December 2011 Magazine

Volume 7 • Issue 3 December 2011

Happy Holidays App Ski Mtn Celebrates 50 Years Giving Big Appalachian Roots

DI A N N E DAVA N T & A S S O C I AT E S Excellence By Design Since 1979

B A N N E R E L K , N O RT H C A R O L I N A 828.898.9887 S T U A R T, F L O R I D A 772.287.2872 W W W. D A VA N T - I N T E R I O R S . C O M

B

High Country Magazine

December 2011

Neville Chaney - Owner/WJ Office - Advisory Board Piedmont Federal Savings Bank

Because Piedmont Federal keeps your mortgage right here, you will always receive quick, personal service from their local loan officers.

I sell hundreds of office supplies in one day.

My friends at Piedmont Federal haven’t sold one mortgage in over 100 years.

Even though I’m a successful business owner now, I still remember fondly the kindness of the people at Piedmont Federal.

Years ago, they were willing to work with me when I was buying my first house and hit a few bumps in the road. Piedmont’s non-commissioned loan officers look at the whole person.

They have been doing that for over 100 years, and they have never sold a home loan to another bank.

Both my parents and I have had mortgages with Piedmont Federal. I heartily recommend them to anyone considering a first or second home loan, or who is just looking for a straightforward, commonsense bank for their checking, savings or IRA needs.

Sometimes it’s what you don’t do that works!

Visit us on your mobile device.

Straightforward, commonsense banking.

MEMBER FDIC

December 2011 H i g h| piedmontfederal.com Country Magazine ©2011 Piedmont Federal Savings Bank | 1399 Blowing Rock Road | 828-264-5244

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2

High Country Magazine

December 2011

Give yourself a gift for the holidays and

E X P L O R E

Enjoy dinner, catch a show, spend the night and explore Abingdon this season! includes

Two tickets to Barter Theatre Come experience a holiday classic with two tickets to Barter Theatre’s holiday production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Celebrate the joy of the season at Barter Theatre, a regional treasure and nationally recognized professional theatre located in the heart of Abingdon.

One night at The Martha Hotel and Spa Enjoy a night’s stay at The Martha, including breakfast. In Historic Downtown Abingdon directly across from Barter Theatre, The Martha provides an authentic atmosphere of old-fashioned grandeur with a modern flair.

Just $365 for two people This holiday package is available now through December 24th

Dinner and wine at Heartwood Heartwood: Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Gateway offers an extensive menu of regional favorites, original fare and Virginia wine in a distinctive atmosphere. After you dine, be sure to shop the four galleries of regional music and crafts.

Visit

ExploreAbingdon.com for more information

To book now call 1-800-435-3440.

December 2011

High Country Magazine

3

C O N T E N T S

16 High Country Skiing Turns 50

This winter season marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Blowing Rock Ski Lodge—the High Country’s first ski resort that would become Appalachian Ski Mtn. Author and longtime snow sports enthusiast Randy Johnson interviews many of the key figures who helped realize the impossible and who ultimately made skiing one of the top industries in the region.

16

36 Unwrapping Gifts of Brick and Mortar

The past few years have seen the construction and completion of several new facilities in the High Country that will serve critical needs in the community and help bring visitors to our region. Despite the economy, community efforts have succeeded in building new places for people, animals and the arts.

52 A Mountain Man and a Mighty Giant

Bill Harmon has two barns brimming with wormy chestnut lumber, and he runs his portable sawmill near the banks of the Watauga River. At 77, Harmon’s life reads like a mountain man’s biography. As a kid, he remembers waking up with snow on his pillow and seeing the last stands of the American chestnut tree in the Appalachian forest.

62 A History of People and Place

Larry Ruppard lends a sharp memory and appreciation for times gone by to this history of family and region.

72 New Sanctuary, Same Gospel

First Presbyterian Church of Boone had a rocky start—its new church building caught fire days before its scheduled opening. Now, members are settling into their new home. Once reluctant to leave the 70-year-old church on Howard Street, the congregation now realizes the move was a blessing in disguise.

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52

78 $500, a Dream and a Hope

Those were the successful ingredients for Jack and Becky Hall’s first business, which spawned in the ‘mid80s, when downtown Blowing Rock was a ghost town in winter. Today, the couple owns two successful—and contrasting—businesses, Hatchet Jack’s Trading Post and Sunset Tees and Hattery.

on the cover Freedman H. Beard Featuring an original work by a regional artist on the December issue cover has become a holiday tradition at High Country Magazine.

This year’s cover image is “Christmas Hope,” a traditional watercolor painting by Freeman Beard that, “I hope it shows my love for the mountains and for painting watercolor,” Freeman said.

Freeman grew up in Maiden and gradu4

High Country Magazine

December 2011

ated from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla., after which Freeman came to stay in North Carolina. He lives in Durham with his wife, and his studio is located at Golden Belt at 807 East Main Street in Durham. Call 919-477-1606 for an appointment.

You can view Freeman’s work locally at the Carlton Gallery, located on N.C. 105 in the Grandfather Community. For more about Freeman, click to www.fbeardart.com.

READER SERVICES ABOUT US

The first High Country Press newspaper was published on May 5, 2005, and the first issue of High Country Magazine went to press in fall 2005. We publish the newspaper weekly and currently publish the magazine seven times a year. Both are free, and we distribute the newspaper and magazine in Watauga and Avery counties. Our newspaper is packed with information that we present and package in easy-to-read formats with visually appealing layouts.

The magazine represents our shared love of our history, our landscape and our people. It celebrates our pioneers, our lifestyles, our differences and the remarkable advantages we enjoy living in the mountains. Our guiding principles are twofold: quality journalism makes a difference and customer care at every level is of the greatest importance. Our offices are located in downtown Boone, and our doors are always open to welcome visitors.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

We are now offering subscriptions to High Country Magazine. A one-year subscription for seven issues costs $40, and we will mail issues to subscribers as soon as they arrive at our offices from the printer. To subscribe, call our offices at 828-264-2262.

BACK ISSUES

Back issues of our magazines are available from our office for $5 per issue. Some issues are already sold out and are no longer available.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Een Plesierige Kerfees • I'd Millad Said oua Sana Saida • Felices Pasquas Y felices ano Nuevo • Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand • Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun • Zorionak eta Urte Berri On! • Vesele Vanoce • Happy Kwanzaa • Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo • Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat • Happy Chanukah • Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo • Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan • Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun • Bon Nadal i un Bon any nou • Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth • Mitho Makosi Kesikansi • Sretan Bozic • Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok • Glædelig Jul • Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Merry Christmas • Gajan Kristnaskon • Ruumsaid juulup|hi • Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad • Hyvaa joulua • Joyeux Noel • Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier! • Froehliche Weihnachten • Kala Christouyenna! • Mele Kalikimaka • Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova • Shub Naya Baras • Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket - Christmas in Hungary • Gledileg Jol • Selamat Hari Natal • Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah • Nollaig Shona Dhuit • Happy Holidays • (Auguri di) Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo • Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto • Sung Tan Chuk Ha • Priecigus Ziemas Svetkus un Laimigu Jauno Gadu • Priecigus Ziemassvetkus • Linksmu Kaledu • Happy SANTA’S LITTLE HELPERS ARE LOCATED AT:Varsh • Merry KeshHolidays • Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa • Meri Kirihimete • Shub Naya mish • God Jul • En frehlicher un en Nei Yaahr!

• Wesolych Swiat Bozego Nar174 S.Grischtdaag DEPOT STREET • hallich DOWNTOWN BOONE odzenia • Boas Festas • Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi.

Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua • Sarbatori vesele • Pozdrevlyayu s 828/262-3324 prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom • Hristos se rodi • Happy Kwanzaa • Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce • Buorrit Juovllat • La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou • Nollaig chridheil huibh • Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina • Merry Christmas • Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa • Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok • Vesel Bozic. Srecno Novo Leto • Feliz Navidad • God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År • Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon • Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal • Happy Chanukah • Sawadee Pee Mai • Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun • Srozhdestvom Kristovym • Naya Saal Mubarak Ho • Chuc Mung Giang Sinh • Nadolig Llawen • Cestitamo Bozic • Een Plesierige Kerfees • I'd Millad Said oua Sana Saida • FeFOR lices Pasquas Y felices ano Nuevo • Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand • Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun • Zorionak eta Urte Berri On! • Happy Kwanzaa • Vesele Vanoce • Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo • Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat • Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo • Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan • Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun • Bon Nadal i un Bon any nou • Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth • Mitho Makosi Kesikansi • Sretan Bozic • Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok • Glædelig Jul • Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

• Merry Christmas • Gajan Kristnaskon • Ruumsaid juulup|hi • Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad • Hyvaa joulua • Joyeux Noel • Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!

BYChristouyenna! • Mele Kalikimaka • Happy Chanukah • • Froehliche Weihnachten • Kala Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova • Shub Naya Baras • Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket - Christmas in Hungary • Gledileg Jol • Selamat Hari Natal • Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah • Nollaig Shona Dhuit • (Auguri Wishing di) Buon Natale Felice Anno Nuovo • Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto • YoueHappy Holidays Sung Tan Chuk Ha • Priecigus Ziemas Svetkus un Laimigu Jauno Gadu • Happy Holidays • PrieciIn Absolutely, Every Possible Way! gus Ziemassvetkus • Happy Kwanzaa • Linksmu Kaledu • Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa • Meri Kirihimete • Shub Naya Varsh • Merry Keshmish • God Jul • En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr! • Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia • Boas Festas • Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-OTe-Henua • Sarbatori vesele • Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom • Hristos se rodi • Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce • Buorrit Juovllat • La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou • Nollaig chridheil huibh • Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina • Subha nath thalak Vewa.

Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa • Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok • Vesel Bozic. Srecno Novo

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and

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Photography and page reprints are available for purchase. For sizing, prices and usage terms, please call our office. Some photos may not be available and some restrictions may apply.

ADVERTISING

Obtain information about advertising in our publications from our sales representatives by calling 828-264-2262 or emailing us at sales@highcountrypress.com.

Contact us at:

High Country Press/Magazine P.O. Box 152 130 North Depot Street Boone, NC 28607 www.highcountrypress.com info@highcountrypress.com 828-264-2262

Reserve Your Gear Online: www.SkiCountrySports.com ACROSS FROM THE ENTRANCE TO SUGAR MOUNTAIN IN BANNER ELK December 2011

828/ 898-9786 800/ 528-3874

www.SkiCountrySports.com High Country Magazine

5

FROM T H E PUB L ISH ER

A Publication Of High Country Press Editor & Publisher Ken Ketchie Creative Director Courtney Cooper Graphic Artist Tim Salt

A 50 Year Old Ski Slope

Ken Ketchie

A

ppalachian Ski Mtn. has begun celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Construction began in 1961, and the ski slope first opened its doors to the public on December 15, 1962. The idea for the ski slope came from a man named Bill Thalheimer, a native of Alabama, who had never skied before. What a powerful impact his dream had on the history of the High Country. Since that day, millions of skiers have come to our mountains, millions of dollars have been invested and millions lost, and many millions more have been spent by the skiers during their visits. It’s been good for the locals, as thousands and thousands of people have been employed.

The ski industry is something we take for granted these days. Back in the beginning, it was very much on shaky ground. A lot of hard lessons had to be learned about this brand new endeavor before things worked out. But there was plenty of passion from the folks who got things rolling back then, and the South would soon catch on to all that excitement.

Skiing is what actually brought me to the High Country for the first time when I was 14 years old. I came with a church group. This new kid had just moved into the Charlotte neighborhood where I lived, and his family was from Colorado. Doug had his own skis and bragged a lot about skiing in the Rockies. It all sounded pretty cool to me. Plus, at that time, Jean-Claude Killy had just been a big hero at the 1968 Winter Olympics, so everyone was talking about skiing.

Doug invited me to go skiing with his church group. I remember practicing on this rolling wooden balancing contraption in his living room, trying on his skis, looking at pictures. It was exciting for sure.

For the ski trip we were up before dawn, dressed to the max in warm clothing and loaded up on the bus. Soon I was looking up at the slopes of Appalachian Ski Mtn. This was in 1969, and the slope had been open for seven years.

I remember it felt quite different being on snow with skis on instead of on the carpet in Doug’s living room. After sliding around on the snow for a while, Doug tells me that we’re going to the top of the big slope, and I’m thinking, “Why not? This can’t be all that hard.” Once at the top, though, I remember being abandoned. It probably took me a long while to make it back down that hill.

Skiing kept bringing me back to these mountains. And I got a little better every time. I even made a little skiing history once while on a ski trip with my family to the Seven Devils ski slope. On that day, two people broke their legs while skiing—my brother and I. A photograph of the two of us, seated on a couch with our legs in thighhigh casts, ended up on the front page of the Charlotte Observer. But that didn’t stop me—I was back skiing the next year.

Every time I’m at Appalachian Ski Mtn., I look up to the top of the Big Appal ski slope and remember that first day on skis. What a fun pastime it has been!

6

High Country Magazine

December 2011

Advertising Sales Beverly Giles Amber Smith Associate Editor Anna Oakes Contributing Writers Jesse Wood Megan Northcote Randy Johnson Contributing Photographers Todd Bush James Fay Karen Lehmann Peter Morris Kyle Grove Hannah Townsend Finance Manager Amanda Giles

High Country Magazine is produced by the staff and contributors of High Country Press newspaper, which serves Watauga and Avery counties of North Carolina

HIGH COUNTRY MAGAZINE P.O. Box 152, Boone, NC 28607 828-264-2262 Follow our magazine online where each issue is presented in a flip-through format. Check it out at:

HighCountryMagazine.com Reproduction or use in whole or part of the contents of this magazine without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Issues are FREE throughout the High Country. © 2011 by High Country Press. All Rights Reserved.

December 2011

High Country Magazine

7

Calendarof Events Calendar # 1

28

28-29

Hayride and Bonfire, Beech Mountain, 828-387-9283 USSA Holiday Slalom and Giant Slalom Competition,

Sugar Mountain Resort, 828-898-4521

31

Rockin’ Family New Year’s Eve Party, Buckeye Recreation Center, Beech Mountain, 828-387-3003

Soweto Gospel Choir, January 28

DECEMBER 2011 9-11

Preseason Ski Clinic, Sugar Mountain Resort, 800-SUGARMT

10 10

Inside Exhibitions, Turchin Center, ASU, 828-262-3017

10-24

Santa at Sugar, Sugar Mountain Resort, 800-SUGARMT

11-12

SugarFest, Sugar Mountain Resort, 1-800-SUGARMT

Fresh Friday, Appalachian Ski Mtn., Blowing Rock,

16

New Year’s Eve Celebration, Beech Mountain Resort, 828387-2011

31

New Year Celebration, Sugar Mountain Resort, 800-SUGARMT

31

New Year’s Celebration, Appalachian Ski Mtn., Blowing Rock, 828-295-7828

JANUARY 2012

6

Fresh Friday, Appalachian Ski Mtn., Blowing Rock, 828-295-7828

6-8

Winterfest, Beech Mountain Resort, 828-387-2011

N.C. Championship Snowshoe Race, Beech Mountain

7

Resort, 828-387-2011

Red Bull Thingama-Jib, Appalachian Ski Mtn., Blowing Rock, 828-295-7828

31

Studio K: The Nutcracker, Farthing Auditorium, ASU, 828-265-4111

9-11

7

National Winter Trails Day/Snowshoe for Free, Sugar Mountain Resort, 800-SUGARMT

7

Ladies Park Night, Appalachian Ski Mtn., Blowing Rock, 828-295-7828

828-295-7828

17

Roots Ride Shop Grand Opening, Beech Mountain

Resort, 828-387-2011

17

Santa Visit and Tree Trimming, Beech Mountain Chamber of Commerce, 828-387-9283

23

Breakfast with Mrs. Claus, Buckeye Recreation Center, Beech Mountain, 828-387-9283

24

Christmas Eve Service, Beech Mountain Resort, 828-387-2011

8

High Country Magazine

Winter Trails Day, January 7 December 2011

DON’T FORGET

EVENTS

EYE CAN’T WAIT! BUY ONE PAIR OF GLASSES AT REGULAR PRICE...

GET A FREE PAIR OF SINGLE VISION SUNGLASSES*

The Nutcracker DECEMBER 9 to 11

New Year’s Eve One of the best ways to ring in the New Year is on a set of skis or a snowboard. The High Country’s ski resorts always throw some of the best New Year’s Eve parties around, with torchlight skiing, fireworks displays, moonlight ice skating, parades, live music, food and more. Make your reservations now.

SATURDAY December 31

BLUE RIDGE OPTOMETRY

VISION

The magic of Tchaikovsky ‘s The Nutcracker comes to life on stage every December thanks to Studio K Dance Workshop in Boone. Don’t miss this year’s production at Farthing Auditorium on the campus of Appalachian State University from Friday to Sunday, December 9 to 11. The performances feature hundreds of dancers and costumes and spectacular sets.

EXPIRES 1/15/12 NO OTHER SPECIALS ACCEPTED WITH THIS OFFER.*FRAMES FROM A LIMITED SELECTION. INSURANCE PLANS DO NOT APPLY. *EXCLUDES OAKLEY BRAND.

IN THE BOONE MALL CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT

828/264-2020

STEVE’S AUTO SERVICE Professional Quality Maintenance & Repair at the Lowest Possible Cost

The High Country’s Independent Subaru Specialist for 28 years

Winterfest at Beech Mountain The Winterfest celebration at Beech Mountain Resort, revived just a few years ago, is back and better than ever in 2012, with live music, the North Carolina Snowshoe Championship, a rail jam and other contests, food, the cardboard box derby, the Bathing Beauty Contest and equipment demonstrations and sales.

JANUARY 6 to 8

SUBARU - HONDA - NISSAN - ISUZU - TOYOTA PLUS SELECT DOMESTICS (828) 264 4369 • 1667 Hwy 421 N • Boone, NC December 2011

High Country Magazine

9

SugarFest, December 11 and 12

Art Mini-Camp, January 16

Snowman Contest, February 18

JANUARY 2012 CONTINUED

10

Septuagenarian Party, Sugar Mountain Resort, 800-SUGARMT

14

Inside Exhibitions, Turchin Center, ASU, 828-

262-3017 16

School’s Out Mini-Camp, Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, 828-295-9099

17

Exhibition Openings, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, ASU, 828-262-2017

21

Telemark Festival, Beech Mountain, High Country Nordic Association, www. facebook.com/pages/High-Country-NordicAssociation/173806255997713

22

Winter Women’s Spa Day, Beech Mountain

Town Hall, 828-387-9283

22

Shred for the Cup: Big Air, Appalachian Ski Mtn., Blowing Rock, 828-295-7828

Punch Brothers, February 17

24

26-29 27-28

Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration featuring Angela Davis, Farthing Auditorium, ASU, 828-262-6252 Winterfest, downtown Blowing Rock, 828-295-7851 Momentum Showcase, Varsity Gym 208, ASU,

828-262-3028

28

Soweto Gospel Choir, Farthing Auditorium, ASU,

828-262-4046

FEBRUARY 2012

3

First Friday Art Crawl, Turchin Center, Nth Gallery, Jones House and The Collective, downtown Boone

3

Fresh Friday, Appalachian Ski Mtn., Blowing Rock, 828-295-7828

3-12

College Fest, Beech Mountain Resort, 828-387-2011

11

Inside Exhibitions, Turchin Center, ASU, 828-262-3017

11

Shred for the Cup: Rail Jam, Appalachian Ski Mtn., Blowing Rock, 828-295-7828

17

Punch Brothers with Chris Thile, Farthing Auditorium, ASU, 828-262-4046

18

Snowman Building Contest, across from Sledding Hill, Beech Mountain, 828-387-9283

Winterfest, January 26 to 29 10

High Country Magazine

December 2011

DON’T FORGET

EVENTS

Winterfest in Blowing Rock The 14th annual Winterfest celebration in Blowing Rock takes place Thursday to Sunday, January 26 to 29, at various locations throughout the village. Get your tickets early for the always-popular WinterFeast, with dishes from the best area restaurants all in one place. Saturday of the festival is always busy with the daring Polar Plunge into Chetola Lake, the Chili Challenge, a Wine Tasting and Auction and an ice carving competition.

JANUARY 26 to 29

If your power goes out, check your main breaker, fuse box, or electric meter, then see if your neighbors also have lost power, or if a power line is down. If so, call PowerLine at 1-800-448-2383. Our crews are standi ng by 24/7 to restore your power as quickly as possible.

DJ grooves entertainment

specializing in Weddings Birthday Parties Corporate events Local to the High Country

www.BlueRidgeEMC.com

(828) 773-6960

Call for best pricing for 2012-13 season.

djgroovesentertainment.com December 2011

High Country Magazine

11

mountain

echoes

Insider tips, fascinating facts, conversation starters and fun stuff to do

Shop Talk

sS

Nine Nuggets about Holiday Shopping

truggling to find something to say at the office holiday party? Here

From Thanksgiving to New

are nine interesting facts about the holiday season—also known as

Year’s Day, household waste in-

the busiest shopping months of the year.

creases by more than

25%. Added food waste, shopping bags,

packaging, wrapping paper, bows and ribbons create up to an addiThe National Retail Federation estimates that holiday sales will rise 2.8 percent to

$466 billion in 2011.

$27.4 billion—retail sales by

Merry Christmas to Me!—nearly

the holiday season. The average person will spend approximately

37.2% of Americans

began holiday shopping by Halloween. (randomhistory.com)

The U.S. imported

holiday

make non-gift purchases for themselves and their families during

2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2010, approximately

6 in 10

shoppers say they plan to take advantage of sales and discounts to

the nation’s department stores in December

HODGEPODGE

tional 1 million tons a week to bound for landfills. (EPA and Use Less Stuff)

$488.5 million

in Christmas tree ornaments from China between January and August 2010, according the U.S. Cen-

$130.43 during the holiday season to take advantage of sales and

discounts on apparel, electronics, home goods and other items for themselves or a family member. (National Retail Federation) Researchers have proven that a

50% off sign leads in in-

creased sales, even if shoppers don’t know the original price or what a reasonable price for the product would be. (Live Science)

sus Bureau.

According to the “Christmas Price Index” calculated by PNC

$1.2 billion—the value of product shipments of candles in 2008 by the nation’s manufacturers.

Many of these candles are lit during Hanukkah and Kwanzaa celebrations. (U.S. Census Bureau)

Bank, the gifts of 78 goods and services in the popular song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” would cost

$23,439.38 in 2010. That’s up from $12,673.56 in 1984, the first year the index was calculated.

Beech Hosts State Snowshoe Championship

bB

eech Mountain

Shoe Company, Crescent Moon, Hammer

Resort will host

Nutrition, Easton, Dion Snowshoes and the

the 2012 North Carolina Championship Snowshoe Race on Saturday, January 7, at 1:00 p.m.

The events include recreational and competitive 5K runs, a Kids Snowshoe Scramble

be available for free.

The entry fees are $15 for all events except the Kids Snowshoe Scramble, which is $5.

For more information, call 828-387-3003,

and a competitive 10K championship run,

email brie@townofbeechmountain.com or

which will serve as a qualifying race for the

click to www.snowshoeracing.com/events.

junction with Beech Mountain Resort’s Win-

2012 U.S. National Snowshoe Championships

htm to download an entry form.

terfest and sponsored by the Town of Beech

in Frisco, Colo., in February 2012. Previous

Mountain, Lees-McRae College, Atlas Snow-

experience is not necessary, and loaners will

The event is held in con-

12

U.S. Snowshoe Association.

OUTDOORS

High Country Magazine

December 2011

By Anna Oakes

mountain

echoes

Groups Work To Restore Old Linville Train Depot tT

HODGEPODGE

he restoration of the historic Linville Depot, a stop along the East

was moved to its new home behind the old jail beside the courthouse

Tennessee and Western North Carolina (ET&WNC) Railroad from 1917

in Newland. The depot will house a large ET&WNC Railroad and Linville

to 1940, continues as the Avery County

River Railway exhibit detailing the life of

Historical Society and ET&WNC Railroad

America’s most famous narrow gauge.

and Historical Society prepare to open the building as a railroad museum.

The depot was located in “west Lin-

Cindy Peters, chair of the Avery County Historical Society, said up to $49,000 needs to be raised to complete the project, which

ville,” about a mile from Eseeola Lodge.

optimistically could be finished by next

Automobiles and better roads brought an

summer.

end to regular passenger service after the

“That really hinges on how much more

1937 tourist season, but the depot contin-

donations of labor and supplies I get,” she

ued to serve as a baggage loading point

said. To date, about $289,000 in cash and

until 1940, when flooding destroyed the

donated labor and materials has been

tracks to the east. The depot structure was later converted into a gas

raised for the project. In addition to Peters, coordinators include Joel

station and moved at a later date to Grape Street in Linville, where it was

Shipley of architect firm David Patrick Moses and Jerry Turbyfill, a master

used as a residence.

carpenter. If you’re interested in contributing to the restoration of the

In summer 2007, the Linville depot was given to the Avery County

Linville Depot, contact Peters at 828-765-4787.

Historical Society and Museum. In September 2007, the Linville Depot

By Anna Oakes

December 2011

High Country Magazine

13

LARGE TRACTS! mountains4sale.com

mountain

echoes

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Chili Challenge Invites Competitors and Tasters January 28

aA

perennial favorite of Blowing Rock’s annual Winterfest celebration in late Janu-

ary, the 14th annual Chili Challenge will take place on Saturday, January 28, at the Blowing Rock School gymnasium on Morris Street.

Hungry tasters will be greeted at the door by tantalizing aromas and upbeat tunes from live musicians.

Anyone can enter the freestyle, or amateur, competition with his or her best chili recipe, and creative and festive decorators have the opportunity to win the award for Best Table Display. Freestyle competitors receive $350 cash for first place, $200 for second place and $100 for third place.

In addition, there are separate categories for restaurants and Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI). CASI-registered chili cooks travel the nation competing for chili points to be invited to the International Chili Cookoff in Terlingua, Texas).

Finally, all tasters have the opportunity to vote for their favorite chili, which will determine the People’s Choice Award.

The entry fee is $15 before January 1, $20 after January 1 and $25 at the door. Setup takes place from 8:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. The doors open at 11:00 a.m. and tasting continues until 3:00 p.m., or until all the chili is gone. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for kids 12 and under.

For tickets or an entry form, click to www.blowingrockwinterfest.com. For more information, call 828-295-7851.

WE’RE LOCALLY OWNED!

Brokers: Paul Breden & Chris Breden

14

High Country Magazine

FOOD & FARM

December 2011

mountain

FOOD & FARM

Goodbye Boone Drug Diner, Hello F.A.R.M. Café

B b

John Stacy.

hunger crisis with the opening of the F.A.R.M.

retail portion of the downtown store, and the

(Feed All Regardless of Means) Café next

fountain at the King Street location, beside

spring. The downtown restaurant will have sug-

Earth Fare, will also remain open. F.A.R.M. Café

gested prices for ever-changing menu items

hopes to open in April 2012, but the organiza-

served buffet style, but those who cannot af-

tion recently learned it must raise additional

ford it can pay lesser amounts or volunteer in

funds for the construction of handicap-accessi-

exchange for their meals.

ble restrooms. To date, the café has raised just

oone has the opportunity to set an example in alternative ways to address the

The October announcement of a location for the café was exciting, no doubt, but also

echoes

Boone Drug will continue to operate its

under $40,000.

“Our fathers and grandfathers have turned to Boone Drug as a place to socialize and solve the world’s problems, and this will just be a new aspect of that.” ~John Stacy, co-owner of Boone Drug

A chef-manager will develop a daily chalk-

bittersweet. F.A.R.M. Café will lease the space

board menu based on food that is available,

currently occupied by the 92-year-old down-

with an emphasis on food grown and produced

provide food that is nutritious and affordable.

town Boone Drug fountain, which will close at

locally.

For more information about F.A.R.M. Café,

the end of 2011.

“We really want to be as seasonal as possible,”

email info@farmcafe.org, send mail to P.O. Box

said Renee Boughman, a chef at Blowing

487, Boone, NC 28607, or click to www.farm-

to Boone Drug as a place to socialize and solve

Rock’s The Best Cellar who has led the efforts

cafe.org.

the world’s problems, and this will just be a

for F.A.R.M. Cafe. The café will work with local

new aspect of that,” said Boone Drug co-owner

faith communities, civic groups and farmers to

“Our fathers and grandfathers have turned

December 2011

By Anna Oakes

High Country Magazine

15

A Half-Century of High Country Skiing Appalachian Ski Mtn. — Starting and Sunstaining Southern Skiing 2012 is a landmark year in the history of how skiing came South—the 50th year of the Boone area’s first ski area.

Story by Randy Johnson

T

hat rich story of Blowing Rock Ski Lodge, later Appalachian Ski Mtn., reveals more than just how dramatically the ski industry has progressed. It also shows the monumental impact skiing has had on the entire economy and culture of the High Country and Southern Appalachians.

The people of skiing’s first half-century are quite a cast of characters, a truly colorful group. Many are no longer living. Others are reaching the twilight of long lives.

Setting the Stage

When Blowing Rock Ski Lodge debuted in December 1962, West Virginia and Maryland had already seen several small ski areas come and go, some with primitive snowmaking. Virginia’s Homestead had birthed the South’s first “real” ski area in winter 1959-‘60, with

successful snowmaking and a five-star resort atmosphere that electrified the media and helped raise Southern awareness of skiing. Winter 1961-‘62 saw two more Southern slopes open. Tom Alexander started Cataloochee east of the Smokies in Maggie Valley. He launched North Carolina’s first ski area in part to provide year-round work for summer employees of his dude ranch. Tennessee’s Ober Gatlinburg also opened that winter with a new wrinkle—the city purchased the land and leased it to local stockholders wanting skiing on the western side of the Smokies.

Skiing was on the South’s radar when Blowing Rock Ski Lodge opened in December of 1962. Surprisingly, there seems to have been little if any coordination among all these efforts.

Granted, Sepp Kober, ski area founder at the Homestead, later named the

Father of Southern Skiing, was encouraging anyone he could (he was repping everything from ski clothes to chairlifts).

Also, John Mathewson, representative of Connecticut’s Larchmont Snowmaking company, was making the rounds, meeting people, sparking interest. It appears a lot of great minds were thinking alike.

A Role for Old Man Winter?

The big snows of 1960 didn’t hurt (when 83 inches of snow fell in Boone in February and March). Before the snow melted, members of the Boone Chamber of Commerce announced that the following winter, commercial winter sports would be available. The chamber appointed a committee of Alfred Adams, W.H. Gragg and Wade Brown to study winter tourism opportunities. Even as National Guard teams were just going home after ferrying food to snowed-in mountain residents, Brown staged a ski photo on the Boone golf course. George “Snowman” Flowers’ photo was widely circulated on the wire service.

How deep was it? “That ‘60 snow was bad enough,” says Watauga High School’s legendary former basketball coach and teacher, Carter Lentz, who lived in one of only two houses on what would become “Ski Mountain.” Lentz remembers, “We had a basketball goal up at the house there, and I have a picture of my 10 yearold son standing on the snow with his head up through the basketball hoop.”

The area’s first ski slope is getting grassy.

Equipment is still in place as the L.A. Reynolds Co. clears and smooths the first ski runs at Blowing Rock Ski Lodge.

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High Country Magazine

December 2011

The resort didn’t get open for the winter of 1961-’62 — but the future couldn’t be denied.

The lodge and slopes weren’t even completed by the original planned opening date in late 1961. That would wait another year, until December 15, 1962.

Nevertheless, fun-seekers came out the winter before with sleds and skis to frolic in the snow.

The ‘60 snows had an impact. Spencer Robbins says, “After that snow, we noticed families started coming up from Hickory and Lenoir and Statesville and looking for a hillside to sled on. It was getting people’s attention that there was a place for winter activities up here.”

The Leading Man Steps on Stage

The Blowing Rock Ski Lodge, immaculately paneled in white pine from V. L. Moretz & Son—sits below an enticingly snow-covered slope. Snowmaking and the dream of skiing finally create a High Country winter vista reminiscent of today.

The following year in 1961, Blowing Rock Ski Lodge was under construction.

Surprisingly, the man who dreamed up that ski area—M.E. “Bill” Thalheimer—seems to have been completely uninvolved with the Boone chamber effort.

Thalheimer made one of the great unheralded contributions to Southern skiing.

The story of how this non-skier came to create the High Country’s first resort is so unlikely, it borders on unbelievable.

December 2011

High Country Magazine

17

Clearing trees from the current Big Appal slope was the easy part. Far below the two women on the hillside, the neighboring meadow required extensive grading to transform it from a rounded grassy field to the flat space in the inset that is today occupied by parking lots.

The Alabama native and Charlotte businessman (via West Virginia) had independently initiated the ski resort project with a letter requesting snowfall data from the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce. It appears he’d made regular visits to the Blowing Rock area in the summer. His son, Mark Thalheimer, says, “My dad was familiar with Mayview Manor, and he thought Blowing Rock had real cachet.” Bill Thalheimer reportedly thought “Blowing Rock was the best known vacation destination between Newport, Rhode Island, and Palm Beach.” But that doesn’t explain how after years in completely unrelated businesses—he was the owner of a West Virginia movie theater chain and a television film producer—Thalheimer just woke up and, boom, said, “I’m going to sell stock and help invent skiing in North Carolina!”

Thalheimer’s daughter, Lynne Thalheimer Nachman, remembers her father’s epiphany but can’t explain it. In the fall of 1960, recently married Lynne was having dinner with her husband, father and stepmother at a Chinese restaurant near her home in Manhattan. She remembers, 18

High Country Magazine

Bill Thalheimer

“Daddy just casually mentioned that he was moving to Blowing Rock and going into the ski business. We were totally flabbergasted!” Before that conversation in New York, no one in Thalheimer’s acquaintance, or anyone interviewed for this article, remembers when or if Thalheimer ever said, “I’m fascinated by skiing in the

December 2011

South and think I can make it work.”

“That was the first we’d ever heard of this,” Nachman says. “He said that he’d looked into skiing in the South and that he thought it could be done and he was going to do it.”

The rest is history. Bill Thalheimer did successfully start the High Country’s first ski area, today one of the South’s foremost ski resorts under the name Appalachian Ski Mtn. Nachman says, “The person that we see today in the history of the Blowing Rock Ski Lodge is so unlike the father that I grew up with. West Virginia was just not the place to be, so we moved to Charlotte. Before then he’d been pretty predictable, easy going. He became a whole new person that my brothers knew that I never knew—kind of a renaissance man. To my sister and me, he was always a Southern gentleman. He was like two people, a Jekyll and Hyde. I don’t know where the ski phase came from. It’s just so weird.”

Son Mark Thalheimer says, “He must have quietly thought about it for years— he was not a spontaneous person. But, I never could understand the logic behind

a resort aimed at the family-friendly ski experience.

Getting It Done

Hugh Morton captured skiing in the first brochures (above). Signs were a year off in timing.

it. There was no skiing in our family. He never physically moved three feet on skis.”

Mark and Lynne say their father may have wanted what so many people still find in the High Country. “He always loved being around people and being in a town where everybody knew him,” Lynne says. “He never liked Charlotte. He was definitely looking for something.”

“He just loved people,” Mark says, “and the ski industry may have seemed familial to him.”

Skiing is a small town of sorts, a family of people who find the passion for it. “Skiing is a family,” says Brad Moretz, Appalachian Ski Mtn.’s general manager, whose father Grady Moretz eventually took over Thalheimer’s dream. The Moretzes ought to know. In the 44 years since Brad’s father—also a non-skier—became partner and general manager, virtually the entire Moretz family has become involved in

Nine-hundred stockholders took the leap of faith to bet on Southern skiing.

Thalheimer’s idea was based on selling stock, but because the idea was so speculative, the North Carolina secretary of state required that shares couldn’t be sold for more than $1 a piece and that the stock offering states “this issue is strictly a speculation.” Stock sales capped out at $305,000, and Thalheimer completed the project by borrowing another $85,000. Thalheimer, president and manager of the resort, was such a sharp businessman that the amount of the loan was the exact difference between stock sales and his original cost estimate for the project.

Forty-three acres were purchased from Grover Robbins (Thalheimer was ever after sorry that he didn’t own more developable land around the slopes). He engaged the L.A. Reynolds Co., of Winston-Salem to grade the resort’s slopes and parking lots and V.L. Moretz & Son for building materials. The project succeeded in selling stock, but because the resort was required to hold all funds in escrow until $200,000 had been collected, major suppliers were “encouraged” to take payment in stock. “They were having trouble selling stock,” Grady Moretz remembers. “I didn’t realize it, but I was doing the financing by bringing material up here and not getting paid for it.

The 1962 rate card at Blowing Rock Ski Lodge.

When it came down to pay day, they said December 2011

High Country Magazine

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Mark Thalheimer, son of Bill Thalheimer, founder of Blowing Rock Ski Lodge

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“I never could understand the logic behind it. There was no skiing in our family. He never physically

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High Country Magazine

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a lot of the other contractors were taking their pay in stock. When they asked, ‘would you take some,’ I didn’t think long, but I thought yes, I guess we could, would, and did.” Thus contractors Herb Reynolds and D. Grady Moretz, Jr., became members of the board of directors and took stock in the ski lodge. Over the years, both families were sucked further into the ski industry. At the time, Moretz says, “I’d never been involved in the tourist industry. I guess you could say I didn’t know what a tourist was.”

Grading and Getting Set

For a while the goal—unrealized— was to beat Cataloochee as North Carolina’s first ski slope, and the entire enterprise got ahead of itself with signs promising skiing in late 1961. That didn’t happen, but work was underway. Bill Thalheimer chose the slope “because it was oriented to keep snow,” said Mark Thalheimer. The huge graders set to work sculpting the main run and the easier slope at left, still much the same today. The flat parking lots that flank the slopes were originally a hilltop that was dozed flat. The road getting in was atrocious—much of the road into the ski area was brand new.

“My next door neighbor was an N.C. DOT official,” says Grady Moretz, “so I’d impose on him and say ‘couldn’t you get a motor grader over there and get the ditches smoothed out?’ He would.”

Nevertheless, access still wasn’t easy.

“Before [the] ski area opened, the road in was horrible,” said Ann Buxton Jones, Bill Thalheimer’s secretary. “I drove the Thalheimers’ little station wagon into the ditch one day because of the mud.

And that was on a dry day.”

“The road getting in here wasn’t 221 or 321—it was crooked as a black snake,”

December 2011

says Moretz. “We went to Governor Sanford for help, and he said we do have a fund for farm-to-market roads. He considered this would be an industry that would justify the expense, and it got better.” Cement mixers descended the main hill placing footers for the Hall T-bar, while a used rope tow went up on the other slope. The snowmaking pond was dug. (Later, when it filled up with water, Thalheimer was said to have pulled a bottle of bourbon from his desk and drank a toast.)

Now primitive air compressors and water pumps were installed, much of it secondhand. Son Mark Thalheimer says that’s a tribute to the unrecognized business sense of a man who eventually lost control of his dream. “He knew how to run a very lean shop,” Mark Thalheimer says. “He knew how to start with secondhand equipment, like the rope tows and air compressors and stuff. He did that with his later cable business. He’d say, ‘If I keep my expenses low I know I don’t have to have a big income.’” (In later years, Thalheimer started a Boone cable TV company.)

Frank Coffey, chief engineer of Tweetsie Railroad, installed the snowmaking at Appalachian and later went on to slopes at Hound Ears and Beech Mountain. The lodge site was prepared. A massive concrete slab was poured the night before temperatures dipped below zero. Fires had to be built all around the perimeter to keep it from freezing. The lodge is where Grady Moretz’ influence could be seen in 1961—and can still be seen today.

Some of the beautiful white pine lumber for the lodge was logged from Moretz land and prepared at V.L. Moretz & Son in Deep Gap (named for Virgil Lafayette Moretz, Grady’s grandfather. It’s still visible today beside U.S. 421).

Cemented in History: Cement mixers may have crept painstakingly down the slope pouring pads for the T-bar, but that lift is long gone. The pad poured for the lodge is still in place, dried with fires to prevent freezing when below zero temperatures arrived the next night.

“They wanted to use this wavy edge white pine siding on the building, and I said, ‘I’ve got a sawmill cutting some right now.’ It takes large logs because it laps over. It sorta acquired the name of Blowing Rock siding.” Some of the major timbers look hand-hewn because “They took an adze and roughed up the hemlock beams. You can still see that roughhewn look in the lodge,” Moretz says.

Grady remembers Abb Hayes being among the first employees. The Hayes

family “here in Watauga were stone masons, who lived for several years in Durham to build Duke University,” Moretz says. “The Hayes family laid the stone for that big fireplace in the lodge. The field stone came off of Sugar Mountain.”

The European Influence

Thalheimer couldn’t have pulled off a ski area without at least one indispensable ski pro—and that man was Toni Krasovic (cra-za-vic). Like so many other

people instrumental in skiing throughout the South—and the United States— Krasovic was European. The earliest Ski Lodge stock prospectus heaped praise on the Innsbruck, Austria, native. In hindsight, this man so little remembered in the Boone area played a bigger role than has ever been acknowledged, much less imagined.

Krasovic had been racing in Europe with Sepp Kober “in what you’d now call world cup races,” Krasovic says. Both

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High Country Magazine

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decided to go to the United States and surprisingly, Krasovic came over the year before Kober. The owner of Sugar Bowl Ski Area in Lake Tahoe, California, had seen Krasovic race and hired him as ski coach for the University of California at Berkeley. Then Krasovic found himself in Sun Valley. “One of the first American movies I saw after the war was Sun Valley Serenade. At that time I said, somehow I have to get to America. After Sugar Bowl, I got to Sun Valley, finally, my dream.”

There Krasovic became friends with Stein Erickson, met Ernest Hemingway, taught Gary Cooper’s family to ski and coached Gretchen Fraser, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist in the 1948 Olympics.

In 1960, Krasovic was in Colorado Springs running the slopes and directing the ski school at The Broadmoor. Kober had made it to the U.S. in 1957 to teach at Stowe, Vermont, and by 1960, when he called Krasovic, Kober was at The Homestead working hard to invent Southern skiing. Kober made the connection for Bill Thalheimer, who “called me up,” says Krasovic. “He was wondering

22

High Country Magazine

In this portrait, Toni Krasovic’s skis are engraved with his previous employer, The Broadmoor, in Colorado. Krasovic was Blowing Rock Ski Lodge’s go-to guy for snowmaking and ski lessons.

if I was interested in opening a ski area in the South, the first one that far down South in Blowing Rock, NC. I met him in Charlotte.” Krasovic, the first employee, moved to Blowing Rock “when the only thing there was the parking lot.”

Krasovic was a classic, the very icon of a European ski instructor: tall, athletic, dark-haired, with a ubiquitous turtleneck that seemed to defy the cold while others shivered. “We were so taken by Toni,” says Jones. “Talk about a nice looking man. He was such a handsome guy.”

Krasovic had other qualifications—he’d been an experienced snowmaker at The Broadmoor. “Toni was hands on with the snowmaking,” says Jones. “Bill depended on him tremendously to guide him and help in that first couple years.” Krasovic knew John Mathewson, of Larchmont Engineering, who came down to train a

December 2011

few local snowmakers. “We opened with the snow in good shape,” says Krasovic.

“We hired some guys from the Teacher College (later ASU) who had skied before, trained them for the ski school.”

In 1962, Krasovic and Kober became the only Southerners present at the founding of the National Ski Areas Association at a meeting held at the Broadmoor, Krasovic’s former employer.

Making the High Country’s First Snow

After some training, the resort’s local snowmakers became an effective team. One of those men was Clyde Ellison. Now in his mid-80s, Ellison could pass for the early 60s. He’s a short, powerfully built, former bosun in the U.S. Navy and Merchant Marine, a Jack

Larchmont’s early snow guns appear primitive indeed by today’s standards—even when they were “laying it down.” Skiers often walked out to the snow on planks. Today, it can be ten or more feet deep in this spot.

Lalane kind of character who “took all the weight lifting magazines” and ate health foods long before either were popular. He too noticed Krasovic’s imperviousness to cold. “That first winter we’d be out there freezing to death, but it wasn’t bothering Toni,” Ellison says.

Krasovic laughs at his reputation. “I was just used to Sun Valley, Colorado, and the Alps. North Carolina was just on

the border of winter for me,” he says.

It was tough work. “You needed to be on the slope all the time, all night, moving the guns so they’d cover the slope and not freeze up,” says Ellison. Snowmaking suffered when Ellison left. “I don’t know what they were doing wrong,” Ellison says, “but I know what they weren’t doing—they weren’t staying out there in the cold, which is what you had to do. You can’t make snow in the lodge.”

Ellison remembers, “After a year under those snow guns, I was an Eskimo.

And it carried over to the next winter.

Making snow, I could live in my trailer without even turning on the heat. We got so good at it, when it was cold—we could really pile it up.”

Wrestling the guns was just a workout for Ellison. Carter Lentz knew Ellison and says, “We used to have wrestling matches at the high school, and one day these two big old wrestlers come in there. They were big shots.

They thought they were going to beat up

Times have changed. Grass was part of the base in the old days. Contests no longer

old Clyde, but they done got a’hold of a bear. Those boys ended up just wanting to get out of there.”

Skiing Debuts at Blowing Rock

“It was so nice to drive in when we finally started to make snow, and see the snow being blown on the slopes against the blue sky,” Jones remembers. “It was gorgeous.”

Indeed it was. Snowmaking had gone well and, “We had a lot of snow those first couple years,” Jones says. Frank Coffey remembered the last T-bar was hung a half-hour before the grand opening.

The slopes opened to huge crowds. “The cars probably backed up to the highway,” says Jones. “The rich and famous came in droves,” Grady Moretz recalls. Colorado’s Vail ski area opened the same year.

There were issues. “Opening day I remember everything being very hectic,” Jones says. “Everybody was telling everybody what to do, but no one knew what to do.”

“One reason for financial problems was lack of knowledge of the ski business,” Reba Moretz says. “At that time, everything about the industry was brand

crown a Southern Ski Queen.

“After

a year under those snow guns, I was an Eskimo. Making snow, I could live in my trailer without even turning on the heat. We got so good at it, when it was cold—we could really pile it up.”

Clyde Ellison, snowmaker at Blowing Rock Ski Lodge December 2011

High Country Magazine

23

With these post cards, Hugh Morton’s legendary promotion stepped into the ski age.

The lodge’s original penand-ink logo sketch was by Thalheimer’s wife Joan.

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High Country Magazine

December 2011

To his daughters, Bill Thalheimer was “a

new to everybody involved. There was no way they could anticipate expenses.”

“We have an example of that posted outside the lodge office to this day,” Grady says. “There’s a letter from a refrigeration company offering to make ice to spread on the slopes. They were that naïve. They had no earthly idea—and we didn’t either.”

Southern gentlemen.” The shareholder battles at the Ski Lodge were “ungentlemanly” at best.

Those Early Years of Operation

For a new ski area with all new skiers, the early years were relatively uneventful from an injury standpoint.

“There were always accidents every weekend because it was packed,” Jones says. “No horrible accidents, but I’m sure we kept the local hospitals busy.” Even employees got to ski. “There were times when the road was so bad that no one could get up the highways,” Jones says.

“We employees loved that because we got to ski. Of course, I was 5-foot-3 and they put me on 6-foot metal skis! And I still loved it enough to learn.”

One of the skiing employees is still remembered. “I don’t think anyone broke a leg except this kid who worked for the

ski area,” Krasovic recalled. “Yes, I remember that,” Jones says. “Butch Triplett rented equipment. He was the first employee to break a leg. He had to stay inside and answer the telephone while we went out to ski.” Triplett is co-owner of the Blowing Rock landmark Woodlands Barbecue.

Thalheimer’s second wife Joan “was always here and helpful,” Jones says. “She sold tickets—just a little piece of paper

with a number. We looped it through anything we could and stapled it. On weekends we’d have a lucky number of the day. The winner won a lift ticket for later.”

After a few years, Krasovic was followed by another Austrian, Eugene (pronounced “Oigen”) Schuster, a “Bavarian from Munich,” said Krasovic, and another German, Peter Reinecke, both referred by Kober. Reinecke remained in the area for years operating a variety of businesses.

Krasovic took his Southern snowmaking experience to Ski Windham in New York to initiate the snowmaking effort in the mid-’60s. He followed that up at Missouri’s only ski area then returned to Austria in 1970 to buy the resort of Seefeld where he and his family eventually owned and ran a resort hotel for 35 years. Now retired, the 79-year-old Krasovic divides his year between Europe and Naples, Florida.

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Despite lack of experience, Grady Moretz jumped in and saved the start of skiing in the High Country.

Thalheimer’s Time of Trouble

During the first two years, the ski area did pretty well—made some money—despite there being no ski market. What followed was a Machiavellian nightmare for Thalheimer.

One day a man named Les Cohen (the third largest stockholder) showed up on a busy weekend and cashed a check for $2,000 that bounced. “Oh yeah, I’ve heard that name,” Mark Thalheimer says.

Bill Thalheimer had to dog him to get the money back. Thalheimer had friends on the board of directors who admired him, Moretz among them. But there was another group, one that Cohen had poisoned against him, and they managed to get enough proxies to vote out Thalheimer as manager. Nachman says, “He never recovered from that. He got some strange illness. He was just distraught. He put his heart and soul into it and from what we thought, they just voted him out.”

The third season, a consultant from a Sun Valley-based company ran the area.

He came from a small Maryland ski area with night skiing, and that third season, Blowing Rock Ski Lodge also added night skiing. In an interesting arrangement, the night concession was operated 26

High Country Magazine

in conjunction with the Charlotte Coin Shop—the owner installed the lights for a percentage of the lift ticket revenue. At the end of the third season when the note came up for renewal, the bank wouldn’t lend money to the group that had staged the coup against Thalheimer. The bank would only renew the note with the support of the original endorsers—men who

December 2011

The first quad, 1984. Grady Moretz and ASU Chancellor John Thomas, Hugh Morton, Ski Patroller Steve Benbow, and Alfred Adams.

had personally guaranteed the loan for the corporation. That group supported Thalheimer. One of those was Moretz.

Back in power, the group brought Thalheimer back for season four.

Brad Moretz, who’s been studying the Ski Lodge files, says, “The minutes of those meetings tell a fascinating story.”

The season started, but on February 1, 1966, Thalheimer resigned. Brad Moretz says, “The written record doesn’t explain why that happened.” Thalheimer satisfied his debt to the bank, but the ski area still owed him money. Speculation suggests that Thalheimer perhaps couldn’t go on not being paid. Mark Thalheimer says, “My dad used to joke that he had the most expensive wallpaper in America with that stock.” Thalheimer was the largest stockholder—with $35,000.

Management was turned over to Jack Seibert during the rest of winter 196566. The slope lost more money, Grady Moretz said, and the following year, Fred Allen became manager. The year after that, 1967-68, the slope was leased to International Speedway for $15,000— the amount owed on the note. There still wasn’t enough money to pay the loans, so the bank again called the note. Moretz, Reynolds and Earl B. Searcy, all original directors, brought in Lloyd C. Caudle

“I was just used to Sun Valley, Colorado, and the Alps. NC was just on the border of winter for me.”

Toni Krasovic, Austrian ski racer and Blowing Rock Ski Lodge’s first ski instructor and W. Harold Mitchell and bought the Blowing Rock Ski Lodge in foreclosure on the courthouse steps in Boone.

Grady’s Time of Trouble

It could have all gone down the tube, even after all that. After the sale, says Reba Moretz, “Grady had a great group involved, but they were from down the mountain. After the sale they asked Grady, ‘Would you just look after it for us?!’

That was the terminology.”

“The way I looked at it,” Grady says, “if my money’s going to be involved, maybe it’d be good if I did look after it.”

“Bad debt, bad reputation, bad behavior, equipment in bad condition,”

that’s what Grady inherited, says Reba.

“It was daunting. He had to cope with just about every problem you can imagine in a business.

“Finally on December 5, everything was settled,” Reba says. “It was like the world had caved in on us. The grass had been mowed—and that was it. Grady hadn’t known whether he’d be outbid, so he had to hire every employee in a business he knew little or nothing about. He got the area open on December 17th.”

Thalheimer had moved on.

“My father was a very private person, but I know he was heartbroken,” Nachman says. “He just loved the ski business.

Being a person who believed in people,

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he just felt like they let him down. He couldn’t get over that. I am very proud of what he was able to do.”

Back in the day, ski garb wasn’t exactly

The Take on Thalheimer

(left and right, above). Below, the duo flanked

Looking back on Bill Thalheimer’s time at Blowing Rock Ski Lodge, it’s apparent most people liked him, especially those working with and for him. “Everyone was equal,” says Mark Thalheimer.

“If you were working with him, he didn’t hold people up or down.” Richard Gragg, former golf pro at the Blowing Rock Country Club, tells the tale of when he and Butch Triplett took a ladder up the T-bar and slid down the slope on it. They hit the lodge so hard with the ends of the ladder that it pierced the wall. Thalheimer came out and said, “Well, it looks like you boys will be working to pay off a ladder today.” Gragg remembers, “He never charged us...he was the nicest man I ever worked for.”

It’s also apparent that despite the stockholder rebellions of the time, Thalheimer was a prudent businessman who put the ski area first and actually made money. But ultimately, Thalheimer was in it for more than money. “It wasn’t just the financial reward,” says Nachman. “He loved to make the snow. My husband remembers him coming in and saying, ‘Oh boy, tonight we made snow.’”

Though it didn’t last, Thalheimer could take singular satisfaction in being a successful pioneer.

Grady Takes Over

Under the revised ownership, the resort reopened in the winter of 1968-69 with “old wooden skis,” a rope tow, and a new name—Appalachian Ski Mtn. Grady says, “Secretary of State Thad Eure said that due to foreclosure, we’d need to change the name.” The local name for the area was just “Ski Mountain,” so a Moretz neighbor, the new director of skiing and former ski patroller, Eric DeGroat, suggested, add “Appalachian” to it. “That was original thinking,” says Brad Moretz. “Virtually all other ski areas are named after their mountain or a rock formation.”

conservative at the French-Swiss Ski College.

The flamboyant Jack Lester and Jim Cottrell

by their instructors.

charismatic and driven personality; a flair for the dramatic. He claimed an amazing background. Articles a few years later would say that the Atlanta native was the first American to graduate from Australia’s West Point and a former manager for Marilyn Monroe.

Lester had met Clif Taylor, originator of the Graduated Length Method (GLM) of ski instruction. He was teaching former North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford at Beech Mountain using the short skis when the Austrian ski school director ordered him off the slopes over the public address system.

A New Era in Ski Instruction

Cottrell met up with Grady Moretz. Cottrell, a Charlotte college instructor, was organizing a physical education course in downhill skiing. He aimed to bring students up to Appalachian to learn to ski over five weekends for college credit.

Moretz agreed, and that winter Jim Cottrell, his brother Jones, and a few other novice ski instructors initiated an independent ski school at Appalachian. In all, 114 students answered the call.

The following summer, Cottrell was living in Charlotte next door to a man named Jack Lester. The aging Lester sported a shaved head; an intense,

French-Swiss Attracts Attention

A significant event in the history of Southern skiing occurred in 1968, when Boone native and former ski patrol director at Blowing Rock Ski Lodge Jim 28

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December 2011

Lester was mortified. When he met Jim Cottrell, the French-Swiss Ski College was born. Appalachian Ski Mountain was where Lester would show the arrogant Austrians that Americans would have American ski instructors. No one imagined how successful he would be.

The next winter, 1969-70, Lester and Cottrell launched their business from a card table in the Appalachian Lodge with Cottrell’s group booking concept.

Outlandish success followed. The fledgling ski instructors taught thousands of military personnel from the U.S. Army Special Forces, Navy Seals and more. In 1974, French-Swiss affiliated with the

Photo by Todd Bush

Photo by Ken Ketchie

Fifty years on, Appalachian Ski Mtn. boasts an astounding per-acre snowmaking capacity. Even extremely late in the season, a ladder can be required to accurately measure the snowpack.

new Sports Award Program of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The school awarded more of the patches for alpine skiing than any resort in the country.

Meanwhile, Lester was doing the

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Lester’s eventual goal was to franchise

promoting. While some newspaper articles called him a huckster, others claimed he was a promotional genius. To prove that, Lester brought Jean Claude Killy to Boone in 1972. Unbelievably, Killy’s first feature film, Snow Job, premiered in

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the French-Swiss ski school, but he never realized his plan. The following summer he underwent open-heart surgery, and less than a year later, a massive heart attack killed him.

After Lester

Cottrell carried on. In 1976, Cottrell hosted the first North Carolina Winter Special Olympics.

Every year since, Appalachian has hosted the Southeastern Winter Special Olympics. In 1982, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver attended the Southeastern games.

When Jack Lester died, his style of promotion ceased at FrenchSwiss. The focus shifted away from major media events. Lester’s promotions and Cottrell’s methods helped turn Appalachian Ski Mtn. and French-Swiss into one of the major creators of the Southern ski market.

The Second 25 Years

“At the end of winter 1968-69,” Grady Moretz says, “I got $5,000 for running the ski area. I put it in the pot for the next season, and some of the partners matched it.”

The partnership continued on good terms for years. “We finally had a really super year,” Moretz says. Boone’s snowy weather had helped start the ski scene—first with the 1960 snows, then again from 1976-‘77 through the early 1980s, when great snow solidified the industry. The resort had been expanding. Appalachian got its first double chairlift in 1969 and its second, along with a lodge expansion, in 1972. Sadly for all local slopes, three of the top 10 warmest winters occurred between 1968 and 1974.

Unlike other High Country slopes, Appalachian relied on skiing rather than real estate and so was able to avoid financial problems during the early-‘70s surge of resort bankruptcies. Moretz became sole owner in 1986.

Photo by James Fay

Along the way, Moretz had discovered how important the ski shop could be and asked his wife Reba to run it. Daughter Brenda spent her post-college years in Copper Mountain, Colorado, working in ski shop retail sales and today heads the retail side of the resort.

In 1982, Orchard Run was opened. North Carolina’s first quad chairlift was installed in 1984, and another lodge expansion doubled the size of the original facility at Blowing Rock Ski Lodge. In 1994, a subsequent quad and an outdoor ice arena went in.

Appalachian would say no to snowboarding until 1999—making it one of the nation’s last seven holdouts. In a landmark turnaround, Appalachian Ski Mtn. welcomed boarders with Southern ski pioneer Grady Moretz dressed up like the ultimate “rad dude” boarder—and ended up in local papers. Between 1999 and 2009, the resort evolved to a total of three terrain parks with more than 60 features and had been chosen as a Burton Learn to Ride Center and a Burton Freestyle Center.

In 2001-‘02, French-Swiss Ski College at Appalachian Ski Mtn. taught its one millionth ski lesson.

In 1997 Brad took over as general manager. In 2005, Grady was the sole North American recipient of a National Ski Areas Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

With the entire Moretz family involved and Appalachian Ski Mtn. known as one of the region’s most successful, stable, and appealing ski sites, it’s hard to resist reflecting on the significance of Appalachian and Southern skiing itself.

In a recent conversation with Brad Moretz. Bill Thalheimer’s daughter Lynne said, “My dad felt that there was something important there at the Blowing Rock Ski Lodge and it was eventually gonna be a good thing. It worked, didn’t it, Brad? You’re doing what he

(Top Photo) Snowboarding has taken off after Appalachian ended its boarding ban in 1999. (Bottom Photo) Grady Moretz “ate crow,” so to speak, and dressed up like a “rad dude” when he welcomed snowboarding. The sport has “grown up,” 30

High Country Magazine

December 2011

he said.

Above, the welcome sign is out. Left to right, Grady Moretz, wife Reba, daughter Brenda, and son Brad, now general manager of Appalachian Ski Mtn., look forward to a half-century of skiing at a landmark Southern slope.

(Right Photo) Snowboarder take in some App Terrain Park action.

envisioned, aren’t you?”

“Yes we are,” Moretz responded.

“My family’s put a lifetime into it. It’s a passion.” Nachman replied, “I guess the people who originally backed the idea didn’t have that passion.”

Astounding Impact

How times have changed. Despite the 1960 snows, skiing was an enigma in the early ‘60s. “I didn’t know of anyone who knew how to ski or had ever skied,” says Jones. That soon changed, in part because of skiing’s impact on the economy.

“Skiing was the first business to really employ people in the winter other than a few small businesses in Blowing Rock and Appalachian State,” Jones says.

Spencer Robbins remembers those days. “It was tough. In Blowing Rock, you got up in the morning, got your mail, went to the drug store to play a hand of gin rummy or stop at Sonny’s Grill to

find out the local news. That’s about it.

That’s why I spent winters in Southern Pines—there was nothing to do.”

Jones immediately applied for a job when the slope opened. “It was wonderful. It brought economic activity to Blowing Rock in the wintertime when there was none. Jobs were scarce,” Jones says. “Everyone felt very fortunate to have work and be a part of the beginning

of skiing.”

Believe it or not, there was reticence from local businesses. “Blowing Rock rolled up the streets in winter,” Jones says. “It was really upsetting to Mr. Thalheimer that some owners almost refused to open up motels for skiers. Boone was far more interested.”

The local lifestyle has changed, too.

Early on, “I don’t remember my

December 2011

High Country Magazine

31

Photo by Todd Bush 1960s “powdermaker” compared to a 21st century corduroy maker.

Grooming is a key development that has helped perfect local skiing.

50 Years of Skiing— By the Numbers 11,520 46,573

Base Lodge Square Footage in 1962 Base Lodge Square Footage in 2011

50 Ski Area Staff in 1962 425 Ski Area Staff in 2011 19 Houses on Ski Mountain in 1960 412 Houses on Ski Mountain in 2011 1

Business Selling lodging in Blowing Rock Area in 1962 35 Businesses currently selling lodging in Blowing Rock Area

$6,518 spent on electricity for the 1962-’63 year $255,481 spent on electricity for the 2010-’11 year 205 of 225 pairs of Head Rental Skis longer than 6 ft. in 1962 0 of 2,204 pairs of Rental Skis longer than 6 ft. in 2011 During the six years that the ski area operated as Blowing Rock Ski Lodge there were 5 Ski area managers. During the 44 years since that time there have been two – Grady Moretz and his son Brad.

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67 42

terrain park features SMI fan guns line the slopes at Appalachian Ski Mtn.

$3,734

spent on Advertising for the 1962-’63 year

5,760,000

gallons (of water) per day that can be pumped up the hill & converted to snow under ideal conditions

classmates even coming out to ski,” says Mark Thalheimer. “It wasn’t marketed locally. Now there’s a local ski culture—a local tradition—first it was winter jobs; now it’s a passion for the sport.”

Longtime local business figure Wade Wilmoth experienced that change. “My children came to ski at Appalachian often, especially on snow days. A lot of people would drop their kids off and come back later. I remember one day my daughter called me at Boone Drug where I was having coffee and she wanted me to pick up so and so and her and take them skiing. I said, ‘April, you’ve been three days this week. I’m not going to take you.’ I couldn’t think of anything else to say, so I said, ‘I can’t afford for you to go skiing today.’ She politely said, ‘If you didn’t spend so much time at Boone Drug you could.’ Needless to say, she did not go skiing that day. Now my children’s children ski.”

More evidence? “Some of the local boarders at App are ready for the next season the day the old one ends,” says Drew Stanley, Appalachian Ski Mtn.’s terrain park manager.

Back in Ski Lodge days, “Just the experience of watching people learn to ski was exciting,” Jones says. “Imagine, my husband Bob and I have gone out West to ski most every year for the last 35 years— and he skis free now—he’s going to be 80. We never would have had that opportunity.”

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High-tech: State-of-the-art snowmaking and grooming are hallmarks of skiing at Appalachian Ski Mtn. (Bottom Photo) Siblings in Synch: Brenda Moretz Speckmann and Brad Moretz have their eyes on the next generation of skiing in the South. Photos by Todd Bush

Time Passing

A story like the saga of Blowing Rock Ski Lodge resonates with the passing of time, people—and trees. Once bald knobs near the slopes are now tree-covered.

Delve into how a High Country parcel of land becomes a ski area, and the tale quickly devolves backward, through the coming of the earliest roads, to the paths before them.

It’s amazing how fast “Ski Mountain” came from a lone cabin in the ‘30s to nineteen homes in 1961—to four hundred homes today. From those hundreds of

modern families, the story quickly recedes to a handful of early residents scattered through sparsely settled hollows. To this day, the descendants of some of those earliest families work at Appalachian Ski Mtn. Half a century after starting Blowing Rock Ski Lodge, Bill Thalheimer’s final resting place in a Blowing Rock cemetery is so close to the ski area he started, you could hear the whine of snowguns— or a yodel—while you read his epitaph: “Dreams and Foresight became Reality through Toil.”

w

Randy Johnson’s first book signing took place at Appalachian Ski Mtn. for his first book, Southern Snow: The Winter Guide to Dixie. That was in 1987, the start of Appalachian Ski Mtn.’s second 25 years. A new version of Southern Snow is due out in the next few years from University of NC Press.

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December 2011

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nity

To t he

mu

Co m

C

om

m

y, From t t i he un

Gifts Large and Small Build New Centers for People, Arts and Animals 36

High Country Magazine

December 2011

Story by Anna Oakes

T

he past three years have been worrisome for those in the nonprofit community. When the stock market took a nosedive in fall 2008, those who are most able to give—the wealthy, as well as private foundations—pulled back on their charitable contributions as their portfolios were hit hard.

The economic downturn came at a time when many organizations in the High Country were in the midst of fundraising campaigns for new facilities—a much-needed homeless shelter; an attractive, destination art museum; safe and spacious animal shelters; and a long-awaited place of worship. But in spite of difficult economic times, the people of the High Country have reached deep down into their pockets to make each of these dreams a reality.

We take a look at each of these projects—three that have been completed, one that is more than halfway complete and another that has just begun construction.

Consider them brick-and-mortar examples of a caring, generous community.

Avery County Adoption and Humane Education Center

Blowing Rock Art & History Museum

Temple of the High Country

Hospitality House

Irma Baker Lyons Adoption and Education Center December 2011

High Country Magazine

37

Hospitality House

“Anybody who saw our old facility saw how desperately we needed [a new shelter].”

Photos by Hannah Townsend

T

hat’s Lynne Mason, executive director of Hospitality House of Boone, the only homeless shelter in seven northwestern North Carolina counties. Until March of this year, the shelter was based out of a 94-year-old home on King Street, along with two other aging buildings. The buildings were not only dilapidated but also cramped, meaning residents were afforded little privacy and the Hospitality House sometimes had to turn people away.

So in 2008, the Giving Hope a Hand Combined Campaign was launched— “combined” because of its goal to build a new 18,500-square-foot shelter and fund the organization’s operating needs for three years.

The biggest piece of the goal was $3 million in private donations; another $2.1 million came from grants and zero-interest loans.

“The campaign went as predicted, and we met our goal,” said Lynne. “What’s been Above right: The Hospitality House finally has a spacious dining area and commercial kitchen from which to serve meals. Right: The shelter now features twin beds instead of cramped bunk beds.

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December 2011

truly amazing is we’ve had very few pledges that have not been fulfilled.”

The organization moved to the new shelter, a one-story building located off of Bamboo Road in Boone, in March this year, a little more than a year later than it had originally planned. And though it’s certainly a facility of which to be proud, Lynne emphasizes, pointing to the cinder block walls in her office, that the new shelter is designed to be safe and lowmaintenance, not luxurious or extravagant. “It’s providing for basic needs,” she said. “Everybody deserves safe and decent housing.”

Now, the new shelter allows Hospitality House to provide services in facilities it hasn’t ever had in its 26-year history: private suites for families; an industrial kitchen and spacious dining room; separate areas for men and women as well as emergency, transitional and permanent housing; and small-but-adequate office spaces. And a new computer lab and health treatment room will allow the organization to expand its programs.

But with continued hard times, more people than ever need Hospitality House’s services, including shelter, food and assistance with rent, utilities

and heating bills. Already, the shelter is accommodating twice the number of families it had anticipated. WeCAN (Watauga Crisis Assistance Network), the program that provides rent, utility, heating and medication assistance has seen its needs grow from $50,000 two years ago to $100,000 this year. “The need has already outgrown where we’re at,” said Todd Carter, Hospitality House director of development. The Combined Campaign funding for operating expenses has already been exhausted, and the organization relies on annual fundraising efforts to sustain operations. In November, Carter helped organize the first Turkey Trot, a 5K fundraiser on Thanksgiving morning that will replace the organization’s annual Hearts of Hospitality Ball. And for the third year, Hospitality House is participating in the Honor Card program. Each year, North Carolina’s Artist William Mangum creates a painting to be featured on a holiday card, and all sales of the cards go to homeless agencies.

“It’s really important that the community support its local nonprofits,” urged Lynne. “We’re all seeing less than we used to.

GIVE to the Hospitality House • Purchase Honor Cards: Available at local businesses and churches, at the Hospitality House or through its website through December 15.

• Warm Hearts Warm Homes: Contribute to this fundraising initiative that supports WeCAN, Hospitality House’s crisis assistance program seeing record numbers of requests. Look for the little green houses displayed at area businesses or donate directly online at www. hospitalityhouseofboone.org/campaign. php?id=6.

• Donate: Contribute by cash, check or credit card; donate stock; or donate items from the Hospitality House’s needs list.

Call 828-262-3461 or click to www.hospitalityhouseofboone.org or mail checks to PO Box 309, Boone, NC 28607.

Left: Children staying at the Hospitality Housed play on the shelter’s playground during the provided after-school care hours. Right: The Hospitality House serves breakfast, lunch and dinner for both residents of the shelter and members of the surrounding community. Photos by Hannah Townsend

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Irma Baker Lyons Adoption and Education Center Photos by Karen Lehmann

A

Watauga Humane Society volunteers helped transport dogs and cats to the new shelter in late September.

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new animal shelter has been a long time coming for the Watauga Humane Society.

The old Watauga Humane Society animal shelter on Casey Lane in Boone was built in 1969 and no longer met state regulations for animal shelters.

And when heavy rains fell, the river nearby would rise above the bridge leading to the shelter, forcing it to close. On some occasions, the shelter and its animals had to evacuate because of flooding.

In the early ‘90s, Bob and Lillian Turchin challenged the Humane Society to raise at least $60,000 for a new shelter, and if so, the Turchins would match that amount. The society raised $90,000 and secured the matching funds, and some land across the street from the old shelter was donated, said Jan Watson, chair of the Watauga Humane Society Board of Directors.

“We started working on that piece of land and found that it was just too rocky, it would cost a fortune to build there, and it not big enough,” said Jan. The plans fell through. But by 2003, the organization knew it had to do something, and a capital campaign began that year. But it’s not been an easy time for fundraising, especially in the past few years.

“We’ve been worried the whole time. At the time we launched our capital campaign, there were four other ones in the county at the same time,” Jan pointed out, a fact to which this article attests. “It’s not because people don’t want to [donate]; it’s because there are so

GIVE to the Watauga Humane Society • Capital Campaign: The capital campaign for the new animal shelter isn’t over, as the Watauga Humane Society is still working to retire the debt from the loan for construction.

• Become a Member: An individual membership costs $35 per year (student rate $10 per year, child membership $1). A family membership (two adults plus minor children) is available for $60 per year, and a tax-deductible business membership costs $100 annually. A lifetime membership, known as Golden Paws, is available for a one-time membership fee of $1,000.

• How: Call 828-264-7865, click to www.wataugahumanesociety.org/41-give-financially or mail checks to P.O. Box 1002, Boone, NC 28607. Also, consider donating needed supplies to the animal shelter.

many other needs as well.”

The Humane Society finally located a perfect location for a new shelter in 2003, and the society purchased about 14 acres off of Don Hayes Road east of Boone for $370,000.

After some funds were raised, the organization received a $1.3 million loan from High Country Bank to pay for remaining construction costs. All told, the project, including the land, cost about $2.4 million, Jan said.

“Now, everything we get in the capital campaign goes toward paying off that loan,” she added.

Lynn Northup, shelter manager, estimated the new shelter can hold 80 dogs and 100 cats.

The new 17,000-square-foot Irma Baker Lyons Adoption and Education Center opened on September 30 this year. The new facility features state-of-the-art kennels; outside areas for play and behavioral training; a community room that can be used for rentals, behavioral training, children’s programs, meetings and conferences; a gift shop; a medical and surgical unit; quarantine areas; and

administration office space and storage. The shelter is adjacent to the Humane Society’s three-acre dog park, which opened in 2006, and there are spaces for memorial gardens, a picnic area and walking trails that could possibly connect with the Mountains to Sea Trail in the future.

December 2011

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Blowing Rock Art & History Museum

M

ore than 10 years ago, the village of Blowing Rock received an extraordinary gift—67 works by the late renowned artist Elliott Daingerfield. The turn-of-the-century American painter, whose paintings hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery and other fine museums, spent 46 summers in Blowing Rock, and his sanctuaries included the quaint Edgewood Cottage and the impressive Westglow mansion.

In response, the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM) formed as a nonprofit organization in 1999, and the group began to make plans for a new museum facility. The Town of Blowing Rock acquired the site of the museum, across from Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church in 2001, and in August 2003, BRAHM received a lease on the property.

In addition, the town agreed to construct a two-level parking deck adjacent to the museum.

“We couldn’t have done this project without the public support—without the Town of Blowing Rock,” remarked Joann Mitchell, executive director of BRAHM. BRAHM organization hired an architect with museum experience to design the facility, which Joann noted is more complex than a gallery—painstaking attention to such details as heating and cooling,

“We couldn’t have done this project without the public support—without the Town of Blowing Rock.”

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The grand opening for the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum took place on October 1 this year. Opposite page: The opening exhibitions feature artist Elliott Daingerfield, historic hotels and The Blowing Rock. Photos by Ken Ketchie

lighting and storage were required. The process was eye-opening.

“When we realized what we wanted and what we could afford, the two were not the same,” Joann remembered. After nailing down some hard numbers with Boone Construction Company, a $6.5 million capital campaign began. Joann came to the area from Houston, where she led fundraising efforts for large hospitals. “In a city like Houston there’s lots of corporate money,” she noted. It’s different here. “It became apparent pretty quickly that we were going to have to depend on individuals to pull the wagon,” she acknowledged. And many of those individuals—many were retirees—suffered

December 2011

hard hits when the 2008 stock market crash took its toll on investments.

“We certainly felt the effect of that.

We were very worried,” Joann recalled.

“As a matter of fact, we did suspend fundraising for a brief period of time.” Fundraising resumed in late spring 2009, when the economic outlook appeared a bit improved.

All in all, Joann estimated that 75 percent of BRAHM’s funding came from individuals, 15 percent came from foundations and 10 percent came from public source.

And the campaign that initially was projected to last 24 to 30 months ended up reaching its goal in three and a half years, while construction took a little more than

two years, from 2009 to 2011. “We were vigilant about watching our costs. As we went along and we realized that we were going to have to spend money on some things we hadn’t anticipated, we had to make cuts,” Joann explained. “We had a very firm commitment to a fixed price.”

On October 1, 2011, the three-story, 21,000-square-foot BRAHM opened its doors to the public on time, and already the museum is busy with taiji and “Cork & Canvas” classes, community meetings, book signings and arts mini-camps for kids. And it’s also the new home of the Blowing Rock Visitor Center. Joann said the museum—Blowing Rock’s newest draw—has been built to last.

“It’s a 100-year building,” she said.

“Literally, we’d like for it to be here— certainly as an institution—well into the next century.”

GIVE to BRAHM • Endow: “We would love to have a minimum of $2 million endowment to support our operating expenses,” Joann said. Currently the endowment is around $250,000.

• Operating Reserve: BRAHM feels grateful to have raised $6.5 million for the capital campaign but would also liked to have raised a reserve to cover a year or two of expenses.

• Acquisitions & Startup: BRAHM will need additional support to add to its permanent collection and the museum’s facilities.

• How: All gifts are fully tax-deductible. Checks, cash and stocks are accepted. Or, become a member. Call 828-295-9099 or click to www.blowingrockmuseum.org.

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Avery County Adoption and Humane Education Center

The construction of the Avery County Adoption and Humane Education Center in Newland is just over halfway complete. Photo by Catherine Morton

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achel Deal, also known as “Ms. Avery County,” turned 82 on November 28. She volunteers on some 14 committees, and one of the causes of her life—since the 1970s—has been the welfare of animals. A current board member of the Avery County Humane Society, Rachel was instrumental in raising money—through bake sales, grants and matching funds—to build the first Avery County animal shelter, which currently operates on Stamey Branch Road in Altamont. Decades later, the Humane Society has outgrown the original facility, and the octogenarian is once again at the forefront of efforts to house dogs, cats, puppies and kittens in need of a home.

“One thing I wanted done before I ever left this world was to have a new shelter, and we’re about to,” Rachel said with pride.

The new Avery County Adoption and Humane Education Center is being constructed on New Vale Road, on county-owned property behind Ingles in Newland.

Almost half of the 21,128-square-foot facility will be

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dedicated to animal care. The building will feature play areas for animals, adoption rooms for families to meet and get to know a pet, a clinic for reduced veterinary care and future low-cost spay and neuter surgeries and a multipurpose room for humane education programs, community meetings, birthday parties and other gatherings.

Fundraising for the new shelter began around 2008, led in large part by the Friends of the Shelter.

“We’ve been fundraising ever since then,” Rachel said. And as with many others in the nonprofit and fundraising sectors, the economic downturn hasn’t made it easy. “We did lose some of the people who were going to give us a good deal of money. We had to really look back and see how we could fundraise even better,” explained Rachel. “It takes a team. We’ve all stayed and fundraised together.” Already, nearly $2 million has went into the new shelter, which is more than halfway complete, while another $1.1 million has been donated or pledged, confirmed Laurie Vierheller,

“It takes a team.

We’ve all stayed and fundraised together.” executive director of the Avery County Humane Society. Laurie said the organization hopes to open the new shelter at the end of January 2012, but that all depends on construction. And there’s still work to be done on the fundraising side, as another $1 million is needed to finish the project.

Originally, the society planned to lease the land for the new shelter from Avery County for a nominal annual fee. As of late November, however, the society was negotiating to possibly purchase the land from the county—doing so would provide collateral so the society could secure a loan to complete the shelter.

“This animal shelter is for our community, and we need the help of everyone in the community to make it happen,” emphasized Laurie.

GIVE to the Avery County Humane Society • Purchase a Paver, Build a Home: Buy an engraved brick in honor of a pet, friend or relative, which will pave the path leading to the new shelter. 6-by-6-inch pavers are $50; 9-by-6-inch pavers are $100.

• Name It: Naming opportunities for the Adoption and Humane Education Center still remain. You can name anything from a cat condo or dog run to the entire complex.

• How: Call 828-733-9265 or click to www.averyhumane.org/ catalog/Donate-c-1.php.

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Temple of the High Country

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onstruction has begun off of Rivers Street and the Poplar Grove Connector in Boone for the Temple of the High Country, a 4,000-square-foot building where the Boone Jewish Community will finally have a permanent place to worship.

Kicked off by a $1 million donation by Bonnie and Jamie Schaefer to purchase land, a fundraising campaign of about two years went “very, very well,” Ruth Etkin, planning committee chair, told High Country Press. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Temple of the High Country took place on August 28 this year.

Etkin said the building should receive its certificate of occupancy by late September 2012. The Temple of the High Country will be used for services and Hebrew School and will include a library, a room for ASU’s Hillel organization and a room for the sisterhood. The building will also house the Schaefer Jewish Community Center, a site for film festivals, speakers and use by community groups, she said.

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Appalachian Roots

Bill Harmon and the Chestnut Tree

Story by Jesse Wood Photography by James Fay

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Harmon stands in front of his assortment of lumber. Inside his two barns—one of which is two stories—35,000 square feet of lumber dwell, the majority of which is the highly sought wormy chestnut. In its heyday, before the blight, the chestnut was popular amongst moonshiners for its smokeless flame, amongst builders for being light and rot-resistant and amongst empty stomachs for the plentiful and nutritious chestnut.

According to old timers, one mature tree would drop 50 bushels of chestnuts.

N

ear the banks of the Watauga River in Sugar Grove, Bill Harmon has a portable sawmill and two barns brimming with wormy chestnut lumber. At 77 years old, he operates his sawmill for fewer than three hours a day— if business is good. These days, though, with winter brewing and the Great Recession looming, business has damn near frozen. “It’s about a sixth of what it was four, five year ago when the building shut down,” Harmon said. He operates an electric, fully hydraulic Wood-Mizer that can slice logs into eighth-inch slivers. “One man can run them; two is better,” Harmon noted, adding that the 24-horsepower machine was top of the line in 1991.

Harmon’s been around sawmills all of his life. When he was a young boy, a water wheel pulled the neighbor’s gristand sawmill, and his dad powered a mill with steam. Back then, lumberjacks fell the trees with a crosscut saw, transported the logs by horse to the mill and washed the grit off the logs so it didn’t ruin the saw blade. “Nothing push button. Everything was muscle,” Harmon recalled, adding with melancholy: “But it was a process of time.”

See, when Harmon reminisces, he thinks of a time that once was—that will

never be again. Born in 1935 off of the backside of Beech Mountain in a community called Beech Creek, Harmon came into this world at a place and time when the local midwife bartered for a $5, a pig or anything with value. “When I came up, we didn’t have electricity—no phone, no running water, had to heat with wood,” Harmon said. “Might get up in the morning with snow on your cover.” Near Beech Creek, which is about six miles from Sugar Grove, was Kellersville, a village that Harmon said was a very important place in the 1940s. That village had a general store, church, school, post office and a water wheel that ground corn, planed wood, cut lumber and eventually powered a generator for Daniel Presnell, owner of the grist- and sawmill and store.

Today, only the school house stands. “I often wonder if that could only be preserved today for people today to see what a beautiful place it was,” he lamented.

“But she all went down.”

In 1953, Harmon joined the exodus of Appalachian workers who sought jobs in the North on farms and in steel mills and automotive factories. At the age of 18, he worked on a farm in New York for $1 an hour and slept in his employer’s barn.

Eventually, he traveled to Cleveland and

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Bill Harmon, 77, operates his Wood-Mizer three hours a day when business is good.

The machine can slice as little as eighthinch slivers off logs. Though he bought his sawmill in the early 2000s, Harmon’s fascination for wood began years before.

As a kid, he cut teeth out of a barrel top and built his own circular saw. “That’s how bad I wanted to work with wood,” he said.

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then back to New York, where he found a job at Bethlehem Steel starting out at $1.87 an hour. “Good money,” he said.

“You couldn’t even get a job around here for 50 cents an hour.” Summing up his experiences away from home, he said he felt like a fish out of water. “Can you imagine a boy coming out of these mountains in 1953?” he asked. “Eighteen years old and I go to Buffalo, New York, to work in a steel mill with people I couldn’t even understand talking to. Only language I ever heared or knowed was this hillbilly language. You talk about being lost.”

After working up North, he spent two years stationed in Hawaii with the U.S. Army. He returned to Watauga County in 1958, married JoAnn, his current wife of 50 years, and worked, either on the farm or in construction for decades.

“Raised cattle. Don’t like fooling with cattle. Quit. Tobacco went [you know] how, and I went with it,” he said. After

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“An industrious squirrel in 1900 could have traveled from Maine to Georgia rarely leaving the branches of chestnut trees.�

National Geographic, referring to the density of chestnut trees in Appalachia

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Once on the Brink…Is the Chestnut Making a Comeback?

By the 1950s, the blight, an Asian fungus known scientifically as Cryphonectria parasitica, had ravaged the East Coast, destroying an estimated 4 billion American chestnut trees.

Today, several mature trees remain in a handful of states in the Appalachian Mountains. Years ago, (right) the forest was full of mature trees that stood 100 feet tall and six feet thick. As the

S

ince the early 1900s, the American chestnut, Castanea dentate, has been on the brink of extinction. In 1904, the Bronx Zoo’s forester detected an orange-colored fungus killing chestnut trees in New York. By the 1920s and ‘30s, the blight had arrived and was rampant in Western North Carolina, and by the ‘50s, the blight spread like wildfire down the East Coast, toppling nearly 4 billion chestnut trees. “In some places in this area, whole mountain sides were virtually pure chestnut, and the blight moved like a rocket,” said Paul Franklin, director of communications for The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF). Every fourth tree in Appalachia was a chestnut, and National Geographic wrote in 1990 that “an industrious squirrel in 1900 could have traveled from Maine to Georgia rarely leaving the branches of chestnut trees.”

Contrary to popular belief, the chestnut tree is not extinct. Pockets of mature American chestnuts exist in Washington and Oregon and were planted by settlers in the late 1800s. The blight hasn’t reached the West Coast because the path of trees is not available for the blight to follow. “It would have to cross the Plains, the desert and then the mountains. Not enough trees to support it,” Franklin said. TACF website reads that it is “effectively extinct” because so few trees are producing nuts, and so few nuts are germinating. “The chestnut [was] never entirely vanquished,” Franklin noted.

“Imagine the world population shrinking

own to the population of Boone. That is about what happened.” Because the blight doesn’t attack the roots of the tree, chestnut trees still sprout in hopes of bucking the trend and withstanding the blight. “The roots live on for a very long time, [and] they will keep sending up these root saplings…for up to 100 years,” Franklin added. He estimated that most saplings die after they grow 12 feet tall and two inches across; thousands of trees four to five inches wide live from Georgia to Maine; a handful of 12- to 14-inch trees remain in each state; and some trees that are two to three feet across have survived because either the blight hadn’t found them or the blight didn’t kill them.

These large trees surviving the blight are what TACF use to study and pollinate trees on its main farm in Meadowview, Va., near the Tennessee-Virginia border. According to the TACF website, the Meadowview Research Farms have 34,000 planted trees on more than 150 acres. “What we are trying to do at [TACF]…is give the chestnut a leg up on nature,” Franklin expressed. “Nature has slated it for extinction. We are trying to reverse that process.”

The chestnut has been on the verge of a slow comeback since 1983, when a group of scientists founded The American Chestnut Foundation to create a blight-resistant American chestnut. The scientists realized that backcross breeding had been successful with other crops and thought it might work with the

blight spread like wildfire through Appalachia, lumberjacks cut down many a tree. Even those that the blight hadn’t yet infected were cut to avoid wasting the lumber. The blight doesn’t attack the roots of the tree, so trees never stopped sprouting; they just stopped growing to maturity.

American chestnut. The breeding program took Chinese chestnut trees, which are naturally resistant to the blight, and crossed them with American chestnut trees repeatedly until the American chestnut retained only the blight-resistant characteristic of the Chinese tree.

Franklin said the scientists envisioned the backcross breeding program to take 30 years for a blight resistant and pure American chestnut to seed. “We are basically there,” Franklin said, adding that TACF is now harvesting the 1.0 restoration chestnut, what the organization calls the modified version. He said the organization doesn’t know how blight resistant the restored species will be, but he added that TACF is confident enough to have begun experimental and test planting of the restored chestnut seed into the wild nearly two years ago. “We are on the very exciting cusp of reintroducing a potentially blight resistant seed into the woods,” Franklin said. “Now the question becomes: How do you put 4 billion trees back in the ground? The answer is very carefully.”

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“I can’t tell you what the future holds for them.

They should already be dead. For some reason that nobody knows, these are hanging on.”

Bill Harmon 58

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The white house and a school house (not pictured) are the remnants of the 1940s village of Kellersville that Bill Harmon remembers as a kid. The post office, general store and sawmill powered by a waterwheel are gone. So, too, is the two-log bridge that was built over Beech Creek.

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ago when, he said, the “building startThe Strength Behind

retiring from farm and carpentry work, Harmon decided to buy the gas-powered Wood-Mizer seven years ago when the wormy chestnut “business got better.” Before the recession, Harmon sold wormy chestnut lumber for more than $13 per square foot. Today, it sells for much less, and he remembers when the lumber sold

Your Securit

for $1 per square foot. That was 40 years ed” in the High Country near Grandfather Golf and Country Club and Hound Ears Club. “They started taking a liking to it,” he recalled. “As time went on the [price] got higher and [wood] got scarcer.” At one time, Harmon paid a skilled

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Behind Bill Harmon flows Beech Creek, which had a waterwheel that powered the town’s saw- and gristmill and that passed through Kellersville, an old village in western Watauga in the ‘40s. Harmon has romantic memories of that particular place in time. Reminiscing today, the town’s general store and two-log bridge seemed bigger than Wal-Mart and the Golden Gate Bridge to a young Harmon—“Oh, how I wish I could go back.”

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laborer $25 an hour to painstakingly tear down old chestnut barns without ruining the highly-sought wood. “Every building took down was one not going to be put back up,” Harmon said.

By the time Harmon was born, the blight, an Asian fungus known as Cryphonectria parasitica, had ravaged the Appalachian forests of billions of American chestnut trees, but Harmon remembers hunting for the nutritious chestnut with his family and seeing 100-foot-tall trees around his stomping grounds. “I remember many of them things five foot through standing bare, and it wouldn’t be long before they hit the ground,” Harmon mentioned. “That’s when people went in and starting milling so much of it.”

Even before the bourgeois took a liking to the nearly extinct species, the fast-growing American chestnut was extremely popular among the backwoods and rural people of Appalachia as building material because of its straight grain, light weight and rot-resistant nature, and its bountiful harvest of chestnuts fed people, livestock and wild animals. Harmon said whole houses, including fence posts, were built using only chestnut trees and

that old timers told of the “giant” chestnuts producing 50 bushels of chestnuts in one October harvest. As for the popular worm holes, they were indirectly caused by the blight. “Everything that gets weak and is dying, something will come in and take over,” he said.

On Harmon’s property, which borders the river and U.S. 321, are two barns— one that is two stories—that house more than 35,000 square feet of lumber. In those barns and on his property, Harmon has a little bit of everything—including logs, slabs, barnwood, stumps and 150-year-old barns (with no nail holes) that were disassembled and labeled by its handmade dovetail joints. “It’s an unusual warehouse,” he chuckled, that features, among other woods, cherry, flamed maple, black walnut, poplar, hickory, white oak, pine varieties and, of course, chestnut—an unbelievable amount of chestnut that accounts for 90 percent of his total lumber. “I can’t tell you how many a thousand feet of that stuff I’ve handled in my lifetime,” he wondered. “I am sure I am safe in saying this; if 500 years go by, you will never see any more lumber like I’ve got in these old barns.”

About nine years ago, Harmon planted two American chestnuts in between those two barns, and he hopes they outlive him.

Both trees are about 25 feet tall. The base of the bigger tree is the size of a basketball. In October, the plants dropped two dozen burs full of chestnuts.

“I can’t tell you what the future holds for them. They should already be dead,” Harmon said. “For some reason that nobody knows, these are hanging on.”

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The American Chestnut Foundation The mission of Asheville-based TACF is to restore the American chestnut across its 18-state historical range in Appalachia—from Maine to Georgia. Currently, all those states have their own chapter or co-chapter with another state. For information about the Carolinas Chapter, click to www.carolinas-tacf.org.

To learn more about the American chestnut, call 828-281-0047 or click to www.acf.org.

December 2011

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Voices from the Past

Memories of a Banner Elk Native

Four-year-old Larry Ruppard sits on a horse in 1956 at the VonCannon Lumberyard, where his father and grandfather worked.

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In 1946, Larry’s father, Clay Ruppard, purchased this small, three-bedroom house off Highway 194 in downtown Banner Elk, where Larry and his three older sisters were raised. Aside from the addition of some red shrubs, the house and yard have changed relatively little since Larry’s mother moved out of the house in 1998.

P

ick any house, any building, or any acre of farm land near downtown Banner Elk, and more than likely, Larry Ruppard will be able to tell you who once lived in the house, who ran the shop or who farmed the land.

After all, as Larry says, he’s probably related to them.

“I told somebody once, when I married my wife Barbara in 1970, I had to drive all the way to Mt. Airy to find someone to marry us who wasn’t related to me,” Larry jokes.

Larry, born and raised in Banner Elk, is a fourth-generation descendant of the Ruppard family living in the Watauga and Avery County area. “I have 54 cousins, and I can name everyone,” Larry boasts, most of whom still reside near Banner Elk. But Larry doesn’t just know his family heritage well; he lives it.

Larry says he has a kind of photographic memory that enables him to

remember the names, dates and details of everyone who’s entered his life and even those who haven’t, including those he’s just heard stories about from older generations. “My wife said one time, maybe if I did get a gift, it’s my ability to talk to the older people,” Larry said. “They take a shine to me.” Because of this gift, Larry has managed to amass a vast knowledge of the way life used to be in Banner Elk. Yet Larry, who’s now 59 years old, admits that he’s already having trouble with his memory, and worries that one day, his sharp recollection of the good old days in Banner Elk might very well fade into history. But that’s just more incentive for Larry to keep his memory sharp. When not working as associate manager at the ABC Store in Banner Elk or caring for his grandson, fifth-grader Nathaniel Ruppard, Larry spends his free time driving around town, chatting with the old timers, trying to keep his family heritage fresh in his mind.

For better or worse, Larry admits, times are changing. But for Larry, lessons learned and memories gathered will always stay close to his heart.

School Days

Larry was born the youngest of four children born to Clay and Mildred Ruppard on June 5, 1952, in Grace Hospital in Banner Elk. Larry, his parents and his three older sisters, Brenda, Phyllis and Jane, lived in a circa-1930s, three bedroom A-frame house, which Clay purchased around 1946.

The house is still standing today behind the Banner Elk Police Department, right off N.C. 194, directly in front of Old Turnpike Road. Growing up minutes from the heart of downtown Banner Elk, Larry had the advantage of being within walking distance to many of his friends.

“What I enjoyed most was going home with other kids and they’d come to

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“People have more [today] as far as material things, but they don’t have the roots, the ritual of these mountain people.”

Larry Ruppard

In 1946, Larry’s father, Clay Ruppard, returned from his service in France during World War II to be reunited with his family. Pictured are (back row, from left) Rilla Shook Ruppard (Larry’s grandmother), Clay Ruppard, James Ruppard (Larry’s grandfather); and (front row) Agnes and Snow Ruppard (Clay’s sisters).

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LEFT: Larry has fond memories with his grandmother, Mary Jane Davis (on left), who lived at Invershiel near present day Linville Gap. When Larry was very young, Grandma Davis came to live with Larry’s family. Larry was often sent to collect birdch twigs, which Grandma Davis would use for dipping snuff. Photo taken early 1940s. ABOVE: Growing up the youngest of four, Larry often remembers being teased by his three older sisters, Jane (left), Phyllis (center) and Brenda (right). Photo taken Easter 1958, when Larry was six years old.

our house,” Larry said. “Even kids from Grandfather Home would come spend the night.” About one-third of Larry’s classmates lived at Grandfather Home, the local orphanage, which Larry thought provided excellent care. “Other than being away from their families, those kids had it better than we did because they had new clothes, and three meals a day that they didn’t have to scrounge up,” Larry recalled. “I had my mother before say, if you didn’t behave, we’re going to put you in Grandfather Home. It tickled me.” Larry fondly remembers his time spent with his friends going to the movie theatre in downtown Banner Elk, playing card games such as rook, romping through the woods and camping overnight behind Larry’s house on the weekends.

Larry was also within easy walking distance from the old Banner Elk Elementary School, which he (and his dad) attended from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Some of Larry’s favorite memories were at this school, including May Day dances and school plays. In first, second and third grade, Larry participated in the school’s talent show, singing “Tom Dooley,” an old North Carolina folk song about the 1866 murder of Laura Foster of Wilkes County.

“My sisters in the fourth grade told my mother, ‘If Larry’s singing ‘Tom Dooley,’ we’re not going to school,” Larry chuckled. “I don’t think I was very good.”

In the fifth grade, every Friday afternoon, one of his teachers, Marshall Ward, who had spent many years learning from renowned Appalachia storyteller Orville Hicks, would entertain Larry’s class with Jack Tales. One time, when Larry’s class acted out a Jack Tale, Larry played the part of Jack, and his mother made his costume from mustard plaster.

Sadly, the old school shut down in May this year, and the new Banner Elk Elementary School, which his grandson Nathaniel attends, opened up in August. But Larry realizes, from what he’s observed since his grandson’s been in school, the atmosphere just isn’t what it used to be.

For instance, Larry hates that prayer time has been taken out of public schools.

And he particularly detests the lack of respect children show for their teachers now. “[When I was growing up,] in grammar school, more than education, we got taught morals,” Larry said.

Larry never did care much for school, though.

“I would have quit school if I wanted

to, but my parents made me stay,” Larry vividly remembers. “They said I had to go to school until I was 18, but they didn’t say through what grade.” Nevertheless, Larry made it through senior year, and in 1970, Larry was a member of the second graduating class from Avery County High School, having transferred from Cranberry High School where he spent his freshman and sophomore years. One of his biggest regrets was not devoting more time to learning grammar, which he believed cost him a job as a computer programmer later in life.

Aside from this, Larry feels he has no regrets about not seeking higher education. For him, he gained his biggest life lessons in the real world, learning from family members and the older generation.

Family Values

Growing up, Larry always had a deep respect for the older generation, especially his parents and grandparents. Although neither of his parents went to school past the eighth grade, Larry thought he learned more from them about daily living and family traditions, as well as the importance of family heritage, than years

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(left) Larry’s parents, Clay and Mildred Davis Ruppard, were married in 1946, shortly after Clay returned from World War II. (right) The roof to Grandpa Ruppard’s outbuilding, which was knocked off by an emergency food care package dropped by a National Guard helicopter during the 1960s blizzard, has now been replaced.

“The reason things tasted so good back then, you had to do a lot of work to get it on the table.” Larry Ruppard of book learning could have taught him.

Coming from a middle class farming and lumber family, Larry learned early on how to be resourceful and make do with the best his family had. “We grew all of our own food. We put up and canned everything we needed. Then we canned and sold potatoes and things like that to the school in Banner Elk for me and my three older sisters’ lunches,” Larry reminisces. “The reason things tasted so good back then, you had to do a lot of work to get it on the table.”

Grandpa Ruppard and Larry’s father, Clay, sharecropped about 200 acres in Horse Bottom near Banner Elk where Grandpa Ruppard lived. Clay owned less than an acre of land surrounding his house off Highway 194, where he kept a small garden, raised chickens, a cow and some pigs.

When Larry was 12 years old, his 66

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father got sick and Larry proceeded to plant the family’s small garden plot to the left of their house all by himself.

Proving himself capable of working the family farm, Larry soon found himself assigned to other farm chores, including such glamorous tasks as beheading chickens to eat. The Ruppards and their next door neighbors, the Voncannons, raised about 75 chickens in a chicken coop, which bordered their properties. “My dad thought I should learn the job of lopping their heads off, and I hated that,” Larry declared. “As soon as you’d do it, you’d set them down and they’d run, and chase you.”

One of Larry’s best memories with his dad was going rabbit and squirrel hunting in the woods. “Now you see everybody’s got dogs in the house, but back then, whatever [animal] you had, it served a

December 2011

purpose,” Larry remembered. “If you had a dog, it was a hunting dog, so you could put something on the table. If you had a cat, it kept the mice down out of the barns.

About everybody then had rabbit beagles.

So we’d take the beagles out, they’d chase the rabbits. When they’d come into the clearing we’d pop the rabbits, shoot them, take them home and clean them and fix them. And squirrels the same way.”

Many traditional family recipes emerged from the food the Ruppards grew and caught themselves. “My mom was the best cook in the world,” Larry claimed, with a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. One of Larry’s favorite treats was his mom’s lemon pie, which she made for him on his birthday every year. Larry’s mom would brown the squirrels Larry and his father caught and

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“The biggest thing you had was your name, and I was taught early, if you lost that, you had nothing.”

Larry Ruppard

ABOVE: Clay Ruppard, Larry’s father, served in France during World War II with the Third Armored Division as a crewman on a tank (pictured above). “He never talked about [his time in the Army] much,” Larry recalled. Only years later, after talking with his mom, did Larry learn about the five Bronze Stars his father received for his four and a half years in active duty. RIGHT: Larry proudly displays the Nazi Flag that his father gave to him before being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War.

would combine them with dumplings to make squirrel gravy.

As a delicacy, once a year the Ruppards ate mud turtle, caught from a pond nearby, which supposedly contained 13 different textures of meat. Every Thanksgiving, the family enjoyed slaughtered pig, pumpkin pies and mince meat pies.

But cooking was not Mildred’s only specialty; she was also a talented seamstress. Mildred made all of her children’s clothes as well as clothes and draperies for the neighbors. Larry was always amazed by his mother’s perfect handwriting, a gift which he boasts he inherited. “There is a note somewhere that in fourth grade I wrote myself to get out of school, and I signed it with her name. It said, ‘Please excuse Larry at 4 p.m., I have to mow the yard.’ And they fell for it,” Larry laughed.

Larry’s Grandpa Ruppard held a special place in his heart as well. For several generations back, the Ruppards on Larry’s 68

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dad’s side worked for the Voncannon Lumber Company, one of the only lumber companies in the area, who owned the property right in front of Larry’s house growing up.

Larry has fond memories of Grandpa Ruppard coming to visit him every day on his way to work at the Lumber Company.“My grandfather would walk across the hill from Horse Bottom everyday and when he could, he always brought me lunch in a pail. I can smell that lunch to this day,” Larry smiled contently. “And he had a dog that would come with him who was blind, so that dog spent the day with me.”

But perhaps Larry’s favorite story about Grandpa Ruppard, which always brings a smile to his face, was in the winter of 1960, during the worst storm the little town of Banner Elk had ever seen. One day, while Grandpa Ruppard was in the field, tending his cattle, he looked up to notice the United States National Guard helicopters sending down emergency food packages

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to mountain families who were snowed in. Having never seen a helicopter before, Grandpa Ruppard threw up his hand to wave. Interpreting this gesture as a cry for help, the National Guard released a food package from their helicopter, which proceeded to knock the porch off of an outbuilding on Grandpa Ruppard’s property.

Lessons Learned

Having come from a very large family, Larry always valued a good conversation. Every Christmas, as many as 25 people would gather at his mom’s house to simply enjoy each other’s company, something he feels younger generations seldom experience.

But more than anyone else, Larry most enjoyed chatting with the older generation from whom he has learned so many valuable life lessons. “The people I wanted to feel good about me were the elderly, the old timers from here, that meant a lot to me,”

Today, Larry spends most of his free time with his grandson Nathaniel Ruppard, a fifth grader at Banner Elk Elementary School.

Larry reflected. “I know how to strike up a conversation with them, and I know what they want to talk about. Those people were so smart, the generation behind us.”

One of these people was Lucille Draughon, a family friend, and the Banner Elk town talker, who was very set in her ways. “The old house Lucille lived in, till the day she died, she never would have hot water put in, she heated on the stove,” Larry recalled. “Her son called me one time and said, ‘Mom likes you and she’ll listen to you. Larry we need to get that woodstove out of the house.’ And so, I went down there to talk to her about it and she finally agreed to do it.”

One of the most valuable lessons Larry learned was the importance of integrity and self-respect. “The biggest thing you had was your name, and I was taught early, if you lost that, you had nothing,” Larry said. “There were very few people that weren’t well thought of when I was

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growing up in this community. But the ones that were scoundrels, nobody had anything to do with them. They were shunned.”

Not until Larry was an adult did he really begin to appreciate the lessons his parents, family members and other elderly community members had taught him.

In 1972, Larry was drafted to fight

in the Vietnam War. Larry and his wife Barbara, high school sweethearts married at age 18, had just moved from a mobile home on Grandpa Ruppard’s property into a new brick house on Hickory Nut Gap Road in 1971, where the couple resides today. Their first son, Randall, was born soon after they moved.

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Although Larry’s grandpa, George Tate Davis (left) passed away in 1946 before Larry was born, he was always impressed with stories about his grandpa serving as a game warden and timekeeper for the Linville Lumber Company, after losing his arm to diabetes. Davis’ son, Ford (right), worked at a furniture factory in Lenoir, a common occupation for many Banner Elk natives. Photo taken mid-1940s.

Clay presented his son with one of his most prized possessions—a Nazi Flag, which his father received while serving in France during World War II with the Third Armor Division as a crewman on a tank. “He never talked about [his time in the Army] much,” Larry recalled. Only years later, after talking with his mom, did Larry learn about the five Bronze Stars his father received for his four and a half years in active duty, two of which were spent in Europe. After the war in 1958, his dad, along with other war veterans, served with the Civil Air Defense, positioned atop a bell tower at Lees-McRae College to identify aircraft flying overhead for security purposes.

One week after receiving the flag from his father, Larry was drafted. Soon after entering service, Larry fell from a jump tower, injuring himself, and was quickly discharged.

Three days after returning home, his Grandpa Ruppard died, followed two months later by his father who died unexpectedly at age 52. “I think the tough part is, when you’re a 20-year-old boy, you haven’t realized yet what your dad has done for you,” Larry admitted. “I was the only son, so I knew you’ve got to pick up and do for the ones who are still remaining.”

Larry’s growing family soon included daughter, Laura, born in 1977, and he began pursuing a string of odd jobs around Banner Elk. From 1971 to 1977, Larry was employed with Grindstaff Surveyors in Boone and later worked as a gas station attendant at the Banner Elk Exxon. He then found a job as a security dispatcher for Beech Mountain Property Association, followed by a brief stint with the Beech Mountain Cemetery District, and then left to manage a local concrete plant from 1988 to 1992. Today, Larry works as an assistant manager at the ABC Store in Banner Elk and loves every minute of 70

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it. Larry is most grateful for the opportunity these jobs gave him to meet and talk with a variety of people.

Changing Times

Over the years, Larry has witnessed the little town of Banner Elk grow and expand, particularly with new transportation developments. When Larry’s mother was growing up, she and her brother Buster would ride the Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC), from Banner Elk into Newland to go to school. The train, which ran from Johnson City, Tenn., to the iron mines in Cranberry, ceased operations in 1950, and in May 1957, part of this train was moved to Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock. Before Larry and his family had their first car, Larry remembers riding the Queen City Trailways Bus, which ran from Charlotte to Johnson City, from Banner Elk into Boone down Highway 194. The bus system eventually ceased operations around the mid-1970s once Highway 105 was built, linking Boone to Banner Elk.

December 2011

In addition to transportation developments, Larry has also noticed a dramatic increase in the population size of Banner Elk, especially around tourist season. When Larry first purchased his house in 1971, the closest house to his going toward Newland was three miles away. Today, Larry’s house is part of one of many neighborhoods, marking the rise of residential development. Larry attributes this rapid expansion to the ski craze that took hold of the Banner Elk community in the early 1970s.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the character of mountain people. “The mountain people, we’re different,” Larry declared. “I used to think sometimes maybe we’re a little backwards to hear some of these other people talk about these mountain people. But I realize, we’ve got more going for us than we ever had. We’ll do something to make a living, always have. If you’ve got a good piece of land and some knowledge, you can live.

And we live good.”

Larry identified five ways people in the Banner Elk community earned a

living in the 1950s and ‘60s: as farmers, working for furniture factories in Lenoir, working at local colleges and hospitals, moving North to work in the steel mills or working on dry wall. “When the Depression came, people in these mountains didn’t know that Depression, because they lived like that everyday,” Larry chuckled. “We didn’t have money, but we were rich. The happiest time in my adult life is when I got paid on Friday, paid the bills, and then didn’t have a dime in my pocket come Monday.”

One of the most admirable qualities Larry has noticed in mountain people is their selflessness and willingness to help others in need, even when they may not have much to give themselves.

“When people got hurt, there was somebody there to help, but the bad part was, most of those people couldn’t afford to help. That’s when it’s good.

When they give of themselves,” Larry smiled fondly. When Larry’s dad injured his back and had to leave his job with the Voncannon Lumber Company, Larry remembers the outpouring of family friends and neighbors who came to visit, bringing food and offering to milk the cow and help with other family chores in any way they could.

While eating at Mountain View Grill one day in Banner Elk, Doug Hodge, one of Larry’s dad’s good friends, left $50 on the table to help Larry’s family. “I never forgot it. Fifty dollars back then was at least two weeks’ wages,” Larry exclaimed.

“But my dad in turn would do the same.

You did it and didn’t think about it. You helped them.”

Larry fears many of the mountain traditions and ways of life are being threatened by modernity. “I think what’s taken a lot away from our traditions is television,” Larry said. Instead of getting together with family and friends to swap stories and enjoy each other’s company, people are increasingly turning to the television for entertainment.

“I think the older way of life was a better life,” Larry reminisces. “People have more [today] as far as material things, but they don’t have the roots, the ritual of these mountain people. Our heritage is changing because everyone [coming into the mountains] is from somewhere else.”

But Larry is still not too concerned about losing his own family heritage to modernity. “You know, people die, but as long as they’re remembered favorably, they’re never gone. And I believe that.”

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New Sanctuary, Same Gospel First Presbyterian Now Open for Sermons Story by Jesse Wood / Photography by Kyle Grove After gracing Howard Street for 70 years, First Presbyterian recently moved across town. Though its members now congregate in a different space, their welcoming spirit ceases to change. Embarking on its first winter in its new sanctuary, the congregation is thrilled to worship and minister for the next 70 years.

7272 H iHgi h g hC o Cu o nu tnrtyr yM a Mga ag zai zni en e

December December 2011 2011

The old First Presbyterian Church on Howard Street held its first service in 1941. Now, 70 years later, the new First Presbyterian Church opened this summer.

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edged in between one-way Hamby Alley and Howard Street and surrounded by a never-ending sprawl of student housing and ASU buildings, the First Presbyterian Church of Boone was stuck in a tight spot with little flexibility. Parking was limited. So, too, was open space for kids to play, and new members had difficulty navigating the church’s entranceway. So when ASU and church officials met four years ago to negotiate a parking lease near Plemmons Student Union and ASU offered the church $7.5 million for the twoacre property along with a three-year lease to find a new location, the congregation saw it as a sign from God. “We really didn’t have a way to expand our ministry the way we wanted to,” recalled Dean Gropper, project manager for the church. “When this offer from ASU came…it just seemed like a good thing to do, and God was leading us.”

Just like all moves away from home, affection for the past lingered amidst the excitement of a new beginning. For a building that held its first service in 1941, First

Talking about the gradient of the foundation underneath the new First Presbyterian Church and dealing with contractors from down the mountain, Dean Gropper, project manager for the church, said, “We may think this is a piece of flat property for Boone, but this is graded at 12 percent. When you get people from off the mountain, they think you got this big slope here.”

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Presbyterian Church of Boone created many precious memories. “Whenever you leave a building where people have been married, been baptized—that church was home for people when they grew up and before they went to college,” Gropper said. “It’s difficult, emotionally, to leave all those things, but we brought all of that with us.” Not only is he talking about the intangibles—the memories, feelings and spirits—but Gropper is also referring to items like the pews and organ pipes that were reclaimed from the old church.

Each solid-oak pew was dismantled and then transported to Church Interiors Inc. in High Point to be refurbished and reupholstered and brought back to Boone for reinstallation in the new sanctuary located off of Deerfield Road. “They look like they are brand new. The congregation is sitting in the same pews. We just moved them a little,” Gropper smiled.

Though First Presbyterian couldn’t use its previous organ because of the volume differences (an organ works by moving air) between the new and old temple’s interior space, 80 percent of the old organ’s pipes will be salvaged when the new organ is

ready for January services. Gropper said, “The organ is the only thing we lack.”

Just days before the new church was set to open, it caught on fire in July during a chandelier wiring and delayed the First Presbyterian’s opening for six weeks.

“God moves in mysterious ways,” Gropper said. In the interim while the building was in repair, the congregation spent several weeks at ASU’s Rosen Hall for church services and was in between homes. Not anymore. “It’s wonderful to actually be in the building and using it for the purposes that God intended,” Anna Lehman, building committee chair for the church, said. She has many fond memories of the old church, where both her children were baptized and her son attended preschool.

Recently, though, her daughter experienced her first day of preschool at the new church. “This is such a great place to form memories. That is the exciting part—looking forward to the future,” Lehman said.

The new church has 10,000 additional square feet inside and six times the acreage outside the building. It has multi purpose rooms for community and First

Presbyterian gatherings, space for athletic fields, an elevator, a fireplace, showers and much more, including plenty of parking. “So many more things to do here that you couldn’t do before. We are able to do things in this building that will give us a lot more flexibility,” Gropper said. For instance, the new church was wired to use a generator during power outages, which would allow the church to become a shelter during times of distress. Even though the church doesn’t currently have funds for a generator, the idea for the shelter is a plausible idea that wouldn’t have been practical at the old location.

Of all the many pleasing aspects of the new facility, Lehman’s favorite part is the gathering space, which is inside the church but outside the sanctuary, where the pastor preaches and the members congregate. “For the very reason that it is relaxing, and to see people hang out there and for people to want to be there, it just warms my heart,” Lehman said, adding that the congregation is welcoming, and so too should be the building itself. Lehman mentioned visiting a Worship Facilities Conference and Expo with other

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members of the congregation after forming a building committee. At the expo she learned that, generally speaking, people have three places they frequent every day—work, home and another place. “It could be a bar or wherever,” Lehman said.

“We hope that people choose [the gathering space] to become their third place.”

The new building was built with mountain aesthetics in mind. Lehman took contractors on a tour of High Country estates and viewed The Eseeola Lodge at Linville Golf Club, the Mountain Community Bank and Echota and instructed the contractors to build a church that blended with its surroundings. “We wanted to capture the flavor of being in the mountains…and didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb,” Gropper said. The orientation of the building was planned to allow light and solar heat into the facility, which is one of three reasons why there is no stained glass in the church, Gropper said. The second is most Presbyterian churches, with the exception of cathedrals in Europe, are white with no stained glass. “Also we wanted to be able to see outside. We gotta beautiful view out there and wouldn’t want to lose that.”

ADW Architects, P.A., the designer of the facility, has designed hundreds of religious or religious-related buildings, and Lehman and Gropper were both pleased with the Charlotte-based firm. “Our architects were really good at taking in what we were telling them, and their interpretation was still respectful from a religious standpoint,” Lehman said. “When you go into the sanctuary, it feels like you are in a holy place.”

Because of the three-year lease with ASU, the building committee, architects and contractors were working within time constraints. The time frame, Lehman noted, forced the committee to make decisions and not get sidetracked, and she added that one of the most pleasing aspects of the whole process was that the committee didn’t have any dissention, derision or divisiveness. “Everyone worked together,” she said. “It was just God’s great plan and work, and we were just the vessel to bring it to fruition.”

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GO GREEN & RESTORE “One of the most interesting and rewarding parts to our project was saving our pews and chancel furnishings,” said Dean Gropper, project manager for the church. “We were also able to complete this project at about half the cost of new pews of equal quality.” Church Interiors Inc. transported the solid oak pews to its workshop in High Point and refurbished and reupholstered them before installing them in the new First Presbyterian Church. “Working with Kyle [Grove] and Church Interiors Inc. was fantastic. They listened to our needs and helped us prepare the historical integrity of our church furniture,” said Anna Lehman, chair of the building committee.

A beautiful gathering space outside the sanctuary welcomes guests to the new First Presbyterian Church.

“

“

It’s wonderful to actually be in the building and using it for the purposes that God intended.

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Hatchet Jack’s and Sunset Tees Story by Jesse Wood • Photography by Peter Morris

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As different as two stores can be, Sunset Tees and Hattery is a gift shop that spawned in the mid-‘80s when Main Street in downtown Blowing Rock looked like a ghost town in winter, and customers have called Hatchet Jack’s Trading Post a “throwback” and “the Real McCoy.” What the stores do have in common, though, are its owners—Jack and Becky Hall, who opened their first shop more than 25 years ago with “$500 and a hope and a dream.”

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ore than once, Jack Hall has joked about charging a $1 entrance fee into Hatchet Jack’s Trading Post, an emporium in Blowing Rock that has anything and everything in its 8,000-square-foot retail space.

“I have threatened at that a time or two,” Hall recalled. “We get a lot of people who come in here and reminisce and…treat it a lot like a museum.” Thousands of antiques dwell inside Hatchet Jack’s, and many of them hark back to a time before the internet, cell phones and television; before both World Wars and the T-Model Ford; and even before the turn of the 20th century. It’s this old-time feeling that out-of-town customers Ricky and Cindy Haynes appreciate. “It’s full of authentic stuff,” said Cindy of Lafayette, La. “You step back, and it reminds you of things your grandparents had in their h o m e s .”

Originally from

Murphy, N.C., Ricky was impressed with Hatchet Jack’s merchandise and, in particular, the tomahawks featured in the back of the store. “Most of the stores you go in around here are filled with tourist junk; this is filled with North Carolina,” Ricky said. “This is the real McCoy…that Indian stuff over there is for real, man. You could actually kill people with them.”

Hall noted that people have called Hatchet Jack’s a guy’s place, and he doesn’t disagree with that statement: “It’s great for anybody’s mancave.” An assortment of pocket knives, old tools, wood work and more is featured in the shop. Alongside old snowshoes and skis used to decorate local rental cabins and mountain cottages, a vast array of authentic taxidermist work, all of which is for sale, hangs on the walls of the two-story emporium—buffalo, moose, long horn cattle, badger, skunk, porcupine, red fox, coyote, raccoon and more. “We get a little bit of anything and everything that we can,” said Hall. “If we think we can bring it in here and clean it…and make a little bit on it, that’s what we try to do—rotate goods…once it collects dust, I am ready to get rid of it.”

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tools, frying pans, Indian artifacts, fine china, old toys and much more. You name it, and Hatchet Jack’s probably has it. “We get a little bit of anything and everything that we can,” Jack Hall, co-owner of Hatchet Jack’s, said.

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ambience is real simple,” Hall mused.

“I decorate like a guy. All the tools go here. All the toasters go there, and all the flat irons go over there.”

Though Hatchet Jack’s opened nearly a decade ago, Hall, 61, has “dickered and traded in antiques” since he was a young man, and he owned a similar store in Boone called Dolliver’s Antiques in the late ‘80s. When Dolliver’s shut down, he stored what didn’t sell and continued

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acquiring goods. “It just kind of evolved,” he said. “I kept adding more stuff to it, and next thing you know, we had Hatchet Jack’s.” Throughout his wheelin’ and dealin’ years, Hall has accumulated quite a collection. Maybe once a year, Hall will go to an auction and find items such as a stoplight from Sarasota Springs, Fla.,

or the original post office boxes from Hudson, which he bought 20 years ago.

He mentioned it’s with haphazard luck that he has comes across some of these things—like when a 1918 Victor-Victrola phonograph machine that plays old records at 33 1/3 rpms “just walked itself in the door one day.” In Hatchet Jack’s

today, the most off-the-wall items for sale, Hall noted, are the original furnishings from Storie’s Soda Shop, which opened in 1935. When the business closed its doors in 1991, Hall bought the soda fountain, back bar, marquee and other items associated with the historic Blowing Rock sundry shop. Its advertised price? $18,900.

“Some lucky soul will get it one of these days,” Hall said.

Hall, who was once the president of the Caldwell Historical Society, became fascinated with local and American history, and in a roundabout way, his curiosity for the way things were—as well as the success of his other Blowing Rock business Sunset Tee’s and Hattery— led to Hatchet Jack’s spawning. When asked about the correlation between being a history buff and owning an antique store, he replied, “That’s all it boils down to. Sunset Tees provides me the privilege of having this shop as a hobby.”

‘$500 and a Hope and a Dream’ Years before the Hatchet Jack’s venture, Hall and his wife Becky lived in Hudson, where Hall and his brother ran a swimming pool construction

business in Caldwell County. After five years of “sweatin’ my [tail] off in swimming pools,” he and Becky moved to the High Country, where Hall sold timeshares on Beech Mountain for eight months, and rather than “move to Florida to sell another timeshare,” he found work at Fred’s General Mercantile, ran recreation programs atop Beech Mountain and was a sales rep for Zero ski gloves.

With three kids, Hall realized he wouldn’t earn enough money to send them to college working for an hourly wage. So one day in the mid-‘80s, Hall and his wife quit their day jobs at Fred’s and opened Sunset Tees and Hattery, a t-shirt, hat and gift shop on Main Street in downtown Blowing Rock with “$500 and a hope and a dream,” Hall recalled, adding that they borrowed a cash register from a friend who owned a seasonal business and $100 from Jack’s mother for the change drawer. On the first day, Sunset Tees sold $52 worth of merchandise; Sonny Klutz, owner of the defunct Sonny’s Grill, happened to be their first customer.

Back then, Main Street was littered

Jack and Becky Hall have been married for more than 30 years. They met on a historical walk called the Over Mountain Victory Trail.

Becky was a college student, and Jack was the president of the Caldwell Historical Society.

Both of their stores—Hatchet Jack’s and Sunset Tees—sell local produce, jams and sauces.

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Sunset Tees and Hattery has been a mainstay in

with vacant store fronts—Becky counted 16—when the Halls opened Sunset Tees on their shoe-string budget. She recalled that Cragg’s Grocery, Storie’s Soda Shop and Sonny’s Grill were among the few businesses that remained open during the winter lull and that Sunset Tees was the only retail shop to keep hours. “There were days in winter I didn’t see a single person, and I would play solitaire,” Becky recollected. “I feel like we led the way for the town to be open.” Among the businesses on Main Street today, Sunset Tees keeps more hours throughout the whole year than most, and Hall insists if more businesses kept longer hours, all the stores in the village would benefit.

“They would shock themselves if every business stayed open ‘til 10 o’clock at night…we’re usually the first to open and the last one to close on the streets as far as merchants go,” Hall said, adding that he does cut back on hours in the winter. Between the two stores, the Halls work nonstop—seven days a week—and only close Sunset Tees on 84

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Christmas Day and Hatchet Jack’s on Thanksgiving and Christmas. “We get up every day and put our pants on and go back at it. That’s the name of the game to survive in this economy,” Hall said. “Thank God my wife and I can.

Most couples could never work together the way we do.”

Sunset Tees, along with hats and t-shirts, offers a hodgepodge of items that include kids toys, puzzles, ski gloves and toboggans, quirky signs, stained glass, chimes, shot glasses, books, jams, jellies and hot sauces.

Hall estimated that the shop has the largest selection of souvenir shirts in the High Country and the largest selection of hats in North Carolina, if not the Southeast. The best-selling shirts say “Blowing Rock,” “Paddle Faster— I Hear Banjo Music” and “Vegetarian—Ancient Tribal Music for Village Idiot Who Can’t Hunt, Fish or Ride.”

As for their collection of hats, if Sherlock Holmes, John Wayne or Bob Dylan needed a hat, the Hattery would be the place to go.

December 2011

w

Blowing Rock since the mid-‘80s. The gift shop specializes in t-shirts and hats. Whether you are looking for a cowgirl hat or a Greenwich Village fedora, Sunset Tees has it. According to Jack, the store has the largest selection of souvenir shirts in the High Country and the largest selection of hats in North Carolina, if not the Southeast.

Hatchet Jack’s Trading Post

Hatchet Jack’s is located at 109 #2 Aho Road in between Boone and Blowing Rock. Though it is visible from U.S. 321, the store can easily be missed. For more information, call 828-295-6433.

Sunset Tees and Hattery

Sunset Tees is located on 1117 Main Street in downtown Blowing Rock. For more information, call 828-295-9326.

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Winter Dining Guide

W

“Cas

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or the Wh ole ing f F

2 Flat Screens & Live Entertainment

ily” am

The Banner Elk Cafe

ua

arm yourself up this winter with a visit to a High Country’s restaurants and enjoy the area’s best dishes, desserts and drinks.

From French-Italian cuisine to genuine Southern soul food, these local eateries are gearing up for the cooler weather with hot eats. Read more about these dining destinations to see what’s new with this flavorful winter dining guide . . . Bon appétit!

The Best Place for FOOD, FUN, & FRIENDS in the Heart of Banner Elk.

10

$

00 Large One Topping Pizza

expires July 1, 2012

The Lodge Espresso Bar & Eatery Fresh Roasted Coffees and Espresso • 828-898-3444 Smoothie & Frappe Bar & Vitamin Supplements Muffins, Bagels Pastries & Breads Deli Subs & Sandwiches • Salads & Pastas Gourmet Pizza & Calzones

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828-898-4040

Open 7am Everyday Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Daily Find us on forentertainment schedule and current promotions.

WINTER dining bandana’s bar-b-que & grill

boone. Serving Boone and the North Carolina High Country since 1996, Bandana’s is a local favorite for great food, service with a smile, and exceptional dining value. All of their Bar-B-Que items are smoked on premises using a unique blend of local hardwoods.

Best known for their Baby Back Ribs, the Bandana’s culinary team smokes the ribs until they are tender and juicy. After marinating in their signature Bar-B-Que sauce, the ribs are grilled to perfection!

Also, be sure to check out the fresh Salad Bar, which has over 40 items from which to choose. n 828-265-

BANNER ELK CAFÉ BANNER ELK. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Great food, ranging from eggs bendict to big, juicy burgers. For the healthy and weight conscience we offer grilled mahi and chicken sandwiches, salad bar, and homemade daily specials. Dinner nightly offering: Ribs, Steaks, Fish and always fresh and creative specials!. n 828-898-4040.

BELLA’S Banner elk. ����������������� Bella’s Neighborhood Italian Restaurant is a local favorite and serves the best Italian cuisine in town. Everything is made to order with the finest homemade ingredients. Bella’s is known for authentic Italian food along with a variety of delicious hand-tossed pizza. Perfect for families, locals and visitors alike. Come dine with the Fellas from Bella’s and you are

guaranteed not to go home hungry! Located across from Sugar Mountain in the Food Lion Shopping Center. n 828-898-9022. www.bellasNC.net.

BLOWING ROCK GRILLE blowing rock. Blowing Rock Grille provides an upbeat, exciting dining experience offering a wide variety of prices and choices. Dine in the warm, inviting atmosphere and enjoy a drink from Bert’s Bar, which offers a unique wine list, as well as your favorite beverage.

The Grille serves lunch and dinner and offers homemade soups, vegetable plates, delicious sandwiches and salads. Along with fabulous nightly specials, you will find a consistent, quality meal among the dinner menu options, including fresh fish, pasta, pork, and aged premium steaks. n 828-295-9474. www.theblowingrockgrille.com

2828 www.bandanasbarbeque.com

two great locations serving the high country

Downtown Blowing Rock

155 sunset drive

✦

blowing rock

828.295.3399

Downtown Boone

beautiful new downtown location!

805 W. King St. boone n.c.

828.865.1515

pizza. hoagies. salads. beer. more...

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WINTER dining BOONE BAGELRY BOONE. Boone’s oldest bagel shop, Boone Bagelry is a full-service restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch all day. You’re sure to find something you’ll love, like the popular Bagelicious, with fried egg, bacon, ham and melted American, Swiss or Muenster cheese on whichever freshly-baked bagel flavor you want. Or Build Your Own Sandwich with items like the Best Chicken Salad in the High Country. Patio dining is available, and Boone Bagelry also offers eat in, take out or delivery options. Open late Thurs, Fri and Sat 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. n 828-262-5585

CAFÉ PORTOFINO BOONE. Café Portofino offers a casual atmosphere and truly 5-star dining. The self-described “Garlic House” menu is a creative mix of Thai, Eurasian and Italian influences. For after-hours entertainment, check out the adjoining taproom with billiards, darts, and fifty bottle and draft beers from around the world. n 828-264-7772. www.cafeportofino.net

Capone’s Boone. Capone’s has been voted “Best Pizza in the High Country”, and for good reason. With a great beer list, pizzas, strombolies, calzones, and pastas, Capone’s is a great place to stifle your hunger and quench your thirst. Try the Super Supreme Pizza, which has pepperoni, bacon, peppers, mushrooms, fresh garlic, and onions. The staff favorite is Machine-Gun Mike’s, which is composed of a mouthwatering combination of teriyaki chicken, pineapple, bacon, and teriyaki sauce. n 828-265-1886

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WINTER dining CASA RUSTICA BOONE. Casa Rustica offers some of the finest Northern Italian-American cuisine in the High Country accentuated by a cozy, fireside atmosphere.

Casa Rustica’s extensive wine list is updated every 30 days to include interesting vintages and new organics.

Enjoy live jazz every Thursday night and classical guitar every Sunday. All ABC permits. n 828-262-5128. www. casarustica1981.com

Cha Da Thai Boone. Cha Da Thai is the only authentic Thai cuisine in the area.

Cha Da Thai offers an extensive menu and daily specials. A few favorites inclue Pad Thai served with Tamarind base red sauce and Pad Gra Pow with special Thai basil leaves.

From sweet to sour and from salty to spicy, you’re sure to find something to satisfy your taste. Located on Howards Street. n 828-268-0434. www.ChaDaThai-NC.com

Chick-fil-a Boone. With so much to do in the High Country, you’ll want to refuel quickly to have time for it all. Whether it’s a pre-hike breakfast or a lunch break during your epic, daylong shopping extravaganza, you can count on Chick-filA for a delicious way to fill up fast. n 828-264-4660. www.chick-fil-a.com

crippen’s Blowing rock. Chef Stan Chamberlain is making a name for himself as diners post opinions on tripadvisor.com and opentable.com keeping Crippen’s the #1 restaurant in Blowing Rock and Top 5 in Western North Carolina! Enjoy the casual atmosphere and fine dining restaurant, with a daily menu featuring a vari-

Winter Hours December: Open Wednesday - Saturday Open Dec. 26 - 31 with Our Famous New Year’s Prix Fixe Menu January thru April: Open Thursday, Friday, Saturday

With Thursday Being “Cabin Fever Night” ...20% Off Everything *except Dec 29

“During the last 10 years, the restaurant has come to be known not only for it’s game dishes ostrich, buffalo, pheasant, venison - but also for an eclectic mix of traditional Southern and funky nouveau, with hints of Asian and a focus on locally and organically grown produce.” ...Our State Magazine

Please call for reservations.

3005 Shull’s Mill Road • Blowing Rock

www.gamekeeper-nc.com

(828) 963-7400

CAPONE’S uNtOuChAblE!

Specializing in NY Style & Chicago Style Gourmet hand-tossed Pizza!

Pizza like No Other !

828-265-1886

454b West King St. Downtown boone across from the turchin Center December 2011

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Celebrating 4 years in the High Country

WINTER dining ety of Artisan breads, homemade soups, creative appetizers, fresh seafood, meats and game, and delicious homemade desserts. Be sure to ask your server about the eclectic wine list too! n 828-295-3487. www.crippens.com

DOS AMIGOS • The High Country’s only made from scratch, boiled & baked on premises • All Natural Recipe • No Fats or Preservatives

BREAKFAST & LUNCH

828-265-4141 Mon- Fri: 7am - 2pm • Sat: 8am - 2pm & Sun: 9am- 2pm

BOONE. Enjoy traditional Mexican dining in a casual setting at Dos Amigos. With favorites such as enchiladas, tacos, burritos and some unique menu items, you’re sure to find something to satisfy your appetite.

Located in New Market Center. n 828-264-1674. www.dosamigosmexicanrestaurant.net.

www.mountainbagels.com 211 Boone Heights Drive • Boone (Turn at Burger King on Hwy 321)

Bienvenido s a

Dos Amigos

n

/

Inspire Your Tastebuds

It’s Always Trout Season In Blowing Rock!

SERVING A VARIETY OF FRESH SEAFOOD, LOCAL MOUNTAIN TROUT, ANGUS BEEF, SARA’S BABY BACK RIBS AND HOMEMADE SOUPS.

Restaurante Mexicano Authentic Mexican Cuisine

Pecan Crusted Trout

Redeem this ad for one FREE Appetizer (from our appetizer menu)

One coupon per table • Not valid with any other offer

2941 tynecastle highway • banner elk

828.898.6800 paintedfishcafe.com

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Daily Drink Specials

Every Wednesday

is

Margarita Night!

Mon-Thurs: 11am-10pm Fri-Sat: 11am-11pm / Sun: 11am-9:30pm

828-265-1674 • New Market Center www.dosamigosmexicanrestaurant.net December 2011

David Bartlett’s

Established 1986

Serving Dinner Thurs-Sat 5:00-9:00pm Breakfast Buffet Sat & Sun 9:00am-Noon PLUS Live Main Lobster Every Thursday!

828.295.9819 Main Street, Blowing Rock

WINTER dining

239 Sunset Drive Blowing Rock (Just off Main Street)

Gamekeeper Blowing Rock. Housed in a 1950s stone cottage, The Gamekeeper is an upscale restaurant that offers an eclectic mix of Southern foods and mountain cuisine, including mountain trout, buffalo rib eye, ostrich, duck and beef tenderloin. The friendly staff literally waits on you hand and foot, assuring that you’ll leave happy and satisfied. The restaurant is located off Shulls Mill Road near Yonahlossee Resort. n 828-963-7400. www.Gamekeeper-NC.com

HOB NOB FARM CAFE BOONE. Thousands of miles fresher! This restaurant uses only allnatural ingredients in its freshly prepared dishes with a focus on using as much local, regional and organic foods as seasonally possible.

Join Hob Nob for breakfast, lunch or dinner in downtown Boone for a delicious meal, made by hand, just for you.n 828-262-5000. www.hobnobfarmcafe.com.

Holiday Celebrations Start With Crippen’s OUR PLACE OR YOURS! Weekdays, Lunch or Dinner Customized Holiday Menu Accommodating Parties of two up to 100

New Year’s Eve Reservations Blake Pace Entertaining Party Favors and Midnight Toast Make Your Reservations Now! TO BOOK A ROOM OR DINNER:

828/295-3487

www.Crippens.com

Truly one of the most romantic settings in The High Country.

JOY Bistro Boone. Purveyors of Fine Food & Drink. Chef/Owners Melissa Joy and Gary Claude welcome you to come in and enjoy delicious food and delightful cocktails in a casual, warm and inviting setting. Fresh and always seasonal ingredients are used in our nightly specials as well as in our superb menu. Full bar, extensive wine list, & craft beers. n 828-265-0500 www.joybistroboone.com.

Open Thursday - Saturday • Christmas Eve: Brunch with Prime Rib Special 11- 4 New Years Eve Dinner: 6 - 10 with DJ Prez with Brooklyn Airlift ($85 ++ or $110 inclusive with champagne toast)

&

Table At Crestwood Dawg Star Bar & Grill

www.crestwoodnc.com | 3236 Shull’s Mill Road | 828.963.6646 December 2011

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WINTER dining The Lodge expresso bar BANNER ELK. The Lodge Espresso Bar and Eatery, friendly coffeehouse atmosphere with a smoothie bar, fresh bakery, and gourmet food.

Serving, delicious salads, seared Tuna, pizzas, pastas, and wraps. Best Bloody Mary and Cadlillac Magaritas in town. n 828-898-3444.

LOS ARCOIRIS Boone. On a search for the perfect Mexican meal? Los Arcoiris is just the place. This restaurant not only offers incredible, fresh Mexican cuisines, Los Arcoiris has a welcoming atmosphere and great service. Imagine enjoying freshly prepared Mexican dishes like burritos and chimichangas tucked away in a cozy booth surrounded by authentic Mexican murals. Los Arcoiris is able to satisfy any craving with vegetarian and children-friendly dishes also available. n 828-264-7770

Exquisite Authentic Thai Cuisine

MAKOTO’S

Daily Lunch Specials Lunch Hours: Mon-Fri 11:00-3:00 Sat-Sun 11:30-3:00

Also Open for Dinner Every Day: Mon-Sun 5:00-10:00

* Serving beer and wine * 173 Howard Street in Downtown Boone 828-268-0434 Fax: 828-268-0439 chadathai-nc.com 92

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BOONE. The Best Tasting Show in Town! Dining at Makoto’s Seafood and Steakhouse of Japan is a unique experience. Your personal chef will provide a little free culinary entertainment while cooking your dish right in front of you, or enjoy fresh, made-to-order sushi and drinks in the sushi bar and outside patio.

Makoto’s offers a lunch and dinner menu. Try The Emperor featuring a selection of teriyaki steak, jumbo shrimp and chicken. And don’t forget to pair your meal with any of the countless Sake or Wine options! n 828-264-7976. www.makotos-boone.com

MELLOW MUSHROOM BLOWING ROCK & BOONE. Mellow Mushroom is back in its new Downtown Boone location with deDecember 2011

Breakfast served from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Monday – Saturday!

2082 Blowing Rock Road Boone, NC 28607

Call: 828-264-4660

www.cfarestaurant.com/boone

Mountain Bagels Boone. Known as serving up the “Best Bagels south of New York”, Mountain Bagels has been feeding hungry mouths with quality fresh food for everyone. From homemade Quiches and signature deli sandwiches made with Boar’s Head meats & cheese to made to order salads and a Lebanese menu featuring Hummus, Babaganouch (seasonal), Falafel & more, Mountain Bagels has something for everyone. n 828-265-4141. www.mountainbagels.com

Over 120 Small Tapas Plates

licious pizzas, hoagies, calzones and a great beer selection. And don’t forget the Blowing Rock location on Sunset Drive. n Boone 828-8651515. Blowing Rock 828-295-3399. www.mellowmushroom.com.

Progressive Alternative Dining

Every Game.

Every Sunday.

Football at Zuzda!

Open Wed-Sun 3pm-until...

Bar opens at noon on Sundays 502 West Main St. Banner Elk

www.zuzda.com 828-898-4166

Extensive Wine Selection • Live Music Fri. & Sat.

The Painted Fish BANNER ELK. The Painted Fish Café and Beer Bar prides itself on its upscale environment with a relaxed, casual ambiance. The café features inspired food, fun beers, and superb wines all at surprisingly reasonable prices. Organic and locally grown and raised ingredients are used whenever possible. Enjoy the outdoor dining area perfect for friends and family! n 828-898-6800. www.paintedfishcafe.com

PAPA JOE’S Blowing rock. Locally owned and operated since 1982, Papa Joe’s offers casual dining in a warm, friendly atmosphere. The menu is made up of Italian-American cuisine, steaks, seafood, pastas, chicken, pizzas, sandwiches, and more.

Papa Joe’s bar has all ABC permits and is fully stocked. This is a great place for fun and food with friends or family! n 828-295-3239.

Two Fabulous Bars • All ABC Permits

WINTER dining

Half Price On Our House Bottled Wines Every Tuesday!

ining 5 Star D he Prices without t al in a Casu e! r Atmosphe ining All Day D

KIDS MEAL

FREE

Kids 10 and under eat free with purchase of adult entree.

Lunch or Dinner.

Tues-Thurs

970 Rivers Street • 828-264-7772 • w w w. c a f e p o r t o fi n o . n e t

F   December 2011

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WINTER dining

H O L I D A Y P A R T I E S & G I F T C A R D S

Red Onion Café Boone. The Red Onion Café has created its niche in the High Country for more than 30 years by offering a welcoming atmosphere and an extensive menu at affordable prices. The café has something for every member of the family, including burgers, sandwiches, wraps, pizza, pasta, fish, steak and delicious homemade desserts. The Red Onion Café also offers several of the region’s top beer and wines to compliment any meal. The outside patio is perfect for lunch or for warm evenings. n 828-264-5470. www.theredonioncafe.com.

Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar 2124 Blowing Rock Road in Boone • 828 / 264-7976

Speckled Trout Café & Oyster Bar Blowing Rock. Since 1986, the Speckled Trout Cafe & Oyster Bar has been pleasing both locals and visitors with its exquisite choices for dinner. The house specialty is smoked rainbow trout from local waters, but the extensive menu covers everything from steak to roast duckling to catfish. Reservations are recommended. n 828-295-9819. www.speckledtroutcafe.com.

SUNRISE GRILL boone. Sunrise Grill has been a High Country staple for great breakfast and lunch for 15 years! You’ll enjoy the great specials, low prices and spectacular food. Open 7 days a week! n 828-262-5400.

The Table at Crestwood Blowing Rock. The menu is a creative mix of Southern fare with a European touch. The spectacular views will captivate you while you enjoy fireside dining. Try the Garlic Stuffed Filet, Creek Stone Farms all natural filet of beef stuffed with black garlic, topped with tomato confit 94

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WINTER dining and truffle oil, served with mashed potatoes and vegetables or North Carolina Mountain Trout, Carolina Mountain Farm trout encrusted with almond flour, served with balsamic-glazed sweet potatoes & crisp baby spinach. n 828-963-6646. www.crestwoodnc.com

Zuzda Banner Elk. Zuzda is a “tapas style” chef-owned restaurant that offers over 125 small plates of all cuisines. The “progressive alternative dining” offers the opportunity to taste and share small portions of food in a random order of presentation. Zuzda offers inside and patio dining and two bars, all of which is nonsmoking.

Zuzda holds all ABC permits, and the wine list is as extensive as the menu, offering many wines by the glass. n 828-898-4166. www.zuzda.com.

Flavors from around the world, foods from around the corner. amazingly fresh & delicious view our menu online at

hobnobfarmcafe.com Open Wed-Sun Brunch 10-5 • Dinner 5-10

828-262-5000 • 506 West King Street • Boone December 2011

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Parting Shot...

By

Ken Ketchie

The president Visits Boone V

isitors to Boone and the High Country are in good company: on October 17, 2011, President Barack Obama stopped in downtown Boone while on a bus tour promoting his American Jobs Act bill. And like many travelers to the area, he made sure to pay a visit to the historic Mast General Store on King Street, where he loaded up on sweet treats from the famous Candy Barrel.

After spending about 10 minutes in the store, Obama exited, taking time to shake hands with the crowd by his bus. He casually asked ASU students about the football team while members of the White House press pool asked students about their opinions of the president.

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Then it was on to his next stop at West Wilkes High School in Millers Creek.

High Country Magazine Publisher Ken Ketchie, camera in hand, happened to be one of the lucky few who were allowed to get close to the president as he shook hands in the middle of King Street; others downtown watched from a distance, as Secret Service officers held crowds back about 50 yards away from the president’s bus.

Andy Ball, recently reelected to the Boone Town Council, spoke briefly with the president during his appearance at West Wilkes High School. Ball says the president told him, “You’ve got a good thing going up there in Boone.”

SkiSugar .com

Sugar Mountain Resort 1009 Sugar Mountain Drive Sugar Mountain, NC 28604 828-898-4521

December 2011

High Country Magazine

C

View of Grandfather Mountain from Echota

JUST A REMINDER, THE PLAYGROUND IS OPEN ALL YEAR ROUND.

Come Home To The Warmth of Chalakee.

View from interior of Chalakee condo

Condominiums and Townhomes $199,900 - $599,900 Our sales office is located at Hwy 105 S, the entrance to Echota at 133 Echota Parkway, Boone, NC

Echota is located at the center of a wintry playground for snow skiing and year-round adventure in the heart of the High Country. More than 475 families come home to Echota, the most successful community in the area. Now comes Chalakee, Echota’s newest neighborhood featuring one-, three- and four-bedroom condominiums and townhomes boasting incomparable views of Grandfather Mountain, nine-foot ceilings, timber construction, outdoor kitchens and a host of upgrades--appropriately priced from just $199,900 to $599,900. You’ve dreamed of the ideal mountain home. You’ve dreamed of the ideal mountain home.

Now it’s here. And it’s near perfection.

Call 1-800-333-7601 or stop in to see Chalakee for yourself.

C HALAKEE THE B EST E CHOTA YET

D

High Country Magazine

December 2011