Mountain 9PM Grey Eagle 185 Clingman Ave, Asheville, NC

april 2

Album release show. We’re not joking: This is one of the best contemporary bluegrass/roots outfits in the entire region, if not the state, on a trajectory that some predict will mirror that of the Steep Canyon Rangers. The new record,

37th Annual Blowing Rock Trout Derby 6AM-5PM American Legion Building Headquarters 333 Wallingford Road, Blowing Rock, NC

For The Love of Sewing:

Free Sewing Classes with a new sewing machine purchase

FABRIC • SEWING MACHINES

BERNINA • BABY LOCK • HORN 1378 Hendersonville Road, Asheville (next to Fresh Market) 828-277-4100 • Mon-Sat, 10a-5:30p

828 665-7730 | 1103 Brevard Rd. | Asheville NC 28806 | frameittoat.com

90

| April 2016

www.ashevillecottonco.com

Fishing starts at the break of dawn. Prizes will be awarded for the biggest fish in a number of age categories, beginning at 4:30PM. The fishing is free, with a license, and there is a limit of three fish for the day. Big people get to fish at Mayview Lake, and children 11 and under will be able to fish at Broyhill Park.

Bombino 8PM The Orange Peel 101 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC

april 3

The Doric String Quartet with Pianist Jonathan Biss

>Ticket: $16 advance, $18 day of

Flat Rock Playhouse 2661 Grenville Highway, Flat Rock, NC Edwards normally impersonates Elvis as a Las Vegas headliner. He’s back in Hendersonville for a limited engagement.

>Tickets: $38 > 828-575-7427 > ashevillechambermusic.org

Take a wild ride with Papageno and the Queen of the Night in Asheville Lyric Opera’s nationally-acclaimed production of Mozart’s masterpiece. You’ll surely want to sing along with the aria.

$17-$40 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com

april 7-17 Donny Edwards: A Heart and Soul Tribute to the King

The Asheville Chamber Music Series presents the British quartet and the high-demand pianist, who will perform Haydn’s String Quartet No. 4 in G major, Op. 64; Korngold’s String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 26; and Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34.

8PM (Fri) & 3PM (Sun) Diana Wortham Theatre 2 South Pack Square, Asheville, NC

>Tickets: Adult $30-$62, Student

show > 828-398-1837 > theorangepeel.net

4PM Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville: Edwin Place & Charlotte Street, Asheville, NC

>Tickets: $30 and up

april 8

Tweetsie Railroad Opens for 2016 Season 9AM-6PM Tweetsie Railroad: 300 Tweetsie Railroad Lane, Blowing Rock, NC North Carolina’s oldest theme park will open for the summer season. Tweetsie’s steam engines will take passengers back

Ted Pate Flori &Loca l p.62 Dig

CA ITALat LAY

Designin

Ente rprise Spirit Of The Free

colu m

ks: Glasswor Lexington

THE FREE sPIRIT OF EnTERPRIsE

Tupelo Honey

ns

Outdoor Gear Builders

ty Communi A Steadfast mitm North Carolina ent p.30 Com of Western Virgil and Found: How… and a way Lost and a home other p.56 Midnite found back to each ng ulati Calc e p.72 th Transfers: How Weal Cost Of Impatienc The

Cheesemakers

along the WNC Cheese Trail

How Sweet it is

The Free Spirit Of Enterprise

Up Heating Scene THE

Art

XI - Edition Volume V editio n ry

A Garden Center

Off the Beaten Path PAinteRS GReenhOUSe

Volume IV - Edition IV complimentary edition

in Old Fort, North Carolina

April 2014

capitalatplay.com 3/21/14 12:04 PM CAP_V04E04_April2014.indd 1

$13.

12 editions a year

95

2015 November

compl lay.com capitalatp imenta

april 8 & 10

The Magic Flute

A lot of American music fans experienced Africa’s Bombino for the first time when the group opened for Robert Plant on his 2013 tour. At least one Capital at Play staffer came away “absolutely sold” on Bombino’s intricate blend of blues, psychedelia, and Afro-beat. Opening act will be Last Good Tooth.

> Free > 877-750-4636 > blowingrock.com

hitects p.10 SamselgArc a Legacy

> 828-693-0731 > flatrockplayhouse.org

april 3

subscribe

online today at C A P I TA L AT P LAY.C OM

W E s T E R n n O R T H C A R O L I n A' s B U s I n E s s L I F E s T Y L E M A G A Z I n E April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 91

events

Tryon Fine Arts Center presents

to a simpler time and place. Cowboys and Indians spice up the train ride. Fun rides include Disney-style kiddie rides, a chairlift, and the Tornado, Round Up, and Free Fall for those who can keep their cookies down.

>Tickets: Adult $44, Child (3-12) $28, Toddler Free

> 800-526-5740 > tweetsie.com april 8 -10

Lost in Yonkers

7:30PM (Fri, Sat), 2PM (Sun) Ashe Little Theatre, Ashe Civic Center 962 Mount Jefferson Road, West Jefferson, NC Set in 1942 Yonkers, New York, the story is told of a domineering, micromanagerial grandma and the desperate lengths to which her children and grandchildren would go to escape the control freakery.

franc d’ambrosio’s

broadway

Broadway’s Phantom of the Operaa

Saturday, april 23 8 pm Tickets: $35*

– phantom of the opera, tony-winning director, hal prince event sponsor

34 Melrose Ave, Tryon NC 828-859-8322 tryonarts.org

* price includes 6.75% nc admissions tax and vendini ticketing fee.

92

april 8 - 24

The Man Who Came to Dinner 7:30PM (Fri, Sat) & 2:30PM (Sun) Asheville Community Theatre 35 East Walnut Street, Asheville, NC

“He looks and acts like Marlon Brando and sings like Mario Lanza” season sponsor

> Admission: Adult $16, Student $5 > 336-846-2787 > ashecountyarts.org

| April 2016

Sheridan Whiteside, a proud critic, comes over to the Stanleys’ house for dinner, slips on the doorstep, and breaks his hip. He ends up spending six weeks laid up at the Stanleys’, monopolizing the whole scene, demanding and insulting his hosts, and running up a $784 phone bill. Making matters worse are the weird gifts he receives from his friends, like penguins, cockroaches, and an octopus.

>Tickets: $12-$22 > 828-254-1320 > ashevilletheatre.org

april 8 -10 & 15 -17

A Bad Year for Tomatoes 7:30PM (Fri, Sat) & 2PM (Sun) Henderson Community Theatre 229 South Washington Street, Hendersonville, NC A famous actress rents a cottage to write her autobiography. What lengths she will go to to keep her new, nosy neighbors away.

> General Admission: $16 > 828-692-1082 > hendersonvilletheatre.org april 10

Hendersonville Chamber Music – Poinsett Piano Trio 3-6PM First Congregational Church 1735 Fifth Avenue West, Hendersonville, NC These rising stars will entertain with Beethoven’s Trio in E-Flat, Op. 70, No. 2; Kodaly’s Duo for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 7; and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66.

>Tickets: Regular $20, Student Free > 828-808-2314 > hendersonvillechambermusic.org april 10

Benefit Concert for Grandfather Mountain Highland Games 4-7PM Highland Brewing Company 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 200, Asheville, NC This is not your ordinary concert.

Performers will include fiddler and singer Hannah Seng, bagpiper EJ Jones, bouzouki player Frances Cunningham, and percussionist Kent Spillman. Featured will be the Blue Ridge Brass, a local ensemble.

> Suggested Donation: $20 > 828-299-3370 > highlandbrewing.com april 13

Tannahill Weavers 8:30PM Isis Restaurant Music Hall 743 Haywood Road, Asheville NC Scottish traditional music at its best—a potent mixture of traditional ballads and fiery instrumentals, as tight and versatile as any band in the Celtic music scene.

The Tannahills can summon rock-n-roll intensity or haunting introspection. This is a seated show with a limited number of tables available with dinner reservations.

Your source for Hearth & Patio needs

> $15 advance, $18 at the door > 828-575-2737 > isisasheville.com

264 Biltmore Ave. Asheville, NC | 828.252.2789

april 14

Lanier Library Poetry Festival 5:30PM Lanier Library 72 Chestnut Street, Tryon, NC

We Build Dreams.

CUSTOM CARS & RESTORATIONS

A free reading by Poet Laureate Shelby Stephenson will be the highlight of a month of celebrations. Workshops will be held throughout the month, and festivities will end with the awards ceremony for the 8th Annual Sidney Lanier Poetry Competition. Consult website for information on other scheduled activities.

> Free > 828-859-9535/ > anierlib.org april 16

RESTORATIONS CUSTOM CREATIONS CUSTOM PAINT KIT CARS

8:30am Chetola Resort: 185 Chetola Lake Drive, Blowing Rock, NC

828-693-8246

Corkscrew 5k

www.bealandco.net 5522 Willow Road, Hendersonville, NC April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 93

events

This is one of the very few races where you can save money and shave seconds off your time by going it sober. Four wine stations will be located along the route to slow down those who want to pay extra. Proceeds will benefit the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Girls on the Run. A free, long-sleeve T-shirt and $10 off the fees are offered to those who register by March 29. Door prizes and categorical victory prizes will be awarded.

> Registration: Wine-free: $35, Wine-Loving $40 > 828-295-5535 > chetola.com

april 16

Spring Fest 2016 9AM-2PM Early Learning Center 406 School Avenue, West Jefferson, NC The 30th annual celebration is dubbed Just Fly – Love the Arts. This is an opportunity for youngsters to participate in well over twenty hands-on crafts, all with a theme of flying. A talent show and festival food will enhance the mood.

> Free > 336-846-2787 > ashecountyarts.org april 20

Dan Gellert 7:30-9PM The Jones House 604 West King Street, Boone, NC Dan Gellert’s fingers fly over the banjo, guitar, and fiddle with ease. He sings, too. His genre is old-time American folk.

While he comes off as down-home and all, his talent is the culmination of considerable effort undertaken to analyze the mechanics of the art.

> Admission $20 > 828-268-6280 > joneshouse.org

94

| April 2016

– may 1 Music On the Rock: The Music of the Beach Boys

april 21

Flat Rock Playhouse – Downtown 125 South Main Street, Hendersonville, NC 28792 Happy tunes from the soundtrack of your life will be covered, not smothered.

>Tickets: $28 > 828-693-0731 > flatrockplayhouse.org april 21

Sound Effects: Abbey Road 6-9PM Isis Restaurant & Music Hall 743 Haywood Road, Asheville, NC The 4th annual Sound Effects concert to benefit the Asheville Music School will showcase teachers and students covering the Beatles’ Abbey Road album – full length, full score. Proceeds will benefit the Asheville Music School with particular emphasis on outreach and scholarships.

>Tickets: Door $15, Advance $12, Child (3-11) $6, Toddler Free > 828-279-1272 > ashevillemusicschool.org

april 22 - 24

Benefit for The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design 10AM-6PM (Fri, Sat), 11AM-5PM (Sun) Grovewood Gallery 111 Grovewood Road, Asheville, NC Brent Skidmore, a sculptor for any medium, will be the guest artist demonstrator this weekend. All ceramic art will be 10% off, and a Made in Western North Carolina prize pack will be raffled off. In addition, 10% of sales will support free public programming at Benchspace

Gallery & Workshop, the exhibition space for the Center for Craft, Creativity & Design.

> Free > 828-253-7651 > grovewood.com april 22

Contra Tiempo Urban Latin Dance Theater 7PM Schaefer Center for The Performing Arts: 733 Rivers Street, Boone, NC Contra-Tiempo is a fusion of Salsa, Afro-Cuban, and contemporary urban and abstract dance theater. Their work is described as edgy, and it aims to raise social consciousness. The “fierce” Agua Furiosa delves painfully into racial tensions. The performance is made possible through grants from South Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the North Carolina Arts Council.

>Tickets: $20, $18, $10 > 828-262-4046 > theschaefercenter.org april 22

Jazz Is Chamber Music 7:30PM All Souls Parish Hall 9 Swan Street, Asheville, NC He likes jazz… She likes chamber music…

I know! Byron Hedgepeth, Mike Holstein, and Justin Watt will play original and classic jazz in a chamber music setting.

Classic selections will include compositions by Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, and Joe Locke.

>Tickets: Door $20, Advance $15, Student $5 > 828-254-7123 > panharmonia.org

For the 42nd LEAF Festival, prepare to ignite your imagination and immerse your soul into the sites, sounds, sensations and spice of Cuba!

Lakeside activities. camping. handcrafts, hikes, ziplines. local brews. poetry slams. arts. music. local eats. contra. yoga. local & Global vendors. healing arts workshops. meditation. nature education....and more!

follow the feeds: #LEAFCubanspice

nder U & 0 1 s d i K rent FREE w/ Pa n! or Guardia

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 95

events

april 23

The Secret Garden

SHOOT FIRST

BUY LATER!

CUSTOM GUNSMITHING SERVICES Monday- Friday:11am to 7pm (Closed Wednesday) Saturday:10am to 6pm | Sunday:1pm to 5pm

FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED

25 Years

PROUDLY SERVING OUR COMMUNITY

828-274-0028 ONTARGETNC.COM ontargetncinc@aol.com

10AM Asheville Community Theatre 35 East Walnut Street, Asheville, NC It’s spring and time to get spring fever.

So, Bright Star Touring Theatre returns with their interpretation of The Secret Garden, retold by the lovable comic duo Lenny and Mabel.

>Tickets: $5 > 828-254-1320 > ashevilletheatre.org april 23

A Capella Fest 7PM Diana Wortham Theatre 2 South Pack Square, Asheville, NC The Land of Sky Chorus is what the Asheville Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society goes by when they are performing. They’re a fraternal singing organization bringing together those who like to make a beautiful noise.

>Tickets: $20 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com april 24

Carolina Mountain Cheese Fest 12-4PM Highland Brewing Company 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Asheville, NC Cheese, please. You are invited to experience the wonderful world thereof. Local cheesemakers will share their scrumptious products, give demonstrations, and present workshops. What could be finer than spending the afternoon in the Mozzarella Stretching Event Tent or learning Charcuterie 101? Why, eating glorious cheese, of course. Proceeds will benefit the WNC Cheese Trail.

96

| April 2016

>Tickets: $15 nonrefundable > 828-484-1586 > mountaincheesefest.com april 26

Alabama Shakes 8PM U.S. Cellular Center 87 Haywood Street, Asheville NC This show was originally slated for the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium until the group blew up nationally in the wake of their 2015 Grammy-winning album Sound & Colour. 9 out of 10 pundits agree: This show will most likely sell out.

>Tickets: $38 > 828-259-5736 > ticketmaster.com

– may Merlefest april 28

1

Wilkes Community College (WCC) 1328 South Collegiate Drive, Wilkesboro, NC It’s an absolute blowout dedicated to the memory of Eddy Merle Watson, son of Doc. The fundraiser for WCC, running since 1988, is considered one of the nation’s premier music festivals. Thirteen stages of invited talent will be hopping all four days. Big-name guests you might recognize include John Prine, Steep Canyon Rangers, David Holt, and Jim Avett.

>Tickets: Single Day $45-$70, Packages $145-$230 > 800-343-7857 > merlefest.org

If your organization has any local press releases for our briefs section, or events that you would like to see here, feel free to email us at events@capitalatplay.com.

Please submit your event by the first day of the month preceding your event.

April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 97

98

| April 2016

ANYTOWN SUBARU ANYTOWN SUBARU Built to take you to the For your every action, Good Good news. news. place you’ve never been. or winding roads. an immediate reaction. or winding It’s It’s winter. winter.roads.

nwinding ones. nwinding ones.

The The all-new all-new 2012 2012 Subaru Impreza.

Impreza.

The The optimist’s optimist’s car car ofof choice. choice.

Symmetrical You have the go-anywhere capability of a Subaru, alongSymmetrical with Less Less of of a aSubaru test test drive. drive.

The 2016 Subaru BRZ. rmance that comes with Subaru engineering, the All-Wheel All-Wheel Drive Drive and and 36 mpg* mpg* get get you you further further in in any any weather. weather.

Traction Traction and stability stability X-MODE and a36 surprisingly spacious upgraded interior.

It’s and the Its sport-tuned suspension and limited-slip differential combine More More of of a a joy joy ride. ride. rmance that comes with Subaru engineering, the mosthelp fuel-effi cient midsize crossover in America at 33smiling mpg. control control help avoid avoid slippery slippery situations. situations.

It’llIt’ll keep keep you you warm warm and and smiling allall winter winter long. long. ™

®

2

1

excitement to your drive, evenA ifdirect-injected you’re not200-hp in a hurry. for ultra-quick responsiveness. engine The all-new 2015 Subaru Outback is bound by nothing. excitement to your drive, even if you’re not in a hurry.

Experience Experience love love that that lasts. lasts.

Love.

Love.

It’s It’s what what makes makes a Subaru, a Subaru, a Subaru. a Subaru.

Introducing Introducing the brings all the power a sports car could ever need. Its only the wish is ®

new new2011 2011 Legacy Legacyand andOutback.

Outback.

Impreza Impreza . .Well-equipped Well-equipped atat$17,495 $17,495 ® The all-new 2015 Subaru Outback for your command. ®

®

†

†

The 2016 Subaru BRZ.®

Subaru, BRZ, Impreza, and SUBARU BOXER are registered trademarks. Pandora is a registered trademark of Pandora Media, Inc. Actual mileage may vary.

Subaru, Forester, Impreza, Legacy and Outback are registered trademarks. 1EPA-estimated hwy fuel economy for 2015 Outback 2.5i models. Actual mileage † † *EPA-estimated *EPA-estimated hwy hwy fuelfuel economy forfor 2012 2012 Subaru Subaru Impreza 2.0i2.0i CVT CVT models. models.

Actual Actual mileage mileage may may vary. vary.

MSRP excludes excludes destination destination andand delivery delivery charges, charges, tax,tax, titletitle andand registration registration fees. fees. oneconomy EPA-estimated hwy fuelImpreza economy for 2015 model vehicles within the IHSMSRP Automotive, Polk Non-Luxury Midsize CUV segment. may vary. 2Based Dealer Dealer sets sets actual actual price. price.

2012 2012 Impreza Impreza 2.0i2.0i Limited Limited pictured pictured hashas an an MSRP MSRP of $21,595. of $21,595.

2011 2011 Legacy Legacy

Sunbelt Version Sunbelt Version 585 585Tunnel TunnelRoad RoadAsheville, Asheville,NC NC28805 28805• 828-298-9600 • 828-298-9600

2011 2011 Outback Outback

www.prestigesubaru.com www.prestigesubaru.com April 2016 | capitalatplay.com 99

Whether it’s gourmet sandwiches for eight or a cocktail reception for 500, The Chef ’s kitchen is dedicated to providing fresh, beautifully presented, and affordably priced menus that are sure to delight you and your guests.

Visit Us At www.TheChefsKitchen.com

100

| April 2016