Mountain Xpress 04.19.17

OUR 23RD YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 23 NO. 39 APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

Week 3

Game on for table tennis, pickleball, disc golf, hooping

12

As air quality improves, monitoring efforts are on the rise

34

Springtime is brunch time in Asheville

40

Asheville Celebrates

Earth Day A guide to green happenings

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

MOUNTAINX.COM

MOUNTAINX.COM

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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BEST OF WNC X AWARDS - 2017 CATEGORIES ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Music Events & Venues • • • • •

Local Music Festival Local Festival To Camp Out At Place To Hear Live Music Outdoor Music Venue Listening Room

Arts & Crafts

• Art/Crafts Fair Or Event • Studio Stroll/Driving Tour • Craft School Or Place To Learn A Craft • Local Art Gallery • Craft-Oriented Gallery • Nonprofit That Serves The Arts

Film, Stage, Dance & Writing • • • • • • • • •

Movie Theater Local Filmmaker Theater Company Actor (Male Or Female) Comedy Troupe Or Series Vaudeville Troupe (Burlesque) Performance Dance Company Place To Dance Place To Take Dance Classes Or Lessons • Open-Mic Night Venue

• • • •

Local Author Local Poet Trivia Night Emcee Open-Mic Night Venue

Musicians & Bands • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Acoustic/Folk Americana/Country Blues Busker/Street Group Composer DJ (Non-Radio) Funk Jam/Progressive Jazz—Pre-Bop Jazz—Bop & Post-Bop Lyricist Music-Related Nonprofit Musician/Band Who Gives Back To The Community New Band (Started In The Last 12 Months) Old-Time/Bluegrass R&B/Soul Rock Rock: Alternative Singer-Songwriter Song (Locally Written) Vocalist World Music All-Round Favorite Band

FAQs When does voting start and end?

Voting officially begins March 29 & has been extended through April 29.

How many categories does a voter have to vote in?

Each ballot must have at least 30 completed votes to be counted.

How do I get a category added or changed?

The categories are set for this 4

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

Music-Related

• Music-Related Nonprofit • Music Instrument Maker • Music Instrument Repair Company • Recording Studio • Music Engineer Or Producer

Artists, Crafters • • • • • • • • • •

Book Artist Fiber Artist Jewelry Artist/Designer Metal Artist Or Metalworker Mural Artist Painter/Illustrator Photographer Potter/Ceramic Artist Sculptor Woodworker

EATS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Favorite Restaurant Barbecue Best Value Biscuits Breakfast Brunch Burger Burrito Catering Company Chain-Operated Restaurant Cheesemaker/Cheese Dairy Chef Diner/Home-Style Donuts Food Truck •French Fries

• Fried Chicken • Green/Sustainability-Friendly Restaurant • Healthiest Restaurant • Hot Bar • Hot Dogs • Kid-Friendly • Late-Night • Local-Food Emphasis • Lunch • Business Lunch • Outdoor Dining • Pasta • People-Watching • Pizza • Pub Grub • Quick Meal • Ribs • Restaurant In Downtown • Restaurant In The River Arts District • Restaurant In West Asheville • Restaurant In North Asheville • Restaurant In East Asheville • Restaurant In South Asheville • Restaurant To Take Out-OfTowners To • Restaurant Still Needed In Asheville • New Restaurant (Opened In The Last 12 Months) • Restaurant That Gives Back To The Community

• Restaurant That Best Represents The Spirit Of Asheville • Romantic Dining • Restaurant Wine List • Salad • Seafood • Service • Southern • Special Diet Options (GlutenFree, Lactose-Free, etc.)

• Splurge Restaurant • Sub Shop/Deli/Sandwiches • Taco • Take-Out • Vegetarian

How are the votes counted?

Mountain Xpress tallies the votes by hand, taking great care to understand each voter’s intent. We reserve the right to reject any ballot with inappropriate responses.

Why do voters have to vote for 30 categories?

We want meaningful results from people who are invested in and knowledgeable about the Asheville area.

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How do you prevent voter fraud?

Each ballot is examined for telltale signs of voter fraud.

While we encourage you to ask your patrons to vote on your behalf, do not attempt to stuff the ballot box. We watch carefully and will disqualify ballots that appear to be fraudulent.

I hope my business wins, how do I get voting promotional materials?

Call us at 251-1333 or come

by Mountain Xpress offices at 2 Wall Street and we can get you a packet, or contact your sales representative for information.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Ethnic • • • • • • • • • • •

Chinese Japanese Sushi Indian Korean Thai Greek Italian European Mexican Latin American

Dessert

• Ice Cream • Frozen Yogurt/Custard • Chocolate

Bakeries

• Bakery (Sweets/Desserts) • Bakery (Bread)

Miscellaneous

year, but to suggest a change for next year email: bestofwnc@mountainx.com

Beer, Cider & Breweries

• Local Food/Drink Product • Culinary/Cooking Classes • Nonprofit Helping With Hunger Issues

DRINKS Bars

• Bar That Best Represents The Spirit Of Asheville • Bar For Live Music • Bar With A View • Bar With Bar Games • Dive Bar • Family/Kid-Friendly Bar • Gay-Friendly Bar • Hotel Bar • Sports Bar • Upscale Bar • Wine Bar • Bar Or Brewery That Gives Back To The Communty • Neighborhood Bar Downtown • Neighborhood Bar - East • Neighborhood Bar - North • Neighborhood Bar - South • Neighborhood Bar - West • Bartender

Bar: Local Beer Selection Bar: Unusual Beer Selection Local All-Round Brewery Creative, Experimental Brewery Cidery Brewmaster Favorite Local Beer Event Local Beer (Any Style) Local Dark Beer Local IPA Local Sour Beer Beer Store Homebrewing/Winemaking Supplies

Cocktails & Wine • • • •

Local Winery Bloody Mary Cocktails Wine Store

Coffee, Tea & Smoothies • Coffee House • Establishment With The Best Coffee • Coffee/Tea House In Which To Read A Book • Coffee Roaster • Place To Drink Tea • Smoothies/Juices

OUTDOORS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Bicycle Club Or Group Hiking Club Or Group Running Club Or Group Day Hike Overnight Hike Place To Car Camp Picnic Spot Fishing Spot Place To Rock Climb Place To Go Bouldering Whitewater Paddling Section Flatwater Paddling Section Rafting Company Running Event/Race - Road Running Event/Race - Trail Bike Event/Race - Road Bike Event/Race - Mountain Canopy/Zip-Line Tour Ski Resort Ski/Winter Sports Shop Bike Shop Outdoor Gear And Apparel Shop Environmental Nonprofit Conservation Nonprofit Outdoor Event WNC Needs What Category Would You Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

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W O N E T O V SHOPPING Fashion

• Clothing: Dress-Up/Stylin’ (Women’s) • Clothing: Dress-Up/Stylin’ (Men’s) • Clothing: Office (Women’s) • Clothing: Office (Men’s) • Clothing: Used Or Vintage (for-profit) • Clothing: Used Or Vintage (nonprofit store) • Shoe Store • Jewelry Store

Food • • • • •

All-Round Grocery Store Budget-Friendly Grocery Store Health Food Store Import/Ethnic Food Store Convenience/Corner Store

Home

• New Furniture Store • Used Furniture Store (for-profit store) • Used Furniture Store (nonprofit store) • Bed And Mattress Store • Antique Store • Picture Framer

General & Miscellaneous

• Auto Dealer - New And/Or Used • Automobile Tire Store • Bookstore - New • Bookstore - Used • Florist • Gift Shop • Head Shop • Adult Toys, Lingerie & Naughty Things Store • Musical Instrument Store • Record/CD Store • Pawn Shop • Print Shop • Skateboard Store • Tobacco Shop • Vape Shop • Store That Best Represents The Spirit Of Asheville • What Category Would You Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

Professional & Home Services

• Accountant/CPA Firm • Alt Energy Sales And Installation • Architectural Firm • Bike Repair • Car Repair • Computer Repair • Dry Cleaner • Electrical/Electrician Company • Graphic Design Artist Or Firm e • Green Builder • Heating/Cooling Company • Home Cleaning Service

• • • • • • • •

Law Firm Moving Company Pest Control Service Plumbing Real Estate Agent Real Estate Company Web Development Firm What Category Would You Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

KIDS Activities, Eating & Entertainment • • • • • • • • • •

After-School Program Day Trip For Kids Event Or Festival For Kids Kids Entertainer Recreation Center For Kids Museum Playground Place For Birthday Parties Place To Make Art Restaurant With The Best KidsEat-Free (Or Cheap) Night • Parents Night Out Program • Volunteer Opportunity

Learning • • • • • • • •

School (Pre-College) Preschool Daycare Teacher—Elementary Teacher—Middle School Teacher—High School Music Teacher—Classroom Music Teacher—Private Lessons • Art Education Program • Outdoor Education Nonprofit

Services & Shopping • • • • • • •

Dance Studio Gymnastics Program Martial Arts Program Youth Sports Program Kids’ Clothes Toy Store Hair Salon/Stylist For Kids

Camps & Outdoors • Day Camp • Nature Camp • Overnight Camp

Medical

• Pediatric Practice - General • Pediatric Dentistry Practice • What Category Would Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

HEALTH & WELLNESS • • • •

Physician (General Practice) Pediatrician Chiropractor Acupuncturist

• Hospital • Place To Get Medical Care When Under- Or Uninsured • Eye Care Specialist/Service • Hearing Care Specialist/ Service • Dentist • Orthodontist • Physical Therapist • Massage Therapist • Family Medical Practice • Women’s Health Center • Maternity Care/Service • Midwifery/Birthing Services • Alternative Healing Center • Meditation/Retreat Center • Psychologist/Counselor • Hospice • Mortuary/Funeral Services • Herbal Supplement Store • Yoga Studio • Yoga Teacher • Physical Trainer • Gym Or Place To Work Out • Fitness Studio With Classes • Pilates Studio/Center/Classes • Martial Arts Studio

PETS • Veterinary Services • Alternative Pet Health-Care Provider • Pet Supply Store • Pet Kennel • Pet Daycare Facility • Pet-Sitting Service • Grooming Service • Trainer/Training Center • Animal Shelter/Rescue Organization • Outdoor Place To Take Your Dog • Pet-Friendly Bar • Pet-Friendly Restaurant • Pet-Friendly Hotel

MEDIA • Local Radio Station (commercial) • Local Radio Station (noncommercial) • Free Publication Other Than Xpress • Most Important Local News Story • Most Over-Reported Story • Most Under-Reported Story • Local Print Reporter • Local Radio Personality • Local TV Personality/ Announcer • Local Website Other Than mountainx.com • Favorite Feature In Xpress • Least Favorite Feature In Xpress • What Category Would You Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

WORK & BUSINESS • Business That Best Represents The Spirit Of Asheville • New Business (Opened In The Last 12 Months) • Bank • Credit Union • Bank Services For Small Business • Mortgage Company • Support Organization For New Businesses • Employment Sector To Work In • Co-Op/Worker-Owned Business • Business That Gives Back To The Community • Business With Earth-Friendly Practices • What Category Would Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

PERSONAL SERVICES • • • • • • • • • •

Spa Hair Salon Hair Stylist Barber Shop Nail Salon Tattoo Parlor Tattoo Artist Piercing Studio Local Body Products Maker What Category Would You Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

FARM, YARD & GARDEN • Tailgate/Farmers Market • Community Garden • Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm • Help Learning To Farm/ Garden • Nonprofit Supporting Farms/ Farmland Preservation • Favorite Farm To Visit • Roadside Farm Stand • Orchard • Garden Supply Store • Mulch Supplier • Tree Service

• • • •

Yard Service Nursery (Trees, Shrubs) Landscape/Grading Service Stoneworker/Stone Mason

UNIQUELY ASHEVILLE • Neighborhood • Activist Group For Civic/ Political Action • Best Thing To Happen To Asheville In The Last 12 Months • Bumper Sticker Or Slogan About Asheville • Fundraising Event • Holiday Event • Local Hero • Local Villain • Local Politician • Street For Pedestrians • Street For Cyclists • Project You’d Like To See Local Government Do • Thing Downtown Asheville Needs • Thing West Asheville Needs • Thing North Asheville Needs • Thing South Asheville Needs • Thing East Asheville Needs • Thing The River Arts District Needs • Biggest Threat To Asheville’s Uniqueness • Nonprofit That Improves Asheville • Nonprofit That Serves The Underprivileged • Local City Tour • Public Art Installation Or Mural • Place To Get Married • Place To Celebrate/Honor A Friend • Local Asheville Attraction

• Place To Take Your Eccentric Friends • Place To Take Your Visiting Family • Hotel • B&B Or Small Boutique Hotel • What Category Would You Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

REGIONAL • Questions for the following regions: Brevard Hendersonville/Flat Rock Swannanoa/Black Mountain Weaverville/Woodfin Marshall/Mars Hill Hot Springs Burnsville Waynesville Cullowhee/Sylvia • • • • • • • • •

Breakfast Restaurant Lunch Restaurant Dinner Restaurant Coffee & Sweets Art Gallery Music/Entertainment Venue Retail Store Cultural Or Arts Event Cultural Or Historical Landmark • Best Thing To Happen To Your Town In The Last 12 Months • Business That Best Represents The Spirit Of Your Town • What Category Would You Like To See Added To This Section Next Year?

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X N I MOUN TA C N W F O T S BE MOUNTAINX.COM

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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OUR 23RD YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 23 NO. 39 APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

C O N T E NT S C ONTAC T US

Week 3

Game on for table tennis, pickleball, disc golf, hooping

12

As air quality improves, monitoring efforts are on the rise

34

Springtime is brunch time in Asheville

40

PAGE 46 GOOD NATURED The city of Asheville and its partners have scheduled more than a dozen environmentally focused events for Asheville Earth Week.

COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick

Asheville Celebrates A guide to green happenings

NEWS WELLNESS

30 NEW MODEL OF HEALTH CARE Asheville-area doctors join the direct and concierge care movements

FOOD

40 SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN Springtime is brunch time in Asheville

FOOD

44 A TASTE OF TAMPA Cigar City partners with Oskar Blues for N.C. production and distribution

52 SHAKESPEAREAN FEMINISTS AND MEXICAN NUNS The Asheville Butoh Festival holds its own

A&E

12 NICHE SPORTS From disc golf to pickleball, Asheville residents are getting their groove back

A&E

FEATURES

56 TICK-TOCK MOVIEMAKING 90-Second Newbery Film Festival makes its Asheville debut

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THE SUSTAIN ABILITY SERIES WEEK 3

10 DON’T STOP NOW Air quality’s improving but let’s not get complacent 17 BUNCOMBE BEAT YWCA takes stand against racism 34 AIR APPARENT Monitoring air quality in the mountains 38 YOU SAY TOMATO Slow Food Asheville says Cherokee Purple 58 CONSCIOUS THREADS Echoview Farm introduces recycled yarn

7 LETTERS 7 CARTOON: MOLTON 9 CARTOON: BRENT BROWN 10 COMMENTARY 20 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 22 CONSCIOUS PARTY 30 WELLNESS 34 GREEN SCENE 40 FOOD 42 SMALL BITES 44 BEER SCOUT 46 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 60 SMART BETS 64 CLUBLAND 71 MOVIES 75 SCREEN SCENE 77 PUZZLE XPRESS 78 CLASSIFIEDS 78 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 79 NY TIMES CROSSWORD

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To subscribe to Mountain Xpress, send check or money order to: Subscription Department, PO Box 144, Asheville NC 28802. First class delivery.

One year (52 issues) $130 / Six months (26 issues) $70. We accept Mastercard & Visa.

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O PINION

Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.

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presents PUBLISHER & MANAGING EDITOR: Jeff Fobes ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson

SPRING BIKE NIGHT FREE BEER, FOOD TRUCK & LIVE MUSIC

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ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Virginia Daffron

CAR SMASH LIVE AUCTION • BIKE GAMES ALL PROCEEDS GO TO:

A&E EDITOR/WRITER: Alli Marshall

COMMUNITY ROOTS Stop Duke’s Fracked Gas Plants!

FOOD EDITOR/WRITER: Gina Smith WELLNESS EDITOR/WRITER: Susan Foster OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose STAFF REPORTERS/WRITERS: Able Allen, Thomas Calder, Virginia Daffron, Dan Hesse, Max Hunt CALENDAR EDITOR: Abigail Griffin

X AWARDS - 2017

CLUBLAND EDITORS Abigail Griffin, Max Hunt

CARTOO N BY RAN D Y M O LT O N

Local media need greater diversity I am writing this letter to ask that both readers, listeners (radio), watchers (TV), editors and owners of various area mass media look at their staffs and their coverage for bias in hiring and coverage based on a failure to diversify their hiring and coverage.

I have observed that if you take a look at all media in Asheville, especially the Asheville Citizen-Times and WLOS, you will find that all of the local media, for whatever reason, institutional racism perhaps, have failed to diversify their employee base and are very white-dominated, and that sends a message to children and area subscribers and residents that for the most part, these important community info givers only hire whites and provide a Caucasian perspective in their daily reporting.

I would compare this to the news coverage in South Africa under apartheid and add that this is something that has been common practice here since the beginning of any of these local media entities. This has to change someti­me, and I am writing this letter in the hope that those who are in control of local media see it, think about it, realize that my point here is valid and make changes in the future.

I have to believe that our children must not continue to grow up seeing very little diversity in local media and instead see that everyone here has a possible future reporting the news in Asheville and Western North Carolina.

— John Penley Asheville Editor’s note: When contacted, the Citizen-Times and WLOS declined to offer a response. As a small, alternative outlet, our goal at Xpress is to hire qualified people with a passion for community journalism. We actively seek to avoid discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation in our hiring, promotion and compensation practices.

Concerning Xpress’ coverage, we have frequent newsroom discussions to watch for and compensate for biases and blind spots.

The reasons for the U.S. media’s failure to diversify are many and complex, and can ultimately be traced to society as a whole. Yet different media operations have different dynamics: Contrast large with small ones; compare national with local, niche with mainstream.

Agreed, the distortions of the media tend to perpetuate systemic problems in society. They send bad messages to our children (and the rest of us).

While there is value in comparing the U.S. to South African apartheid

BEST OF WNC

MOVIE REVIEWERS: Scott Douglas, Justin Souther CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Peter Gregutt, Rob Mikulak, Margaret Williams REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Jonathan Ammons, Edwin Arnaudin, Kari Barrows, Leslie Boyd, Coogan Brennan, Jacqui Castle, Scott Douglas, Steph Guinan, Corbie Hill, Rachel Ingram, Tony Kiss, Bill Kopp, Cindy Kunst, Kate Lundquist, Lea McLellan, Kat McReynolds, Emily Nichols, Kyle Petersen, John Piper Watters ADVERTISING, ART & DESIGN MANAGER: Susan Hutchinson

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O P I NI O N

Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.

in regard to white ownership of the media, some key parallels fail — one of them being our Constitution's First Amendment and related laws that permit any individual or group to establish and operate a media operation.

We hear Mr. Penley’s concern, however, and take it to heart. Racial diversity should extend to media operations and its voices. We can’t make that a reality alone, but we want to do our part. We welcome contributors and applicants from diverse backgrounds as well as suggestions on how we might better reflect the many perspectives in our community.

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

The National Endowment for the Arts awarded grants totaling $452,500 to 16 North Carolina organizations and one artist for fiscal year 2017. Writer Jean Godfrey of Black Mountain and the LEAF festival, which takes place in Black Mountain, were among the recipients. If Donald Trump succeeds at eliminating the NEA, which makes a minuscule dint in the national budget, funds for awards like these will be much more difficult to procure.

The most tenable reasons why the arts should not face the guillotine reflect a more unsettling issue than “wasteful spending.” President Lyndon Johnson once said, “In the long history of man, countless empires and nations have come and gone.

Those which created no lasting works of art are reduced today to short footnotes in history’s catalog.”

Art brings voice and vision to facts written on the pages of history books.

It reflects and shapes culture, liberates us, expresses the forbidden. It confesses our sins and celebrates our triumphs. It can even topple tyrants.

Perhaps that is the most disturbing aspect of Trump’s quest to destroy the NEA. Art has power.

Why else have so many writers, painters and musicians been silenced throughout history? Dostoyevsky spent years in a Siberian jail for discussing books critical of Tsarist Russia.

Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca was executed for speaking out against Franco during the Spanish Civil War. One of American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s exhibitions was canceled in 1989 for offending the sensibilities of Sen. Jesse Helms with its sexually provocative images. Art should provoke. It should inspire us to question our convictions and venture out of our comfort zones. Silencing freedom of expression and thought is as dangerous to the health of a nation as vilifying

MOUNTAINX.COM

the press for challenging political leaders and their agendas.

When a government begins to teeter on the edge of tyranny, the first things to go are a free press and art. The current administration is now under investigation for colluding with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump routinely disseminates falsehoods through near-daily tweets. Now more than ever, we need the honesty of art. Eliminating the NEA is not a deficit-reducing strategy; it is another insidious attempt to control the national narrative. Relying solely on the public to finance projects, especially experimental or avantgarde work — work that could indeed provoke thought and effect change — would result in even greater censorship and severely limit many people’s access to art.

When the history books portray the United States hundreds of years from now, what will that portrait look like?

If it’s just a ledger pad, excavated from the ruins of the White House, we will relegate ourselves to a footnote. If it’s beauty and innovation — as demonstrated in the work of Jean Godfrey and LEAF — we will warrant an opus. A picture is worth a thousand words, Mr. Trump. And definitely a thousand tweets.

— Christy Hallberg

Leicester

Downtown parking woes Some may remember the fiasco a few years back wherein [a local towing company] was caught parking towed cars illegally, effectively doubling the fees tourists had to pay for their car’s return.

It was the crescendo to a long bout with predatory towing here in lovely Asheville, N.C. These problems were well behind us — or so we thought.

Recently, I popped in to Mamacitas (my favorite, before this) for a burrito, parking in the lot where I had parked hundreds of times before. I ran inside, purchased food, came back out (5-10 minutes later) to find a “parking citation” under my wiper for nearly $20 (double the fees charged by the city).

Being temporarily short of funds, I was unable to afford the (rather steep) citation fee immediately. A week later I received a letter from McLaurin Parking (www.mclaurinparking.com) informing me that my citation had just been raised to $30, which I still could not afford at the time. By the time I did have enough money to pay the fines, the “citation” fee had tripled to $60. Had I taken much longer (I was informed) the fee would increase to $100.

To me, this is ludicrous. It seems that we have traded predatory towing for predatory parking enforcement services. ...

I later found out that most of these lots either charge cash (some credit/ debit at a kiosk) or they instruct you to use their app. ...

It seems that these people (supposedly BBB-certified) are doing the same thing the towing companies were years ago: targeting tourists with exorbitant fees. ...

Is this OK with everyone? Should this company charge astronomical fees (nearly double, on all fronts) for a service the city makes a meager income from? ... I, for one, think it is in very poor taste, especially when none of this money stays in our community!

P.S.: … Imagine what Asheville would look like if not for the several thousand parking spaces in these lots siphoning money from our community. This land will never be developed until the amount of money they take in is greatly exceeded by the value of the property. Even then, the owners will likely milk that transaction for all it’s worth, reducing the quality of the development that will eventually utilize that empty lot they have squeezed all those tiny spaces into. It saddens me for our community, as well as the businesses I will no longer honor with my patronage since I refuse to pay more to park than to purchase their fine wares.

Sincerely,

— Durham Bell

Asheville Editor’s note: When contacted by Xpress, Bill McLaurin of McLaurin Parking Co. responded: “... All of our Asheville locations have pay stations that require payment at arrival, similar to a parking meter on the curb.

We also offer payment by phone at all locations. More than 95 percent of our customers pay for parking when they arrive, as directed by the signs at the entrance. Our enforcement agents check the lots several times each day and issue penalty tickets to unpaid vehicles.

The penalty is $18 and can be paid online within the next seven days.

Also online, the customer can appeal the ticket if they it believe it was issued in error or if there are special circumstances that should be considered. Appeals are reviewed and answered within 48 hours by our staff. If the ticket is not appealed and remains unpaid after seven days, the penalty increases to $30. Thirty days after issue, the ticket increases to $60. This information is printed on the ticket that is placed on the windshield, and the customer receives a reminder letter by mail each time the penalty increases.

C A RT O O N B Y B R E NT B R O W N The customer that was mentioned in your message was not charged ”almost $20 for 10 minutes of parking.“ The ticket is a penalty for failure to pay for parking. We do not understand why the customer calls our action "predatory," as the signs at the entrance state exactly what can happen when someone parks without paying. Apparently, this customer chose to park without paying.

We must take action when people ignore the signs. A penalty of $18 is much better (for the offending customer) than immobilization (booting) or towing. We would be happy to look at this particular penalty ticket, but we did not receive any information regarding the ticket number or the license number of the ticketed vehicle ...”

Meanwhile, Mamacitas’ owner John Atwater responded: “It’s always a bummer to get a parking ticket — sorry to hear that happened. We would gladly switch the lot back to free parking, but it’s not our lot; the property owners made the decision to charge for parking a year back, and we simply have no control over the issue. The Aloft parking deck is half a block from us and free for the first hour as another parking alternative? Hope we see you soon and wish you a beautiful day.”

A longer version of this letter will appear at mountainx.com.

Take back your liberty Citizens of this county and this country all want to create a sustainable future that honors the American values of liberty, justice and prosperity. However, transnational corporations and judges legislating from the bench are in the way! Super PACs, unions and other large donors to political campaigns have been given constitutional rights, and money has been deemed free speech. This gives rise to the high-dollar marketing campaigns that result in elected officials being bought and not serving those who elect them. I would like voters to determine who wins our elections and how they serve our interests.

The NC We the People Campaign is procuring a ballot measure for the 2018 election that declares that the people of North Carolina support amending the USA Constitution to establish that corporations cannot buy elections and that human beings — not corporations — are “natural persons” entitled to constitutional rights. The ballot measure will be voted on and decided by the people.

Sens. [Terry] Van Duyn, [Floyd B.] McKissick Jr. and [Valerie] Foushee filed Senate Bill 354, The We The

People Act! The House version of the We the People Act HB 453 has been filed by Reps. [Verla] Insko, [Rosa] Gill, [William] Richardson and [Amos] Quick.

I encourage readers of Mountain Xpress to take back your liberty!

Please do the following: 1. Sign a petition for the ballot measure: www.NCWeThePeople.org.

2. Write emails and postcards to your legislators.

3. Get other nonprofit organizations to partner with our coalition.

(There are currently 20 groups.) See website linked above.

With enough public support, our legislators in Raleigh will allow North Carolinians to vote in November 2018 by getting this through the General Assembly and onto the ballot!

— Ann Hibbard

Lake Junaluska

Do not be deceived by false teachers [In] answer to [the letter]: “Enforcing the bathroom law,” [Feb. 8, Xpress]: A little bird, you can hold it in your hand; it weighs hardly anything. It knows if it is male or

female. It knows what kind it is. You don’t see birds [that are] part robin and part blue jay. It is still just like at the Creation. It has not been to a university of men. After God created man in Genesis 1:26, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.

Imagine the Earth and the only people on it were 100 people: 50 couples — 25 couples of two males together, 25 couples of two females together. They are all virgins, they are all 18 years old, this is all they do their entire life. What happens after 75-100 years? They are all dead.

They said no to God. Do you remember the news reporting about the young people being molested by the priests?

Were these priests punished? No, they were sent down to another church. Read about the worldwide false religious power in Revelation 17; notice Verse 9, and realize that 9 and 18 tell who and where the power is. Young people, do not be deceived by false teachers. They do not have your well-being in mind.

The little bird is much smarter than all of them put together.

— Tom Robinson

Burnsville

MOUNTAINX.COM

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

9

O PINION

Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.

Don’t stop now

BY BILL EAKER On March 20, local, state and federal officials, Duke Energy representatives and others briefed local media on air-quality conditions, trends and programs both statewide and here in Western North Carolina. The great news is that air quality has improved significantly. Concentrations of groundlevel ozone and fine particulates have dropped tremendously over the past 15 years, and visibility has also improved, making it easier to enjoy our beautiful mountain vistas.

This is a remarkable environmental success story! Many agencies and organizations can be proud of their contributions to this.

Together, they’ve demonstrated that bold action at many different levels can successfully address serious environmental issues.

How did this take place? What was done to reverse the situation?

Air quality’s improving but let’s not get complacent

Who took the lead? Here’s my perspective on what happened.

In the mid-’90s, two air quality experts, Jim Renfro with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Bill Jackson with the U.S. Forest Service here in Asheville, sounded the alarm. The entire Southern Appalachian region, they said, was suffering impacts from air pollution, both locally generated and what blew in from adjacent areas. Monitors, particularly those at high elevations, were showing serious readings for ground-level ozone that sometimes exceeded federal air quality standards. In fact, WNC was very close to being designated a “nonattainment area” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which would have had significant consequences.

Fine particulate matter in the air was scattering sunlight, creating a thick layer of haze that made it hard to see the mountains. Folks in

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the tourism industry worried about the impact of that on our economy.

Meanwhile, acid deposition, both wet and dry, was saturating mountain soils with nitrogen and sulfur compounds that were affecting the health of our forests and aquatic resources. Our high-elevation evergreen forests became more susceptible to tree-killing insects like the balsam woolly adelgid. Fishermen and fish farmers alike were concerned about the impact on our beautiful but pollution-sensitive native brook trout.

For the most part, those of us working in local and regional governments hadn’t been aware of the seriousness of our air quality problems until that alarm was sounded. Staff here at the Land of Sky Regional Council were caught by surprise: For 20 years, we’d been busy working to clean up the water quality of the French Broad River and its many tributaries, and we knew very little about air quality management..

Clearly, we all had a lot to learn about air pollution — and pronto.

So we got a small grant to assess the situation and figure out how to address it. We met with all the experts and got good dialogue going among the appropriate players.

One recommendation was creating a regional education-andoutreach program to inform local and state officials and community leaders. In 1998, key partners launched a regional Clean Air Campaign in the Asheville metro, putting the word out through public service announcements, news releases, interviews, presentations to all kinds of groups, and interacting with the public at community events such as Bele Chere. The campaign increased public awareness of both the problems and potential solutions.

After that, the state secretary of environment and natural resources, who was from Asheville, proposed a broader awareness campaign, the Mountain Air Quality Coalition, to spread the message across WNC. We met with Gov. Jim Hunt at the Grove Park Inn to brief him on our efforts and seek his support. He was totally committed and hosted the first Governors Summit on Mountain Air Quality in Asheville in 1999 to get the heads of adjacent states to buy in as well.

The governors of the eight Southern Appalachian states teamed up with various state and federal agencies, the utilities serving those areas and other key partners to form the Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative.

By pooling technical and financial resources, SAMI was able to study the problems, conduct additional air quality monitoring and modeling, and prepare technical reports outlining various options for fixing the problems.

North Carolina played a key role in SAMI and also took the lead by enacting the Clean Smokestacks Act in 2002. Two Asheville-area legislators, Sen. Steve Metcalf and Rep. Martin Nesbitt, introduced the bill. This was landmark environmental legislation! It required utilities to reduce their nitrogen oxide emissions by 77 percent and cut sulfur dioxide emissions in half

by 2009. The utilities, state agencies and other key players agreed to these provisions, ensuring that the law would be passed. The law also authorized the state attorney general to sue entities in other states whose emissions were affecting North Carolina.

The combination of a lawsuit and pending federal emission control requirements persuaded the Tennessee Valley Authority to shut down some of its oldest and most polluting coal-fired power plants and install additional emission controls on the others. The steps taken

by North Carolina utilities and the TVA probably had the most inflluence on our air quality, but other state and federal programs, including federal fuel economy and emission standards and cleaner fuels, helped as well.

Local groups also took action.

The WNC Regional Air Quality Agency got grants to retrofit Buncombe County school buses and firetrucks with emission reduction devices. In addition, the agency led an anti-idling campaign. Many entities joined the Land-of-Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition and began

switching to more fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles. The annual Strive Not to Drive Campaign (coming up May 12-19) encourages citizens to take mass transit, carpool, telecommute, walk and bike.

The Clean Air Campaign’s motto is “Working Together We Can Clear the Air,” and that’s exactly what has happened.

But we can’t afford to get complacent. Our region is growing rapidly, and that brings more industry, homes to heat and cool, vehicles, lawn mowers and other sources of air emissions. In addition, the federal air quality standards keep getting stronger, to better protect public health and the environment. For these reasons, we must do all we can to lower our emissions and ensure that this remains one of the most beautiful and desirable places in the world to live. It’s our responsibility!

Senior environmental planner Bill Eaker coordinates the Land of Sky Regional Council’s Clean Air Campaign and Clean Vehicles Coalition. Contact him at bill@landofsky.org. X

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11

NEWS

NICHE SPORTS

From disc golf to pickleball, Asheville residents are getting their groove back

BY KARI BARROWS karibarrows94@gmail.com Whether it’s knocking around in the garage or claiming center stage at the Olympics, table tennis has become a worldwide sensation.

Although it may not be as widely televised as some other competitive sports, for those who play, it’s nothing less than a lifestyle.

But table tennis isn’t the only niche sport Asheville has to offer. Josh O’Conner, Buncombe County’s parks and recreation manager, says his department works with a number of clubs, including rowing groups, a sailing club and a disc golf association.

“Small club sports, especially those that are somewhat fringe, are really something we’re trying to pay attention to,” he explains.

“We’re looking at ways we can leverage our impact by supporting amateur sports that have a low cost of entry and that engage people who haven’t been involved in traditional athletics. We do what we can to support the clubs with field space or seed grants because, ultimately, it allows us to achieve our efforts toward health through active lifestyle.”

Organized sports aren’t for everyone, however, and there are other ways Ashevilleans can find community while getting physical (see sidebar, “Getting Rhythm”). Either way, those goals are important in creating and supporting a sustainable community in Asheville.

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The various local clubs, notes O’Conner, also offer community members alternatives to what they may have experienced as kids. “A lot of people have had negative sports experiences during childhood, so beyond childhood we see very little interest in traditional sports.”

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BIKES, NOT HORSES: Bike polo players use tennis courts around town to compete in their sport. Photo by Kari Barrows

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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UP AND DOWN Growing up in Japan, Kyoko Muecke was surrounded by table tennis. She was 13 when she joined a club, though she spent her first year picking up balls and performing various other subsidiary tasks. And when she played

in her first tournament at age 14, she was terrified.

“When my turn came, I was standing in front of the table — and then, to my eyes, the table started going up and down, up and down, because I was so nervous,” the retired Asheville resident recalls. “So you can tell how miserably I was beaten.”

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FORE: Lookout Brewing Co. owner John Garcia aims his disc at a basket. Photo by Kari Barrows After that, Muecke and table tennis parted ways. She moved to California in 1980 and to Asheville in 2001. But it wasn’t till she stumbled on the Asheville Table Tennis Club two years ago that her love for the sport was rekindled. In 2015, she was reading a newspaper article about the group and “Something happened in my heart, like a joy just spreaded in my heart. I didn’t understand why I had such a joy.”

The next day, she joined up. “I wanted to overcome my fear. I wanted to beat myself. I wanted to go to a tournament someday and then see if the table stays.” Muecke got her chance last year: She competed in a senior tournament in Charlotte, winning a silver medal. Soon after, though, she fell and was diagnosed with arthritis.

After that, she just sat in front of the TV, watching tournament players and missing the sport.

But when club President Jeremy Rabuck encouraged her to come back, Muecke realized she could reconnect in other ways. Her doctors said she couldn’t play for another six months, so she now helps run a serving robot people can use to hone their skills and tries to encourage new members. Just watching everyone play, says Muecke, makes her feel better.

Rabuck, an agent at Carolina Green Realty, says the club prides itself on making people of all ages and backgrounds feel welcome. “It’s such a good club: I feel like we’re all president.” The group, he maintains, also boasts the nicest facility in the state.

MOVEMENT AND FITNESS Another racket sport that’s seemingly taken Asheville by storm is pickleball. Local players come together weekly at several locations, including the YMCA, the Stephens-Lee Center and the Linwood Crump Shiloh Center. And on Sundays, the Y is so packed that people have to take turns.

Last month, the Recreation Advisory Board recommended a 10-court pickleball facility at Oakley Park.

Although the sport’s been around since 1965, it’s stayed somewhat under the radar. Supposedly, one of the inventors of the game had a dog named “Pickles,” but Asheville native Joanna Nache traces the name to “pickling,” a term rowers use to describe their teamwork.

Pickleball teams, notes Nache, work together in a similar way.

The sport also builds community.

“It’s very social,” she says. “You know, some people live at home alone, and

CONTINUES ON PAGE 14 MOUNTAINX.COM

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13

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FOR ALL AGES: Players old and young join in on table tennis matches and friendly competition. Photos by Kari Barrows they come here because they get to see people. It’s the camaraderie.”

For those looking to compete in tournaments, the WNC Pickleball Club accepts referrals from current members.

PJ Dillingham has only been playing since January, but she’s already hooked. She says “PJ” used to be a short form of her given name, Pamela Jean, but now it stands for “pickleball junkie.” Dillingham, a nurse practitioner at Mission Health, touts the sport’s health and social benefits. “It’s not just the sport piece of it: It’s like this whole social interaction, because you’re playing with a different set of people each time. You’re exercising, you get the positive endorphins, and … you can have generations competitively playing on the same court. To me, that makes it one of the most unique opportunities for movement and fitness that there is.”

EASY TO LEARN, HARD TO MASTER Those kinds of social and personal benefits are also part of disc golf’s appeal. John Garcia played his first round when some of his employees took him out about two years ago.

He’s now president of the WNC Disc Golf Association. Garcia, who coowns Lookout Brewing Co. in Black Mountain, says he likes the sport because folks of all shapes and sizes can easily play. “You don’t have to have a LeBron James build to be good at a technique and a follow-through

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that will put a disc 400 or 500 feet down the airway.”

Unlike more traditional sports, he continues, disc golfers can progress pretty quickly. “I can go out and play basketball and have fun, but I’m really not going to be that good. And if I play for two or three more months, I still might not be that good.” Play four or five rounds of disc golf, on the other hand, and “from your first round to your fifth there’s a night-and-day difference. By the time you play your 20th and your 100th round, you’re making leaps and bounds at how good you can be.”

Barrett Caton, the association’s vice president, agrees, though he stresses that honing one’s technique can take some time. Disc golf, he says, is “easy to learn, hard to master.” Whereas, “if you didn’t grow up playing baseball, soccer, basketball, it’s hard to learn that.”

And though some club members play professionally — notably Nathan Sexton, who’s currently ranked 12th in the world, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association’s website — most seem content to keep things more lowkey, says Garcia. There’s often friendly competition based on “tags,” medals with a randomly assigned number from one to 100 that are given to all club members. Whoever wins the round gets to swap tags with the person who lost, and the goal is to end up with the lowest possible number. At the end of the year, those with numbers 1 through 16 get to keep whichever number they finished with.

And because it’s such an easy sport to pick up, disc golf connects people to a broader community, notes Caton.

“I’ve played courses all over the country, all over the world now, and in every place, I’ve never played a round by myself unless I wanted to.”

BEYOND RULES Both the table tennis club and the disc golf association are 501(c)(3) nonprofits, but not all local sports groups have that status. Allison Taylor, who works at City Bakery, says Asheville’s hard-court bike polo group has been searching for a home and some kind of official recognition for a while now.

Group members ride with mallets in hand, typically playing 15-minute, two-on-two matches in various tennis courts around town. The sport, she says, got its start in Seattle, with bike messengers playing in between shifts.

The local group, notes Taylor, was asked to leave a location where members had been playing for some time.

“I think people are up in arms about it because it says ‘tennis court’ and ‘no bikes.’ It’s not allowed just because we’re breaking the rules, even though we’re taking eight to 10 people off the couch and into the open, playing an organized sport, getting physical activity, bettering mental awareness and meeting up with people,” she points out. “We have a positive impact on the community. We

want people to play with us; we each have a life and a job and other fulfilling aspects. We come together as a whole to experience this, and I don’t see why a couple of broken rules matter in the grand scheme of things.”

The group’s struggles to find a consistent meeting place haven’t stopped players from having a good time, however. At a typical meetup, there’ll be music playing through somebody’s speakers, snacks being passed around and folks taking turns on the court. Local matches, says Taylor, are much more laidback than what you’d find in other parts of the country.

Still, the sport has an unwritten rule that’s honored throughout the worldwide “polo-verse,” notes Joel Crandall, one of the Asheville group’s longest-running members.

“We all realize that it’s such a small sport that we gotta look out for each other,” says Crandall, who’s the bar manager at Timo’s House. “So when you travel to other cities, there’s usually open spaces, open food, open beds to crash in. It’s the community of polo players across the world that, before you even meet them, you know you’ll be friends.”

Zak Ingvoldstad, a Milwaukee native, is living proof of this poloverse. He was passing through town while the group was holding one of its “Newbie Nights,” a time when people are encouraged to try out

bike polo. “I was on a motorcycle trip, and I was eating dinner in the park, and Allison and Stu showed up in the park with what I recognized as polo bikes,” Ingvoldstad said. “I was like, ‘Are you guys doing polo?’ and it was ‘Newbie Night,’ they were like, ‘Yeah, we got loaners, you should stick around and play,’ and I did. Joel let me stay at his place for like a week while I got on my feet, then I got a place, and here I am.”

Unlike members of the WNC Disc Golf Association, group member Allison Taylor said she didn’t think there was much different between more traditional sports and smaller sport groups, other than that they seem to fit a certain niche. “I don’t think there’s much of a difference,” she explained. “I think they’re all things that get people out of the house, talking to different members of the community that they may not have been friends with, unless this common bond brought them together. I think they all employ hand-eye coordination, skills and abilities. I think the main difference is the fact that, maybe at times, people don’t take any of us very seriously because we’re not on like ESPN.” And it’s this common bond, a camaraderie of some sort, that seems to hold each group together. X

Finding your niche Asheville Hard Court Bike Polo facebook.com/groups/906145496062691 When/Where: various locations/times Asheville Table Tennis Club Website: attcnc.org Email: attcnc@gmail.com When/Where Monday, 5:30-8 p.m.; Wednesday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Montford Recreation Complex Cost: $45 a year for city residents, $50 for others. Nonmembers pay $5 per visit.

WNC Disc Golf Association facebook.com/groups/47009581844 When/Where: various locations/times Ladies Night: Wednesday, 5 p.m.

Cost: free

WNC Pickleball Club wncpickleball.com When/Where: • Stephens Lee Center: Monday, 9 a.m.-noon, 6-8 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday, 8-10:45 a.m.; Cost: $1 • Shiloh Community Center: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9-11 a.m.

Cost: $1 • Asheville YMCA: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 2-4 p.m.; Sunday, 1:15-3:15 p.m.

Cost: YMCA membership

MOUNTAINX.COM

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

15

NEWS

Getting rhythm

Asheville Hoops helps locals go with the flow

BY DAVID SCHICK, AKA HOKEY POKEY

Rob Grader, aka the Cosmic Hooper, started hooping in 2001; he met MacNeil in 2009 after losing his long-term job. At the time, the market was saturated with LED hoops, but while there were both high-end and inexpensive models, there was nothing in the middle.

So Grader decided to try his hand at making quality LED hoops that were more affordable. He found a grateful market of low-budget hoopers who, thanks to his continuing efforts, can hoop through the night.

Together, these people have helped create a first-rate community of flow artists.

“I would put our talent pool on par with any major city known for flow,” notes Van Heden. “This is not an exaggeration meant to appease some flack over at the Asheville Chamber of Commerce: It’s really that good.”

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Standing at the front of her class at Ouroboros Movement Studio, on New Leicester Highway, Melanie MacNeil demonstrates a series of moves, showing students how to “flow.” Weaving and swishing, sidestepping and turning, pivoting and twisting, she tells them, “If you got lost on that last one, we can start from the beginning.”

When MacNeil began hooping over 10 years ago, she couldn’t have imagined how far her exploration would take her — or how much her efforts would help build Asheville’s hooping community. Today her business, Asheville Hoops, makes and sells hoops, runs a hooping dance class, provides free community flow jams in the summer and manages a choreographed hooping dance troupe.

“There was this pivotal moment where I went to a weekend retreat called Hoop Convergence, and it was 200 hoopers camping out and teaching workshops all weekend long,” she recalls. “I got so affirmed by the art form and the community that I quit my day job to start my business.”

COMING TOGETHER MacNeil asks the class if they know the difference between tunneling and slicing, praising the student who gives a correct answer. Hooping has a language all its own: Flow artists use props such as hoops, staffs, fans and “poi” — the Maori word for a ball on a cord — seeking to dazzle audiences with their fluidity and ability to make seamless transitions from one move to the next. Other terms include isolations, pumps, corkscrews and the upward- and downward-facing booty bumps.

Asheville Hoops has been a regular at the biannual LEAF Festival and, more recently, in LEAF Community Arts’ LEAF Schools & Streets program. Ehren Cruz, the nonprofit’s performing arts director, says, “Asheville Hoops has been a wonderful source of education, entertainment and inspiration for our families and youth. Whether on the stage or roaming the field, their

16

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

CELEBRATION

CATCH THE FLOW: Melanie MacNeil proceeds through a series of moves with a hoop at the front of her class. Photo by David Schick, aka Hokey Pokey energy, skill, professionalism and genuine love for flow arts captivate all who experience them.”

On Tuesday evenings in the summer, Asheville Hoops leads a flow jam in Pritchard Park that’s sponsored by the Asheville Downtown Association.

The event, says Executive Director Meghan Rogers, is “a great way for us to bring people into the park.” It helps them “put aside boundaries and get together to do something fun.”

MacNeil agrees, saying, “It’s nice to know there are other entities that appreciate what we’re doing; it brings people into town who then are likely to spend more money.”

For some of her students, though, hooping has been nothing less than life-changing.

“I’m a white man who can’t dance,” Paul Van Heden told MacNeil years ago. “Help me: I need to find my rhythm.” Today, she reveals, “He’s this amazing hooper, and he’s organized a community event at the YMCA on Thursday nights from 8 to 10 p.m.”

MOUNTAINX.COM

The free class also teaches other flow arts such as poi and acroyoga.

Another former student of MacNeil’s now runs a movement studio.

DOMINO EFFECT “It’s another domino effect that happened from organizing classes and creating a troupe,” she explains. “And then creating a free community event that was also geared toward hooping.” Van Heden “took that and started a hoop and flow-arts jam that’s happening at the YMCA.” For his part, Van Heden gives MacNeil a lot of credit for nurturing Asheville’s extremely vibrant flowarts scene. “People like Melanie,” he says, “instigated the infrastructure that made this scene possible.

There isn’t a flow artist in this town, whether they know it or not, who hasn’t been influenced by what she built.”

For MacNeil, meanwhile, hooping was something that serendipitously found her during a tumultuous period in her life. Her new prop was more than just a toy: It gave her purpose.

“It’s a piece of fitness equipment, but even more than that, it’s a tool for transformation and spiritual growth,” she explains. “It’s so much more than just a hula hoop. We don’t call it hula-hooping, we call it hoop dancing or hooping.”

Over time, though, her focus has evolved, from being a traveling performer to making and selling hoops to, these days, teaching.

“It’s where I get the most out of it — seeing people have a good time.

They’re arriving in their bodies, they’re waking up, they’re finding new ways to move and be.”

Back in front of her class, MacNeil demonstrates a new move, then paces around the room, assisting students who need help. And when everyone has learned it, she congratulates them. “All of you now have this move,” she says. “Celebrate that.”

For more information on Asheville Hoops, check out their Facebook page or visit ashevillehoops.wordpress.com.

NEWS

EWS B U N C O M B E NB E AT

YWCA takes stand against racism “Asheville and Buncombe County is consistently one of the most active [Stand Against Racism] sites in the entire country,” says Gerry Leonard, volunteer and racial justice coordinator for the YWCA of Asheville, which has been gearing up for this year’s series of events, focusing on the achievements and contributions of women of color.

“Last year we had over 64 different organizations, businesses, faith groups and schools taking a stand against racism, with … thousands of community members participating.”

The first Stand Against Racism campaign was organized in 2007 in New Jersey by YWCA Trenton and YWCA Princeton. By 2010, the idea had taken hold nationally, when about 2,000 organizations in 39 states and 250,000 people participated in local Stand initiatives across the country.

Over the years, the campaign has been featured on major networks and endorsed by state governors, according to the national Stand Against Racism website.

This year’s local Stand campaign, titled “Women of Color Leading Change,” is being staged in partnership with YWCA associations across the country. The local campaign aims to “build community among those who work for racial justice and to raise awareness about the negative impact of institutional and structural racism,” according to the local group’s website. Events run throughout April, culminating with the campaign’s multiday signature event, Stand Against Racism, running from Thursday-Sunday, April 27-30.

All of the campaign’s events are aimed at highlighting ways to combat and end racism. “At its core, Stand Against Racism is [a] campaign designed to bring awareness around racism, and we’re beginning to shift the conversation into a deeper analysis of systemic racism and intersectionality,” Leonard says. The campaign fits well with the national association’s mission, which says, “YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.”

Growing out of last year’s theme, “Stand Up for Women and Girls of Color,” this year’s theme of “Women of Color Leading Change” focuses on these minority leaders’ achievements and contributions, while calling attention to the barriers they face in all facets of life.

UNITED AGAINST RACISM: Isaac Dickson Elementary School students march in 2016 in support of Stand Against Racism. Photo courtesy of YWCA of Asheville “It’s significant that ‘Women of Color’ is this year’s theme,” Leonard says. “Despite outpacing other groups in college education, leading social progress since the very beginning and often being the primary breadwinner in their household, women of color are consistently underrepresented in positions of leadership in all sectors nationwide.”

Stand Against Racism’s signature series of events kicks off with a panel featuring four women of color who lead grassroots efforts in Asheville: Marta Alcala-Williams, parent/family engagement coordinator for Asheville City Schools; Dewana Little, community engagement coordinator with Asheville GreenWorks; Iindia Pearson, community advocate and Asheville Resident Council member; and Nicole Townsend, community organizer and spoken word artist.

The panel “focuses on the challenges faced and success stories of women-ofcolor leaders, along with their words of wisdom for young black and brown girls looking to make change and seeking role models to look up to,” Leonard says. He hopes their messages will bring more awareness to the lack of minority leadership locally and inspire community members to action.

The African-American community represents about 13.4 percent of Asheville’s population, Leonard notes.

“Only through diverse voices speaking from a different lived experience and vision of what supporting communi-

ties looks like will true equity emerge,” he says. What's more, “Equity in the workforce is not [just about] diversity,” Leonard adds. “Equity is truly creating a level playing field for people of color and other oppressed groups who, over centuries, have faced obstacles and barriers in order to thrive in workforce environments.”

for Equity, from 6-8 p.m. at Rainbow Community School, will focus on the disparities that exist in education and talk about ways of creating equity in schools and motivating both educators and community members to support all children getting an equal education.

“In order to dismantle racism, we have to name it,” says Leonard. “If we’re calling it prejudice and discrimination, we’re not hitting the key part of this long historical equation that racism equals prejudice plus power. When you have the language and the understanding, you can begin to educate those in your sphere of influence, and collectively, we can chip away at a multifaceted, insidious system of racism.” Stand Against Racism’s ultimate goal, he says, is to eliminate racism by starting a conversation that will empower people to bring about change.

For a schedule of all the campaign’s events and how to get involved, go to ywcaofasheville.org or StandAgainstRacism.org.

— Laurie Crosswell

CONTINUES ON PAGE 18

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UPCOMING STAND AGAINST RACISM EVENTS • Thursday, April 20: “How Racism Has Changed Over 25 Years,” hosted

by Building Bridges of Asheville, from 6-8 p.m. at Rainbow Community School.

The event will highlight how the conversation and paradigm of racism has shifted over two-plus decades, according to Leonard, who serves on the board of Building Bridges, which was founded in 1993. The panel will focus on how over the years people have become more open and felt compelled to talk about racism, as well as look at the ways current news events have affected and influenced racism.

“It’s worth noting that, with Building Bridges of Asheville…since Ferguson [Mo.] and the shooting of Mike Brown, more white people have wanted to attend the program to gain a better understanding of racism and ways to show up and get involved,” Leonard adds.

• Monday, April 24, “Collective Conversations: Creating Equity in Our Schools,” hosted by Educators

10% off your First Order in April-June CODE: GOVEG17

Good for you & the Planet! eden-out.com • 828-645-3336

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

17

NEWS

City Council initiates district election referendum

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: SignsUp Asheville held its inaugural pop-up party in the gym of Odyssey School in Asheville on April 15. Artists and graphic designers worked with activists to create signs for upcoming events such as the People's Climate March in Washington on April 29. The organization plans another sign-making party in late June. Event information will be shared on the SignsUp Asheville Facebook page. Photo by Cindy Kunst

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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Despite receiving decidedly mixed results from a poll that measured voter preferences on how Ashevilleans should elect their city representatives, City Council took the first steps toward placing a referendum on district elections on the November ballot. Backed up by the nods of her fellow Council members, Mayor Esther Manheimer instructed City Attorney Robin Currin on April 11 to draft a plan for appointing a commission to draw the districts and hire a districting consultant in preparation for a referendum.

Why the rush? Manheimer reported that on Monday, April 10, she met with Sen. Chuck Edwards of Hendersonville to discuss the bill he has filed to compel Asheville to implement district elections for seats on City Council. Edwards is following in the footsteps of his 48th district predecessor, Sen. Tom Apodaca, who retired last year after a long career in the N.C. General Assembly.

Before leaving the Senate in 2016, Apodaca tried to pass legislation to

force Asheville to adopt district elections over the objections of other members of the local state legislative delegation and all members of City Council.

Despite the other lawmakers’ opposition, Apodaca’s bill nearly succeeded.

The bill’s defeat in the short legislative session wasn’t the end of the idea.

Edwards told Manheimer that he intends to move his Senate Bill 285 forward in committee, the mayor said.

He said he plans to replace a provision in the bill that would create districts for the city by default if it failed to produce a district map on its own.

That change might be in response to an April federal court decision that struck down an attempt by the General Assembly to redraw election districts in Greensboro, Manheimer said. In that case, the judge found that the legislature’s districting scheme did not provide proportional representation for minority and Democratic voters.

Council member Cecil Bothwell pointed out that Edwards’ bill might not make it through the committee, but Manheimer referred to the strong support revealed by the poll for a referendum as sufficient reason to move forward despite the uncertainty surrounding the bill.

To meet state-mandated requirements for getting a referendum on the ballot, Currin pointed out, the city must hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to establish districts no later than mid-June.

Council directed Currin to present a timeline for developing the city’s plan at the next meeting of City Council on April 25.

Pollster Tige Watts reported that his company, Campaign Research + Strategy of Columbia, S.C., conducted a telephone poll to determine Asheville voters’ opinions about whether the city should switch from its current method of electing all seven members of City Council in at-large elections to some form of district-based elections. The results of the poll, which surveyed 403 Asheville voters March 20-22, showed inconsistent or even contradictory positions on the issue.

Council member Julie Mayfield asked Watts, “What does it mean?”

“It means,” Watts responded, “people are all over the place.”

For example, 54 percent of respondents said the current at-large system of electing Council members should remain in place. The same percentage said that, if asked in a hypothetical referendum whether the city should switch to single-member districts, they would vote yes. When asked which of five possible methods of electing a City Council represents the “best fit” for Asheville, 44 percent said the current method is

BUNC O MBE BE AT HQ To read all of Mountain Xpress’ coverage of city and county news, visit Buncombe Beat online at avl.mx/3b5.

There you’ll find detailed recaps of government meetings the day after they happen, along with previews, indepth stories and key information to help you stay on top of the latest city and county news. X

TAKING A STAND: Standing Against Racism at the old Asheville Middle School, which was recently demolished to make way for a new school building. Photo courtesy of YWCA of Asheville best (the highest of any of the options).

At the end of the poll, 58 percent said the city should keep its current system, but that same percentage also said the city should hold a referendum on the question of district elections.

— Virginia Daffron REJECTED PARTNERS Council’s April 11 consent agenda included a resolution ratifying grant awards for the city’s 2017-18 strategic partnership fund. Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee — made up of Council members Gordon Smith, Vice Mayor Gwen Wisler and Mayfield — reviewed applications and heard presentations from community-based nonprofits for $158,000 in available funding on March 24.

Libby Kyles, director of the nonprofit YTL, had some direct words for the committee and especially Mayfield: “I was very disappointed in the way you spoke to us.” As a native of Asheville, Kyles said, she knows what it’s like to live and work in underserved communities. For Kyles, Mayfield’s exhortation to collaborate with other nonprofits was galling. “If you want to see systemic change, and you want to see us working together, I suggest you create a space for that to happen.” Stephens-

Manheimer expanded the scope of the discussion, explaining that, like many other cities, Asheville finds itself squeezed by decreases in federal funding for community programs, combined with a redistribution of sales taxes collected in the city and reductions in other sources of revenue.

“Ultimately, if the whole plan works, I think you’re supposed to vote in a lot of Republicans,” the mayor said. She expressed regret for the disappointment in the outcome of the funding awards. “None of us would want it to play that way,” she said.

Council passed its consent agenda unanimously.

— Virginia Daffron X

Lee Recreation Center should be used primarily to provide opportunities for African-American young people and would be an ideal location for those collaborative programs, she suggested.

Dewana Little of Positive Changes echoed Kyles’ remarks, charging that Council members “talk down” to applicants and “devalue our work with disenfranchised communities.” When Council needs support from a person of color on an issue, Little said, “you come to us,” but when community organizations ask for support from the city, they get far less than is spent on consultant fees and other expenses.

Nicole Hinebaugh of Bountiful Cities said Council will never achieve its strategic vision based on the funding it is providing to community organizations. Council’s current practices, she said, amount to “throwing drops of water into a huge ocean of issues.”

Mayfield extended an unqualified apology for the tone and substance of her remarks at the March 24 meeting and offered to visit the community organizations to observe their work firsthand. Council member Keith Young described a new program to fund grassroots organizations through a different process.

Though that effort is still in the early planning stages, he said, it received support in the budget work session held before the Council meeting.

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR APRIL 19 - 27, 2017

CALENDAR GUIDELINES For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 2511333, ext. 137. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 251-1333, ext. 320.

SUS TA IN A B IL IT Y EV E N T S

ANIMALS Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47) ASHEVILLE HUMANE SOCIETY 14 Forever Friend Lane, 761-2001, ashevillehumane.org • FR (4/21), 6:30-8:30pm - Cat Lover's Book Club: The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats - A Journey Into the Feline Heart by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson.

Registration: events@ashevillehumane.org. Free.

• SA (4/22), 1:30-2:30pm - Behindthe-scenes tour. Free.

LIVING WEB FARMS 176 Kimzey Road, Mills River, 5051660, livingwebfarms.org • SA (4/22), 10am-3:30pm - Bird identification workshop. $15.

BENEFITS AC REYNOLDS MIDDLE SCHOOL 1 Rocket Drive • SA (4/22), 8am-3pm - Proceeds from vendor rentals at this community rummage sale benefit benefit the students and teachers of AC Reynolds Middle School. Free to attend/$20 per space.

ASHEVILLE SUN SOO TAE KWON DO BENEFIT 1009 Patton Ave, Asheville, 5054309, martialartsasheville.com/ • SU (4/23), 3pm - Proceeds from this introductory martial arts and selfdefense workshop benefit Evergreen Community Charter School middle school students' trip to Europe. For ages 6 and up. $25/$10 additional family members/$50 max per family.

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN AN ELEMENTARY STUDENT? childrenfirstcisbc.org • TH (4/20), 6-9pm - Proceeds from this trivia contest benefit Children First/Communities In Schools. $300$420 per team of 4-6/$30 cheerleader ticket. Held at Morris Hellenic Cultural Center, 227 Cumberland Ave.

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ASHEVILLE FRINGE ARTS FESTIVAL ashevillefringe.org • TH (4/27), 7-10:30pm - Proceeds from this house party with poetry, live music, burlesque, fire eating and reception benefit Poetry Cabaret's journey to the Capital Fringe Festival. $10-$20.

BOLD WOMEN'S CONFERENCE goo.gl/nHYPrb • SA (4/22), 10am-2pm - Proceeds from the "BOLD (Beautiful, Outstanding, Liberated, Darlings) Women’s Conference" faith-based conference for women, benefits the Empowering Through Beauty Foundation. $45/$55 VIP/$130 $130 includes brunch, gift bag and brunch.

Held at the Grand Bohemian Hotel, 11 Boston Way BOUNCE INTO SPRING ADVENTURE RUN buncombecounty.org/Governing/ Depts/Parks/ • SA (4/22), 9:30am - Proceeds from the family-friendly "Bounce into Spring Adventure Run" course with workout stations benefit Buncombe County Recreation Services.

Registration: bounceintospring. buncomberecreation.org. $7. Held at Charles D. Owen Park, 875 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa ELIADA 2545356, eliada.org, smcdonald@eliada.org • FR (4/21), 8-11:30am - Proceeds from this pancake breakfast benefit Kiwanis Club of Asheville and Eliada. $5. Held at Eliada, 2 Compton Drive FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE DOWNTOWN 125 S. Main St., Hendersonville, 6930731, flatrockplayhouse.org • TU (4/25), 6pm - Theatre with the Stars," event in which local “stars” partner with Flat Rock Playhouse “pros” and compete to win the title, and have $1000 donated to their nonprofit of choice. $50.

FRANKLIN SCHOOL OF INNOVATION 21 Innovation Drive, 318-8140, franklinschoolofinnovation.org

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APPLE COUNTRY CIDER JAM: A showcase of North Carolina’s hard cider, coupled with award-winning bluegrass music by Balsam Range, will be on tap Saturday, April 22, from 1-6 p.m. in downtown Hendersonville. The inaugural Apple Country Cider Jam, which is sponsored by Agribusiness Henderson County, the event showcases eight hard cideries, two producers of nonalcoholic cider and two local wineries. Tickets are $25 and include tastings, a souvenir cup and live music. Nonalcohol tickets are $10. A limited number of tasting tickets will be sold at the gate if space is available. Food will be available from local food trucks and downtown restaurants, while full pints of cider will be sold for $5. For information or to purchase tickets, visit ciderjamnc.com. Photo courtesy of the organizers (p. 22) • SA (4/23), 2pm - Proceeds from the "Founders' Day Event and Mud Run," with live music, games, food trucks and obstacle course mud run benefit the Franklin School of Innovation. Free to attend/$25 for the mud run.

GEAR GRINDER CAMPLIFY BENEFIT camplifync.org/events/ gear-grinder.html • SA (4/22), 10am - Proceeds from this mountain bike competition benefit Camplify. Registration: camplifync. org. $55-$100. Held at Camp Falling Creek Campground, 2900 Green River Road, Tuxedo JERRY'S BADDLE BENEFIT jerrysbaddle.org/ • Through TH (4/27) - Proceeds from this kayaking, bicycling and climbing race and festival with live music, food and beer benefit the North Carolina ALS Chapter. Race takes place Saturday, April 29, at noon. $50/$20 food, beer and music only. Held at the Green River Narrows, Flat Rock HOT SPRINGS COMMUNITY TRAILFEST 622-9575, hsclc.org/newsevents/ trailfest.html • FR (4/21) through SU (4/23) Proceeds raised from this family friendly celebration of the outdoors and welcoming activities for hikers on the Appalachian Trail benefit the Madison County Community Learning Center. Events include a spaghetti dinner, pancake breakfast, ropes course and climbing wall, family friendly activities, silent auction, duck race and bicycle raffle. See website for full schedule. Free to attend. Held

at Downtown Hot Springs, Main St., Hot Springs, NC

Held at Diana Wortham Theatre, 2 S. Pack Square

THE SALUDA HISTORIC DEPOT historicsaluda.org/ • SA (4/22), 6pm - Proceeds from "Spring Fling" fried chicken and shrimp gumbo dinner, live music with the Radio Rangers and silent auction benefit the Saluda Historic Depot. $30. Held at Thompson's Store, 24 E Main St., Saluda

M YMCA - BLUE RIDGE

THE STAR EVENT BENEFIT burntshirtvineyards.com/events/ the-star-event/ • SA (4/22), noon-6pm - Proceeds from this fundraiser with wine tastings and In-Trinity fitness classes benefit Veterans Healing Farm. Classes offered every hour. $40. Held at Burntshirt Vineyards, 2695 Sugarloaf Road, Hendersonville TRYON FINE ARTS CENTER 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon, 859-8322, tryonarts.org • SU (4/23), 4pm - Proceeds from the "Evening of Excellence" reception and auction showcasing the winners of the juried high school art competition benefit TFAC's Be Inspired Grants (BIG) that supports local teachers. $20.

M VERNER EARLY LEARNING

CENTER dwtheatre.com • TH (4/20), 7pm - Proceeds from “From Seed to Oak: The First 5 Years Change EVERYTHING!” event featuring keynote speaker Dr. Kathleen Gallagher and reception with NC Governor Roy Cooper benefit Verner Early Learning Center. Reception at 5:45pm. $20/$50 includes reception.

ASSEMBLY 84 Blue Ridge Assembly Road, Black Mountain, 669-8422, blueridgeassembly.org • FR (4/21) through SU (4/23) Proceeds from the AEE Southeast Regional Conference for educators with the theme "Let The Earth Be Your Classroom" and keynote speaker, Amy Climer of Climer Consulting, benefit the Association for Experiential Education Southeast. $165/$105 students/$100 for one day.

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY A-B TECH SMALL BUSINESS CENTER 398-7950, abtech.edu/sbc • WE (4/26), 6-9pm - "QuickBooks Online for Small Businesses," workshop. Registration required. Free.

Held at A-B Tech Enka Campus, 1459 Sand Hill Road, Candler G&W INVESTMENT CLUB klcount@aol.com • 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 11:45am General meeting. Free to attend.

Held at Black Forest Restaurant, 2155 Hendersonville Road, Arden PUBLIC EVENTS AT UNCA unca.edu • TH (4/27), 6:15pm - 33rd annual "Economic Crystal Ball Seminar," reception, presentations by economists and a question-and-answer period. Registration required: 828.251.6550 or kmoore@unca.edu.

Free. Held in Lipinsky Auditorium

CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47) MAKE YOUR OWN UKRAINIAN EASTER EGG (PD.) Learn to make beautiful Ukrainian Easter eggs: Pysanky workshops in the River Arts District or your location. AshevilleStudioA.com • call/text (828) 423-6459 • AvlStudioA@gmail. com for signup + more info.

POLE DANCE, AERIAL ARTS, FLEXIBILITY, DANCE CLASSES AT EMPYREAN ARTS (PD.) BEGINNING POLE on Wednesdays 5:30pm, Thursdays 11am, Fridays 7:15pm, Saturdays 11:45am, Sundays 5:45pm. FLEXIBILITY-CONTORTION on Mondays 6:30pm, Tuesdays 8pm, Thursdays 1pm. FLOOR FLOW on Wednesdays 8pm. BREAKDANCE on Saturdays 4pm. EMPYREANARTS. ORG 828.782.3321.

SOUTHERN DREAMING CONFERENCE (PD.) Friday/Saturday, April 28-29. The International Association for the Study of Dreams “Dream Festival”, Greenville, SC. • Workshops, lectures, dream art/film, theatrical performance (Harriet Tubman’s Dreams), and more.

• Events, fees, registration: http:// www.asdreams.org/regionals/southcarolina2017/ ASHEVILLE ROTARY CLUB rotaryasheville.org • TH (4/20), noon-1:30pm - General meeting. Free. Held at Renaissance Asheville Hotel, 31 Woodfin St. • TH (4/27), noon-1:30pm - General

meeting. Free. Held at Renaissance Asheville Hotel, 31 Woodfin St. BIG IVY COMMUNITY CENTER 540 Dillingham Road, Barnardsville, 626-3438 • 4th MONDAYS, 7pm - Community center board meeting. Free.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/governing/ depts/library • TH (4/20), 6-8pm - "Long Term Health Care under a Trump Administration: Things to Consider," program presented by Nathan Garnett, CLTC. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • 4th TUESDAYS, 6-8pm - "Sit-nStitch," informal, self-guided gathering for knitters and crocheters. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. HEARING LOSS ASSOCIATION 505-1874, dmn261034@mac.com • SA (4/22), 10:30am - "Living with Hearing Loss," panel discussion.

Free. Held at Care Partners Main Campus, 68 Sweeten Creek Road HENDERSON COUNTY LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS lwvhcnc.org • 3rd THURSDAYS, 4-6pm General meeting. Free. Held at Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce, 204 Kanuga Road, Hendersonville HOMINY VALLEY RECREATION PARK 25 Twin Lakes Drive, Candler, 242-8998, hvrpsports.com • 3rd THURSDAYS, 7pm - Hominy Valley board meeting. Free.

IKENOBO IKEBANA SOCIETY 696-4103, blueridgeikebana.com • TH (4/20), 10am - “Shoka Shimputai Using Liatris,” workshop presentation and general meeting.

Free. Held at First Congregational UCC of Hendersonville, 1735 5th Ave. W., Hendersonville

KIWANIS CLUB OF ASHEVILLE kiwanisofasheville.org • TU (4/25), noon-1:30pm - General meeting with presentation by Bernie Arghiere with the Asheville Astronomy Club. Lunch included. $10. Held at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 10 North Liberty St.

TRANZMISSION PRISON PROJECT

LEICESTER COMMUNITY CENTER 2979 New Leicester Highway, Leicester, 774-3000, facebook.com/Leicester.Community.

Center • 3rd THURSDAYS, 7pm - The "Leicester History Gathering" general meeting. Free.

WNC PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY wncpsr.org • 3rd FRIDAYS, noon-2pm - Monthly meeting. BYO lunch. Free. Held at First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St.

MARINE CORPS LEAGUE ASHEVILLE 273-4948, mcl.asheville@gmail.com • Last TUESDAYS - For veterans of the Marines, FMF Corpsmen, and their families. Free. Held at American Legion Post #2, 851 Haywood Road MOMS DEMAND ACTION momsdemandaction.org • 3rd MONDAYS, 4-5:30pm - Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America, general meeting. Free.

Held at Catawba Brewing South Slope, 32 Banks Ave., Suite 105 ONTRACK WNC 50 S. French Broad Ave., 255-5166, ontrackwnc.org • WE (4/19), noon-1:30pm "Preventing Identity Theft," seminar.

Registration required. Free.

• TU (4/20), noon-1:30pm - "Understanding Reverse Mortgages," seminar. Registration required. Free.

• FR (4/21), noon-1:30pm "Understanding Credit. Get it. Keep it. Improve it." Seminar. Registration required. Free.

• TU (4/25), 5:30-7pm "Understanding Credit. Get it. Keep it. Improve it." Seminar. Registration required. Free.

• WE (4/26), 5:30-7pm "Introduction to Homebuying," workshop. Registration required.

Free.

tranzmissionprisonproject.yolasite. com • Fourth THURSDAYS, 6pm - Tranzmission Prison Project. Free to attend. Held at Firestorm Cafe and Books, 610 Haywood Road

DANCE POLE FITNESS AND DANCE CLASSES AT DANCECLUB ASHEVILLE (PD.) Pole Dance, Burlesque, Jazz/Funk, Flashmobs! Drop in for a class or sign up for a series: • 6 Week Chair Dance Series - Ongoing • 4 Week Beginner Jazz/Funk to Prince - Begins Apr. 20 • 6 Week Intro to Pole - Begins April 26 • Tues. and Fri. at 12PM - Pole class for $10 • Intro/ Beg. Pole Drop in - Sat. at 1:30PM - $15 • Memberships available for $108/month Visit the website to find out more about these classes and others. DanceclubAsheville. com 828-275-8628 Right down the street from UNCA - 9 Old Burnsville Hill Rd., #3 STUDIO ZAHIYA, DOWNTOWN DANCE CLASSES (PD.) Monday 12pm Barre Wkt 4pm Ballet Wkt 5pm Bellydance Drills 6pm Hip Hop Wkt 6pm Bellydance Special Topics 7pm Classical Ballet Series 8pm Tribal Bellydance Series • Tuesday 9am Hip Hop Wkt 12pm Sculpt-Beats Wkt 6pm Intro to Bellydance 7pm Bellydance 2 8pm Advanced Bellydance • Wednesday 12:30pm 80/90s Fitness Wkt 5pm Hip Hop Wkt 5pm Bollywood 6pm Bhangra Series 8pm Lyrical Series • Thursday 9am Hip Hop Wkt 12pm Sculpt-beats Wkt 4pm Girls Hip Hop 5pm Teens Hip Hop 6pm West African Drumming 8pm Sassy Jazz

Series • Saturday 9:30am Hip Hop Wkt 10:45 Buti Yoga Wkt • Sunday 6:15pm Restorative Yoga • $13 for 60 minute classes, Wkt $6. 90 1/2 N. Lexington Avenue. www.studiozahiya.com :: 828.242.7595 ASHEVILLE MOVEMENT COLLECTIVE ashevillemovementcollective.org • FRIDAYS, 7-9pm - Community ecstatic dance wave. $8-$20. Held at Terpsicorps Studios, 1501 Patton Ave.

• SUNDAYS, 8:30-10:30am & 10:30am-12:30pm - Community ecstatic dance wave. $8-$20. Held at Asheville Masonic Temple, 80 Broadway SACRED CIRCLE DANCE oneill.maggie9@gmail.com • 4th TUESDAYS (2/28) through (6/27), 7-8:30pm - Guided meditative dances for adults and teens of all ages and genders and experience levels. Proceeds benefit Planned Parenthood. $10. Held at Swannanoa Valley Friends

Meetinghouse, 137 Center Ave., Black Mountain

FOOD & BEER Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47) FAIRVIEW WELCOME TABLE fairviewwelcometable.com • THURSDAYS, 11:30am-1pm Community lunch. Admission by donation. Held at Fairview Christian Fellowship, 596 Old Us Highway 74 Fairview

Candlelight Sound Healing & Acupuncture

A Magical Sound Healing Journey & Mini-Acupuncture Treatment w/ Krystal Kinnunen

April 21st, 7-9pm $45

West Asheville Yoga.com 602 Haywood Rd. 28806 828.350.1167

BEST OF WNC

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

21

C O N S C I O U S PA R T Y

By Kat McReynolds | kmcreynolds@mountainx.com

Spellbound hosts author Marcus Sedgwick

Ashevilleʼs headquarters for school band instruments, accessories and repairs

(828) 299-3000

Mon.–Fri. 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m.

Sat. 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m.

800 Fairview Rd (at River Ridge Marketplace)

Asheville’s Paddle Shop

C OMMUNITY C ALE NDAR FOOD NOT BOMBS HENDERSONVILLE foodnotbombshendersonville@gmail.com • SUNDAYS, 4pm - Community meal. Free. Held at Black Bear Coffee Co., Rosdon Mall, 318 N Main St., #5, Hendersonville LEICESTER COMMUNITY CENTER 2979 New Leicester Highway, Leicester, 774-3000, facebook.com/Leicester.Community.Center • WEDNESDAYS, 11:30am-1pm - Welcome Table meal. Free.

FESTIVALS Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47) APPLE COUNTRY CIDER JAM visithendersonvillenc.com/ciderjam • SA (4/22), 1-6pm - "Apple Country Cider Jam," ticketed tasting event featuring North Carolina cideries, local food trucks and live music by Balsam Range. $25. Held from Main St., from Sixth Ave., to Caswell St., Hendersonville

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47) CITY OF ASHEVILLE 251-1122, ashevillenc.gov • TU (4/25), 5pm - Asheville City Council public hearing. Free. Held at Asheville City Hall, 70 Court Plaza

15% off

Dagger Recreational Kayaks and select accessories

Get ready for Spring!

828 505 7371

704 Riverside Dr., Asheville, NC

frenchbroadoutfitters.com 22

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

PEN PALS: All event proceeds plus 20 percent of book sales at author Marcus Sedgwick’s upcoming local appearance will benefit The Literacy Council of Buncombe County, a nonprofit that provides tutoring and other literacy resources to the community.

Images courtesy of the author WHAT: A presentation by author Marcus Sedgwick with food and drink WHERE: Twisted Laurel WHEN: Tuesday, April 25, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

WHY: On the publication day of his latest young adult novel Saint Death, British-born writer Marcus Sedgwick will stop in Asheville, launching his work while serving as the special guest speaker for a Literacy Council of Buncombe County fundraiser. The event is hosted

by Spellbound Children’s Bookshop, whose owner Leslie Hawkins calls the new book evocative, beautifully written and timely.

“It starts off with the body of a young girl being found floating in the Rio Grande,” she says. “And then it takes us to these small, almost cardboard-type villages along the border and [introduces] us to a teenage boy who lives in one of those. It’s one of the most dangerous spots along the border, and he ends up getting involved in helping his friend, who has made the mistake of stealing some money to try and smuggle his girlfriend and their baby across the border

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to safety in the U.S. Now he’s in trouble because of the people he stole it from.”

She continues: “It kind of gives you an insight into what it is like to actually be living that reality day after day — the harshness from both sides of the border.”

Hawkins expects Sedgwick to speak about Saint Death and his writing process before signing books for attendees, each of whom will get a hardcover copy with admission (with the option to purchase from his back catalog). “Even though a lot of his books, including this one, have dark, heavy themes, he seems like someone who has a really good sense of humor,” she adds.

Fellow young adult writer and local performance poet Allan Wolf — who recently released Who Killed Christopher Goodman?

— will emcee the event in Twisted Laurel’s upstairs space. There, guests can also enjoy appetizers (vegetarian and vegan options available) and a nonalcoholic beverage with their ticket price.

For more information or to purchase tickets ($45), visit spellboundbookshop.com/ see-events. X

OLLI AT UNCA 251-6140, olliasheville.com • WE (4/19), 2-5pm - Advocacy workshop co-sponsored by AARP to learn how to make your voice heard by federal, state and local officials. Registration: aarp.cvent.com/ NCMakeYourVoiceHeard. Free. Held in the UNC Asheville Reuter Center OUR REVOLUTION - ASHEVILLE facebook.com/ourrevolutionavl/ • SU (4/23), 3-5pm - District NC-11 outdoor town hall meeting with over a dozen organizations from 16 counties regarding the Affordable Care Act. Keynote speeches by Leslie Boyd, Rhonda Cole Schandevel and Matt Coffay. Free. Held at Haywood County Courthouse, 285 N Main St, Waynesville, -3811

KIDS BARNES AND NOBLE BOOKSELLERS ASHEVILLE MALL 3 S. Tunnel Road, 296-7335 • SA (4/22), 11am - Laurie Berkner presents her picture book, We Are the Dinosaurs. Free to attend.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/library • WE (4/19), 9:45 & 10:45am - "Preschoolers We Love You!" book inspired musical revue for preschoolers. Free. Held at Weaverville United Methodist Church, 85 N. Main St., Weaverville • WE (4/19), 3:30pm - Makers & Shakers: "Terrariums to Go!" activity for ages 5 and up. Bring your own jar and lid. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • TH (4/20), 9:30 & 10:45am - "Preschoolers We Love You!" book inspired musical revue for pre-

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

schoolers. Free. Held at Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain • FR (4/21), 4pm - Teen cosplay club for ages 12 and up. Free.

Held at Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler • SATURDAYS through (4/29) - Reading with JR the therapy dog for preschool readers through age 10. Registration required: 250-6486. Free. Held at Swannanoa Library, 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa • SA (4/22), 1-3pm - "90 Second Asheville Newbery Film Festival," featuring youthcreated 90-second films based on Newbery Award winning books.

Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • MONDAYS, 10:30am "Mother Goose Time," storytime for 4-18 month olds. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • MONDAYS, 10:30am - Spanish story time for children of all ages. Free. Held at Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler • MO (4/24), 4-5pm - Lego building for ages 5 and up. Free. Held at Weaverville Public Library, 41 N. Main St., Weaverville • TU (4/25), 2:30pm -

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by Abigail Griffin

Homeschoolers Book Club: Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis. For 8-12 year olds. Free.

Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • TU (4/25), 6:30pm - Weaverville Elementary Young Storytellers in concert. Free. Held at Weaverville Public Library, 41 N. Main St., Weaverville • TH (4/27), 4pm - "Afterschool Firefighter Event!," with local firefighters and a fire truck. Free.

Held at Swannanoa Library, 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE 2 S. Pack Square, 257-4530, dwtheatre.com • TH (4/20) & FR (4/21), 10am & noon - Charlotte’s Web, by Theatreworks USA. Recommended for Grades K–5. $7.50.

FLETCHER LIBRARY 120 Library Road, Fletcher, 6871218, library.hendersoncountync.org • WEDNESDAYS, 10:30am Family story time. Free.

M HANDS ON! A CHILDREN'S GALLERY 318 N. Main St., Hendersonville, 697-8333 • TU (4/25) through FR (4/28),

Send your event listings to calendar@mountainx.com

10am-4pm - "Recycled Critter Craft,"activities for kids to create animals out of everyday materials. Admission fees apply.

M HAYWOOD COUNTY LIBRARY-CANTON

11 Pennsylvania Ave., Canton, 648-2924, haywoodlibrary.org • TU (4/25), 2pm - Hands on planting with master gardeners.

Free.

M LAKE JAMES STATE PARK 6883 N.C. Highway 126, Nebo, 584-7728 • SA (4/24), 1pm - "Salamanders Magnified," ranger led walk to explore salamanders and their habitat with magnifying loupes.

Registration required. Free.

MALAPROP'S BOOKSTORE AND CAFE 55 Haywood St., 254-6734, malaprops.com • WEDNESDAYS, 10am - Miss Malaprop's Story Time for ages 3-9. Free to attend.

• SA (4/22), 11am - Caroline McAlister presents her book, John Ronald's Dragon. Free to attend.

SPELLBOUND CHILDREN'S BOOKSHOP 640 Merrimon Ave., #204, 708-7570, spellboundchildrensbookshop. com • FR (4/21), 6pm - Teen Book Club: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. For ages 14-18. Free to attend.

• SATURDAYS, 11am - Storytime for ages 3-7. Free to attend.

• SU (4/23), 3pm - World Tapir Day, story time. For ages 3 and up. Free to attend.

WORD ON THE STREET 133 Livingston St., 254-1995 • FR (4/21), 7pm - Teen online magazine family-friendly tropical-themed celebration with fish fry, live music, readings, performances and an art show from local contributors. Spanish speakers welcomed. Free.

Held at the Arthur R. Edington Education and Career Center, 133 Livingston St.

OUTDOORS Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47)

CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE cityofhendersonville.org • SATURDAYS (4/22) through (5/27), 10am - Guided history walks in Downtown Hendersonville. Registration: 828-545-3179 or maryjo@maryjopadgett.com. $10/Free for children. Meet at the back door lobby of the Hendersonville City Hall, Fifth Avenue East and King Street, Hendersonville

M FOOTHILLS

CONSERVANCY OF NORTH CAROLINA 437-9930, foothillsconservancy.org • SA (4/22), 10:30am - Guided, moderate three-hour hike on conservancy-owned Bear Den property, in McDowell County.

Register for location: bwillardpatton@ foothillsconservancy.org or 828-437-9930. $10/Free for members.

M FRIENDS OF THE OKLA-

WAHA GREENWAY friendsofoklawaha.org • SA (4/22), 10am - “Oklawaha Greenway Walks and Talks,” stroll to search for spring wildflowers. Free. Held at Patton Park, Asheville Highway, Hendersonville

HOLMES EDUCATIONAL STATE FOREST 1299 Crab Creek Road, Hendersonville, 692-0100 • SA (4/22), 10am-noon - "Spring Wildflower Hike." Easy, 3/4 mile hike. Registration required. Free.

M LAKE JAMES STATE PARK 6883 N.C. Highway 126, Nebo, 584-7728 • SA (4/22), 7:45pm - "NC Science Festival Statewide Star Party," star viewing event hosted by the Catawba Valley Astronomy Club.

Free.

• FR (4/24), 9:45am - Ranger guided boat tour. Registration required.

Free.

PUBLIC EVENTS AT UNCA unca.edu • FR (4/21), 8:30pm - "NC Star Party," sky viewing event to see Jupiter, star clusters and galaxies.

Registration required: lookoutobservatory.unca.edu. Free. Held at the Lookout Observatory.

PARENTING PUBLIC EVENTS AT UNCA unca.edu • WE (4/19), 7pm - Dr. Lisa Damour, presents her book, Untangled:

Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions Into Adulthood.

Sponsored by the Howard Hanger School for Girls. Free. Held in the Humanities Lecture Hall SWANNANOA VALLEY MONTESSORI SCHOOL 101 Carver Ave., Black Mountain, 669-8571, swanmont.org • 3rd THURSDAYS through (5/18), 9:30am - School tour. Registration required. Free to attend.

VERNER CENTER FOR EARLY LEARNING 2586 Riceville Road • TUESDAYS until (5/9) - Veteran parenting workshop. Childcare available. Registration: 828-298-7911 x 4347. Free.

PUBLIC LECTURES BLACK MOUNTAIN CENTER FOR THE ARTS 225 W. State St., Black Mountain, 669-0930, blackmountainarts.org • TU (4/25), 7:30pm - “The Great American Eclipse of 2017: What to Expect and How to Experience It,” presentation by Enrique Gomez, associate professor of astronomy and physics. Free.

BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE MUSEUM & ARTS CENTER 56 Broadway, 350-8484, blackmountaincollege.org • TH (4/20), 7pm - "AnthroPolis," lecture by Dr. Renato Rosaldo, Dr. Ken Betsalel and Dr. Heidi Kelley regarding cultural citizenship and the possibilities for social healing. $5/ Free for members.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/governing/ depts/library • WE (4/26), 6-7pm - "Mountain Scenery’–Discovering WNC from the 1850s, Asheville, Ancestors, and Immortality," lecture by Elizabeth Colton sponsored by the Friends of the North Carolina Room. Free.

Held at Pack Memorial Library - Lord Auditorium, 67 Haywood St. DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE goo.gl/j0blHw • TU (4/25), 6pm - “The Ripple Effect: Your Actions Create Positive Change,” TED Talk presentation

by Mia Birdsong hosted by the Buncombe County Family Justice Center. Free to attend. Held in the Diana Wortham Theatre, 2 S. Pack Square

TROPICAL CELEBRATION: Word on the Street, an online arts magazine by and for youths, is hosting a free tropical-themed celebration Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m. at the Arthur R. Edington Center. The bilingual magazine, visioned, created and led by 16 teens of color, launched last fall and has been receiving submissions from all over the country. The evening will feature music, readings, performances and an art show from local contributors as well as a fish fry. The event is family-friendly and will be interpreted for both Spanish and English speakers. For more information, email info@wordonthestreetmag.org. Painting by Word on the Street contributor and Asheville High senior Quantasia Williams (p. 24)

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COM M U N I TY CA LEN DA R LENOIR RHYNE CENTER FOR GRADUATE STUDIES 36 Montford Ave., 778-1874 • WE (4/19), 5:30-7:30pm "Empowering Women & Population: What's the Connection?" Lecture

by John Seager, President & CEO of Population Connection Action Fund.

Registration required: 828-407-4263 or susy.chandler@lr.edu. Free.

• MO (4/24), 5:30pm - "Navigating Flash Points of U.S. Politics, Foreign Policy, & World Diplomacy," lecture

by Dr. Elizabeth Colton. Free.

PUBLIC LECTURES AT MARS HILL mhu.edu • TU (4/25), 7:30pm - "President Trump's First 100 Days: Perspectives From the Left and Right" panel discussion with Rick Glazier of the North Carolina Justice Panel and John Hood of the John William Pope Foundation. Free. Held in Broyhill Chapel THE ASHEVILLE SCHOOL 360 Asheville School Road, 254-6345, ashevilleschool.org • TH (4/27), 7:15pm - Playwright Margaret Edson speaks at the annual Founders’ Day convocation. Free.

Held in the Walker Art Center’s Graham Theater

SENIORS SERVICES AND SUPPORT FOR SENIORS (PD.) • Companionship and respite care • Accompaniment to appointments • Monitoring and family liaison • Meal preparation • Nursing home visits • Housesitting • Consultation and Mentoring • Conscious Aging Workshops. Evalina Everidge, RN

Celebrate the opening of Lake Julian Park’s brand new 18-hole disc golf course while raising money to support the WNC Green Building Council.

1p.m. Sunday, April 30, 2017 Lake Julian Park • Arden, NC Learn more and register at ashevillediscgolf.com/event/wncgbc/ SPONSORED BY:

PROCEEDS BENEFIT:

by Abigail Griffin

(828) 577-7841. SeasonedPathways. com SENIOR OPPORTUNITY CENTER 36 Grove St., Asheville • 1st & 3rd FRIDAYS, 1:30-3:45pm - "Charitable Sewing and Yarn Crafts." Complete your own projects in the company of others. Free.

SPIRITUALITY ABOUT THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION TECHNIQUE • FREE INTRODUCTORY TALK (PD.) Deep within everyone is a wellspring of peace, energy and happiness.

With proper instruction anyone can effortlessly transcend the busy or agitated mind and directly experience that rejuvenating inner source.

Learn how TM is different from mindfulness, watching your breath, common mantra meditation and everything else. NIH-sponsored research shows deep revitalizing rest, reduced stress and anxiety, improved brain functioning and heightened well-being. Thursday, 6:30-7:30pm, Asheville TM Center, 165 E. Chestnut. 828-254-4350.

TM.org or MeditationAsheville.org ASTRO-COUNSELING (PD.) Licensed counselor and accredited professional astrologer uses your chart when counseling for additional insight into yourself, your relationships and life directions. Readings also available. Christy Gunther, MA, LPC. (828) 258-3229.

OPEN HEART MEDITATION (PD.) Now at 70 Woodfin Place, Suite 212. Tuesdays 7-8pm. Experience the stillness and beauty of connect-

ing to your heart and the Divine within you. Suggested $5 donation.

OpenHeartMeditation.com SHAMBHALA MEDITATION CENTER (PD.) Thursdays, 7-8:30pm and Sundays, 10-noon • Meditation and community. By donation. 60 N. Merrimon Ave., #113, (828) 200-5120. asheville.shambhala.org ASHEVILLE FRIENDS MEETINGHOUSE 227 Edgewood Road, ashevillefriends.org/ • WE (4/26), 6:30pm - Pastors for Peace presentation regarding life in Cuba today and United States-Cuba relations. Dinner potluck. Free.

CENTER FOR ART & SPIRIT AT ST. GEORGE 1 School Road, 258-0211 • Last Tuesdays, 7-9pm - Aramaic, Hebrew and Egyptian vocal toning, breath work and meditation.

Admission by donation.

GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH 1245 Sixth Ave., W. Hendersonville, 693-4890, gracelutherannc.com • Through WE (4/19) - Open registration for the Grief Rite Bible Study.

Takes place WEDNESDAYS (4/26) until (5/31), 10am-noon. Registration required: 828-693-4890. $8.

• Through WE (4/19) - Open registration for the women's biblical book study, "The Broken Way." Series takes place WEDNESDAYS (4/26) until (5/31), 5:45-7:15pm.

Registration: 828-693-4890 ext.

304. $12.

• Fourth TUESDAYS, 10am Volunteer to knit or crochet prayer shawls for community members in need. Free.

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THE COLLIDER 1 Haywood St. Ste 401 Asheville, thecollider.org/ • SU (4/23), 2pm - “The Science of Christianity," lecture by Mary Alice Rose, member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship. Sponsored by the First Church of Christ, Scientist.

Free.

UR LIGHT CENTER 2196 N.C. Highway 9, Black Mountain, 669-6845, urlight.org • SA (4/22), 10am-12:30pm -

"The Music of the Twelve Rays," multisensory spiritual seminar. $25/$20 advance.

BLUE RIDGE BOOKS 152 S. Main St., Waynesville • SA (4/22), 3pm - David Joy presents his novel, The Weight of

SPOKEN & WRITTEN WORD 35BELOW 35 E. Walnut St., 254-1320, ashevilletheatre.org • TH (4/27), 7:30pm - Listen to This storytelling series hosted by Tom Chalmers. $15.

This World. Free to attend.

BUFFALO NICKEL 747 Haywood Road, 575-2844, buffalonickelavl.com/ • WE (4/19), 7pm - "Word!"

Storytelling event hosted by David Joe Miller and featuring Chuck Brodsky. $15.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/governing/ depts/library • TH (4/20), 2:30pm - Skyland Book Club: The Land Breakers by John Ehle. Free. Held at Skyland/ South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • TU (4/25), 6:30pm - Black Mountain Library Non-Fiction Book Club: General meeting.

Free. Held at Black Mountain Library, 105 N Dougherty St, Black Mountain

CITY LIGHTS BOOKSTORE 3 E. Jackson St., Sylva, 586-9499, citylightsnc.com • SA (4/22), 3pm- Frank Stephenson Jr. and Barbara Mulder present their book, North Carolina Moonshine: An Illicit History. Free to attend.

FIRESTORM CAFE AND BOOKS 610 Haywood Road, 255-8115 • WE (4/19), 6:30pm - Presentation of the book, Portraits of Palestine: Lives

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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C OMMU N IT Y CA L E N D AR

in the Shadow of the Occupation.

Free to attend.

• SA (4/22), 6pm - "Poets For Peace," featuring readings by Sam Lane, Jay Morris and Marshall James Kavanaugh. Admission by donation.

GRATEFUL STEPS 30 Ben Lippen School Road, Suite 107, 277-0998, gratefulsteps.org • MONDAYS, 6:30-9pm, THURSDAYS, 9:30am-noon & SATURDAYS, 9:30-noon, through (4/29) - "Writing Secrets of the Pros," fundraiser class series helps writers discover professional techniques for writing fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Registration required: 828505-9221 or weirwnc417@gmail.com. $25 per class.

M GREEN GRANNIES avl.mx/0gm • WEDNESDAYS, noon - Green Grannies Book Club. Free to attend.

Held at Firestorm Cafe and Books, 610 Haywood Road LITERACY COUNCIL OF BUNCOMBE COUNTY 254-3442, volunteers@litcouncil.com • TU (4/25), 5:30pm - Marcus Sedgwick presents his book, Saint Death. Free to attend. Held at Twisted Laurel, 130 College St. Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe 55 Haywood St., 254-6734,

by Abigail Griffin

malaprops.com • WE (4/19), 7pm - Taylor Brown presents, The River of Kings and Robert Morgan presents, Chasing the North Star. Free to attend.

• TH (4/20), 7pm - Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney presents her novel, The Nest. Free to attend.

• TH (4/20), 7pm - Notorious HBC (History Book Club): The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family

by Annette Gordon-Reed. Free to attend.

• SA (4/22), 7pm - Hannah Palmer, in conversation with Joe Minicozzi of Urban 3, presents her book, Flight Path. Free to attend.

• SU (4/23), 3pm - Marjorie Agosin presents her collection of essays about place, Home: An Imagined Landscape. Free to attend.

• MO (4/24), 7pm - John Cox presents his book, To Kill a People: Genocide in the 20th Century, for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Free to attend.

• TU (4/25), 7pm - Kim Dinan presents her book, The Yellow Envelope: One Gift, Three Rules, and a LifeChanging Journey Around the World.

Free to attend.

• WE (4/26), 7pm - Bridge the Gap Book Club: We Should All be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Free to attend.

• WE (4/26), 7pm - Loren Olson, M.D.

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Send your event listings to calendar@mountainx.com

presents her memoir, Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight. Free to attend.

• TH (4/27), 7pm - Megan Miranda presents her book, The Perfect Stranger. Free to attend.

• TH (4/27), 7pm- Works in Translation Book Club: The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy by Stanislaw Lem, translated by Michael Kandel.

Free to attend.

SALUDA HISTORIC DEPOT 32 W. Main St., Saluda, facebook.com/savesaludadepot/ • FR (4/21), 7pm - Saluda Train Tales: The Rails & Ties That Bound Our Foothills & Mountains, presentation by author, historian, photographer Terry Ruscin. Free.

THE CENTER FOR CRAFT, CREATIVITY & DESIGN 67 Broadway, 785-1357, craftcreativitydesign.org • SA (4/22), 10am-1pm - "Speak up! Finding the Right Structure for your Story," workshop. Registration required. $40/Free for YWCA of Asheville members.

TRADE & LORE COFFEE HOUSE 37 Wall St., 424-7291, tradeandlore.com/ • MO (4/24), 8pm - "WORD!" Storytelling event featuring cham-

pions of "The Moth Story Slam." $20/$15 advance.

VOLUNTEERING TUTOR ADULTS IN NEED WITH THE LITERACY COUNCIL (PD.) Dedicate two hours a week to working with an immigrant who wants to learn English or with a native Englishspeaking adult who has low literacy skills. Sign up for volunteer orientation on 5/31 (5:30 pm) or 6/1 (9:00 am) by emailing volunteers@litcouncil. com. www.litcouncil.com BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF WNC 50 S. French Broad Ave. Ste. #213, 253-1470, bbbswnc.org • TH (4/27), noon - Information session for those interested in volunteering to share their interests twice a month with a young person from a single-parent home or to mentor onehour a week in elementary schools and after-school sites. Free.

BLUE RIDGE RAIDERS mizzarnette@gmail.com • SATURDAYS (2/11) through (5/6) Volunteer to help with ticketing, concessions and apparel for Blue Ridge Raiders home games. Contact for full guidelines.

CAROLINA MOUNTAIN LAND CONSERVACY 697-5777, carolinamountain.org • SU (4/23) through SA (4/29) AmeriCorps members host volunteer opportunities for National Volunteer Week. Registration required: americorpsprojectconserve.org.

• TH (4/27), 11am-12:30pm -

GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH 1245 Sixth Ave., W. Hendersonville, 693-4890, gracelutherannc.com • Through FR (4/21) - Open registration for "Servant Sunday," breakfast and volunteer day within the community. Event takes place SA (4/22), 8:30am. Registration: 828-693-4890 or jkrause4@yahoo.com.

in a nonprofit, fair-trade retail store.

HANDS ON ASHEVILLEBUNCOMBE 2-1-1, handsonasheville.org • SA (4/22), 9am-noon - Volunteer to pack food items into backpack-sized parcels that are distributed to local schools. Registration required.

• SA (4/22), 1-2:30pm - Volunteer to help make holiday ornaments and decorations for the Care Partners client Christmas tree and family room. Big Brothers Big Sisters will offer snacks and children's activities.

Registration required.

• SU (4/23), 1-2:30pm - Volunteer to help knit baby and adult hats to be delivered to those in need.

Registration required.

Mountain Xpress Presents REG IST ER TO VOT E &

Quarters. Registration required.

• TH (4/27), 4-6pm - Volunteer to assist with unpacking and pricing Registration required.

HOMEWARD BOUND OF WNC 218 Patton Ave., 258-1695, homewardboundwnc.org • 3rd THURSDAYS, 11am "Welcome Home Tour," tours of Asheville organizations that serve homeless populations. Registration required. Free to attend.

M SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS CONSERVANCY 253-0095, appalachian.org • SA (4/22), 9:30am - Volunteer to remove invasive garlic mustard from Roan Mountain State Park with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the US Forest Service. Registration: goo.gl/lZCI7Y. For more volunteering opportunities visit mountainx.com/volunteering

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WELLNESS

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NEW MODEL OF HEALTH CARE Asheville-area doctors join the direct and concierge care movements

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nickjames.w@gmail.com In the midst of what’s arguably the loudest, most contentious public debate over affordable health care in the U.S., there’s a more understated movement building steam across the country and here in Asheville — led not by politicians or lawmakers but by physicians who insist on providing more effective health care.

Enter the concept of “direct primary care,” or “direct care,” a new model promoted by primary care physicians who want to break free from the current insurancebased system. The approach aims to remove red tape and streamline the medical experience by cutting insurance completely out of the equation. Rather than getting paid by patients’ insurance, direct care doctors are instead paid directly by patients through monthly memberships with flat fees.

“There’s a lot of interest in direct care amongst primary care doctors,” says Dr. Chad Krisel, co-founder of Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville, the first direct primary care facility in Asheville and one of the first 10 direct primary care facilities to open in the country. “Many primary care docs are finding themselves either in an insolvent business that they’re trying to find a way out of, or they’re finding themselves drowning in paperwork working for a big medical system that’s demanding they see four or five patients an hour.

“When a doctor takes on insurance,” says Krisel, “they’re taking on an incredible amount of overhead in order to interact with that insurance.” He points to a 2011 study published in the journal Health Affairs, which found that the costs of dealing with health insurance companies on payment issues in the

U.S. averaged around $83,000 per physician per year.

“So we have five physicians [at Integrative Family Medicine] — multiply five by $83,000 and that’s greater than $400,000 before even paying an electricity bill,” Krisel continues. “What that ends up translating into, in order to make up for that overhead [is that] a full-time doctor in a typical insurance-based medical practice often does have to see up to four or five patients an hour, and each doc usually takes on a standard of 2,500 patients on their panel. It ends up being that you can’t book an appointment for three months.

“And so in a DPC practice, right off the top, we’re eliminating that $83,000 per physician per year in extra overhead,” he says. “So instead of a fulltime doctor taking on 2,500 patients, depending on the specific DPC practice, docs are taking on somewhere between 500 to 1,000 patients instead.

Because we have such a lower volume, we’re able to spend much more time with our patients, and they have a much greater likelihood of being seen when they need to be seen.”

Kriesel also mentions, “A recent study showed that 45 percent of primary care docs, if they had the means to, would retire. The current system has taken a profession that historically has been one of the most rewarding jobs and turned it into one of the least desirable professions.”

A survey by the Physicians Foundation (as reported by the Heritage Foundation) found that “most doctors are profoundly dissatisfied and believe that their profession is in decline. Among the 'very important’ reasons they give for the decline are too much regulation and paperwork (79.2 percent), loss of clinical autonomy (64.5 percent), lack of compensation for quality (58.6 percent) and erosion of physician-patient relationship (54.4 percent).”

DIRECT DOC: Dr. Carly Brown recently opened Ashewell Medical Group, a direct primary care practice in the River Arts District. Photo by Nick Wilson A REASON TO BE OPTIMISTIC “When you unleash the chains of catering to third-party administrators,” says Krisel, “every second freed up is more time you can spend with the patient. In the end, it’s just a really heartfelt feeling when we can walk into the room and know that our energy, time and resources can be 100 percent dedicated to the patient, and we don’t have to be sidetracked about anything other than what ultimately affects the patient’s health, which is what this is all about.”

John Stevenson, a 63-year-old Asheville resident and Integrative Family Medicine patient, says, “I’ve never had this kind of relationship with any other doctor. The fact that I can just call Chad directly and have so much more time to spend with him during appointments is really appealing. I feel like he knows me and can address my particular concerns in a much better way than someone who might see twice as many people in a day. The additional time helps build a much greater bond with someone.”

Dr. Carly Brown, who recently opened Ashewell Medical Group, a DPC facility in the River Arts District,

underscores the benefits of the DPC model: “I ultimately opened my own DPC practice because I always knew there was a way to do things better. ... It was such a no-brainer. I was thinking, 'I’m going to give people an affordable price per month; I’m going to be able to see 500 patients instead of 3,000; and I’m going to be able to offer them wholesale meds, labs and imaging.’” She notes, for example, Lexapro, an antidepressant, might cost around $400 for a three-month prescription on the open market, but “I can get 90 days worth for $6. ...

I just sent somebody out with an antibiotic and high blood pressure medication for 30 days at $1.74.”

DOLLARS GO FARTHER The DPC monthly fee structures vary from practice to practice, but generally patients pay $120 per month or less for much greater access to doctors. Ashewell, for example, offers a tiered monthly fee structure based on age: 18- to 40-year-olds pay $79 per month, 41 to 64-year olds pay $99 per month, and patients older than 65 pay $119 per month.

Integrative Family Medicine offers a

lower monthly fee of $59 per month, regardless of age, which includes a yearly physical but costs a flat $20 for each visit.

Included in Ashewell’s monthly fee are free, unlimited visits and same-day or next-day service scheduling. Virtual care is available as well, which allows patients to communicate with Brown via internet, webcam, email and text.

“If you have a question, you can text me, you can call me, you can email me.

You can Skype me from Thailand, and I will help you. ... There’s no questions about that,” says Brown.

Krisel and other DPC doctors maintain health insurance should primarily be used for emergencies.

“Insurance in general, if you look at every other insurance product [disability, life, home, auto], functions best to cover against catastrophic events [that] you hope actually never happen,” says Krisel. He recommends that patients purchase catastrophic insurance coverage on top of their DPC membership fees to ensure comprehensive coverage.

“It’s playing with fire if you don’t have some catastrophic coverage,” he emphasizes. “Considering the current state of affairs and how egregiously inflated the cost of medical care is at hospitals, if anything serious were to happen it would be disastrous without insurance. Medical debt is the No. 1 cause of bankruptcy in this country … so it’s just such a gamble not to have it.

“Somewhere along the line, around 1980 or so, health insurance started paying for routine, common and expected events,” he notes. “That’s when we started to see the real degradation of the relationship between the doctor and the patient, straining doctors to five-minute office visits and forcing patients to sometimes wait up to an hour and a half for that five-minute office visit. Five minutes is simply not enough time to effectively do the job.”

But the unfortunate reality is that there simply aren’t many low-premium, high-deductible, catastrophic plans on the market, says Brown.

“The only catastrophic plans that are ACA-compliant right now are for people under the age of the 30. There need to be catastrophic plans for all ages, so that patients can opt for DPC as their primary care choice.”

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CONCIERGE CARE Another health care approach that’s been picking up steam in the country over the past 20 years is “concierge care.” It is similar to DPC in

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

31

WELLNESS

WELLN ESS CA LEN DA R

that patients pay a fee (from $80 a month to as high as $25,000 per year) to keep a doctor on retainer.

The key difference is that concierge care still functions within the insurance-based model (all visits, procedures, medicines, labs and images go through insurance). But unlike DPC, concierge doctors can remain with their patients when they go to the hospital for more serious events.

So for certain types of patients — those who are older, have serious illnesses or simply want to have a seamless health care experience — concierge care can provide the most continuity of medical care.

Dr. Clay Ballantine, founding member of Asheville-based Blue Ridge Premier Medicine, says, “We do our routine office work, we do urgent care type stuff for our patients, we are a part of whenever our patients go through the ER, and we see them every day in the hospital either as their primary doctor or as a medical consultant if they’re having some sort of surgery. So we stick with our patients through all of those different parts of the health care system and provide a greater level of continuity than really anybody else in town can provide … and for some people that’s really what they want. They want the security. When they’re at their sickest, they can look up and see their doctor standing right there with them and not somebody they’ve never met before.

“We’re on call all of the time for our patients,” he adds. “It’s very reassuring for our patients to know that they can easily get ahold of us.

They’re not in a position where they have to go knock down the castle doors to get the attention of a busy medical practice.”

The yearly fee for Blue Ridge Premier Medical is $5,000. Ballantine says that a majority of his clients are

on the older side — retirees looking to maximize their quality of life, business executives who value their time and can’t afford to sit around in a waiting room, and a geriatric population that wants someone to handle their complex medical issues in a comprehensive, thoughtful way.

THE ROAD AHEAD Krisel says he’s convinced that DPC is the future of health: “It ends up translating to better health outcomes. The stats are showing that it saves patients money. It saves the docs money, and the outcomes are better. I would even argue it’s a better situation for insurance companies, though I’m not in the insurance industry. I would think they’d make more money [from] their members using insurance less.

“I think the natural evolution of insurance is that it’s going to continue on the trajectory of what insurance is actually meant to do, which is to cover against catastrophes,” says Krisel. “I think we’re going to see less and less of insurance covering routine stuff as part of a cheap insurance plan.”

Whether or not the DPC movement takes hold, serving as a catalyst for the current insurance model to shift to catastrophic coverage, DPC-advocating doctors like Krisel and Brown are moving health care in that direction. For Brown, the impact of DPC is clear: “It’s revolutionizing the system.” X

MORE INFO Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville 372 Depot St., Suite 10, Asheville integrativeasheville.com, 575-9600 Ashewell Medical Group 408 Depot St., Asheville ashewell.com, 477-4077 Blue Ridge Premier Medicine 76 Peachtree Road, Suite 120, Asheville brpmed.com, 277-6789

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RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVES redcrosswnc.org • FR (4/21), 1-6pm Information or appointments: 1-800-REDCROSS. Held at Lenoir Rhyne Center for Graduate Studies, 36 Montford Ave. • MO (4/24), 8am-12:30pm Information or appointments: 1-800-REDCROSS. Held at Asheville Fire & Police Department, 100 Court Plaza ZOE DENTAL 10-A Yorkshire St. Suite 110 • SA (4/22) - "Dentistry From the Heart," event offering free dental care to adults.

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ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS • For a full list of meetings in WNC, call 254-8539 or aancmco.org ASHEVILLE WOMEN FOR SOBRIETY 215-536-8026, womenforsobriety.org • THURSDAYS, 6:30-8pm – Held at YWCA of Asheville, 185 S French Broad Ave. ASPERGER'S TEENS UNITED facebook.com/groups/ AspergersTeensUnited • For teens (13-19) and their parents. Meets every 3 weeks. Contact for details.

BRAINSTORMER’S COLLECTIVE 254-0507, puffer61@gmail.com • 3rd THURSDAYS, 6-7:30pm - For brain injury survivors and supporters. Held at Kairos West Community Center, Haywood Road, Asheville BREAST CANCER SUPPORT GROUP 213-2508 • 3rd THURSDAYS, 5:30pm - For breast cancer survivors, husbands, children and friends. Held at SECU Cancer Center, 21 Hospital Drive CODEPENDENTS ANONYMOUS 242-7127 • FRIDAYS, 5:30pm - Held at First United Methodist Church of Waynesville, 556 S. Haywood Waynesville • SATURDAYS, 11:15am – Held at First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St. • TUESDAYS 7:30pm - Held at Asheville 12-Step Recovery Club, 370 N. Louisiana Ave., Suite G4

Asheville 12-Step Recovery Club, 370 N. Louisiana Ave., Suite G4 FOUR SEASONS COMPASSION FOR LIFE 233-0948, fourseasonscfl.org • THURSDAYS, 12:30pm Grief support group. Held at SECU Hospice House, 272 Maple St., Franklin • TUESDAYS, 3:30-4:30pm Grief support group. Held at Four Seasons - Checkpoint, 373 Biltmore Ave. GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS gamblersanonymous.org • THURSDAYS, 6:45pm 12-step meeting. Held at Basillica of St. Lawrence, 97 Haywood St. GRIEF PROCESSING SUPPORT GROUP 452-5039, haymed.org/ locations/the-homestead • 3rd THURSDAYS, 4-5:30pm - Bereavement education and support group. Held at Homestead Hospice and Palliative Care, 127 Sunset Ridge Road, Clyde LIFE LIMITING ILLNESS SUPPORT GROUP 386-801-2606 • TUESDAYS, 6:30-8pm - For adults managing the challenges of life limiting illnesses. Held at Secrets of a Duchess, 1439 Merrimon Ave. MEMORY LOSS CAREGIVERS network@memorycare.org • 4th TUESDAYS, 1-3pm – Held at Woodfin YMCA, 40 North Merrimon Ave., Suite 101 Asheville

DEBTORS ANONYMOUS debtorsanonymous.org • MONDAYS, 7pm - Held at First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St.

MINDFULNESS AND 12 STEP RECOVERY avl12step@gmail.com • WEDNESDAYS, 7:308:45pm - Mindfulness meditation practice and 12 step program. Held at Asheville 12-Step Recovery Club, 370 N. Louisiana Ave., Suite G4

DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR SUPPORT ALLIANCE 367-7660, depressionbipolarasheville. com • WEDNESDAYS, 7pm & SATURDAYS, 4pm – Held at 1316-C Parkwood Road.

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OUR VOICE 35 Woodfin St., 252-0562, ourvoicenc.org • Ongoing drop-in group for female identified survivors of sexual violence.

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RECOVERING COUPLES ANONYMOUS recovering-couples.org • MONDAYS 6pm - For couples where at least one member is recovering from addiction. Held at Foster Seventh Day Adventists Church, 375 Hendersonville Road REFUGE RECOVERY 225-6422, refugerecovery.org • THURSDAYS, 7:30pm - Held at Sunrise Community for Recovery & Wellness, Unit C4, 370 N. Louisiana • FRIDAYS, 7-8:30pm & SUNDAYS, 6-7:30pm - Held at Urban Dharma, 29 Page Ave

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SMART RECOVERY 407-0460 • THURSDAYS, 6pm - Held at Grace Episcopal Church, 871 Merrimon Ave. • FRIDAYS,2pm - Held at Kairos West Community Center, Haywood Road, Asheville • SUNDAYS,6pm - Held at Kairos West Community Center, Haywood Road,

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PULL-OUT GUIDE MOUNTAINX.COM

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

33

GREEN SCENE

AIR APPARENT

Monitoring air quality in the mountains

QUALITY CONTROL: Two pollutants make up the bulk of the air quality monitoring oversight by the NC Department of Environmental Quality: ozone and fine particulates (PM2.5).

From Bryson City to Lenoir, there are 11 ozone monitoring sites and five sites for PM2.5. The WNC Air Quality Agency conducts monitoring operations in Buncombe County, which also includes an urban air toxics monitor at A-B Tech. New this year is a sulfur dioxide monitor near the Duke Energy Progress plant in Skyland. Image from Google, mapped by NCDEQ

BY ABLE ALLEN aallen@mountainx.com Breathe in and exhale. We all have to breathe to live, and the good news is that here in Western North Carolina,

the quality of the air we all share is much better than it was just a few years ago. Across North Carolina, government employees are monitoring air quality and the associated health risks to make sure they stay within specified legal parameters. Meanwhile, citizen

volunteers are also collecting data and working to make more information available to the public.

Eleven ozone monitoring sites stretch across WNC, from Bryson City to Lenoir, with Buncombe (at Bent Creek), Catawba, Mitchell

and Swain county sites in between.

Buncombe County also hosts one of three regional fine particulate monitors at the Board of Education building on Bingham Road.

Most of those devices are operated by the state Division of Air Quality, an arm

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of the Department of Environmental Quality. But three counties, including Buncombe, have their own local air agencies that oversee monitoring and related air-quality issues.

In North Carolina, the monitoring is mostly concerned with two things: ozone and fine particulate matter, says Brendan Davey, regional supervisor for the Asheville office.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has also set safety standards for four other air pollutants: carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and lead.

Fine particulate matter refers to particles 2.5 microns or less that are present in ground-level air. They disperse light, creating hazy conditions and reduced visibility, as well as presenting a health risk. Much of that pollution is sulfate-based and comes from burning fossil fuels, especially coal, Davey explains.

Volatile organic compounds are released by burning pretty much anything containing carbon, whether it’s wood, gasoline or the fumes from paint or solvents. When exposed to heat (such as sunlight), VOCs in the air react with nitrogen oxides produced by vehicles, power plants and factories to make ozone.

IN THE OZONE When two oxygen molecules are bonded, the human respiratory system loves it. Our lungs grab that O2 and send it over to the heart, from where it makes its way into the bloodstream for delivery to organs and muscles. But when a third oxygen molecule combines with the first two in the atmosphere, it makes ozone.

This pungent, toxic gas irritates the lungs and eyes, causes shortness of breath and is particularly harmful to the very young, the elderly, the infirm and those with chronic respiratory problems such as asthma. The air-quality forecasts issued by the Department of Environmental Quality distinguish hazard levels ranging from “yellow,” which would probably affect only those most sensitive groups, to “orange, red and purple,” which could have broader health impacts.

Particularly in rural regions, though, the readings for fine particulate matter and ozone don’t usually vary that much from one county to another, so they can be efficiently and effectively tracked with monitors spread out across a wider area, notes Davey. “At an instantaneous value, you’re going to get variability

within small regions, depending on whether a diesel truck is driving by or things like that. ... But the averaging periods we’re looking at get so large that it doesn’t look like it’s varying a whole lot from valley to valley,” he explains.

However, beautiful old mountains covered with lush forests do produce lots of VOCs — in fact, 90 percent of the volatile organic compounds present in the air in WNC are naturally occurring, according to the DEQ. Therefore, says Davey, “Controlling that type of pollution won’t have a whole lot of effect on our ozone concentrations. That’s why we’ve focused on nitrogen oxide emissions over the years.”

TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS Meanwhile, where there are mountains, there are also valleys, and that means you’ll get temperature inversions, says Kevin Lance, field services program manager for the WNC Regional Air Quality Agency. Inversions happen when cooler air is trapped beneath a layer of warmer air. And as a result, the locally generated toxins and pollutants just sit there — a perfect recipe for reduced visibility and increased ground-level ozone. At lower elevations, such as in Asheville, the lion’s share of pollution comes from local sources such as traffic and industry, so the ozone readings tend to be worst in the afternoon.

This is the only area of the state where there are separate forecasts for the higher elevations and the valleys. Asheville, says Lance, is “situated kind of in a bowl,” so it’s subject to bad inversions. This was a much greater problem in the 1990s, before tighter restrictions reduced the pollution from coal-burning power plants. A 1999 National Park Service report titled “Clearing the Air at Great Smoky Mountains National Park” found that visibility in the Smokies had declined from 93 miles to between 24 and 36 miles.

Those special circumstances, Lance explains, are part of why it was deemed necessary to create a local air-quality agency several decades ago — around the same time the EPA was established.

Another motive, he notes, was “being able to have some local input into the regulations.”

But ironically, says Davey, higher elevation monitors tend to record higher ozone readings, because it

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GR E E N S C EN E blows in from other areas. And since those levels often peak in the middle of the night, you could be camping in the mountains yet breathing some of the lowest-quality air in the area at that particular moment.

CLEARING THE AIR In other ways, however, WNC is well-positioned for clean air. The region isn’t heavily industrialized, and it doesn't have the kind of largescale pig or poultry farms that generate a great deal of pollution in other parts of the state.

The EPA’s limit for ozone is 70 parts per billion. Using a complex formula, the agency averages readings taken over specified periods of hours, days and years. If the resulting figure is at or below the EPA standard, the area is considered to be in attainment. Fine particulate monitoring is done in a similar fashion.

EPA air-quality standards have gotten significantly more stringent since their inception, and overall air quality, says Davey, has improved nationwide.

North Carolina, he notes, has met or bettered the EPA standards for both

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ozone and fine particulates. After the General Assembly passed the Clean Smokestacks Act in 2002, he explains, “Power plants started doing some early reductions of sulfates and nitrogen oxides. And that helped North Carolina lead the way in the Southeast in staying ahead of [EPA] standards as they were being reduced.”

Since then, WNC’s ozone and fine particulate levels have dropped significantly. The improved ozone levels, says Davey, are largely due to reduced nitrogen oxide emissions “from the power plants and factories, and cars being cleaner over the years.”

CITIZEN MONITORING Notwithstanding the substantial progress that’s been made, more needs to be done, says Clean Air Carolina, a Charlotte-based nonprofit. AirKeepers, a pilot program launched in Mecklenburg County last year, enlists volunteers to monitor what it calls “hyperlocal” levels of fine particle pollution. A training curriculum that’s now under development will streamline and standardize the learning curve, teaching people

how to use the sensors properly and understand which data are significant. In the meantime, the program is working with the EPA to compare the data it’s collected so far with official data from the government’s stationary monitors, and to determine the accuracy of the hand-held sensors the nonprofit is using.

One big goal for this year, says program director Terry Lansdell, is expanding the nonprofit’s operations across the state, particularly in Raleigh and Asheville, to supplement the existing monitors. By the end of this summer, he notes, they hope to have finished validating their data-collection methods and be ready to start working in Asheville and other areas where they can partner with schools, prioritizing places with insufficient monitoring. “Asheville is a critical need area,” he explains, “because there’s just not enough monitoring to fully understand the impact air quality has.”

The government agencies do a good job, stresses Lansdell, but there aren’t enough monitors, and they provide only limited snapshots of airquality conditions. “When we have a monitor working 24/7,” he points

out, “we’re able to capture pollution events that may not be part of the monitoring requirements.” That additional information, Lansdell maintains, is valuable “for people who are more interested in understanding what the air is like right now rather than what it’s forecasted to be tomorrow.”

PROS AND CONS That kind of citizen involvement could be valuable in certain situations, such as last year’s wildfires, says Lance of the WNC Regional Air Quality Agency. “If you have an event like that, that’s going to vary a great deal based on the topography here. It’s harder to predict because of the mountains.” In such cases, he points out, a hand-held particulate sensor might enable citizens to make better real-time decisions.

But in general, Lance believes the current monitoring system is adequate, and he has doubts about the accuracy and usefulness of the kinds of sensors sold to consumers, especially in the hands of amateurs.

Those devices, he says, “are not as reliable, and that kind of concerns me. You know, if they’re getting readings that alarm them, they’re going to be calling us” — at which point the agency would have to refer to its own data anyway.

Lori Cherry, environmental program consultant for the Division of Air Quality, shares those concerns.

Although she respects the intentions of groups like AirKeepers, Cherry says her agency tested several high-end, off-the-shelf sensors, and the results were not encouraging. “We would compare that same sensor to regulatory monitors, and there was no comparison: The data just didn’t match at all.”

Down the road, she continues, such devices could be helpful, because “they’re not very expensive, they’re portable, and it doesn’t require a lot to understand how to use them.” But she’s not convinced that the technology is sophisticated enough yet. It might be able to tell a jogger to get off a main road to avoid tailpipe emissions, but it can’t support broader conclusions about what those tailpipes might be doing on a larger scale. “They’re helpful for making personal decisions,” says Cherry, “but they’re really not helpful for monitoring the air.”

In the meantime, though, notes Lansdell, there are various kinds

of organizations that might find these devices useful in their current form.

For example, they could tell a day care center “what the exact air quality is at 2 o’clock, when they’re wanting to go outside for recess. That may be different from the forecasted levels.”

He also sees these sensors as a powerful public health tool that could help hospitals, health departments and other agencies track health incidents and correlate them with localized airquality problems. In addition, says

Lansdell, people with asthma or other lung diseases “can use these monitors at home … to help them understand how the air is outside and whether they want to go for a walk or a bike ride or need to stay inside to protect their health.”

Together, these efforts are a breath of fresh air for WNC residents and visitors alike, supporting the region’s tourism industry while laying the groundwork for improved public health and quality of life. X

MOUNTAINX.COM

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

37

FARM & GARDEN

YOU SAY TOMATO

Slow Food Asheville says Cherokee Purple

BY MAGGIE CRAMER

And at the end of the season, they’ll be invited to a seed-saving workshop to learn how to make more ’maters next year, no new plant needed.

Cherokee Purple seedlings, and participation in the program, are free, although donations are encouraged. The plants are being grown and gifted by Banner Greenhouses in Nebo.

“It’s about creating that personal connection where people are savoring these foods,” Epling says. “That’s what’s going to make people want to save them.”

In conjunction with the project, the Slow Food community will be holding a “grow out,” growing their own tomato seedlings to maturation and harvesting the seeds. The organization will then have a seed bank to keep the Cherokee Purple — and other heritage crops — spreading to more gardens in the community in 2018 and beyond.

Shared, community, school and church gardens, as well as farms, are eligible for more than two seedlings; email contact@slowfoodasheville.org. X

mcramerwrites@gmail.com Careful: Plant Cherokee Purple tomatoes, and you may never go back to growing a, well, garden-variety again. At least that’s the hope of the team at Slow Food Asheville, which recently announced the Cherokee as the focus of the 2017 Heritage Food Project. They see it as a “gateway tomato” to the countless heirloom varieties out there — cultivars, they stress, that are easy to grow and taste better than what’s on offer at the grocery store, yet are in danger of being lost.

“The industrial agriculture system leads society to rely on less and less varieties of food — one variety of corn, one breed of cattle for milk,” explains Ashley Epling, chapter president. “We can work in

We our

PLAYING KETCH UP: Lindy Abrams, organic grower at Banner Greenhouses, left, with Ashley Epling of Slow Food Asheville and baby Hazel checking on the growth of Cherokee Purple tomato seedlings for the Heritage Food Project. Photo by Peter Kent

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the opposite direction by connecting people with flavor and experience.”

Enter the project, aimed at protecting Southern Appalachia’s unique foodways by providing greater access to them; a different rare food with cultural and culinary value is highlighted each year.

Thank you for supporting local, independent journalism!

This spring, Slow Food Asheville will disseminate 1,700 Cherokee Purple seedlings to area individuals, as well as school, church and community gardens. To receive a plant (or two, the max per home gardener), growers must sign up with the project. They’ll get emails with growing tips, even recipes.

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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How to snag your seedling Stop by Slow Food Asheville’s Heritage Food Project information booth at the Earth Day screening of Seed: The Untold Story April 22 at Lenoir-Rhyne University boardroom (second floor), Asheville campus, 36 Montford Ave.; doors open at 5:30 p.m., film 6:15. You can sign up in advance for the project to be the first to hear when seedlings become available.

The group expects to get the plants from Banner Greenhouses in early May, in time to distribute them at Asheville Herb Fest, May 5-7, at the WNC Farmers Market, and the River Arts District Farmers Market May 3 and 10.

ECO

FARM & GARDEN

“Bamboo Walking Tours,” through bamboo forest to learn about bamboo plants. Registration: 6853053. $25/$23 seniors/$15 ages 13-18/Free under 13.

Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47)

Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47)

PASSIVE SOLAR GREENHOUSE TOURS (PD.) M R Gardens. Saturdays, 11am, April 8-June 10. One-of-a-kind structure remains ideal growing temperature through the coldest parts of winter and in unseasonably warm weather. $5. • Sustainable plants available for sale. RSVP: (828) 333-4151. megan@mrgardens.net

COMPOSTING WITH RED WIGGLERS WORKSHOP (PD.) SA (4-22), 2:30 pm. With Mary Ann Smith. Worm Castings are also known as “black gold” because they are packed with microbial activity and nutrients that keep your plants happy and healthy. Mary Ann’s workshop will elaborate on the benefits of vermicompost, how to make your own worm compost, and constructing and setting up your own worm bin. Free, but please pre-register at 828-645-3937. Reems Creek Nursery, 70 Monticello Road, Weaverville, NC. www.reemscreek.com

M HAYWOOD COUNTY

ORGANIC GARDENING WORKSHOP (PD.) SA (4-22), 10am. With Ruth Gonzalez - Ruth will discuss tips for success in any size garden, including siting your garden, soil improvement, planting, easy garden maintenance, useful tools, & disease prevention, plus time for questions. Free, but please preregister at 828-645-3937. Reems Creek Nursery, 70 Monticello Road, Weaverville, NC. www.reemscreek.com

M ORGANIC GROWERS

TOWARD A PERENNIAL PLANT BASED AGRICULTURE (PD.) Saturday, April 22, 2-5pm. A walking Earth Day workshop with Bill Whipple (aka Professor T. Bud Barkslip) at Earthaven Ecovillage (see website for directions). Topics include: • Seed and clonal grafting for improved native species genetics (demo) • Transitioning woodlots into highly productive orchards • Processing potential of native nuts • Implementing a cooperative of nutteries. Register at Culture’s Edge, 828 669-1965.

Donations will be appreciated.

M ASHEVILLE GREEN DRINKS ashevillegreendrinks.com • 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 7pm - Ecopresentations, discussions and community connection. Free.

Held at Lenoir Rhyne Center for Graduate Studies, 36 Montford Ave.

M BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES

buncombecounty.org/governing/ depts/library • TU (4/25), 7pm - “The Butterflies of Fairview,” presentation by lifelong amateur lepidopterist Sparrel Wood. Free. Held at Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview

M CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS carolinapublicpress.org • FR (4/21), 8:30-10:30am - “Coal?

Solar? Something else?” public forum with panelists from the Southern Environmental Law Center, N.C. Sustainable Energy Association and Duke Energy to focus on role of renewable energy in WNC. Registration: carolinapublicpress.org. Free. Held at Lenoir Rhyne Center for Graduate Studies, 36 Montford Ave.

M BUNCOMBE COUNTY

EXTENSION MASTER GARDENERS 255-5522, buncombemastergardener.org, BuncombeMasterGardeners @gmail.com • TH (4/20), 11:30am-1pm Gardening in the Mountains Series: “Using Native Plants in Your Landscape,” workshop.

Registration required: 828-2555522. Free. Held at Buncombe County Cooperative Extension Office, 49 Mount Carmel Road

M CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE cityofhendersonville.org • THURSDAYS, FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS, until (5/13) - Seasonal mulch and composted leaves giveaway. Thurs. & Fri.: 3:30-7pm.

Sat.: 8am-noon. Free. Held at the old Waste Water Treatment Plant, 80 Balfour Road, Hendersonville

M HAIKU BAMBOO BAMBOO

NURSERY/FARM 468 Rhodes Mountain Road, Hendersonville • 2nd & 4th SUNDAYS, 1:30-3pm -

LIBRARY-CANTON 11 Pennsylvania Ave., Canton, 648-2924, haywoodlibrary.org • TH (4/20), 5:30pm - Workshop to learn how to start seeds.

Participants will leave with seed starts. Free.

M M R GARDENS 441 Onteora Blvd.

• SATURDAYS (4/8) through (6/10), 11am - Tours of passive solar greenhouse. Registration: megan@mrgardens.net or 828333-4151. $5 and up.

SCHOOL 552-4979, organicgrowersschool.org • TUESDAYS through (4/25), 7-9pm - Six-part series on all aspects of growing food. Register for more information and locations: organicgrowersschool.org/ events/get-growing-series/. $35 per class/$90 for the series.

M POLK COUNTY FRIENDS OF AGRICULTURE BREAKFAST polkcountyfarms.org • 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 7-8am - Monthly breakfast with presentations regarding agriculture.

Admission by donation. Held at the 4-H Center, Locust St, Columbus

M SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN

HIGHLANDS CONSERVANCY 253-0095, appalachian.org • TH (4/27), 6-8pm - “Seed Selection, Planning & Market Gardening,” class with Christina Newhouse, farm specialist for the Southwestern NC RC&D Council. Registration required: Chris@appalachian.org or 828-490-2565. $20. Held at Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s Community Farm, 180 Mag Sluder Road, Alexander

M WARREN WILSON COLLEGE 701 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa, 2068877 • TH (4/20), 9am-3:30pm “Pastured Pork & Poultry Walk for Beginner Farmers,” workshop with lunch. Sponsored by NC Choices. $30/$10 students.

PLANT A GARDEN CHANGE THE WORLD 4-22-17 Earth Day Workshops

Composting with Redworms Kids’ Garden Ramble Organic Gardening Please Pre-register

70 Monticello Rd. Weaverville, NC I-26/Exit 18 828-645-3937

www.reemscreek.com MOUNTAINX.COM

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

39

FOOD

There are traces in the sky of what I mean

SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN Springtime is brunch time in Asheville

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Beer & Wine Tastings Every Friday 4 -7pm LIVE MUSIC! Locations:

Downtown & Black Mountain www.hopeyandcompany.com 40

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

GOOD EGGS: Salmon eggs Benedict is new on the brunch menu at Fig this spring. Tucked away on the outskirts of Biltmore Village, the little bistro also features brunch dishes such as house-made doughnuts with lemon curd and Chilean salmon with fingerling potato home fries, all of which can be served outdoors in its courtyard patio. Photo by Cindy Kunst

BY JONATHAN AMMONS jonathanammons@gmail.com It’s spring, and that means it’s finally time to drag yourself out from under the blankets, cast off that seasonal depression and find a patio that’s open for brunch. Because what better way is there to welcome the warm weather than with the spritz of a mimosa or the crunch of crispy bacon?

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Unsurprisingly, a town as leisurely as Asheville has a good number of breakfast joints, so it can be easy to forget about some of the outliers and dinner hotspots that also dish up a great Sunday brunch. But never fear, there are plenty to suit any palate here in the mountains, where brunch is regarded as a verb.

Sovereign Remedies welcomes back the songbirds this season with some rather decadent brunch offerings from

new chef Graham House, who took over the kitchen at the end of 2016. If you’re lucky enough to snag a coveted patio seat, you might want to pair that sunshine with the carnitas fry, a dish of pork shank, avocado, sour cream, cotija and cilantro topped with a sunny-side-up egg. Or if you have a hangover too severe to cope with such complicated combinations, try the pastry basket, which includes orange-ginger muffins, chocolate scones and crum-

BEST OF WNC pets with house-made butter and apple butter.

“The same farm-focused, thoughtful style of cuisine we are offering for dinner has been translated into elegant, fresh brunch fare,” says House. After some recent renovations to the mezzanine level, Sovereign’s indoor seating options have expanded significantly, and the small cocktail bar has begun accepting reservations online.

BACK TO HER ROOTS “I just wanted to have a unique brunch, different from anything that is being served in town. And I really wanted to touch base with my roots again,” says chef Suzy Phillips of Gypsy Queen Cuisine. Having started as a food truck several years ago, Phillips started testing her brunch menu at her West Asheville brick-andmortar location this winter.

“We eat a lot of little things for brunch,” she says, pointing to an Egyptian dish of mashed fava beans with lemon, cumin and cayenne that is commonly known throughout the Mediterranean as fool. It functions like something between a dip and a stew and is usually served with warm pita.

Or, for something a little more elegant, there are the lady purses. “They came about from back home. They are an egg with herbs nestled in a wonton wrapper and very carefully panfried,” Phillips explains. That base gets topped with peppery nasturtiums — one of Phillips’ favorite garnishes — and is served with Lebanese potatoes or a salad.

For those with a sweet tooth, there’s baklava French toast. Or there’s the opportunity to sample a fun Middle Eastern riff on traditional U.S. Southern cuisine. “I wanted to do a play on something traditional to the South for the people who are not as adventurous that still want to come in and eat,” says Phillips. “So we did biscuits and gravy. But instead of using regular sausage, we make our own lamb merguez to make the gravy.”

“Middle Eastern food is really trendy right now,” she notes.

“Another [dish] that is really popular in the Middle East is shakshuka — it’s like eggs in purgatory, but it’s spicy.” The concoction of eggs poached in a peppery, tomato-based sauce is becoming a bit of a hot commodity in Asheville lately, popping up on menus across town.

OUT AND ABOUT For those seeking the flavors of the Mediterranean, North Asheville’s Golden Fleece also serves up a pretty extensive brunch spread and has an expansive patio to boot.

The choices range from flaky filo dough pastries and rotating crepe selections to coffee-rubbed steak and eggs with potatoes and a salad to eggs Benedict with 63-degree eggs, crispy Parma ham, heirloom tomatoes and house-made olive oil béarnaise.

Or for exotic flavors with a Latin flair, try South Asheville’s hidden gem, Abeja’s House Café. Owners Martha and Rafael Alejeo serve breakfast daily but also host Sunday brunch.

The variety of omelets, breakfast burritos and biscuit sandwiches are sure to sop up the lingering effects of last night’s good time. And you’d be foolish to miss the huevos rancheros — made with crispy potato cakes, corn tostada and two any-style eggs served over tomatillo salsa with refried black beans, feta cheese, avocado crema and tortilla strips.

In Biltmore Village, tucked just on the outskirts of the tourist traffic, don’t forget about neighborhood fixture Fig. Long a favorite lunch and dinner spot among southside locals, the tiny kitchen serves up a killer brunch as well. There’s even a nice little patio in the building’s courtyard, sheltered from the hustle and bustle of town. Settle in and choose from items such as house-made doughnuts with lemon curd; duck confit hash with poached eggs, creamed kale and shiitake mushrooms; or Chilean salmon with fingerling potato home fries, parsnip purée, celery root and apple salad with a beet vinaigrette.

Prices are in the $9-14 range, and the bistro’s location (complete with abundant parking) offers an easy way to avoid long lines at downtown eateries.

A little farther east in Black Mountain, one would be remiss to overlook Louise’s Kitchen. The quirky, quaint counter-service restaurant is in a massive old blue house in the middle of downtown, with tables and chairs spread throughout the yard. For a real-life When Harry Met Sally moment, try the black bean corn grit cakes topped with house-made sriracha sauce, pico de gallo and fresh greens. There’s also a monster breakfast burritos and even a killer serving of artery-clogging biscuits and sausage gravy for under $6. X

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SMALL BITES

FOOD

by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com

The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village asks for votes against hunger

Historic Biltmore Village 10 Biltmore Plaza Asheville NC

828-505-7682 catering@cantinabiltmore.com 42

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RAISING AWARENESS: From left to right, Sydney, Sherrye and Anthony Coggiola, owners of The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village, have been battling food insecurity in WNC for three years. They now hope to take the mission statewide. Photo by Cindy Kunst For the last three years, The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village has been working with MANNA FoodBank to eliminate hunger in Western North Carolina. Its Skip a Side program allows customers to opt out of one or both of the side items that come with each entrée. For each forgone dish, The Cantina donates $2 to MANNA. To date, the restaurant has contributed nearly $75,000 to the food bank, which translates to 200,000 meals.

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The issue of hunger, however, persists. As The Cantina’s co-owner Sherrye Coggiola notes, North Carolina is consistently ranked among the top 10 most food-insecure states.

On average, over 1.7 million residents go hungry in the state per year.

Because of this, The Cantina is competing for a $100,000 grant through the A Community Thrives initiative, which is part of the USA Today network. On Tuesday, April 11, The Cantina offi-

cially launched its online Skip a Side video campaign.

Coggiola says the restaurant’s ultimate goal is to help “end food insecurity across the United States.” The more immediate plan, however, is to address hunger issues in North Carolina. If The Cantina wins the $100,000 grant, Coggiola says, it, “along with the foundation arm of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association and local food banks, will use the

money to educate others about food insecurity, as well as teach restaurants how to implement the program in their establishments.”

Anyone with a valid email address can cast one vote per day. There are three different categories: arts and culture, education and wellness. The Cantina falls in the last group. At the end of the 30-day voting period, the top 10 videos from each category will be reviewed by a committee that will decide on a winner. The second- and third-place runners-up from each group will be awarded $50,000 grants.

Coggiola notes that if one restaurant in each state participated in and worked with local food banks through a program like Skip a Side, nearly 5 million meals would be available to those facing food insecurity. “None of our neighbors should ever not know where their next meal is coming from,” she says. “because there is food out there, and it is wasted. We have to make that difference.”

To vote for The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village Skip a Side video initiative, visit avl.mx/3lw. Individuals can vote once a day, every day, through Friday, May 12. To learn more about the program, visit avl.mx/3lv.

FED TALKS: THE WELL-MADE WEDGE

Rhubarb hosts its third FED Talk on Thursday, April 27. Representatives from Spinning Spider Creamery and Looking Glass Creamery will offer guests a peek into the cheesemaking process. Attendees will also get the chance to taste some of the creameries’ products, and additional samples will be prepared by Rhubarb’s kitchen.

Wine and beer will be available for purchase. “This is part of a larger framework of Cheese Month,” says Jasper Adams, Rhubarb’s marketing manager. He notes that the restaurant’s companion bakery, The Rhu, will offer grilled cheese specials all month, along with upcoming tastings with Yellow Branch Creamery, Noble Cider, Cane Creek Creamery and Burial Brewing, as a way to further celebrate Cheese Month.

FED Talks: The Well-Made Wedge happens 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, at Rhubarb Event Space, 7 S. Pack Square. Tickets are $24. For details and tickets, visit avl.mx/3l7.

SANDY MUSH COOKOUT AND SPRING OPEN HOUSE On Saturday, April 22, the Sandy Mush community will celebrate Earth Day with an open house and 4-H cookout fundraiser. The hot dog and ham-

burger cookout runs 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., and meals cost $5 to $6. Desserts, sold for $1 each, will benefit Mountain Lady Farm Project, an organization that teaches Buncombe County children ages 6-18 agricultural and craft pursuits. The event will feature loom weaving, a farm drone demonstration, insect and snake camps, and a free garden exchange.

Activities take place 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Saturday, April 22, at the Sandy Mush Community Center, 19 School Road, Leicester. For additional information, visit sandymushcommunitycenter.org.

WINERY PASSPORT PROGRAM Starting Thursday, April, 20, Western North Carolina wine and cider industry support organization the French Broad Vignerons unveils a winery passport program that offers residents and visitors the chance to earn points each time they visit a different member winery.

Wine bottle purchases earn passport holders additional points. In November, passports will be submitted, tallied and placed into corresponding boxes based on points earned. A drawing will be held on Dec. 15. The top prize will be a $250 gift certificate to French Broad Vignerons member wineries.

Additional certificates will be awarded for each corresponding prize pool.

For details on the passport program, visit frenchbroadvignerons.org.

TABLE FOR THREE RAFFLE Ambrozia, The Black Bird, Chai Pani and King Daddy’s are among the 52 local restaurants partnering with MANNA FoodBank for its inaugural Table for Three raffle. The winner will receive gift certificates to all participating restaurants valid for one year. Tickets are $104.

There are 500 total tickets available.

MANNA notes that the ticket price represents the cost of feeding one person one meal per day for a year.

A winner will be drawn at MANNA FoodBank’s annual Blue Jean Ball on Saturday, June 3. Attendance is not required to win. Gift certificates do not include tax or gratuity and cannot be used to purchase alcohol. For details and to purchase a ticket, visit mannaraffles.org.

Athena Cermak, is closing the business to pursue a career in real estate. “We are so thankful to all the people who have supported our small business for the

What’s WOWING Me Now Food writer Jonathan Ammons lets us in on his favorite dish du jour.

Touareg tea at Dobra: I have an unnatural affinity for mint. When in season, freshly picked mint is a mainstay in my kitchen. And if you come over, I usually don’t ask, I just hand you a mint julep. So stumbling upon an animated, nonalcoholic approximation of the classic Southern tipple — but in tea form and hailing all the way from Morocco — was a welcomed discovery. A delicately sweet, yellow and green blend of teas folds neatly together with ground Moroccan mint. It’s served in a giant silver pot and poured into tiny, intricately colored glass cups, so you’ll feel like you’re in Tangiers or Marrakesh with the first sip.

Dobra Tea has locations downtown, in West Asheville and in Black Mountain. For details, visit dobrateanc.com. X

last 10 years,” she says. “I know Tupelo Honey will do great there, and we wish them much success.” Athena’s last day of business will be Saturday, June 24. X

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ATHENA’S TO CLOSE Athena’s, a nightclub in downtown Asheville, recently announced it will be closing. Tupelo Honey will take over the lease and use the space to expand its downtown location. Athena’s owner,

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

43

BEER SCOUT

FOOD

by Edwin Arnaudin | edwinarnaudin@gmail.com

A taste of Tampa If he’d really wanted to, Cigar City Brewing founder Joey Redner could have built his own brewery in Western North Carolina. Doing so, however, would have meant taking out several million dollars in loans.

And even if everything went according to plan, several years would have elapsed before the Tampabased producer could begin brewing its beer.

Partnering with Oskar Blues Brewery in 2016 to make Cigar City’s flagship Jai Alai IPA (7.5 percent ABV) in Oskar Blues’ Brevard facility — and have it and the rest of its core lineup of beers distributed within Oskar Blues’ established sales network — made far more business sense to the debt-averse CEO, as did the perk of speeding up the brewing process. The area’s water quality, state tax breaks and ease of shipping were likewise enticing. Now, less than a year after closing the deal, the collaboration between two of the most popular purveyors of canned craft beer in the U.S. has moved beyond the brite tanks and into stores and taprooms in North and South Carolina and Tennessee, Cigar City’s first new markets in four years.

A recent expansion at Oskar Blues added 17,000 square feet, room for 24 new 300-barrel tanks — around 15 of which are currently installed — and ample space for Cigar City to brew Jai Alai. Enter Cigar City brewmaster Wayne Wambles, whose first priority was getting the bold, tropical IPA to taste the same whether it’s made in Brevard or Tampa. Aaron Baker, marketing manager of Oskar Blues Brewery North Carolina, notes that his company went through a similar process in brewing its flagship Dale’s Pale Ale in Brevard and at its original Lyons, Colo., facility, making Oskar Blues an empathetic partner.

“We want North Carolinians’ first taste of Jai Alai to be the freshest, most consistent beer possible,” Baker says. “The only way to ensure that was to have [the necessary] equipment in Brevard.”

More specifically, that meant purchasing a centrifuge to clarify Jai Alai exactly the way Wambles does at the Tampa brew-

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Cigar City partners with Oskar Blues for North Carolina production and distribution

TELLING THE STORY: For the past five weeks, Cigar City el lector Neil Callaghan has called this recreational vehicle home as he’s worked to tell the story of the Tampa brewery’s new partnership with Brevard’s Oskar Blues Brewery. Photo by Edwin Arnaudin ery. Though a hefty investment for Oskar Blues, its top brass was so impressed with the superior flavor and increased yields compared with other filtration methods that they quickly signed off on a centrifuge for the North Carolina space.

“And not the Hyundai of centrifuges, but the Rolls Royce,” says Neil Callaghan, Cigar City’s el lector. His duties in that role — which is Spanish for “the reader” — involve telling the story behind Cigar City’s beer through education and events and helping make technical information approachable and accessible to beer lovers.

After four months of tweaking the brewing process — a necessity given that they are working with a new water profile and the tanks are a different shape and size than those at Cigar City’s home facility — and blind tasting the IPA several times a week, Wambles and Callaghan now say they can’t tell the difference between Jai Alai made in Brevard and batches from Tampa.

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The implementation of the centrifuge — which Oskar Blues is considering for future use in making Dale’s Pale Ale at all three of its breweries — is one of many ways that the new partners are willing to learn from one another to help put out better products. For packaging, Cigar City had used the hard PakTech plastic handles to keep its six-packs of 12-ounce cans together but now uses the same photodegradable Hi-Cone plastic rings that Oskar Blues employs.

Wambles plans to spend half of his time in Tampa, creating and fine-tuning new recipes, and the other half in North Carolina, making sure Jai Alai is consistent and up to standards. He recently bought a house in Sylva, but when he’s in Florida, someone else from Cigar City will be in Brevard. According to Callaghan, Cigar City made 68,000 barrels of beer in 2016 and expects to produce at least that much Jai Lai in Brevard for 2017. With that volume being brewed in-house, Baker says Jai Lai will always be available on draft in Oskar Blues’ Tasty Weasel taproom.

Callaghan adds that Jai Alai is the second-most popular six-pack of craft beer cans sold in grocery stores in the U.S., behind only Dale’s Pale Ale. With the Oskar Blues sales team currently working Cigar City beers into its buyers’ accounts, Wambles and Callaghan are curious to see what Cigar City’s No. 2 beer will be in the Carolinas and Tennessee.

Contenders include Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale (5.5 percent ABV), an easy-drinking “beach beer” named for the state’s cowboys; Tampastyle Lager (4.5 percent ABV); and Invasion Pale Ale (5 percent ABV), which has citrus notes similar to that of Jai Alai, but with session beer approachability. Also in the running is Maduro Brown Ale (5.5 percent ABV), the first beer Cigar City brewed on a commercial scale, which Baker is especially excited to have in the joint portfolio. He says it “hits the sweet spot” for Oskar Blues, which doesn’t have a brown ale or a comparable malty beer. X

MOUNTAINX.COM

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A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T

EARTH: FIRST

More than a dozen ways to celebrate Asheville Earth Week

WAY TO GROW: The film Seed: The Untold Story talks about how, after less than a century of industrial agriculture, seed diversity has been diminished to a handful of massproduced varieties. See a free screening of the film at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s local campus as part of Asheville Earth Week. Image courtesy of Collective Eye Films

BY ALLI MARSHALL amarshall@mountainx.com Earth Day was initiated by thenSen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin in response to a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. “Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda,” says the Earth Day Network’s website. The inaugural national observation was no sleeper: 20 million Americans rallied for environmental causes on April 22, 1970.

Now, 47 years later, the movement has only grown more viable. This year, the city of Asheville and its part-

ners (Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, Equinox, Asheville GreenWorks, New Belgium Brewing, Organic Growers School, MountainTrue and RiverLink) got serious about the environment, scheduling not just a mere Earth Day celebration, but a full roster of activities for Asheville Earth Week. Those events and others are listed below. For more Earth Day festivities, visit Clubland, Calendar and mountainx.com FRIDAY, APRIL 21 • Mountain True is coordinating service projects, such as cleanups along the French Broad River and invasive plant removal at local parks.

Companies can sign up by emailing susan@mountaintrue.org or calling 828-258-8737, ext. 216.

• Also on Friday, take a self-guided sustainability tour at 3:30 p.m. along the newest section of the French Broad River Greenway, starting at a new trailhead at the intersection of Emma Road and Craven Street.

SATURDAY, APRIL 22 • Brother Wolf ’s Run for the Paws begins at 9 a.m. at New Belgium Brewing, 21 Craven St. The race is “the only 5K in Western North Carolina where dogs aren’t just allowed, they’re invited,” says the event website. “Join hundreds of animal lovers and their four-legged friends as we run and walk to raise money for pets in need.”

Register as an individual or team at runforthepaws.bwar.org

• Asheville GreenWorks is teaming up with RiverLink for the Earth Day Kids Festival. The free, familyfriendly event will be held at Salvage Station, 468 Riverside Drive, and features local environmental educators discussing topics ranging “from recycling to birds of prey.” There will be games, face painting, music, stilt walkers and more. “We also want to showcase the Earth as a source of artistic inspiration,” says the website for the gathering. “Therefore, the festival will host many eco-friendly arts and crafts. It will also be the first display of RiverLink’s Voices of the River: Art and Poetry contest entries for 2017.” The theme is “We are all connected!” and winners will be announced at the festival. 9 a.m.-2 p.m. riverlink.org/earth-day-kids-festival

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

MOUNTAINX.COM

OTHER EARTH DAY EVENTS

along the Rocky Broad Riverwalk

M BROTHER WOLF ANIMAL RESCUE 505-3440, bwar.org • SA (4/22), 5pm - Ultrarunner Josh LaJaunie presents his story and speaks on the health and environmental benefits of plant-based living. Free to attend. Held at The BLOCK off biltmore, 39 South Market St.

CLEM’S CABIN 1000 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, fbrgcf.org • SA (4/22), 9am-2pm Proceeds from this plant sale with over 15 local vendors and the theme “Unusual Edibles: Farmed and Foraged,” benefits horticultural and environmental scholarships. Free to attend.

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BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • TH (4/20), 4pm "Coloring & Conversation about Earth Day," for teens to adult. Free. Held at Swannanoa Library, 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa • FR (4/21), 4:30pm "Buzzy, Buzzy Bees," presentation about pollinators with Asheville GreenWorks and Bee City Asheville for children 5-12 years old. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • FR (4/21), 7pm - Cinema in the Park: The Lorax, outdoor film screening. Free.

Held at Swannanoa Library, 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa

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CHIMNEY ROCK PARK 1638 Chimney Rock Park Road, Chimney Rock, 625-4688 • SA (4/22), 11am-3pm - "Chimney Rock Earth Day," with park rangers, biologists and educators to learn about the incredible work being done to protect Chimney Rock. Free. Held in Chimney Rock Village behind the Old Rock Café

E-Z GARDEN CLUB OF ASHEVILLE maryfarmer.com • SA (4/23), 11am-3pm Proceeds from this pop-up plant sale benefit scholarships for students studying horticultural at Haywood Community College. Free to attend. Held at All Souls Pizza, 175 Clingman Ave.

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GRACE COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 789 Merrimon Ave., 2543274, gcpcusa.org/ • SA (4/22), 10am-noon - Earth Day event in partnership with Asheville McDonald’s including educational planting tutorials for children and adults, garden tours and giveaways.

Free.

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GROVEMONT SQUARE 101 W Charleston Ave., Swannanoa • FR (4/21), 7pm - Film screening of The Lorax with Earth Day activities, games and face painting. Movie begins at sundown. Free to attend.

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HENDERSON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY 692-6424, myhcdp.com/ • SA (4/22), 5:30-8pm “Spring is Bloomin’ and We’re Growing a Party,"

event celebrating Earth Day, volunteers and new board members. Event includes italian dinner, silent auction line dancing and raffle. $12/$10 advance. Held at First Congregational UCC of Hendersonville, 1735 5th Ave. W., Hendersonville

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LAKE JAMES STATE PARK 6883 N.C. Highway 126 Nebo , 584-7728 • WE (4/19), 1pm - "Earth Day Salamander Soiree," ranger led hike to different types of salamander habitats. Free.

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MILLS RIVER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 10 Presbyterian Church Road, Mills River, 891-7101 • SA (4/22), 10am - Earth Day family-friendly celebration with activities including making plant markers, creating a butterfly bath and “bee hotel”, and planting butterfly friendly plants.

Free.

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PUBLIC EVENTS AT UNCA unca.edu • SA (4/22) - Earth day Mindfulness Festival featuring performances, wellness demonstrations, interactive movement classes and art activities. See website for full schedule: mindfulnessfestival.org. Free to attend.

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WNC NATURE CENTER 75 Gashes Creek Road, 298-5600, wildwnc.org • SA (4/22), 10am-5pm "Bear Fest," Earth Day celebration to honor black bears with family friendly games, activities and presentations. Admission rates apply.

Spring Plant Show & Sale Fri. April 28 & Sat. April 29 • 9am-5pm

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ALL-AGES ACTIVISM: Asheville GreenWorks and RiverLink present the free, familyfriendly Earth Day Kids Festival at Salvage Station. There, games, face painting and stilt walking meet environmental education. Photo courtesy of RiverLink • Sylva’s annual Greening Up the Mountains festival, now in its 20th year, fills the streets of that mountain town with arts and crafts, vendors, food, children’s activities, a farmers market and musical acts on two stages. “Greening up the Mountains began as an Earth Day celebration, and continues to keep its focus on environmental protection, sustainability and promotion of local businesses and civic groups,” says a press release for the event.

The day kicks off at 9 a.m. with a 5K run and walk at Mark Watson Park ($17.50 to register). The 20th annual Mountain Youth Talent Contest takes place at the Sun Trust lot on Main Street and an open mic — for those not yet ready to compete — will be set up at the south end of the festival.

“The Traditional Heritage Walk, hosted by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia and Dogwood Crafters, is located at the southern end of Main Street in a parking lot next to the Sylva Herald newspaper’s office,” says a press release. There,

demonstrators show their skills at woodcarving, chair caning, cornshuck dollmaking, basketmaking, crochet, knitting and more. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. greeningupthemountains.com • The March for Science, which coincides with a national movement, will leave from Aston Park in Asheville at 10 a.m. and end at Pack Square with speakers and information booths.

“Many people, not just those in science fields, believe that the institution of science, and data that comes from accepted methodologies, should be used to shape public policy,” says local engineer Tawnya Sowerwine in a press release. “For me, the march is a stand against those who seek to squelch the flow of science-driven information between governmental agencies and the people.” avl.mx/3jd • Take part in an Earth Day Skill Share Fair, organized by Transition Asheville and the Earth Team of First Congregational United Church of Christ. “Participants can choose from a variety of practical skills that can help us live more sustainably on

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The sun will power our children’s future.

With your help, a solar system can be installed on Isaac Dickson Elementary School.

Please visit WWW.CUTMYCARBON.ORG to learn more, offset your carbon footprint, and make a tax-deductible contribution to this clean-energy project.

Together, we can create a more sustainable future for our children.

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A&E met meal. Sunday, April 23, 4 p.m. theblockoffbiltmore.com

Earth,” says a press release, including tree planting, tree identification, energy efficiency, worm composting, solar-oven building, basic carpentry and other DIY projects. Meet at the First Congregational UCC, 20 Church St., on Saturday, April 22, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. For info, email skillsforresilience@yahoo.com

• The Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina holds an Earth Day Vigil “celebrating God’s creation and calling on people of faith to care for it,” according to a press release. The gathering takes place at Pritchard Park with song, reflection and “messages of inspiration and action from local faith and community leaders” at 5 p.m.

A reception follows at Jubilee!

Community, 46 Wall St. (Jubilee! will also serve as the rain location). creationcarealliance.org

• Join Sweeten Creek Brewing’s Earth Day Celebration, “a day of Earth-friendly fun, delicious beer, and good food out on our Creekside Lawn,” as described by the brewery’s Facebook invitation. Activities run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; the Circus Mutts play live music from 2:30 to 4:40 p.m. 1127 Sweeten Creek Road, sweetencreekbrewing.com • Take a walk in the woods at Earthaven Ecovillage in Black Mountain as part of the Earth Day workshop Toward a Perennial Plant-Based Agriculture. Professor T. Bud Barkslip, aka Bill Whipple, leads the presentation. “Through simple horticultural skills that work with nature’s intelligence, the professor believes we can develop agricultural conglomerates throughout the region without owning an acre of land or a plant,” says a press release for the program. “The Earth Program includes a demonstration of seed and clonal grafting for improved native species; modeling transitioning woodlots into highly productive orchards through the processing potential of native nuts; and implementing a cooperative of nutteries.” 2-5 p.m. Donations benefit Barkslip’s Acornucopia Project. culturesedge.net • Asheville GreenWorks, the Organic Growers School, Bountiful Cities, Green Opportunities, Sow True Seed and Lenoir-Rhyne University present a screening of the documentary SEED: The Untold

OTHER EVENTS

PICTURES OF HOME: Durham-based environmental artist Marjorie Pierson shares images of delicate landscapes in the exhibition Struck by Nature, on display at The Collider. “Duckweed #4,” copyright 2017 by Marjorie Pierson, all rights reserved.

Story at the Lenoir-Rhyne boardroom, 36 Montford Ave. 5:30-8 p.m. Free. organicgrowersschool.org • The Blue Ridge Orchestra will celebrate Earth Day with a special concert — Cantus Terrae (or Songs of the Earth) at the Folk Art Center, Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 382. The performance includes “two of the greatest musical tributes to nature: Aaron Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’ and Beethoven’s 6th Symphony,” according to a press release. Milton Crotts conducts. Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. $15 general/$10 friends of the Blue Ridge Orchestra/$5 students. blueridgeorchestra.org

SUNDAY, APRIL 23 • Learn about backyard composting during an hourlong workshop at the Dr. Wesley Grant Southside Center, 285 Livingston St. 1 p.m. Free. Composting bins will be available for $10. Then, from 2 to 5 p.m., join a walking tour of the future Town Branch Greenway, take part in the city’s 30 Trees in 30 Days tree-planting initiative and learn or share history of the Southside neighborhood. avl.mx/3j7 • Eat, drink and be vegan at Mother Earth’s Bucket List, an Earth Day celebration at The BLOCK off Biltmore, 39 S. Market St. The evening includes a screening of the documentary Cowspiracy followed by a free, gour-

• AVL People’s Climate March and rally, a sister event to the Climate March taking place in Washington, D.C., launches Saturday, April 29, at 10 a.m. in Pack Square Park with speakers. Following a sidewalk march, the group will reconvene in the park for music and activities. avl.mx/3id • The Collider (a self-described “nonprofit innovation center focused on catalyzing market-driven climate solutions,” located on the top floor of the Wells Fargo building, 1 Haywood St.) hosts Struck by Nature, an exhibition by Durham-based environmental artist Marjorie Pierson.

“Pierson’s primary subject is evolving coastal wetlands, particularly those in her native south Louisiana,” says a press release for the exhibit.

“There, sea level rise and land subsidence are combining to sink a football field of wetlands into the Gulf [of Mexico] every hour.” Struck by Nature is on display through August and can be viewed, by appointment, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Call 828-254-6283, ext. 101, or email info@thecollider.org X

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by Lauren Stepp

lstepp98@gmail.com

SHAKESPEAREAN FEMINISTS AND MEXICAN NUNS The Asheville Butoh Festival holds its own Butoh is esoteric. Julie Becton Gillum, artistic director for the Asheville Butoh Festival, now in its 11th year, describes the avant-garde Japanese art as a response to postWorld War II westernization. But when prodded for a more concrete description, she hesitates. “We have a standard for everything except butoh,” she says.

Gillum composed Me, The Worst of Them All, as part of the four-day festival running Thursday-Sunday, April 20-23 at The BeBe Theatre. Her performance honors 17th-century Mexican nun and feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz , and uses birdlike imagery to typify life in a male-dominated world. Machismo, or masculine pride, becomes the iron bars and Sor Juana the caged bird.

“She could hold her own against anyone,” says Gillum. “Priests asked her to contain some behaviors that weren’t becoming of a nun. So, she eventually took a vow of silence and didn’t speak or write for five years.”

Butoh expresses words left unsaid. Since its inception in 1959, the genre has been a vehicle for social and political commentaries sparked by the American occupation of Japan. Asheville-based performer and A-B Tech professor Constance Humphries even supposes that butoh is a “postmodernist deconstruction of what the hell it felt like to get bombed” at Hiroshima in August 1945.

Though it’s never been confirmed that butoh rose from the city’s ashes — Gillum mentions that a journalist first made that connection — the art form’s founders, Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo, certainly meant to dissect Asian culture. Performers don traditional kimonos and white face paint, but robes might be ragged and lipstick smeared. The

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“broken image” challenges ideas predating the Heian era (794-1185).

It’s like a burlesque show that airs Japan’s dirty, centuries-old laundry, says Gillum.

For that reason, domestic theaters are more receptive than those overseas. According to Sara Baird, artistic director of Anemone Dance Theater, Asheville is on the cusp of embracing butoh. “The experimental arts are becoming more available and accessible,” says Baird. “But they do require an adventurous audience.”

In other words, butoh takes some getting used to. It’s heavy and dense.

There’s a lot to chew on. For example, in Me, The Worst of Them All, Gillum stands on a 10-inch thick, 100-year-old family Bible — a sister in her habit committing sacrilege in plain sight. But there’s deeper meaning: Maybe Sor Juana is overcoming sexist ideals or Gillum is diverging from Christian conservatism in Western North Carolina.

Baird also unpacks contemporary issues in Chthonic Gardens.

As performed by Baird, Gillum, Humphries and local artist Jenni Cockrell, it explores the intersection of humanity and technology by pairing ice caves, monsoons, acid rain and evolution with Japanese folklore. The stage is transformed into “surrealistic subterranean territory,” says Baird, and a multimedia video is projected onto both screen and dancers.

But it’s almost misleading to call the four women dancers. Humphries considers it a “formless form” that’s not about emoting. Butoh is more internal investigation than it is choreography, and that meditation gives rise to controlled, primal motions.

“Slow movements stop time with the body,” says Gillum. “Time neither passes nor goes backward.”

Sadly, butoh can’t keep modern politics from moving backward.

Though Gillum can’t speak for international guest artists Ken Mai and Paul Michael Henry, she does say that all of the festival’s local performances have a patriarchy-smashing undertone, even if unintentional.

Humphries’ debut, Carriage, for instance, looks at the physical and psychological weight women carry

through life. “When events occur, personal or global, we must decide whether or not to pick up the burden,” she says. In the exposition, her performers hoist cloth bags made from twisted fabrics onto their backs. When given a choice, they accept the yoke.

Cockrell’s solo imbues similar sentiments. It investigates Ophelia, Shakespeare’s ill-fated Danish

maiden, who becomes a sounding board for Hamlet’s misogyny. In the play, 14th-century Elsinore’s societal expectations prove too much, and she drowns herself at the willow tree.

Though misconceived as petty or one-dimensional by Brit-lit pundits, Cockrell sees nuance in Ophelia. She says chauvinism caused her madness.

“I was drawn to her politically,” she says. “Ophelia is a woman who fights to stand for her rights.”

Ophelia’s final monologue comes alive at the Asheville Butoh Festival.

In Act IV, the now-delusional damsel gives a flower to friends and foe.

There’s rosemary for Hamlet, pansies for Laertes, fennel and columbines for Claudius and rue for the Queen. Cockrell has invented a dance for each flower. Since there are no standards in butoh, the final product is neither good nor bad. Though Cockrell does say that applause-worthy performances reveal truths about the human condition.

“Even if they’re passionate about hating it, I don’t care,” says Cockrell. “The audience needs to feel something.” X

WHAT Asheville Butoh Festival WHERE BeBe Theatre 20 Commerce St. ashevillebutoh.com WHEN Thursday, April 20 to Sunday, April 23 Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m. $18 general admission/ $19 seniors and students

Like what you’re reading?

There’s much more online.

BAD RELIGION: Julie Becton Gillum, artistic director for the 11th Asheville Butoh Festival, summons Mexican feminist and nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz​ in her performance. “I use bird imagery in this piece because Sor Juana tried to escape her role as a woman,” says Gillum. Photo by Rebecca Morris

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by Lauren Stepp

lstepp98@gmail.com

SHINE A LIGHT When Dr. Walter Ziffer of Weaverville began writing his memoir Confronting the Silence: A Holocaust Survivor’s Search for God, he had no intention of publishing. But with polarizing rhetoric dividing Americans and antisemitic violence on the rise, he felt morally obligated to get his manuscript out there.

“This morning, on the computer, I saw a report about attacks on Jewish communities,” says Ziffer, who is 90. He’s referring to the wave of bomb threats in late February. Asheville’s Jewish Community Center on Charlotte Street was among those affected.

“I don’t want to get into modern politics, but things don’t look so good.”

Ziffer’s upcoming book talk on Sunday, April 23, at 7 p.m., at Agudas Israel Congregation, is

an attempt to drawn new awareness to the carnage of World War II. Though some 6 million Jews were killed under Hitler’s order, Ziffer says we run the risk of forgetting and then repeating history.

“It can happen here. Our DNA is the same as the Nazis in Germany,” he says.

With many survivors passing away, Jim Stokely — publisher of Dykeman Legacy Press and son of Western North Carolina conservationist and writer Wilma Dykeman — calls Ziffer’s text, “possibly the last great Holocaust memoir.”

Stokely says the 200 pages unpack ruthless moments, like when Nazis murdered Lydia, Ziffer’s first sweetheart. “It was perhaps the most traumatic moment when I found out she had been shot,” says the author. “We were in love.”

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Holocaust survivor fears the past will be forgotten

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ON REPEAT: As a Holocaust survivor, Dr. Walter Ziffer worries that Nazi oppression will be whitewashed from history. Photo by Lauren Stepp But there are softer memories, too. Father Tati told hackneyed jokes and Mutti, or mother, laughed every time. Sister Edith had a spitfire spirit and even helped her brother drain a bottle of Malaga wine without their mother’s knowing. (Both got a good whacking for that.)

Ziffer says it was his family’s affection — not God, as so many people insist — that helped him survive. Love and “pure, sheer luck.” X

WHAT Confronting the Silence: A Holocaust Survivor’s Search for God book talk and signing WHERE Agudas Israel Congregation 505 Glasgow Lane Hendersonville agudasisraelsynagogue.org WHEN Sunday, April 23, 7 p.m.

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by Edwin Arnaudin

edwinarnaudin@gmail.com

TICK-TOCK MOVIEMAKING 90-Second Newbery Film Festival makes its Asheville debut It was a cold day in the winter of 2013. Tacoma, Wash., resident Elliot Weiner could have been inside, but there he was in the elements, filming an adaptation of Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted with a group of children for the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival.

“The girls were outside, dressed up in sleeveless gowns and stuff, and it was about 30 degrees … and they didn’t care at all,” Weiner says. “That gave me an idea that kids really loved this creative film process.”

Founded in 2012 by The Order of Odd-Fish author James Kennedy, the annual festival asks students to pick a John Newbery Medal-winner or Honor book — the most prestigious awards in children’s literature — and figure out how to tell the story as a movie in roughly a minute and a half. Joining the ranks of New York, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco, Asheville makes its debut as a host site on Saturday, April 22, when entries by local filmmakers will be screened at Pack Memorial Library’s Lord Auditorium.

After moving to Asheville in 2014 and engaging with some of its passionate young artists, Weiner saw great potential in bringing 90-Second Newbery to the community. He wrote to Kennedy and inquired about making his new home a festival site and, upon receiving approval, brought the word to Jesse Figuera, Buncombe County Libraries’ head of youth services, and Spellbound Children’s Bookshop owner Leslie Hawkins. Both youth literacy advocates offered instant support and proved instrumental in guiding interested parties to helpful resources.

With no fees of any kind to bar them from participating, groups formed at North Windy Ridge Intermediate School, Isaac Dickson Elementary, Mechanical Eye Microcinema and Asheville Community Theatre, along with several independent ensemble and individual efforts. Thirteen films were made, featuring the involvement of 70 kids. Eleven different books are represented, and the two that received

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multiple takes from different teams — The Tale of Despereaux and Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, both by Kate DiCamillo — were adapted in distinct ways.

Filmmakers used everything from cardboard masks and green screens to human actors and mitten puppets.

Florence and Richard Atwater’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins, famously made as a comedy with Jim Carrey in 2011, was turned into a murder mystery. Eleanor Estes’ The Hundred Dresses became a hip-hop musical in the vein of Hamilton.

Those two films were made at ACT with help from Weiner and the theater’s program director, Chanda Calentine, but are undisputedly the kids’ creations. The youths selected the books, and Weiner drafted a script, after which he met with the kids, who promptly proposed a number of changes. They continued to steer the project during shooting, coming up with ideas to try out and, if the experiments didn’t work, something new.

The kids handled the lighting and sound while Weiner operated the camera most of the time. He says it’s good to have an adult involved to help with the organizational process, but, though he also edited the films — with plentiful feedback from the young decision-makers — his goal is for the kids to do the shooting themselves in 2018 and beyond, and be involved in editing. Based on how they responded in the first year, he’s confident that will happen.

“It helps kids bring out their creative sides,” Weiner says. “We had one boy [at ACT] who was very shy, and he just wanted to be my assistant. He wanted to hold the mic and all that — he didn’t want to be in the film as an actor. And so after the first hour of watching all this and holding the mic, he comes to me and Chanda and says, ‘Can I be in the film?’ because he just got so excited about it. Then his mother sent me an email that said she’d never seen him this excited about anything because he’s usually so reserved.”

Weiner continues, “The thing is not to just tap the extroverted kids who just want to get out there and be in front of the camera. It’s tapping the creative soul within so many of our kids.”

For funds to hold the festival and bring Kennedy to town, Weiner applied for a grant through the Awesome Asheville Foundation and was awarded $1,000. At the local event, following a stroll down a red carpet with paparazzi taking their photos, every participating filmmaker will receive a star statuette.

Kennedy will co-host the festival with local author Alan Gratz (The League of Seven series). All 13 Asheville films will be shown along with Kennedy’s favorites from other cities. X

WHAT 90-Second Newbery Film Festival WHERE Pack Memorial Library 67 Haywood St. avl.mx/250

SHORT AND SWEET: Local artist Colette Russ films her adaptation of Cece Bell’s El Deafo for the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival.

Russ’ movie and 12 other local works will screen alongside favorites from around the country. Photo by Chris Russ

WHEN Saturday, April 22, 1 p.m. Free

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by Lauren Stepp

lstepp98@gmail.com

CONSCIOUS THREADS Yoga pants get a bad rap. They’re the spandex scapegoat for sloth, attract more than their fair share of unwanted attention, and are now accused of melting polar ice caps.

“Microfibers come off polyester clothes in the washing machine,

and those particles pollute waterways,” says Grace Gouin, strategist at Echoview Fiber Mill in Weaverville.

Streams are so loaded with the synthetic stuff that, in theory, fish are a certain percent yoga pants.

But here’s the thing: Almost all clothing is less than eco-friendly.

Gouin says that, second to oil, apparel is the most unsustainable industry out there. Just think about how your socks were made — the process likely required a journey across the Atlantic followed by transport in a few semi-trailer trucks. Talk about a carbon footprint.

To do its part to help break that cycle, Echoview has pioneered an inhouse production method. In brief, alpacas and sheep get sheered less than 3 miles down Jupiter Road, raw fiber enters the textile mill’s ground floor and a sweater is made to order on the second level.

But the company is taking it a step further and asking that artists send

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SPIN IT: In fighting fast fashion, or trends that quickly go out of style, Echoview Fiber Mill subscribes to eco-friendly production methods. “Our products have negative carbon emissions,” says strategist Grace Gouin. Photo by Nicole McConville scraps. A new product, named Yarn Collective in honor of the indiebaroque band Animal Collective, recycles unused fabric morsels.

Gouin calls these angora gobbets “yarn barf.”

Echoview processes several boxes of fabric tidbits each week. Most come from the pompom market.

“There are so many pompom makers on Instagram,” says Gouin.

Emily Felix, owner of Reunion Yarn in Chattanooga, Tenn., sent the first 30-pound bag. She’s also credited with coining the vomit-related term.

So, how does one go from shredded flotsam to skein? Amalia Fragaso is the yarn developer, and she’s knit together a process that could also be considered scientific were it not for the first step. In the beginning, she pours out the scraps and sorts loosely by shade. There’s no time to nitpick here, so she separates by dark, bright and neutral colors. She then uses a carder — a spinning tool with bristles — to weave pompom fluff into merino.

“I lay wool out on the belt and add sprinkles,” says Fragaso. Both

get blended together to make roving, or thick yarn.

Trimming out the kinks required trial and error. Measuring by weight, Fragaso toyed with 15 and 20 percent yarn barf. Both proved too nubby. Cloth oddments overpowered the wool. She finally found a sweet spot at 10 percent.

The final product is big on texture, low on itchiness. But because the yarn is bulky — it’s more like ziti when the knitting machine likes angel hair, says Gouin — Echoview is only selling it by the skein. It comes in black, gray and white, and is available for purchase online.

Though it may not be the best material for yoga pants, it does make a good old-fashioned sweater (for which undershirt is required).

Plus, it’s not choking out trout and ramping up global temperatures.

“You have to be the change you want to see,” says Gouin. “So, you can either look at the unsustainable apparel industry and get disappointed or do it the right way.”

Learn more at echoviewnc.com X

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SMART BETS

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by Emily Glaser | Send your arts news to ae@mountainx.com

Chris Jamison’s Ghost Last year, singer-songwriter Chris Jamison couldn’t decide which of two distinct albums to start first. It was his wife who made the decision, encouraging him to begin with the countrytinged Mindless Heart. “Some of the songs were new and some were over 10 years old. The old [ones] were tunes that had been in my live shows but never quite fit onto the records I was doing at the time,” Jamison says. “These songs all seemed to fit together really well, and I think my wife was right, as usual.” Released earlier this month, Mindless Heart is pure Americana, complete with slide guitar and crooned laments about drinking and loving too much. The full six-piece band, Chris Jamison’s Ghost, will celebrate the album’s release with a show at The Grey Eagle on Wednesday, April 26, at 8 p.m. $10. thegreyeagle.com.

Photo courtesy of Jamison

The Creative Sector Summit The Asheville Area Arts Council’s annual Creative Sector Summit will include panels on Asheville’s arts scenes, a networking fair and keynote speaker Dan Bowers. In his role as president of ArtsBuild, Bowers has transformed the creative community of Chattanooga, Tenn. “This year’s summit will offer necessary information on how we can turn the mindset to an approach similar to Chattanooga’s, where they ask the question, ‘What can the arts do for our community?’ instead of ‘What can the community do for the arts?’” says AAAC Executive Director Stefanie Gerber Darr. “If we can ensure that the creative capital of our region is at the forefront of every decision we make in Asheville’s development, we can safeguard that which makes us great.” The summit takes place Friday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Collider. $25 members/$35 nonmembers. ashevillearts.com.

Photo courtesy of the Asheville Area Arts Council

The Ripple Effect with Mia Birdsong Mia Birdsong is co-director of Family Story, an organization that’s redefining the modern American family. She’s also a writer, with articles in publications like Slate and Stanford Social Innovation Review. She’s also an outspoken activist — her TED Talk, “The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True,” has been viewed more than 1.5 million times — and a visionary who’s founded communities like BirthCircle, a collective that makes birth choices accessible to all families, and Canerow, a resource for raising children of color with a wide worldview. During her presentation The Ripple Effect, the activist will engage in conversations with Asheville residents on topics such as the value of community and the actionable effects of personal change. The discussion, which takes place Tuesday, April 25, at 6 p.m. at the Diana Wortham Theatre, is free, but attendees must RSVP. avl.mx/3jm.

Photo courtesy of Mia Birdsong

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Wale Wale, the self-styled “ambassador of rap for the capital,” was born and raised in Washington, D.C. The city fostered his musical career in the early 2000s, when he performed ’80s go-go disco, a genre that originated in the capital. By 2007, with guidance from renowned producer Mark Ronson, Wale began to gain national acclaim with widely accessible hip-hop. Since then, he’s worked with some of pop music’s biggest names, such as Rihanna, Usher and Jeremih, on chart-topping records. Wale’s latest album, Shine, is due out Friday, May 5. In anticipation of the album’s release, the musician is embarking on a national tour. He’ll stop at Western Carolina University’s Ramsey Center on Thursday, April 20, at 8 p.m. $27.50 floor/$22.50 arena in advance, $32.50 floor/$27.50 arena day of show. ramsey.wcu.edu. Photo courtesy of Wale

A& E CA L E N DA R

by Abigail Griffin

'SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE': The Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage is putting on the first largescale musical of the 2017 season with the 2007 hit Smokey Joe's Cafe. The show is the longest-running musical revue ever to be performed in Broadway history, running for 2,036 performances on the Great White Way in 1995. Performed with 39 songs presented by various combinations of cast members and no connecting dialogue, this musical moves through a range of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller classics. The show runs from Friday, April 21, through Saturday, May 13, featuring a cast of nine performers and a six-piece band.

Photo of Dustin Brayley, Jared Joseph, Wendy Jones and Breanna Bartley courtesy of the Flat Rock Playhouse (p. 62) ART 362 DEPOT GALLERY 362 Depot St., Asheville, 2341616 • TH (3/30), 10am-1pm "Artists' Breakfast," informal monthly gathering of artists, writers, musicians and art patrons. Coffee is provided.

Bring snacks to share. Free.

GROVEWOOD GALLERY 111 Grovewood Road, 253-7651, grovewood.com • SA (4/22), 11am-4pm Demonstrations by local fiber artist Lisa Klakulak and studio furniture maker Brent Skidmore. Ten percent of sales go to craftemergency.org.

Free to attend.

HAYWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE Regional High Technology Center, 112 Industrial Park Drive, Waynesville, 258-8737 • Through MO (4/24) “Crafting Your Success” professional craft artist summit with networking opportunities, workshops and keynote session from Brad Dodson of Mud Dabbers Pottery & Crafts. Summit takes place Wednesday, April 26, 9am5pm. Registration: kmgould@ haywood.edu. $25. Held in the Creative Arts Building.

THE CENTER FOR CRAFT, CREATIVITY & DESIGN

FOOTHILLS FOLK ART FESTIVAL

67 Broadway, 785-1357, craftcreativitydesign.org • FR (4/21), 6:30pm - Artist talk with 2016 Windgate Fellowship Project Grant recipient Rachel Mauser. Free.

facebook.com/

M TRYON ARTS AND

website for full guidelines.

CRAFTS SCHOOL 373 Harmon Field Road, Tryon, 859-8323 • SA (4/22) & SU (4/23), 10am5pm - Spring Arts & Flowers Festival. Free to attend.

FoothillsFolkArtFestival • Through FR (9/1) Applications accepted for The Foothills Folk Art Festival. See

HUES AND BREWS FESTIVAL HuesAndBrews.org • Through (4/21) - Applications accepted for artists and crafters who wish to vend in the Hues and Brews Artist & Craft

AUDITIONS & CALL TO ARTISTS

Beer Celebration, Saturday, May 20th. Contact for full guidelines. Held at Caldwell

35BELOW 35 E. Walnut St., 254-1320, ashevilletheatre.org • Through MO (5/1) Proposals accepted for productions for the 2017-18 season. Contact for full guidelines.

Arts Council, 601 College

ART AT WCU 227-2787, bardoartscenter.wcu.edu • Through MO (5/1) Submissions accepted for the Judaculla Art Competition sponsored by the WCU Cherokee Center. Contact for full guidelines: 828-497-7920 or snsampson@wcu.edu.

Submissions accepted for the

Ave., SW Lenoir TRANSYLVANIA COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL 349 S. Caldwell St., Brevard, 884-2787, tcarts.org • Through MO (5/1) upcoming exhibited entitled "The Other Side." Contact for full guidelines.

• WE through MO (5/15) - Photograph submissions accepted for the annual White Squirrel Photo Contest.

Contact for full guidelines.

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A &E CA LEN DA R MUSIC Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47) ASHEVILLE MUSIC SCHOOL 252-6244, ashevillemusicschool.org, ryan@ashevillemusicschool.org • TH (4/27), 6pm - Proceeds from the "Sound Effects" benefit concert featuring the covers of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour album with a 26 piece band, silent auction and raffle benefit Asheville Music School. $15. Held at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 743 Haywood Road ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 254-7046, ashevillesymphony.org • SA (4/22), 8pm Masterworks Series: "The Passion of Chopin," featuring pianist Soyeon Kate Lee and music by Debussy, Chopin and Franck. $22 and up. Held at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, 87 Haywood St. BLACK MOUNTAIN CENTER FOR THE ARTS 225 W. State St., Black Mountain, 669-0930, blackmountainarts.org • SA (4/22), 7:30pm - Multiinstrumentalist and guitarist Robin Bullock concert. $20.

CITY OF MORGANTON MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM 401 South College St. Morganton, 433-SHOW, commaonline.org • MO (4/24), 7pm - Mile Twelve, bluegrass concert. $15.

DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE 2 S. Pack Square, 257-4530, dwtheatre.com • SA (4/22), 8pm - Liz Carroll, John Doyle, and Billy McComiskey. $32/$27 student/$20 children.

FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE 2661 Highway 225, Flat Rock, 693-0731, flatrockplayhouse.org • WEDNESDAYS through SUNDAYS (4/21) through (5/13) - "Smokey Joe’s Cafe," musical revue featuring the songs of Leiber & Stoller.

Wed. & Thurs.: 7:30pm. Fri. & Sat.: 8pm. Wed., Thurs., Sat. & Sun.: 2pm. $15 and up.

HENDERSON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY 905 S. Greenville Highway, Hendersonville, 692-6424, myhcdp.com • 2nd & 4th WEDNESDAYS, 7pm - "Strings and Things," folk pop music jam. Free.

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by Abigail Griffin MADISON COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL 90 S. Main St., Marshall, 6491301, madisoncountyarts.com • SA (4/22), 7:30pm - "Hung Up On The Love Songs," concert with Joe Penland. $15.

MUSIC AT MARS HILL mhu.edu • TH (4/20), 7:30pm - Wind Symphony concert. Free. Held in Moore Auditorium MUSIC AT WCU 227-2479, bardoartscenter.wcu.edu • TH (4/20), 8pm - Concert

by Rapper Wale and Niykee Heaton. $27.50-$22.50/$15$20 students. Held in the Ramsey Regional Activity Center • SA (4/22), noon-10pm - WCU Jazz Festival presents master classes and performances. See website for full schedule and costs: goo.gl/I9OXsl. Held at the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center PAN HARMONIA 254-7123, panharmonia.org • SU (3/19), 3pm - Asheville Baroque Concerts presents "Oltremontano" featuring recorder, viola da gamba and harpsichord. $15. Held at Oakley United Methodist Church, 607 Fairview Road TRYON FINE ARTS CENTER 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon, 8598322, tryonarts.org • SA (4/22), 8pm - J. Mark McVey, concert. $35/$17 students.

• TH (4/27), 7pm - Sunset Amphitheater Series: Geoff Achison concert. Admission by donation. Held in the Peterson Ampitheatre UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP OF HENDERSONVILLE 2021 Kanuga Road, Hendersonville, 693-3157, uufhnc.org • SA (4/22), 3pm - Bluegrass to Bach Concert Series: Hendersonville Swing Band, big band era concert. $15.

THEATER ASHEVILLE COMMUNITY THEATRE • FRIDAY through SUNDAY (4/21) until (4/23) - Shrek the Musical, Jr. Fri.: 7:30pm. Sat. & Sun.: 2:30pm. $6.

ASHEVILLE WORDFEST avlwordfest.com • TU (4/18) through SU (4/23) - Five days of readings, dance, workshops, art and performanc-

es at venues around Asheville.

See website for costs, locations and full schedule.

ATTIC SALT THEATRE COMPANY 505-2926 • WEDNESDAYS through SUNDAYS until (4/23) - The Nerd, comedy. Wed.-Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.: 2:30pm. $14-$28. Held at NC Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane BREVARD LITTLE THEATRE 55 E. Jordan St., Brevard, 8842587, TheBrevardLittleTheatre. org • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS (4/21) until (5/7) - Agnes of God. Fri. & Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.: 3pm. $18.

J.E. BROYHILL CIVIC CENTER 1913 Hickory Blvd., SE Lenior, broyhillcenter.com • TH (4/20) through SU (4/23) - “A Midsummer Night’s Roller Disco," Shakespeare on roller skates. Thurs.-Sat.: 7:30pm.

Sun.: 3pm. $16.25/$9 students and children.

THE MAGNETIC THEATRE 375 Depot St., 279-4155 • THURSDAYS through SATURDAYS (4/20) until (5/6), 7:30pm - Mountain Art Theatre presents Stupid F**cking Bird. $16.

THEATER AT MARS HILL mhu.edu • THURSDAY through SUNDAY (4/27) until (4/30) - Ruthless!

The Musical. $15/$12 seniors.

Thurs.-Sat.: 7:30pm. Sun.: 2:30pm. Held in Owen Theatre THEATER AT UNCA 251-6610, drama.unca.edu • FR (4/27) & SA (4/28), 7pm - "Spring Dance Sharing," student performances. Free. Held in Belk Theatre THEATER AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE inside.warren-wilson.edu/ blogs/theatre/ • THURSDAY through SUNDAY (4/27) until (4/30) -The Importance of Being Earnest, comedy. Thurs.-Sat.: 7:30pm.

Sun.: 2:30pm. $10. Held in Kittredge Theatre TRYON LITTLE THEATER 516 S. Trade St., Tryon NC, 859-2466, tltinfo.org • THURSDAYS through SUNDAYS (4/27) until (5/7) Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, mature comedy. Thurs.-Sat.: 8pm. Sun.: 3pm. $16/$11 students.

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GALLERY DIRECTORY AMERICAN FOLK ART AND FRAMING 64 Biltmore Ave., 2812134, amerifolk.com • Through MO (4/24) - Face Jug Show, exhibition featuring face jugs from regional potters.

ART AT MARS HILL UNIVERSITY mhu.edu • WE (3/22) through FR (4/21) - Context, Pretext, Subtext: Words in Art, Art in Words, exhibition co-curated

by Kenn Kotara and Eric Steineger. Held in Weizenblatt Gallery ART AT UNCA art.unca.edu • Through SU (4/28) Study Abroad Photo Contest, winning photographs exhibition. Held in the Blowers Gallery in Ramsey Library ART AT WCU 227-2787, bardoartscenter.wcu.edu • Through FR (4/28) – 49th Annual Juried Undergraduate Exhibition. Reception: Thursday, April 20, 5-7pm. Held in the WCU Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center ART IN THE AIRPORT 61 Terminal Drive Fletcher • Through FR (6/30) Flourish, group exhibition.

ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL 258-0710, ashevillearts. com • Through FR (5/12) Plein Air: Magic and Mystery, exhibition of works by Lisa Blackshear.

Held at The Refinery, 207 Coxe Ave. • Through FR (5/12) The Art of Portraiture: An Exploration of Modern Photography.

Held at The Refinery, 207 Coxe Ave.

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ASHEVILLE ART MUSEUM ON THE SLOPE 175 Biltmore Ave., ashevilleart.org • Through SU (5/14) Pop 'n' Op, an exhibition featuring works from the "pop/op" era.

• Through SU (5/7) Inspired, group exhibition of artists from the Penland resident artist and core fellowship programs.

PINK DOG CREATIVE 342 Depot St., pinkdogcreative.com • Through SU (4/23) - The Art of Illumination, ArtSpace Charter School PULSE Art Project group exhibition.

ASHEVILLE GALLERY OF ART 82 Patton Ave., 2515796, ashevillegallery-of-art. com • Through SU (4/30) Imageries of Life, exhibition of works by figurative artist Sahar Fakhoury.

POSANA CAFE 1 Biltmore Ave., 5053969 • TH (4/20) through SA (7/15) - Hats, group exhibition of 18 artists.

Reception: Thursday, April 20, 6-8pm.

BEAUTY BAR 800 Fairview Road, Suite AA, 545-1970 • Through TH (6/1) That's How the Light Gets In, exhibition of photography by Bonnie Cooper and Don McGowan.

BENDER GALLERY 12 S. Lexington Ave., 505-8341, thebendergallery.com • Through FR (6/30) - Crossings – A Boat Show, glass and mixed media group exhibition.

BLACK MOUNTAIN CENTER FOR THE ARTS 225 W. State St., Black Mountain, 669-0930, blackmountainarts.org • Through FR (5/12) - Orchestration, installation by Julia C. Burr.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • Through WE (5/25) Exhibition of paintings

by PK Barratt. Held at West Asheville Library, 942 Haywood Road • Through SU (4/30) Storybook Characters on Parade, mixed media exhibition. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St.

M

ASHEVILLE ART MUSEUM 253-3227, ashevilleart. org • Through FR (6/30) Exhibition of silver works

by William Waldo Dodge, Jr. Held at Wells Fargo Downtown Asheville, 1 Haywood St.

CENTRAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 27 Church St., 253-3316, centralumc.org • SUNDAYS (4/16) through (7/15), 9am12:30pm - Nature’s Apothecary, exhibition of textile art by Mountain Art Quilters.

Free to attend.

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PUT YOUR ART HAT ON: A curated group of 18 artists has come together for a show to depict the theme of “hats” in a multitude of styles and mediums at the Alder Gallery at Posana Restaurant. According to curator Constance Vlahoulis, the styles range from portrait, realistic and impressionistic to abstract and whimsical. The HATS! exhibition opens with a reception on Thursday, April 20, from 2-8 p.m. and runs until Saturday, July 18. Fox with the Green Velvet Hat, painting by Mark Bettis DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL RESOURCES WESTERN OFFICE 176 Riceville Road, 2967230 • Through SA (5/6) Mentors and Heroes, photography exhibit by David Holt.

DOWNTOWN BOOKS & NEWS 67 N. Lexington Ave., 348-7615, downtownbooksandnews.com • Through TH (6/8) Exhibition of the works of Suzanne Teune.

GRAND BOHEMIAN GALLERY 11 Boston Way, 877-2741242, bohemianhotelasheville. com/ • Through SU (4/30) New Bohemians, exhibition of work by Karen Weihs, Greg Decker and Richard Oversmith.

• Through WE (5/31) ColorQuest, exhibition of knife palette paintings

by Stefan Horik.

GROVEWOOD GALLERY 111 Grovewood Road, 253-7651, grovewood.com • Through SU (5/21) Visions of Nature, paintings by Brad Stroman.

LONDON DISTRICT STUDIOS 8 London Road • FR (4/14) through TU (5/9) - Following the Stars to Freedom, exhibition featuring the art nouveau paintings of Heather Shirin.

MADISON COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL 90 S. Main St., Marshall, 649-1301, madisoncountyarts.com • Through WE (5/31) Exhibition of rare photos taken by British song collector Cecil Sharp.

MORA CONTEMPORARY JEWELRY 9 Walnut St., 575-2294, moracollection.com

• Through SU (4/30) - Hi, Five!, exhibition of rings by 30 jewelers.

MOUNTAIN GATEWAY MUSEUM AND HERITAGE CENTER 102 Water St., Old Fort, mountaingatewaymuseum.org/ • Through WE (5/17) - Traveling exhibition commemorating the centennial of the U.S. entry into World War I. ODYSSEY COOPERATIVE ART GALLERY 238 Clingman Ave., 2859700, facebook.com/odysseycoopgallery • Through SU (4/30) Exhibition of ceramic art by Melanie Dyel and Laura Peery.

PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS 67 Doras Trail Bakersville, 765-2359, penland.org

SWANNANOA VALLEY MUSEUM 223 W State St., Black Mountain, 669-9566, history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org • Through (12/1) Palaces for the People: Guastavino and America's Great Public Spaces, exhibition.

M

April 28, 5-7pm. Held at Spruce Pine TRAC Gallery, 269 Oak Ave., Spruce Pine TRACKSIDE STUDIOS & GALLERY 375 Depot St., 545-2904, facebook.com/ TracksideStudios375/ • Through SU (4/30) Generation Why, exhibition of the work of four emerging Millennial artists.

• Through WE (5/31) - Seeing the World…, exhibtion of watercolors and ink by Virginia Pendergrass.

TRANSYLVANIA COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL 349 S. Caldwell St., Brevard, 884-2787, tcarts.org • Through FR (4/28) -

THE COLLIDER 1 Haywood St., Ste 401, thecollider.org/ • Through TH (8/31) Struck by Nature, exhibition of environmental art by photographer Marjorie Pierson.

Transylvania county pub-

THE GALLERY AT FLAT ROCK 702-A Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, 6987000, galleryflatrock. com/ • Through SU (5/14) - Temporal Witness: Tracing Nature's Path, exhibition featuring works by Alice Ballard, Christina Laurel and Rosamond Purcell.

Brevard, 884-2347,

THE TRYON DEPOT ROOM 22 Depot St., Tryon, 859-7001, tryondepotroom.com • Through FR (4/28) Luminaries, exhibition of drawings by Janet Orselli.

TOE RIVER ARTS COUNCIL 765-0520, toeriverarts. org • Through SA (4/29) - Exhibition of blacksmith and metal work from around the country. Reception: Friday,

lic schools student art exhibit for grades K-12.

TRANSYLVANIA HERITAGE MUSEUM 189 W Main St., transylvaniaheritage.org • Through SA (5/13) - Wars of the 20th Century, exhibition.

TRYON ARTS AND CRAFTS SCHOOL 373 Harmon Field Road, Tryon, 859-8323 • Through SU (5/21) - Crossroads Gallery Show.

TRYON FINE ARTS CENTER 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon, 859-8322, tryonarts.org • Through SA (4/22) Exhibition of work from the residents of White Oak Manor.

Contact the galleries for admission hours and fees

CLUBLAND Songwriter's "open mic" (April poetry focus), 7:00PM GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Junior Brown w/ Hearts Gone South (outlaw country, Americana), 8:00PM HICKORY TAVERN Trivia Wednesdays, 8:00PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Woody Wood Wednesdays (rock, soul, funk), 5:30PM ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL An evening w/ Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, 7:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old-time session, 5:00PM JUICY LUCY'S BURGER BAR AND GRILL Acoustic Jam, 7:00PM

ROOTS OF THE MATTER: Among Asheville’s impressive milieu of roots musicians, veteran duo Zoe & Cloyd stands out from the crowd. Combining heartbreaking harmonies with a deep reverance for Appalachian folk, country, and bluegrass traditions, the two garnered acclaim from No Depression Magazine and others for their 2015 debut album, Equinox.

Join Zoe & Cloyd Sunday, April 23 at The Grey Eagle as they celebrate the release of their second album, Eyes Brand New, with a 7 p.m. show. Photo courtesy of the band.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19 185 KING STREET Vinyl Night, 6:00PM 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Les Amis (African folk), 8:00PM 550 TAVERN & GRILLE Karaoke w/ DJ Do-It (from Sound Extreme), 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Brad Hodge & friends (singer-songwriter), 7:00PM

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Music Video Asheville Afterparty w/ DJ AVX, 11:00PM BARLEY'S TAPROOM & PIZZERIA Dr. Brown's Team Trivia, 8:30PM BEN'S TUNE-UP Wednesday Honky Tonk w/ Laurel Lee & The Escapees, 7:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Open Mic w/ Mark Bumgarner, 7:00PM BONFIRE BARBECUE Trivia Funtime w/ Kelsey, 8:00PM

BROADWAY'S Broadway HumpDay Variety w/ DJ NexMillen, 9:00PM

DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE Music Video Asheville, 7:30PM

BUFFALO NICKEL David Joe Miller's WORD! w/ Chuck Brodsky (spoken word), 7:00PM

DOUBLE CROWN Tranzmission Benefit w/ Chris Head, Clyde Conwell & Snake Musk, 6:00PM Classic Country Vinyl w/ DJ David Wayne Gay, 10:00PM

BYWATER Well Lit Strangers (bluegrass), 8:00PM CREEKSIDE TAPHOUSE Open mic jam w/ Riyen Roots & friends, 7:00PM CROW & QUILL Stevie Lee Combs (dock-side blues), 9:00PM

FUNKATORIUM John Hartford Jam w/ the Saylor Brothers (bluegrass), 6:30PM GOOD STUFF Jim Hampton & friends perform "Eclectic Country" (jam), 6:30PM

LAZY DIAMOND Killer Karaoke w/ KJ Tim O, 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Ben Hovey (dub, jazz), 6:30PM ODDITORIUM Quinn Cicala, Jen Phipps, Brett Jorgensen w/ Jonathan Lewis (acoustic), 9:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Evil Note Lab, 9:30PM ONE WORLD BREWING Dan Keller & Friends, 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL Foxygen w/ Gabriella Cohen, 9:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY King Garbage (funk, hip hop, soul), 6:00PM ROOT BAR NO. 1 Lucky James (roots, soul), 7:00PM

SALVAGE STATION KUNG FU (1 Set Kung Fu; 1 Set Steely Dan), 9:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Hemp Day and pre420 Kickoff! (film screening), 6:00PM DJ Donnie Destro Pre-420 Boogie Dance Party, 8:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT New Rain Duets: Mary Lattimore & Mac McCaughan, 9:00PM TOWN PUMP Open Mic w/ Billy Presnell, 9:00PM

Free Screening of COWSPIRACY Free Food

39 S. Market St.

●

●

4/23 @ 4 pm

theblockoffbiltmore.com

TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Blues & Soul Jam (blues, soul), 9:00PM TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic Night, 6:00PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Wide Screen Wednesday's, 7:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Bill Bares Piano Summit, 7:30PM WILD WING CAFE Jason Wyatt (acoustic), 6:00PM WILD WING CAFE SOUTH J Luke (acoustic), 6:00PM

THURSDAY, APRIL 20 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Pleasure Chest (blues, rock, soul), 8:00PM ALTAMONT THEATRE Joshua James, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Will Ray & The Space Cooties, 7:00PM

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CLU B LA N D

TAVERN Downtown on the Park Eclectic Menu • Over 30 Taps • Patio 14 TV’s • Sports Room • 110” Projector Event Space • Shuffleboard Open 7 Days 11am - Late Night

LIVE MUSIC! NEVER A

COMING SOON wed 4/19

THU. 4/20

5-9PM–ALL YOU CAN EAT SNOW CRAB LEGS thu 4/20

BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Patrick Fitzsimons (roots music), 7:00PM

MARCY MARXER

7:00PM–KRISTA SHOWS CD RELEASE 8:30PM–ZACH LONGORIA PROJECT fri 4/21

SAT. 4/22 Grand Theft Audio ( classic rock)

7:00PM–THE ROAMIN’ JASMINE 9:00PM–GEOFF ACHISON &

THE SOULDIGGERS sat 4/22

20 S. Spruce St. • 225.6944 packStavern.com

7:00PM–THE STASH! BAND 9:00PM–CHELY WRIGHT sun 4/23 5:30PM–ROBIN BULLOCK 7:30PM–RUSS WILSON &

4/19 wed

HIS FAMOUS ORCHESTRA

new rain duets:

tue 4/25

mary lattimore & mac mccaughan

7:30PM–TUESDAY BLUEGRASS SESSIONS wed 4/26 7:00PM–BECCA STEVENS 8:30PM–I DRAW SLOW

w/ oariana

4/20 thu

the moth true stories told live (theme: fresh)

the asheville shellac bash! sat 4/22 crank county daredevils 4/21

fri

w/vic crown, zin vetro

4/23 sun

froth

w/ white woolly, breathers

4/24 mon

dave rempis w/ tashi dorji

free!

5-9PM–ALL YOU CAN EAT SNOW CRAB LEGS thu 4/27

6:00PM–ASHEVILLE MUSIC SCHOOL SOUND EFFECTS BENEFIT CONCERT fri 4/28 7:00PM–JAMES KEELAGHAN 9:00PM–STEPHANIE MORGAN CHRYSALISM CD RELEASE SAT 4/29 9:00PM–GRASS IS DEAD

Yoga at the Mothlight

Tues., Thurs., and Sat. 11:30am Details for all shows can be found at

themothlight.com

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Turnpike Troubadours w/ Cordovas (country, rock), 9:00PM

7:00PM–CATHY FINK &

Jordan Okrend

( dance hits, pop)

BARLEY'S TAPROOM & PIZZERIA Alien Music Club (live jazz), 10:00PM

BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Bluegrass Jam w/ The Big Deal Band (bluegrass), 8:00PM

( acoustic old school, contemporary)

DJ MoTo

FRENCH BROAD BREWERY Dave Dribbon (solo, acoustic), 6:00PM

BEN'S TUNE-UP Thursday Brews 'n' Blues w/ The Cris Coleman Blues Experience, 8:00PM

C OV E R C H A R G E !

FRI. 4/21

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL The Hip Abduction w/ Mobley, 9:00PM

MOUNTAINX.COM

WITH PAPER CROWNS

ISISASHEVILLE.COM DINNER MENU TIL 9:30PM LATE NIGHT MENU TIL 12AM

TUES-SUN 5PM-until 743 HAYWOOD RD 828-575-2737

BONFIRE BARBECUE Social Function, 8:30PM CROW & QUILL Carolina Catskins (rowdy ragtime jazz), 10:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Sonic Satan Stew w/ DJ Alien Brain, 10:00PM FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Paper Crowns (Americana, folk), 9:00PM

HICKORY TAVERN 30 Rocks Music Game, 8:00PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY East Side Social Ride, 6:00PM

NEW MOUNTAIN THEATER/ AMPHITHEATER Random Rab (experimental), 9:00PM ODDITORIUM Gallows Bound, Southbound Turnaround & Saddles of Southern Darkness (rock), 9:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Mitch's Totally Rad Trivia, 6:30PM Of Good Nature w/ Crane, 10:00PM

ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL Krista Shows CD release (Americana, country, singer-songwriter), 7:00PM Zach Longoria Project (jazz, old-school R&B, soul), 8:30PM

ONE WORLD BREWING 420 Party w/ Station Underground, 9:00PM

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass Open Jam Session, 7:00PM

PACK'S TAVERN Jordan Okrend (acoustic old school, contemporary), 8:00PM

LAZY DIAMOND Heavy Night w/ DJ Butch, 10:00PM

PISGAH BREWING COMPANY The Appalucians (family show, Americana), 4:00PM People's Blues of Richmond (rock 'n' roll, soul), 8:00PM

LOBSTER TRAP Hank Bones ("The man of 1,000 songs"), 6:30PM

ORANGE PEEL Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats w/ The Seratones [SOLD OUT], 9:00PM

PURPLE ONION CAFE Keith Davis Trio (contemporary jazz), 7:30PM ROOT BAR NO. 1 Jukebox Poetry (acoustic folk), 7:00PM SALVAGE STATION AVL's 2nd Annual 420 Boogie, 6:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Ben Phan (indie, folk, singer-songwriter), 7:00PM SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB Blue Ridge Bashes (college student party), 10:00PM SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Cabo Verde, 7:00PM SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Vinyl Night, 6:30PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Asheville Wordfest, 5:00PM Unite! Open Mic Night w/ Jack Sley (sign-up @ 7pm), 8:00PM THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Tricky Trivia w/ Sue, 8:00PM

THE MOTHLIGHT The Moth: True Stories Told Live ("Fresh" storytelling), 7:00PM TOWN PUMP Gleewood (folk, rock, duo), 9:00PM TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Jesse Barry & The Jam (live music, dance), 9:00PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Stark Relief, 7:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Warren Wilson College Bluegrass Band, 7:30PM WILD WING CAFE Jeff Anders & Friend (Acoustic), 9:00PM WILD WING CAFE SOUTH Darren Nicholson (bluegrass, Americana), 6:00PM WXYZ LOUNGE AT ALOFT HOTEL WXYZ Unplugged w/Sarah Tucker, 8:00PM

FRIDAY, APRIL 21 185 KING STREET The Get Right Band (rock), 8:00PM 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Rogues Go East (Middle Eastern, gypsy jazz), 9:00PM 550 TAVERN & GRILLE Flashback, 9:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Joe McMurrian (acoustic deep roots, blues), 7:30PM ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL WEEN Afterparty w/ Mike Dillon Band, Claude Coleman Jr. (of Ween), amandla & VERY special guests, 9:00PM BEN'S TUNE-UP Iggy Radio, 6:00PM Vinyl Night, 10:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Acoustic Swing, 7:00PM BOILER ROOM Halfa (dance & drumming), 8:00PM BYWATER FriDaze, 5:30PM

CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Grass To Mouth (bluegrass, folk, soul), 7:00PM CORK & KEG John Lilly (Americana, country, folk), 8:30PM CROW & QUILL Burger Kings (proto rock n' roll), 10:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Garage & Soul Obscurities w/ DJ Greg Cartwright, 10:00PM DOWNTOWN HOT SPRINGS 21st Annual Hot Springs Community TRAILFEST!, 5:00PM DUGAN'S PUB Blake Ellege and the Country Resonators, 8:00PM FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER Classic World Cinema, 8:00PM FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Ram Mandlekorn Trio (funk, jazz), 10:00PM FRENCH BROAD BREWERY Buncombe Turnpike Trio (bluegrass), 6:00PM

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Free Dead Fridays w/ members of Phuncle Sam, 5:00PM Ween Afterparty w/ Randomanimals & King Zeros, 10:00PM

MARSHALL HIGH STUDIOS Buncombe Turnpike Trio, 6:00PM MOE'S ORIGINAL BBQ WOODFIN Bald Mountain Boys, 7:00PM

ORANGE PEEL Big Wild w/ Tennyson & IHF (dance, electronic), 9:00PM

NATIVE KITCHEN & SOCIAL PUB Saylor Brothers, 7:30PM

PACK'S TAVERN DJ MoTo (dance hits, pop), 9:30PM

NEW MOUNTAIN THEATER/ AMPHITHEATER

PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Eric Krasno w/ After Funk (rock), 7:00PM

Pink Talking Fish Is Bowie (Pink Floyd/ Talking Heads/Phish/ David Bowie tribute), 9:00PM

SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Emily Bodley, 4:00PM Sean Bendula, 8:00PM SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB Dance Club w/ DJ & drag show, 10:00PM

ODDITORIUM Shellshock Goth & Industrial Night, 9:00PM OLE SHAKEY'S Acoustic Roots Music, 5:00PM OLIVE OR TWIST The 42nd Street Band (Cole Porter-era jazz), 7:00PM

SCARLET'S COUNTRY DANCE CLUB Open Mic night w/ Sam Warner, 8:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Asheville Wordfest, 5:00PM Jack Sley (rock & pop covers), 9:30PM

APRIL’S WEEKLY LINEUP TUESDAYS A NIGHT OF SOUL RHODA WEAVER AND THE SOLMATES 5-7 FOLLOWED BY THE LYRIC 7-9

WEDNESDAYS HONKY TONK

LAUREL LEE AND THE ESCAPES 7-10

THURSDAYS BREWS N’ BLUES THE CRIS COLEMAN BLUES EXPERIENCE 8-11

FRIDAYS MUSIC MASHUP IGGY RADIO 6-9 VINYL NIGHT 10-2AM

SATURDAYS

GYPSY JAZZ TRIO 3-6 THE SECRET B SIDES 10-1AM

SUNDAYS REGGAE NIGHT THE DUB KARTEL 6-10

GOOD STUFF Katie Buxton, 8:00PM

Join us for a

GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Y&T w/ Temptation's Wings (hard rock), 8:00PM HICKORY TAVERN Stella Rising, 9:00PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Highland's 23rd Anniversary w/ Kick The Robot (rock), 7:00PM ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL An evening w/ The Roamin’ Jasmine, 7:00PM Geoff Achison & The Souldiggers CD Release party, 9:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Harmed Brothers w/ The Mutineers & Drunken Prayer, 9:00PM LAZOOM ROOM DJ Filth, 9:00PM LAZY DIAMOND Rock 'n' Soul DJ, 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Calico Moon, 6:30PM

NO COVER

ALWAYS FREE ALWAYS LOCAL

4-20 Stone Baked

Pizza & Beer Pairing Dinner Free Live Music THURSDAY

April 20 7:30pm

5-Course Beer Pairing Dinner With a special introduction from our Chef, Matt Kovich, we will be serving 5 Specialty Pizzas paired with 5 UpCountry beers.

Head up to UpCountry and enjoy with us!

$35 per person @ door — Check out

SAT - 4/22 8pm

Armadilla with June Bunch

for details!

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Send your listings to clubland@mountainx.com

THE DUGOUT Awake in the Dream, 9:00PM

Where The Blue Ridge Mountains Meet the Celtic Isles

MONDAYS Quizzo – Brainy Trivia • 7:30pm Open Mic Night • 9pm

SATURDAY, APRIL 22

THE MOTHLIGHT The Asheville Shellac Bash (RPM share, music collectors gathering), 8:00PM THE SOUTHERN TGIF Dance Party w/ DJs Woodside & Data, 10:00PM THE SUMMIT AT NEW MOUNTAIN AVL SOL Vibes: "Do Ya Thang!" (community art, funky beats), 9:00PM TOWN PUMP Russ T Nutz (rawnchy tonk), 9:00PM

TUESDAYS Zydeco Dance Party Free • 7pm Dance All Night!

TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Chuck Lichtenberger (live music, jazz), 7:00PM Ryan R&B Barber (soul, r&b), 10:00PM

WEDNESDAYS Asheville’s Original Old Time Mountain Music Jam • 5pm

US CELLULAR CENTER Ween, 7:00PM

THURSDAYS Mountain Feist • 7pm Bluegrass Jam • 9:30pm Bourbon Specials

FRI 4/21

HARMED BROTHER W/ THE MUTINEERS

SPECIAL GUEST: DRUNKEN PRAYER

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Love is a Rose: Celebrating the Music of Linda Ronstadt, 8:00PM WILD WING CAFE Andalyn Lewis Band (Southern rock, Americana), 9:00PM

185 KING STREET The Zach Longoria Project (soul, jazz, R&B), 8:00PM

CORK & KEG Zydeco Ya Ya (twosteps, waltzes), 8:30PM CROW & QUILL Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands (dark carnival cabaret), 9:00PM

5 WALNUT WINE BAR Sweet Sweet (indie, folk), 6:00PM The Rahm Trio (jazz, funk, rock), 9:00PM

DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE Liz Carroll, John Doyle & Billy McComiskey, 8:00PM

550 TAVERN & GRILLE Modern Day Society, 9:00PM

DOUBLE CROWN Pitter Platter w/ DJ Big Smidge (50's/60's R&B, rock 'n' roll), 10:00PM

ALTAMONT THEATRE Ryan Montbleau w/ Cris Jacobs (folk), 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Hard Rocket, 7:30PM ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL AVL Lit Dance Party w/ Phantom Pantone, DJ Matt May & more (DJ), 9:00PM BEN'S TUNE-UP Gypsy Jazz Trio, 3:00PM The Secret B-Sides, 10:00PM BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Matt Walsh (blues, rock), 9:00PM

WILD WING CAFE SOUTH A Social Function (acoustic), 9:00PM

BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Gene Holdway (Americana, bluegrass, folk), 7:00PM

WXYZ LOUNGE AT ALOFT HOTEL WXYZ Electric w/DJ Abu Dissaray, 8:00PM

CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Rail Tenders (bluegrass), 7:00PM

FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Jaliete (funk, jam), 10:00PM

OPEN MON-THURS AT 3 • FRI-SUN AT NOON CRAFT BEER, SPIRITS & QUALITY PUB FARE SINCE 1996

95 PATTON at COXE • Downtown Asheville

252.5445 • jackofthewood.com

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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OLE SHAKEY'S Saturday Night Fever, 10:00PM

FROG LEVEL BREWERY Bend & Brew, 11:00AM

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL After Funk (funk), 10:00PM

GOOD STUFF Will Whalen, 8:00PM GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN The Asheville Shellac Bash (RPM share, music collectors gathering), 8:00PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY The Rock Academy Quarterly Showcase (kids rock), 7:00PM ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL The Stash! Band, 7:00PM An evening w/ Chely Wright, 9:00PM

PACK'S TAVERN Grand Theft Audio (classic rock), 9:30PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Pisgah Brewing 12th Anniversary w/ Moe., Kyle Hollingsworth Band & The Nth Power, 4:30PM PURPLE ONION CAFE Joseph Hasty & Centerpiece, 8:00PM SALVAGE STATION Earth Day Kid's Festival, 9:00AM Samantha Fish, 9:00PM

Of Jethro Tull

NIGHT EVERY MONDAY 6PM Historic Live Music Venue Located At

185 CLINGMAN AVE • ASHEVILLE

4/19 JUNIOR BROWN TAQUERIA 4/20 TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS OPEN AT 11AM DAILY 4/21 Y&T 4/22 THE ASHEVILLE SHELLAC BASH COMING SOON 4/23 ZOE & CLOYD 4/25 BALANCE & COMPOSURE 4/26 CHRIS JAMISON

FRI THU WED

IRISH SUNDAYS Irish Food and Drink Specials Traditional Irish Music Session • 3-9pm

ODDITORIUM Mindshapefist, A Light Divided & Tombstone Highway (rock), 9:00PM

OPEN MIC

WED TUE SUN SAT

SAT 9TH STREET STOMPERS 4/29 9PM / $5

NEW MOUNTAIN THEATER/ AMPHITHEATER Break Science w/ Marvel Years & Soul Candy (hip hop, electronic), 9:00PM

OLIVE OR TWIST The 42nd Street Band (Cole Porter-era jazz), 7:00PM

SAT IAN HARROD’S LOVE BOMB 4/22 9PM / $5 FRI SIRIUS B 4/28 9PM / $5

LOBSTER TRAP Sean Mason Trio (jazz), 6:30PM

FRENCH BROAD BREWERY Ten Cent Poetry (acoustic, pop), 6:00PM

MARTIN BARRE

9PM / $5

LAZY DIAMOND Sonic Satan Stew w/ DJ Alien Brain, 10:00PM

w/ Hearts Gone South

SOLD OUT!

w/ Cordovas

w/ Temptation’s Wings

Album Release Show + Special Guests Mile Twelve

w/ From Indian Lakes, Queen Of Jeans

w/ Redleg Husky

Album Release Show

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT

HARVEST RECORDS + THEGREYEAGLE.COM

4/27: Kishi Bashi w/ Tall Tall Trees

4/28: Laura Blackley And The Wildflowers Album Release Show w/ Lo Wolf 4/29: The Whiskey Gentry w/ Folk Soul Revival

4/30: The Naked And Famous w/ Wavves, Luna Shadows

SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Yoga w/ Cats with Blue Ridge Humane Society, 10:00AM Katie Basden, 8:00PM SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB Dance Club w/ DJ & drag show, 10:00PM SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY The Maggie Valley Band, 8:00PM SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Earth Day Celebration, 12:00AM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Earth Day Talk w/ Vegan Runner & Josh LaJaunie, 5:00PM Asheville Wordfest, 7:00PM Latin Rhythms & Salsa w/ DJ Malinalli, 10:00PM THE DUGOUT Hawaiian Luau, All day THE MOTHLIGHT Crank County Daredevils w/ Vic Crown & Zin Vetro (rock), 9:30PM THE SUMMIT AT NEW MOUNTAIN AVL 30 & Up Casual and Sexy w/ DJ Twan, 10:00PM THOMAS WOLFE AUDITORIUM Asheville Symphony: The Passion of Chopin w/ Soyeon Kate Lee, 7:00PM TOWN PUMP Searra Gisondo & Friends (jazzy folk), 9:00PM TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES The King Zeros (delta blues), 7:30PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Armadilla & June Bunch, 8:00PM Jerry Pranksters, 9:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Appalachian Swing, 6:30PM WILD WING CAFE SOUTH Steven Poteat & friends (acoustic), 9:00PM WXYZ LOUNGE AT ALOFT HOTEL WXYZ Live w/Naked Scholar, 8:00PM

SUNDAY, APRIL 23 185 KING STREET Sunday Sessions open jam, 12:00PM 5 WALNUT WINE BAR La Terza Clase (string band from Italy), 7:00PM ALTAMONT THEATRE An Evening w/ Noah & Abby Gundersen [SOLD OUT], 7:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Guitar Bar Jam, 3:30PM ASHEVILLE SUN SOO TAE KWON DO Introductory Family Martial Arts and SelfDefense Fundraiser, 3:00PM BARLEY'S TAPROOM & PIZZERIA One Leg Up, 8:00PM BEN'S TUNE-UP Sunday Reggae Night w/ The Dub Kartel, 6:00PM BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Sunday Jazz Brunch, 11:00AM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Mark Bumgarner (Americana, bluegrass), 7:00PM CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Dan Lewis (singersongwriter), 6:00PM CROW & QUILL Sean Lee (one man banjo band), 9:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Killer Karaoke w/ KJ Tim O, 10:00PM FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER True Home Open-Mic (music, poetry, comedy), 5:00PM GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Zoe & Cloyd w/ Mile Twelve, 7:00PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Reggae Sunday w/ Dennis "Chalwa" Berndt, 1:00PM ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL Robin Bullock Homecoming Concert, 5:30PM "Rockin' in Rhythm" w/ Russ Wilson & His Famous Orchestra (jazz, big band), 7:30PM

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797 Haywood Rd. Suite 100

Thursday, 4/20 all afternoon Free live music and drink specials

Wednesday, 4/26 @7pm Hi-Wire Brewing Bad Movie Night

Check out facebook.com/hopsandvinesavl to see what’s on tap!

THIS WEEK ONLY Friday • Apr 21 Highland’s 23rd Birthday 12-10pm Featuring special release beers and paired cupcakes Music with Kick the Robot , 7-9pm

Friday • Apr 28 Big Briar Tart Raspberry Ale Seasonal Release Party 12-10pm

EVERY WEEK Mondays: $3 year-round and seasonal beers, and game night!

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Traditional Celtic Jam Session, 3:00PM

5 WALNUT WINE BAR Siamese Jazz Club (soul, R&B, jazz), 8:00PM

THE MOTHLIGHT Dave Rempis w/ Tashi Dorji (jazz, avantgarde), 9:00PM

LAZY DIAMOND Pabst Sabbath w/ The Chickenhawks & DJ Chubberbird (rock, surf), 10:00PM

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Classical Guitar Mondays, 8:00PM

THE OMNI GROVE PARK INN Bob Zullo (rock, jazz, pop), 7:00PM

BYWATER Open mic, 7:15PM Spin Jam (local DJs and fire-spinning), 10:00PM

TRADE & LORE COFFEE HOUSE David Joe Miller presents WORD! w/ Champions of The Moth Story Slam!, 8:00PM

LOBSTER TRAP Hunnilicious, 6:30PM LUELLA'S BAR-B-QUE BILTMORE PARK Gypsy Jazz Brunch w/ Leo Johnson, 12:00PM NEW MOUNTAIN THEATER/ AMPHITHEATER Ozone Squeeze w/ Oz Noy & King Baby (blues, rock, jazz), 9:00PM

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Bluegrass brunch w/ Aaron "Woody" Wood, 11:00AM

DOUBLE CROWN Country karaoke w/ KJ Tim O, 10:00PM

ORANGE PEEL Lucinda Williams w/ Curtis McMurtry (rock, folk, country), 8:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Sunday Paper Crowns jam, 6:00PM SALVAGE STATION Open Mic Night w/ The Wet Doorknobs, 7:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Black Mountain City Limits, 3:00PM SCANDALS NIGHTCLUB Dance Club w/ DJ & drag show, 10:00PM SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY The Wintervals, 5:00PM

EXTENDED HOURS

THE MOTHLIGHT Froth w/ White Woolly & Breathers (indie, alternative), 9:00PM THE OMNI GROVE PARK INN Bob Zullo (rock, jazz, pop), 7:00PM TOWN PUMP Redleg Husky (folk, bluegrass), 9:00PM

12 Old Charlotte Hwy. Suite 200 Asheville, NC 28803 828-299-3370

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APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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CITY OF MORGANTON MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM Mile Twelve (bluegrass), 7:00PM CREEKSIDE TAPHOUSE Trivia night, 7:00PM

THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Film screening: Cowspiracy, 4:00PM

Monday-Thursday 3-9pm Friday-Saturday 12-10pm Sunday 12-6pm

CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Musicians in the Round Jam, 5:30PM

ODDITORIUM Riff Yo Tits Off! (benefit), 9:00PM

Thursdays: East Side Social Ride- 6pm Sundays: Reggae Sunday 1-4pm

Send your listings to clubland@mountainx.com

MONDAY, APRIL 24 185 KING STREET Open Mic Night w/ Chris Whitmire, 6:00PM

GOOD STUFF Songwriter's "open mic" (April poetry focus), 7:30PM GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Open mic night (music & comedy), 6:00PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Game Night, 4:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Quizzo Trivia Night, 7:00PM Open Mic Night, 9:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Bobby Miller & Friends (bluegrass), 6:30PM ODDITORIUM Risque Monday Burlesque w/ Deb Au Nare (burlesque), 9:00PM OLE SHAKEY'S Honky Tonk Karaoke, 9:00PM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Mountain Music Mondays (open jam), 6:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY The Freeway Revival (rock 'n' roll, blues), 8:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE The Rhythm and Blues Social Club w/ Joshua Singleton & Peggy Ratusz, 8:00PM

UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Old Time Music Open Jam, 6:30PM

TUESDAY, APRIL 25 5 WALNUT WINE BAR The John Henrys (hot jazz), 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Gypsy Jazz Jam Tuesdays, 7:00PM

LAZY DIAMOND The Sueves (killer garage rock), 10:00PM LOBSTER TRAP Jay Brown (folk, singersongwriter), 6:30PM MARKET PLACE Bob Zullo (rock, jazz, pop), 6:30PM ODDITORIUM Open Mic Comedy Night w/ Tom Peters, 9:00PM OLE SHAKEY'S Booty Tuesday, 11:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Turntable Tuesdays, 10:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING TRIVIA! w/ Ol' Gilly, 7:00PM ORANGE PEEL An evening w/ Dawes (folk rock), 8:00PM

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Tuesday night funk jam, 11:00PM

SANCTUARY BREWING COMPANY Taco and Trivia Tuesday, 7:00PM

BEN'S TUNE-UP Rhoda Weaver and the Soul-mates, 5:00PM Lyric, 7:30PM

THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Swing Asheville & Jazz-n-Justice Benefit Tuesday w/ Sparrow & Her Wingmen (lessons @ 7 and 8 p.m.), 9:00PM Swing Asheville's Latenight Vintage Blues Dance, 11:00PM

BLACK MOUNTAIN ALE HOUSE Trivia, 7:30PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Ben Phan (indie, folk, singer-songwriter), 7:00PM BONFIRE BARBECUE Thunder karaoke w/ Jason Tarr, 8:00PM CROW & QUILL Boogie Woogie Burger Night (burgers & rock n' roll), 9:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Honky-tonk, Western & Cajun night w/ DJ Brody Douglas Hunt, 10:00PM GOOD STUFF Old time-y night, 6:30PM GREY EAGLE MUSIC HALL & TAVERN Balance & Composure w/ From Indian Lakes & Queen Of Jeans (alt. rock, indie), 8:00PM HIGHLAND BREWING COMPANY Dr. Brown's Team Trivia, 6:00PM

THE IMPERIAL LIFE Ghost Pipe Trio (jazz), 9:00PM

ISIS RESTAURANT AND MUSIC HALL Tuesday bluegrass sessions w/ La Terza Classe, 7:30PM

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Trivial trivia w/ Geoffrey & Brody, 8:00PM

JUICY LUCY'S BURGER BAR AND GRILL Trivia w/ DJ Cliff, 8:00PM

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Open jam w/ Rob Parks & Chuck Knott, 7:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Youth Eternal w/ Brother Oliver & Robert Travis, 9:00PM TOWN PUMP Community Center (orchestral rock), 9:00PM TRESSA'S DOWNTOWN JAZZ AND BLUES Early Jazz & Funk Jam (funk, jazz), 9:00PM TWIN LEAF BREWERY Trivia Night, 8:00PM UPCOUNTRY BREWING COMPANY Old Time Music Open Jam, 6:30PM Open Mic hosted By Chris O'Neill, 6:30PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Irish sessions & open mic, 6:30PM WILD WING CAFE Sons of Ralph (Bluegrass), 6:00PM

MOVIES

REVIEWS & LISTINGS

BY SCOTT DOUGLAS & JUSTIN SOUTHER

HHHHH =

M A X R AT I N G

H PICK OF THE WEEK H

THE ATE R INFO R M ATIO N ASHEVILLE PIZZA & BREWING CO. (254-1281) ASHEVILLEBREWING.COM/MOVIES CARMIKE CINEMA 10 (298-4452) CARMIKE.COM CAROLINA CINEMAS (274-9500) CAROLINACINEMAS.COM CO-ED CINEMA BREVARD (883-2200) COEDCINEMA.COM EPIC OF HENDERSONVILLE (693-1146) EPICTHEATRES.COM FINE ARTS THEATRE (232-1536) FINEARTSTHEATRE.COM FLATROCK CINEMA (697-2463) FLATROCKCINEMA.COM GRAIL MOVIEHOUSE (239-9392) GRAILMOVIEHOUSE.COM REGAL BILTMORE GRANDE STADIUM 15 (684-1298) REGMOVIES.COM UNITED ARTISTS BEAUCATCHER (298-1234) REGMOVIES.COM

Charlie Hunnam brings famed explorer Percy Fawcett to life in James Gray’s exceptional The Lost City of Z

The Lost City of Z HHHHS

DIRECTOR: James Gray

to be hidden in the jungle.

PLAYERS: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Angus Macfadyen, Johann Myers DRAMA RATED PG-13

THE LOWDOWN: Writer/director James Gray relies on classical cinematic forms in his compelling adaptation of author David Grann’s nonfiction best-seller on the life of Percy Fawcett.

THE STORY: An explorer finds the remains of an ancient civilization while mapping an uncharted river in South America and dedicates the rest of his life to finding the lost city he believes

Many movies in the modern cinematic landscape consciously reference older films, but few so effectively evoke the feeling of forgotten forms of filmmaking as writer/director

James Gray’s The Lost City of Z. It’s an excellent example of neoclassical cinema, calling to mind high-watermark works of filmmakers like David Lean, John Ford, Terrence Malick or Michael Cimino — and yet Gray borrows constructively, rather than reductively, from his cinematic antecedents. It’s at once an adventure epic on a grand scale and a character study of remarkable psychological intimacy, a film that wears its influences on

its sleeve while simultaneously blazing its own trail. While Z may not fully attain the level of Ford or Lean, it’s certainly on par with Malick or Cimino — an inspired piece of work that tells a compelling story and still manages to stand on its own legs from a stylistic and aesthetic perspective.

An adaptation of author David Grann’s nonfiction best-seller, the film follows the true story of turn-ofthe-century English explorer Percy Fawcett, a man who became so fixated on his discovery of a lost civilization in the Amazon that he eventually became lost there himself after numerous failed expeditions. And while knowing that things don’t end particularly well for Fawcett from a historical standpoint certainly influenced my reading of Gray’s film, it never once detracted from my engagement with his char-

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M OVIES acters or narrative. It’s difficult to overstate what a mastery of technique such a trick requires, and the credit Gray deserves for pulling it off.

Fawcett’s decadeslong obsession with returning to the site of his lost city is the stuff of legend in alternative archaeology circles, not unlike Heinrich Schliemann’s discovery of Troy. But rather than fixate on the historicity of his protagonist’s quest, Gray uses its details as the canvas on which he paints a complex emotional portrait of a man driven by ambition and thwarted by a rigid class hierarchy. Watching Fawcett sacrifice relationships with this wife and children so that he can give them a more respectable station among the English aristocracy, one gets the sense that Gray is less concerned with the more obviously salacious details of gilded cities in the jungle or cannibalistic tribes than he is with the cultural cannibalism of the upper-crust Brits Fawcett is simultaneously trying to escape and appease.

The development hell that plagued Gray’s Z may not be as pronounced as the physical torment endured by its protagonist, but it doesn’t miss the mark by much. There can be little mystery as to why that’s the case, as

the film will prove a hard sell to most casual moviegoers — those looking for an Indiana Jones proxy will come away perplexed and frustrated. Z was initially conceived as a starring vehicle for Brad Pitt, who pulled out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Benedict Cumberbatch, who eventually did the same. While Pitt’s production company, Plan B, continued to shepherd the film, the lead role was eventually taken on by “Plan C,” Charlie Hunnam.

And while he may not have been the first choice, Hunnam’s performance as Percy Foster is undeniably first-rate. He embodies the role so thoroughly that it’s almost impossible to imagine Pitt or Cumberbatch having been able to fill the shoes quite as admirably.

Gray has delivered something that’s, sadly, become remarkable in this day and age — a film with stellar performances from a top-notch cast, a script that avoids cheap-and-easy emotional beats in favor of nuance and subtlety, and a visual aesthetic that not only suits its subject but also calls to mind some of the greatest achievements of film form.

In short, it’s a film with something to say that respects its audience’s intelligence enough not to beat them over the head with it. That it also proves to

be pretty damned entertaining for most of its (admittedly lengthy) running time places it in rare company. Only time will tell where it will ultimately fall in the context of the best films of 2017, but so far, it’s definitely on my short list. Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, brief strong language and some nudity.

Opens Friday at Fine Arts Theatre.

REVIEWED BY SCOTT DOUGLAS JSDOUGLAS22@GMAIL.COM

Cezanne and I (Cezanne et moi) HHS DIRECTOR: Daniele Thompson PLAYERS: Guillaume Canet, Guillaume Gallienne, Alice Pol, Deborah Francois, Sabinz Azema BIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA RATED R THE STORY: Paul Cezanne and Emile Zola share a turbulent friendship that spans decades and involves some of the most famous artists of late 19thcentury France.

THE LOWDOWN: Watching paint dry may well be more fun, depending on the painter.

Still life can be a vibrant and energetic expression of painterly vision, but it can also be a flat, lifeless exercise in self-congratulatory meaninglessness. Of the two ends of the spectrum, Cezanne and I definitely falls close to the latter. A largely inoffensive but thoroughly uninspired work of seemingly legitimate hero worship, writer/director Daniele Thompson’s exploration of the lifelong friendship between Emile Zola and Paul Cezanne falls prey to the Achille’s heel of many overly sincere biopics — namely, that it fails to find a compelling story in its undeniably interesting biographies. As such, Cezanne and I is more stillbirth than still life.

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Playing more along the lines of a made-for-TV BBC prestige drama than a fully fledged film in and of itself, Cezanne and I is distinguished by many of the drawbacks of period biopics, with few of the points I can typically mention in their favor.

Although the central performances are relatively strong (Guillaume Gallienne as Cezanne, Guillaume Canet as Zola), the pacing is atrocious, and the story doesn’t really dig any deeper than its superficial exploration of contemporaneous famous people hanging out. In the end, the film lacks the vitality and formalism of Cezanne’s paintings or the naturalistic positivism of Zola, coming across as little more than a tepid homage to the artistic geniuses it seeks to lionize rather than a genuine attempt to get to know them.

Thompson seems more interested in structural conceits than actual structure, employing a flaccid framing device that bookends her narrative with a confrontation between Cezanne and Zola regarding the later’s novel L’Oeuvre, the protagonist of which bears more than a passing resemblance to Cezanne. The film then flashes back to the pair’s primary school meet-cute and proceeds to document notable chapters in their multidecade relationship with the aid of on-screen dates popping up every now and then to indicate the passage of time. As a bit of an aside, I have to point out that if a filmmaker feels the need to literally tell the audience how much time has passed in the narrative after every 15 minutes of screen time, something has gone horribly wrong with the script.

At its most engaging, Cezanne and I visually references the works of Cezanne and his Impressionist contemporaries, but the film’s aesthetic invocations of works by Manet or Renoir feel distinctly like the cheap reproductions one might find on the dorm-room wall of a pretentious college freshman — pale imitations. So, in the end, we’re left with a film with little story to speak of that’s occasionally interesting to look at but has little else to recommend it to audiences.

Cezanne, Zola, et. al. deserved better than this. Rated R for language, sexual references and nudity. French with English subtitles. Now playing at Grail Moviehouse.

REVIEWED BY SCOTT DOUGLAS JSDOUGLAS22@GMAIL.COM

Frantz HHHS DIRECTOR: François Ozon PLAYERS: Pierre Niney, Paula Beer, Ernst Stötzner, Marie Gruber, Johann Von Bülow, Anton von Lucke, Cyrielle Clair, Alice de Lencquesaing POST-WAR MELODRAMA RATED PG-13 THE STORY: A mysterious young Frenchman befriends the family of a fallen German soldier following World War I. THE LOWDOWN: Timely social commentary in a weepy melodrama’s clothing, François Ozon makes a rare misstep by overreaching in both style and narrative.

I think we can all agree that World War I was a tragic waste of human life on an unprecedented scale. Having established that, I will point out that the popular demonization of the role Germany played in that conflict has gone largely unchallenged by most filmmakers. Somewhat surprisingly, French arthouse cinema darling François Ozon has placed himself in that rare minority with his latest film, the Ernst Lubitsch retread Frantz.

The result is a film that lacks the sentimentalist charm of its source material and takes some interesting — if not always effective — narrative risks, distancing it from its predecessor but nonetheless delivering an engaging and thought-provoking cinematic experience.

Ozon plays fast and loose with Lubitsch’s 1932 Broken Lullaby, which is probably for the best since Lullaby is definitively second-tier Lubitsch. It’s by no means a bad film, but I saw it for the first time at some point in the last six months and had completely forgotten that I’d ever watched it — at least until Ozon cribbed a scene almost shot for shot and jogged my memory.

But if Lullaby is middling Lubitsch, Frantz holds the same dubious distinction within Ozon’s oeuvre, striving to make a social statement at the expense of comprehensive narrative development. The story ideas are there, but the execution is found to be largely lacking by the end of Ozon’s hastily amended third act.

As with its predecessor, Frantz is set in a small German town immedi-

ately following World War I, the lingering wounds of the Great War still evident in scars both visible (Ozon produces some dramatic texture with a few well-placed amputees) and, more perhaps significantly, psychological. The town doctor has lost his son Frantz (Anton von Lucke) to the trenches, and his grief-stricken family is firmly ensconced in a deep hatred of the French for their role in the young soldier’s death. When a mysterious Frenchman named Adrien (Pierre Ninney) is found to be placing flowers on the son’s symbolic grave, questions arise — as does the Francophobic ire of the townspeople.

But as the stranger gradually ingratiates himself to the mourning family, a plot twist emerges.

This twist is integral to the plot of both films, and Ozon makes only one significant adjustment to the Lubitsch template — in this film, the romantic attachment Adrien develops is not with the deceased’s sister, but with his fiancé Anna (Paula Beer). The change is part of a larger game Ozon is playing with the audience, and one that very nearly pays off. That said, the alterations Ozon is making lead to such a dramatic shift in tone in the third act that the film never recovers by its final scenes and overly abrupt conclusion. Most of the film is shot in beautiful black and white, but color starts to creep in during flashbacks in which Adrien regales Frantz’s family with stories of their friendship in Paris before the war.

A conceit that initially appears to indicate memories of happier times long past is instead used by Ozon to connote episodes of emotional fulfillment — not the only bait-andswitch the filmmaker is utilizing here, but one that leads to an ending that can only be described as a painfully disappointing cop-out.

Ozon is trying to tell a story about the pitfalls of xenophobic fear of the Other, as was Lubitsch — but while the latter resolves his narrative with a point of optimistic reconciliation, the former comes down on the side of irreconcilable difference.

The director takes matters a step too far in trying to reveal the mendacity of those truly responsible for wars and, in so doing, only succeeds in revealing his own. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including brief war violence. French and German dialogue with English Subtitles.

Opens Friday at Fine Arts Theatre.

REVIEWED BY SCOTT DOUGLAS JSDOUGLAS22@GMAIL.COM

Gifted HHH DIRECTOR: Marc Webb PLAYERS: Chris Evans, McKenna Grace, Jenny Slate, Lindsay Duncan, Octavia Spencer FAMILY DRAMA RATED PG-13 THE STORY: A man raising his niece, a promising young math prodigy, is drawn into a contentious legal battle when his mother challenges him for custody of the girl.

THE LOWDOWN: A predominantly unobjectionable film, but one whose only gift is a talent for emotional manipulation.

Movies centered on precocious kids are a tricky proposition for a variety of reasons, but they seldom result in films that are tolerable, much less good — and in most cases, this is due to the inherent problem of coaxing a convincing performance out of someone too young to truly know their craft. Director Marc Webb’s Gifted is an exception to this child actor rule, in that it tactfully avoids many of the shortcomings that define other films of its ilk. And yet it somehow manages to create entirely new ones for me to complain about.

For once, the child actress carrying the story is actually pretty good, though the story fails her in numerous ways that are beyond her control.

McKenna Grace plays Mary Adler, a math prodigy being home-schooled by what appears to be a deadbeat dad (Chris Evans) in a Florida backwater.

Because this film can’t be bothered to find any unique ideas of its own, things are predictably not what they seem. Grace embodies the detached isolation of her character with a level of skill that belies her age, but screenwriter Tom Flynn’s script never quite meets her halfway. There’s a fun sense of irony to the fact that a movie about a child being failed by her adult caregivers has been similarly let down by the filmmakers telling her story.

It turns out that Mary’s mom was also a math prodigy, her maternal grandmother was also a math prodigy, and her “dad” is really her uncle, the black sheep of the family because he chose to major in philosophy instead.

Uncle/dad Frank gained custody of Mary after her mother’s suicide (the actual deadbeat dad was never in the picture) and went into a sort of self-

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M O VI E S imposed genius relocation program to protect Mary from her overbearing Grandma’s (Lindsay Duncan) thwarted mathematical aspirations. Convoluted enough for you? Rest assured, things are not improved by an ill-conceived custody battle — complete with a redundant third-act courtroom exposition dump that wastes 20 minutes on introducing exactly one relevant plot thread that, notably, is left dangling when the credits roll.

Grace has amassed an impressive list of credits for an 11-year-old, leaving one to wonder if she might not have an off-screen stage parent pushing her career along the lines of Duncan’s character in the film.

And as good as she can be at times, the trouble is, Gifted is not really her film to carry. That unenviable task falls to Evans, starring as a walking cliché — a character describes him as “The Hot Troubled Guy” in one of the film’s more unintentionally self-aware lines of dialogue.

Evans shows his usual proficiency for comedic timing, and Duncan is appropriately slimy as the domineering grandmother, but their conflict feels so contrived that it becomes nearly impossible to take seriously.

This is a heartwarming film almost by default, a perfect example of paintby-numbers filmmaking that fails to adequately explore any of its character relationships deeply, favoring emotional manipulation over emotional resonance. It’s not a terrible movie, or at least it’s not actively offensive, but it feels distinctly like a collection of opportunities missed in an effort to look clever — made all the worse for the film’s straight-faced self-seriousness. This is a film in which the word “gifted” is proffered like a medical diagnosis, the protagonist’s one-eyed cat is threatened with euthanasia, and our central characters creepily stalk a hospital waiting room to see how happy expectant families are about new births — not because any of these things are narratively necessary, but because the filmmakers are desperate to make us feel something, even if it means every dirty trick in the book. My jaded grumbling aside, I screened this with my own precociously gifted young nieces, who absolutely loved it. I, on the other hand, was left wishing that a moviegoing experience could be regifted. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some suggestive material. Now Playing at AMC Classic River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, Grail Moviehouse, Regal Biltmore Grande REVIEWED BY SCOTT DOUGLAS JSDOUGLAS22@GMAIL.COM

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The Fate of the Furious HHH DIRECTOR: F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) PLAYERS: Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham ACTION RATED PG-13 THE STORY: After their leader is turned into their nemesis by a nefarious hacker, a crew of car-driving outlaws must save him and the world.

THE LOWDOWN: The usual nonsense, namely lots of car chases and explosions, all absurdly accomplished, but not very memorable.

America’s favorite soap opera full of fast cars is back with The Fate of the Furious, the eighth film in the likely endless The Fast and the Furious franchise. Everything fans want from one of these things is here: explosions, melodrama, cars jumping over things, martial arts, cars crashing and exploding. The franchise itself is a fascinating creature, the way the makers have fit movies and characters together and kept adding more and more actors to the cast (while still effortlessly keeping a level of diversity unseen in most films). At the same time, the movies have never really fluctuated in quality, as their only mission is to get more and more convoluted and absurd with each subsequent installment.

Fate accomplishes this by doing things like having de facto protagonist Dom (Vin Diesel) turned into a bad guy by the evil hacker genius Cypher (Charlize Theron in tiny dreadlocks for some reason) and the whole crew of car-driving outlaws having to outrun a Russian submarine. That sentence is the basic outline of the plot, from the instigating action to the climax, but hell if I could describe what happens in between besides a lot of trumped-up nonsense. It’s the usual goofiness ramped up to previously unimaginable heights. The plot contorts on itself, the movie disregards the laws of physics and increasingly implausible things happen (like a thousand self-driving cars being turned into a drone army by Cypher’s nefarious hacker henchman). People quip, no one wear sleeves, and the world is saved in the end.

It’s the same basic formula that’s been in place since the franchise was resurrected with Fast and Furious (2009) and — for me

at least — it all runs together in a blur of sports car-induced miasma. There’s nothing that separates this movie from its predecessors besides a wonderful (and small) role from Helen Mirren and Jason Statham running around with an infant shooting up bad guys. In this era of self-important superhero movies, with their muted tones and high-minded myth-making and tepid self-seriousness, I’ll take a big, dumb action movie that knows it’s big and dumb and, above all, cherishes its own big dumbness.

There’s a sense of artistic purity here — these things are not swayed by trends in filmmaking, they’re wholly autonomous.

And that’s to be respected.

This does not, however, mean it has to be enjoyed. The entire enterprise is a bit too macho, a bit too loud and definitely way more complicated than it needs to be at this point. Not that seven The Fast and the Furious movies weren’t already too many, but moving into the eighth installment — especially after losing star Paul Walker during Furious 7 (2015) — makes the whole enterprise feel specifically extraneous. Fans of the franchise will likely enjoy another well-oiled entry, but it’s nothing to really get excited about. Rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of violence and destruction, suggestive content and language.

Now Playing at AMC Classic River Hills, Carolina Cinemark, Epic of Hendersonville, Regal Biltmore Grande.

REVIEWED BY JUSTIN SOUTHER JSOUTHER@MOUNTAINX.COM

You’re Killing Me Susana HHS DIRECTOR: Roberto Sneider PLAYERS: Gael Garcia Bernal, Veronica Echegui, Ashley Grace, Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson, Jadyn Wong DRAMA RATED NR THE STORY: A husband leaves Mexico to track down his wife, who’s unexpectedly left him for a writing workshop in Iowa.

THE LOWDOWN: Despite some great performances and occasional flashes of insight,

SCREEN SCENE this is a generally overlong and unfortunately unlikable portrait of a failing marriage.

Marketed as both a quirky screwball comedy and a romantic tale of a man traveling from Mexico to America to win back his wife, Roberto Sneider’s You’re Killing Me Susana is neither. Instead, it’s a fairly honest assessment of a marriage disintegrating at high speeds and the way love (or the idea of love) can cloud judgment.

In a way, I respect what Sneider is attempting here since he’s not shying away from the irresponsibility, immaturity and human desires of his cast of characters. Unfortunately, he can’t pull all of this together into a cohesive whole.

The film is rarely likable and lacks any real charm, putting the viewer in the uncomfortable position of being chained between a constantly bickering couple who can’t (or perhaps refuse to) communicate properly and are obviously a bad fit for one another. The film just isn’t complex enough to make these unpleasant characters jive together, nor is it profound enough to get at any real truth.

Gael Garcia Bernal plays Eligio, a shiftless actor living in Mexico who dreams of being a respected actor but instead takes bit parts in commercials and telenovelas to pay the bills. He’s married to Susana (Veronica Echegui, Cold Light of Day), an aspiring writer who’s obviously unhappy with Eligio, who fools around on her and comes home drunk at all hours of the night. That is, until Eligio comes home one night to find Susana gone and most of her belongings missing with her. After

FILM Some events in this section are listed in the Earth Day article and calendar (p. 47) ASHEVILLE CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS aiaasheville.org/ • TU (4/25), 7pm - Masterpieces: The Most Extraordinary Buildings Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, film screening. $10. Held at Grail MovieHouse, 45 S. French Broad Ave.

M ASHEVILLE VEGAN

OUTREACH facebook.com/ AshevilleVeganOutreach/, rowdy@bwar.org • TH (4/27), 6:30pm - What the Health, film premiere. Registration required: tugg.com/events/ what-the-health-rml5. $10. Held at Carmike 10, 121 River Hills Road BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/governing/ depts/library • FR (4/21), 4:30-6:15pm - Pixar

some time and investigating, Eligio discovers that Susana has left for a writing workshop in Iowa, and, heartbroken, he decides to go find her.

This is where the meat of the film is, as Eligio and Susana attempt to reconcile, with Susana originally seeing Eligio’s journey to the States as romantic. But he’s too flawed a person — and Susana is a bit too accomodating — for this to work, as things slowly begin to snowball into oblivion.

It’s not just that he’s imperfect; it’s also that Eligio is childish, prone to jealousy and lacking in self-awareness (or at the very least, ignoring his self-awareness).

In short, he’s a pigheaded dope (Susana calls him an “imbecile” at one point, which seems apt) who constantly promises to change but never does.

This is a fine, even relatable and human, place to start an examination of a complex relationship. But the film is frustrating in this regard since there’s no one here to really root for. Bernal and Echegui are both excellent and do what they can with their roles, but their characters are just too unhealthy together to be likable.

There’s no real emotional center, while the pat ending isn’t really earned and doesn’t seem genuine. On top of that, the film itself is stretched a bit too thin, dwelling a bit too much on its own inherent unpleasantness.

This doesn’t totally ruin the movie. It just makes the whole thing a bit of a grating slog with flashes of insight. Not Rated. Now Playing at Grail Moviehouse.

REVIEWED BY JUSTIN SOUTHER JSOUTHER@MOUNTAINX.COM

Film Series: The Good Dinosaur.

Free. Held at West Asheville Library, 942 Haywood Road • SA (4/22), 1-3pm - "90 Second Asheville Newbery Film Festival," featuring youth-created 90-second films based on Newbery Award winning books. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. DIANA WORTHAM THEATRE 2 S. Pack Square, 257-4530, dwtheatre.com • WE (4/19), 7:30pm - Music Video Asheville, local music video screening and awards event. $15/$30 VIP.

ISRAEL/PALESTINE FILM FESTIVAL • THURSDAYS (3/2) through (5/18), 7pm - Israel/Palestine Film Festival. Jerusalem in Exile and My Neighborhood, film screenings. Free to attend. Held at Lenoir Rhyne Center for Graduate Studies, 36 Montford Ave. MECHANICAL EYE MICROCINEMA mechanicaleyecinema.org • TU (4/25), 6-8pm - "Weaponize Your Media - Remix the Media," workshop regarding Fair Use rights, obtaining online footage, editing and video remixing. Bring your own computer. Open to teens and adults. $30. Held at The Refinery, 207 Coxe Ave.

FIRESTORM CAFE AND BOOKS 610 Haywood Road, 255-8115 • FR (4/21), 6pm - Ovarian Psycos, documentary film screening. Free to attend.

M THE COLLIDER

FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER 2160 US Hwy 70, Swannanoa, 2733332, floodgallery.org/ • FR (4/21), 8pm - Classic World Cinema: Ararat, film screening honoring Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Free to attend.

1 Haywood St. Ste 401, thecollider.org/ • TU (4/25), 7pm - Movie Night: Viewing of Safe Passage and The Coal Wars, from A Race Against Time. Movies are focused on environmental issues and climate change. $5.

by Edwin Arnaudin | edwinarnaudin@gmail.com

TRULY COMEDIC: The cast of the Asheville-based web series When Fact Met Fiction goofs off after wrapping the show’s first season. To help fund production of eight new episodes, the series’ creators have launched an Indiegogo campaign. Photo courtesy of Stefan Liner • Film historian Frank Thompson’s latest book, Asheville Movies Volume I: The Silent Era, is now available for purchase. An exploration of the films made in and around Asheville, from 1900 to ’29, the work chronicles how such major film companies as Edison, Selznick, Vitagraph, Metro and Paramount discovered that Asheville provided the ideal backdrop for everything from urban dramas to mountain adventures. menwithwingspress.com • The Asheville-based web series “When Fact Met Fiction” has launched a crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo to help fund its second season. Co-created by the motherand-son team of Robin and Stefan Liner, the romantic comedy continues the exploits of the Southern Sunset magazine staff, including secret best-selling romance novelist Jon Frank (Jeff Ryan Alexander) and technical editor Olivia Smith (Rebekah Babelay). The campaign runs through the second week of May and seeks to raise $120,000 to increase the overall production value, hire a professional editor and provide other technical enhancements. avl.mx/3lx • The McDowell Arts Council Association’s Spring Silent Film Series continues Friday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Greenlee Theatre in downtown Marion.

Pianist Nathan Shirley will provide live, improvised music to a collection of newly restored short films of Buster Keaton. Tickets are $5. Call 562-8610 or email mcdowellarts@gmail.com to reserve seats. mcdowellarts.org

• The West Asheville Library’s Pixar Film Series continues Friday, April 21, at 4:30 p.m. with a screening of The Good Dinosaur. The feature presentation will be preceded by the Pixar short film Sanjay’s Super Team. Free. avl.mx/1z5 • On Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m., the Friends and Neighbors of Swannanoa and the Friends of the Swannanoa Library host a screening of The Lorax in Grovemont Park.

Bring a folding chair or blanket.

Free. swannanoafans.org • Grail Moviehouse celebrates Earth Day with a screening of Tomorrow on Saturday, April 22, at noon. Directed by Mélanie Laurent, the documentary offers concrete solutions to humans’ environmental impact on the planet, sourced from around the globe. Tickets are $7 and available online or at the Grail box office. avl.mx/3ly • On Tuesday, April 25, 6-8 p.m., Mechanical Eye Microcinema hosts a workshop titled Weaponize Your Media. The course will teach students about their rights under fair use, how to rip footage from YouTube and ways to use a variety of programs to edit, export and share their remixed media. No experience is necessary. Students with their own laptops are invited to bring them, but should download iMovie, Windows Movie Maker or another video editor (e.g., Premiere or Final Cut) prior to the class. Tuition is $30, payable via cash/check on the day of class. Register online. avl.mx/3lz X

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M OVIES

by Scott Douglas

S TA RT IN G F RI DAY

S PEC IAL S C RE E N IN GS

Born in China

Ararat HHHH

A China-set baby animal documentary from Disney, narrated by John Krasinski. According to Disney’s site: “Disneynature, in its ongoing quest to bring the natural world to the big screen as never before, presents its most ambitious project to date, taking moviegoers on a grand journey into the wilds of China. Born In China follows the adventures of three animal families — the majestic panda, the savvy golden monkey and the elusive snow leopard.

Featuring stunning imagery, the film navigates the vast terrain — from the frigid mountains to the heart of the bamboo forest— on the wings of a red-crowned crane, showcasing remarkably intimate family moments captured on film for the first time ever.” Early reviews are mostly positive. (G)

DIRECTOR: Atom Egoyan PLAYERS: David Alpay, Charles Aznavour, Eric Bogosian, Brent Carver, Christopher Plummer DRAMA Rated R To commemorate Armenian Genocide Day, World Cinema is showing Atom Egoyan’s much misunderstood Ararat (2002), which deals with the Turkish government’s 1915 genocide of its Armenian population. This is heady stuff. It’s also heavily layered and told in an unusual manner, presenting the story from the perspective of an Armenian filmmaker and linking past and present so that the characters cross storylines. It is, however, rewarding if you’re willing to accept its structural challenges. This excerpt was taken from a review by Ken Hanke, published on April 21, 2015. Classic World Cinema

by Courtyard Gallery will present Ararat on Friday, April 21, at 8 p.m. at Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 2160 Hwy 70, Swannanoa.

Frantz See Scott Douglas’ review

Free Fire Action-comedy from director Ben Wheatley (High Rise) and starring Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy and Sharlto Copley. According to A24’s website: “Bold, breathless and wickedly fun, Free Fire is an electrifying comedy-thriller about an arms deal that goes spectacularly and explosively wrong. Acclaimed filmmaker Ben Wheatley propels the audience head-on into quite possibly the most epic shootout ever seen on film as he crafts a spectacular parody — and biting critique — of the insanity of gun violence. Everyone’s got a gun, and absolutely no one is in control.” Early reviews are largely positive. (R)

The Lure Horror-musical mashup from Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska. According to Janus’ site for the film: “A pair of carnivorous mermaid sisters are drawn ashore in an alternate '80s Poland to explore the wonders and temptations of life on land. Their tantalizing siren songs and otherworldly aura make them overnight sensations as nightclub singers in the half-glam, half-decrepit fantasy world of Smoczynska's imagining. In a visceral twist on Hans Christian Andersen's original Little Mermaid tale, one sister falls for a human, and as the bonds of sisterhood are tested, the lines between love and survival get blurred.

A savage coming-of-age fairytale with a catchy new-wave soundtrack, lavishly grimy sets, and outrageous musical numbers, The Lure explores its themes of sexuality, exploitation and the compromises of adulthood with energy and originality.” Early reviews are positive. (NR)

The Lost City of Z See Scott Douglas’ review

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Connie and Carla HS DIRECTOR: Michael Lembeck PLAYERS: Nia Vardolos, Toni Collette, David Duchovny, Stephen Spinella, Ian Gomez, Debbie Reynolds MUSICAL COMEDY Rated PG-13 Yes, it’s My Big Fat Greek Drag Queen — even if Connie and Carla might more appropriately be better dubbed Some Like It Hot Meets Victor/ Victoria. No matter how you slice it, though, this is yet another vanity project for Nia Vardolos — aided and abetted by producers Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks (who loses some of the points he gained with me from The Ladykillers for helping to bring this turkey into the world). If you feel the need for a drag movie, go rent or buy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and see how it’s really done. Hell, even Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar is more sincere than this. This excerpt was taken from a review

by Ken Hanke, published on April 24, 2004. The Hendersonville Film Society will show on Connie and Carla Sunday, April 23, at 2 p.m. in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.

The Tingler HHHH DIRECTOR: William Castle PLAYERS: Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman HORROR Rated NR Quite possibly the best thing legendary schlockmeister William Castle ever turned out prior to producing Rosemary’s Baby — and certainly the best remembered of his films due to its incredible theatrical gimmick (Percepto), The Tingler is an absolute must see for fans of Castle’s unique brand of low-budget exploitation horror. Castle’s films are generally less notable for their quality than for their passion, but The Tingler has both — well, if you can get past the particularly bad effects used for the titular monster, that is. This is a film in which Vincent Price takes a copious amount of LSD in his efforts to better understand his foe, a twofoot centipede that lives inside the human body and feeds on fear — ’nuff said! The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Tingler on Thursday, April 20, at 9:15 p.m. at The Grail Moviehouse, hosted by Xpress movie critic Scott Douglas.

This is Spinal Tap HHHHH DIRECTOR: Rob Reiner PLAYERS: Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, Ed Begley Jr, Fred Willard Fran Drescher, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Paul Shaffer, Anjelica Huston MOCKROCKDOC Rated R One of my favorite films of all time is in a delicate position, and only you — the Asheville moviegoing community — can help me save it. Many of you have no doubt seen, or are at least aware, of 1984’s This is Spinal Tap, the film that not only launched the cinematic careers of Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, but also popularized the mockumentary form that would go on to define Guest’s prodigious and esteemed directorial output. What you may not know is that, the heartless corporate overlords that now control the rights to Tap, have informed the film’s creators that in the 33 years since its debut, sales of Spinal Tap’s soundtrack have generated only $98 in profit, and global merchandising sales have only netted an $81 for the filmmakers. Recognizing bullshit when he sees it, Shearer initiated a $125 million lawsuit against the controlling corporate entity in the hopes that the resultant legal battle would lead to more equitable terms for creators the world over — so come help the Asheville Film Society stick it to The Man. By joining the fight and selling out this one-time only show, you can participate in turning this lawsuit up to 11 — with the added benefit of being knocked out by the exuberance, the raw power, and the punctuality of the one and only, Spinal Tap. The Asheville Film Society is showing This is Spinal Tap on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. at The Grail Moviehouse as part of the Budget Big Screen series. Admission is $6 for AFS members and $8 for the general public. Xpress movie critic Scott Douglas will introduce the film.

PUZZLE XPRESS

edited by Sarah Boddy

PUZZLE XPRESS’ CONDUCTOR SARAH BODDY

Sarah Boddy became a crossword constructor after competing in the National Crossword Tournament. She met some constructors whose work she admired and decided to get in the game herself. While she loves solo cruciverbal construction, she’s also developed a process for many people to co-create puzzles. She invites fellow puzzlers and nonpuzzlers alike to get in on the fun and help write clues. Find out more at participatorydemocrossy.com.

Sarah grew up in California, studied philosophy and applied linguistics, and has lived on three islands: Babeldaob, Corsica and Manhattan. Now she lives in Asheville, where she practices radical philology, exuberant lexicography, and democratized cruciverbery. She moved to Asheville to be near chosen family, eat well and contribute whatever she can to local work for justice.

In her work as a school coach in K-12 public education, Sarah also collaborates with teachers and other school leaders to support students as they create work that matters to them and to the world. She writes and draws about all the aforementioned at interruralia.com.X

EMPYREAN ARTS

participatorydemocrossy@gmail.com BEYOND THE BLUE(GRASS)

ACROSS 1 Solo in 43-across 5 ART, for example 8 Mistaken Xpressions?

13 Like treats at The Hop 15 Extremely good 16 Auditorium eponym 17 Enjoyer of a 1across at the Diana Wortham Theater 19 “Man” in Malay (no relation to 31, though) 20 Wave away, especially near the landfill 21 Exclamation inserted near a question, to request a co-sign 23 Legal window treatment in North Carolina, as long as more than 35% of light gets in 26 Change 28 Enjoyed rhubarb or Rhubarb 29 Improperly take, as one might the Governor’s powers 31 Site of Taleb Kweli’s New Year’s Eve show 33 __xAsheville 34 Nontechnical term for inability to enjoy 31-across or 51down 36 Reading on Church Street 38 Assent at The Lobster Trap?

39 Écrivain studied in Philosophy 354 at Warren Wilson 43 Mother of all Maria Callas roles?

46 Hosted, at the Mothlight 47 SECU outpost 50 Dobra offering 52 Leading at the Smoky Mountain Relay 53 Overly 54 Radiohead song covered by Amanda Palmer at 2009 Malaprop’s ninja gig 56 Shortened location 57 BattleCat worker 60 Open a bit 62 Bassist Jeff who last played Asheville in 2004 63 Invites oneself 68 Goal of a beer flight 69 Description of 2009 Beastie Boys show at 31-across 70 Newly employed

Weekly Classes POLE DANCE Mon 8pm

BEGINNING POLE Wed 5:30pm Thur 11am Fri 7:15pm Sat 11:45am Sun 5:45pm

INTERMEDIATE POLE Wed 6:45pm Fri 2:30pm

32 Banks Ave #108 • Downtown Asheville

Info@EmpyreanArts.org 782.3321

71 “Lionized” rapper who helped fundraise for local 3-yearold shooting victim Zachaeus Waters 72 SC capital’s AVL 73 Recedes, in the Outer Banks DOWN Before now Sen. Tillis’ affiliation __-de-France Tiny house competition Life-giving ingredient in Catawba’s January small batch IPA 6 Quick, dangerous move at Patton and New Leicester 7 Feature on some Sow True Seed tomato varieties 8 Ark groups 9 Duncan’s friend, downtown 10 Headline 31- across and 51-down 11 Musically famous?

12 Transitioned seamlessly from a Moving Sidewalk tour to dinner?

14 “Cash me ousside, howbow __?”

18 Western Indian state 22 Relaxed, at Fort Bragg 23 ___ Skinny, New Orleans group at 51down in 2016 24 Emphatic interjection, over a cup of 50-across

1 2 3 4 5

25 Kind of swimming not allowed at Skinny Dip Falls 27 Dig Local, e.g.

30 Re¢ipient 32 Pisgah trek transport option 35 Black out?

37 Grateful Grass tune, on the formal side 40 Set oneself up at Biltmore Forest Country Club?

41 Enjoy a find at Mr. K’s 42 Whirl on the French Broad 44 Like our March weather 45 Upcoming offering from Black Star Line Brewing 47 Turns, for Tourists 48 Everyone, patriarchically speaking 49 To a greater degree 51 Venue for Kishi Bashi, 2017 55 Sylva gas station known for beer selection 58 Fascinated with 59 Cardio class at YWCA 61 Sound from the Salt Cave 64 “In the style of,” at Bouchon 65 The __ (electronic music pioneers who played New Mountain AVL in 2016) 66 Omaha loc.

67 Ungodly tame expletives?

Magical Offerings 4/20: Circle Round: Dream Majick Workshop, 7-9pm, Donations 4/22: Intro to Freyja with Angie, 1-2pm, $10 Intro to Greenman with Angie, 3-4pm, $10 4/23: Intuitive Tarot Workshop with The Hermit’s Lamp, RSVP by 4/15 for $90, after $100 4/25: Sacred Seed Sowing - Herbs Pigeon Valley Farms, 4:30-6:30pm, $25

Over 100 Herbs Available!

Stone of the Month: Opal Herb of the Month: Kava Kava Root

(828) 424-7868

555 Merrimon Avenue Daily readers including Scrying, Runes, Tarot, & More! Walk-ins welcome!

MOUNTAINX.COM

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

77

FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): After George Washington was elected as the first President of the United States, he had to move from his home in Virginia to New York City, which at the time was the center of the American government. But there was a problem: He didn’t have enough cash on hand to pay for his long-distance relocation, so he was forced to scrape up a loan.

Fortunately, he was resourceful and persistent in doing so. The money arrived in time for him to attend his own inauguration. I urge you to be like Washington in the coming weeks, Aries. Do whatever’s necessary to get the funds you need to finance your life’s next chapter.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Fantasize about sipping pear nectar and listening to cello music and inhaling the aroma of musky amber and caressing velvet, cashmere and silk. Imagine how it would feel to be healed by inspiring memories and sweet awakenings and shimmering delights and delicious epiphanies. I expect experiences like these to be extra available in the coming weeks. But they won’t necessarily come to you freely and easily. You will have to expend effort to ensure they actually occur. So be alert for them. Seek them out. Track them down.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Contagion may work in your favor, but it could also undermine you. On the one hand, your enthusiasm is likely to ripple out and inspire people whose help you could use. On the other hand, you might be more sensitive than usual to the obnoxious vibes of manipulators. But now that I’ve revealed this useful tip, let’s hope you will be able to maximize the positive kind of contagion and neutralize the negative. Here’s one suggestion that may help: Visualize yourself to be surrounded by a golden force field that projects your good ideas far and wide even as it prevents the disagreeable stuff from leaking in.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): A reader named Kris X sent me a rebuke. “You’re not a guru or a shaman,” he sneered. “Your horoscopes are too filled with the slippery stench of poetry to be useful for spiritual seekers.” Here’s my response: “Thank you, sir! I don’t consider myself a guru or shaman, either. It’s not my mission to be an all-knowing authority who hands down foolproof advice. Rather, I’m an apprentice to the Muse of Curiosity. I like to wrestle with useful, beautiful paradoxes. My goal is to be a joyful rebel stirring up benevolent trouble, to be a cheerleader for the creative imagination.” So now I ask you, my fellow Cancerian: How do you avoid getting trapped in molds that people pressure you to fit inside? Are you skilled at being yourself even if that’s different from what’s expected of you? What are the soulful roles you choose to embody despite the fact that almost no one understands them?

Now is a good time to meditate on these matters.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In the coming weeks, there will be helpers whose actions will nudge you — sometimes inadvertently — toward a higher level of professionalism.

You will find it natural to wield more power and you will be more effective in offering your unique gifts. Now maybe you imagine you have already been performing at the peak of your ability, but I bet you will discover — with a mix of alarm and excitement — that you can become even more excellent. Be greater, Leo! Do better! Live stronger! (P.S.: As you ascend to this new level of competence, I advise you to be humbly aware of your weaknesses and immaturities. As your clout rises, you can’t afford to indulge in self-delusions.)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I love to see you Virgos flirt with the uncharted and the uncanny and the indescribable. I get thrills and chills whenever I watch your fine mind trying to make sense of the fabulous and the foreign and the unfathomable. What other sign can cozy up to exotic wonders and explore forbidden zones with as much no-nonsense pragmatism as you?

If anyone can capture greased lightning in a bottle or get a hold of magic beans that actually work, you can.

78

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A friend told me about a trick used by his grandmother, a farmer. When her brooding hens stopped laying eggs, she would put them in pillowcases that she then hung from a clothesline in a stiff breeze. After the hens got blown around for a while, she returned them to their cozy digs. The experience didn’t hurt them, and she swore it put them back on track with their egg-laying. I’m not comfortable with this strategy. It’s too extreme for an animal-lover like myself. (And I’m glad I don’t have to deal with recalcitrant hens.) But maybe it’s an apt metaphor or poetic prod for your use right now. What could you do to stimulate your own creative production?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Now would be an excellent time to add deft new nuances to the ways you kiss, lick, hug, snuggle, caress and fondle. Is there a worthy adventurer who will help you experiment with these activities? If not, use your pillow, your own body, a realistic life-size robot or your imagination. This exercise will be a good warm-up for your other assignment, which is to upgrade your intimacy skills. How might you do that? Hone and refine your abilities to get close to people. Listen deeper, collaborate stronger, compromise smarter and give more. Do you have any other ideas?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “If I had nine hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first six sharpening my ax,” said Abraham Lincoln, one of America’s most productive presidents. I know you Sagittarians are more renowned for your bold, improvisational actions than your careful planning and strategic preparation, but I think the coming weeks will be a time when you can and should adopt Lincoln’s approach. The readier you are, the freer you’ll be to apply your skills effectively and wield your power precisely.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Zoologists say that cannibalizing offspring is common in the animal kingdom, even among species that care tenderly for their young. So when critters eat their kids, it’s definitely “natural.” But I trust that in the coming weeks, you won’t devour your own children. Nor, I hope, will you engage in any behavior that metaphorically resembles such an act. I suspect that you may be at a low ebb in your relationship with some creation or handiwork or influence that you generated out of love. But please don’t abolish it, dissolve it or abandon it. Just the opposite, in fact: Intensify your efforts to nurture it.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Your astrological house of communication will be the scene of substantial clamor and ruckus in the coming weeks. A bit of the hubbub will be flashy but empty. But much of it should be pretty interesting, and some of it will even be useful. To get the best possible results, be patient and objective rather than jumpy and reactive. Try to find the deep codes buried inside the mixed messages. Discern the hidden meanings lurking within the tall tales and reckless gossip. If you can deal calmly with the turbulent flow, you will give your social circle a valuable gift.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The best oracular advice you’ll get in the coming days probably won’t arise from your dreams or an astrological reading or a session with a psychic, but rather by way of seemingly random signals, like an overheard conversation or a sign on the side of a bus or a scrap of paper you find lying on the ground.

And I bet the most useful relationship guidance you receive won’t be from an expert, but maybe from a blog you stumble upon or a barista at a café or one of your old journal entries. Be alert for other ways this theme is operating, as well. The usual sources may not have useful info about their specialties. Your assignment is to gather up accidental inspiration and unlikely teachings.

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARKETPLACE

BY ROB BREZSNY

REA L ESTATE | REN TA L S | R O O M M ATES | SERVI C ES JOB S | A N N OU N CEM ENTS | M I ND, BO DY, SPI R I T CL A SSES & WORKSH OPS | M USI C I ANS’ SERVI C ES PETS | A U TOMOTI VE | X C HANG E | ADULT Want to advertise in Marketplace? 828-251-1333 x111 tnavaille@mountainx.com • mountainx.com/classifieds If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember the Russian proverb: “Doveryai, no proveryai,” trust but verify. When answering classified ads, always err on the side of caution. Especially beware of any party asking you to give them financial or identification information. The Mountain Xpress cannot be responsible for ensuring that each advertising client is legitimate. Please report scams to ads@mountainx.com REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE WANTED HOUSE SWAP • Us: downsize from 2009 East Asheville, 2400 sqft passive solar 3BR/2.5BA, carport, shop, 3.44 acres. Woods/ native landscape. • You: upsize from recent green built 1600 sqft (+/-), Weaverville, Black Mountain or East Asheville. No Realtors! 828 552-1285.

RENTALS APARTMENTS FOR RENT COUNTY LIVING, MINUTES TO DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE LEICESTER 850-950 sq. ft. 1 BR basement apartment available 4/20. $975/mo. Includes water, electric, wifi, basic satelitte, trash pickup, and 1 car garage. Washer and dryer on site and access to landlords home gym. Security deposit required. For more information call 8287132686 VERY NICE 1BR Suitable for 1 to 2 people. • No smokers. One small pet ok, small pet deposit. $700/month plus deposit. Includes water, electric, heat and air conditioning. Yard and patio available to share with landlord. Washer hookup. (828) 778-5520.

ROOMMATES ROOMMATES 1 ADULT • LARGE ROOM Furnished BR/dining/porch. Share house w/2/3 others in Eco-friendly community. $750/month and 4 hours community service, includes all utilities and DSL. (828) 273-3775.

See westwoodcohousing.com ALL AREAS Free Roommate Service @ RentMates.com. Find the perfect roommate to complement your personality and lifestyle at RentMates.com! (AAN CAN)

EMPLOYMENT GENERAL DIRECTOR OF PHILANTHROPY - MUDDY SNEAKERS: THE JOY OF LEARNING OUTSIDE Muddy Sneakers seeks a candidate experienced in fund development with strong communication and independent work skills to join our team as Director of Philanthropy.

Email resume, cover letter, and salary history to Carolyn Ashworth: carolynlinds@gmail.com. Position open until filled.

TROLLEY TOUR GUIDES If you are a "people person," love Asheville, have a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and clean driving record you could be a great TOUR GUIDE, FULL-TIME and seasonal part-time positions available. Training provided. Contact us today! www.GrayLineAsheville.com; Info@GrayLineAsheville.com; 828-251-8687.

SKILLED LABOR/ TRADES EXPERIENCED PLUMBER NEEDED! Local small business looking for experienced lead PLUMBER with 5+ years experience. Work Van provided. Must have valid drivers license and hand tools. Pay DOE 8282739049 aboveandbelowplumbing@ gmail.com aboveandbelownc. com GUITAR TECH • IMMEDIATE OPENING Must have experience and attention to detail. Come be part of a great team. • Email resume to: becky@musiciansworkshop.com

ADMINISTRATIVE/ OFFICE BILLER/COLLECTOR Four Circles Recovery Center is seeking an experienced biller/collector to increase collections, reduce accounts receivable days and reduce bad debt. High school diploma/GED and 5 years relevant experience required. Apply online at www.fourcirclesrecovery. com/careers.

RESTAURANT/ FOOD

NOW HIRING COOKS AND KITCHEN STAFF Joey's Pancake House in Maggie Valley is hiring Line Cooks, Prep Cooks and Dishwashers. Cooks must have some experience. Apply in person or call 828-926-0212 information@joeyspancake.com www.joeyspancake.com/careers NOW HIRING KITCHEN STAFF FOR EAGLE'S NEST CAMP NEAR BREVARD Eagle's Nest Camp near Brevard is now hiring summer kitchen staff. Garden-totable program. Competitive salary, morning/afternoon shifts, training; room/board available. Position runs 5/28-8/14/2017. Apply online: www.enf.org/eagles-nest-camp/ summer-employment.

Questions? Email campapplications@ enf.org.

DRIVERS/ DELIVERY

to work in a tight-knit community.

•Skills to teach successful habits of academic success. •Skills to support others find jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities in the community of Asheville. •Professional experience with guidance, teaching, experiential education.

•Experience with direct care in a therapeutic environment. •A clean driving record. •Unique strengths they bring to our community. •A desire to learn and grow in the field. •This is not an entry-level position, and requires a high degree of autonomy and collaboration. We are currently interviewing qualified applicants for Full-time and PRN positions.

Compensation is commensurate with experience. Promptly email cover letter, resume, references, and any pertinent certifications to foundationshiring@gmail.com.

Learn more at www.foundationsasheville.com.

RESIDENTIAL LIFE STAFF - WHETSTONE ACADEMY Whetstone Academy is seeking full time and part time Residential Life Staff for evenings, 2:30pm - 10 pm, during the week and day shifts on the weekends. 864-638-6005 jholcomb@ whetstoneacademy.com www.whetstoneacademy.com.

DRIVERS WANTED Mature person for full-time. Serious inquiries only. Call today. 828-713-4710.

Area Wide Taxi, Inc. COORDINATOR • HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT A-B Tech is currently taking applications for an Coordinator, Human Resources Development position.

For more details and to apply: https://abtcc.peopleadmin.com/ postings/4190

EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST A-B Tech is currently taking applications for an Employment Specialist position. For more details and to apply: https://abtcc.peopleadmin.com/ postings/4184 FINANCIAL COUNSELOR Four Circles Recovery Center is seeking a financial counselor to oversee daily accounts receivable collections and billing. High school diploma/GED and 5 years relevant experience required. Apply online at www.fourcirclesrecovery. com/careers.

HIRING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT VECINOS FARMWORKER HEALTH PROGRAM The ED coordinates all outreach programs and is responsible for achievement of the organization’s mission, managing finance and business operations,and providing leadership in alignment with Vecinos’ values. For complete job post, contact info@vecinosinc.org www.vecinos.org

LOCAL DRIVERS WANTED! Be your own boss. Flexible hours.

Unlimited earning potential. Must be 21 with valid U.S. driver’s license, insurance & reliable vehicle. 866-329-2672 (AAN CAN)

HUMAN SERVICES LIFE SKILLS TRAINER Foundations Asheville, a young adult transitional program working with college-age adults in Asheville, North Carolina seeks qualified life skills trainer to create and maintain a consistent, emotionally safe and supportive environment needed to foster the strengths and overcome hurdles necessary for successful adulthood. Collaborate with team to implement programming designed to support young adults in reaching their goals. Work one-on-one and in the group setting to model and develop independent living skills. Foundations is a residential program, requiring overnights while on shift. The standard shift is a full-time live-in position in the heart of Asheville, with excellent accommodations and expenses paid. Daily tasks of transportation, cleanliness, community involvement, and maintaining a timely schedule are key job responsibilities. In addition, consistent role modeling of healthy habits, problem-solving, emotional maturity, and executive function is critical to our students' success.

Seasonal opportunities exist for travel, community service, and project-based-learning. Work with a skilled clinical team to implement real growth for the young men in our care. The ideal applicant would have: •Excellent communication skills, creativity, and desire

SEEKING CNA OR PARAPROFESSIONAL FOR I/DD PROVIDER Seeking experienced CNA or Hab Tech for creative I/DD program.

Send Resume to sonia.pitts@yahoo.com www.openheartsartcenter.org THERAPEUTIC FOSTER PARENTS NEEDED Davidson Homes Inc. is seeking Foster Parents in Swannanoa and the surrounding areas. • All training is free and daily rate is great! Call Debbie Smiley: 828-776-5228. www.davidsonhomes.org THERAPIST Four Circles Recovery Center is seeking a full time therapist to provide clinical care to clients and families in recovery.

Master's degree and provisional license required. Wilderness experience preferred. Apply online at www.fourcirclesrecovery.com/ careers.

PROFESSIONAL/ MANAGEMENT GIRLS ON THE RUN OF WNC SEEKS EXPERIENCED, PARTTIME COMMUNITY OUTREACH MANAGER Girls on the Run seeks a part-time (25-30 hrs/ week) experienced professional to expand programming and impact through building partnerships with schools, businesses, organizations and media; recruiting volunteers; directing two GOTR 5k events annually; and managing the SoleMates fundraising program. Apply by 4/21 at gotrwnc.org.

T H E N E W Y OR K TI M ES CR OSSWOR D PU ZZLE TEACHING/ EDUCATION XPLORE USA SEEKS INTERCULTURAL SUMMER CAMP TEACHERS AND GROUP LEADERS Xplore USA seeks ESL teachers, Foreign Language teachers, and Group Program Leaders for intercultural day camp! Full job descriptions at xploreusa. org. Apply today; Email resume and cover letter to emily.terry@ xploreusa.org.

RETAIL

ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS MAKE THE CALL TO START GETTING CLEAN TODAY Free 24/7 Helpline for alcohol & drug addiction treatment. Get help! It is time to take your life back! Call Now: 855-732-4139. (AAN CAN) PREGNANT? CONSIDERING ADOPTION? Call us first. Living expenses, housing, medical, and continued support afterwards.

Choose adoptive family of your choice. Call 24/7. 877-362-2401.

(AAN CAN) THANK YOU TO ST. JUDE For interceding, and the power of prayer and Love of Almighty God for sparing my daughter! Never doubt the Power!

LEGAL NOTICES RETAIL ASSISTANT FOR FRIENDS OF THE WNC NATURE CENTER GIFT SHOP The Gift Shop is open during regular business hours (10:00-5:00 361 days per year) Schedule for this position may flex between 32 hours during busiest seasons and 16 hours during slower seasons.

The Retail Assistant will often be required to operate the gift shop alone or with volunteer assistance.

• $13.50 per hour • Submit cover letter and resume by Thursday, April 20th, 2017, to friends@ wildwnc.org

SALON/ SPA

H&M CONSTRUCTORS Is requesting bids from Certified Female Contractors/Suppliers and Certified Minority Contractors/ Suppliers for the following project: Avery’s Creek Elementary School – Cafeteria Renovation & Expansion. • Bids are requested by 12:00pm, Tuesday, April 25, 2017.

Plans are available for review at our office and/or FTP Website. • See below for directions on how to access the website. Please respond to: 187 Deaverview Road, Asheville, NC 28806. (828) 254-6145 – Phone; (828) 254-8696 - Fax • FTP Website Directions: https://swft.exavault.com/login and then hit “Enter” The “Log On As” box appears: Username is: hmdrawings Password is: hmdrawings

LOST & FOUND NOW HIRING ALL POSITIONS UltraSkin Wax Center recently opened a new location in Asheville and is looking to hire Guest Service Associates and NC Licensed Estheticians. Please apply at www.ultraskinwaxcenter.com SENSIBILITIES DAY SPA Now hiring for a full-time front desk/ spa assistant position at Sensibilities South located in the Hilton Hotel at Biltmore Park. Weekends required. Please bring resume in person.

XCHANGE YARD SALES THIS SATURDAY • GARAGE CRAFT SALE April 22, 2017.

• 14 Pyfrom Dr., Swannanoa, NC 28778. Multi-person garage sale. Everything must go! Homemade crafts, wall decor, furniture, clothes, and more!

HOME IMPROVEMENT GENERAL SERVICES DRIVEWAY SEAL COATING By Mark DeLude. • Protects and preserves. • Over 30+ years experience. Hand applied commercial grade sealer. • Free estimates. • Also interior/exterior painting services. Call Mark: (828) 299-0447.

HANDY MAN HIRE A HUSBAND • HANDYMAN SERVICES Since 1993.

Multiple skill sets. Reliable, trustworthy, quality results. $1 million liability insurance. References and estimates available. Stephen Houpis, (828) 280-2254.

FOUND • SET OF 4 KEYS In the middle of Haw Creek Road, East Asheville. Monday April 10. Call (828) 713-3183 to claim.

REWARD • LOST WEDDING RINGS Matching (men's and women's) wedding rings on silver necklace, lost Friday, March 10, Asheville area. Husband recently deceased (his wedding ring).

Please call (828) 808-2673 or (828) 253-2580.

MIND, BODY, SPIRIT

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Free parking in lot, handicap accessible.

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No. 0315

Note: The five rows of shaded squares reveal an unusual feature of this puzzle.

ACROSS

1 See blurb 6 Batteries in mice 9 *Bonzo and others 15 She went to Haiti in a Cole Porter song 16 Ballpark fig.

17 Et ___ 18 “The Lion King” soundtrack composer 20 Hang on to 21 Boarding pass info 22 Angsty music genre 23 Divest (of) 24 Gesture that might be made with a wink 25 See blurb 28 Opposed 32 “And how!”

33 *“And so it ___” 34 Patriotic women’s org.

35 Jack who played Sgt. Friday 39 Sound like a jackass 40 See blurb 42 PHX airport locale: Abbr.

43 Actress Kendrick of “Pitch Perfect” 44 Summer hrs. in Chicago 45 *Fabric with a cheapsounding name 47 “CSI” workplace 50 Fresh gossip, with “the” RETREATS SHOJI SPA & LODGE * 7 DAYS A WEEK Day & Night passes, cold plunge, sauna, hot tubs, lodging, 8 minutes from town, bring a friend or two, stay the day or all evening, escape & renew! Best massages in Asheville 828-299-0999.

SPIRITUAL

51 See blurb 55 Long-snouted fish 56 Title for 18-Across 57 Au ___ (menu phrase) 58 Novelist Waugh 62 “Star Wars” knight, informally 64 Only a little 66 Fix, as a pump 67 ___ generis (unique) 68 Therefore 69 *“You just missed!”

70 Item held by the king of diamonds 71 See blurb

11 “The Addams Family” cousin 12 Had in mind 13 Previous arrest, on a rap sheet 14 Like some light hair 19 Ballet leaps 23 Showed again 25 Form 1040 ID 26 Newswoman Bakhtiar 27 “Hold it — hang on!”

28 “Fernando” group 29 HGTV personality ___ Yip 30 Eddie ___, subject of “The French Connection” DOWN 1 Barely manages, with 31 World capital whose name means “out” “gardens” 2 Lowland, poetically 36 Fish-eating raptor 3 Singer James or 37 Stand-up’s routines Jones 38 [Wrong answer!]

4 Thigh-slapper 5 Nikkei index currency 40 Couch potato 41 “Right away!,” in the 6 Chocolatier’s O.R. lure 44 China holder 7 *Can’t stomach 45 Reunion group 8 Go astray 9 1950s-’60s hit with the 46 Rogue computer in “2001” lyric “Ah, you made me 48 M and N, in love you / Now, now, pronunciation now, now your man is come” 49 *Elegantly designed trinkets 10 Paid attention to PETS

PUZZLE BY BRUCE HAIGHT

51 Greek marketplace of old 52 Motown or Decca 53 Light beam splitter 54 Adorable one 58 AAA part: Abbr.

59 Ilsa ___, “Casablanca” character

60 “Behold!,” to Caesar 61 “Believe” Grammy winner, 1999 63 Try to win over 64 Intel org.

65 Cry of discovery

ANSWER TO CURRENT XPRESS PUZZLE

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS NY TIMES PUZZLE

Behavioral Health Group

Paul Caron

PET SERVICES ASHEVILLE PET SITTERS Dependable, loving care while you're away. Reasonable rates.

Call Sandy (828) 215-7232.

AUTOMOTIVE MOTORCYCLES/ SCOOTERS FOR SALE

BODYWORK INTUITIVE HEALING Beth Huntzinger, LMBT #10819 Relaxing massage $60/hr, Hot Stones $70/hr, powerful DNA Blueprint Healing for hereditary/chronic issues. Practicing since 2011. Visit comforting downtown office for great results. Call 828-279-7042 ashevillehealer.com

edited by Will Shortz

1987 HONDA HELIX Wonderful condition, super low miles, many newer upgrades, owned by older man. $1495, negotiable. (828) 7478968.

JULIE KING: LICENSED MINISTER, TEACHER, INTUITIVE HEALER www.AcuPsychic.com.

828-884-4169. If you can see the Future You can Change it! For 35 years, she has helped thousands with relationships, finances, spiritual transformation & business.

Mentoring & Courses available.

FOR MUSICIANS MUSICAL SERVICES NOW ACCEPTING STUDENTS IN JAZZ PIANO, COMPOSITION, AND IMPROVISATION (ALL INSTRUMENTS). Michael Jefry Stevens, “WNC Best Composer 2016” and “Steinway Artist”, now accepting students in jazz piano, composition, and improvisation (all instruments).

35 years experience. M.A. from Queens College (NYC). Over 90 cds released. 9179161363. michaeljefrystevens.com WHITEWATER RECORDING Mixing • Mastering • Recording.

(828) 684-8284 www.whitewaterrecording.com

AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES WE'LL FIX IT AUTOMOTIVE • Honda and Acura repair. Half price repair and service. ASE and factory trained. Located in the Weaverville area, off exit 15. Please call (828) 275-6063 for appointment. www.wellfixitautomotive.com

Asheville, NC

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• Furniture Repair Medication Nurse - RN Medical Assistant - Certified Addiction Counselors - LCAS, LCSW Submit your resume for immediate consideration.

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• Seat Caning • Antique Restoration • Custom Furniture & Cabinetry (828) 669-4625

MOUNTAINX.COM

• Black Mountain

APRIL 19 - 25, 2017

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