Winter 2023: The Laurel Magazine

The Heart of the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau

Publisher’s Note

You know, there was a time when Winter was considered the Sleepy Season around here.

That seems like a quaint notion now, doesn’t it? Just consider all the frisky activities and irrepressible people who’ve found their way into our pages.

From Snow Fest @ 4118 to the raucous Sapphire Outhouse Race and the snow tubing fun at Highlands Outpost, there’s no excuse for not plunging into the season.

And, of course, there’s Valentine’s Day, a blush of red in the middle of a grey month.

If you’re just not feeling the passion, visit Marlene Osteen’s wise Wine Report on Page 70. She has some true blue suggestions to add passion and warmth to your celebration.

Thank You!

Janet and Marjorie

Visit us online thelaurelmagazine.com phone 828.526.0173 email info@thelaurelmagazine.com mail Post Office Box 565 Highlands, North Carolina 28741

Contributing Writers: Ann Self, Mary Adair Trumbly, Sue Blair, David Stroud, William McReynolds, Sue Aery, Zach Claxton, Ashby

Copyright © 2023 by The Mountain Laurel, LLC. All rights reserved. Laurel Magazine is published eleven times per year. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. The publishers and editors are not responsible for unsolicited material and it will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication subject to Laurel Magazine’s right to edit. Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, photographs and drawings. Every effort has been made to assure that all information presented in this issue is accurate, and neither Laurel Magazine nor any of its staff is responsible for advertising errors, omissions, or information that has been misrepresented in or to the magazine. Any substantial errors that are the fault of the magazine will be subject to a reduction or reimbursement of the amounts paid by the advertiser, but in no case will any claim arising from such error exceed the amount paid for the advertisement by the advertiser.

WHAT TO DO

photo by Ryan Karcher

Grace Clothed in White

season.

Winter is a solitary time. We stay close to the home fires in winter, go dormant in the face of the cold and snow.

According to the songwriter Johnny Mercer, the summer winds blow “warm and fair” while the winter winds are “lonely” and “go on and on.”

Dormancy and on and on don’t mean nothing happens in winter. The fattened she-bear incubates her fertilized eggs during her winter dormancy, giving birth and nursing her young in her hibernation den. Imagine newborn winter cubs, at a mere one pound, nursing on mom’s milk while cuddling on her warm, soft belly. Talk about staying close to home for winter!

the real or metaphorical firewood we have accumulated. We weather storms throughout our lives and not just seasonally. The loss of a loved one or loss in any form can bring about a dormant period from which we emerge into new growth and new life.

… suspend outward efforts, go within, guard our resources, sustain ourselves for later growth …

Winter is not just about quiet growth. Winter beauty abounds. Here, in refrain, are some mountain beauty possibilities:

• Forest vistas with snow on tree branches and snow drifts turning countryside and meadow into a soft, undulating purity of white.

We do our own incubation during the dormancy of winter: suspend outward efforts, go within, guard our resources, sustain ourselves for later growth. During these times, we burn

• A hazy, winter moon, 60 watts, shining through high flying cirrus clouds making a wispy, icy halo against a background of deep, Carolina blue.

• The lingering holiday lights in our greenways as new snow

This is our time to go within to harbor hope and know the beauty of the

falls, reinstating our mountain winter wonderland.

• Misty morning sunbeams spearing through tall still trees, crisp air and crystalline blue skies.

• The gentle face of a startled doe: perfect stillness, ears up, statuesque, soft eyes looking for understanding.

• The rosy cheeks and excited eyes of a beloved child swathed in winter wool and plaids.

• The look of appreciation on the beloved cook’s face as the table rises to praise the meal.

• Kind eyes peering up at you in gratitude as you lovingly minister bedside to her needs and return her many acts of kindness back to her.

Winter is for inner growth and outward beauty. Thank All Goodness for winter: Grace clothed in white. Wishing you many moments of restoration and quiet beauty this winter, from the Laurel Magazine

by William McReynolds

Snow Fest @ 4118

Snow Fest @ 4118 is a frosty, frisky celebration that the entire Plateau needs –January 28-29 at Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park in Highlands.

Are you looking for a way to beat the cabin fever that inevitably hits after the holidays? Look no further than fun-filled Snow Fest @ 4118, a celebration of winter in all its glory, and a chance to have some outdoor fun with your friends, family, and neighbors. Hosted by the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/VisitHighlandsNC and held this year from 11:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. on Saturday and Sunday, January 28 and 29, at the Kelsey Hutchinson Founder’s Park, this festival promises to chase away the winter blues.

“Snow Fest @ 4118 is a great way to keep the fun and spirit of the season going after the holidays have concluded. Highlands is the perfect backdrop for a winter wonderland that can be

enjoyed by the entire community, especially families with younger children,” says Kaye McHan, executive director of the Highlands Chamber of Commerce.

We’ll second that notion of fun and encourage the young and the young at heart to grab their winter coats, gloves and warm boots and come out and make memories during Snow Fest @ 4118. There will be a snowball toss, ice slides, a merry-goround, a chance to make s’mores, and more. Yoga enthusiasts might want to check out the coolest new trend, “snowga” (well, if it’s not the coolest now, we predict it soon will be). Of course, there is also ice skating at the neighboring rink managed by The Town of Highlands.

This festival is not at the mercy of Mother Nature, though of course fingers are crossed that she blesses us with snowfall. If she has other plans, snow-blowing equipment will ensure that there is snow aplenty. You won’t want to miss all this wholesome outdoor fun.

For more information about Snow Fest @ 4118, contact the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC at events@highlandschamber.org or (828) 526-2112.

by Mary Jane McCall

Scan to learn more.

The Bear & the Bands

The talent’s already lining up for the third incarnation of the Bear Shadow Music Festival, set for April 28-30.

For ticketing and more information visit bearshadownc.com .

There’s something extraordinary on our spring calendar this year and it has to do with the Bear Shadow Music Festival.

Now in its third year and named for the enigma that the Shadow of the Bear casts annually across Whiteside Mountain, the festival returns to Winfield Farms in Scaly Mountain the weekend of April 28-30. Launched in 2019 and conceived as a sister event to the highly successful Highlands Food and Wine Festival, the

three-day outdoor event packs a roster of standout talent and an eclectic mix of genres and artists.

Headlining the show are:

Spoon, Friday, April 28: “Arguably, the greatest American rock band of the past 20 years, unyielding in their excellence,” wrote Rob Harvilla of The Ringer about the band in 2017. Spoon’s 10th album, Lucifer on the Sofa, released September 2022 was

nominated for the Best Rock Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

The Head and The Heart, Saturday, April 29: An acclaimed indie folk band formed in Seattle. Known for pairing modern rock with classic folk-pop elements in a way which is catchy, familiar, and compelling, they’ve been met with mainstream media enthusiasm since the release of their 2013 album Let’s Be Still.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Sunday,

Spoon

April 30: Through his career as a member of the Southern rock legends the Drive-By Truckers, fronting his own band the 400 Unit, and as a solo artist, Isbell has grown into one of music’s most brilliant songwriters. His 2015 album, Something More Than Free, and his 2017 release The Nashville Sound each debuted at the top of the Billboard rock and country charts, and collected four Grammys between them.

Opening acts include:

Fruit Bats, Friday, April 28: An American rock band formed in 1997 in Chicago, and an early entrant into the folk-rock boom of the early 2000s,

the group revolves around singer/songwriter Eric D. Johnson.

Neal Francis, Saturday, April 29: Performing songs steeped in New Orleans rhythms, Chicago blues, and early 70s rock n’ roll, his music evokes a bygone era of R&B’s heyday.

Amythyst Kiah, Sunday, April 30: Kiah, who describes herself as “Southern Gothic,” has spent the entirety of her years in the Appalachian Mountains. One of her first pointedly topical compositions, Black Myself, a down-home testimony to Black pride, earned a Grammy nomination for best American roots song.

Also, on stage are Midwestern artist Lissie; country musician Myron Elkins, and bluegrass talents Woody Platt & Shannon Whitworth. by

Scan to learn more.

Marlene Osteen

TheHeadandTheHeart

Book Havens in Winter

The Plateau’s twin libraries are natural havens from the Winter Blahs.

Come in From the Cold!

Most days of the week, the local library is open and welcoming while winter weather looms. They are the ideal places to take a break from home hibernation and learn, interact, and glean information.

Carlyn Morenus, branch librarian at Hudson Library in Highlands, reminds residents and visitors of several opportunities.

“In 2023, they will be held on the first Wednesday of each month at 11:00 A.M. There are always topics of interest to adults, especially seniors,” she said. For these programs, registration is required.

Morenus added, “Continuing services include notaries public at our libraries, MakerTools for check-out or in-library use, comfortable spaces for reading, study, remote work, and meetings. Cozy up by the fireplace at Hudson Library, or

reserve a Study Room. Online offerings include streaming services, e-books and e-audiobooks, research tools, Universal Class, and much more.”

In addition, Kids Zone afterschool programs are on Thursdays at 3:30 P.M.

“There’s always something fun to do, ranging from STEAM programs like robotics, 3D pens, and Lego Club, to crafts and art projects,” said Morenus. “Billy Love from The Bascom partners once a month to do a book-into-art project. And, Paisley the READing therapy dog is here on the fourth Thursday during Kids Zone; she loves to have kids read to her!”

Family Storytime is every Thursday at 10:40 A.M; Youth Theater programs continue on Saturdays.

Finally, starting in February, libraries in the Fontana system are joining libraries across North Carolina for the second year of North Carolina Reads, a program of North Carolina Humanities. Copies of

each month’s book will be available to check out. February’s book is Carolina Built by Kianna Alexander, a story based on the life and legacy of Josephine N. Leary, an African American entrepreneur and businesswoman who built a real estate empire in Edenton, North Carolina, during the Reconstruction era. Storytimes, STEAM programming, and much more is also available at Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library.

“And, we’ll be continuing our youth performing arts classes,” said Branch Library Serenity Richards, noting that opportunities to play Mah Jongg continue through the winter months, from Mondays at 1:00 P.M. “These are friendly games for players of all skill levels. Plus, one-on-one tech help is a good reminder for all the gadgets and devices people may have received over the holidays.”

by Deena Bouknight

So Dear and So Here

With its We Love Locals program, Old Edwards Inn offers a luxurious Winter Getaway to its neighbors. For more information and reservations, visit oldedwardshospitality. com/locallove

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – the “secret season” when nature spins magical scenes all around on the Plateau, when snow blankets the terrain and parking spaces remain empty on Main Street.

How lucky are we? Locals can explore the wonders of our outdoors while luxuriating indoors in true European elegance at Old Edwards. Again, this winter, thanks to Old Edwards Inn’s We Love Locals specials, residents of Macon, Jackson, Transylvania and Rabun counties need not a king’s riches to escape to this rural oasis; to a place where the Plateau’s Mountain grandeur is truly embodied.

From January 2 through March 30, the European-luxury style rooms at Old Edwards are available to locals for $195 per night Sunday through Thursday, plus tax. At sister property Half-Mile Farm, known for its bucolic charm and laidback luxury, the Sunday through Thursday

rate is $165, plus tax. At either location, guests can be assured of welcoming hospitality and the super attentive services from Old Edwards Inn’s cadre of valets and concierges, for which it has been universally acclaimed.

Whichever Old Edwards’ accommodations you choose, there’s much to do. You can stay close and sit by a roaring fire and read a book. You can join a fitness or yoga class for only $20, book a massage or luxuriate with a treatment at The Spa at Old Edwards. Treat yourself or a loved one to a gift from the curated and artful selection Old Edwards home décor, furnishings and gift shop, Acorns and enjoy 25 percent off your purchase.

You can unwind with a glass of complimentary champagne with dinner at Madison’s. Best of all, you can indulge in the farm-to-table cuisine that celebrates Appalachian ingredients and enjoy wine from the restaurant’s Wine Spectator award winning list.

Venture further afield and you can view granite rock faces glistening with ice formations and frozen waterfalls along the Panthertown Valley Trails, often referred to as the “Yosemite of the East.” You can go horseback riding or fly fishing on the icy waters of nearby rivers.

In February, you can visit Whiteside Mountain and witness the specter of the Shadow of the Bear as it comes out of hibernation – making its appearance for just 30 minutes on sunny days.

“Getting away from it all” has never been so near nor so dear.

All rates quoted are subject to availability. Local ID is required from Macon, Jackson, Transylvania and Rabun counties for each person receiving the discount. For further eligibility and restrictions, visit oldedwardshospitality. com/locallove

by Marlene Osteen

Get Out This Winter

The Plateau is home to a raft of activities that’ll get your heart pumping and invigorate your outlook. (In the words of Highlands’ unofficial commentator and eternal friend of the editor, the late Walter Taylor: “Make sure you wear two pairs of socks. And a few sips of peach bounce wouldn’t hurt.”)

Despite it traditionally being named the Sleepy Season, winter on the Plateau has always been home to winter activities that’ve been anything but drowsy.

Over the decades, Highlanders have congregated at Mirror Lake and Harris Lake once they’d frozen over, often outfitted with skates lent out by the sadly-shuttered Highlands Country Store.

Of course, there was the massive Polar Bear Plunge at Lake Glenville on New Year’s Eve 1994 (which we have reason to believe has become a tradition in isolated pockets).

And, though we hesitate to mention it here, there have been generations of Highlands High School daredevils who’ve accpted the challenge of late-night ice climbing up the frozen spill of Dry Falls. (Please, kids, stop it! It’s not only illegal, it’s an invitation to a grim future of poorly-mended bones and concussive brain damage – if you’re lucky!)

So it’s only natural that our passion for cold weather fun would carry into the 21st Century.

You can read all about Snow Fest @ 4118 on page 16 and

Sapphire’s outlandish Outhouse Race on Page 30, but one is only operating for a single weekend, and the other for a single afternoon.

Here then, are other acitivities to get your blood pumping and make your frosty nose flow like the aforementioned unfrozen Dry Falls.

In Highlands this winter, visit Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park, where they provide safe, modern skates, you can enjoy ice-skating until March 6 (as long as the ice holds). Times: Thursday, 1:00 to 8:00 P.M.; Friday and Saturday, 1:00-10.00 P.M.; and Sunday, 1:00-6:00 P.M. On cold nights, warm yourself and socialize at the lower level fireplace. It’s a wonderful family outing right in the middle of town where the air is crisp, the fire is warm (get even warmer with hot chocolate or coffee), and the rink invites everything from rockin’ to romance. Only $5, and that includes skate rental.

Why not have a party at the rink (limit 25 skaters)? Visit highlandsnc.org for more info.

Of course, for some people, ice skating isn’t the only cold

weather activity that’ll get your blood pumping as the mercury plummets.

Cast your gaze toward Sapphire Valley Ski Resort in Sapphire – a 1,600-foot main run with a vertical drop of 200 feet, a learning center slope and the newly-expanded, multi-lane snow tubing run.

And then there’s all the action at Highlands Outpost in Scaly Mountain.

Have you heard about the Outpost’s Mountain Coasting, a gravitational hybrid of an Alpine Slide and a Roller Coaster? It’s 3,800 feet of thrills through the magnificent Appalachian Mountains. You can zip, plunge, and glide through Mother Nature’s best. After a spin in 360-degree curves, the cart disengages, and gravity takes over. Guests, one or two to a cart, coast down a winding descent, using a set of handbrakes to regulate their own cart speed – up to 27 mph.

In addition to gravity-coasting, don’t miss snow-tubing at Highlands Outpost. They’ve added new tubing slopes to accommodate even more guests. And you can strap on your ice skates and have a go at the Outpost’s rink.

And new this year, the Outpost has opened a snow play area for littler kids, perfect for safely romping and enjoying every measure of delight to be found in a snowscape.

Take advantage of Outpost booking and confirmation of reservations/tickets. For more information, visit highlandsoutpost.com or call (828) 526-3737.

by Luke Osteen

Your Cover Worthy Photo

Show us the magic of Winter on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau – it’s all around you. If it’s just right, we’ll put you on the cover of Laurel and proclaim you a Winner!

We’d invite you to gaze at the deeply evocative cover of this Winter 2023 Issue.

It’s the product of Christena Brostrom’s artist’s instincts and her refined photographic talents. You can read all about Christena and her magic moment in Donna Rhodes’ profile on page 56.

We’re inviting you to capture your own

Plateau Winter Image and submit it to our Laurel Winter 2024 Cover Contest.

The Laurel Magazine’s annual winter photo competition is your chance to become the cover artist of our 2024 Winter Edition. Each year we look forward to seeing everyone’s magical winter photos as you, our readers, log onto our website and vote for your favorites.

Whether you’re a professional photographer, or just someone who loves to capture the magic of the moment on your cell phone or pocket camera, The Laurel is offering you a chance to become a cover artist. That’s right, the 2024 Laurel Winter Photo Contest has begun, so grab your camera and start snapping your way to fame.

ElizabethKing

LaurieMetzger

Your winning photograph could be the cover of our 2024 winter edition.

Pictured are some of our favorites from last year’s competition. One of these might be just the inspiration you need to capture your own winning shot. All you have to do is keep an eye open for the beauty of this, our quietest and most reflective season, and capture that moment on film.

You can submit shots of our Wild Places, hushed winter landscapes,or cozy

interiors bathed in warm colors.

Enter your seasonal and magazineappropriate shots at thelaurelmagazine. com/contest/winter2023 by March 31.

Submitted photographs should be high resolution and must be of the HighlandsCashiers area. Amateurs, professionals, young and old, are encouraged to join the fun and share the beauty of the season.

Pictures will appear on The Laurel Facebook and Instagram accounts and readers can vote for their favorite. The

deadline to enter and to vote is March 31 and the winner will be announced on Facebook and Instagram..

The winning photograph will appear on the cover of the 2024 January-February edition of The Laurel Magazine

We can’t wait to see what winter wonder you’ve captured!

Scan to enter and vote.

CarolAnneHanks

Outhouse Races

With its reputation for rolling, rollicking silliness, Sapphire’s Outhouse Races has become a regional institution. Join the fun on Saturday, February 18. Visit sapphirevalleyresorts. com for more info.

Since snow and humans first united, almost anything flattish has been christened a sled: derrieres, hollowedout logs, tanned hides, wheelbarrows on skis, baskets, innertubes, big plastic container lids, a baby pool, a slab of cardboard, or Grandpa’s itchy britches.

Raise your hand if you’ve tried at least three of these (I know my hand is up).

Well, here’s one you probably haven’t slid-upon – yet! A homemade outhouse. A one-holer made of any ordinary household material in addition to the aforementioned. And don’t forget your roll of TP to show you really give a crap. (Editor’s Note: Sorry about that!)

This is a chance for you (the sitter) and two pals (the pushers) to have a go. The Sapphire Valley Ski Resort has everything you’ll need for your 120-foot slide-ride on snow and/or ice, depending on the drizzle du jour.

Here’s how you get a ride on the porcelain bus. Mark your calendar: Saturday, February

18. Registration is at 1:30 P.M. Static parade (the viewing and judging) is at 2:30 with the races to follow in the Sapphire Valley Ski Area, 3:00 – 4:00 P.M. It’s $125 per homebuilt entry. If you want to rent an outhouse from Sapphire, there’s an additional charge. Checks payable to SVMA.

The Outhouse Races have been named a February Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society.

So, don’t forget: one hole, a TP roll, and an outhouse built around ‘em. Decorate it as elaborately or as simply as you choose. Or rent one on site. You and your outhouse on skis will go head-to-head down a two-lane track against another privy, delicately put, flying forward while eating backwards, It’s for no other reason than some gosh-darn, good ol’ fun and entertainment for family and friends. Now go out there, sink a sub, park a custard, and release the hostages.

by Donna Rhodes

JANUARY

Cashiers Designer Showhouse, 10 AM-4 PM.

Happy New Year!

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Erin Gray Trunk Show, Acorns. Sentimental Journey, 2 PM & 7:30 PM, Highlands Playhouse.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

The Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

2 1 3 4

Cashiers Quilters, 12:30 PM, St. Jude’s Catholic Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Bluegrass Wednesday, 7:30 PM, The Ugly Dog Pub.

Highlands Food Pantry 10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 8 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Cashiers Valley Community Chorus, 5:45 PM, Lewis HallVillage Green Commons. Thursday Night Trivia, 7:30 PM, The High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.

Cashiers Designer Showhouse, 10 AM-4 PM.

Ice Skating, 1 to 5 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Erin Gray Trunk Show, Acorns. Sentimental Journey, 2 PM & 7:30 PM, Highlands Playhouse.

Ice Skating, 1 to 5 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Ice Skating, 1 to 5 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Paint and Pints with Autumn, 5:30 PM. The High Dive.

Snow Fest at 4118, Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park.

Ice Skating, 1 to 5 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. The Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

The Bookworm

9 8 10 11

11 AM - 3 PM.

Cashiers Quilters, 12:30 PM, St. Jude’s Catholic Church.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Bluegrass Wednesday, 7:30 PM, The Ugly Dog Pub.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 8 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Cashiers Valley Community Chorus, 5:45 PM, Lewis HallVillage Green Commons. Thursday Night Trivia, 7:30 PM, The High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM.

Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands

United Methodist Church.

The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Cashiers Quilters, 12:30 PM, St. Jude’s Catholic Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Bluegrass Wednesday, 7:30 PM, The Ugly Dog Pub.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM. Ice Skating, 3:30 to 8 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Cashiers Valley Community Chorus, 5:45 PM, Lewis Hall. Thursday Night Trivia, 7:30 PM, The High Dive.

Mountain Findings

Open 10 AM - 1 PM. Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM. Ice Skating, 3:30 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Cashiers Quilters, 12:30 PM, St. Jude’s Catholic Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Bluegrass Wednesday, 7:30 PM, The Ugly Dog Pub.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

The Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 8 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Cashiers Valley Community Chorus, 5:45 PM, Lewis HallVillage Green Commons. Thursday Night Trivia, 7:30 PM, The High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM.

The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

View the complete Highlands Cashiers Plateau Calendar

Cashiers Designer Showhouse, 10 AM-4 PM.

Highlands Marketplace, 8 AM - 12:30 PM.

Highlands Marketplace, 8 AM Erin Gray Trunk Show, Acorns. Mountain Findings, 10 AM - 1 PM. Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM. Sentimental Journey, 2:00 & 7:30 PM, Highlands Playhouse. Pop-Up Pipers, 4:30 - 5:00 PM

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM. National Theatre Live, 1 PM, PAC. Ice Skating, 1 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Kelsey-Hutchinson Park. Mountain Findings, 10 AM - 1 PM. Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Food Drive, 10 AM-1 PM, Fishes and Loaves Food Pantry. Barnas Denim Trunk Show, TJ Bailey’s. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Saturdays on Pine, 6 PM.

Brooklyn: The Musical, 2 PM and 7:30 PM, Highlands Playhouse. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Highlands Burritos side patio. Saturdays on Pine Concert, 6 PM. Concert, 6 PM, Town & Country. Bluegrass, Cashiers Smokehouse. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM.

MET Opera, 12:55 PM, PAC. Ice Skating, 1 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Mountain Findings, 10 AM - 1 PM.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM. Ice Skating, 1 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. The Bascom, Winter Resident Artist. Exhibition opens. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Snow Fest at 4118, Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park. Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. National Theatre Live, 1 PM, PAC. Ice Skating, 1 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.

Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”

– Edith Sitwell

FEBRUARY

The Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Cashiers Quilters, 12:30 PM, St. Jude’s Catholic Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Bluegrass Wednesday, 7:30 PM, The Ugly Dog Pub.

1Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Cashiers Valley Community Chorus, 5:45 PM, Lewis HallVillage Green Commons. Thursday Night Trivia, 7:30 PM, The High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM

Cashiers Designer Showhouse, 10 AM-4 PM.

Ice Skating, 1 to 5 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

Highlands Food Pantry

The Bookworm

6 5 7 8

Erin Gray Trunk Show, Acorns. Sentimental Journey, 2 PM & 7:30 PM, Highlands Playhouse.

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

The Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

11 AM - 3 PM.

Cashiers Quilters, 12:30 PM, St. Jude’s Catholic Church.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Bluegrass Wednesday, 7:30 PM, The Ugly Dog Pub.

Highlands Food Pantry 10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Cashiers Valley Community Chorus, 5:45 PM, Lewis HallVillage Green Commons. Thursday Night Trivia, 7:30 PM, The High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM.

Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.

Ice Skating, 1 to 5 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

The Bookworm

11 AM - 3 PM.

Cashiers Quilters, 12:30 PM, St. Jude’s Catholic Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Bluegrass Wednesday, 7:30 PM, The Ugly Dog Pub.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Cashiers Valley Community Chorus, 5:45 PM, Lewis Hall. Thursday Night Trivia, 7:30 PM, The High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.w

Ice Skating, 1 to 5 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Paint and Pints with Autumn, 5:30 PM. The High Dive.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Cashiers Quilters, 12:30 PM, St. Jude’s Catholic Church. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Bluegrass Wednesday, 7:30 PM, The Ugly Dog Pub.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church. The Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Winter Exhibitions Reception, 5 PM, The Bascom.

Cashiers Valley Community Chorus, 5:45 PM, Lewis HallVillage Green Commons. Thursday Night Trivia, 7:30 PM, The High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 3:30 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.

Ice Skating, 1 to 5 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Highlands Food Pantry

Highlands Food Pantry

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

10 AM - 6 PM, Highlands United Methodist Church.

The Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

The Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM.

Village Nature Series, 5 PM, Village Green Commons. Enchanted Forest 6-7:30 PM, Highlands Botanical Garden.

Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Art Benefit, drawing 5 PM, Betsy Paul Real Estate.

View the complete Highlands Cashiers Plateau Calendar

Highlands Marketplace, 8 AM - 12:30 PM.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM. MET Opera, 12:55 PM, PAC. Ice Skating, 1 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Kelsey-Hutchinson Park. Mountain Findings, 10 AM - 1 PM. Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Food Drive, 10 AM-1 PM, Fishes and Loaves Food Pantry. Barnas Denim Trunk Show, TJ Bailey’s.

Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to10 PM Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Saturdays on Pine, 6 PM.

Brooklyn: The Musical, 2 PM and 7:30 PM, Highlands Playhouse. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Cashiers Designer Showhouse, 10 AM-4 PM. Highlands Marketplace, 8 AM Erin Gray Trunk Show, Acorns. Mountain Findings, 10 AM - 1 PM. Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm 11 AM - 3 PM. Sentimental Journey, 2:00 & 7:30 PM, Highlands Playhouse. Pop-Up Pipers, 4:30 - 5:00 PM Highlands Burritos side patio. Saturdays on Pine Concert, 6 PM. Concert, 6 PM, Town & Country. Bluegrass, Cashiers Smokehouse. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM.

Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM. National Theatre Live, 1 PM, PAC. Ice Skating, 1 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM.

Ice Skating, 1 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Outhouse Races, 1:30 PM, Sapphie Valley Ski Resort. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green. Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM. Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

Bazaar Barn, 10 AM - 2 PM. Bookworm , 11 AM - 3 PM. National Theatre Live, 1 PM, PAC. Ice Skating, 1 to 10 PM, Kelsey Hutchinson Founders Park. Village Lights Display, Cashiers Village Green.

Live Music at Hummingbird Lounge, 5:30 to 10 PM.

Live Music, 9:30 PM, High Dive.

“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold.”

341 Highway 64 West Cashiers, NC 28717 828-743-1999

RECREATION & CREATION

photo by Susan Renfro

Our Winter Birds

Some birds skip the Cold Stream Express and stick with us here on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau.

We know about the birds that go through the winter with us here on the Plateau because we inventory them.

Every year.

In December the National Audubon Society sponsors the Christmas Bird Count that mobilizes the many Audubon chapters and volunteers into an international count-your-birds event. The Audubon Society counts representative samples of our North American birds every year. It’s serious ornithology in the form of hemispheric citizen science.

These Christmas Bird Counts have occurred every winter since 1900. CBCs now take place across the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and beyond. Counters include as many as 2,400

counting groups including over 60,000 individuals whose counts total upwards of 70 million birds. These yearly bird counts feed what is one of the largest citizen science databases in the world. Our local Highlands Plateau Audubon Society participates in these bird counts every year and, as a result, we know what birds winter with us. Looking across years, we see samples comprising as many as 50 species and 2000 birds a year. Some years we see over 500 Slate-colored Juncos, for instance, making this one of our most abundant winter species. These precious little birds have white bellies and skitter about at ground level in a manner reminiscent of pigeons. They eat seeds and are friendly with other birds.

Another common winter bird is the Carolina Chickadee. This

Dark-eyedJunco

namesake bird is often the first to come to a winter feeder, ahead of the mixed winter flock soon to follow. Our Chickadees, like our high-count Song Sparrows and Carolina Wren, puff themselves up in a down blanket for warmth. The normally sleek Wren can look like a brown feathered tennis ball on a frigid winter day.

Happy winter bird watching from your local Audubon group. The Highlands Plateau Audubon Society, focused on enjoying and preserving birds and their habitats, is a Chapter of the National Audubon Society and a 501(c)(3) organization. Find us at highlandsaudubonsociety.org

by William McReynolds

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CarolinaWren

Summer Full of Happy

Highlands Biological Foundation, located at 265 North 6th Street, has unveiled its 2023 series of educational (and relentlessly fun) Summer Nature Camps for kids. For more information, visit highlandsbiological.org .

Anew year brings refreshed excitement for what’s ahead. Now, in the midst of winter, we at the Highlands Biological Foundation (HBF) are dreaming of a summer full of happy, curious kids skipping around the Highlands Nature Center and Highlands Botanical Garden.

This dream will soon come to fruition as our 2023 Nature Camps are just around the corner! Leading the charge will be HBF’s Education Specialist Holly Theobald who is “most looking forward to creating a fun, engaging, and educational camp curriculum that focuses on the natural wonders of the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau.”

Holly is a passionate environmental educator who seeks to balance fun and learning for her campers.

“The upcoming camp curriculum will correlate to the NC Standard Course of Study, and I can’t wait to see how campers react when they experience, first-hand, the scientific concepts they learned during school,” she noted.

Each summer, HBF hosts educational camps at the Highlands Nature Center for children ages 4 to 12 years old. The camps run weekly between June and early August, so it’s an ideal way to give children an impactful, productive experience during their school break.

“Nature Camps provide campers with the opportunity to safely engage with the natural world,” says Holly. “This enables them to learn through exploratory activities, which strengthens their natural curiosity of the environment. Campers also strengthen their social skills, by taking part in group activities designed to create collaborative investigations. Our educational staff cannot wait to immerse campers in exploration hikes, nature-themed games, crafts, and more!

Camp themes, dates, and prices will be posted online on Monday, January 30. HBF members receive early access to camp registration on Monday, February 27. Registration will open for non-members the following week. Please note that camps fill quickly. Complimentary year-long memberships are available to those who donate $30 or more to HBF. To become a member or check the status of your membership, please call our office at (828) 526-2221.

The Highlands Nature Center and Highlands Botanical Garden are part of the Highlands Biological Station, a multi-campus center of Western Carolina University.

by

Winter Gary, Highlands Biological Foundation photo by Colleen Kerrigan

AlbertMountain photobyRyanKarcher

Traversing to Fire Towers

While modern high technology currently pinpoints wildfires throughout these remote mountainous regions, there was a time when human beings were the fire spotters; they were assigned shifts at high lookout towers primarily on balds (mountain summits covered primarily by native grasses or shrubs instead of trees) and had access to communication systems to provide alerts if necessary.

Those fire lookout towers are now go-to hiking spots in that they afford, if still safely accessible, an opportunity to enjoy an even greater and more majestic view

than the high points on which they sit.

Three fire towers in the Nantahala National Forest are worth adding to a hiking bucket list: Albert Mountain, Wesser Bald, and Wayah Bald.

Although the top catwalk of the Albert Mountain fire lookout tower is locked for safety reasons, one can climb the steps for awe-inspiring, 5,000-pluselevation views toward Franklin, Highlands, and Georgia. The current metal tower was built in the 1950s to replace an older, wooden tower on nearby Standing Indian Mountain.

The original Wesser Bald tower was built in 1936 by the Civilian Conversation Corps as a live-in lookout. And, although what was a live-in cab was destroyed by arson in 1979, the existing observation deck was constructed in the early 1990s by the United States Forest Service and provides 360-degree mountain views of the Nantahala National Forest and the Great Smoky Mountains.

The original Wayah Bald tower was built in 1937 of native stone and rebuilt in 2018 after it was burned during the 2016 wildfires.

The recent novel, Light Fracture, begins

Each of our local fire towers provides a glimpse into the past and unparalleled vistas.

and ends with a main character’s setting at the Wayah Bald fire tower, prior to its stone construction: “The tower, cabin-like until many years after he left the world, was a solitary, open, chestnut structure situated at the highest point, with map, compass, and alidade [sighting device] as his inanimate companions. During especially dry times, another shared the tight six-by-nine-foot space. The lookout, in fact, did not suit his elevation needs. He spoke often of a higher, permanent stone structure on the grounds of the Bald, a treeless summit in North Carolina with views

of Tennessee to the west and to the south extending into South Carolina toward Greenville. The northern vistas stretched beyond Sylva and Waynesville

…an opportunity to enjoy an even greater and more majestic view than the high points on which they sit

in the direction of Asheville. To the east, Georgia. Long before the tower was built for the white man to detect fires, Natives scouted game and observed packs of wolves – to whom the name “Wa-ya” is credited.”

Most fire towers were constructed during the Great Depression and into the early 1950s. A lookout would call neighboring towers to confirm the location of a fire so firefighters could be deployed.

None of these fire tower hikes is long, and each one is listed on the AllTrails app. Mooney Gap to Albert Mountain is a 3.1 out and back hike; Wesser Bald via Appalachian Trail is 2.8 miles out and back; and, one can drive to, park, and take a short walk to the Wayah Bald tower.

by Deena Bouknight

WayahBald photobyRyanKarcher

WesserBald photobyDeenaBouknight

A NewHealthy Year? Thank the Land Trust

Not sure where to go in this new year? HighlandsCashiers Land Trust has some ideas. Visit hicashlt. org/hiking-trails.html .

The turning of the calendar page to “January” often prompts one to reflect and set objectives for the new year. If improved physical and mental health, spending more “quality time” with family, or simply being more diligent about getting your pup some exercise is on your agenda, the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust can help!

In recognition of our state’s outstanding natural and outdoor recreational resources the North Carolina General Assembly has declared 2023 to be the Year of the Trail.

Many of HCLT’s more than 130 properties provide trail hiking opportunities. In the Highlands area the Brushy Face tract off Hwy 28 South and Dixon Woods in the Bowery Road area are great options to explore nearby trails. Many HCLT properties such as Ravenel Park (Sunset Rock), the summit of

Satulah, and view lots atop Big Bear Pen mountain can be connected via trails maintained by the Highlands Plateau Greenway, making it possible to hike for miles, taking in incredible views, and never leaving city limits!

In the Cashiers area the soon-to-beopened Edward Baker Preserve in the Laurel Knob Road area will likewise provide miles of opportunities to stretch your legs.

Winter months can be one of the best times to experience our trails. The absence of seasonal foliage opens up views that stay hidden most of the year. The vibrant greens of pines and hemlocks take center stage. Light snow divulges the footsteps marking the unseen passage of small animals.

Seasonal flora such as Galax, Christmas Fern, and Wild Ginger emerge from the shadow of their showy summer peers.

Birders will spot Junco and Tufted Titmouse foraging for seeds and other nutrients. At dusk the haunting calls of owls punctuate the serenity of a winter forest.

It’s no surprise that studies show that time spent hiking in this type of environment has numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease, hypertension, incidences of diabetes, and helps with weight loss. Mental health benefits include anxiety release, helping with creative problem solving, and mitigating cognitive impairment.

If your plans for 2023 include a focus on physical and mental health, please look for more information and trail maps at hicashlt.org/hiking-trails.html

by Lance Hardin, Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust

photo by Susan Renfro

Steeped in Art

Christena Brostrom is one of those lucky people who happens to love her work as much as her play.

Maybe it’s because work and play are steeped in Art, with design, color, aesthetic transformations, making living space all new again, and, best of all, putting people in the midst of everything they love.

What a glorious way to live, both for Christena and for her clients. But that’s not all. She also has a sharp photographer’s eye, which not only helps her nail photos of finished houses for her

husband’s construction company, it also benefits her interior design creations (much of which is for private hoteliers). And it often puts her in the middle of Mother Nature’s best when she, her husband, Eric, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Charlotte are hiking. In fact, that very thing, hiking, is what led her and her family to Highlands Snow Fest @ 4118 and Dry Falls last season where she captured a beautiful icy waterscape. It singled her out as the 2022 Laurel winter cover winner.

According to Christena, “Climbing down the steep hillside by the falls was super treacherous, because it was completely

For our cover artist Christena

Brostrom,

“cold and crazy” is a winning formula.

iced over. But we are determined hikers and climbers, so we negotiated bushes and icicles and slippery slopes very slowly.”

The slogan of the day became: “It was cold and crazy.” The girls’ hair and clothing were decorated with snow and sparkly, spikes of ice.

But we are determined hikers and climbers, so we negotiated bushes and icicles and slippery slopes very slowly.

The Brostroms and their families have a history with Clayton and Highlands. Treks to Highlands were frequent. They now live in Woodstock, Georgia, and Highlands is a permanent dot on their horizon.

Another dot on Christena and her daughter’s horizon is competition dancing. It’s rumored that Santa is delivering just the right camera for such events, and the family can’t wait to get started. Christena says, “I’d like to expand that avocation over the next few years and make it a big part of our lives.”

Christena is available to shoot individual dance portraits. Contact her at (770) 519-5470.

by Donna Rhodes

ChristenaBrostrom

A Sense of Depth

Kimberly English brings a dynamic presence to the community as The Bascom’s 2022-2023 Winter Resident Artist.

KimberlyEnglish

Kimberly English, The Bascom’s Winter Resident Artist, makes beautiful work that engages the viewer not just in looking but in experiencing the presence of woven cloth. In emphasizing the architecture of cloth and the ways in which threads modulate between a sense of the two dimensional and the volume created in warp and weft, English creates what she calls “a sense of depth or engraving”. Her work is both an exercise in the mastery of woven and quilted techniques (craft), and an engagement with the existential meaning of the handmade. We invite audiences to engage with her work in a site-specific installation she has created for The Bascom.

Opening on January 21, English will share with her audience her own exploration of the tensions between the modern and the primal legacy of textiles and invite us to experience the work in a three-dimensional space that asks us

to engage with her work from different vantage points. An exhibition of ironic abstraction, the work will juxtapose gestures towards creation myths with contemporary concerns surrounding climate change, globalization, and nuclear war.

Kimberly English is an artist and educator living and working in Asheville, North Carolina. She earned her BFA in Fibers as a Distinguished Scholar from Savannah College of Art and Design and her MFA in Studio Art subsequently. Her work has been exhibited widely, most recently through Blue Spiral, Vox Populi, Oneoneone Gallery, and the Ackland Museum at UNC Chapel Hill.

The Bascom Winter Resident Artist Program, better known as the W.R.A.P., calls on Students or Faculty from the surrounding universities to submit site-specific installation proposals for The Bascom’s unique and beautiful Thompson Gallery. Students and faculty

from across the southeast apply for this unique and challenging opportunity to live and work on The Bascom campus to design, build, and install their project proposal in only four weeks.

The W.R.A.P. is designed to accommodate the Winter Break schedules of artists enrolled in degree programs or Higher Education instruction. Students and faculty from across the southeast apply for this unique and challenging opportunity to live and work on The Bascom campus to design, build, and install their project proposal in only four weeks.

by Billy Love, The Bascom

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Mountain Theatre Company’s Outreach in 2022

As 2022 ends, Mountain Theatre Company is celebrating the end of a remarkable season at The Highlands Playhouse. With record-breaking ticket sales, off the charts talent, a new Theatre for Young Audiences initiative, and a full season of live theatre from July through December, MTC has much to toast this New Year’s Eve!

MTC’s 2022 Mainstage Season opened in July with their production of the Broadway smash, Jersey Boys. Word spread quickly that this was a show and a cast not to be missed! The production enjoyed a sold out run of all 22 performances, with nearly 3,800 tickets sold. By the end of the run, people who hadn’t been able to secure tickets started showing up and waiting outside the theatre, hoping to score a ticket from cancellations or no-shows.

Jersey Boys was followed by Sentimental Journey in August, a beautiful and sentimental musical revue which celebrated the music of the Word War II era. Audiences left dazzled by glamorous costumes, incredible music, and impressive choreography performed by a first-class group of professional dancers.

The fall brought an inspiring and uplifting modern day fairy tale to the Playhouse stage with BKLYN: The Musical. With unbelievable music and a small cast of five singing incredible harmonies, this show had audiences leaving not only talking about the music, but the heartwarming messages of family, faith, hope, and forgiveness.

In November, MTC launched its first Theatre for Young Audiences show with A Wrinkle in Time. Approximately 800 local students in Macon, Jackson,

Transylvania, and Rabun Counties attended school field trips to see this professional production of the classic children’s novel performed at The Highlands Playhouse completely free of charge. Public performances were offered with a “Pay What You Can” ticket rate for adults and free tickets for all children.

MTC’s final show of the 2022 season just wrapped up! Their production of Home for the Holidays featured a cast of favorite performers from the season as they return to Highlands to celebrate the holidays with some good cheer, a lot of fun, and songs, glitz, and glamor for the whole family to enjoy.

by Lindsay Garner Hostetler, Director of Marketing and Outreach, Mountain Theatre Company

A rejuvenated Mountain Theatre Company celebrates an astonishing streak of hits.

PAC Has You Covered

This

Winter

With an exciting Winter 2023 schedule, Highlands Performing Arts Center proves it’s Much Ado About Nothing (and lots more). Tickets are available at HighlandsPeformingArts.com .

January and February bring several options for your viewing pleasure.

The National Theatre of London will present (previously recorded live): Saturdays at 1:00 P.M.:

January 7: Jack Absolute Flies Again (by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris based on Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals) is this year’s big, blockbuster comedy from the National Theatre. Set in 1940s pastoral Britain, the show is a hilarious wartime farce, with plenty of heart.

January 28: Shakespeare’s well-loved romcom of sun, sea and mistaken identity, Much Ado About Nothing. The legendary family-run Hotel Messina on the Italian Riviera has been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty. But when the owner’s daughter weds a dashing young soldier, not all guests are in the mood for love. A string of scandalous deceptions soon surrounds not only the young couple, but also the adamantly single Beatrice and Benedick.

February 11: The Seagull by Anton Chekhov. A young woman is desperate for fame and a way out. A young man is pining after the woman of his dreams. A successful writer longs for a sense of achievement. An actress wants to fight the changing of the times. In an isolated home in the countryside, dreams lie in tatters, hopes are dashed, and hearts broken. With nowhere left to turn, the only option is to turn on each other.

February 25: Othello by Shakespeare, An extraordinary new production of Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedy. She’s a bright, headstrong daughter of a senator; elevated by her status but stifled by its expectations. He’s a refugee of slavery; having risen to the top of a white world, he finds love across racial lines has a cost.

At 12:55 P.M. Saturday, the MET Opera will present live via satellite, Umberto Giordano’s Fedora, the exhilarating drama returns to the Met Repertory for

the first time in 25 years. Packed with memorable melodies, showstopping arias, and explosive confrontations.

February 4, 1:00 P.M.: A special presentation: Portrait Of The Queen. Special focus is given to each of The Queen’s most intense, intimate, faithful portraits, symbols of 20th century history, contextualized by the photographers who portrayed Her Majesty. In addition, sincere, spontaneous comments from British subjects alternate with conversations featuring photographer Emma Blau; Valentino Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli; and actress, author, philanthropist, and model Isabella Rossellini, who met the Queen in person and gives viewers a more private, intimate reflection on the role, obligations and complexities of being a monarch.

by Mary Adair Trumbly, Highlands Performing Arts Center

DINING

photo by Susan Renfro

One Little Sliver at a Time

JulieBollinger

She had long searched for the perfect recipe to satisfy her family’s hunger for carrot cake. For its long been the case that their favorite way to celebrate any birthday, holiday or random joyful moment is with carrot cake.

Though cooking has many years been part of the family business – h er brother Alan owned The Dry Sink for 28 years, and Julie and her sister Susie inherited it when he unexpectedly passed away – she didn’t have a go-to recipe. She moved from recipe to recipe, hoping to strike gold with one but failing.

“I was looking for more in my cake,” she said. It needed to be sufficiently moist and carroty with varied crumb and texture. Now she thrilled to the combination of carrots and pineapple in a cake so delicious that the family eats the entire cake in one sitting.

“It’s one of those cakes you keep cutting away at, a little sliver at time, until it’s all gone,” she confessed.

Moist and luscious, sweet and spicy, its circumference smeared with a generous whoosh of scrumptious cream cheese frosting, the recipe was a revelation.

So festive is the cake that she serves it annually at Thanksgiving in place of pumpkin pie. And when the family gathers for Christmas dinner at the house she shares in Maine with her husband, their holiday lobster dinner will end with a celebratory slab of carrot cake.

Ingredients

For the Cake

2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

4 large eggs

1 ½ cups vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 ¾ cups carrots, coarsely grated

1 8 oz can crushed pineapple (drained)

¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (Julie prefers pecans)

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined.

5. In a medium bowl beat the eggs with the granulated sugar. When the mixture is frothy, slowly add the oil in a thin stream and beat until the mixture is glossy,

6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the eggs, a little at a time, beating until the last whisper of flour disappears.

7. Add carrots and mix until combined.

It’s one of those cakes you keep cutting away at, a little sliver at time, until it’s all gone.

For the Frosting

½ cup butter or margarine, at room temperature

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Milk as needed

1 one-pound package confectioner’s sugar (you may not need it all)

Directions

For the Cake

1. Make the cake layers: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

2. Spread the pecans out on a small, rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the nuts are deep golden brown and fragrant. Remove from the oven (leave the oven on) and transfer the nuts to a plate to cool. Chop the nuts when cooled.

3. While the nuts are toasting, grease and flour 3 round cake pans, or 9 x 12 sheet pan with edges

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the

8. Using a spatula gently fold in the pineapple, nuts and coconut

9. Evenly divide the batter between the cake pans. If needed, smooth out the tops of the cakes with a small offset spatula.

10. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean, and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed on top and start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer the cake pans to a wire rack and let cool completely. (the cake will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week)

For the Frosting

1. Using an electric mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy

2. Beat in half the sugar and vanilla, and taste. Continue adding sugar until the desired sweetness is achieved.

3. If the frosting seems too thick to spread, add a little milk.

4. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and serve. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days.

by Marlene Osteen

Julie Bollinger’s Carrot Cake is a slice of something that’s meant to be celebrated.

Wines to Love

In the mood for love? Consider a vintage.

Flowers are good, but wine is better. And yes, we’re talking about Valentine’s Day. It’s a wonderful day to fall in love – with wine that is. For, as Euripides famously said, “Where there is no wine, there is no love.”

But what to drink, what seduces and what romances? Which will whisper and which will shout, is there one that speaks to the soul, or another that lightens the heart?

So here, on the day for celebrating love, some wines to love. Wines as romantic as the mood, bottles to fall in love with, and perhaps to fall in love over?

Drinking pink champagne seems to be de rigueur for the occasion. And cliché, though it may be, there is something special and romantic about sparkling rosé. A combination of color, texture and liveliness that is utterly sensual, it’s one of the most ravishing wines I know.

The Billecart-Salmon Rosé Brut NV charms with scents of sweet red berries and cherries, and a full-bodied pillowy mouthful that is simply seductive.

With unerring finesse, the Fourny brothers have created the most delicate, light and ethereal rose Champagne; the Rosé Brut 1er Cru Veuve Fourny & Fils. This is Valentine’s Day in a bottle!

Given that red is the color of the day then drinking red wine surely must follow.

You could begin by following the lead of Demi Moore who in the movie “Disclosure” seduced Michael Douglas with a bottle of Pahlmeyer, because as she said, “I want all the boys under me to be happy.”

Delicious and fun to drink is the 2019 Pahlmeyer Jayson Cabernet. Full, rich, and velvety with a swirl of harmonious flavors.

Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson described the Toscana Lucente Luce as

“Italian amore in a glass.” A blend of the Italian varietal, Sangiovese and Merlot, its lusty and spicy with notes of licorice, leather and plum.

There is something very sexy about great pinot noir reds from Burgundy. That has a lot to do with their silky texture.

But it’s also in the way these wines have something elusively animal in their fragrance, which gives them a kind of mysterious, elemental pull. Better than a bouquet of roses, is the 2019 Vincent Girardin Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge –woodsy, spicy, toasty, and succulent.

The inevitable question is yet to be answered. Best wine for chocolate? The sweetest Madeira’s, labeled “malmsey,” are what you want. Recommended are the Blandy’s 5-year Malmsey, or better still, the Blandy’s 15-year Madeira.

by Marlene Osteen

Just in time for the season, the manager of Oak Steakhouse offers a classic recipe to warm your body and soothe your soul.

We’ve devoted a lot of ink in this issue to getting out and embracing the cold, but what about when you come in from all that activity?

Well, you could embrace the wisdom of Jack London (and Albert Einstein) and Build a Fire. Or you could collapse under a pile of quilts and take a long winter’s nap.

But John Schmitt, the restaurant

manager at Oak Steakhouse at Skyline Lodge, has an even more sybaritic solution, one that’s been refined over the last 1,000 years, and one that’s sure to fortify you against any challenges this season may deliver.

“We have our own twist on this recipe, and it’s been a consistent headliner of our bar menu,” he says. “Now that it’s cold outside, people are discovering what’s kept it a favorite for all those centuries.”

JohnSchmitt

Serve in mugs with a ladle! “It seems complicated but it’s not too difficult,” says John. “It can be reheated

three times.”

Like the good restaurant manager that he is, John reminds readers that Oak Steakhouse’s clever bar can serve this Winter Classic on a moment’s notice. They’re open from 5:00 to 9:00 P.M. each evening (except Tuesday); with brunch served Sunday from 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.

Reservations are always a good idea –(828) 482-4720.

by Luke Osteen photos by Susan Renfro

Find The Butterfly AND

Plateau Dining Guide

The Restaurants of the Highlands Cashiers Plateau

HIGHLANDS AREA RESTAURANTS

The 4118 Kitchen + Bar 64 Highlands Plaza (828) 526-5002 L, D n n n C n 71

The Bistro at Wolfgang’s 460 Main Street (828) 526-3807 D n n n n NC n n 5

Calder’s Cafe 384 Main Street (828) 200-9308 B, L n C n n 71

The Dancing Bear at The High Dive 476 Carolina Way L, D n n n n C n n 73

Fire + Water Restaurant Reservations Required (828) 526-4446 B, L n n C n 15

Four65 Woodfire Bistro + Bar 465 Main Street (828) 787-2990 L, D n n n C n n 76

Hummingbird Lounge 455 Main Street Highlands, NC (828) 787-2525 L n n n NC n 33

*The Kitchen CarryAway & Catering 350 S. Fifth Street (828) 526-2110 L, D n n 76

Oak Steakhouse at Skyline Lodge 470 Skyline Lodge Rd (828) 482-4720 D, SB n n n n NC n n n 66

On the Verandah Highway 64 (Franklin Road) (828) 526-2338 D, SB n n n n C n n 72

The Ugly Dog Pub 298 South 4th Street (828) 526-8364 L, D, SB n n n n C n n n 73

Wolfgang’s Restaurant 460 Main Street (828) 526-3807 D n n n n NC n n 5

CASHIERS AREA RESTAURANTS

Cashiers Valley Smokehouse US 64 West (828) 547-2096 L, D C n n n 72

Las Margaritas 127 US 64 (828) 745 -6900 L, D n n n n C n n 70

Slab Town Pizza 45 Slab Town Road (828) 743-0020 L, D n n C n n 72

Zookeeper 45 Slabtown Road (828) 743-7711 B, L, SB n C n n 70

SAPPHIRE/TOXAWAY AREA RESTAURANTS

Grand Olde Station 502 Blue Ridge Road. Lake Toxaway (828) 966-4242 D n n n n C n n 77

Greystone Inn 220 Greystone Lane, Lake Toxaway (828) 966-4700 B, L, D, SB n n n NC n n 4

HIGHLANDS AREA RESTAURANTS

4th Street Market - (828) 526-4191

Asia House - (828) 787-1680

Bella’s Junction Cafe - (828) 526-0803

Black Bear Restaurant - (828) 482-7020

The Blue Bike Cafe - (828) 526-9922

Bridge at Mill Creek (828) 526-5500

Bryson’s Deli - (828) 526-3775

The Cake Bar - (828) 421-2042

Dusty’s - (828) 526-2762

El Azteca - (828) 526-2244

Fressers

Courtyard Cafe – (828) 526-4188

Highlander Mountain House - (828) 526-2590

Highlands Burritos - (828) 526-9313

Highlands Deli SweeTreats - (828) 526-9632

Highlands Smokehouse - (828) 526-3554 Los

Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant - (828) 482-7040

Madison’s Restaurant - (828) 787-2525

Midpoint (828) 526-2277

Mountain Fresh - (828) 526-2400

Rosewood Market (828) 526-0383

Ruffed Grouse (828) 526-2590

Subway - (828) 526-1706

Paoletti’s - (828) 526-4906

Primary Restaurant & Bar - (828) 526-3555

Wild Thyme Gourmet - (828) 526-4035

CASHIERS AREA RESTAURANTS

Buck’s Coffee Cafe - (828) 743-9997

Canyon Kitchen - (828) 743-7967

Chile Loco - (828) 743-1160

Cornucopia Restaurant - (828) 743-3750

El Manzanillo - (828) 743-5522

The Fix Bar & Lounge - (828) 743-7477

JJ’s Eatery and Canteen - (828) 743-7778

The Library Kitchen and Bar - (828) 743-5512

Mica’s Restaurant - (828) 743-5740

Mountain Cafe - (828) 577-0469

The Orchard - (828) 743-7614

Panthertown Cafe - (828) 862-3663

Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company - (828) 743-0220

Slopeside Tavern - (828) 743-8655

Subway - (828) 743-1300

Town and Country General Store (828) 547-1300

Villa Amato (828) 885-7700

Wendy’s - (828) 743-7777

Whiteside Brewing Company - (828) 743-6000

Winslow’s Hideaway - (828) 743-2226

Plateau Lodging

HOTELS / MOTELS / BED & BREAKFASTS

Fire Mountain 700 Happy Hill Rd | Scaly Mountain firemt.com | (800) 775-4446 n n n n n

Greystone Inn 220 Greystone Ln | Lake Toxaway thegreystoneinn.com | (828) 966-4700 n n

Old Edwards Inn and Spa 445 Main St | Highlands oldedwardsinn.com | (866) 526-8008 n n n n n n

VACATION RENTAL AGENCIES

Berkshire Realty Vacation Rentals 488 Main Street | Highlands meadowsmountainrealty.com | (828) 526-1717 96

Chambers Realty & Vacation Rentals 401 N 5th St | Highlands highlandsiscalling.com | (828) 526-3717 52 Landmark Vacation Rentals 17 US Hwy 64 E | Cashiers landmarkvacations.com | (877) 926-1780 111

Rent in Highlands - CCP 507 Main Street | Highlands rentinhighlands.com | (800) 684-2171 x 302 44

Silver Creek Vacation Rentals 341 Hwy 64 W, Ste 102 | Cashiers ncliving.com | (828) 743-1999 36

CASHIERS, NC:

High Hampton Resort - (800) 648-4252

Hotel Cashiers - (828) 743-7706

The Lakehouse - (904) 753-0247

Landmark Vacation Rentals- (877) 926-1780

Mountain Vacation Rentals - (828) 743-0258

The Orchard Guest Cottage - (828) 743-7614

Pebble Creek Village - (828) 743-0623

Silver Creek Vacation Rentals - (828) 743-1999

The Wells HotelA Cashiers Experience - (828) 761-6289

GLENVILLE, NC:

Innisfree Bed & Breakfast - (828) 743-2946

Mountain Lake Rentals - (828) 743-6875

Prime Property Rentals - (828) 743-3482

HIGHLANDS, NC

200 Main - (855) 271-2809

Berkshire Realty Vacation Rentals - (828) 526-1717

Chambers Realty & Vacation Rentals - (828) 526-3717

The Chateau - (561) 613-1496

Fairview House - (866) 526-8008

Half Mile Farm - (855) 271-7246

Highlander Mountain House - (828) 526-2590

Highlands House Bed and Breakfast - (828) 787-1186

Highlands Inn - (828) 526-9380

Highlands Inn Lodge - (828) 526-5899

Highlands Resort Rentals - (828) 526-5839

The Inn at Mill Creek - 828-526-9999

The Lodge at Old Edwards - (828) 787-2560

Lullwater House - (423) 488-2799

Old Edwards Inn and Spa - (866) 526-8008

Park on Main - (800) 221-5078

Ray’s Roost - (678) 534-6870

Rent in Highlands - CCP - (800) 684-2171 x 302

Rockwood Lodge - (828) 526-8919

Silver Creek

Vacation Rentals - (828) 526-2999

The Wells Hotel - (828) 482-7736

Whiteside Cove Cottages - (828) 526-2222

SAPPHIRE, NC

Club Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Sapphire Valley - (828) 743-3441

Foxhunt at Sapphire Valley - (828) 743-7667

Hampton Inn & SuitesCashiers-Sapphire Valley - (828) 743-4545

Mt Toxaway Lodge & Motel - (828) 966-4582

Sapphire Run at Whisper Lake - (863) 412-5734

Whispering Falls - (352) 470-4085

Woods at Buc - (770) 714-9211

SCALY MOUNTAIN, NC:

Fire Mountain - (800) 775-4446

The Vineyard at 37 High Holly - (828) 505-6190

LAKE TOXAWAY, NC

Cabins at Seven Foxes - (828) 877-6333

Earthshine Lodge - (828) 862-4207

Greystone Inn - (828) 966-4700

Lake Toxaway Realty Company - (828) 508-9141

photo by Ryan Karcher

SHOPPING

Help your pets take a bite out of nasty weather with a Nor’easter blanket coat featuring a reversible water-resistant shell and a soft fleece lining. And these Soggy Doggy doormats are super absorbent, velvety-soft and gentle for delicate paws and bellies.

Doormat starting at $ 49 | Blanket Coat starting at $ 34 99 Woof Gang Bakery | Cashiers

RELAX IN STYLE

Experience the comfort, elegance, and craftsmanship of caftans, perfect for chic everyday looks and relaxing in style. A celebration of culture, this black silk creation brings art into life

Natori Silk Caftan | $ 225 Lenz Gifts | Cashiers

KEEP THE FAITH

These angel wings will make a stunning conversaton piece. Steeped in symbolism, they are carved from solid wood, white-washed, and and mounted on iron posts.

Carved Wood Angel Wings, Pair | $ 350 Dutchman’s | Highlands

Plateau

Picks

a few of our favorite finds

ENJOY AND PROTECT

Meet your favorite companion for a spontaneous picnic with this recycled wool blanket designed with pre-loved fibers – add a leather picnic carrier for easy travelling.

Picnic Blankets $125 | Leather Carrying Strap $ 49 Watershed | Cashiers

MAPLE AND MINERALS

The creation of artist Clay Hartman, this one-of-a-kind turned maple bowl showcases the natural flow and beauty of the wood, and is enhanced with North Carolina geodes.

Hand-Turned Maple Bowl with Geodes | $ 875 Calders Coffee Cafe | Highlands

FLAVORFUL FARE

What else could be better than delicious plates of cheese and meat? Add a custom curated spread to your next mountain gathering.

Custom Charcuterie Boards | Price Varies WanderviewHost.com | Cashiers

WIND DOWN & COZY UP

Cuddle up under this super soft throw blanket that’s just the thing for chilly days and nights. A combination of beauty and purpose, this masterpiece is extremely cozy while giving your home a sophisticated look.

Barefoot Dreams Throw | $150 Acorns | Highlands

ART AND ACCESSORIES

Our favorite handbag brand, Neely & Chloe has paired with artist Inslee to bring you these beautiful accessories; crafted from their durable saffiano leather and featured in the climbing vine print.

2023 Day Planner (with illustrated calendar insert) $ 228 Large Vanity Case $ 218 | Small Vanity Case $188 Wit’s End | Highlands

Acorns

The curated collection at Acorns in Highlands is meant to be browsed, measured and treasured.

Acorns, The Shop at Old Edwards, at 212 South 4th Street in downtown Highlands beckons you into their luxurious world of contemporary and antique home furnishings and décor, one-of-a-kind art pieces from renowned artists, rugs from around the world, pampering spa products, jewelry and more.

Brighten your gray winter days by indulging in a bit of luxury for your home or yourself from Acorns fun, functional, beautiful, and unique selection of items carefully curated to bring a bit of luxury and beauty to your home.

Pamper yourself with their fine Italian linens and luxurious pillows and bedding. Create your own in-home spa experience with bath and spa products from Molton Brown,

Brookings

sumptuous bath towels, and bath and body fragrances. Winter is the time to cocoon and reset and Acorns is the place to find everything you need to make your downtime the perfect restorative experience.

For your home, they offer unique antiques, contemporary and antique furniture, art carefully selected from around the world, and more. Their extensive collection of fine and casual china, table linens, crystal, and stemware make them your one-stop shop to brighten your tablescape.

They also offer distinctive jewelry and gift items, including many collectibles branded with Highlands themes that are perfect mementos for visitors who wish to carry a little mountain magic home with them.

The pros at Brookings Anglers understand the siren call of local streams and waterways.

Brookings Anglers is the area’s quintessential fly shop, outfitter, and guide service for anglers who want to experience the best in Western North Carolina’s fly fishing.

They offer the best in fly fishing equipment and apparel, as well as guided fly-fishing trips with one of their experienced guides who know their craft inside and out and can tailor a personalized trip that you won’t soon forget.

Full and half-day wade trips are available for groups or individuals. Brookings also has private water options that ensure a solitary experience in pursuit of trophy trout. They also do full-day float trips for trout and smallmouth bass, combining the thrill of fishing with the relaxation of a float

down the river.

If you are new to the sport of fly fishing, Brookings offers full-day fly fishing schools covering the fundamentals of the sport. You’ll learn the basics of casting, knot tying, where to look for trout, and basic fly selection, followed by an afternoon on a trout stream practicing your newfound skills.

Brookings also offers an extensive selection of quality clothing for men and women from names such as Patagonia, Simms, Orvis, and Columbia, so even if you’re not an angler don’t be shy and stop by for their clothes, accessories, hats, sunglasses, and more. Their selections are perfect for your mountain lifestyle.

Holly Morris, Julie Crook, Sinead Proscia, and Lacey Batista

Matt Canter

Allison

Allison Diane Clothing’s website says it best, “Dress like you’re famous.”

This fun little clothing boutique packs a lot of punch in a small space with its style-forward clothing and accessories for the fashion-conscious woman who values style, comfort, and value.

Diane Clothing’s

Alllison Diane Clothing

curated collection is fashion-forward, with a reverence for classic interpretations.

no age limit.

Stepping into this modern boutique is a delight to the senses. From their artful and tasteful décor that incorporates just enough of an industrial vibe to give it an urban edge, to their thoughtfully curated inventory, you’ll find that perfect outfit or accessory here. Their inventory is current and on-trend but classic enough to form the basis of your wardrobe for years. They offer something for every age, from teenager to mature. True style has

They are particularly proud to offer ABLE jeans, tops, jackets, and purses, from a company that embodies Allison Diane’s vision of being a part of our larger community. ABLE empowers women globally and in their own backyard of Nashville by providing women safe and dignified jobs with a living wage, thereby changing lives and communities.

Seasonless cashmere is also one of their specialties and they offer an extensive line of tops, scarves, sweaters, ponchos, and accessories. Additionally, you’ll find hats, scarves, purses, and jewelry to complete your look. Don’t miss their selection of Highlands t-shirts and sweaters.

Becki Bryson and Susanna Murray

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WEST

END 1. On The Verandah Restaurant 5. The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts 6. The Bascom Shop 7. The Dave Drake Ceramic Barn at The Bascom

SOUTH END 25. 4118 Kitchen & Bar 27. Dauntless Printing 38. Lupoli Construction 39. Allen Tate/Pat Allen Realty Group 47. ACP Home Interiors 48. Nancy’s Fancys/ The Exchange 50. The Summer House 57. Blue Elephant Consignment Studio 58. Head Innovations 59. Cake Bar & Chocolate Heaven

MAIN STREET 103. Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center 124. Landmark Realty 136. Dutchmans 142. Main Street Gifts 146. Wit’s End Shoppe 147. Calders Coffee Cafe 148. Highlands Fine Art & Estate Jewelry + Wine Shop 152. Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty 160. TJ Bailey for Men 169. Country Club Properties 174. Elena’s Women’s Golf and Activewear 178. McCulley’s II 187. The Dry Sink 190. Wolfgang’s Restaurant & Wine Bistro 191. Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Meadows Mountain Realty 194. Old Edwards Inn 195. Madison’s Restaurant 196. The Wine Garden 197. Four65 Woodfire Bistro + Bar 202. Country Club Properties 205. Silver Creek Real Estate Group 207. Creative Concepts Salon

WRIGHT SQUARE on MAIN (Factoid: Named after Whiteside hero) 113. Edward Jones 116. Bijou 117. Country Club Properties, Wright Square Office

ON THE HILL 306. Acorn’s 310. McCulley’s 312. The Ugly Dog Public House 313. Old Edwards Inn 318. Peggy Crosby Center: - The Kitchen Carry Away & Catering

OAK STREET 601. Highlands Playhouse

VILLAGE PARK 613. Cleaveland Realty 615. Shakespeare & Co.

CAROLINA VILLAGE 709. High Dive 709. Truckin’ at the High Dive 711. Chambers Realty & Vacation Rentals

NORTH END 801. Green Mountain Builders 814. Martin-Lipscomb Performing Arts Center

OUT NC 106

Aery Chiropractic

Peak Experience

High Camp

Highlands Outpost

Highlands Aerial Park

Fire + Water

OUT 64 EAST

Black Rock Design Build

Berkshire Hathaway Homes Services

Meadows Mountain Realty

WHLC

Highlands Lawn & Garden

Skyline Lodge/ Oak Steakhouse

Highlands Rock Yard

Highlands-Cashiers Hospital

Allen Tate/ Pat Allen Realty Group

For a complete listing please visit our website, thelaurelmagazine.com.

Being added to our listing is easy! Simply advertise with The Laurel.

WEST 64

DOWN 107 SOUTH

VISIT GLENVILLE

VISIT LAKE TOXAWAY

VISIT SAPPHIRE :

Cashiers, NorthCarolina

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Being added to our listing is easy! Simply advertise with The Laurel.

photo by Susan Renfro

Great Backyard Bird Count

Feeling a bit of Winter Lethargy? Cashiers Historical Society has the perfect tonic.

While winter is a time for reflection, this time of the year offers different experiences at Cashiers Historical Society. After a very busy year and an especially busy December the society, while planning the events for this new year, invites you to spend time this month on the grounds and join the world in connecting with the bird population by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count, February 17 through 20.

GBBC is a community science project in ornithology and an event that gives birdwatchers an opportunity to count and report details of birds in the area in which they live. Bird watching in Western North Carolina can be quite

spectacular. Experts state that there is enough plumage in the mountains of Southern Appalachia and Western North Carolina, “to rival any show narrated by David Attenborough.”

Birds from all over the country travel to North Carolina during their migration, but there are a few notable species that are native to this area. Participating is easy and is fun to do alone or with friends. Come to CHS on Friday, February 17, or Monday, February 20, from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. and watch for about 15 minutes, count all the birds you see or hear and then have a cup of hot chocolate at the Dowden Pavilion. Any data collected or photos taken will be downloaded to eBird to

help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world.

To continue your visit to the grounds this time of the year, visit the HighlandsCashiers Land Trust Nature Trail that includes a Canada Hemlock nearly 320 years old that fell in a 2008 storm, two springs and The Privy, better known as The Outhouse, just to mention a few stops along the trail.

We all can use a reason or incentive to get out and enjoy the outside during the winter, counting birds or a visit to CHS and the grounds and trails will give you that reason. CHS is a 501(c)(3) located at 1940 Highway 107 South.

by Sandi Rogers, Cashiers Historical Society

Beginning of the Year Rituals

There are several rituals that overlap the old year and the new. Isabel Chambers is our resource for all the stories that are well-worth remembering.

Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night is observed not on Christmas Day, but on January 6th, the 12th day of/after Christmas. Whether accurate or not, it recognizes the day the Three Wise Men visited newborn Jesus. Some burn their Christmas trees on the 6th in a big bonfire and sing carols. Others gather their trees (careful to remove decorations and tinsel) and dump them in lakes for underwater habitat and good fishing in the new year.

The Yule Log

On Christmas Eves past, families may have huddled in the evenings around a fireplace where an entire tree was slowly burning, inch-by-inch, for 12 nights. Whether burning in a household

fireplace or in a clearing, folks kept shoving the tree into the hearth or firepit as it burned. Not sure how many living rooms and forests caught fire, but the fire factor probably led to the baking of a symbolic Yule Log – still subject to the fire of the oven but restrained to baking pan size. And it was much more delicious than charred wood. There are several European versions of the Yule Log. For one, check out southernliving. com/recipes/buche-de-noel.

New Year’s Good Luck Practices

1. Using a fire poker, many mountain folk scraped the date on the back of the fireplace for New Year’s good luck.

2. Isabel’s dad shot a canon on New Year’s Eve. His friend on Satulah would respond with his canon shot. The goal: out-blast each other for good fun and good luck.

3. Isabel’s son lights his old broom and walks through the house, using the

smoke from the bristles to expel evil spirits (much like sage-ing).

4. And don’t forget to eat black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread: pennies, dollars, and gold.

5. Be the First Foot (see below).

Hogmanay’s

Hogmanay is recognition of New Year’s. In Scotland it is a time of gift-giving and visiting of friends and neighbors. It also includes First Foot. The first guest to cross the threshold of the New Year right after midnight is honored with symbolic gifts such as salt, coal, shortbread, whisky, and black bun, a very rich fruit cake.

Happy New Year, Everyone! And for any fire events, large or small, check fire permit regulations to be safe. For food consumption, let your conscience be your gorge…uh, guide.

by Donna Rhodes

A host of holiday traditions found root here on the Plateau.

Treatment as Inspiration

Robert Louis Stevenson’s bout of bronchiectasis led to his greatest novel and also, inevitably, to Stuart’s grandmother and the stunning woman who would become the eternal face of Irish beauty.

by Stuart Ferguson, Local Historian, Co-Owner Shakespeare & Company

During the winter of 1887-88 Robert Louis Stevenson sent a hasty note to his physician: “…I have finished your pellets; and I beg for more. The success up to now has been astounding…they give me a devil of a belly-ache but I prefer that—like Lord Derby and the gout. Yours sincerely…” (When a wine merchant recommended his sherry to the 19th-century English politician and claimed that Derby could drink a barrel without getting gout, the Earl replied, “Sir, I have tasted your sherry and I prefer the gout.”)

Stevenson (1850-1894) was so satisfied with Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau’s treatment for tuberculosis that on March 1, 1888, he wrote to The New York Evening Post praising Dr. Trudeau’s sanitarium.

While the Scottish author had gone to Saranac for Trudeau’s expertise in TB, in fact, experts now think that Stevenson had bronchiectasis, a different pulmonary disease that’s no fun—but

not fatal. But it was while being treated by Trudeau, and inspired by his new surroundings, that he started what many consider his best novel, The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter’s Tale

Like Peter Pan, Ballantrae has pirates and Indians – both kinds – but goes it one better by adding North Carolina’s own Blackbeard, and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Ten years ago, I did a blog post about Stevenson in the Adirondacks for the Fontana Regional Library, and if you Google “Winter’s Tale Shelf Life in the Mountains” it will come up, with some photos of Stevenson at his cottage there.

In my article I claimed that Dr. Trudeau’s wife was the matron of honor at my great grandparents’ wedding. But in fact, it was Mrs. Edward Livingston Trudeau, Jr., who was at their 1907 wedding, and my great grandmother had been maid of honor at hers to Dr. Trudeau’s eldest son (also a physician, hence my confusion) in Chicago in 1903. Before her

marriage, Hazel Martyn Trudeau was considered the most beautiful woman in the Midwest and was a talented artist. She and my great grandmother were best friends at boarding school.

Alas, the younger Dr. Trudeau died five months after his wedding, during a pneumonia epidemic in NYC. A few years later, his widow married the London-based, Irish portrait-painter Sir John Lavery—who became so obsessed with his wife’s beauty that half of his art featured her. The new Lady Lavery – “that talented, radiant creature” as society diarist Chips Channon described her – was friends with everyone, including Winston Churchill.

The Laverys were crucial in the negotiations for the 1921 Anglo-Irish peace treaty, much of which took place at their townhouse. Until recently, Ireland’s paper currency featured Lavery’s portrait of harp-playing Hazel as the personification of Eire.

photo by Susan Renfro

A Love of Music &Mountains

She was recently divorced, parent of a 10-year-old daughter, and was there with a friend. He was single, two years parted from a 4-year-long relationship, and on a date. It was the first time Ron Hensley glimpsed his future wife, Tonya.

It was November 1992, and they were at JR’s 92 Showcase near Lakeland, FL. The place was crowded with folks’ line-dancing to the music of Brooks & Dunn. Like the rest of the crowd at that honkytonk, they were dressed in their western best – him in Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots; her in a neon bright pink shirt with black fringe, black jeans, and black boots. They chatted briefly, he introduced her to his best friend, and left. But something that first night had clicked. For weeks Ron returned to the club looking for her, hoping she would return. One day she did, and when she saw him was quick to ask, “Where’s your girlfriend?” He responded, telling her, “We broke up 2 weeks ago.”

They had their first dance to the Bryan Adams’ hit song, Everything I Do, I Do It For You. The lyrics later became the

mantra for their life together. As Tonya told me, “Those words were prophetic. Ron still frequently tells me that everything he does, he does for me.”

That night they talked and talked some more – finally escaping to the quiet of his truck. Tonya talked about her daughter, about her administrative job, about being in college, pursuing a degree in education. He told her about working as a physical therapy technician, and that although he had a teaching degree, there was a hiring freeze in the school system in Polk County, Florida, where they lived. They shared their aspirations for life and realized things they had in common – a love of music, dance, travel, and the mountains. And they discovered that they both had a history of family visits to Ron’s birthplace in the North Carolina mountains.

Two nights later they had their first official date at a popular steakhouse in Lakeland, The Red Barn. The conversation flowed, the sparks flamed and flew. They were so enamored with one another that they didn’t realize that by the time they stopped chatting, the restaurant had emptied.

Tonya and Ron Hensley grew close through music and conversation – lots of gentle conversation.

TonyaandRonHensley

Though Ron admitted to being wowed by Tonya’s beauty, he was no less captivated by her approachability, the depth of her intelligence and her thoughtfulness. For Tonya, it was an attraction fueled by the confidence she saw in him; his “nice guy persona,” the ease with which she could talk to him. Though she did not fail to observe that “He was adorable and had really nice pecs and biceps.”

The relationship was easy from the start. “It’s not difficult when you know it’s right. We knew within a few months we would get married,” Ron said.

But Tonya’s daughter had made her mom promise that she and Ron would be together for a year before they wed. Shortly before she and Ron met, Tonya had been on a family trip to Gatlinburg and saw what she described as “the teeniest, tiniest wedding chapel”. She told her mom that if she ever remarried, it would be there. And so it was that Tonya and Ron exchanged their vows in that chapel in early 1994.

Much has happened in the nearly three decades since that wedding. Tonya gave birth to two more daughters, in 1995 and 1998, and they now have four grandchildren. At the end of 1996, the couple decided to carve a new adventure for their family, and they packed their belongings into a Penske truck

and moved to Western North Carolina. Tonya went back to college and got a bachelor’s and then a master’s degree at Western North Carolina. She worked at the Old Creek Lodge in Highlands, a gig she now describes as “best job ever,” accepted a management position at Old Edwards, moved on to employment as an adult educator, and then as an executive at an area non-profit.

Ron, who had returned to teaching while still in Florida, taught fourth grade, middle school and adult education in area schools for 15 years.

In the early 2000’s, they both got North Carolina real estate licenses, and today they are partners in business as well as in love – both working for Landmark Realty Group in Cashiers. Their marriage has thrived thanks to an enduring commitment to each other. Ron attributes it to their ability to communicate.

“We make the other person feel they are being listened to.”

Tonya agrees, “We always put the other’s feelings above our own, and it works for us because we both do that.”

by Marlene Osteen

photos by Mary Gillian

RonandTonyaHensley,1994

Incorporating Wellness

With the start of 2023, what better time to consider your mental, physical and emotional health?

Do you ever really think about the word, wellness?

What does it mean to you and what is your wellness story? Many of us speak a wellness language and we think we know its meaning for ourselves, but do we really?

The definition of wellness is “the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort. An approach to healthcare that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating diseases.”

So, how do we really epitomize wellness in our own lives?

What do we think about incorporating wellness into our everyday lives? Exercise, hydration, self-care, sleep and recovery, eating clean, being in alignment – how many of these specific activities do we do on a daily basis and

are they intentional? Are we diligent in our actions and do we practice wellness? Getting a regular adjustment or a monthly massage, regular movement and meditation, daily walks – these are all ways that we can practice wellness.

Strive for a good understanding of the dynamic process of being and staying healthy. Want the perfect picture of wellness to be yours? Dedicate yourself to your self, body and mind! Just do it!

by Dr. Sue Aery, Aery Chiropractic & Acupuncture

The Same Age as Old People

Ihate to admit it, but I’m becoming more and more forgetful.

When I forget a word, I’ve taken to saying, “I can’t think of the English word for it.” That way people will think I am a polyglot or at least bilingual instead of a total idiot.

And if they just won’t let go of it, and they ask me the foreign word I was thinking, I act cool and say, “Carnustirfargen.” At that moment I am enormously pleased with myself for thinking fast enough to make up a five-syllable word. But then I am in a corner because I’ll never remember a five-syllable made-up word that I may have to repeat later in conversation.

This is the stage of life where I feel 30-ish, my jokes are somewhere in the puberty-age category (if I can even remember them …, Carnustirfargen) and my body parts look like mummified apples and haired-over cukes in the back of refrigerator drawers.

I see people my age scaling Whiteside, hanging upside-down in yoga straps, or lifting three bags of groceries with one arm while steering a leashed Labradoodle with the other. Personally, I am just thrilled with getting one leg through my underwear without having to hold on to the walls and a door handle. Where were we? Oh, yeah, making up stuff to cover up other stuff like: the

older we get the more weight we gain, because it’s all that information we keep stuffing into our brains. Okay, I’m sticking with that. That 10 pounds I gained over the summer is brain matter. If your read this article 12 more times and eat a pound of dark chocolate (it’s good for you, right?) you can use that excuse right along with me.

Covering up approaching senility is damn hard work. But the hardest work is being the same age as old people.

by Donna Rhodes illustration by Norma Jean Zahner

Donna’s able to tap dance around temporary aphasia with some clever mental gymnastics.

Women Who Shape the Plateau

Sonya Carpenter and Sarah Jennings

photo by Susan Renfro

Helping to Re-claim a Sense of Balance

Sonya Carpenter’s passion for the Plateau’s Wild Places informs her days.

In an era of cell phone addiction, climate change, and hurry affliction, we can become distracted and unsettled.

Sonya Carpenter is dedicated to helping people reclaim a sense of balance with the world that surrounds them.

we can create gardens that are not only beautiful, but functional and resilient.”

Her work with the Highlands Biological Foundation and the Highlands Plateau Greenway has bettered our community in huge ways, especially in inspiring conservation efforts.

“Even as a young child, I found solace in the natural world,” she says. For the past 20 years living in Highlands, Sonya has regarded the beauty, complexity, and resilience of the ecosystem on the Plateau. This recognition motivates her to inform and influence others to value its conservation.

Shortly after moving here, Sonya served as the director of the Highlands Biological Foundation. She discovered many knowledgeable and equally enthusiastic people through her nine years in that position. Today, she works on projects to create natural landscapes in the area.

“I like to say that I am an ecologist masquerading as a garden designer, but really these two passions are inextricably linked,” she says. “If we use the natural world with its complex interaction between species of plants, insects, birds, mammals…as a model for landscapes,

Sonya continues to be involved in community projects. She leads and speaks at various events about conservation. She serves on the board of the Highlands Plateau Greenway to create and maintain walking trails that connect neighborhoods with natural areas. She also recently coordinated the installation of the new pollinator garden at the Highlands Biological Station. The design features all native plants, a lakeside pavilion, and a new nature trail. She observes how the garden is appreciated daily by countless visitors. “Hundreds of students, summer campers, and garden enthusiasts now claim this space as their own,” she says.

Charlotte Muir, Executive Director of the Highlands Biological Foundation comments that “Sonya is an infinite

source of knowledge and passion for the natural world. When she gives a lecture or leads an event, people leave with such enthusiasm to make a real change in their own landscapes to better promote our rich biodiversity. Her work with the Highlands Biological Foundation and the Highlands Plateau Greenway has bettered our community in huge ways, especially in inspiring conservation efforts.”

Sonya believes that this is a critical time for the community to consider conservation.

“Development is inevitable,” she says, “[we] need to speak up for the protection and preservation of our natural areas.” Through her endeavors she hopes to influence and inspire others. She asserts

Even as a young child, I found solace in the natural world.

that we can all work together to educate new residents about how the beauty of Highlands plays a critical role in appreciating this community.

by Ann Self

Her Legacy to Protect and Preserve

For Sarah Jennings, wise development of the area’s natural bounty is a family tradition.

Sarah Jennings considers conservation as a legacy to protect and preserve. Her husband first brought her in 2002 to what was then the Jennings’ family 800-acre farm retreat, Lonesome Valley. “My husband and his family grew up spending time on the land,” she says. “Lonesome Valley has been a special place for generations. I think [it] is a model for responsible growth and development. It preserves the integrity of the land to ensure that it continues to be special for future generations.”

Rich with history dating back to 1895, Lonesome Valley was originally established as a mink and trout farm by Richard Jennings, Sr. in 1948. Then, in 2007 when change in the area was undeniable, the Jennings family determined to create a community that reflected their values of land conservation and natural resource stewardship. So, ten years after her first visit and many years of working in Washington, D.C. in events and marketing, Sarah and her family moved to Cashiers to participate in the family’s development. Her role since that time has been to oversee events and marketing for Lonesome Valley, including helping build a coherent brand identity and

message aligned with the community vision. “I felt it was important as a resident [myself] as well as producing

She wanted to be able to have her boys grow up in a neighborhood as [the family had], where you wake up and go hiking or you go fishing.

a product for visitors [and clients] to maintain the family character,” Sarah says, “I worked together with incredible people like Brien Peterkin, Thomas Bates, John and Marcia McCarley, and Thomas Platt. I was fortunate that it was a team that supported that vision.” That team came up with the Lonesome Valley tag line, “naturally inspired.” “That is a touch point for many things that reflect what is important to conserve. Trails, buildings, meadows. Everything is driven by that mentality.” Another example, Canyon Kitchen was developed to be dining with sustainable cuisine and seasonally grown vegetables.

Thomas Platt says that continuing that naturally inspired legacy for her sons was an important part of her desire to conserve the land. He says, “When Sarah and Rich first moved to Cashiers,

Lonesome Valley was their home for many, many years. She wanted to be able to have her boys grow up in a neighborhood as the family had, where you wake up and go hiking or you go fishing.”

Sarah says that her participation in establishing a community dedicated to preserving the unique essence of the land and a distinctive sense of place has been the highlight of her career with Lonesome Valley. She sees how its progression is deeply rooted in history, and she values the personal connections made over time. This is what makes her passionate about Cashiers and preserving its character. “I have a deep appreciation for the people who have lived and worked the land on the Plateau

I never stop being awe inspired. There is always somewhere to explore and something to learn. There is a magic to this place.

over time…generations of families that have lived here,” she observes. “I never stop being awe inspired. There is always somewhere to explore and something to learn. There is a magic to this place.”

by Ann Self

Time for New Year’s Financial Resolutions

It’s that time of year when many of us promise ourselves we’ll go to the gym more, or learn a new language, or take up a musical instrument, or any number of other worthy goals. But this year, when making New Year’s resolutions, why not also consider some financial ones?

Here are a few to consider:

• Don’t let inflation derail your investment strategy. As you know, inflation was the big financial story of 2022, hitting a 40-year high. And while it may moderate somewhat this year, it will likely still be higher than what we experienced the past decade or so. Even so, it’s a good idea to try not to let today’s inflation harm your investment strategy for the future. That happened last year: More than half of American workers either reduced their contributions to their 401(k)s and other retirement plans or

stopped contributing completely during the third quarter of 2022, according to a survey by Allianz Life Insurance of North America. Of course, focusing on your cash flow needs today is certainly understandable, but are there other ways you can free up some money, such as possibly lowering your spending, so you can continue contributing to your retirement accounts? It’s worth the effort because you could spend two or three decades as a retiree.

• Control your debts. Inflation can also be a factor in debt management. For example, your credit card debt could rise due to rising prices and variable credit card interest rate increases. By paying your bill each month, you can avoid the effects of rising interest rates. If you do carry a balance, you might be able to transfer it to a lower-rate card, depending on your credit score. And if

you’re carrying multiple credit cards, you might benefit by getting a fixed-rate debt consolidation loan. In any case, the lower your debt payments, the more you can invest for your long-term goals.

• Review your investment portfolio. At least once a year, you should review your investment portfolio to determine if it’s still appropriate for your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. But be careful not to make changes just because you feel your recent performance is not what it should have been. When the financial mar- kets are down, as was the case for most of 2022, even quality investments, such as stocks of companies with solid business fundamentals and strong prospects, can see declines in value. But if these investments are still suitable for your portfolio, you may want

to keep them.

• Prepare for the unexpected. If you encountered a large unexpected expense, such as the need for a major home repair, how would you pay for it? If you didn’t have the money readily available, you might be forced to dip into your longterm investments or retirement accounts.

To prevent this, you should build an emer- gency fund containing three to six months’ worth of living expenses — or a year’s worth, if you’re retired — with the money kept in a low-risk, liquid account.

These resolutions can be useful — so try to put them to work in 2023.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. Edward Jones, Member SIPC

Todd Holder

Kid Focused

Before the close of 2022, Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation announced it had awarded a grant to the Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau that will fund a new recreational therapist position at its Cashiers facility. One goal of this grant is to improve the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of youngsters from Cashiers, Highlands, and the surrounding communities through mentorship and activities that encourage healthy habits; reduce depression, stress, anxiety; and build confidence and socialization skills.

Headquartered in Atlanta, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America is a national organization of local chapters providing services to young people, including after-school programs.

“Given our Foundation’s expansion to address our communities’ growing needs for mental health and wellness services, we are pleased to partner with the Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau on this important initiative,” expressed Robin

Tindall, CEO and Executive Director of HCHF. “Their evidenced-based recreational therapy program is an important component to the array of services that support our mission of lifting health and well-being, together.”

The club’s Director of Health and Wellness Brandon Norwood, LRT, CTRS added: “Too often kids are just written off as just a bad kid. Maybe that kid is just going through some stuff, so let’s try to figure out what we can do to help.”

Additionally, a new internship program for recreational therapy students at Western Carolina University is being developed. This new program will allow the club to support more youth while providing one of the few local internships available on the Plateau.

Carmen Waite, CEO of Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau, commented that any and all efforts towards assisting, protecting, and equipping struggling children is a win-win for communities:

“Having been a volunteer here first, working closely with the kids and now in the chief executive officer position, I definitely see a difference in our kids and the struggles that they face. We really want our kids to reach their maximum potential. To do that, they need to have academic success, but also self-confidence and social/emotional well-being. I really do believe we can make a huge impact in every child’s self-esteem here at the club. It’s exciting to have a program that we know can make that impact.”

Through partnerships with organizations, key stakeholders, and caring donors, the Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation works to make positive and lasting change through investing in projects and programs that advance innovative solutions and improvements in peoples’ health and well-being.

by Josh Bryson

Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation

Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation makes good on its promise to serve everyone on the Plateau, including the youngest amongst us.

photo by Ryan Karcher

The Gift of Warmth

Highlands Mountaintop Rotary Club and the Highlands Emergency Council are seeking generous hearts and warm coats to help spread neighborly love across the Plateau.

The 2022-2023 Highlands Winter Coat Drive is a partnership between the Highlands Mountaintop Rotary Club, the Highlands Emergency Council, local Churches and banks, and the Highlands Cashiers Hospital. It began in November and will go until March 15.

We are asking folks to donate warm winter coats, hoodies, gloves, hats, socks, and scarves, both new and used. We especially need warm winter work coats, and warm winter children’s coats. Church coats are less useful, but any coat that will keep someone warm is greatly appreciated. We are also accepting monetary donations. Checks can be made out to Highlands Mountaintop Rotary. Highlands Mountaintop Rotary uses the

money donated to buy both used and new coats. The clothing donation boxes are located at: the Highlands Rec Park lobby, First Bank, Community Bible Church, First Presbyterian Church, Highlands United Methodist Church, First Baptist

out during the entire 2022 Winter Coat Drive. There’s a tremendous well of generosity in Highlands.

This year’s Coat Drive has also tapped into a geyser of need. As soon as the coats are delivered to the Emergency Council, they immediately find their way onto someone’s back. Demand exceeds supply.

We are asking folks to donate warm winter coats, hoodies, gloves, hats, socks, and scarves, both new and used.

Church, Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church, and Highlands Emergency Council.

As of Laurel’s press time, the Highlands Winter Coat Drive had given out 678 coats, 170 hoodies, 76 hats, 39 pairs of winter socks, and 116 winter scarves. This is 145 more coats than were given

Please, clean out your closet to help your neighbor. It will warm your neighbor’s back and warm your heart as well.

by Duncan Greenlee, Highlands Mountaintop Rotary Club

One major point of feedback we receive from so many individuals who have a powerful desire to be a champion in a child’s life, and to be part of something Big, is that they are concerned they can’t be what is expected because they are a part-time resident.

Might I say, On the contrary!

Let me tell you a little story about a part-time resident who is a Big Sister (mentor) and a full-time resident Little (mentee). What were the chances of meeting Liz? Well, honestly, more likely slim than none, to be frankly honest with you. She lives in a community outside of our program market and it was on pure luck that our paths crossed that day. You see, I wasn’t supposed to be at this event, in a club community, running an informational table about Big Brothers Big Sisters on a Saturday. To this day, I am beyond thankful I was.

The moment I met Liz, I knew she was the perfect Big Sister

for Little Viv who had been waiting for some time for the right person to be her mentor and to champion her and show her that she can be anything and everything she wants to be. Liz had one concern though – she is a part-time resident, and she couldn’t be here during winter months to support a prospective Little Sister. While this is a completely valid concern, this is where creativity and flexibility are our biggest allies!

You see, I’m a strong a believer in “where’s there’s a will, there’s a way” and my friends, there’s always a way to be involved in a child’s life!

During off-season months, Big Sister Liz and Little Sister Viv stay in contact regularly. While they are not necessarily getting together and having outings in the community in person, they are using technology and old-school communication to their advantage. This match has taken the challenge of part-time residency to the max and have consistent communication through FaceTime, video chats, phone calls, letters in the mail

No matter your residency status, Big Brothers Big Sisters has a place for you and your kind spirit.

Be a Champion

LittleSisterVivianandBigSisterLiz

(which, might we add, works on literacy and social interaction), small gifts, and they even send care packages to one another. Liz is always supportive of Viv in her schoolwork and is there to encourage her every step of the way. A simple text, phone call, or video chat goes a long way!

Match Support is the method in which BBBS supports matches on a regular basis. Each participant is contacted for check ins, and we touch on extremely specific key areas to ensure the health and wellbeing of the match. Without fail, each conversation and meeting with this Big Sister, Little Sister, and parents, is filled with excitement about recent conversations and letters in the mail. The two seize these opportunities to both spend time with family, focus on schoolwork, celebrate holidays but consistently touch base with one another. Little Viv knows she can contact her Big any time.

Should I mention the part about when they reunite after winter months?! They’re inseparable! The bond these two share is strong because of the will to keep it alive during time apart. They already have their entire summer planned out because they’ve worked on plans all winter long.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC is about building relationships and fostering the power and promise in youth. Here in Cashiers and Highlands, we have Littles who are waiting, some for over a year, for the Big Brother they need to be that powerful male role model; some for the Big Sister they need because they have lost a female dear to them. Each story is different, but in the end, all children need an extra champion by their side, to walk with them, to guide them, support them and encourage them to reach their fullest potential.

You can be that person. You can defend a child’s potential. You can ignite a child’s potential.

The time commitment is minimal and is flexible – a total of 4-8 hours of your time each month. Even that small amount of time can deeply impact the lives of children here on the Plateau.

Don’t wait! You can learn more by contacting me, Danielle Hernandez, local Senior Program Coordinator, at (828) 399-9133 by phone or text, or email at cashiers@bbbswnc. org. Please visit bbbswnc.org to begin your enrollment to make a Big impact and to ignite the potential and promise that is within each and every young person!

Where there’s a will, there’s most definitely always a way.

by Danielle Hernandez, Big Brothers Big Sisters

An Investment in You, Our Community

Highlands-Cashiers Hospital is prepared for a new year.

As a hospital and skilled nursing facility, we invest in the many areas that enhance our place as the premier healthcare provider in the region. We can provide the best care for our community when our staff is highly trained and deeply committed to our patients and their families, when our facility is state-of-the-art, and when we’re deeply engaged with our community.

The most important investment we make is in our people. Without caring and dedicated providers and staff, we’re merely a building. We have an incredible culture that has driven our hospital to the top of HCA Healthcare for service and quality, and our skilled nursing facility to a 5-Star status.

Our Nurse Aide Training Program is one way in which we invest in our community. The program allows students to receive paid training to complete their Nurse’s Aide credential or Certified Nursing Assistant. A CNA is a rewarding job and a great first step in the healthcare profession. Mission Health and HCA Healthcare have also made significant investments in local nursing schools to support expansion of their programs, in supporting MAHEC to educate our next generation of doctors, and in HCA

Healthcare opening the Galen College of Nursing, WNC’s newest nursing school. Our patients and community will ultimately benefit from these programs for generations to come.

Additional investments include capital improvements. Recent visitors to our campus have likely seen construction teams at work making facility improvements like upgrades to our electrical power system, air handler and boiler replacements, and elevator modernization. New equipment has also been purchased ensuring our community receives care with the most up-to-date medical technology, from 3D mammography, to major surgical suite renovations and updates. These investments allow our providers to care for patients efficiently, safely, and compassionately.

We were also excited to reopen our surgical services in 2022 after being closed for more than 10 years. This was a result of significant human and financial investments and months of planning and assuring our surgery suites were equipped to provide the best care possible and complied with the multitude of regulatory standards.

New medical equipment was purchased such as anesthesia units, enhanced medication dispensing, and instruments for performing laparoscopic surgery. Our new general surgeon, Dr. Zach Phillips, joined us in September 2022 and is enabling HCH to offer general surgery and colonoscopies. We will also welcome Dr. Mark Moriarty in the near future, who will be providing orthopedic surgery.

I’m happy that we’ve also been able to welcome several accomplished providers to the Plateau, including Physician Assistant Allyson Litchfield, and Dr. Kate Shattenkirk who are providing primary care services in Cashiers, and Dr. Kristy Fincher, primary care physician at Blue Ridge Health Highlands. Access to great primary care providers is one of the most important resources in the healthcare system.

We are fortunate to be in a position of strength thanks to being part of HCA Healthcare and Mission Health, and look toward a bright future, thanks to your support.

by Tom Neal RN, MBA, MHA, CEO/CNO, Highlands-Cashiers Hospital

TomNealRN,MBA,MHA

Happy and Healthier Pets in 2023

There are a few simple steps to ensure that the animals in your life are happy and healthy.

New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for people. More than 50 percent of household pets in the United States are classified as overweight or obese, so the start of a new year is a great time to commit to a fresh start for your canine and feline companions. According to Jessica Vogelsang, DVM with petmd.com, below are 10 great resolutions you can make to ensure your pet has a happier and healthier 2023:

10. Measure your pet’s food. Many owners “eyeball” their pet’s daily intake and pour that into a bowl, usually resulting in overfeeding and weight gain.

9. Choose an age-appropriate diet. Choosing a diet specifically tailored to your pet’s life stage is a great way to keep them in optimal health.

8. Try a new activity with your pet. It’s a great way to bond, and both owner and pet will reap the rewards of a healthy physical activity.

7. Incorporate playtime into your routine. Toys that trigger a cat’s predatory instinct are a great way to get them off the couch and engaged in a little aerobic activity.

6. Make a date with your vet. Yearly examinations by the veterinarian are a key component of good preventive care.

5. Groom your pet daily. Brushing removes excess fur from the coat and helps distribute oils from the skin to the fur, keeping the coat shiny and healthy.

4. Practice good oral hygiene habits with your pet. Daily toothbrushing is the best way to keep tartar and plaque at bay — just be sure to use a toothpaste meant for dogs and cats.

3. Teach an old dog a new trick. Studies show that mental stimulation can help reduce cognitive deterioration in aging animals.

2. Update pet ID info. If any of your contact information has changed,

don’t wait — update their tags and microchip information.

1. Consider fostering. It’s the perfect way to test the waters of pet ownership without the lifelong commitment.

Established in 1987, Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization located at 200 Gable Drive in Sapphire, 1 ½ miles east of the Cashiers Ingles in between Cedar Creek Club and Lonesome Valley on Highway 64. Our no-kill shelter is open Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. For more information, visit us online at chhumanesociety.org or call (828) 743-5752. Tax-deductible donations to support our lifesaving work can be mailed to CHHS, P.O. Box 638, Cashiers, NC 28717.

by David Stroud, Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society

A One in a Million Horse Battersea Tracy

Battersea Tracy’s courage and gentle spirit provide lessons for everyone dealing with hardship.

It’s hard to imagine that winter 2023 marks the beginning of our 26th year of Carpe Diem Farms.

Happy New Year to all our readers old and new.

We begin the year with six magnificent horses, two dogs, two indoor cats, one feral cat and a small racoon who shares the wild bird feeders. We stay busy caring for the aging herd and being innovative with new and creative ideas for our 19-year-old Morgan, Battersea Tracy. As long as she wants to fully participate, we will help her stay as healthy and happy as possible living with her herd.

the medial wing and a portion of her coffin bone, a frozen fetlock joint, loss of muscle mass in her shoulder and damage to the contralateral stifle joint – yes, a lot. She is four years’ post-first surgery, happy and living with her human and equine friends.

to help others so the horses they own and serve can be helped to live better lives. We welcome visitors to the farm by appointment and look forward to sharing with you more exciting news as Tracy provides more opportunities for teaching and learning.

We have invented a plethora of innovative ways to help other horses faced with similar issues.

After Tracy’s original hoof infection, she has survived four surgeries, loss of

She is a one-in-a-million horse. Her grit and determination keep our creative juices flowing. We have invented a plethora of innovative ways to help other horses faced with similar issues. We are working on educational materials as well as prosthetics, and specially created Easy’s Slippers and other hoof and leg specialty products for veterinarians, farriers, and owners about what we have learned and accomplished. Our hope is

May 2023 bring you many opportunities and possibilities to be your own Best self.

Carpe Diem Farms, a 501(c)(3) educational foundation, “Exploring the human potential through equines.”

by Sue Blair, Carpe-Diem Farms

Scan to learn more.

Motoring Festival Gives Back

The high performance stakes of The 2022 Highlands Motoring Festival deliver generous grants for three local causes.

Picturedfromlefttoright:JerryHermanson (CommunityCareClinic),BonniePotts (Literacy),CindyTrevathan(REACH),and HMFvolunteers: SteveMehder,SteveHam, MarkChmar,andKnightMartorell.

With its successful 2022 season receding in its rear-view mirror, Highlands Motoring Festival has tallied up its successes and divvied up the proceeds between its trio of local charities.

At a December 8 ceremony at KelseyHutchinson Founders Park, HMF officials presented checks to The Literacy & Learning Center of Highlands, REACH of Macon County, and The Community Care Clinic of Highlands and Cashiers.

“We’ve completed our final accounting and revenues have exceeded our expectations,” says HMF’s Steve Ham.

The 2022 Highlands Motoring Festival benefited from a pair of events that drew car enthusiasts from throughout

North America and Europe – Highlands Motoring Festival, staged from June 9 through 12, and The Mountains Motoring Festival, which wound through this corner of Western North Carolina from September 9-11. The centerpiece of the motoring festival

The festival would like to thank the entire Highlands community … without whom none of this would be possible.

quality of the cars by going to an invitational entry process. Over 50 volunteers joined the 15-member Planning Committee to stage the events.

“The festival would like to thank the entire Highlands community, including citizens, volunteers businesses, organizations, and government officials and staff, without whom none of this would be possible,” said Ham.

was Saturday’s Cars in the Park juried car show, which attracted an estimated 3,000 people.

The festival has grown significantly in stature over the years, not by increasing the number of show cars, which is limited by the capacity of Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park, but by raising the level of

Festival organizers are already completing their plans for 2023 – it’ll be staged June 8-11 and the Featured Marque is BMW. To learn more about the ambitious 2023 schedule and to register, visit highlandsmotoringfestival.com and, of course, check in with The Laurel Magazine.

by Luke Osteen

Scan to learn more.

Spirit of Community

The Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce recently awarded its 2022 Spirit of Our Community Awards recognizing well-deserving individuals who dedicate their lives and talents to positively influence the Cashiers, Glenville, Lake Toxaway and Sapphire communities.

Chamber Executive Director, Stephanie Edwards, explains that the Spirit of Our Community Awards shine the spotlight on people who truly represent the character of the Cashiers Area. “They are our friends, neighbors, teachers, business owners, non-profit volunteers, civic and cultural advocates and others who give beyond what is simply asked.”

Glenn Ubertino – Chair of the Cashiers Area Community Planning Council, Chair of the Cashiers Community Collaborative and President of the Cashiers Area Chamber Board of Directors, among other civic and charitable leadership roles – was named 2022 Citizen of the Year. While owning and managing Zoller Hardware and other affiliated businesses, Glenn volunteers significant time and talents to critical growth management initiatives and community wellbeing. He and his wife, Kim, also are familiar faces in nonprofit and educational

organizational efforts, including support of Southwestern Community College.

Margaret “Maggie” Carton received the 2022 Volunteer of the Year Spirit Award. Maggie’s long list of community activities over the years warrants “volunteer extraordinaire” recognition. She serves on the Vision Cashiers Board of Directors, Crossroads Society and as Secretary. She has provided steadfast leadership of the Pathways & Preservation Committee which develops and maintains a natural pathway system through Cashiers Village, oversees a highway and byway trash collection program among other initiatives. Her major commitments also include the Leadership Cashiers Alumni Network, Friends of Panthertown and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Western North Carolina.

Recognized as Educator of the Year was Tracie Holden, of Blue Ridge School & Early College. Tracie is a devoted fourth grade teacher who takes her job of expanding and inspiring young minds very seriously yet in a joyful manner. Her impact is broad and far-reaching on students, youth and those of all ages who have benefited from her personal and professional com-

Cashiers’ 2022 Spirit of Our Community Awards spotlight the men and women who keep the entire enterprise rolling.

GlennUbertino

mitments. Her grace and compassion extend beyond the classroom and her educational lineage continues with her daughter and Blue Ridge School teaching colleague, Josie.

Badge Siler and Jill Katz, owners and operators of Crossroads Custard & Cold Brew, were honored as 2022 Spirit Award Businesspeople of the Year. Since opening their Slab Town Plaza new concept establishment in 2021, this dynamic duo has demonstrated their community commitment time and again. Jill is an active Leadership Cashiers alumna. Both are always eager to support local nonprofits and schools. The team donates their energies and goods for special community events, providing refreshments from gourmet teas and coffees to delectable breakfast and lunch specialties.

The 2022 Arts & Culture Advocate of the Year is Tim Womick, founder of the Cashiers School of the Arts, in partnership with the Village Green. The recentlylaunched organization promotes arts education for all. Its volunteer-led programming includes Shakespeare 101, Kids’ Introduction to Arts, Family Art Night and ballroom dancing with more planned for the future. Tim has been a familiar face in Cashiers for many years and his environmental work and advocacy extends across the nation. His latest venture in arts promotion is a natural extension of his care and concern for humanity.

The Evergreen Award was given to the Friendship Garden of the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library, a symbol of the spirit of respect and sustainability of the area. A group of dedicated volunteers, led by chair Susan DeBruin, successfully refurbished the garden with the help of arborists and Bartlett Tree Service. They were able to preserve the historical White Oak through special pruning, irrigation and soil treatment so that it will survive another 100 to 200 years. The team worked tirelessly to remove bushes, prune, and clean the landscape. They purposely added native plants that will attract butterflies, bees and birds. Generous donors provided funding which contributed to the project’s success.

These Spirit Award winners were featured in the annual Cashiers Christmas Parade on December 3 and will be applauded with a 2023 reception for recipients and sponsors in their honor, recognized in other publications and social media posts and celebrated by their friends, families and colleagues across the Plateau.

by Stephanie Edwards, Executive Director, Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce photo by Mary Gillan

A Great Place To Live

The Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC 2023 Calendar is crammed with events, music, and service activities.

Welcome, 2023!

Of the many things we do here at the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC, one of our favorites is planning and hosting events that bring our community together. Whether it’s free live music during the warmer months or the Christmastime activities when the temperature drops, our goal is always the same: To demonstrate that a great place to live is also a great place to visit and do business.

Mark your calendar for the events we’ll produce for our community in 2023!

Snow Fest @ 4118 – January 28 & 29

Plateau Pickup – April 15

Outdoor Concert Series – Friday and Saturday, May through October

Pop-Up Pipers – First Saturday, May through October

Meander in May – May 20

Volunteer Fair – June 1

Independence Day Concert & Fireworks – July 4

Community Shred Event – August 25

Highlands Heritage Jamboree –October 14

Halloween on Main – October 31

Light Up the Park & Main – November 25 Trim Our Town – November 26 through December 24

Highlands Christmas Parade –December 2

For more information about these events or the Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC, please visit highlandschamber.org or call (828) 526-2112. For information about other community events, please contact the host organization.

by Kara Addy Communications Manager, Highlands Chamber of Commerce / Visit Highlands, NC

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

Beaumont Ridge

6 BR / 6 BA / 2 HBA

Perched atop a at ridge within the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains of the Western North Carolina Appalachian chain, Beaumont Ridge Farm offers the unparalleled sanctuary of days long past. Prestigiously selected as the 2014 Cashier’s Designer Showhouse, the premier estate has only been improved upon since with extensive renovations in every residence, bringing modern luxury to the picturesque and private property. Discover a bucolic 40± acres of pristine pastoral land with a spectacular main house anked by a two-bedroom guest house and additional bunk house. Soaring vaulted ceilings and incredible views greet you at every turn, the perfect accent to exposed stone walls and rustic nishes be tting a luxury country

inn. A new multi-discipline riding ring, four contiguous pastures, and a six-stall barn will delight any equestrian. Outbuildings, workshops, and garages ensure ample space to enjoy every hobby. Pass the time shing at Lake Glenville and along western North Carolina’s fabled y- shing trail, or in the trout-stocked pond on property, skeet shooting in the back pasture, or hiking the property’s perimeter trails, all while pristine, lush landscaping and breathtaking views of Laurel Knob and Cow Rock Mountains paint a picture-perfect backdrop. With incredible entertaining spaces both indoors and out, you can host a gathering of any size that will wow the most discerning of guests. This ne estate is subdividable for those who wish to share with up to 7 owners. MLS 100977

Bullpen Road

3 BR / 3.5 BA This absolutely charming, perfectly maintained 23.46-acre estate is surrounded by the Ellicott Rock Wilderness section of the U.S. Forest Service. Its private setting offers all the bells and whistles—small trout pond with concrete/stone dam and spillway, hiking trails, waterfall, fenced veggie garden, wood storage building, outdoor replace, and mature, well-maintained landscaping with just the right amount of lawn. The property has been owned by the same family for over 40 years, and the circa 1960s cottage has been painstakingly renovated and remodeled. It is compact and stylish, beautifully appointed with ne craftsmanship and architectural detailing throughout. The primary bedroom suite with a generous master bath on the main level has an overlook view of the pond and lawn. Also on the main level is an

additional bedroom and home of ce. Upstairs includes a fantasy gable ceilinged bedroom and bath. The gourmet kitchen includes Wolf/SubZero/ Miele appliances, custom cabinetry, handmade tile ooring and Brazilian granite countertops. Extensive Azek decking connects the main house to the south wing, currently set up as a billiard room and screened porch, but able to be transformed into a guest suite with minor effort. For those who are interested in cars, hobbies and excellent storage spaces, the lower level includes 5 garage bays with heated workshops and a 2-car carport. The property is offered partially furnished, the owners will leave key pieces that are special and speci c to this home. This legacy property is one for the story books and is eight minutes from the front gates of High Hampton, and 10 minutes to the center of Cashiers. MLS 101122

GET TO KNOW BETH TOWNSEND

WHAT CLIENTS ARE SAYING...

“Beth Townsend had become a friend of ours in Cashiers, where we had a home. We knew of her reputation as an excellent realtor. When we decided to sell, we immediately called Beth. No time was lost in listing the property. Beth, and her assistant Clay, listened carefully to our questions and suggestions, noting everything in detail. Very complimentary photographs and an attractive listing of the property were sent out to the media. It took one week to sell the house! Beth’s reputation in Cashiers is well known. She is extremely active in the community. She knows everything there is to know about the area, and her advertising with McKee Properties reaches far and wide. We are a family of top realtors, thirty ve years and still active, so we can appreciate all that Beth has done for us to get a quick sale with the right price. (And, she is still our good friend!!!!)” – Cheri & Chipper A.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BETH BY VISITING: BethTownsendBroker.com

3 BR / 2 BA This darling cottage sits on a small rise, smack dab in the middle of Cashiers Village, yet it feels very private thanks to beautiful, mature landscaping and over an acre of land. Tuck away in the backyard dabbling in the stream or laze at the re pit, or venture out the front door and across the gently sloping (and perfect for kids and dogs) lawn for your favorite morning beverage at Bucks, then on to the Village Green! Location, location, location!!! Inside, the pine walls and oors exude warmth, as does the stone replace. The ensuite master bedroom and second bedroom and bath are on the main level.

Upstairs is a charming loft, offering a great third bedroom. The lower level features a garage and separate large storage area with a daylight walk-out door which would make a ne apartment or fourth bedroom, and the septic work and permitting has been done to accommodate this. It has a solid rental history, and the current owners have invested their proceeds back into the property with improvements such as new: paint, HVAC, roof, additional landscaping and walkway, window treatments (which stay with the property), and more! This little jewel is truly at the heart of Cashiers. MLS 101211

Snowbird

2 BR / 2 BA Snowbird is the most unique community in our area, focusing on these most desired prime attributes: large private estate parcels (all over 20 acres), beautiful long range views, frolicking streams and noisy waterfalls and a patchwork of rolling open elds connected by common hiking and horseback riding trails. This Modern Craftsman style home is oriented on a knoll facing southeast, was built to offer passive solar advantage and is Energy Star certi ed. At over 4000’ elevation, there is an additional, higher site on this tract that could accommodate

a guest house or private pavilion. Inside the layout is simple- primary bedroom and bath on the main level with kitchen, living/den and view porch. There is a covered breezeway leading to the large two-car garage. Downstairs is another bedroom, bath, laundry and a large common area, recently used as a craft/hobby room. This property would be an awesome retreat for artists, writers and anyone seeking peace and quiet, within the comfort of a gated neighborhood. New exterior paint in 2022!

MLS 99164

TYPICAL SCENES AT SNOWBIRD

large deciduous trees and a rolling mossy yard. Plenty of options for additional homesites exist, too, on this unrestricted property. Location, view, topography and an existing driveway make this a prime property for an estate or light development. MLS 97957

Chattooga Club

4 BR / 3 BA / 2 HBA Modern mountain luxury perfectly describes this estate home located within the Chattooga Club on a private lot and just a few minutes from Cashiers. This home has undergone a major upscale renovation including a chef’s kitchen with a walk-in pantry, light and airy nishes, and the owing, open oor plan the modern buyer seeks. The main level leads you from the vaulted kitchen and dining room into the upscale great room, and out onto the fully nished Carolina porch featuring year-round use through automatic canvas shades. Multiple wood-burning replaces provide a modern mountain ambiance, and walls of windows allow you to take in the long range mountain views throughout

the entire home. A cozy library with its own replace welcomes you through to the beautiful oversized Primary Suite located on the main level. Upstairs features a large guest suite and a bonus room with its own full bath and beautiful views from each room. The lower level features a large family room, sun room, half bath and laundry room. The exterior completes this home with a winding, stone driveway lined with beautiful landscaping including garden lighting and elegant trees. The stone terrace off of the kitchen is the perfect spot to enjoy views, a mature garden, and the activity lawn. The seller is expanding the septic to a four bedroom system that will be completed by closing. MLS 101045

WHAT CLIENTS ARE SAYING...

“Over the last 10 years, Liz Harris has represented us as buyers or sellers in probably six transactions. She has a keen sense when a ‘deal’ is possible and works very hard and creatively to make it happen. Bottom line is Liz is the best!” – ANN & BILL V.

“Liz Harris is on top of the Cashiers real estate market. She is proactive and creative and someone you want working for you. We’ve worked with her on several transactions and enjoy her personally as well as professionally.” –RENEE H.

“We were thrilled to work with Liz on the sale of our home and the purchase of our lot. Many thanks to her for expertly guiding us through a challenging process and providing superlative counsel and support. Her in-depth knowledge of market trends and understanding of our needs resulted in a perfect scenario for us to continue enjoying the Cashiers community.” –JAN & DUDLEY W.

LizHarrisBroker.com

High Hampton $695,000

Sassafras Ridge $175,000

1.53 ACRES

It is rare to nd a resale lot in High Hampton, and this one is prime! The property is located on the “original/Inn” side of the neighborhood, which means no highway crossing is needed to walk to the great amenities. Grand potential view of famed Rock Mountain with approved clearing, this lot also fronts the Cherokee Campgrounds’ greenspace with direct access to the trail system. East to southeast views to the mountain provide sunsets “on the rock.” MLS 97439

High Hemlock

$159,000

An absolutely beautiful homesite that is a hidden mountain gem! This lot has a view of Double Knob mountain and also offers a great deal of privacy. The lush wooded landscape of large hardwoods and mountain laurel is the perfect backdrop for someone to build their dream mountain home. This lot also shares a small pond with adjacent property owner. Paved access directly to the lot makes easy ingress and egress. MLS 98115

3.76 ACRES

Jack Knife ... This tract offers a wonderful location in Sassafras along a gentle ridge creating easy access onto the property. Gravel driveway is in, house site with framed mountain view and view overlooking Sassafras’ signature meadow. MLS 98133

4.09 ACRES

Bear Wallow Springs $100,000

4.44 ACRES Private wooded lot with plenty of building potential adjacent to the Fazio Learning Center at Lake Toxaway Country Club. Bear Wallow Springs borders Lake Toxaway which is the largest private lake in NC with 640 acres and approximately 14 miles of shoreline. This small golf-centric community offers access to the greater amenities of Lake Toxaway which includes the Lake Toxaway Country Club. MLS 98257

Live well. Run free.

Between its mountains lies an expansive, rolling meadow with Silver Run Creek winding through, sparkling in the sunshine. This is Silver Run Reserve, a naturally beautiful private amenitized community, with nearly 300 acres adjoining Nantahala National Forest and Nature Conservancy. Located just ve minutes from Cashiers, Silver Run's casual luxurious mountain living is convenient and effortless. The community features a variety of living options, from large Farm Estates to cozy Cottages. The Farm Estates range from 8 to 10 acres and provide maximum privacy with mountain and meadow views. Meadow Estates offer private meadows extending out into larger community meadows. Mountain Estates feature breathtaking panoramic mountain vistas, and Ridgetop Estates offer short range views within walking distance of amenities.

The 4 bedroom Cottages are mountain-chic and built for your convenience. Silver Run's amenity package features: The Meadow House, located in the heart of the community with indoor/outdoor dining areas, full bar, lounge areas, and a beautiful pool and pool house. The Lodge is a handsome Appalachian log community gathering space including guest suites and lounge areas. The Water Plant, a tness and activity center, offers a tness and a movement studio, art studio, golf simulator, and recreation and lounge spaces. Outdoor amenities include The Chimney Garden, hiking trails with destination amenities, shing lakes, a paddleboard and swimming lake, and more. A summer calendar of events and experiences will be curated each year for the owners enjoyment. Silver Run Reserve... Welcome Home!

A beautifully amenitized, low-density community in the cool mountains of Cashiers-Highlands, North Carolina

BOBBINS LAKE

THE LODGE CHIMNEY GARDEN

4118 Kitchen and Bar 4118kitchen-bar.com P 71

A Jones Company P 129

A-List Antiques P 48

Acorns P 33

ACP Home Interiors acphomeinteriors.com P 23

Aery Chiropractic aerychiropractic.com P 101

Allen Tate/Pat Allen Realty Group patallenrealtygroup.com P 9

Appalachian Animal Rescue P 95

Around Back at Rocky’s Place aroundbackatrockysplace.com P 59

The Bascom thebascom.org P 62

Balistreri Realty laketoxawayliving.com P 92

Barbara Jamison Paintings barbarajamisonpaintings.com P 53

Bazaar Barn P 117

Bear Shadow` bearshadownc.com P 80

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices meadowsmountainrealty.com P 96

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - Mary S. Abranyi realestatemaryabranyi.com P 101

Betsy Paul Art Benefit P 114

Betsy Paul Properties betsypaulproperties.com P 147

Bijou Jewelry bijoujeweler.com P 27

Black Rock Design Build blackrockdesignbuild-highlands.com P 10, 110

The Blue Elephant P 85

Blue Ridge Bedding blueridgebedding.com P 32

Blue Ridge Music blueridgemusicacademy.com P 100

Bombshell Hair Boutique P 49

Bounds Cave’s Rug Gallery boundscaverugs.com P 31

Bungalow Boutique bungalow828.com P 94

Calders Coffee Cafe calderscoffeecafe.com P 71

Caliber Fine Properties caliberfineproperties.com P 64, 65

Carolina Rustic Furniture carolinarusticfurniture.com P 32

Cashiers Chamber of Commerce cashiersareachamber.com P 100

Cashiers Candy Shoppe P 53

Cashiers Valley Community Chorus P 129

Cashiers Valley Smokehouse cashiersvalleysmokehouse.com P 72

Chambers Realty & Vacation Rentals highlandsiscalling.com P 52, 110

Charles Johnson

Fine Art Photography charlesjohnsonfineart.com P 59

Chocolate Heaven/Cake Bar P 124

Christine’s Home Decor christineshomedecor.com P 111

Classic Lighting & Design, Inc. classiclightinganddesign.com P 52

Country Club Properties ccphighlandsnc.com P 2

Creative Concepts P 110

The Dancing Bear at the High Dive P 73

Dauntless Printing dauntlessprinting.com P 52, 111

Diane McPhail, Artist P 58

The Dry Sink thedrysink.com P 117

Dutchmans dutchmansdesigns.com P 20

Edward Jones Investments edwardjones.com P 107

Elena’s Women’s

Golf and Activewear elenagolf.com P 121

The Exchange P 94

Fire + Water firemt.com P 15, 40

Fire Mountain Inn & Cabins firemt.com P 15, 40

Four65 Woodfire Bistro + Bar four65.com P 76 Dr. Edward D. Frederickson MD FACP P 106

Fusion Yoga & Wellness fusionyogaandwellness.com P 120

Grand Olde Station grandoldestation.com P 77

The Greystone Inn thegreystoneinn.com P 4

Green Mountain Builders greenmountainbuilders.com P 85 Head Innovations P 110

High Camp HighCampNC.com P 4

The High Dive P 73

Highlands Aerial Park highlandsaerialpark.com P 40 Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation hchealthfnd.org P 109

Highlands-Cashiers Hospital missionhealth.org/highlands P 119 Highlands Chamber of Commerce highlandschamber.org P 22

Highlands Fine Art & Estate Jewelry Wine Shop highlandsfineart.com P 25

Highlands Lawn & Garden P 48, 128

Highlands Outpost highlandsoutpost.com P 40

Highlands Rock Yard highlandsrockyard.com P 107

Highlands Sotheby’s International

Realty - Andrea Gabbard sothebysrealty.com P 12

Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty - Sheryl Wilson highlandssir.com P 111 Highlands Transportation Company P 53

Hummingbird Lounge oldedwardsinn.com P 33

Jack’s Upholstery P 111

Jennings Builders Supply jbwnc.com P 30

Josephine’s Emporium P 111

John Cleaveland Realty jcrealty.com P 24

King Background Screening kingbackgroundscreening.com P 111 The Kitchen

CarryAway and Catering thekitchenofhighlands.com P 76 Landmark Realty Group - Pam Nellis landmarkrg.com P 111

Laura Moser Art lauramoserart.com P 5

Las Margaritas P 70

Lehotsky & Sons lehotskyandsons.com P 101, 110

Lenz Gifts & Luxury Linens P 125

Lupoli Construction lupoliconstruction.com P 123 Main Street Gifts P 52

Martin Lispcomb

Performing Arts Center highlandsperformingarts.com P 63

McCulley’s P 3

McKee Properties mckeeproperties.com P 130-143

McKee Properties - Liz Harris mckeeproperties.com P 138,-140, 142, 143

McKee Properties - Beth Townsend mckeeproperties.com P 132-137, 141

Morales Painting P 120

Mountain Construction Engineering mountain-ce.com P 128

Mountain Spring Spas and Pools mountainhotspring.com P 17

Mountain Theatre Company mountaintheatre.com P 61

Mountainworks

Custom Home Design, Ltd. mtnworks.com P 43

Nancy’s Fancys P 94

Nearly New nearlynewnc.com P 49

Oak Steakhouse oaksteakhousehighlands.com P 66

Old Edwards Inn & Spa oldedwardsinn.com P 33, 110

On the Verandah ontheverandah.com P 72

Pat Calderone calderonegallery.com P 58

Peak Experience peakexp.com P 53

Preferred Properties of Highlands - Ann Scott ppoh.com P 111

ProServicess P 111

Rabun Flooring rabunflooring.com P 106

Reach of Macon County reachofmaconcounty.org P 101

Rebecka’s Home Cleaning Service P 110

Rent In Highlands-CCP rentinhighlands.com P 44

Rusticks rusticks.com P 11, 115

Ryan Karcher Photography P 45

Sapphire Valley Real Estate sapphirevalleyrealestate.com P 50

Shakespeare and Company shakespeareandcompanyhighlands.com P 95

Shepardson Photo caroleshepardson.com P 122

Silver Creek Real Estate Group ncliving.com P 36-39 Skyline Lodge skyline-lodge.com P 66 Slab Town Pizza slabtownpizza.com P 72 The Spa Boutique at Old Edwards Inn oldedwardsinn.com P 33

Stork’s Wrap, Pack & Ship P 15

The Summer House by Reeves summerhousehighlands.com P 54

Tarah’s Beauty Bar P 110

TJ Bailey’s for Men tjbmens.com P 51

The Ugly Dog Pub - Highlands theuglydogpub.com P 73

Vic’s for Men victoriasclosetnc.com P 127

Victoria’s Closet victoriasclosetnc.com P 127 Victoria’s Sportswear victoriasclosetnc.com P 127

The Village Green villagegreencashiersnc.com P 90 Warth Construction warthconstruction.com P 148

The Watershed Shoppe P 21

WHLC FM 104.5 whlc.com P 17

Willow Valley willowvalleyrv.com P 112

Wit’s End P 27 Wolfgang’s Restaurant & Wine Bistro wolfgangs.net P 5 Woofgang Bakery & Grooming P 121

Zoller Hardware zollerhardware.com P 111 The Zookeeper Bistro thezookeeperbistro.com P 70

PARTING SHOT

by Ryan Karcher