Smoky Mountain Living April 2012

APRIL/MAY • 2012

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Smoky Mountain L I V I N G

HIGH COUNTRY & GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA & TENNESSEE

RAINFORESTS WILDFLOWERS of the

Southern Appalachians

Unearthing Emeralds

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The best spots to seek glimmering green

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Savoring Sustainable Harvests Adventure: Biking at Beech Mountain

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Destination: Black Mountain, N.C.

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ANDREWS 732 Main Street 828-321-2050 ARDEN 2349 Hendersonville Rd 828-654-1600

BREVARD - STRAUS PARK 10 Park Place East 828-884-2600

CHEROKEE 3273 US Hwy 441 N 828-497-3734

HENDERSONVILLE 2520 Chimney Rock Rd. 828-698-5684

SPRUCE PINE 800 Summit Ave. 828-766-8880

BAKERSVILLE 54 North Mitchell Ave. 828-688-5800

BRYSON CITY 145 Slope St. 828-488-1168

ETOWAH 50 United Bank Drive 828-890-3600

MURPHY 116 Peachtree St. 828-837-9291

SYLVA 1640 E. Main St. 828-631-9166

BLOWING ROCK 8036 Valley Blvd.

828-295-8072

BURNSVILLE 291 East US Highway 19E 828-682-9992

FRANKLIN 257 E. Main Street 828-369-6197

NEWLAND 200 Linville Street 828-733-9281

SYLVA - ASHEVILLE HWY 55 Asheville Hwy. 828-631-9600

BREVARD - DOWNTOWN 160 West Main St. 828-884-3649

CASHIERS 20 Frank Allen Rd. 828-743-6600

HAYESVILLE 95 Hwy. 64 West 828-389-6363

ROBBINSVILLE 132 Rodney Orr Bypass 828-479-3037

WAYNESVILLE 165 N. Main Street 828-452-0307

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WELCOME

from the managing editor

the mail. I tend to collect them, take them to bed with me, and peer at images of heirloom varieties and newly cultivated hybrids in the soft light of the bedside lamp that inspires garden dreams.

It’s been my habit of stashing the catalogs under the bed that has earned them a moniker given in jest yet holding much truth—plant porn. The pictures are all so tantalizing … great round tomatoes, sturdy zucchini, curvaceous eggplant.

I want to order more plant varieties than I could ever hope to grow in my two small garden plots, and unless my husband allows me to take over even more of the yard or I get the hang of vertical and container-based gardening, I’m at my square footage max. Last year, I failed to show much restraint after winning a decorative planter full of seed packs at a fundraiser for the local community college’s wildlife program.

Overwhelmed with choices, I set up my miniature greenhouses on the washer and dryer by the windows of the daylight basement and lorded over more than 200 little crannies of dirt each with two to three seeds buried inside. The oil furnace kept things nice and warm, I misted just enough to maintain dewy drops of condensation, and on cloudy days I switched on a single grow light to keep the germination process moving along.

And germinate those seeds did, and I—too soft-hearted to cull the weaklings—coddled them all, divided their tiny root systems using bamboo skewers, and, as they grew, moved them into individual larger pots. Again, I point out the fact that I live not on a farm, but within city limits. There were plants in the basement, plants on the sun porch, plants in the driveway. The tomatoes were the most aggressive and prolific. I sent my husband to work with twenty of them, each labeled with its heirloom variety. I put ten or so out on the sidewalk in front of our house with a sign that said “free.”

I took some to friends in South Carolina. I forced some on friends who came by to drop off fresh figs. Still, I had a dozen tomato plants in the ground to tend, plus the peppers, squash, zucchini, chard, lettuce, and basil, the directly sown potatoes, radishes, cucumbers, red and yellow onions, the volunteer dill, cilantro, and butternut squash, plus the unwieldy Rumbo squash that roamed across the backyard fence, its tendrils clinging and climbing their way up and over anything in its path. Never mind the attention needed to keep the rest of the landscape vaguely in check—iris, roses,

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SARAH KUCHARSKI PHOTO

The seed catalogs have been arriving in

lavender, sage, rosemary, daylilies, crepe myrtle, sedum, gangly butterfly bushes, clematis, azaleas, hydrangea, hosta, ferns, and various other whatnots.

My only growing salvation—last year and at any time—is that I am a low-fuss gardener. I do not fertilize. What cannot be accomplished with rich soil, a layer of mulch, adequate light, good watering, a bit of pruning or pinching, and, at most, a sprinkle of BT is not done. Though I baby my seedlings, a dying plant will be judiciously sacrificed to preserve the health of the rest. I can—and if determined, will—grow another.

This issue of Smoky Mountain Living celebrates all things green, growing or otherwise. From the spruce forests to the underground emerald deposits, these mountains give forth green like little else.

— Sarah E. Kucharski, managing editor

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SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

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About our writers Gary Carden is a storyteller, a play-

VOL. 12 • NUMBER 2 Publisher/Editor . . . . . . . . . . . Scott McLeod editor@smliv.com General Manager . . . . . . . . . Greg Boothroyd ads@smliv.com Advertising Manager . . . . . . . Jason Nichols jason@smliv.com Managing Editor . . . . . . . Sarah E. Kucharski sarah@smliv.com Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . Travis Bumgardner travis@smliv.com Graphics . . . Margaret Hester, Micah McClure Finance & Admin. . . . . . . Amanda Singletary Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greg Boothroyd, Whitney Burton, Scott Collier, Drew Cook, Lila Eason, Jason Nichols Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Nichols Contributing Writers . . . . . . . . Sam Boykin, Carrie Eidson, Quintin Ellison, Gary Carden, Don Hendershot, Joe Hooten, Anna Oakes, Scott Muirhead Contributing Photographers. . Charlie Choc, Don Curry, Josh Fleenor, Mark Haskett, Margaret Hester, Kristian Jackson, John Livingston, Vonda Magill, Micah McClure, Don McGowan, Margie Metz, Anna Oakes, Todd Perrin, Scott Ranger, Lynn Seldon, Sherry Shook, Brian Shults, Beverly Stone, Tom Vaught, Alan Weakley Contributing Illustrator . . Mandy Newham Smoky Mountain Living is published bi-monthly

by SM Living LLC. Smoky Mountain Living has made every effort to insure listings and information are accurate and assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

For advertising information, contact Jason Nichols at 828.452.2251 or jason@smliv.com.

For editorial inquiries, contact Sarah Kucharski at sarah@smliv.com.

Smoky Mountain Living assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Queries should be sent to Sarah E. Kucharski at sarah@smliv.com. ©2012. All rights reserved. No portion of this magazine may be reprinted without the express, written consent of the publisher.

Smoky Mountain Living is published bi-monthly (Dec/Jan, Feb/Mar, Apr,May, Jun/Jul, Aug/Sep, Oct/Nov) by SM Living, LLC, 34 Church Street, Waynesville, NC 28786. Application to Mail at Periodical Postage Prices is pending at Waynesville NC and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: please send address changes to Smoky Mountain Living, PO Box 629, Waynesville, NC 28786.

wright, a painter, and an unrepentant Appalachian man with an obsession for books, movies, folklore and good conversation. He has been recognized by the North Carolina Folklore Society, received the N. C. Playwright's Award, and his book, Mason Jars in the Flood, received the AWA Book of the Year Award in 2001.

Carrie Eidson is a writer, reporter,

waitress and photographer based in Sylva, North Carolina. She is a native of the Appalachian mountains and attended Western Carolina University, majoring in Journalism and Religious Studies. She is presently a writer and co-editor for Quiet Magazine, an online publication focusing on arts and entertainment reporting in the far western corners of North Carolina. She loves to write about music, fashion, street art, the stories of small mountain communities and local foods.

Quintin Ellison is a longtime

chronicler of the Southern Appalachians, with a newspaper career spanning some eighteen years at three different mountain newspapers. During a threeyear hiatus from the crazy world of constant deadlines, however, she operated a successful organic farm.

She still dreams of those days of bliss and serenity.

Today, Ellison lives in Sylva, N.C.

Don Hendershot is a freelance

writer, naturalist and biological consultant living in Waynesville, N.C. He has written in magazines including Our State, Native American Journal, and Smoky Mountain Living. His weekly column, The Naturalist's Corner, appears in The Smoky Mountain News. Hendershot was nominated by the Roosevelt-Ashes Society for Outstanding Journalist in Conservation 2010. He is contracted with the USDA Forest Service to conduct bird point surveys in six of the eight North Carolina Ranger Districts. His most coveted title is “Daddy” to 10-year-old Izzy and 6-year-old Maddie.

Read more at thenaturalistscorner.com.

WWW.SMLIV.COM

Joe Hooten was born in Macon, Ga., but

spent his formative years surfing the beaches near his home in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. He eventually found his way to Western North Carolina for college at Cullowhee. He received his B.A. in Education from Western Carolina and his M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Hooten taught public middle and high school history in Hendersonville, Cary and then Raleigh for ten years before moving back to Asheville with his wife and three young kids in 2008. Hooten writes about his all-time favorite hobby—music. A secondrate guitarist, he can be found most evenings pickin’ some tunes on the back porch while enjoying the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains.

Anna Oakes is a mountain girl raised in

the rural northern end of Caldwell County and a proud graduate of Appalachian State University. She tolerates the harsh mountain winters in exchange for the heavenly summers of the High Country, where you’ll find her on the river, dancing to an old-time string band or vegetable gardening. She writes for the Watauga Democrat in Boone.

Rebecca Tolley-Stokes is a

writer, librarian, and East Tennessee native/resident who no longer has time to knit, sew, quilt, play accordion, ride horses, or enjoy any other favorite pastimes. She hates the way that people from “off” mispronounce Appalachia, especially on NPR, and loves how the Southern Appalachian region is rife with opportunities for learning about ecology, community, and culture.

Sam Boykin is the editor of Lake Nor-

man Magazine, an awardwinning journalist and a freelance writer. He lives in Mooresville, N.C, with his wife, Kimiko, and their two-yearold daughter, Lily June. Over the years he's contributed to dozens of regional and national publications, including Men's Journal, Garden and Gun, Scientific American, Reader's Digest, Our State and WNC. Boykin developed a love for the North Carolina mountains when he attended Lees McRae College in Banner Elk, where he spent far more time hiking, biking and exploring than he did hitting the books.

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in this issue: Greening Up As spring arrives, SML is happy to see leaves of green appearing in the wonderful world of the Smokies. Our readers share their images of everything green.

Rainforests and Wildflowers The Smokies support great biodiversity thanks in no small part to scattered regions of temperate rainforest across the mountain range. High rainfall makes for lush environments that harbor rare species including more than 100 species of trees in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park alone. By Don Hendershot

Drink Me Eco-advocates are putting a social spin on hot-topic discussions in Asheville where Green Drinks participants meet up for libations and learning as part of a movement originating from London, England. By Quintin Ellison

Envious Emeralds North Carolina’s High Country is home to natural emerald mines that have produced treasures such as a 3,000 carat cache, of which 300 carats were cut into the North Carolina Royal Family collection. Amateur miners can try their hand at unearthing a record-maker too. By Anna Oakes

Farm-to-Table As sustainability efforts have risen in the collective conscious, our relationship with food has also changed. These days there are more opportunities to eat fresh foods in regional restaurants as chefs explore all the mountains have to offer. By Carrie Eidson

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departments Mountain Music The Carolina Chocolate Drops bring traditional ragtime and blues into the now. 19

Arts Gatlinburg brings historical tunes and tales to the streets. 22

Cuisine You be the judge at the Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival’s culinary competition. 24

Out & About

Destination Black Mountain, N.C. is a charmingly hip little town with great access to all the region has to offer.

By Sarah E. Kucharski

Balsam Mountain Inn welcomes visitors once again. 26

Mountain Letters Take Horace Kephart along the journey with Camping and Woodcraft: A Handbook for Vacation Campers and for Travelers in the Wilderness. 27

Mountain Voices Explore some of the benefits and burdens of do-it-yourself sustainability. 28

Outdoors On the cover: “Fire in the Mountains – Blue Ridge Parkway”

BY DAVE ALLEN • DAVEALLENPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Beech Mountain makes use of its slopes year-round with new mountain biking trails. 30

Sustainable Living Rest areas in North Carolina are embracing new technology to charge up electric cars. 32

resources: Shopping Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Shop Savvy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Select Lodging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Asheville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Waynesville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 White Co. Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

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With spring comes the greening of the mountains.

Life bursts forth in riotous shades of emerald and lime, forest and kelly. Yet green carries with it a multitude of meanings. One can be green with envy, or perhaps just environmentally-friendly, and those young and inexperienced are said to be green. With this issue of Smoky Mountain Living, our readers share their own worlds of green.

Tom Vaught

Brian Shults

John Livingston

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Margie Metz

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity ... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself. — William Blake

Becky Fain

Vonda Magill

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Josh Fleenor

Charlie Choc

All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Grave was the man in years, in looks, in word, his locks were grey, yet was his courage green. — Torquato Tasso

Beverly Stone

Sherry Shook

Don Curry

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DESTINATION

black mountain, n.c.

Black Mountain, N.C. Explore a mountain town with a great railroadand artsbased history

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ucked between the railroad tracks that helped modernize Western North Carolina and the 4.5-acre Lake Tomahawk is the charming town of Black Mountain. An ideal place from which to base one’s explorations of the region, Black Mountain offers a diverse selection of shops and restaurants all within easy walking distance from the center of town.

White settlers first explored the Black Mountain area in 1784, though the Cherokee lived there long before. In the Cherokee language, Swannanoa Valley means “beautiful valley,” and what is today Black Mountain was once

known as Grey Eagle. However, it wasn’t until 1874, when the railroad to the Swannanoa Gap was put in, that pioneers truly began making the area their home. Nearly fifty years later, the railroad was converted to a scenic motor road, which increased the number of visitors discovering Black Mountain’s beautiful climate and making it famous as a health resort.

Today, Black Mountain boasts a cool factor strongly influenced by nearby Asheville but on a smaller scale and at a slower pace—though that may soon change as the town continues to gain notoriety as a great place to stay awhile.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

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6th Annual Art in Bloom

“An Appalachian Spring in Black Mountain”

June 14, 15 & 16, 2012

Somewhere on your list of priorities should be you.

Art & Floral Exhibit Cottage Garden Tours Plein air Painters Gala Preview Party Appalachian Music Concert Black Mountain Center for the Arts 225 West State Street • Black Mountain, NC

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DESTINATION

black mountain, n.c.

Get your grub on Every town needs a good pizza joint. Black Mountain has two. My Father’s Pizza has been a staple since 1990 and features homemade sauces, dough, meatballs, and special house dressing. There’s a large outdoor patio for enjoying the food along with the season. Fresh Wood Fired Pizza & Pasta is a more intimate spot on a side street downtown. At an inside table, diners can check out the wood fire at work, while a few outdoor tables also are available. Check out the $10 build your own salad option featuring any of the pizza toppings such as proscuitto, garbanzo beans, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, or artichoke hearts on a bed of fresh mixed greens. Or pick out one of the earthy pizzas like the Fun Guy with seasonal wild mushrooms and fresh basil or the Chevre that stars local goat cheese.

At Berliner Kindl German Restaurant and Deli there’s more sausage and sauerkraut than you can shake a stick at, which makes for a hearty meal. Those who want to play it safe may look to the house special Reuben sandwich, while those who aren’t looking for intimacy any time soon may opt for the braunschweiger and onion sandwich. The grilled Nuernberger bratwurst are not to be missed—at the very least order them as an appetizer with a side of the house recipe sauerkraut, which nicely balances sweet and tangy flavors. Kids may enjoy the ham and Swiss or grilled cheese options.

Tucked away in the historic Stepp House is Louise’s Kitchen, a funky place with dining tables scattered

Partake of local libations Be sure to check menus for local microbrews and wines, as Western North Carolina has become a libation lovers’ location. Pisgah Brewing Company—located in Black Mountain and with a tap room open seven days a week—and Highland Brewing Company are two of the most popular beer makers. But if given the chance, sample as many of the regional brews as good sense allows. The Black Mountain Ale House is a great place to go and while away some time over a game of darts or pool. For more information about beers across the state, visit ncbeer.org, and for more information about Dionysus’ drink, go to visitncwine.com. South Creek Vineyards and the Biltmore Estate’s vineyards are the closest to Black Mountain.

throughout the ground floor rooms of the house—an antique radio in one room and bright pink walls in another. Diners order at the counter in the kitchen, choosing from a selection of vastly local items. Breakfast is served through lunch (Louise’s is closed for dinner) and includes the Veggie Delight—spinach, red onion, tomato, and egg served with a house-blended pesto cream cheese—while lunch itself brings tasty simple fare like the duck egg salad sandwich.

For a sweet treat, head over to the Black Mountain Bakery where a slice of cake or a couple of cookies make for an excellent reason to sit outside on the patio. Nods go to the cranberry walnut and the oatmeal raisin cookies. Soup and sandwiches are available for a quick lunch bite.

Find your morning brew or afternoon pick-me-up at The Dripolator. The small but hip coffee shop is a hangout for doing a little work or just reading the paper. Nosh on the granola sold by the cup (with milk) or get a bag to go for later.

The Blackbird Café, a purveyor of farm-to-table cuisine, can be found outside of downtown proper in the Village of Chesire. At lunch, consider opting for the pimento cheese pannini with applewood smoked bacon and tomato, but no matter what, get the shoestring fries. Dinner brings appetizers like the Ashley Farms organic chicken liver paté and entrees including a grilled sirloin with blue cheese butter and country ham carbanara pasta.

Other places worth noting include Ole’ Guacamoles Mexican Kitchen, which has an excellent reputation, and Thai Basil, where spicy and vegetarian options abound.

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Architectural history After a devastating fire that destroyed most of the buildings on Sutton Avenue, the Black Mountain Fire Department was formed in 1912. Eight years later, townspeople funded the construction of a firehouse and enlisted premiere architect Richard Sharp Smith— who had served as George W. Vanderbilt’s chief architect at the Biltmore Estate before opening his own company. The firehouse was in used until 1984, when the fire department moved. By 1989, the firehouse was turned into a museum, which it is still today.

Adventures in retail and bargain hunting

A

n advantage to Black Mountain’s walkable downtown is the easy access to shopping. Park once and head off in any direction.

One of the best-known stores is Tyson Furniture Company, a fixture since 1946. The selection sprawls through several storefronts and offers everything from arts and crafts style bedsets to Amish rockers and brands including Bassett, Broyhill, Drexel Heritage, Lane, La-Z-

Boy, and Thomasville. The Doncaster/Tanger outlet store is adjacent to Tyson Furniture and offers great deals on fashion.

The whole family will enjoy Town Hardware and General Store, which has everything from toys to toilet plungers. Grab a couple of throwback sodas from the shelf, a few postcards, and maybe a garden hose, then head across the street to Anthm to eyeball the whimsical found object art creations and move

on to Common Housefly, a kitchen shop with a range of nifty gadgets designed to make cooking easier or at least a little more fun.

On Cherry Street, head in to Bramblewood Cottage, the McCosh House, and Thyme and Again, but be sure not to miss Seven Sisters Gallery where more than 250 artists’ work comes together.

At the bottom of the hill, Ivy Corner offers up something old and something new. Go a little farther and one finds Black Mountain Natural Foods for organic produce, vitamin supplements, essential oils, and more.

The Black Mountain Center for the Arts is a central location for arts classes and gallery exhibits. Drawing and painting, pottery, ballet, yoga, ballroom dancing, music lessons, and writing courses all are part of the center’s regular schedule. In addition, the BMCA hosts annual events, concerts, and theater productions. The center is located in the historic City Hall on State Street. blackmountainarts.org

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DESTINATION

black mountain, n.c.

Outdoor recreation Lake Tomahawk is a 4.5-acre lake, surrounded by a .55-mile walking path. Fishing is allowed, and a fishing dock is provided for individuals with disabilities. Overall the 19-acre park has a 1,700 square foot shelter used for group picnics, parties, and events, as well as a playground, individual picnic tables, and grills. There are two lighted tennis courts, one horseshoe court, a gazebo, and an outdoor swimming pool. An open area serves as an amphitheater for outdoor music concerts in the summer.

The Black Mountain Greenway has two parts—the main greenway runs east to west from Old Fort to Swannanoa, and several side routes branch off to various locations in town and throughout the valley. The Depot Trail is a paved, sometimes steep, path through deep forest. An interesting side trip is to the community garden, and the trail continues on to the Grey Eagle Arena and connects to a path to the Blue Ridge Assembly.

Point Lookout Trail is a must for mountain bikers who are also train lovers. The paved, 3.62-mile trial follows the Old NC 10/Highway 70 route through the Royal Gorge, once known at the Central Highway, through the Pisgah National Forest. The trail ascends more than 900 feet between Old Fort and Ridgecrest with long-range views. The trail crosses over the railroad and offers several nice views of several rail tunnels. The trail parking lot in Black Mountain is located on Cherry Street just north of the Black Mountain Depot.

Golfers will enjoy the 6,215-yard, par 71, 18-hole municipal course just outside of downtown proper. The course features a 747yard, par 6 17th hole, which at one time was the longest hole in the world. The front nine holes of the course were constructed in 1929, and the back nine holes were constructed in 1962, though improvements have been made throughout the years. There’s a pro shop and a snack bar. For tee times, call 828.669.5243.

A young boy explores a mountain creek near Black Mountain (above). The Black Mountain Train Depot (below) is now an arts gallery.

TODD PERRIN PHOTO (ABOVE) • SARAH E. KUCHARSKI PHOTO (BELOW)

Get on the Blue Ridge Parkway west of Black Mountain near Asheville and ride in either direction. Heading north will take one to highlights such as the Southern Highlands Craft Guild Folk Art Center and Craggy Gardens, while heading south ventures past Waterrock Knob toward Cherokee.

The Pisgah National Forest is a land of mile-high peaks, cascading waterfalls, and heavily forested slopes. Comprised of over 500,000 acres, Pisgah is primarily a hardwood forest with whitewater rivers, waterfalls, and hundreds of miles of trails. This national forest is home to the first tract of land purchased under the Weeks Act of 1911, which led to the creation of the national forests in the eastern United States. It is also home to the first school of forestry in the United States, now preserved at the Cradle of Forestry in America historic site, and boasts two of the first designated wilderness areas in the east. Consider traveling half an hour to Nebo to visit the Grandfather Ranger District office for help planning your excursions.

For more advice on how to enjoy the great outdoors in and around Black Mountain, visit Take a Hike Outfitters, located in downtown.

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Black Mountain Gallery

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Black Mountain NORTH CAROLINA

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DESTINATION

black mountain, n.c.

Selected events This exhibit at Black Mountain Center for the Arts is in collaboration with other regional galleries to celebrate the season.

L.E.A.F. • May 10-13 The Lake Eden Arts Festival is a low-key, familyfriendly event with music, storytelling and poetry slams, crafts and outdoor adventure.

Independence Celebration and Fireworks • July 4 Music, street dance, and fireworks after dark held downtown.

Sourwood Festival • Aug. 11 – 12 Family-friendly festival with music, arts and crafts, food, and more in downtown Black Mountain.

For more event information, including guided hikes, gallery exhibits, and live music, visit blackmountain.org.

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SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

LAKE EDEN ARTS FESTIVAL PHOTO

Art in Bloom • May 7 – June 16

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Wrap it up with a good night’s sleep

J

ust outside of downtown Black Mountain, visitors will find the Black Mountain Inn, built circa 1830 as a stagecoach stop. Over the years, the stately home was remodeled and transformed, and like many such large homes in the region, it was used as a tuberculosis sanatorium around the turn of the 20th century.

In 1940, as the historic Black Mountain College increasingly rose in popularity and acclaim, a gallery manager from Florida purchased the property, restoring it, and opening it 1942 as the Oak Knoll Art Studio.

The name reflects the landscape’s enormous oak trees. Famous guests included Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Norman Rockwell, and Helen Keller.

The historic home was sold once again in 1965 and finally, in 1989, to its current owners who opened it as the Black Mountain Inn. The inn is a quiet place surrounded by 3 wooded-acres, and much of its 5,000 square feet of interior space showcases the home’s original woodwork.

The five rooms each feature clawfoot or built-in bathtubs with antique furnishings and plenty of sunlight. Those who wish to watch the morning news may do so in a small lounge on the ground floor where fresh coffee is selfserve. At breakfast, look forward to the homemade granola, fresh fruit, and selections such as French toast.

As a perk to guests, the Black Mountain Inn offers spa services including massage and facials. Book a little relaxation time and follow up with some easy reading in a comfortable chair or outside on one of the inn’s two patios while listening to the birds sing.

For more information, visit blackmountaininn.com or call 828.669.6528.

resources: Michael’s room welcomes the southern sun at Black Mountain Inn. SARAH E. KUCHARSKI PHOTO

Information about additional accommodations, including camping, family hotels, and cabins, can be found at blackmountain.org.

Ivy

CORNER antiques and more

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craft handmade in america

featuring iron work by

An old livery stable filled with great finds.

One Cherry Lane

BLACK MOUNTAIN | NC

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BlackMountainIron.com 669-1001 or 669-8999

Sculpture garden located at the working studio on 203 Padgettown Rd., Black Mtn. 17

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Music.

Music. Moments.

Moments. Memories.

Memories.

April April 26–29, 26 – 29,2012 2012

Alison Krauss && Union Station Featuring Jerry Douglas Alison Krauss Union Station Featuring Jerry Douglas

Sam Bush Sam Bush

Vince GillGill Vince

Tedeschi Trucks Band Tedeschi Trucks Band

Watson DocDoc Watson

Punch Brothers Featuring Chris Thile Punch Brothers Featuring Chris Thile

Marty Stuart Marty Stuart

Steep Canyon Rangers Steep Canyon Rangers

Donna The Buffalo Donna The Buffalo

Los Lobos Los Lobos

Dailey & Vincent Dailey & Vincent

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, The Original Lineup Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, The Original Lineup

The Waybacks The Waybacks

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© 2012 by Lowe’s. All rights reserved. Lowe’s & the gable design are registered trademarks of LF, LLC. © 2012 by Lowe’s.® All rights reserved. Lowe’s & the gable design are registered trademarks of LF, LLC. ®

Scythian Scythian

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mountain music

BY JOE HOOTEN

T

he early part of the 20th century gave rise to an abundance of musical genres, many evolving from the simplistic fife and drum melodies that were commonly heard during the 19th century. With the infusion of cultures, playing techniques and a variety of instruments, America gave birth to a myriad of musical styles still heard today. One notable but nearly forgotten genre—the jug band—can be traced back to the early 1900s in Southern urban centers, notably Memphis and Louisville.

The jug sound began as an early blend of jazz, ragtime and country blues. It was clearly defined by the energetic use of home-made or non traditional instruments including the fiddle, banjo, harmonica (or kazoo) and of course, the jug. The jug, which provided a low rhythmic bass line by blowing air into it, had its sound make its way up and down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Jug music received gentle nudges from the players in New Orleans and Chicago, ultimately shaping its flavor and branching out into new forms of music.

During the early 1900s and up till the big economic crash of the 1930s, the jug craze exploded in popularity and demand. Coinciding with the first Great Migration, descendants of musicians from the South ushered in a new era of collaboration by bringing their sound and traditions to various parts of the country. While Northern industrial cities sustained an influx of African-American families carrying with them their musical heritage, questions still remain concerning the evolution of music and customs.

What did these descendants do with their music? How did it evolve and influence modern genres such as rock n’ roll an hip-hop? Some obvious connections, are clear; others are a bit more ambiguous. Yet it’s apparent that as folks moved, so did their music.

With the original intent of recording a “jug band” album, Sule Greg Wilson, Dom Flemons, Allison Russell, and Ndidi Onukwulu—the members of Sankofa—have found a common thread woven into the very fabric of the songs and lyrics expressed on their new album, “The Uptown Strut.” A musical exploration of sorts, the album was recorded in the summer of

2009 by this impressive collection of experienced singers and musicians, but its release was not fully realized until 2012. The origins of “Sankofa” come from the Ghana-based language of Akan, which simply means “go back and get it.” Multi-instrumentalist and member of the renowned Carolina Chocolate Drops, Dom Flemons sees it as a part of his every day being.

“When Sule (Greg Wilson) introduced me to the idea of Sankofa, I knew that it would be a theme that would go through my work the rest of my life.”

Fans of old-time/ragtime/Dixieland/blues will certainly find this fascinating collection of originals, covers, and interpretations to be equally as vital and inspirational as the original compositions. From songs of Sly Stone, Ray Charles, and Jimmy Cliff to older pieces stemming back to the late 19th and early 20th century from Minnie Wallace, Bessie Smith, and Louie Jordan, Sankofa has done history a favor by pulling these nearly forgotten

DONATED PHOTO

Group draws from a jugful of genres

chestnuts forward into a world that may be overwhelmed by the honesty and vigor these highly talented musicians put into their efforts to preserve, revive, and enlighten with these influential pieces of music. Where multitudes of other groups attempt to copy the past in order to seek authenticity today, Sankofa becomes relevant in a way that allows the listener to explore the history and dig deeper into the history of the music and its evolution in the modern tunes we hear today.

An interview with Dom Flemons SML: What initially drew you to this project?

Flemons: Well, I had met filmmaker Todd Kwait in 2006 when we was working on “Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost.” I was playing in Sankofa Strings with Sule and Rhiannon Giddens and we did an

DEPARTMENT

interview with Todd and he also recorded the show. Afterwards, he told us that he wanted to record an album of our group at Nevessa Productions in Upstate New York. A little after that Rhiannon and I formed the Carolina Chocolate WWW.SMLIV.COM

Drops and started doing with that group. It was several years before we were able to take Todd up on his off, but Sule gave me a call and told me we should make this happen. I agreed and we started making the efforts to record. We had met Ndidi SEE FLEMONS, PAGE 21

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Music.

Music. Moments.

Moments. Memories.

Memories.

April April 26–29, 26 – 29, 2012 2012

JimJim Lauderdale Lauderdale

Marty MartyStuart Stuart

Claire Lynch Band Claire Lynch Band

Casey CaseyDriessen Driessen

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Snyder Family Band Snyder Family Band

Blind Boy Chocolate & The Milk Sheiks Blind Boy Chocolate & The Milk Sheiks

Peter Peter Rowan Rowan

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The Greencards Greencards The

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Dehlia Low Dehlia Low

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SMOKY LIVING VOLUME • ISSUE 2 ©20 2012 by Lowe’s.® All rights reserved. Lowe’s & the gable designMOUNTAIN are registered trademarks of LF,12LLC. © 2012 by Lowe’s.® All rights reserved. Lowe’s & the gable design are registered trademarks of LF, LLC.

Tony Tony Rice Rice

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Onukwulu and Allison Russell at the Winnipeg and Edmonton Folk Festivals in Canada and had always kept them in mind to do a project with them. Rhiannon was busy having her first child so we decided to call Ndidi and Allison. Todd had mentioned when planning the record that we should also get some “local” talent to work on the album. These two players happened to be Professor Louie, who did the great piano parts on the album, and the legendary John Sebastian, who was also a trooper in creating wonderful landscape on his many instruments. I couldn’t help but be drawn to the project all around, and of course any chance to make good music is a good time to me so I pounced on it. Also, Sule and I had been kicking around several ideas for tunes for a few years and it was a great way to get stuff like “Old Folks Started It,” “It’s A Good Thing,” “Don’t You Make Me High,” and “Ha-Ha Blues” out there and recorded in great sound.

Many musical historians have alluded that jug band music could be considered the missing link between the blues and the music of West Africa. Where do you see jug music’s place in this lineage?

I would agree with that in some degrees. I will start by saying that there is no singular link between blues and West African music. Ideas of West African music made their journey into the Caribbean and then into the American South.

Many ideas and stylistic things are passed over, but I would not give jug band music a definitive stamp. What I will say is the way that jug band music is a core piece in the scope of American music. Jug band music is an amazing crosssection of folk music, old-time, blues, early jazz, country, pop music and vaudeville. All of these groups that recorded did a variety of all of these types of numbers. It was also a loose collective of musicians with singular people organizing and putting the bands together. Songsters like Will Shade, Earl McDonald and Gus Cannon were almost like folk versions of bandleaders like W.C. Handy and James Reese Europe who made many bands under the same name just like many jazz groups today. Even these songsters, who formed the core of their group’s sound, serve as a strong link between old-time music, country and blues with their variety of styles made to accommodate the demands of their audience.

Mainly out of necessity, the original jug bands used homemade instruments to create their sound. Any particularly interesting instruments used on this album?

The thing is that these bands had a sound in their heads and they wanted to get that out

Dom Flemons

DONATED PHOTO

FLEMONS, CONTINUED FROM 19

“It was those sorts of experiences that made the album—some historic, some personal, and of course all musical.” there. The fact that they used homemade instruments wasn’t of necessity because they were poor as some have implied, but because there were supplies that were abundant and served the musical purposes that the practitioners wanted it to serve. On our album, the strangest instruments we use are the jug and the bones. On “Old Folks Started It,” Sule and I use a bigger and smaller jug to create different sounds as well as create a different rhythm pattern. Play the bones on a few tracks. The best showcase would probably be the version of “Jump Jim Crow” that we do with just bones and banjo.

There also are a few others things like the use of hambone, which is slapping the leg, thigh and body to create rhythms, that is featured on “Brown Skin Girl.”

In similar fashion as the Carolina Chocolate Drops, you’ve taken something from the past and added some modern textures to create something new and refreshing. Does this sit well with purists?

Usually it has sat well with them. The thing people always need to remember about “purists” is that they just want the music to be good by their own aesthetics. Now this is different for every person, so the scales of what is “good” or “bad” change all the time. I’ve always tried to keep them in mind when we’re working on each project. Not so much that they will dictate how we handle the material, but it does give you a bar to reach for. As a fan and listener of music in general, I also try to make music that is good enough for me to listen to. That’s the hardest thing—to look at your work as critically (and

WWW.SMLIV.COM

lovingly later) as a work that you have no emotional attachment to at all. Also, in doing a re-interpretation, one needs to understand the essence of the music that you are re interpreting.

Trying to understand the nuances and the vocabulary around the music is always the key.

Sometimes the thing to know is that the music doesn’t need massive re-interpretation and it just needs to be cleaned up because the original recording is either too rough in its original version for modern audiences to like or it just needs a slight update with the way the original artists recorded it.

The inclusion of several non-jug songs makes this album even more interesting.

What was the intent of including songs by artists like Jimmy Cliff, Sly Stone, Ray Charles?

Though the idea of a “jug band” record was our original intention going in, Sule and I started delving into a bigger idea about the Great Migration and its effect on American music, and also the evolution of the older styles of music that led to the more contemporary styles that we know nowadays. We just wanted to connect the dots in a few places that folks may not typically connect the dots. Also some of it just happened to be serendipity. For example, on “Can’t Strain My Brain,” Ndidi thought the tune would be a good one to try out. Sule had remembered hearing the song when it had first come out in 1970s, and in their stripped down version you hear two people who enjoyed the same song on two different levels. Also on “Sitting In Limbo,” Sule had suggested it and John was bowled over because he had loved the song and recorded already on one of his first solo albums. It was those sorts of experiences that made the album—some historic, some personal, and of course all musical.

The word “Sankofa” translates in English to “go back and get it.” How important is it for you to bring this music forward to folks who may not be familiar with it?

It’s extremely important! When Sule first introduced me to the idea of Sankofa, I knew that it would be a theme that would go through my work for the rest of my life. It’s a subversive and political move on my part. I used to do protest songs and topical music at one point. I found that presenting old songs and the like is a way to get people thinking. That’s also why I like to talk between songs when I’m performing. It’s the stuff I look for when listening and watching.

You can hear the records but finding out some crazy anecdote about the song or the artist that gives a deeper impression look into the song. I try to give that to audiences. That how I get “Sankofa” out there in my own way.

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mountain arts

HANDMADE IN AMERICA PRESENTS CRAFT ‘IN OUR OWN WORDS’

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“In Our Own Words: Language as Craft” features eleven local craft artists each sharing the results of a creative experiment at Handmade in America.

In a reversal of the usual process of making an object and then explaining it in words, a personally-resonant word was first chosen by each artist as the impetus for the making of an object. “We find not the phrasing to describe our work, but rather the craft to depict our language,” says one of the artists.

From fine furniture and woven sculpture to exquisitely created wall pieces, “In Our Own Words” is a playful exhibit with visual, verbage and vital messages.

Artists featured in this exhibition are: Fatie Atkinson, Caryl Brt, Hayley Davison, Melissa Engler, Carla and Greg Filippelli, Wayne Fowler, Susan Link, Journel Thomas, Jenna Weston, and Jamie Womack.

The exhibit is on display through May 4 at the HandMade in America Gallery at 125 South Lexington Avenue in Asheville.

For more information, visit handmadeinamerica.org or call 828.252.0121.

Tradition takes to the streets Gatlinburg’s seventh annual presentation of Smoky Mountain Tunes & Tales begins in downtown Gatlinburg on June 15, and will run through Aug. 11. Tunes & Tales is a summerlong street performance event featuring costumed musical performers, storytellers and artisans portraying characters from time periods as far back as 1800.

This eight-week event highlights one of Gatlinburg’s greatest assets—the community’s walkability—and provides guests with an interactive and entertaining experience.

The collection of personalities and performers arrive nightly at 6 p.m. in the center of town. Visitors witness a magical transformation of sidewalk to stage as the characters disperse along the downtown Parkway for an evening of entertainment and storytelling until 11 p.m. As many as twelve nightly acts perform throughout the evening.

Trios, duos, single acts and clogging groups will perform seven nights a week for the duration of the summer.

The mountain style of music is featured all season. From the beginnings of the pure Appalachian sound with groups like Boogertown Gap and Rattlesnake Hollow, to more traditional bluegrass music from groups such as Hurricane Ridge, The Grassabillies, Timber Creek, and the Holloway Sisters.

Turchin Center exhibits works by art fellowship recipients

Shoko Teruyama, Owl Teapot (Collaborative work with Matt Kelleher). 7” high. Glazed earthenware with sgraffito decoration. 2011.

Eighteen artists in North Carolina were awarded the distinctive honor of being named the 2010-2011 North Carolina Arts Council Artist Fellowship Awards winners. In the spring of 2012, sixteen of these artists will be featured at the Turchin Center in Boone, N.C. Artists included in the exhibit, which opens April 6 and runs through July 28, are Elizabeth Brim; Phoebe Brush; Kirk Fanelly; Gail Fredell; Maja Godlewska; Christopher Holmes; Mark Iwinski; Young Kim; Anne Lemanski; Nava Lubelski; Sean Pace; Susan Harbage Page; Vita Plume; Shoko Teruyama; Bob Trotman; and Linda Vista.

Each of the eighteen artists received a $10,000 fellowship.

The Turchin Center will present a roundtable artists’ discussion at 7 p.m. April 2, followed by a reception.

For more information, visit tvca.org or call 828.262.3017.

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Visitors will also be able to learn how instruments like the mountain and lap dulcimers and gourd banjo are made by local craftsmen like Denton Bragg and Mark Edelman. They will also enjoy the talents of the Back Porch Cloggers demonstrating old time clogging and even teaching folks some fun moves and steps.

Characters including Miss Nan the School Marm and Quiltin’ Annie often teach the young and old alike their old time ways. Visitors will be entertained with songs and stories by such personalities as Uncle Tubby, Ol’ Rowdy and Smiley Burdett, each relating stories of the Great Smoky Mountains, its people and history.

For more information, visit eventsgatlinburg.com.

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SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

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Allanstand Craft Shop at the Folk Art Center

Milepost 382 Blue Ridge Parkway | Asheville, NC Open Daily 9am-5pm | 828-298-7928

Guild Crafts

930 Tunnel Road/Hwy 70 | Asheville, NC Open Mon.-Sat.: 10am-6pm | 828-298-7903

Supporting mountain artists and setting the standard for fine crafts since 1930.

Shop online: www.craftguild.org Mon. - Sat. 10-5:30; Sun. 11-4

The Southern Highland Craft Guild is an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

work shown: Jim McPhail

An eclectic shopping experience, featuring over 75 dealers, each having a different take on what is wonderful.

75 Swannanoa River Road Biltmore Village Asheville | NC Hours at: atbarn.com call 828 252 7291 •

•

VISIT

Asheville NORTH CAROLINA

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DEPARTMENT

mountain cuisine

Chefs go head-to-head in the High Country

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FIRE ON THE ROCK

F

ire on the Rock is an annual “diner-judged” food competition that began with just six chefs in 2005 during the inaugural year of the Blue Ridge Wine and Food Festival. This year sixteen chefs are competing for the grand prize of $2,500 and the coveted “Red Chef Jacket.”

In a series of preliminary cook offs, chefs go head-tohead in a sixcourse meal featuring a secret ingredient not revealed until the day of the competition. Chefs’ creativity is put to the test as they are limited only to the ingredients provided in the Fire on the Rock pantry. Dinner guests rate each dish and carry 70 percent of the voting power in each competition. The other thirty percent of the vote goes to professional judges.

Preliminary rounds for Fire on the Rock concluded on March 21; however, the competition’s finalists will star in the Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival. Like the preliminary rounds, the final diner will be held at Crippen’s in Blowing Rock. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 828.295.3487.

Fire on the Rock has grown in popularity and spawed a series of four such culinary competitions across North Carolina including Fire in the Triad, Fire in the Triangle, and Fire on the Dock, which runs from March through May 22.

For more information, visit fireontherock.com.

Foodies converge on Blowing Rock in April Now in its seventh year, the Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival will be held in Blowing Rock April 11-15.

Festival events include “Grillin’ and Chillin’: A True Taste of North Carolina,” which will take place in the Grand Tasting Tent downtown.

North Carolina is famous for its barbeque, and the festival will offer it in the most authentic way … a whole-hog pig pickin’, barbequed chicken, fixins, and banana pudding. Accompanying the food will be a selection of North Carolina wines, craft-made beers and blues music by some of the area's best artists. Attendance is limited to 250 guests.

Celebrity Chef Teresa Giudice, best-selling author and The Real Housewives of New Jersey star will appear at several festival events and

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Romano Polenta Napoleon (above) with roasted jalapeno pepper, bacon, sharp cheddar, spring greens & red wine vinaigrette by Paolucci’s Italian Bar and Grill of Boone. Inset: Jimmy Crippen with Chef Guy Thomas of Glidewell’s in Blowing Rock, winner of “Battle Beef” held on Febuary 21.

Canton, N.C. welcomes Sid’s Sid’s on Main has opened in the newly remodeled Imperial Hotel in downtown Canton, N.C. Named for owner Sid Truesdale, Sid’s features staples such as a classic Reuben, catfish po’boy, and barbecue brisket sliders for lunch and a more extensive dinner menu including fresh Atlantic salmon with kale and grits, herb roasted chicken, and ribeye au poivre.

The dining area is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day for lunch and dinner. Brunch is also served starting at 11 a.m. on Sundays. The bar portion of the restaurant remains open until at least 11 p.m. each night.

For more information, call 828.492.0618 or visit sidsonmain.com.

will host the Celebrity Chef Cooking Demo on Saturday, April 14. Giudice has authored two New York Times best sellers, Skinny Italian and Fabulicious!: Teresa’s Italian Family Cookbook. Her third cookbook, Fabulicious: Fast & Fit! is scheduled for publication in May. Continuously updated information on festival seminars, events and activities, along with participating wineries, restaurants, and accommodations can be found Celebrity chef and author Teresa Giudice will host a at blueridgewinefestival.com or by cooking demo April 14. calling the Blowing Rock Chamber DONATED PHOTO of Commerce, which produces the festival, at 877.295.7851. All events are open to the public although some require fees; tickets can be purchased online.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

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Thrive

“We wish we would have moved sooner.”

It’s the comment we hear most often from new Deerfield residents. They delight in our location and their new-found friends; love the state-of-the-art amenities; feel safe, secure and well cared for by our expert staff – their only complaint is that they didn’t make the decision to move sooner. Since the best time to move may have been years ago, then isn’t the next best time now?

Call to schedule a visit and learn how you can thrive at Deerfield – in body, mind and spirit.

A N E P I S C O PA L R E T I R E M E N T COMMUNITY

1617 Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC (828) 274-1531 ext. 1 www.deerfieldwnc.org

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DEPARTMENT

out & about

Inn’s latest chapter includes a friendly reunion

Traditional summer and winter homes are part of an exhibit depicting historic Cherokee life. CLAY COUNTY COMMUNITIES REVITALIZATION ASSOCIATION PHOTO

The Clay County Communities Revitalization Association raised more than $12,000 last year for projects including hiking and biking trails at Jack Rabbit mountain, completing a Cherokee heritage exhibit at the museum in downtown Hayesville, and restoring the Historical Clay County Courthouse restoration.

CCCRA partnered with the Southern Appalachian Biking Association to construct Jack Rabbit mountain Bike and Hiking Trail, a 15-mile world class trail which the U.S. Forest Service estimates will see more than 40,000 uses in its first full year.

For the Cherokee exhibit, CCCRA developed a curriculum for elementary and middle school students and in the exhibit’s first year have had more than 1,000 visits by area students. In concert with the exhibit, CCCRA has conducted workshops for Warren Wilson College and Western Carolina University.

WCU’s film department selected the creation of the exhibit for a documentary style film. The project was accomplished with assistance from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and grant assistance from a number of funders including Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, The Conservation Fund, and The Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

For more information, visit cccra.net.

BALSAM MOUNTAIN INN PHOTO

Blazing the way

The historic Balsam Mountain Inn is once again in the caring hands of Merrily Teasley, the owner who lovingly restored the building in 1990.

Teasley first bought the historic inn on the courthouse steps, saving it from foreclosure and owning it until she retired in 2004 and sold the inn to new owners. However, the owners were forced to declare bankruptcy—and in December, Teasley once again rescued the inn on the courthouse steps.

She first spotted the 104-year-old inn, which sits off the Blue Ridge Parkway between Waynesville and Sylva, while night hiking with a friend. A full moon was shining down on the building.

The then-neglected bed and breakfast was not for sale at the time, recalled Teasley, who lived in Tennessee at the time. But, a year later things changed.

She bought the 42,000square-foot inn and it became one of seven structures she has restored over the years.

The building features a mixture of original aspects, such as its molding, as well as accurate replicas from the early 1900s.

Mary Kay Morrow is now head chef of the inn’s restaurant where dishes are made almost solely from fresh produce.

Even some of its fish is shipped regularly from Hawaii—caught, packaged and delivered to the inn within 48 hours.

While breakfast is included in the cost of the room, the inn is open to anyone for dinner. The restaurant can seat up to 164 guests in its main dining room and patio. Smaller rooms are available for private dining or meetings.

Musicians and storytellers regularly perform at the inn.

For reservations or more information, call 855.456.9498 or visit balsammountaininn.net.

Tour the terrain of Grandfather Mountain park Grandfather Mountain’s guided hike series, now in its second year, will showcase the wonderful scenery and wildlife of the mountain throughout the coming months.

The “Spring to MacRae” hike, offered May 5 and 6, begins the series. This hike offers guests the opportunity to visit MacRae Peak and witness life returning to Grandfather after a long winter slumber. Hikers traverse 0.9 miles, using cables and seven ladders to gain almost 600 feet in elevation. This half-day hike begins at 9 a.m. and costs $15 in addition to park admission.

Second on this year’s lineup is the “Ridgeline of Diversity” hike offered June 16 and 17. As the 26

Crossing Grandfather’s ridges on the Grandfather Trail is a rigorous challenge that takes hikers through wind-dwarfed spruce and fir and into open spaces with views of mountains unfurling in every direction.

GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN PHOTO

name suggests, this hike is designed to showcase the unparalleled diversity of animal and plant life in this unique area, while also SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

providing guests with a full panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. This journey takes hikers 2.4 miles, traversing large boulders, climbing ladders and gaining 700 feet in elevation. This trip is an all-day commitment and is not for the inexperienced hiker. It begins at 9 a.m. and costs $35 in addition to halfprice park admission.

For those who are interested in a guided hike but can’t attend the scheduled trips, additional guided treks are available yearround and can be reserved in advance. Guided hikes can travel to MacRae Peak, Attic Window Peak and Calloway Peak and interpretive rangers can tailor the journey to fit topics of interest for the participants. A minimum of four participants is required.

For more information or to schedule a guided hike, call 828.737.0833 or visit grandfather.com.

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mountain letters

A new version of a Kephart classic

The Curious Gardener: A Year in the Garden

by Anna Pavord. NY: Bloomsbury USA, 2012. inding gardening books written by authors reminiscing about weeding, cutting, pruning—all the demands of horticulture and agriculture of our immediate region— is about as impossible as killing honeysuckle, lamb’s ear, or other hearty plants. Thus vicarious gardening pleasures may be gleaned from Anna Pavord’s work, The Curious Gardener, which features 72 of her best columns.

It’s a hybrid collection that marries memoir with the best of gardening advice and practices from Pavord’s place of residence and writing in Dorest, England. It is the manner in which Pavord writes about gardening, however, that takes it to another level. Consider this line: “the more you go on, the less you realize you know and the more extraordinary the whole process seems.” In the introduction, readers learn that her parents gave her and her brother gardens of their own when they were children, but she didn’t learn the point of gardening until she lived long enough in one place as an adult to grow roots. She grew to love growing food of her own and feeding her family, but ultimately, growing roots mattered in more ways than one.

Pavord’s lessons about gardening make me want to order a few seed catalogs quick-like so I can practice this in earnest and be ready to welcome spring. After several decades of gardening, Pavord reveals that gardening is all about the process and not the end result. She promises that gardeners never need to visit “the shrink” because working in the garden with the soil and soaking up the sun provides succor for the soul and is nature’s therapy. However, she cautions that plants are living creatures with needs and desires of their own and sometimes it is best to let them have their own way.

Of course, I connected with the deep, philosophical aspects of the book, but it is chockablock full of advice on growing early varieties of potatoes, when to plant them, how to protect them, which variety is best for what purpose, etc. If you’re an Anglophile, no doubt you’ll love this book. I’m not, but I found it charming nonetheless. At the conclusion of each month Pavord lists “tasks for the month” that can keep you on track if you’re new to gardening and haven’t a clue about where to start.

F

BY REBECCA TOLLEY-STOKES

Camping and Woodcraft: A Handbook for Vacation Campers and for Travelers in the Wilderness by Horace Kephart. Gatlinburg, Tenn.: Great Smoky Mountains Association, 2011. he opening pages of this re-issue of Camping and Woodcraft invites city-dwellers to shed the “sights and smells and clangor” for a blessed interval in the outdoors.

Its author, Horace Kephart, played a pivotal role in the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park despite the fact that it was founded in 1934, three years after his death in 1931. Kephart, a librarian who worked at Cornell, Yale, and the St. Louis Mercantile Library (Mo.) before settling in the Smokies in 1904, penned articles for Field and Stream that influenced the way that Americans viewed vaHorace Kephart made his home in a small cationing in the outdoors and cabin on Hazel Creek in Swain County from preserving its wild areas. He 1904 to 1907, immersing himself in the loved America’s wilderness bebackwoods culture of the mountaineers. cause “there were no shams in NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PHOTO it.” Nature offered folks both physical and spiritual refuge from the industrialized world. And of course his seminal book, Our Southern Highlanders, was influential in how the rest of America and the world viewed those who lived in Appalachia.

Though much of Camping and Woodcraft was written prior to his move to Bryson City, N.C., Kephart filled the book with lore, anecdotes, and personalities who captivated him. The book is a classic, covering the enduring values of outdoor life along with basic outfitting concepts and indispensable items needed for a stay in the woods. Though it is in some ways dated due to modern technological innovations in camping gear, the essentials in regards to supplies and techniques for wilderness survival remain the same. Kephart’s love for language is sure to tickle the reader’s fancy as he names twenty or so devices for items used to suspend or support cooking utensils over a fire.

Most fascinating is that as early at 1906, Kephart advocated featherlight camping kits weighing no more than six pounds. This limited campers’ bedding and shelter to the barest minimum, which is predictive of modern practices of minimal packing so as to leave no trace or impact on wilder-

T

DEPARTMENT

Pavord reveals

that gardening is all about the process and not the end result.

ness when we return to our homes. Boy Scouts may remember having encountered Kephart’s writing because as an authority on outdoor life, he contributed articles to Boy’s Life in the 1920s on topics that ranged from hiking rations to Cherokee blowguns.

Kephart captured and conveyed timeless skills that had been transferred between generations for millennia. Those lessons remain valuable even today.

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DEPARTMENT

mountain voices

Building on ideas Making sense of new construction standards

BY SCOTT MUIRHEAD

O

ne of the best-known acronyms to come out of the green forest is LEED, and it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a part of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), and its stated mission is to provide “building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.”

Historically commercial buildings have been trash bins for energy dollars. Through the buildings’ inefficiency and the managements’ disregard, the cavernous spaces have over the decades provided for the belching of untold mega-tons of CO2 into the air. LEED is changing that all over the world.

In Asheville, NC, the Asheville Independent Restaurant group, (AIR), received a quarter-million dollar grant to be used to install green features in the different buildings that house the eateries. The grant came from the NC Board of Science and Technology’s Green Business Fund, and work is currently underway at some of the AIR restaurants. One, the Posana Café, recently had its solar water heating system installed on the roof of its downtown location. Owner Peter Pollay is enthusiastic about the changes, and in mid-January he had become eager to receive his next gas bill, to see what difference the solar heaters make in supplying him with hot water. “I get enough bills and invoices,” he said, “but I’m actually looking forward to getting that bill.”

On the residential end of green building, new standards are finding their way into the mainstream, even though some of the ideas, if not outright obvious, could be seen as questionable. One in particular is to abandon the standard 36-inch wide hallways of old in favor of new ones that span 42-inches. A 42-inch wide hallway that is 20 feet long and has a standard, eight-foot ceiling height amounts to an additional 80 cubic feet of mostly unoccupied space that the homeowner will need to heat and cool. It amounts to 10 square feet, and in homes that receive credits for being smaller than normal, the logic of the wider hall is elusive So, okay, maybe committees don’t always get it right. But the big picture indicates there is a steadily growing awareness by people all around the world of our collective need to conserve our resources and better manage our waste. We may be able to move to a different neighborhood. Moving to a different planet is a whole other story.

Mark and Linda Liverett’s Haywood County, N.C., home incorporates photovoltaic panels, rainwater collection and other methods to cut energy costs and reduce its carbon footprint. SCOTT MUIRHEAD PHOTO

Haywood County resident Mark Liverett has no intention of leaving either the planet or his beautiful green home in the Hemphill area. With his wife, Linda, Liverett began planning his mountain home about eight years ago.

Liverett is not your average do-it-your-selfer. His spent his career as a facilities supervisor, and as though that were not enough, he simultaneously taught technical classes at Harper College and Elgin Community College, both near Chicago. His expertise is in the area of design criteria for heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) systems in mostly commercial applications. But he is a hands-on guy, too, and he installed much of his two solar systems by himself.

The Liverett’s home is kept warm in winter by a solar-powered water heating system. On the roof of the house are about ten square feet of vacuum tubes that collect the sun’s heat, producing on a sunny day 68-thousand BTU's. That energy is captured in

The Asheville Independent Restaurant group received a quarter-million dollar grant to be used to install green features in the different buildings that house the eateries.

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68262

Get Real!

“What pleases me

Cocke County, Tennessee

is that I can capture the sun’s energy and put it to use for myself.”

— Mark Liverett

glycol, a liquid that will not freeze, and transferred by a heat exchanger into the potable hot water system of the house.

There it circulates through tubing attached to the underside of the floor, and the result is warmth without the familiar hum of an air handler, or the sometimes obnoxious movement of air blowing through ductwork.

He also has installed on his roof a series of solar panels that capture the sunlight and turn it into electricity. His system is connected to the power grid, so that excess energy generated by his panels is fed backwards through his meter and back into the grid. The power company is obliged by law to accept and pay for that power, and the result is that Liverett’s power bill is greatly reduced.

Liverett is an enthusiastic proponent of things green. “What pleases me,” he said, “is that I can capture the sun’s energy and put it to use for myself. And I’m happy that my systems will reduce the carbon footprint of my home.”

But Liverett’s green systems were not cheap, even when taking into account the tax breaks he received from the state and federal governments. Currently in this area any individual can receive as much as 65 percent credit against his or her tax bill for installing eco-friendly technology.

And Liverett readily admits that the credits were an important factor in the design of his house. Of the approximately $25-thousand he spent on his solar equipment, he will receive about $15-thousand in tax credits. But the tax write-offs were only one factor in making his home a more comfortable and efficient structure. Liverett understands and appreciates that there is something infinitely appealing and fascinating about using the sun to heat and cool our homes. It’s up there, shining down through the CO2, as if patiently waiting for universal recognition, and people like Liverett are the vanguard of that awareness.

There is also the not unsubstantial benefit of heat and light when icy winds knock down the power lines to your neighborhood. Here’s to sunshine.

For your next “Real” Smoky Mountain adventure, give us a holler! www.cockecounty.com 423.625.9675

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DEPARTMENT

outdoors

Beech biking

BY SAM BOYKIN

KRISTIAN JACKSON PHOTO

N

orth Carolina’s Beech Mountain is emerging as one of the region’s top mountain biking destinations with the addition of a several new chairlift-assisted trails.

Scheduled to open in June, the new trails are part of ongoing renovations and improvements at Beech Mountain Resort, located about 20 miles from Boone. This is just the latest development in the town’s bid to become a year-round outdoor recreation Mecca.

For more than four decades Beech Mountain Resort has attracted skiers from all over the Southeast with some of the highest peaks east of the Rocky Mountains. But action at the resort often came to a grinding halt during the summer—until now.

Last year Chris Herndon, the 2007 dual slalom mountain bike national champion, designed two new tails at the resort for the 2011 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Gravity Nationals.

This summer marks the first time the course will be open to the public. Visitors will be able to take the resort’s high-speed quad chairlift—which will be equipped with special trays to carry bikes—to the mountain’s 5,506-foot summit.

From there they can race down either an intermediate or advanced trail, reaching speeds of up to 45 mph as they navigate rock gardens, jumps, burms and wooded sections.

“Chairlift-assisted mountain biking is very popular these days, but it’s taken longer to reach the Southeast,” Herndon said. “This is really going to open up a type of riding that has been limited in our area for so long.”

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The trails end at the resort’s newly revamped Alpine Village. There visitors can grab a bite to eat and a cold drink at Beech Tree Bar and Grill or View Haus Cafeteria. They can also check out some of the new shops, like Beech Mountain Village Bakery, which offers pastries, baked goods, and a small gift shop with T-shirts, hats and souvenirs.

Beech Mountain Resort’s general manager, Ryan Costin, said he plans to open the new trail system on the weekends starting in June, leading up to this year’s Mountain Bike Gravity National Championships, which runs July 20-22.

In addition to Beech Mountain Resort, there’s also the new Beech Mountain Adventure Trail Park, which the town unveiled last summer.

Daniel Scagnelli, the fitness and wellness director for the town’s parks and recreation department, worked with dozens of volunteers to build the trail system. It features an eight-mile network of single track—known as Emerald Outback— that ranges in elevation from 4,700 to 5,400 feet, providing unparalleled mountain vistas and overlooks. The park’s second and third phases are scheduled to open in 2014, and will encompass more than 25 miles of trails, including single track, double track, technical runs and long, rolling descents.

Cycle 4 Life Bike Shop in nearby Banner Elk is among the first in the area to provide mountain bike rentals and guided bike trips at the new Beech Mountain Adventure Trail Park. Owner Doug Owen said the new park is helping attract more people to the area, including both hardcore SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

info:

Beech Mountain Resort 800.438.2093 or beechmountainresort.com. mountain bikers as well as families looking to enjoy some two-wheeled outdoor fun together.

In response to the park’s debut, Owen said he’s beefed up his mountain bike rental program, and is offering guided trips that last from three to four hours. He’s also offering special guided trips that involve mountain biking and wine tasting.

The “Oz to Banner Elk” trip begins at the top of Beech Mountain near the old Land of Oz theme park. From there, he guides groups down a thrilling “creeper trail” along a ridge that provides scenic views of the Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina mountains. The ride makes a pit stop in the town of Beech Mountain for lunch, and then continues downhill to a tasting at the Banner Elk Winery.

These great new resources only add to Beech Mountain’s 51 miles of road bike routes, which vary from easy to challenging. All routes begin at the Visitors Center, with some passing through paved residential areas, while others wind past scenic Buckeye Lake and the town’s Recreation Center. So whether you’re a beginner or an experienced mountain bike rider, this summer is the perfect time to check out why Beech Mountain has become so much more than just a skiing destination.

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HOTO

Chimney Rock Park continues to make progress with renovations. The new stairs being built on the Outcroppings Trail to the Chimney is well on target for completion Spring 2012, when access to the Chimney and upper mountain is expected to be restored.

Additional crews are busy renovating the Park restrooms on the Meadows and in the top parking lot to make them ADAcompliant. Work on both sets of restrooms is scheduled to be completed by April 2012. Every effort is being made to preserve the nature murals that grace the restroom walls, and after the rest rooms are updated, muralist Clive Haynes will return to touch up the paintings.

The Old Rock Café, located in Chimney Rock Village and operated by the Park, underwent a four-week renovation that included redesigning the layout, replacing equipment and paneling in the kitchen and replacing the carpet.

Chimney Rock is part of the Chimney Rock State Park. The Chimney Rock area is operated by a private contractor and is open throughout the year. Entry fees offset the cost of operating this popular tourist destination.

Currently, Chimney Rock and the Rumbling Bald Climbing Access are the only public accesses within the greater Chimney Rock State Park. However, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation will eventually develop other areas of the state park with more traditional park facilities and recreation.

LYNN SELDON PHOTO COURTESY OF CHIMNEY ROCK PARK

Chimney Rock wraps up park improvements

The greater Chimney Rock State Park currently encompasses roughly 4,500 acres on both north and south sides of the gorge and efforts continue to bring more of the gorge’s natural resources into conservation.

Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park has been a tourist destination in western North Carolina since a simple stairway was built to the rock’s summit in 1885. In 1902, Lucius B. Morse of Missouri bought the site. The Morse family developed park facilities including a tunnel and elevator to the rock summit, nature center and a network of hiking trails to geologic points of interest including the 404-foot-tall Hickory Nut Falls.

For more information, visit chimneyrockpark.com.

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DEPARTMENT

sustainable living

2011 A GREEN YEAR FOR MARS HILL In Mars Hill, N.C., 2011 brought several sustainable changes including solar panels that were installed on the library to generate electricity to power the building and sell to the power company. Town employees did the work with supervision by French Broad Electric. The solar panels will serve as a great educational tool for the entire community. Mars Hill College biology students helped with a demonstration project for slowing down runoff water from parking lots and treating it for better water quality.

Another project in 2011 was an energy efficiency upgrade for all lighting and heating systems in town buildings, which is projected to bring big savings in electrical consumption.

Two N.C. rest areas go electric The first electric vehicle charging stations at a state rest area opened in January thanks to a partnership among the N.C. Department of Transportation, N.C. Department of Commerce and Praxis Technologies Inc. The Alamance County and Johnston County rest areas were strategically chosen as installation sites. They are high traffic locations that welcome a combined 1 million visitors annually. And additionally, they are located along commuter routes near major metropolitan

Skip Kurz, CEO of Praxis Technologies, demonstrates the new charging station at the Alamance County, N.C., rest area. A Nissan Leaf was supplied for the occasion by Michael Jordan Nissan of Durham.

N.C. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PHOTO

Conservation’s congressional ally State Rep. Chuck McGrady (RHenderson) is the recipient of an award given

by North Carolina’s 24 land trusts to a public official who has been a critical part of land and water protection in the state. The award is given to a public official who leads efforts to protect the state’s streams and lakes, forests, farms, parkland and wildlife habitat, thereby protecting clean drinking water and air, local food, outdoor recreation, and North Carolina’s unique natural heritage.

In his very first year as a member of the General Assembly in 2011, McGrady spearheaded legislation that for years has been high on the list of priorities for North Carolina’s land trusts. House Bill h350 called for greater uniformity and consistency in exempting land owned by land trusts from local property taxes.

“In a session marked by a change in power 32

From left: Richard Broadwell, CTNC land protection specialist; Chuck McGrady; Kieran Roe, CMLC Executive Director. CAROLINA MOUNTAIN LAND CONSERVANCY PHOTO

and priorities, North Carolina land trusts needed an energetic friend with strong ties to leaders in both chambers,” said Kieran Roe, executive director of Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy. “Chuck McGrady provided that service, carrying on a longstanding tradition of conservation

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

areas. This may allow motorists the option of charging their vehicle for a short period of time in order to gain enough charge to travel to another charging station location.

The charging stations are classified as “Level 2,” which means they can fully charge a vehicle in 6-7 hours. There is no cost for using the stations.

“With this project, the state of North Carolina and its partners are helping lay the groundwork for an infrastructure that will support the increasing number of electric vehicles in North Carolina and the nation,” said State Roadside Environmental Engineer Don Lee. Raleigh-based Praxis Technologies Inc. provided the electric vehicle charging stations, as well as accompanying educational signage, through a grant from the N.C. Department of Commerce Green Business Fund Program. Praxis Technologies Inc. is based in Raleigh and provides sustainable parking solutions, including EV charging stations, solar canopies and LED parking lot and station lighting, for cities, municipalities, businesses and multifamily residences.

leadership within the ‘Teddy Roosevelt wing’ of the Republican Party.”

McGrady’s conservation work is based on long experience, including serving on the board of the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund and as chair of its Acquisitions Committee. He was a founder, past president and long-time supporter of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (CMLC). He also served as executive director of the North Carolina Youth Camp Association and is director emeritus of Falling Creek Camp, a boys’ summer camp in Tuxedo, N.C. In addition to his ongoing support of CMLC, he has been a volunteer leader for numerous conservation groups including John Muir Foundation, Muddy Sneakers, N.C. Forest Council, Friends of DuPont Forest and the American Camp Association. He served for seven years on the national board of directors of the Sierra Club, including as president from 1998 to 2000.

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DON MCGOWAN PHOTO

Water World Temperate rainforests of the Southern Appalachians

BY DON HENDERSHOT

White Oak Flats Branch is a small tributary of Little River in the Smokies on the Tennessee side. It flows out of small hardwood cove on the flank of Lumber Ridge about a mile from where Little River and Middle Prong/West Prong of Little River come together at the Townsend "Y".

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DON MCGOWAN PHOTO

W

hat is a temperate rainforest? The short answer is that it’s a forest that’s wet with mild temperatures. The not-so-short-answer is that in the Southern Appalachians it’s complicated.

“We had lots of long, lively scientific discussions regarding the Southern Appalachians,” said Dr. Paul Alaback, professor emeritus of forest ecology at the University of Montana and one of the co-authors of Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. In the book they note, “Although the Appalachian mixedmesophytic forests of the southeastern United States has been recognized as temperate rainforests by some it was not predicted by the rainforest distribution model, presumably because the region has relatively high year-round temperatures and dry summers. However because there was evidence of rainforest conditions at high elevations (moist pockets of spruce-fir within the larger ecoregion), we briefly mentioned them as a southerly extension of Appalachian boreal rainforests from Eastern Canada that require further study.”

And it is pretty clear from other research that some forests in the Smokies fit nicely within (and some marginally within) Alaback’s definition for a temperate rainforest, which calls for annual precipitation over 55 inches and a mean annual temperature between 39 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit. In a 2005 study regarding productivity of different types of forests in the Smokies, R.T. Busing noted that the area around Alum Caves Bluff parking area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) had a mean annual precipitation of around 79 inches and the mean annual temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Data from Jim Renfro, air quality program manager for the GSMNP, also shows that Mt. Leconte is a good fit as a temperate rainforest. Twenty-five years of data show that Mt. LeConte averages more than 70 inches of rain a year and an average high temperature of 51 degrees Fahrenheit, and an average low temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

The GSMNP is not the only place across the Blue Ridge that falls into the temperate rainforest range. Grandfather Mountain, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Linville, N.C., has an average rainfall of 63 inches per year with an average high temperature of 53 degrees Fahrenheit and an average low temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit. And according to Dr. Alan Weakley, plant community ecologist, curator of the UNC Herbarium, adjunct assistant professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and author of the Flora of the Southern & Mid-Atlantic States, the Jocassee Gorges receives the highest rainfall in eastern North America. Rainfall in some places in the Jocassee Gorges reaches nearly 100

inches a year and the average annual temperature in the area ranges from about 55 degrees Fahrenheit in Brevard, N.C., to 51 degrees Fahrenheit in Highlands, N.C. The Jocassee Gorges extend from Lake Jocassee, near where North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia all meet, northward and eastward to around Caesar’s Head State Park on the North CarolinaSouth Carolina border. They include the gorges created by the Whitewater, Horsepasture and Estatoe rivers plus other mountain streams.

“It is somewhat controversial to call any of these Southern Appalachian forests temperate rainforest because, while they meet the most basic definition, they are not strongly differentiated in species composition or physiognomy (structure) from other forests in the Southern Appalachians,” Weakley writes.

“Unlike, say, the Olympic Peninsula forests in western Washington.”

“When I walk into the spruce-fir forest on Mt. Leconte there is an immediate coolness, and smell—I might as well be in Juneau.”

— Scott Ranger

While these Southern Appalachian temperate rainforests may not be strongly differentiated regarding species composition, there are definitely some plants and/or plant types either endemic to or strongly associated with them.

Shortia galacifolia, Oconee bells, is one plant endemic to the Jocassee Gorges area. Oconee bells is a biogeographic relic meaning that it is part of a once widespread taxa, now restricted to a small geographic area. Oconee bells’ closest relatives are in Asia. Shortia loves the deep shade, abundant rainfall, stream banks and steep slopes of the Gorges. According to Weakley, another rare plant from the Jocassee Gorges is Turnbridge filmy-fern, which grows on rock outcrops in the Gorges. This disjunct species’ closest relatives are in the West Indies.

Michael Schafale, plant community ecologist at the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, said that the Gorges were “… home to a remarkable number of rare bryophytes [bryophytes are plants of the order Bryophyta that includes mosses and liverworts], including some that are disjunct from the tropics.” The Jocassee Gorges are home to more than 60 species of rare and/or endemic plants. Butternut or WWW.SMLIV.COM

white walnut, Appalachian mock orange, rock fir-clubmoss and grotto alumroot are a few of the rare plants associated with the Jocassee Gorges.

Epiphytes and lichens are not unique to rainforests, but Alaback calls them characteristic and says they are good indicators. Epiphytes can be plants, fungi or microbes that grow upon other plants. The key is they are nourished by nutrients and water gathered non-parasitically from the forest canopy where they live. Abundant moisture is conducive for epiphytes as they gather their nutrients from the air and/or the damp surface of their host. Lichens are unique in that they are actually a combination of two organisms—a fungus and an alga—that live in a symbiotic relationship. The moist forests of the Southern Appalachians are home to a host of epiphytic mosses, lichens and ferns. One of the most common is Old Man’s Beard, a graygreen lichen seen hanging from tree limbs like Spanish moss. A two-day lichen “foray” in GSMNP sponsored by Discover Life in America recorded 88 species of lichens.

Scott Ranger is a naturalist who splits his time between Marietta, Ga., and Juneau, Alaska. Ranger spends his time in Alaska as a guide for Gastineau Guiding Company. And he has spent much time in the Lower 48 botanizing and leading trips in the GSMNP. Ranger noted a couple of Mt. Leconte specialties that revel in the dampness. Narrowleaf gentian, Gentiana linearis, occurs primarily in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada but makes its way down the Southern Appalachians to high-elevation sites in the Smokies. According to Ranger, narrowleaf gentian “needs its roots in moist soil at all times.”

Rugel’s ragwort, Rugelia nudicaulis, is endemic to the Smokies of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee, all known populations are within the GSMNP. Ranger said that Rugel’s ragwort requires the rainforest conditions found on Mt. Leconte.

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE These temperate rainforests are awash in water. High annual rainfall, snow in the high elevations like Mt. Leconte, and blankets of dense fog that clings to vegetation and adds to precipitation totals in the form of fog drip assure an abundance of water.

The topography of the Southern Appalachians coupled with prevailing winds from the south-southwest join in a process known as orographic lift to create this bounty of precipitation. When these prevailing winds carrying moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean hit the mountains they are abruptly lifted up. This orographic lifting 35

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Pale Jewelweed. DISCOVER LIFE IN AMERICA - CHUCK COOPER PHOTO

quickly cools the air mass, raising the humidity and often resulting in precipitation.

Copious precipitation coupled with steep rocky terrain is the perfect recipe for waterfalls, and the Southern Appalachians are renowned for their waterfalls. Ramsey Cascades with a 100-foot drop is the tallest falls in the GSMNP. Rainbow Falls and Grotto Falls are two that grace Mt. Leconte. Some other notable waterfalls in the GSMNP include Juney Whank, Abrams, Hen Wallow and Mingo.

The Jocassee Gorges are home to the highest waterfall east of the Rockies. Whitewater Falls has a total drop of 411 feet. Other falls in Jocassee include several on the Horsepasture River— Drift, Turtleback, Stairway, Sidepocket and Windy. Thompson or Big Falls, Twin Falls, White Owl, High Falls and Slippery Witch are just a few more falls that dot the Gorges.

Besides being beautiful to look at, these waterfalls create unique habitats called “spray communities.” Algae, mosses and ferns are common in spray communities. Rare ferns, found in spray communities in Jocassee Gorges include the gorge filmy fern, which is endemic to the Gorges, Appalachian filmy fern and 36

Whitewater Falls in Jackson County, N.C. NFS PHOTO

dwarf filmy fern. Carolina star-moss and Pringle’s aquatic moss are two rare mosses found in spray communities in Jocassee Gorges. Some herbaceous plants associated with spray communities across the Southern Appalachians include Appalachian bluet, grassof-Parnassus, round-leaf sundew, branch-lettuce, grotto alumroot and jewelweed.

One faunal community comes to mind immediately when you think of spray communities— salamanders. Salamanders are certainly common in spray communities but they are also at home throughout the rich moist confines of Southern Appalachian temperate rainforests. There are more species of salamanders in the Southern Appalachians than anywhere else in the world.

There are more than 30 species of salamanders in the GSMNP with many more spread across Western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

“The very rich salamander flora is relictual [dating back to an earlier time] and definitely related to the rainfall and long stability of the area,” according to Weakley. The fact they’ve been here so long may explain the fact that they reach their highest diversity in the Southern Appalachians.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

THE FEEL OF A RAINFOREST Scott Ranger has lots of experience as a naturalist in the Smokies and in the Southeast Temperate Rainforest of Alaska. “I see a lot of the same plants, like lady fern and goat’s beard, in both places,” Ranger said. Sometimes the species may change but plants of the same type (often the same genus) are found in similar habitats.

Ranger said that Canada mayflower, Maianthemum canadense, is a common spring wildflower in high moist woodlands in the Smokies. In high moist woodlands in Alaska, Ranger said it is replaced by Maianthemum stellatum.

But according to Ranger, there is more than simply a similarity in vegetation. “When I walk into the spruce-fir forest on Mt. Leconte there is an immediate coolness, and smell—I might as well be in Juneau,” Ranger said. “Or leaving LeConte lodge on Bullhead Trail, passing head-high stands of Turk’s-cap lilies, then stepping onto that carpet of needles—there’s just such a refreshing feel and fragrance.”

The floor of a temperate rainforest is like a green lumpy incubator. The cool wet environ-

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ment means that logs and woody debris are broken down and recycled slowly creating a fecund bacterial stew where other living organisms can get a toehold. One decaying log on the forest floor can create its own ecosystem of bacteria, microbes, moss, fungi, worms, larvae and salamanders. Researchers have documented more biomass in temperate rainforests than any other habitat on the planet.

Thick carpets of moss often cover logs and even boulders in the Southern Appalachians providing the perfect nursery for the seeds of other plants. It’s not uncommon in the Smokies to see rhododendron and other plants sprouting from these “nurse logs.” Yellow birch seems particularly adapted to this process and one can often see birches perched atop boulders, roots snaking over the rock to the ground below like a tree on stilts.

BIODIVERSITY The Southern Appalachians are a bastion of biodiversity. Antiquity, diverse topography, abundant precipitation and temperate climate all combine to create levels of diversity and endemism unsurpassed in the temperate regions of the world. The GSMNP is a United Nations’ International Biosphere Preserve.

There are more than 100 species of trees in the GSMNP alone and more than 2,000 species of vascular plants across the Southern Appalachians. Water and/or moisture plays a critical role in this biodiversity. Nearly 10 percent of the total global diversity of freshwater mussels and salamanders can be found in the Southern Appalachians.

Schafale notes that areas of high rainfall contribute to this biodiversity, “Because there are so many rare species, including some endemic ones, the high rainfall area is very important to the biodiversity of the Southern Appalachians. There are species that occur nowhere else, even in other parts of the Southern Appalachians.”

Discover Life in America (DLIA) is a non-profit organization that sponsors the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI), an ambitious effort to identify and record every living species in the GSMNP. The ATBI started in 2003 and since that time researchers have recorded nearly 18,000 species in the park. Of those, 7,391 are new park records and 922 are species new to science.

CLIMATE CHANGE Probably the one thing as complicated (or more so) as trying to delineate boundaries, scopes and extents of temperate rainforests in the Southern Appalachians is trying to predict the effects of climate change on them. According to Jim Renfro of the GSMNP, “Some models [of climate change] predict warmer and wetter and some models predict warmer and drier.

The only thing they seem to agree on is that it is getting warmer.” But a few degrees increase in temperature may not be as important as precipitation.

According to Schafale, “We don’t know that well what the impacts will be from climate change. The high rainfall is created by the interaction of topography with weather patterns [orographic lift]. If climate change shifted the moist southerly winds away, things could dry up quickly. But if it doesn’t, the warmer ocean temperatures may just mean more moisture in the air and higher rainfall. Since these areas are already pretty warm, a few degrees of warmer air may not matter so much. Most of the species there span a pretty broad range of elevation.”

Mt. Leconte wildflowers Mt. Leconte is a good fit as a temperate rainforest. Twenty-five years of data show that Mt. LeConte averages more than 70 inches of rain a year and an average high temperature of 51 degrees Fahrenheit, and an average low temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Spring through autumn hikes on Mt. Leconte provide great opportunities for viewing wildflowers in this moist, fecund habitat.

There are five trails that lead to the summit of Mt. Leconte. All offer some similar and some unique opportunities. We will look at Trillium Gap Trail and Bullhead trail for wildflower viewing (though others may be just as good).

A couple of reminders: All trails to the summit of LeConte are moderate/strenuous to strenuous hikes. We would suggest hiking up Trillium Gap and back down Bullhead for a loop. But you don’t have to hike all the way to the summit to see great wildflowers. Trillium Gap to Brushy Mountain is a great up and back wildflower excursion.

Trillium Gap is aptly named an observant hikers may see 4 to 7 different species (depending on season) as they ascend the trail.

The lower elevations are good places to find a couple of the “sessile” trilliums. Sessile means the flowers have short or no stalk, basically sitting right atop the leaves.

Two of the sessile trilliums that may be found along Trillium Gap Trail are: y Trillium luteum – Yellow toadshade or yellow wakerobin y Trillium cuneatum – Little-sweet-Betsy Stalked trilliums that might be encountered include: y Trillium grandiflorum – Large flowered trillium or white wakerobin y Trillium catesbaei – Catesby’s trillium or bashful wakerobin y Trillium erectum – Wake robin or Stinking Benjamin y Trillium undulatum – Painted trillium or painted wakerobin y Trillium vaseyi – Vasey’s trillium or sweet wakerobin Other wildflowers that could be encountered (depending on season) along Trillium Gap Trail, Bullhead Trail and around the summit at Mt. Leconte include: y Diphylleia cymosa – Umbrella leaf y Clintonia borealis – Clinton’s lily or speckled wood lily y Clintonia borealis – Bluebead lily y Conopholis americana – Squaw-root or Squaw-corn y Viola spp – Various species of violets (blue, white, yellow) may be encountered on Mt. Leconte y Dicentra cucullaria – Dutchman’s breeches y Leucothoe fontanesiana – Dog hobble y Phacelia fimbriata – White fringed phacelia y Smilacina racemosa – Solomon’s plume or False Solomon’s seal y Lilium superbum – Turk’s cap lily y Cypripedium acaule – Pink lady’s slipper y Krigia montana – Mountain Cynthia y Parnassia asarifolia – Grass-of-Parnassus y Hypericum graveolens – Mountain St. John’s-wort y Gentiana linearis – Closed gentian This short list is intended to give just a taste for the variety of types of wildflowers found on Mt. Leconte some are spring ephemerals and some last till autumn’s killing frost.

Mt. Leconte is also known for a few endemic and/or rare plants: y Calamagrostis cainii – Cain’s reed bent-grass y Geum radiatum – Appalachian avens or spreading avens y Rugelia nudicaulis – Rugel’s ragwort

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The Mount LeConte Lodge offers a place to stay where the rain averages more than 70 inches of rain a year.

MICAH MCCLURE PHOTO

Gentiana-linearis. SCOTT RANGER PHOTO

“Because there are so many rare species, including some endemic ones, the high rainfall area is very important to the biodiversity of the Southern Appalachians. There are species that occur nowhere else, even in other parts of the Southern Appalachians.”

—Michael Schafale ALAN WEAKLEY PHOTO

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Weakley believes areas like the Blue Ridge escarpment where the Jocassee Gorges are and south-facing slopes of the Southern Appalachians will remain among the wettest places in Eastern North America. “Presumably the landforms of these areas (south-facing escarpment that catches moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, causing orographic precipitation) means that under a wide range of climate scenarios they are likely to be among the wettest places in Eastern North America.” As for temperature change, Weakley notes, “Moisture buffers temperature, so they will change less than other areas.”

The Southern Appalachians have served as refugia for northern and southern species of plants and animals since the last ice age and Weakley feels they could serve that purpose again in the face of climate change.

“They [Southern Appalachians] have relictual species that have survived for many millions of years there because that [orographic precipitation] is the case. Therefore they are also likely to serve as refuges in the future as well. Moisture also helps maintain conditions for many plant species. Many trillium species that are now common and also some that are rare appear to have survived the Pleistocene glaciation at the Southern End of the Southern Appalachians (in the mountains south of Asheville, especially.)”

Many climate change models predict the loss of spruce-fir forests in the high elevations of the Southern Appalachians but rainfall could play a part in this scenario as well. According to Schafale, “The warmer temperatures may make a difference to the spruce-fir forest. But the more crucial question is whether they stay foggy and rainy. If they do, they may not warm up as much as the lowlands.”

ONE THING FOR SURE It’s a worn but true caveat—the only thing constant in nature is change. Our forests across the Southern Appalachians are facing a slew of unprecedented challenges from climate change to pollution, to attacks by invasive exotic insects, to encroachment from invasive exotic plants, to fragmentation, to development and questionable land management practices. But one thing is for sure. If you live in the High Country or Western North Carolina or East Tennessee, these magnificent and diverse forests are in your backyard. That means residents—and visitors—have a unique opportunity to see these marvelous ecosystems up close and personal.

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DRINK ME

It was a Green Drinks night at

Eco-activists hope to transform the world

topic for now in the city—the future

BY QUINTIN ELLISON PHOTOS BY MARGARET HESTER

Posana Café in Asheville, N.C., and the crowd started gathering early.

The program on tap was the hot of Asheville’s water system—and folks coming in clearly want to make sure they had seats and places to both see and hear; and in turn, be seen and heard.

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Green Drinks participants are active across the community (left), helping further dialogue. Above, from left: Heather Rayburn, Valerie Hope, Buncombe County Commissioner Holly Jones and Bridget Nelson discuss the local watershed at a February Green Drinks meeting.

reen Drinks is much more than simply another forum to highlight environmental issues. It’s a two-way street, a way for like-minded individuals to connect on issues they care passionately about and to carry on conversations about those issues. It’s the ultimate think-global, actlocal forum, a social networking opportunity for the eco-conscious and green among us.

“I come here to keep educated and current,” said Philip J. Bisesi of Black Mountain, who is an engineer by profession and a regular at Green Drinks events in Asheville. “It’s a weekly educational opportunity.”

Bisesi, like others attending, said he enjoys the informality of Green Drinks and the opportunity to simply

chat with like-minded people about those things he holds dear: taking care of the planet and improving this world for future generations.

On this night, there are people here from all walks of life—from regular citizens and politicians to activists and business owners. Without Green Drinks, it’s unlikely they’d ever meet and mingle.

This event in Asheville, like all Green Drinks happenings, has roots in a pub called the Slug and Lettuce in north London. As the story goes, a fellow named Edwin Datschefski in 1989 was sitting with his green-design

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drink green:

For more information about Green Drinks International, visit greendrinks.org; for more information about Green Drinks in Asheville, visit ashevillegreendrinks.com.

Marc Hunt, Asheville, N.C., city council member, goes over talking points for the upcoming forum regarding the Ashveville water supply. Marshall, N.C., residents Valerie Munei and Jeff Lowe (below) are frequent participants in Green Drinks.

colleagues Yorick Benjamin and Paul Scott when he noticed an enviro-minded acquaintance at a nearby table.

“As it turned out, the friend was sitting with a few of his own ecoconscious mates, so they pulled some tables together,” Green Drinks international site notes. “And so a movement was born.”

The concept went global. It is not totally without form: each city has an organizer who arranges meetings in bars and restaurants and relays information via email and facilitates discussions.

“Green Drinks provides opportunities to network,” said Anna Jane Joyner, a co-organizer of this particular Asheville event and the community organizer for the environmental group Western North Carolina Alliance. “It’s just a great opportunity to connect with other people.”

Some drink and dine in the informal atmosphere, but Green Drinks is more a mental concept than an actual physical one.

In Asheville, Green Drinks has been taking place since 2006.

Buncombe County Commissioner Holly Jones, a former city council member, was on hand to proselytize to the crowd of 30 or so who were gathered there on the need for Asheville to controls its own water system.

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“This is a created, conjured up problem,” she told the appreciative crowd, who worried that Asheville losing control of the water system could ultimately result in privatization.

Later, Jones described the Green Drinks events in Asheville as providing “a great service to the citizens—and this one, especially, was on an incredibly timely and important topic.”

In most cities where Green Drinks takes place, the event is scheduled for one night each month. Asheville being a city where environmental issues and concerns are taken very, very seriously, the event is held weekly and generally features a speaker.

“We like in Asheville to drill that information into your head,” said Julie Mayfield, executive director of WNC Alliance, in explanation.

A steering committee, led by the WNC Alliance, includes Transition Town Asheville, Just Economics WNC, Western North Carolina Building Alliance, Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute and the Western North Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club.

A version of Green Drinks also has started recently in Franklin, N.C., also through the auspices of WNC Alliance. That event takes place on the third Tuesday of every month at Rathskellar in downtown. Often, as in Asheville, Green Drinks in Franklin features information on either specific happenings or issues. One recent program was about efforts to rid the town’s greenway of invasive plants.

George Hasara, owner of Rathskellar Coffee House, said he’s been impressed and gratified by the wide diversity of people attending Green Drinks.

“It’s not just environmentalists,” Hasara said. “It’s people who are concerned about the environment, and that can be Democrats or Republicans—really, anyone. This is a good program.”

The Green Drinks event in Asheville was slightly different than usual. There were the typical explanations about the issue at hand, and a provided opportunity for folks attending to chat and network.

But, in the spirit of Mayfield’s call “for a night of action,” there were also computers setup so that people there could actively get involved with sending emails and more.

Jones, looking at the crowd of 50 or so attending Green Drinks, smiled and said, “It is so good and makes me so proud to represent such smart, informed and hell-raising citizens.”

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

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Unearthing Carolina’s

BY ANNA OAKES

“Very superstitious,” remarked Tony Elwood of Charlotte, who spent a late winter Sunday at the Crabtree Emerald Mine in Little Switzerland, N.C., along with his pal Mike Ruff.

The two “weekend warriors” came searching for gems of all kinds, but especially emeralds, which are rarer and, when of exceptional quality, more valuable than diamonds.

Gem collectors undertake a number of measures to ensure that Lady Luck

comes along. First, when one finds a hole, stay in it, and don’t let others dig there. And should the miners visit any other site than “Mama Crabtree,” they dare not mention its name in her presence, lest she grow green—not with emeralds, but with envy—and hide her crystals from view. And before every excursion, there’s a stop at the store for refreshments: green Gatorade.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMIE HILL

Rockhounds, they say, are a superstitious lot.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMIE HILL

ANNA OAKES PHOTOS

Emeralds have long been counted among the most valuable gemstones in the world, included in the “Big Four” in precious gems along with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. In 1935, Economic Geology published a scholarly study of gem prices by Sydney H. Ball, who wrote, “The earliest satisfactory gem prices are those of the Arabian mineralogist, Teifaschi, who in 1150 A.D. ranked the gems as follows: emerald, diamond, ruby and sapphire. He recognized the essential fundamentals of modern gem valuation.” The prominent shrines of the Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Buddhist and Brahminic faiths are treasure houses of beautiful gems, with the emerald in considerable demand for ecclesiastical use because the stone is said to symbolize faith, wrote Ball. So, too, are royal palaces, where large gemstones and crown jewels are displayed to demonstrate the rulers’ imperial power and wealth. One of the globe’s largest cut emeralds, a 2,680-carat vessel, is housed in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna, Austria, while, states Ball, “the Crown Jewels of Persia (Iran) probably contain the single most exquisite collection of fine emerald jewelry in the world.” Emeralds were desired for other virtues. When worn, the stone was said to protect against epilepsy, and when held in the mouth it was believed to be a cure for dysentery. It supposedly assisted women at childbirth, drove away evil spirits, and preserved the chastity of the wearer. Emeralds were sometimes crushed and taken as medicine.

The most spectacular emeralds yet to come would be shipped from the New World. In the 16th-century Spanish conquest of South America the conquerors learned of the Colombian emerald deposits, though it’s believed indigenous peoples worked these mines for at least 500 years Tony Elwood (left) and Mike Ruff of Charlotte spend about six hours digging for prior. The conquistadors at first assumed Peru to be the gems and minerals at the Crabtree mine in Little Switzerland on a recent Sunday. source of the emeralds, Ball claimed. “Colombian emerald Below: Elwood displays an emerald he found at the Crabtree mine. was so common in Peru that for at least two centuries after the conquest it was still known as Peruvian emerald,” Ball was quoted by Sinkankas as saying. “Thus, these emeralds had FROM EGYPT TO ALEXANDER already traveled via trade from Colombia to Peru prior to the The earliest documentation of emeralds dates back to ancient Spanish invasion because there are no emerald deposits in Peru.”

Egypt, where the gemstones were mined as early as 2000 B.C., Spanish mining operations at Muzo, Colombia’s most revered surmises the Encylopædia Britannica, though it and other emerald area, began in 1568, and lasted from then until the 20th sources acknowledge the difficulty in estimating dates due to century, Colombian mines produced more emeralds than any numerous terms for emeralds. Some cultures used the word for other locale. “Father Joseph de Acosta tells us that when he emerald to refer to other green-colored stones as well. A few returned from America in 1587 there were on his ship ‘two chests sources state that mummies were buried with emeralds, which of emeralds; every one weighing at the least foure arrobas” (i.e. a symbolized eternal life or rebirth. The Greeks worked the emerald mines in upper Egypt during the reign of Alexander the Great, who conquered the land of the pharaohs in 331 B.C., seizing control from the Persians. According to the books Emeralds and Other Beryls by John Sinkankas and Emeralds

by Fred Ward, the rough stones from Egyptian mines were poor in quality and small in size.

Before Elizabeth Taylor (whose emerald suite of jewelry fetched $16 million at a Christie’s auction last fall), there was — Tony Elwood, amateur Cleopatra. The Queen of the Nile famously adorned herself with rockhound from Charlotte the precious gems, though some of the jewels could have been peridot or other green gemstones.

“It’s the little things in life that make things fun.”

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spodumene; he named it “hiddenite” in honor of Hidden, and the Alexander County community in which the mine is located took on the name as well.

In 1890, emeralds were discovered at the 5,000-foot elevation of Big Crabtree Mountain in Mitchell County, N.C., when Spruce Pine native Alf Chisawn dug up a rock with bright green streaks while plowing a field. And there’s at least one other location in North Carolina where these glimmering green gems have turned up. Two counties west of Charlotte, emeralds were discovered in Cleveland County in 1897 and 1909.

In the ‘70s, Wayne Anthony of Lincolnton Jamie Hill holds an emerald rod he unearthed in Hiddenite, N.C.—a terrific find found a 59-carat stone, and a wonderful example of emeralds’ distinctive shape. The 10-inch emerald cut to 13.14 carats, at crystal is the longest North American emerald on record. the Rist Mine in Belt, which includes Alexander and Cleveland Hiddenite, which sold to Tiffany and counties. Quartz deposits are also widely Company in New York; it was dubbed the distributed throughout the Blue Ridge Belt, “Carolina Emerald” and valued at $100,000. In which includes Mitchell County.

March 1979, Glenn and Kathleen Bolick of “The whole town is really sitting on a Hickory acquired 3,507 carats from a single highway of quartz veins,” said Jamie Hill, excavation at the Rist Mine, a short distance Hiddenite’s most prolific emerald miner of the from where the Carolina Emerald was found past decade. The veins tend to run from east to four years earlier. west, so Hill digs his trenches on a north-south plane. “You’re always looking for the nest that THE NESTS WITH contains the eggs,” he says. These nests, or GREEN EGGS pockets, range from a few centimeters to three Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl, meters long. which in its pure state is colorless; chromium “Mr. Speer presented interesting statistics adds the green hue. Emerald crystals are sixthat reflect the small quantity but very high sized prisms with smooth faces, usually carat weight of the emeralds recovered from the elongated—the reason, one would presume, cavities,” relayed the Gems & Gemology piece. that they’re sometimes called “bolts.” Beryl can “For example, not all pockets contain emeralds, form in solid rock, cavities, compact masses but when they are present, 50 percent of the and granular material. crystals weigh 100-plus carats (20-plus grams).

North Carolina geologist Ed Speer, quoted Records and photos provided showed more in the spring 2008 edition of Gems & than 10 emerald crystals exceeding 100 carats, Gemology, said emeralds in the Hiddenite area including discoveries made in recent years. occur within pockets in subvertical quartz veins Some of the crystals from this mine contain that have formed inside cracks in migmatitic considerable gem-quality areas.” gneiss bedrock. Gneiss is a metamorphic rock Attempts to synthetically manufacture found throughout the state’s Inner Piedmont emeralds were finally successful between 1934 PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMIE HILL

total of 200 pounds),” Ball said, noting that the sudden influx of the gems lowered prices across European markets.

“The South American emerald mines have always uncovered gorgeous emeralds, the best in the world, and in the days of the Spanish conquest fortunes in emeralds flowed into Spain like rivers of treasure,” said Mary L.T. Brown in Gems for the Taking, a casual read about Brown’s gem mining excursions throughout the southern United States, published in 1971. “One can only weep for the beautiful emeralds that were lost when Cortes was shipwrecked in the 16th century.” Brown may have been weeping in the early ‘70s, but in 1992, tears of joy no doubt fell into the aquamarine waters of the Caribbean, when archeological divers located the sunken remains of the ship bearing hundreds of artifacts and thousands of carats of cut and uncut emeralds, including the 964-carat Isabella Emerald, named for Queen Isabella of Spain.

In the 1960s, Brazil and Africa emerged as major emerald producers, and Brazil now leads the world in exports though Colombian emeralds have continued to be regarded as the finest. Recent finds in Western North Carolina, however, have been said to rival Colombian quality, and if auction sale prices are any indication, the claims could be true.

Alexander County lies in North Carolina’s foothills, south of Wilkesboro and east of Lenoir. The first documented discovery of gemstones in Alexander County was around 1874, when a farmer stumbled upon the precious green stone, stirring up a frenzy about the “Green Bolts of North Carolina,” wrote M. Richard Harshaw Jr. in In Search of the Scarce Gem Hiddenite and the Emeralds of North Carolina. “Even the very early finds proved to be of good quality and valuable,” Harshaw wrote. Several national and international mining companies rushed to the state to lay claim on mining sites—among them Tiffany’s of New York, with eleven locations.

J. Adlai D. Stephenson, an Alexander County native and merchant who worked in Statesville, took a keen interest in the emerald finds, and locals reported their discoveries to him. Around 1879, wrote Harshaw, minerals of yellow and yellowish-green coloring were presented to Stephenson, who presumed it to be diopside. Uncertain, though, he told William E. Hidden of New York about the peculiar finding. Hidden came to the area to prospect and happened upon his own pocket containing the mineral in question, which he shipped to Dr. J. Lawrence Smith of Louisville, Ky. Smith concluded that the mineral was not diopside but instead a new and distinct variety of

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North Carolina: A Treasure Chest Emeralds aren’t the only gemstones in North Carolina. Far from it.

“North Carolina is prolific as far as mineral specimens go,” said Mike Ruff, an amateur gem collector from Charlotte. In fact, a greater variety of minerals (more than 300) have been found in North Carolina than in any other state, and it’s the only state where the four most valuable gems— rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds—have been found, notes the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. Prior to the Civil War, North Carolina produced more gold than any other state in the union, according to author M. Richard Harshaw Jr. Most of the gem mines in North Carolina are tourist attractions, with the greatest number in the areas of Spruce Pine in Mitchell County and the Cowee Valley in Macon County. While some mines are known to “enrich” or “seed” their buckets to keep customers happy, gem mining is nevertheless a memorable and enjoyable experience for countless families each year.

Spruce Pine, full of relics from an old mining town, is also home to the Museum of North Carolina Minerals, located just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the North Carolina Mineral and Gem Festival, held since 1959.

Got Ruby Fever? Head to Franklin and surrounding Cowee Valley mines, where you can find rubies, sapphires, garnets, aquamarine and amethysts.

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and 1937, when Germans patented the process, states Encylopædia Britannica.

“Synthetic emeralds are currently manufactured in the U.S. by either a molten-flux process or a hydrothermal method; in the latter technique, aquamarine crystals are placed in a water solution at elevated temperature and pressure and used as a seed to produce emeralds,” the encyclopedia explains. “The crystals thus grown appear very similar to natural crystals and rival them in colour and beauty.”

MODERN-DAY MINERS

While some prefer to admire their gems in the rough, if you’d like your gem to be fashioned as a piece of jewelry, you’ll need the services of a gem cutter. Most gem cutters are selftaught, and, perhaps because of a competitive business, reluctant to impart their knowledge. That’s why Ruthie Cohen founded the Mountain Metalsmiths School of Jewelry and Lapidary outside of Asheville in 2006.

The school teaches jewelry and lapidary skills in a non-competitive, supportive environment.

Ruby City in Franklin is among the gem mines that offer custom gem cutting on site, as is Foggy Mountain Gem Mine in Boone.

“Finding a good gem cutter is not hard if you have money to spend,” said Rick Jacquot, founder of the Mountain Area Gem and Mineral Association (MAGMA). “You can go to any reputable jewelry store and probably find a cutter or get a reference for one; the cost is the big issue for most people. I suggest joining a group like our MAGMA club. You will meet many great gem cutters and can work out deals with them. You give them some rough material you want cut, they cut some stones for you and keep some of the rough in return as payment.”

Jacquot’s recommedation? Adrian Wyatt, of Candler: “he is a great cutter and does fantastic work.”

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF JAMIE HILL

Gem cutting

Call it a green thumb.

Since 1998, when he began operations at an abandoned mine site in Alexander County, Jamie Hill has become the most famous name in North American emerald mining, harvesting some 20,000 carats from the quartz pockets of Hiddenite. His astonishing finds thousands of miles away from the mines of Muzo and Zambia have resulted in worldwide attention and respect for North Carolina emeralds, thanks in part to interviews by “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” People magazine and The Discovery Channel.

He’s been at it since he was a youth, when he spent weekends at his grandparents’ in Hiddenite. His grandmother would tell him about the local gem mining history and show him quartz crystals, and he distinctly remembers a large ring gleaming from her finger, a 30-carat emerald, wrapped in gold. A prize fashioned from a stone found over by the railroad tracks.

“I would crawl around my great grandmothers’ garden and pick up mica, quartz crystal and other minerals,” Hill recalled. “I found my first emerald at 8 years old, in a corn field by an old mine complex. After picking up a lot of broken green glass over the years, finally I picked up something green and it had the sixsided shape. Over the years I learned from the old-timers and prospectors. For many years I just did it as a hobby.” Hill dug on others’ property, with their permission and sometimes under contract, until 1998, when he starting mining part of a 100-acre tract his family bought at auction in ’95. Located on the tract was the old Rist mine.

It didn’t take long for the venture to pay off, big-time. In 1999, Hill hit veins of dark green, glassy, high-grade emeralds—3,000 carats

“When you finally get one, when you hold it up in the sun and you see that green fire, you forget about the 99 percent it took to get there.”

— Jamie Hill, emerald miner

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While Mitchell County’s emerald mines are no longer in production, a number of gem mines remain as tourist attractions. The gaping caves and green waters of the old McKinney Mine are worth a trip to what is now called the Emerald Village in Little Switzerland.

worth, of which 300 carats were cut into what’s known as the North Carolina Royal Family collection of emeralds. Among them were the Carolina Queen, an 18.8-carat stone valued at $1 million, and the Carolina Prince, a 7.85-carat gem that sold for more than $500,000 at auction, the highest price per carat ever paid for a North American cut gemstone, according to geologist and consultant Ed Speer.

In 2003, Hill struck it big yet again with the discovery of a 1,869-carat emerald crystal, to date the largest uncut emerald from North America.

It was sold to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for an undisclosed amount, but according to Speer, the crystal is valued at more than $3.5 million. “It was a nice paycheck,” Hill said, coyly. And in 2006, Hill unearthed yet another one for the record books, a 591-carat rod that, at 10 inches, is the longest emerald crystal found in the continent. Hill said it recently sold for $155,000 at a Beverly Hills auction.

Now called the North American Emerald Mines, Hill’s eight-acre pit employs dirt mining and rock mining, including drilling and some blasting. His equipment includes an 85,000-pound excavator. To help finance his emerald mining operations, Hill began selling the crushed rock from the mine through Alexander Quarry, a division of North American Emerald Mines. “You’ve got to have a way to hunt for those emeralds,” said Hill,

who, despite his successes, insists he isn’t rich yet. “There’s a lot of expense involved.”

Mining is all about location and knowing what to look for, he said.

“The thing about emeralds and emerald veins is they come and go. They can disappear for months or years. Nobody’s really completely figured it out,” he says. “Ninety-nine percent of what you do is not holding that emerald. But when you finally get one, when you hold it up in the sun and you see that green fire, you forget about the 99 percent it took to get there.”

Hill isn’t the only one digging up Hiddenite.

The Adams Farm, formerly known as the Warren mine, the Emerald & Hiddenite mine and the Turner mine, is active today. In 2009, Terry Ledford found a 310-carat emerald crystal at Adams Farm that yielded the Carolina Emperor, a 64.83-carat gem that holds the record for North America’s largest cut emerald.

Though not producing the impressive gems and crystals of the foothills, the old Crabtree mine in Little Switzerland is still a destination for rockhounds, and small emeralds and other gems can still be found here. Mined from the late 1800s to the 1990s, Crabtree’s mineshaft is now flooded under a small pond. Currently the Asheville-based Mountain Area Gem and Mineral Association (MAGMA), founded by seasoned gem collector Rick Jacquot, manages the mine. For a small fee, anyone can obtain WWW.SMLIV.COM

permission to collect minerals at the property, located at the end of a bumpy, winding road past stands of hemlock, bamboo and Christmas trees. Jacquot said the mine is busiest after a rain, when prospectors scurry to the site to see what might have washed up.

Elwood and Ruff arrived at “Mama Crabtree” from Charlotte at 9:30 a.m. on that recent Sunday, digging until 3:30 p.m. or so. “You don’t find ‘em every time you come out,” said Ruff, handing a rock to his friend to inspect.

Elwood tossed it.

Ruff explained: he handed Elwood the stone to determine if it was an emerald or not, because Ruff is red-green colorblind. They laughed, acknowledging the irony. Elwood said he and other visitors to the mine have found emeralds, tourmaline, garnets, golden beryl’s and moonstone among the dirt piles.

“It’s so rare that you find something that’s cuttable,” said Elwood. “It takes years to find a good piece,” added Ruff. But, they agreed, “It’s the little things in life that make things fun.”

But when emerald mining becomes a fulltime occupation, do discoveries begin to feel, well, like business as usual? Not at all, says Hill.

“There’s tremendous excitement. It’s always exciting to discover an emerald,” he insisted. “It’s like pulling a slot machine. You just never know when it’ll be the next milliondollar day.”

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Bands of chard. ASAP PHOTO

Home Grown

Local food movement takes root in Appalachia

BY CARRIE EIDSON

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B

ackyard farmers know this well— there is little more satisfying and nutritious than food that tastes of where it has been raised. A tomato borne on hand-tended vines is a plump reward for careful cultivators. A baby crookneck squash needs only a little sautéing to sweeten up before gracing a summer plate.

Across the region, farmers are using these appeals along with sustainable practices and farm-to-table marketing to reconnect consumers with their food.

“Small farms have a certain intimacy and a hands-on approach that focuses on quality over quantity,” says William Shelton, who can be found, along with his young sons, at the small farmers’ market in Sylva, N.C. “Having a series of small farms offering a variety of products is overall better for the community.”

Shelton runs a multi-generational family farm along the Tuckasegee River in the Whittier area of Jackson County known as the “Cherokee Old Fields.” Shelton’s great grandfather started the farm to grow enough food to sustain the family as well as the cash crops of animal livestock and tobacco. After Shelton graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1984, he made the decision to transition the family farm into vegetable and strawberry production.

“Tobacco was losing its profitability, but also people were becoming more aware of its negative effects on health,” Shelton recalls. “I wanted to produce crops that were healthier, and I wanted to get away from the waste of animal production.”

These days the 35-acre Shelton Family Farm produces strawberries, bibb lettuce, and tomatoes that are sold throughout the region.

Shelton uses sustainable practices including limiting the use of pesticides and practicing crop rotation, which keeps the soil viable.

“It’s been important to us to be conscientious,” Shelton says. “This land has been a farm for many years, since before even my family had it. It’s still viable and productive, and that’s a testament to how important it has been to us to keep it healthy.”

When Shelton made the switch to vegetable production he also created an emphasis on selling to the local community. In additional to selling products at farmers markets and a small stand on Shelton Farm, the farm supports itself through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a model of food networking where local residents purchase a share of the farm’s upcoming harvest. In return for providing the

farmer with the monetary support, share-holders receive produce grown by Shelton throughout the growing season. Shelton’s CSA now grows enough food for 75 share-holders and their families, though Shelton estimates this is only 10 percent of the farm’s total volume.

Shelton notes that a lot of the support for his farm has come from the region’s growing interest in local food.

“I worried at first that the local food movement was a passing fad,” Shelton said. “But we’re having difficult economic times right now and people are still buying local foods— foods that may cost a little more but that sustain good health for families and help the farmers who make their living growing it.”

“Small farms have a certain intimacy and a hands-on approach that focuses on quality over quantity. Having a series of small farms offering a variety of products is overall better for the community.”

— William Shelton

Shelton credits a lot of the growing interest in local foods to the work of Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), an organization that strives to protect Appalachian agricultural heritage by connecting local farmers with consumers and raising awareness of the economic and health benefits of local production.

“We want local food to be the norm and readily available to everyone,” says Maggie Cramer of ASAP. “We’re working [so that] consumers will come to understand the value of eating local food for themselves and the economy; farmers will change growing practices to reflect local demand; businesses will change or invest in more local capacity; new farmers will begin farming and increase production; community organizations and institutions will look to local food as a strategy to address food access community health, and development issues; and more consumers will have more access to local food.”

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ASAP offers training and consultation programs to farmers, estimating that their efforts helped 2,500 farmers in 2011, including both experienced farmers and new farmers who received assistance through ASAP’s Beginning Farmers Project. Through its Business of Farming Conference the organization sets farmers up with other agriculture professionals as well as marketing and business specialists.

ASAP also facilitates a “farm to school” program known as Growing Minds, which aims to teach children about local food through field trips to farms, nutrition education, cooking classes and demonstrations, and school gardens. The program also brings local food into school cafeterias and has had success in Jackson County where students at Cullowhee Valley Elementary participate in taste tests of local foods and proudly wear “I tried local food!” stickers.

“Over the last decade [we] have focused on ensuring that farms can continue farming and that everyone has access to local food,” Cramer said. “Our approach has been to create supportive environments in which farms, businesses, and consumers can innovate and try new things.”

Since 1999 ASAP has been publishing the Local Food Guide—a resource for consumers that lists the local farms, roadside stands, and wineries of Appalachia in addition to the grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries, caterers, bed & breakfasts, and tailgate markets that carry local products.

“When we printed the first Local Food Guide, we could not have imagined how much could change in a decade,” says Charlie Jackson, executive director of ASAP. “Today, the guide is the most comprehensive source for local food in the country, and the Appalachian region leads a national local food movement that is reshaping our farms and the way we eat.”

Restaurants throughout the region are adopting principals of the local food movement. The Mast Farm Inn, a full service bed and breakfast located in Valle Crucis in the High County area of North Carolina owned by the Deschamps family, is one such example. The inn’s restaurant, Simplicity, creates 300 to 400 meals each week using locally sourced ingredients, including produce grown in the restaurant’s own organic garden.

Simplicity’s farm, though small in size, produces 150 types of vegetables, 15 different herbs, and more than 40 different types of flowers. The garden is hand-tended by the staff

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Farmer William Shelton checks on his crop ofstrawberries, known for their sweetness. MARK HASKETT PHOTO

“When you see the Appalachian Grown logo, you know you’re buying fresher foods that support family farms, strengthen the local economy, preserve rural culture, and protect the region’s natural beauty.”

— Maggie Cramer of ASAP

Brian Ross demonstrates cooking skills to a group of students at Avery’s Creek. ASAP PHOTO

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and chefs using no chemicals and only one piece of machinery—a small tiller used once a year.

“To us it just makes good sense,” Henri Deschamps said. “It’s more work and it’s very labor intensive, but when you own a restaurant and grow your own produce, it makes you feel so involved.”

The garden creates a unique challenge for Simplicity’s chefs who, as Deschamp notes, are forced to “think on their feet and test their creativity.” The crop may fall prey to unexpected weather or an unwelcome invasion of deer and other animals, leaving the chefs without all the ingredients they had hoped for. As a result, Simplicity’s menu is a four-course dinner determined daily and based on the garden’s best offerings.

“Guests get to see us picking things that end up on their plate an hour later and they enjoy that,” Deschamp said. “It makes the restaurant feel down to earth. It’s very relaxed and unpretentious, and helps us keep the feel of family dining even when we’re serving high-quality, organic meals.”

For ingredients not grown in the garden, the chefs at Simplicity turn to local producers, almost all in the High County, to obtain hormone-free, organic products, including all the meats used in the restaurant.

“We’re not experts in this,” Deschamp said.

“But it’s more and more obvious that there is a serious problem with food production—with hormones, with antibiotics, with animal cruelty.

And there are simple, minimal things we can do to improve it, things that are logical.”

The efforts of Simplicity have won them many admirers, including the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which named the restaurant a top 10 finalist in its “Best Dish in North Carolina” contest in 2010.

“Some guests that eat here might not know or understand all we do (with organic food sourcing), but I think they still appreciate it,” Deschamp says. “The food is so much better.

The flavor you get when things are freshpicked, out-of-the-ground is just unbelievable.”

Many other restaurants throughout the region are embracing farm-to-table practices even when they are not able to maintain their own garden. This includes restaurants in urban areas, such as Chez Liberty in Knoxville, Tenn., which serves traditional American food with special emphasis on using fresh and locally sourced ingredients.

“Our primary drive is to produce food that tastes good, is good for you, and that reflects the

best that food can be,” says owner Ross Young.

“Our secondary drive is to make sure we participate only in constructive, sustainable farming practices. It so happens that [local] vegetables taste the best. It makes sense that something grown in Friendsville, Tenn., is going to taste better than the same thing grown in Chile, picked early, packaged, shipped and warehoused.”

Whenever possible, Young and head chef Robert de Binder source their ingredients from regional farmers and farmer’s markets. The menu changes with the seasons because, Young notes, “it allows us to show what is best in the market.”

“We are getting foods in season, when they are best,” Young says. “You should be suspicious of any tomatoes in February or turnips in the summer. We are in the good, and luxurious, position of being close to most of our farmers, who love what they do.”

Chez Liberty features produce from nearby Tennessee farms, steaks from Strong Stock Farms, a multi-generational family farm in Knoxville, and runs a special called the “Chef’s Garden Platter,” which Young describes as “a great way to show what you can do with winter vegetables.” The diversity of Chez Liberty’s menu does not allow for all it’s ingredients to be sourced locally; however, this does not mean

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Croque Madame at Chez Liberty in Knoxville, Tenn.

ASAP PHOTO

that the principles of the local food movement and its emphasis on environmental responsibility and fostering small economies must be abandoned for variety. When desired ingredients aren’t available locally, Chez Liberty reaches out to farmers who use sustainable practices in other regions.

“On our current menu, we have over 60 cheeses, most of them from involved, artisan producers who care about their animals,” Young says. “Our sushi-grade halibut is from managed Norwegian wild stock where the fishermen know the area the best, fish only to certain amounts, and monitor the schools for health, number, and quality.”

For those looking to bring the local food movement into their home kitchen, several organizations throughout the Appalachian region help conscientious consumers locate and purchase locally-sourced products. ASAP’s Local Food Guide is published regularly in print, though an online version is always available at BuyAppalachian.org.

In addition to ASAP, the Buy Haywood Market Development Project, which formed in 2007 and works with about 40 farms in the Haywood, Jackson and Buncombe counties of North Carolina, helps to put residents and visitors in touch with local farmers.

“Local farms are incredibly important for economic vitality,” says Anne Lancaster of Buy Haywood. “Agriculture is a big employer in this region. And there are the environmental factors to consider, like the amount of fuel that is saved 56

DONATED PHOTO

when we buy local products instead of shipping them in, and the benefit to the land as many of these farmers use few or no pesticides.”

As part of their initiative, Buy Haywood has created easily noticed labels bearing the words “Haywood County—North Carolina Mountain Grown.” Farmers can place the labels on their products allowing them to be spotted in grocery stores such as Ingles, Whole Foods or Earthfare. ASAP offers a similar service through its “Appalachian Grown” logo, which farmers in Western North Carolina and the Southern Appalachians can apply to use. Both these labels assure customers that the purchase supports a local farmer using sustainable practices.

“When you see the Appalachian Grown logo, you know you’re buying fresher foods that support family farms, strengthen the local economy, preserve rural culture, and protect the region’s natural beauty,” Cramer said.

In addition to their label campaign, Buy Haywood offers a farm guide through their website that gives residents and visitors to Haywood County maps to local farms that offer everything from fresh vegetables and artisan cheese to trout and Christmas trees. Visitors can browse BuyHaywood.com to find itineraries to help plan day trips or excursions to meet local farms and sample local products.

“With the exception of a couple down months, there are local products available in this region year-round,” Lancaster says. “And visiting a farm allows you to interact with a basic part of life. You get to see how your food or your SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

Christmas tree was grown. You get to feel close to the land and close to the people who work it.”

Many of the farmers participating in Buy Haywood sell their products at the Historic Haywood County Farmers Market, which runs from April to October in Waynesville, N.C. Carolina. However, consumers throughout the region can find a farmer’s market in almost every county, many of which are listed in ASAP’s Local Food Guide.

“There are many ways to buy local products,” Lancaster said. “You can get them from your local farmers’ market, a tailgate farm stand, and from many grocery stores. Local products may be a little more expensive, but there are many ways to cut down on the cost such as planning your meals to buy what is in season.

And often when you buy directly from the farmers you’re able to buy things in large quantities for affordable prices.”

Many farmers throughout Appalachia are benefiting from consumers growing interest in locally sourced products. As William Shelton notes, farmers are becoming less susceptible to the “volatility of market trends” as direct interaction with their customers allows them to form long-lasting relationships and friendships.

“A lot of farmers don’t do this for the money because it’s actually a very frustrating way to make money,” Shelton said with a smile.

“Farmers do this because they love what they do. It’s exciting to know there’s increased awareness because it really is mutually beneficial for the farmer and the community.”

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(bring your own wine and spirits)

Fire On the Rock Competition Dining FINALS

68164

2300 Swag Road • Waynesville 828.926.0430 • TheSwag.com

APRIL 11

OFF OF JONATHAN CREEK RD./HWY. 276 AND HEMPHILL ROAD

—— “Tribute to NC” Winemaker Dinner featuring Chef Stan and RayLen Vineyards

now this is a wireless hot-spot.

APRIL 12

—— After-Hours Wine Festival Celebrity Party APRIL 12

—— Open for Lunch and Dinner APRIL 13 & 14

—— Winemaker Sunday Brunch APRIL 15

—— Dine with us on the Weekends APRIL & MAY

——

www.Crippens.com 239 SUNSET DRIVE BLOWING ROCK, NC 28607 (Just off Main Street)

828/295-3487 CHEF: Stan Chamberlain HOSTS: Carolyn & Jimmy Crippen

WWW.SMLIV.COM

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DIRECTORY

shopping

ART ON DEPOT Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., The Gallery is where Contemporary Fine Arts & Crafts can be found from local and regional artists. Carrying a wide range of custom handmade pottery, paintings, sculpture, photography and woodworking and unique gifts to suit any style! Cathey can be found creating her pottery in her onsite studio.

Located in Historic Frog Level 250 Depot St. • Waynesville, NC 828.246.0218 • artondepot.com CHARLES HEATH GALLERY, THE Located at the corner of Depot and Everett Streets in Bryson City, North Carolina. Featuring works in Acrylic, Photography, Oils, Pastels and Pen & Ink. Original art and prints for sale framed and unframed. Custom framing available.

7 Depot Street • Bryson City, NC 828.488.3383 • charlesheath.com CHRISTMAS IS EVERYDAY Located in beautiful downtown Waynesville.

Offering wonderful ornaments and gifts year round. Visit our website for special items.

113 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC 828.452.7945 christmas-is-everyday.com EARTHWORKS ENVIRONMENTAL GALLERY Open: Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

We have always focused on artists who are stewards of our beautiful planet earth, in some way or other. Hand craft artisans in so many mediums grace our collections. Artists, both regional and from around the world seem to fit together at Earthworks.

21 N. Main Street • Waynesville, NC Gallery: 828.452.9500 Frame Gallery: 828.456.3666 earthworksgalleries.com FINE ART & CRAFT—SCENIC 276 CORRIDOR A 13-mile stretch showcasing galleries, studios, shops, lodging and dining venues. See member listing for hours.

Brevard/Cedar Mountain, NC 828.883.3700 • artsofbrevard.org/tours GAINES KIKER SILVERSMITH/GOLDSMITH STUDIO AND GALLERY Specializing in custom design jewelry and accessories. Gaines’ creative influences vary from the natural world to the simplicity of pure geometric forms. Located in the village of Blowing Rock, the working gallery is open to the public Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

132 Morris St. • Blowing Rock, NC 828.295.3992 gaineskikersilversmith.com 58

GALLERY TWO SIX TWO Open Mon. and Wed.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Gallery Two Six Two is a progressive, modern gallery featuring some of the finest local & regional artists Appalachia has to offer - from watercolor to woodwork, photography to pottery, jewelry to acrylics & oils, mixed media to stained glass.

142 Main St. • Waynesville, NC 828.452.6100 • gallerytwosixtwo.com SEVEN SILVER SEAS Specializing in handmade international jewelry.

Unique world crafts, clothing and enchanting gifts from around the globe to you!

521 Soco Rd. • Maggie Valley, NC 828.926.1877 JEWELER’S WORKBENCH Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., A working gallery offering design services, along with on-sight repairs. Dedicated to providing a gallery that offers the best in hand-crafted jewelry, along with a venue to display the works of local metalsmiths. Your jewelry says a lot about you, so don’t just run with the pack … dare to be different!

80 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC 828.456.2260 • thejewelersworkbench.us JUST DUCKY ORIGINALS Open Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

(Waynesville open until 7 p.m. on Fri.) Classic fashions and unique gifts, just perfect for the children in your life.

25 Miller St. • Waynesville, NC 10 All Souls Crescent • Asheville, NC 828.456.4297 • justduckyorignals.com MAST GENERAL STORE Experience the nostalgia of an authentic general store. The Original store, on the National Historic Register, has operated in Valle Crucis since 1883. Restored emporiums also in Boone, Waynesville, Hendersonville, Asheville, Knoxville, TN and Greenville and Columbia, SC. Hwy. 194 • Valle Crucis, NC 828.963.6511 • mastgeneralstore.com MUD DABBERS POTTERY & GIFTS Functional and contemporary handmade pottery in Western NC. The creations of 23 local potters in a working studio.

Locations in Brevard and Balsam, NC 828.456.1916 • 828.884.5131 OCTOPUS GARDEN Open Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 1-6 p.m.

Six locations to serve you in the Asheville Area!

Smoking accessories, gifts, T-shirts and more.

Call for directions: 828.232.6030 SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

RUBY CITY April 1–Dec. 31: Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.–Sat. Winter hours: Tues.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

One of a kind gemstones, investment stones, diamonds and cut stones of all kinds as well as 14kt jewelry.

828.524.3967 • rubycity.com SEQUOYAH NATIONAL GOLF CLUB Located 45 minutes west of Asheville, North Carolina and nestled among the oak, fir and flowered valleys in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains resides Sequoyah National Golf Club. Owned by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, this design offers golfers an idyllic 18 hole journey, filled with scenic vistas, beautiful landscapes and challenging golf.

79 Cahons Rd. • Whittier, NC 828.497.3000 • sequoyahnational.com SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS CRAFT GUILD The Craft Fair is an event where connoisseurs and novices alike come to craft a collection, connect with tradition, and invest in regional culture.

828.298.7928 southernhighlandguild.org T. PENNINGTON ART GALLERY Colored pencil drawings of Western North Carolina scenery, landmarks, flora and fauna

by Teresa Pennington. Unique gift items, music boxes made to order, night lights, note cards, Christmas ornaments, etc. Have your favorite scripture included in the framing on any print. Custom framing for your prints or ours. Shipping available.

15 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC 828.452.9284 • tpennington.com TWIGS AND LEAVES GALLERY Open Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sun. 1-4 p.m. (seasonal) Browse this unique gallery with its unforgettable collection of nature inspired works by 180 artists and craft persons.

98 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC 828.456.1940 • twigsandleaves.com WHITE SQUIRREL SHOPPE Open 7 days a week year round (Sun. 1-5 p.m.)

4,000 sq. ft. of quality merchandise! Largest selection of candles in the area, Amish furniture, home accessories, local crafts, unique lamps, large bird, white squirrel and lodge departments.

Downtown Brevard, NC 888.729.7329 • whitequirrelshoppe.com

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shop savvy

Sequoyah National Golf Club 828.497.3000 79 Cahons Rd. • Whittier, NC www.sequoyahnational.com The golf shop offers a ful range of men’s and women’s golf apparel.

Gallery Two Six Two 828.452.6100 142 Main St. • Waynesville, NC www.gallerytwosixtwo.com A modern gallery showcasing the finest in local & regional art.

Pictured artist: John Fitzgerald

Just Ducky Originals 25 Miller St. • Waynesville, NC 100 Charlotte St. • Asheville, NC www.justduckyoriginals.com Featuring Bunnies by the Bay, Zutano, Kissy Kissy and more! You'll always find the Just Ducky brand at 30% off or more.

Christmas Is… Everyday

Art on Depot

800.490.3433 113 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC www.christmas-is-everyday.com WoodWick Candles feature a natural wooden wick that creates the soothing sound of a crackling fire.

T. Pennington Art Gallery

828.246.0218 250 Depot St. • Waynesville, NC www.artondepot.com A studio and gallery where you can watch artist and owner Cathey Bolton create pottery while viewing a wide range of contemporary arts and crafts.

Twigs and Leaves

828.452.9284 15 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC www.tpennington.com Fences along the Parkway series.

Original colored pencil drawing.

Mast General Store 866.367.6278 Valle Crucis • Boone • Asheville Waynesville • Hendersonville Greenville • Knoxville • Columbia www.mastgeneralstore.com Pictured: handcrafted Amish rocker.

828.456.1940 98 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC www.twigsandleaves.com Twigs and Leaves Gallery—where art dances with nature. Pictured: “Donkey Love” by Jenny Buckner.

White Squirrel Shoppe 888.729.7329 2 W. Main St. • Brevard, NC www.whitesquirrelshoppe.com Willow Tree™ sculptures by Susan Lordi speak in quiet and meaningful ways of healing and hope, love and family.

WWW.SMLIV.COM

DIRECTORY

The Jeweler’s Workbench 828.456.2260 80 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC www.thejewelersworkbench.us Don’t just run with the pack ... dare to be different. Specializing in hand-crafted jewelry and distinctive watches.

Gaines Kiker Silversmith & Goldsmith 828.295.3992 132 Morris St. • Blowing Rock, NC www.gaineskikersilversmith.com Sterling Silver Turquoise Rings.

Earthworks Environmental Gallery Gallery: 828.452.9500 Frame Gallery: 828.456.3666 21 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC www.earthworksgalleries.com We see Earth through our artists’ eyes!

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DIRECTORY

select lodging

GRANDVIEW LODGE Tucked away in a mountain cove just off the beaten path near Waynesville, North Carolina, the newly-remodeled farm style home on 3 acres features 8 deluxe, country rooms with private baths. There’s also the 2-bedroom, 2bath Grandview Cottage with full kitchen, living area and dining area. Sunday Brunches 11-2 with Live Music. It’s the perfect place for a private getaway! Full ABC permits.

466 Lickstone Rd. • Waynesville NC 800.730.7923 • 828.456.5212 grandviewlodgenc.com HERREN HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST Six spacious guest rooms with sitting areas and private baths blend modern comforts and ample space with distinctive Victorian charm.

Enjoy sprawling porches, an open-air gazebo, and relaxing gardens with nature¹s seasonal colors. Situated only one block from Main Street Herren House offers convenience to an array of shops and dinning as well as easy access to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

94 East St. • Waynesville, NC 28786 828.452.7837 herrenhouse.com BEST WESTERN RIVER ESCAPE INN AND SUITES A Best Western with a style all its own. Overlook a rambling river from your spacious room or relax on our scenic riverside patio. Enjoy deluxe guest rooms, suites, a heated indoor pool and hot tub, a hot breakfast bar and an atmosphere flowing with charm. One block from Historic Dillsboro, NC. 248 WBI Dr. • Dillsboro, NC 828.586.6060 bestwestern.com/riverescapeinnandsuites BOYD MOUNTAIN LOG CABINS AND CHRISTMAS TREE FARM Featured in 2011 Southern Living Best Weekend Getaways . Enjoy a peaceful country setting in charming authentic log cabins, 1—4 bedrooms, located on 130 beautiful acres. Full kitchens, wood burning fireplaces, Wifi, & A/C. The cabins overlook the Smoky Mountains, our Fraser Fir Christmas tree farm, 3 stocked fishing ponds ,flower and vegetable gardens. Hiking trails to the top of Boyd Mountain, volleyball, basketball and badminton, swimming hole in the creek, sledding in the winter. Open every season.

828-926-1575 boydmountain.com RESIDENCES AT BILTMORE HOTEL Ideally located between Biltmore Estate and downtown Asheville. Studio, 0ne- and twobedroom suites available with full kitchens, fireplaces, balconies and most with whirlpool jet tubs. Property amenities include 24-hour Concierge, fitness center, heated outdoor pool, hot tub and fire-pit. Your mountain retreat in the heart of the city.

700 Biltmore Ave. • Asheville, NC 866.433.5594 residencesatbiltmore.com

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THE SWAG COUNTRY INN Chosen by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as the #2 Best Small Hotel in the Unites States, the secluded hideaway itself consists of 250 private acres. The main lodge and cabins, consisting of 15 rooms, are built of 17th and 18th century hand hewn logs and local field stone. Join us for our 30th season to experience just how remote, rustic, refined and remarkable it can be at 5,000 feet. 3 gourmet meals are served daily, with turn down service each evening.

800.789.7672 theswag.com BLUE RIDGE RENTALS Blue Ridge Mountain Rentals offers a huge selection of the finest cabins and mountain homes in the Boone and Blowing Rock areas!

Visit us at blueridgerentals.com or call us at 800.237.7975. We look forward to serving you.

800.237.7975 blueridgerentals.com THE WAYNESVILLE INN GOLF RESORT & SPA This resort has been welcoming visitors to the mountains with southern hospitality since the 1920s. Traditional resort amenities include historic and mountain view lodging, 27 holes of championship golf, restaurant and tavern, plus outdoor event space and pro shop. The location provides convenience to shopping, skiing, fishing, hiking and more.

176 Country Club Dr. • Waynesville, NC 800.627.6250 thewaynesvilleinn.com SMOKY MOUNTAIN MANSION BED & BREAKFAST/FULL HOUSE RENTAL Breathtaking mansion with six B&B rooms that include breakfast; groups can rent out the entire house, self-catering or catering options available.

Outdoor dining pavilion, grill area, even a chapel/fellowship hall on site! The Mansion is the ideal setting to relax in spacious, comfortable surroundings, convenient to the Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, rafting, boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and scenic drives. We also host weddings, reunions, and retreats. Come stay and play at the Mansion!

P.O. Box 259 • Robbinsville, NC 828.479.4220 smokymountainmansion.com HEMLOCK INN This historic inn, set just off Main Street in downtown Blowing Rock, is only steps from shopping, restaurants and event activities.

Eighteen unique rooms, including suites with fully-equipped kitchens. All rooms are nonsmoking. Rooms feature private baths, cable TV, air conditioning, phone services, microwave ovens, refrigerators and WiFi. Take away the unnecessary stress and time spent planning your vacation by taking advantage of a variety of packages offered throughout the year.

Downtown Blowing Rock, N.C. 828.295.7987 hemlockinn.net SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

MAGGIE MOUNTAIN VACATIONS Maggie Mountain Vacations offers cabin rentals in the Smoky Mountains! Large or small cabins with hot tubs, views, creeks, waterfalls and privacy - anything you need for a great mountain escape - we've got you covered. Call us today or check out our website for 24/7 online booking.

213 Soco Rd. • Maggie Valley, N.C. 888.926.4270 maggiemountainvacations.com BETTY’S AT HAWKSNEST This comfortably decorated condo, includes a deck, with a breathtaking view of Grandfather Mountain. This magnificent 1200 ft. 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo for four is conveniently located on the ground level. Parking is on a level driveway with plenty of room. We are located in the Grandfather Mountain Community area almost mid-way between Boone, Banner Elk, Linville, and Blowing Rock. The condo is fully furnished with both comfort and convenience to meet your needs.

704.237.4372 vrbo.com/129334 ANDON REID INN Experience the Smoky Mountain views from our beautifully restored 1902 home. Sumptuous breakfasts, private baths, Jacuzzis, working fireplaces, fitness studio and distinctive features that contribute to your comfort.

Moments away from the Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, waterfalls and Asheville. Let us “wow” you!

92 Daisy Ave. • Waynesville, NC 828.452.3089 andonreidinn.com OAK HILL ON LOVE LANE BED AND BREAKFAST Awarded Best in the South by BedandBreakfast.com, Oak Hill on Love Lane features “The service and amenities of a fine hotel in the quiet comfort of a B&B.” Each luxuriously appointed room in this historic 19th century home is equipped with hypo-allergenic bedding, fine linens, fireplaces, flat screen TVs, private en-suite baths and wireless internet access. Enjoy 24-hour access to the Butler Pantry, daily maid service, nightly turn-down service and a full 3-course gourmet breakfast.

Within walking distance of historic downtown Waynesville.

244 Love Ln. • Waynesville, NC 888.608.7037 oakhillonlovelane.com SMOKETREE LODGE Smoketree’s cozy atmosphere and prime location allows its visitors the choice of enjoying the peace and solitude of the Blue Ridge Mountains or the opportunity of partaking in the many activities available in the High Country!

11914 NC Hwy. 105 S. • Banner Elk, NC 800.422.1880 smoketree-lodge.com

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Rustic Elegance IN NORTH CAROLINA’S GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS

68062

1, 2, 3, 4 bedroom cabins for your vacation stay.

A Blowing Rock Tradition...

11914 Hwy. 105 S. Banner Elk NC 28604

445 Boyd Farm Rd. Waynesville, NC

828-963-6505

(828) 926-1575

Smoketree-Lodge.com Managed by Vacation Resorts International

www.boydmountain.com

Discover the magic of Blowing Rock, NC with a relaxing stay at the beautiful Hemlock Inn. This historic inn, set just off Main Street in downtown Blowing Rock, is only steps from shopping, restaurants and event activities.

At the Hemlock Inn, you'll find 18 uniquely designed and decorated rooms.

Come and make Hemlock Inn your “Blowing Rock Tradition”.

Downtown Blowing Rock, N.C. 828-295-7987 • www.hemlockinn.net Owned and operated by the Summers family since 1994 Innkeepers: Bryan and Donna Summers

68070

67810

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An unforgettable family vacation home overlooking downtown Waynesville, NC You and your family can relax in seclusion at 4500’ high enjoying long range views.

The custom home has 3 bedrooms with private baths, a kid’s room with bunk beds and a half bath. The screened in porch has a fireplace to keep you warm on those crisp evenings or you can enjoy making s’mores while sitting outside around the fire-pit counting the stars.

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Choose from well-appointed rooms, suites or cottages, and enjoy complimentary breakfast, afternoon snack reception and central locations.

800-821-4908 www.thevillageinnsofblowingrock.com

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10% OFF Weekday Stay 68326

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upcoming events

Downtown Knoxville, Tenn. celebrates the arts April 6-29.

61st Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage

For hikers and nature lovers alike who long to experience the Great Smoky Mountains in spring. This public program offers hiking tours of trails ranging from easy to strenuous, exhibitions, demonstrations, classroom lectures and motorcades into the mountains. Gatlinburg, Tenn. April 25-29.

200.568.4748 or springwildflowerpilgrimage.org.

Merlefest

DONATED PHOTO

Bluegrass music greats come together at Wilkes Community College for this celebration of Doc and Merle Watson’s lives. Guitar and banjo contests as well as the renowned Chris Austin Songwriting Contest bring some of the best amateurs from around the country. Other activities include jam sessions, youth showcases, raffles and vendors. Headliners this year will include Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives, Dougie MacLean, The Boxcars and many more. Wilkesboro, N.C. April 26-29.

800.343.7857.

APRIL Dogwood Arts Festival

A city-wide celebration of arts, music, food and more.

Knoxville, Tenn. April 6-29. 865.637.4561.

12th Annual Mountain Sports Festival

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FILE PHOTO

Enjoy wine tastings, seminars, cooking classes, wine makers' dinner and much more. Grand tasting event downtown with special guest Teresa Guidice. Blowing Rock, N.C. April 11-15. 828.295.7851.

Live music and dancing in a beautiful mountain setting. Saluda, N.C. April 21. 828.749.3676.

Sevierville, Tenn., chooses a barbeque champion May 18-19.

This family-friendly event will once again bring barbeque cook teams from all over to compete for cash and prizes in the Bush’s Best Tenn. State Championship Cook Off. Rounding out the event is bluegrass music, arts and crafts, kids’ games and the Mountain Soul Vocal Competition. Sevierville, Tenn. May 18-19.

888.889.7415 or bloominbbq.com.

Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival

Saluda Mountain Jamboree

Features authors and their works along with seminars, workshops, speakers and books for sale. Flat Rock, N.C. May 18. blueridgebookfest.org.

Bloomin’ Barbeque & Bluegrass

Come out to savor the smell and taste of fresh-grown herbs. Craftsmen, vendors and musicians on hand.

Old Fort, N.C. April 7-9. 828.668.7225.

A unique, family-oriented event highlighting the importance of Mountain Trout as a valuable resource.

Features Catch Clinics for kids and timbersports demonstrations by the Forestry Club. Maggie Valley, N.C. April 21. 828.926.0866.

Blue Ridge Bookfest

An all-day street festival. In Downtown Sylva, N.C. April 28. 828.586.1577 or downtownsylva.org.

8th Annual Herb Festival

23rd Annual Great Smoky Mountain Trout & Heritage Festival

A showcase of local growers and artists. Plants, herbs, handicrafts, food, entertainment and activities for kids. Waynesville, N.C. April 12. 828.734.9777.

Greening Up the Mountains Festival

Thousands of tulips herald the arrival of spring at Biltmore. Displays across the estate celebrate the majesty of Frederick Law Olmsted’s legacy as Biltmore’s master horticulture planner. Asheville, N.C. April 7-9. 1.800.2963.

A challenging tribute to our men and women in uniform. The course includes road stretches in addition to rugged terrain and mountain slopes. The event honors Lieutenant Frank Walkup, a University of Tennessee-Knoxville alumnus who was killed in the line of duty in Iraq in 2007. Military Heavy, Military Light and Civilian entry categories. Gatlinburg, Tenn.

April 20-21. 865.974.8858 or mountainmanmemorialmarch.com.

Whole Bloomin’ Thing Spring Festival

An annual celebration of mountain heritage featuring mountain music in the amphitheater, craft demonstrations such as weaving, blacksmithing and pottery turning. Hit or Miss engine displays and vendors displaying and selling their wares. Mountain Gateway Museum in Old Fort, N.C. April 28. 828.668.9259.

27th Annual Festival of Flowers

Mountain Man Memorial March

Enjoy a weekend of art, music, and outdoor fun in a beautiful lake setting. Experience cultural enrichment from all over the world. Lake Eden in Black Mountain, N.C. May 10-13. 828.686.8742.

Pioneer Day

Dillsboro Easter Hat Parade

Grab your hat and join in this delightfully unpretentious annual parade. Enter hat contest for a chance to win prizes in three categories: ugliest, biggest and best. Don’t miss your chance to meet the Easter bunny. Dillsboro, N.C. April 7. visitdillsboro.org.

LEAF

DONATED PHOTO

CALENDAR

The WNC Farmers Market hosts the Asheville Herb Festival May 4-6.

MAY 23rd Annual Asheville Herb Festival

The WNC Chapter of the NC Herb Association represents the wide variety of herbalists and herb businesses in North Carolina: Growers and vendors, gardening and landscaping specialists, along with makers of herbal ointments, balms, soaps, teas, medicine and more. WNC Famers Market in Asheville, N.C. May 4-6. 828.253.1691 or ashevilleherbfestival.com.

Ramp Festival

Celebrate the ramp, a wild growing onion considered to be a mountain delicacy. Features live bluegrass music, entertainment and a variety of foods made with ramps. American Legion Field in Waynesville, N.C. May 6. 828.456.8691.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

A weekend of music and sports celebrating athletics and local businesses. Features sporting demonstrations, competitions and kid’s activities.

Carrier Park in Asheville, N.C. May 25-27. 828.251.4029 or mountainsportsfestival.com.

Garden Jubilee Festival

Features over 200 vendors selling thousands of plants along with art and crafts. Garden talks, clinics, accessories and food for sale. Downtown Hendersonville, N.C. May 26. 828.693.9708.

JUNE North Carolina Gold Festival

This annual event features exhibits, mining techniques and demonstrations. Enjoy raffles, treasure and scavenger hunts, geo-caching and gold panning. Old Fort, N.C. June 1-2. 800.959.9033 or ncgold.org.

Patchwork Folk and Fabric Festival

A showcase of unique mountain heritage in arts and crafts. Vendors, displays, bed tumings, demonstrations and books by local authors. Cullowhee, N.C. June 2.

828.293.3053 or rec.jacksonnc.org.

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Black Mountain Arts and Crafts Show

Rhonda Vincent will be a part of the Red, White, and Bluegrass Festival.

This annual show features over 65 juried crafters and artists. In historic Black Mountain, N.C. June 2-3.

828.669.6583.

Dillsboro Art and Music Festival

Celebrate traditional mountain crafts and enjoy regional musicians, dancers and storytellers. Art and fine crafts are featured. Dillsboro, N.C. June 9.

Entice your taste buds with this walking culinary tour including cool coffee drinks, gourmet cuisine, delectable sweets, organic, local fare and more. Sylva, N.C. June 25. 828.586.1577.

Summertime Art and Crafts Show

Authentic crafts from the hands of 100 regional artisans. At the Ramsey Center on the Western Carolina University campus in Cullowhee, N.C. June 30-July 1. 828.524.3405 or mountainartisans.net.

Red, White, and Bluegrass Festival

Come out for fireworks and music. Headlining acts include: Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Harris Brothers, The Gibson Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, Tone Blazers, and the Isaacs and more. Catawba Meadows Park in Morganton, N.C. June 30-July 4. 828.439.1866 or redwhiteandbluegrassfestival.com.

Red, White & Boom Fireworks Finale

Finish off the 4th in style. Magnificent fireworks visible in the downtown streets. Gatlinburg, Tenn. July 4.

800.568.4748.

DONATED PHOTO

3 annual Taste of Downtown Sylva rd

A spectacular fireworks display in the high country.

Celebrate July 4th with Tweetsie Railroad. Blowing Rock, N.C. July 4. tweetsie.com.

Fireworks in a majestic mountain setting. Maggie Valley, N.C. July 4. maggievalleyfestivalgrounds.org.

Appalachian Lifestyle Celebration

A day-long celebration of Appalachian life skills. The event features craft demonstrations along with storytelling, mountain music, clogging, and old time food vendors. Downtown Waynesville, N.C. June 9.

Fireworks Extravaganza

Fourth of July Fireworks

Celebrate Independence Day with a spectacular fireworks display. Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds in Cherokee, N.C. July 4. cherokee-nc.com.

Pickin’ in the Park

JULY Freedom Fest

Enjoy an old fashioned street festival. Music, crafts, children’s area, dog show, watermelon eating contest and more. At the day’s end a spectacular fireworks show. Bryson City, N.C. July 4. 800.867.9246.

Stars and Stripes Celebration

Celebrate July 4th in small town America. Sidewalk sales, live music and entertainment throughout downtown and on the courthouse lawn. Family fun for all ages. Downtown Waynesville, N.C. July 4. downtownwaynesville.com

Come out and enjoy mountain music. Live bands and clogging groups. Canton Recreation Park in Canton, N.C. July 6, 13, 20 & 27. 828.648.2363.

Christmas in July Festival

Traditional music and crafts from throughout the northwest mountains. Civil War re-enactors, food and fun. Downtown West Jefferson, N.C. 336.846.9550.

Carolina Mountain Ribfest

Features world class barbecue rib vendors from across the country. Serving ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken with all of the traditional side dishes. Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher, N.C. July 13. 828.628.9626.

To submit an event for possible calendar inclusion, email calendar@smliv.com.

North Carolina’s International Festival Presenting Sponsor

July 18-29, 2012 Celebrate World Dance & Music with performing groups from: Belgium, New Zealand, Indonesia, France, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Peru, Ukraine and Serbia* Tickets & Information 877.FolkUSA | www.folkmootusa.org *subject to change

WWW.SMLIV.COM

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DEPARTMENT

mountain views

The green tsunami

BY GARY CARDEN

MANDY NEWHAM ILLUSTRATION

L

onely children often take refuge in their imagination.

Without playmates or distractions they may create imaginary friends and convene parliaments of comic book heroes to discuss tactics designed to cleanse the world of evil. I know something about that. For me, in the 40’s, I often spent summer afternoons tracking Nazis and Japanese warriors through the saw-briars and broom sage behind the barn.

However, my favorite diversion—one that often became so real, it frightened me badly—was to create a “green tsunami.”

Let’s say it was day in spring when a lush covering of vegetation was beginning to cover the Pinnacle and Black Rock. With my grandfather driving his Esso truck up Glenville mountain, or down to the prison camp in Gateway, I would be alone on our front porch gazing at the Balsam mountains.

Granny would be in the garden and there would be nothing on the radio except the Mid-Day Merry-go-round from WNOX. It was then I would decide to unleash the green tsunami.

I would sit at the end of the porch facing the Balsams and give my full attention to the new foliage that had turned the entire range of peaks, coves and hollows into varied shades of green. Then, I would “squench up” my eyes. That meant that I would close my eyes and then cautiously open them to tiny slits. At this point, all I could see was a great, sprawling panorama of greenery … a vague, pulsing expanse of shades ranging from lime, to emerald to turquoise, shifting and

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surging like … a great ocean wave. What were those tiny objects that were being borne helplessly along … were those houses, churches, bridges? Maybe an entire town!

This was a tidal wave (the word “tsunami” was not yet in my vocabulary) that had traveled some 400 miles from the coast, erasing Charlotte, Greensboro and Asheville, drowning millions and carrying the broken wreckage of factories and universities, shopping centers and malls, all reduced to flotsam and broken debris riding the crest of this awesome tidal ocean.

By this point, I was usually so frightened, I was whimpering, and when I shut my eyes, thereby breaking my contact with the approach of an awesome flood, I turned my head and opened them again to behold the serenity of the front yard, the June apple tree and the sheltering poplars.

Stretching around me was the pastures and houses of Rhodes Cove—all sleeping in the warmth of an early spring day. When I looked back at the Balsams, they had returned to their former state—a protective rampart against imaginary Atlantic tsunamis. My world regained its balance and I knew with certainty that night would come, and after that, the dawn.

I once told my Uncle Albert about the green tsunami. He was the only member of the family that found my fantasy life imaginative and amusing, and would sometimes ask me “How are things on Alpha Centauri today?” Albert was curious, so he took a seat by me on the porch one warm spring day, and after he had learned the art of “squenching” his eyes, we were off.

When we returned to the reality of Rhodes Cove, we talked about what would happen if the cataclysm we had just witnessed were real.

“What if a thousand years go by and then some archeologists dig up the wreckage of those craft shops in Cherokee?”

“Do you think that the only people left alive in the world would be the tourist folk on Clingman’s Done and Newfound Gap?” And so we mused, my favorite uncle and I, until it grew dark and it was time to listen to the rain crows mourn and watch the moon rise above the Balsams… a Yeats time, when “peace comes dropping slow.”

I am 77-years-old now and much has happened since the green tsunamis of my youth. However, in recent years I have come to believe that the imaginary tidal wave is back; however, it has become more complex, and very real. There are sections of the Balsams (and the world around me) that are no longer green, or at least, it is not the natural green of my youth. It is the artificial green of a golf course, or the manicured, tortured green of countless housing projects.

Perhaps in an abstract sense it is the green of a greed that strives to mimic the very thing that it destroys, and you don’t have to “squench up” your eyes to see it.

Gary Carden is a storyteller, a playwright, a painter, and an unrepentant Appalachian man with an obsession for books, movies, folklore and good conversation.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 12 • ISSUE 2

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