Bear Tracks Travel Center

Lake Toxaway’s Treasures

Bear Tracks Travel Center is the gateway to a vast arena of adventure and natural beauty. It’s open seven days a week and located at 10932 Rosman Hwy, Lake Toxaway. For more information, call (828) 862-8992.

Pam and Ron Banther

The Lake Toxaway area has always been a destination for people living on or visiting the Plateau. Offering a little bit of a lot of different options is Bear Tracks Travel Center. It’s been dubbed an “introduction” to the area in that the locally-owned business provides everything from lazy river tubing trips and gem mining opportunities to local arts and crafts and groceries to outdoor gear, t-shirts, and souvenirs. Fashioned after true historic general stores, Bear Tracks Travel Center supplies just about anything anyone would need to make permanent living or vacationing practical and enjoyable. In 2000, Brevard natives Pam and Ron Banther purchased an existing convenience store and gave it the name Lake Toxaway Trading Post. In 2003, Pam’s brother, John Parker, joined their expanding venture. Together they built an outdoor store, Bear Tracks Trading Company – with the two stores eventually forming Bear Tracks Travel Center. Patrons can purchase clothing, gifts, fuel, groceries, tobacco, beer, lottery tickets, fishing and hunting supplies, and more. Also for sale are locally-sourcedor-made jams, jellies, honey, and pottery. Plus, guns and ammunition are for sale.

Perhaps the biggest allure at Bear Tracks is the Adventure Center, which is popular with water enthusiasts. “A three-mile tubing adventure is a chance to drift lazily down the river while taking in the idyllic sights and sounds of nature,” said Parker. Another big draw is the gem mine. Participants, “miners,” have found citrine, amethyst, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, aquamarine, quartz, tourmaline, moonstone, unakite, pyrite, and many other gems, according to the owners. “It’s exciting discovering gems in a wide variety of beautiful colors, each with their own unique characteristics,” said Banther. “Miners are able to take home a bag of treasures that will help them create their own special memories from the mountains.”

Parker added, “If you live in the area, are passing through, or are on vacation, we truly do have something for everyone.”

…a chance to drift lazily down the river…

by Deena Bouknight photo by Susan Renfro

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photo by Susan Renfro

HISTORY

Pages 156-165

Marjorie Christiansen and Janet Cummings

The Joys of Publishing

We explored distant horizons, but it turns out that Dorothy Gale was right all along.

My Business Partner and Eternal Sister Marjorie Christiansen and I have been sharing a few words within these recent issues to explain just how much we’ve enjoyed our 20 years of publishing. No, “enjoyed” just isn’t a strong enough word. Love is the only way to describe the passion that’s animated every day we’ve spent on this adventure. I can’t think of another emotion that could drive two rational women to such extremes – layout days that stretch out into layout nights before morphing into layout mornings; begging, wheedling, and cajoling people into letting us tell their story in our pages; and, of course, putting every cent we owned into this crazy notion. Love is the reason we got involved in this in the first place. We fell in love with these little communities and the people who breathe life into them, and the wild places that still manage to astonish us with their pristine beauty and their moments of pure wonder. It’s a deep love that’s never diminished, that continues to illuminate our days and color our dreams when we finally fall asleep. But like characters in a Jane Austin novel, that same love led us astray and delivered a series of complications that would test our fealty to our Dream. Perhaps in your travels you’ve noticed copies of The Laurel of Northeast Georgia or The Laurel of Asheville in racks across this final spur of the Southern Appalachians. Perhaps your initial thought was, “Hey, I wonder if that’s the same people behind The Laurel of Highlands and Cashiers?” And if you glanced through those magazines and saw that they were focused on local events, and interesting personalities and art, perhaps your second thought was, “Hey, these guys are ripping off Marjorie and Janet!” Well, always go with your first thought. Those other Laurels were indeed us.

It all made sense at the time – after several successful years of publishing, we convinced ourselves that we should tell the stories of Rabun County and Asheville (and its surroundings). We understood that both regions were rich in culture and heritage and stories waiting to be told. Sounds easy, right? We just had to adjust our sights for bigger, grander horizons. The stories and advertisers would fill our

pages and we’d suddenly be Queens of a Publishing Empire. Well, it turns out we weren’t quite ready for Citizen Kane: Mountain Edition.

The distance between Highlands and Asheville is 87 miles or an hour-and-a-half of travel, and Marjorie and I were spending vast heaps of daylight shuttling between the two. We quickly grew weary from this crack-of-dawn to waypast-twilight existence, but it took us a while to finally realize the same thing that occurred to Dorothy in the final reel of The Wizard of Oz: “And you’re all here. And I’m never going to leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all.” Finding individuals with similar dreams and dedication, we shared the magic, and sold those publications. They are both successful today in their own right, with their own unique personality and perspective reflecting their communities. And we were home.

We truly love you, and we cherish the chance to tell your stories. Our journey has made our tale richer and our love even stronger.

by Janet Cummings, Managing Partner, Laurel Magazine photos by Susan Renfro

A New Twist on History Highlands Historical Society’s new archivist, Lance Hardin, relishes deep dives into the town’s past.

Lance Hardin

Imagine being a college student on a road trip looking for outdoor adventure and stumbling across the perfect small town, the one whose memories lingered, the one that would figure prominently in your future. Such is the story of Highlands Historical Society’s new archivist, Lance Hardin. Lance and his wife, Gwyn, came through Highlands in the 80s and fell in love with the town. Later, as they pursued their careers – Lance as an accountant, Gwyn as a dietitian – they continued to vacation here. Soon, they bought a weekend home and eventually became full-time residents, together with their three children.

An accountant by profession, Lance has long been fascinated with the history and culture of Western North Carolina and decided to explore that interest further. He enrolled in Appalachian State University’s Appalachian Studies graduate program to delve deeper into the area’s rich history. His internship was with Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, documenting the cultural backgrounds of several of the Trust’s historic properties. That deep dive into the area’s cultural background was a natural segue to the position of archivist at HHS, but first he and Gwyn had another bucket list item to check off their list – hiking the Appalachian Trail. Setting off from Georgia in February 2021, they made it 1,200 miles to Massachusetts before an ankle problem forced Lance off the trail. They plan to finish the remainder of the trail in increments.

Once back in Highlands, Lance began his duties as archivist and is enjoying the opportunity to learn even more about our history and to share and document that knowledge. Lance reads anything he can find about the area and counts collecting books on our region as a favorite hobby. In fact, Lance’s love for the area has led to his new position as the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands’ new Welcome Center and Office Coordinator.

“We are thrilled to have Lance on our team,” says Kaye McHan, executive director of Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands. “He brings deep, academic knowledge of our region as well as an authentic passion for so many of the attributes that make Highlands special.” Hardin is ready to welcome visitors as well as volunteers who wish to serve the chamber and the Highlands Historical Society. Be sure to follow the HHS Instagram page, which Lance updates often with delightful and informative stories about our history.

by Mary Jane McCall photo by Susan Renfro