Smoky Mountain Living Dec. 2011

STORIES FROM HOME • STRANGE NEIGHBORS • WILD ANIMAL HOMES • APPALACHIA’S LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE LOG CABIN

Smoky Mountain L I V I N G

HIGH COUNTRY & GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA & TENNESSEE

Log Cabins APPALACHIA’S HISTORY & HERITAGE

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2011/2012 • VOL. 11 • NO. 6

Thomas Wolfe’s smliv.com

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING

DECEMBER/JANUARY • 2011/12

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plus readers’ hometown stories

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Polar Express© adventures on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Annual Christmas Parade, Spirit of Christmas, and Concert on the Square • Mountain Biking • Hiking 5th Annual Chocolate Cook-off • Be My Valentine Charlie Brown© romance rail excursions with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad • 1st Wedding Expo and Fashion Show • Downtown Shopping & Dining Whitewater rafting • Zip Line Canopy Tours • The Dragon • Lake Fontana • Horseback Riding Reserve your family playdate today – you’re too busy NOT to take a vacation!

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from the managing editor

It’s not too much above freezing outside, but in my living room a loaf of a cat rises in the warmth of the sun, the dog sleeps peacefully sprawled in front of the space heater, and my husband is clattering about in the bathroom where he’s patching plaster and scraping paint from the door frame.

We bought our 1930s bungalow five and a half years ago, and as all old houses are wont to do, ours has yet to stop being a work in progress.

The previous owners spent 40 years in the house. The fact that the man of the house worked at the mill is evidenced by the overall care taken of the house, but from what we know, he passed away a decade or more ago. I’m not sure exactly when in the process it became the norm to paint over brass light switches, electrical outlets, and door hardware, but we’ve stripped all these things (tip: put it in a Crock-Pot set on low and add a bit of laundry detergent, soak for hours on end).

We’ve had the hardwood floors refinished, and my husband has stripped paint from eight solid wood doors, then sanded, planed, sanded, steel wooled, stained, steel wooled again, and varnished them all.

He had a similar process for our kitchen cabinets, which now glean with enameled paint. We had the windows replaced, but kept with the bungalow style, and had a shower put in around the cast iron inset tub using white subway tile on the walls. We’ve replaced light fixtures and painted radiator covers. We’ve landscaped and put up a new mailbox (thanks to a careless driver who obliterated the original one along with a particularly nice Forest Pansy redbud).

All that’s left to do is to repaint all the exterior window trim and porch columns, refinish the massive front door with its original beveled glass and hand-wrought hardware, repaint the bathroom, rewire the entire house, add some more insulation … and … well, sell the place. It’s not that we don’t love our house. It’s not that we want another one on which to spend our time. It’s that we want more than two-tenths of an acre within the city limits, and by we, I mean he, my husband, who has dreams of never seeing a neighbor because in our jobs we deal with so many people that home is our place of solace. It is where we go to escape all of the day’s mandatory socialization. It is where we may be peacefully alone, together.

Of course, our home is also where our friends and family gather. We host several parties each year—most with a creative theme ranging from 80s night to ugly holiday sweaters—and on Christmas Eve we embrace the tradition of pea soup, pierogi, and nut roll that was passed down from my father’s Czech and Polish family. These gatherings have created so many rich and colorful memories for us all. The beauty of a memory is that its home is in the heart.

This issue of Smoky Mountain Living is dedicated to home, wherever it may be, however it is defined, and whatever its role in one’s life.

— Sarah E. Kucharski, managing editor

VOL. 11 • NUMBER 6 Publisher/Editor

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

“The beauty of

a memory is that its home is in the heart.”

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scott McLeod

editor@smliv.com

SARAH E. KUCHARSKI PHOTO

WELCOME

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

Finance & Administration . . . Amanda Singletary Sales . . . . . . . . . . . Greg Boothroyd, Whitney Burton, Scott Collier, Drew Cook, Lila Eason, Jason Nichols Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Nichols Contributing Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lucy Adams, Erin Davis, Jeff Deal, John Elliston, Amy Fitzpatrick, Don Hendershot, Joe Hooten, Heather Long, Joseph Massie, Sarah Smith Nester, Anna Oakes, Kent Priestley, Rich Rennicks, Constance Richards, Sherry Shook, Zeb Smathers, Rebecca Tolley-Stokes, Brianna Willis, Patrick Willis Contributing Photographers . . . . . . Travis Bradey, Shannon Halsaver, Margaret Hester, Ken Ketchie, Barbara Lomas, Amanda Lugenbell, Rosemary Markle, Laura Marshall, Joseph Massie, Barbara Sammons, Sherry Shook, Vera Visser Contributing Illustrator . . . . . . . . Mandy Newham Smoky Mountain Living is published bi-monthly

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About the writers Erin W. Davis, a former New York

state native, is a recent transplant to Western North Carolina. Her love of the rich culture and landscape of Smoky Mountains sprung from frequent family visits during her teenage years and was sealed with her first taste of hickory-smoked barbeque. After graduating with a B.A. in English from the State University of New York at Fredonia, Davis wrote briefly for the Cuba Patriot and Free Press newspaper before seizing the opportunity to relocate to North Carolina. In her spare time, Davis is working to fulfill her culinary bucket list: a compilation of 52 things to cook and eat before she leaves this earth.

Jon Elliston is an Asheville-based

writer and editor. The former managing editor of the Asheville newsweekly Mountain Xpress, at present he’s a contributing reporter for Carolina Public Press, a nonprofit news site covering Western North Carolina, and a contributing editor for WNC Magazine. Elliston has an avid interest in the history of the mountain region, and is at work on his third book, A Cruel Summer, which will tell the little-known story of a mob attack on Camp Summerlane—an experimental, integrated children’s camp near Rosman, N.C.—during the height of the civil rights movement.

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—for The Smoky Mountain News and Smoky Mountain Living. A second-rate guitarist, he can be found most evenings pickin’ some tunes on the back porch while enjoying the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains.

Sarah Nester is a wedding and event

planner, former newspaper journalist and communications jack-of-all-trades living in Washington, D.C. She was born and raised in Western North Carolina and tries to fascinate urban people with her tales of mountain upbringing. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in English and publishing from Rosemont College. She has worked as a newspaper journalist and columnist in Tennessee, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pa. She enjoys writing about fashion, culture and regional interests. She likes beautiful shoes and fly-fishing (but not at the same time). She is married with a brand new baby daughter and too many cats to disclose.

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.

Constance E. Richards is a

seasoned travel, arts, and food writer, who spent half her life in Europe, and was based in Russia as a foreign correspondent for seven years.

She has written for Time, Life, the New York Times, Southern Living, People, Conde Nast Traveler, and the London Daily Telegraph, and is contributing food editor for WNC WWW.SMLIV.COM

Magazine. She has penned a literary guide to St. Petersburg, Russia; Artful Asheville - Along the Urban Trail; and continues to co-author the Insiders’ Guide to North Carolina’s Mountains with her father. Along with working as update editor for the most recent edition of North Carolina Curiosities, she is director of an international art gallery. Her most recent project is writing a catalog raisonné about the work of her late husband, sculptor and painter Vadim Bora.

Amy Fitzpatrick has been living

in WNC her whole life, and specifically, in Canton, since 2007. She has been married to her best friend, Thomas, for a long time, and is a mother to 3. She loves to snoop around old houses and frequent thrift stores. Vegetarian, Calvinist, Southern in habit, and older than you think, Fitzpatrick just hopes she can finish renovating 21 Pennsylvania Avenue before it kills her.

Brianna Willis was born in

Charleston, S.C., but moved to Haywood County in 1992 and has lived there ever since.

She bought a turn-ofthe-century home with her husband in Canton in 2003 and has since modernized to a 1932 bungalow. Willis is an avid blogger and is interested in a number of activities including DIY projects, home gardening, and party and eventplanning. While these interests have yet to pay the bills, she hopes one day her ideas will lead her on to great things a la Martha Stewart, but without the home confinement.

Patrick Willis was born and raised

in Durham, N.C., and moved to Canton in 2003 with his wife. Since his arrival to western North Carolina, he has worked for a couple of the area’s old houses, including the Biltmore House, and currently, the Thomas Wolfe House in Asheville, N.C. Patrick remains extremely interested in the region’s history. He co-authored Haywood County’s bicentennial history book, Haywood County: Portrait of a Mountain Community, in 2008, and is currently working to place the historic Francis Mill in Waynesville on the National Register of Historic Places.

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in this issue: Where We Come From Where we come from is part of who we are, and our relationship with home can be like any relationship—beautiful and complicated. Wolfe explored these themes with his 1929 novel, Look Homeward, Angel. Now, Smoky Mountain Living’s readers share stories about their own hometowns. By Patrick Willis

Appalachia’s Unseen Problem Homelessness is a growing trend in the mountains as poverty levels in rural America are on the rise and have been higher than in our nation’s urban settings. By Anna Oakes

History of the Appalachian Cabin Modern construction may try to recreate the past, but the traditional log cabin was a creation born of necessity and hard work that has become a cultural icon.

By Sarah Smith Nester

Making A Home in Nature The animal kingdom exhibits some truly amazing homes, from the beaver’s lodge to the winter wren’s nest. Learn about animals in the Smokies—including birds of prey, otters, and wolves—and their homes at some of the region’s educational nature centers. By Don Hendershot

Porch Tales and Strange Neighbors Everything has to come from somewhere. East LaPorte has the dubious distinction of once being home to Dr. Brinkley, a doctor who proclaimed goat glands as a cure for erectile dysfunction. In Black Mountain, R. Buckminster Fuller built the first of his geodesic domes. By Jon Elliston, Kent Priestley and Constance E. Richards

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SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 5

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departments Mountain Music Knoxville, Tenn., gets its 90’s alt-country groove on with the V-Roys. 14

Arts Blowing Rock, N.C., welcomes a new center for art and history. 16

Cuisine Meet the truffle dogs at Blackberry Farms in Walland, Tenn. 17

Out & About

Home for the Holidays Erin Davis, a Yankee transplant, reflects on being here for the holidays, and making a new home for herself in North Carolina.

By Sarah E. Kucharski

The Winter Heritage Festival in Townsend, Tenn., celebrates Appalachian traditions. 18

Mountain Voices How to make a historical house a family home. 20

Mountain Letters Storyteller Donald Davis shares his childhood tales, and Sharyn McCrumb channels Zebulon Vance. 22

Outdoors Keep your holiday tree fresh. 24

On the cover: Carter Shields Cabin in Cades Cove.

STACIE BULLARD PHOTO ILLUSTRATION WWW.CADESCOVEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Sustainable Living Appalachian State University comes out a Solar Decathlon winner. 26 JIM TETRO/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PHOTO

resources: Shopping Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Shop Savvy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Select Lodging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Asheville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 East Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Waynesville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

WWW.SMLIV.COM

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Barbara Lomas

Barbara Sammons

Laura Marshall

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The cold of winter tends to draw us inward— toward ourselves, toward family and friends, toward warmth, and toward a feeling of home.

Home is so much more than a place. It is wherever we feel comfortable, whether that be snuggled under the covers, in the last booth on the right at the local diner, in our parents’ kitchen, or held in the crook of a lover’s arm. With this issue of Smoky Mountain Living, our readers share their own views of home and the things that signify being there.

Travis Bradey

Vera Visser

Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.

— Charles Dickens

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Sherry Shook

Joseph Massie

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The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. — Maya Angelou

Rosemary Markle

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DEPARTMENT

home for the holidays

Redefining home for the holidays

BY E R I N DAV I S

A

fter college, I was determined to strike out on my own and so I moved south to North Carolina.

It’s one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve made in my adult life, but there are days when I would do just about anything to be back home in Cuba. It’s just a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town off of Interstate 86 in western New York.

Tradition has it that one travels home for the holidays. But when that tradition cannot be upheld new traditions are forged.

A New York Yankee in the Wright brothers’ state shares her traditions from holidays past and how she’s making herself at home in her new life.

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SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

I miss home the most this time of year. All the leaves have fallen off of the trees and the weather is turning cold. I miss the distinct stillness of all living things after a lake effect snowstorm. I miss waking up to the crunch and grind of the plow against heavy snow. I miss drinking hot chocolate and eating saltrising toast at my parents’ table.

Now that North Carolina is my home, I’m not able to spend the holidays with my parents and siblings. With work and the high cost of travel, I don’t visit home that often.

I’ve kept some of our family holiday traditions for my own, carrying them out from six hundred miles away. I feel most at home here on days when I am doing something that my family has done for years and years, just in a different location.

I start to collect cookie recipes long before the holiday season, just like my Mom does.

Her search for new recipes begins around Thanksgiving every year. By the time December comes around she has hoarded enough butter, flour, sugar and spices to bake for all of her loved ones. We are always searching for the ultimate recipe, the one that tops anything we’ve ever made before. We trade recipes over the phone and through email. She gives me tips and hints on how to make the best cookies. Of course there are staple sweets that have to be made each

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We crossed cooking for ourselves straight off the list, as none of us is the best of cooks. In the tiny town of Cuba, everything shuts down on Christmas Day, with the exception of two things: the movie theater and the Chinese Buffet. So each year on Christmas Day my family heads to the movie theater, then to the Chinese Buffet for dinner. Instead of being stressed out with cooking and cleaning for company, the family enjoys spending time together. Last year on Christmas, I went to the movie theater but down here Waffle House is the only restaurant open on that day.

And so my very own version of our tradition was born—a movie and waffles.

I’ve learned that as long as I don’t forget that the people I love are always in my heart and mind, it doesn’t matter how far away from them I am at this time of year. In the years that I have been out on my own I’ve also learned that home is a feeling not necessarily a physical place. Home is where I make it.

Christmas like magic cookie bars, fudge, sugar cookies, and brown sugar pecan shortbread. I’ve tried making them myself, but nothing tastes as good as what Mom packs carefully and sends to me through the mail.

I live for the care packages she, my Dad, and my sister send to me. There are always random things in these package like an envelope full of fall leaves or notes written on the flap of an old cereal box. There are practical things too like toothpaste and deodorant and sometimes even a few dollars to spend just on me. Those boxes are like a window through which I can see home and my family’s love for me.

Last Christmas I carried on an odd tradition that my family started a few years ago. My mom is a cook by profession, and one of the few days a year that the restaurant she works at is closed is Christmas Day. On that day she goes on a cooking strike, so my Dad, brother, sister and I have only two choices: cook for ourselves or find a place to eat out at.

SHANNON HALSAVER PHOTOS

“In the tiny town of Cuba, everything shuts down on Christmas Day, with the exception of two things: the movie theater and the Chinese Buffet.”

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DEPARTMENT

mountain music

One more from an East Tennessee icon

BY JOE HOOTEN

O

n the eve of the new millennium, Knoxville, Tenn., roots music fans bid farewell to one of the most beloved bands that ever called The Marble City home. The V-Roys, in all their ragged glory, charged through an inspiring set at the majestic Tennessee Theater in front of a sold-out crowd as they played their last show. As the band members reached the edge of the stage for their final bow together, the house lights went on shining upon the crowd—filled with mixed emotions, realizing that this was the last time they’d see their hometown heroes, an era ended for all as a new one began.

With acclaimed solo careers and other worldly ventures, The V-Roys have continually received impressive notoriety and are still revered as one of Knoxville’s best bands despite not playing a single show in 12 years, a true testament to their influence on the musical community and the fans that love their brand of Americana music. With 2011 New Year’s Eve approaching, The V-Roys have reunited for what will be their final show at the famous Tennessee Theater in Knoxville, coinciding with their first ever compilation release, an anthology of remastered tracks handpicked from both of their seminal albums, “Just Add Ice” and “All About Town.” Also included are five unreleased studio recordings, two originals and three inspiring covers, making “Sooner Or Later” the perfect introduction to the brilliance that made this band such a favorite to many.

Whether they approved of the label or not, The V-Roys have often been lumped into the popular alt-country movement of the 1990’s, a genre of music infusing country, folk, and even punkrock flavored riffs with witty and insightful lyrics. The Knoxville revelers were leaps and bounds beyond the typical twang-andbang bar bands of the day. Although many fans may see the comparisons to similar dual singer/songwriter bands like Uncle Tupelo and The Jayhawks, The V-Roys never really felt that way. “We considered ourselves a pop band with pop songs,” explains Scott Miller, vocalist and guitarist, “So we never really embraced the alt-country movement and they never really hugged back.” Signed to Steve Earle’s E-Squared Records label in the mid-90’s, the group recorded and released their debut “Just Add Ice” in 1996 with much adornment and praise from music critics. The album was a balancing act of contributions from both songwriters—Mic Harrison and Scott Miller, filled with straightforward production and no-frills arrangements—the solid songwriting and commendable musicianship drew fans in immediately.

“There was this chemistry between us, something hard to define” remembers Mic Harrison. “We wanted it to sound more live than over-produce, and I think we achieved that.”

The album was filled with classic rock n’ roll on tracks like “Guess I Know I’m Right” and “Wind Down,” even more touch-

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ing were tunes like “Lie I Believe” and “Goodnight Loser,” an album filled with true emotion and energy that couldn’t be faked.

“Looking back, I think I was paranoid that we would end up sounding slick and people would make fun of us for it,” says Miller.

Drummer Jeff Bills and bassist Paxton Sellers were the solid backbeat complimenting Mic and Miller’s energy and craft for penning honest and hook laden songs, the result was a solid debut that put the band on the map and gained them national attention.

The band continued to extensively tour the Southeast and beyond, but found a huge following especially among East Tennesseans.

“There is an East Tennessee entertainment ethic. I think you see it when you look at artists that have come out of East Tennessee, from Roy Acuff to The Amazing Rhythm Aces. For all intents and purposes, we were raised in and by that ethic: People are paying their hard earned money to come and see you. Give them their money’s worth in effort and sincerity,” says Miller.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LEAH BULLARD • LEAHBULLARD.COM

“There is an East Tennessee

entertainment ethic. I think you see it when you look at artists that have come out of East Tennessee, from Roy Acuff to The Amazing Rhythm Aces.”

— Scott Miller

With that authenticity and desire to play their best every night, The V-Roys became much more than the hot local band to many, their songs became soundtracks to people’s lives in a way that many groups strive but never quite reach.

Albeit brief, The V-Roys left their mark as “All About Town” was released in October of 1998, slightly more produced, but filled with the same caliber of songwriting—a fusion of rock and twang with the earnest lyrical approach that has always been their trademark. With appearances at Farm Aid, “Late Night” with Conan O’Brien, a trip across the Atlantic to play the UK, and various

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Q&A with Scott Miller SML: The V-Roys were highly influential during the 90’s alt-country movement. Looking back, how does it feel to have been a part of that era?

Scott Miller: I’m not trying to be humble here: I really don’t think we influenced that many bands.

For one, we were one of many, many bands mixing rock and country and that wasn’t any kind of ground-breaking concept. And secondly, we considered ourselves a pop band with pop songs, so we never really embraced the "alt-country” movement and they never really hugged back. But that being said, I have been (drunkenly) told that we were an influence from a band or two when out on the road. How does it make me feel? It makes me feel very old.

very exciting time. But for me personally, right at the very same time we got signed, made our first record, and did our first big tour, my sister was diagnosed with, fought against, and died from cancer. That all took nine months. Now some might say “that put it all in perspective,” but that would be a load of crap. There is no “perspective” to be gained from that, at least for me, other than it sucked, and thank God I was able to spend as much time with her as I was—the music business is not a nine to five job—and that after she died, I had something to throw myself into. And yes I just ended the previous sentence with a preposition.

She would have called me out on that.

The V-Roys allowed you to travel and play on national television, tour Europe, and a host of other perks. Do you miss those days?

Who wouldn’t? It was awesome.

When you go back to the “Just Add Ice” days, do you recall what you felt when you signed to Steve Earle’s E-Squared Records label?

Do you mean did I think we had “made it”? I did feel like we made a great first step and it was a

Both albums, “Just Add Ice” & “All About Town” are certainly required listening for any roots-rock fan. Reflecting on those sessions, would you have done anything differently with production/writing/arrangements?

There are always things you wish you had done differently or even better. I feel that way about all the records I’ve ever made, and I bet most artists do too. But over all, we were as good as we were going to be and we used everything we had at the time.

I remember being so protective of trying to “keep it real”: using the first live take wherever possible, limiting the overdubs, using no reverb, and just trying to make the recording sound like what you would hear if you were to come see us play as a four piece band. Looking back, I think I was paranoid that we would end up sounding “slick” and people would make fun of us for it. Know what? What a bunch of horseshit! First of all, we couldn’t sound “slick” if we tried: Paxton was the only true “musician” in the band; Jeff, Mic and I were just three guys who tried to put as many hooks in a song as we could while trying to write something we could get behind and sing. I think that was and still is our essence. We were definitely more produced on “All About Town” than “Just Add Ice”

prestigious venues throughout the United States, The V-Roys came to a personal crossroads towards the end of 1999 and ultimately decided to go their separate ways after their New Year’s show at the Tennessee Theater. “I recall their being a mixture of both sadness and excitement in the air,” remembers Jason Knight manager for Mic Harrison, “Some fans were glum and moping around knowing they only had a few hours left with the band, some folks were celebrating

the fact they only had a few hours left with the band … but once The V-Roys took the stage the mood turned to pure inebriated joy and we were all in for the big finale.”

“Sooner or Later” can be held up much like a well manicured scrapbook, a look back at the great work the band is proud to stand by to this day— not to mention the five unreleased songs fans will definitely want to check out. It seems that time and other factors would prevent a band from

Before you formed the Viceroys, you had already established yourself as a promising songwriter in Knoxville. Was there an internal debate as to whether you could/should remain solo or start a band?

Oh for sure. I had a circuit I was ‘working’ and I was making a living with a solid if not avid fan base. But I wanted something more. Not just musically or artistically (which was the case), but for what at the time I thought my “career” needed.

Very driven, I was and still am to some degree. But whenever anyone chooses change in their life there are going to be people—be they fans or even friends—that don’t want you to change. Change?

But you know the cliché: You gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette. Looking back I wish I had pushed myself to explore more. I guess it’s never too late. I’ll start tomorrow.

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(and we fought every bit of it). I wish we had let go and explored even more. Now, that’s just my opinion. I don’t speak for the band here at all.

What was the impetus for revisiting V-Roy material and creating the anthology?

Money. Next question.

Now that you have your own record label and a highly acclaimed solo career, does ownership cause more headaches or solve more problems?

Its not an “either/or.” I’ve said many times, the way the music business has changed and is changing just right for an independent artist like me. Its not as glamorous as it once was because you have to do more things yourself and reach out to your fans on a more personal level—and sometimes I miss those old days when musicians could remain aloof and mysterious—but you have more control of what part of you is being “sold” and you get to keep so much more of the money.

The business is back where it started and should have stayed: artist driven. It’s about time.

There’s a big New Years Eve show at the Bijou Theater in Knoxville, The V-Roys are reuniting for a big show. Are you excited and have y’all starting rehearsing yet?

HA! You guys don’t know Jeff Bills very well. We started rehearsing back in July. Its gonna be a great night, a fun night. I can’t wait.

Knoxville, as well as much of Eastern Tennesse, has remained a loyal fan base for you and the rest of the V-Roy members. Why do you think your music has such a natural appeal to folks living there?

There is an East Tennessee entertainment ethic.

I think you see it when you look at the artists that have come out of East Tennessee, from Roy Acuff to The Amazing Rhythm Aces. For all intents and purposes we were raised in and by that ethic: People are paying their hard earned money to come and see you. Give them their money’s worth in effort and sincerity.

jumping back in the ring, but Scott, Mic, Jeff, and Paxton have other plans New Year’s Eve 2011.

The band’s show sold out in less than two hours, but that won’t stop fans from trying to get a listen from outside the Tennessee Theater. The show promises to be one for the ages. So as the band says its final goodbyes with what will be an unforgettable night, let’s raise a glass and toast the boys from Knoxville and thank them for all the memorable moments and music they’ve given us.

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DEPARTMENT

mountain arts

Bardo Arts Center announces winter stage productions Western Carolina University will host several stage and theater productions throughout the winter.

The Mainstage season will feature a concert version of “Music Is” by George Abbott, based on William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” The play features music

by Richard Adler with lyrics by Will Holt. The production, a tangled comic mayhem of mistaken identity and evershifting affection, will be the first revival in the world since the Broadway premiere in 1976. The play is based on a score among the vast files of the Rodgers and Hammerstein archives at the Library of Congress. Show dates are Feb. 4-5.

The Mainstage spring production is “The Why” by Victor Kaufold, a fast-paced tragicomedy, one part modern satire and one part honest investigation. The central story concerns Robert, an American teenager guilty of murdering three of his classmates at school. Spliced among the dramatic exchanges between Robert and his assigned social worker, a parade of fantastical stereotypes storms in and out, creating a dichotomy between moments of hilarity and sorrow. Show dates are March 2125 in the Blackbox Theatre in the Bardo Arts Center The university’s Galaxy of Stars series will feature Neil Berg’s “100 Years of Broadway,” on Friday, Jan. 27. The production features treasures from Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber from shows including “Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Misérables,” “Jersey Boys,” “Chicago,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Jekyll & Hyde.”

The Vienna Boys’ Choir will perform March 6. Long a fixture in Austrian musical life, four choirs of boys ages 1014 now perform hundreds of times a year worldwide.

Other upcoming events include, The Poetry Revival on Jan. 25—the ultimate uplifting spoken word poetry experience! With Derrick Brown (opening artist for Cold War Kids, The Flaming Lips, and Comedian David Cross), Anis Mojgani (2-time Individual National Poetry Slam Champion; HBO’s Def Poetry Jam), and Buddy Wakefield (2-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion; on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records). Tested and proven, these verbal acrobats join together each year for a national tour that undeniably charges the hearts and smiles of every audience it meets.

On Feb. 13, Flamenco Vivo/Carlota Santana will provide passion and drama in their inspiring program La Pasión Flamenca. This fierce and eclectic evening of Spanish dance and music features lamenting solos, sizzling duets, and festive company dances.

To order tickets, or for more information, call the Bardo Arts Center box office at 828.227.2479 or visit bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

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Blowing Rock’s newest center for art, history and heritage The new Blowing Rock Art and History Museum (BRAHM), which will host exhibits, educational programs and classes promoting the visual arts, history and heritage of the mountains of Western North Carolina, opened this fall.

Opening museum exhibits include “Elliott Daingerfield: His Art and Life in Blowing Rock;” “The Blowing Rock: A Natural Draw,” highlighting the town’s famous rock outcropping; and “The Historic Hotels of Blowing Rock.”

For more information on BRAHM, visit blowingrockmuseum.org.

A BREAKOUT OPPORTUNITY FOR SONGWRITERS Now in its 20th year, the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest is an extraordinary opportunity for aspiring writers to have their original songs heard and judged by a panel of Nashville music industry professionals under the direction of this year’s volunteer contest chairperson, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale.

The contest recognizes winners in four categories—country, bluegrass, gospel/inspirational and general.

Twelve finalists will enjoy admission and lodging for three nights at MerleFest, will receive a mentoring session with Jim Lauderdale, and will compete on the Austin Stage at

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

MerleFest 25. In addition, the firstplace winners will receive a performance slot on the Cabin Stage on Friday of the festival.

The contest’s namesake, Chris Austin, worked as a sideman for Ricky Skaggs for three years, singing and playing guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle and was offered a recording contract of his own.

However, on March 16, 1991, Austin’s life was cut tragically short when the private plane carrying him and six other members of Reba McEntire’s band, as well as her tour manager, crashed in the mountains near San Diego.

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 18, 2012. Details about entry fees, eligibility and other requirements are available at chrisaustinsongwritingcontest.org.

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mountain cuisine

A nose for the finer things

B

lackberry Farms is relying on four-legged hunters to sniff out precious ingredients for the luxury resort’s culinary masters.

A team of eight Lagotto Romagnolo, one of Italy’s oldest dog breeds, is the key to bringing Blackberry Farms’ truffle harvest out of the soil and into the kitchen.

Males Tom, Bruno and Rico and females Lussi, Rolla, Emily, Alba and Zeta are the keep of trainer Jim Sanford.

“These dogs are born with an incredible sense of smell, as are most dogs,” Sanford said. “These dogs are not born with an inclination toward truffles. This is purely a trained behavior. Potentially, any dog with a good sense of smell could be taught to locate truffles.”

Training the dogs is a three-step process.

“We one, imprint the scent to the dog; two, hide the scent and ask the dog to locate it; and three, give an “alert” that a truffle has been found,” Sanford said.

World-renown chefs regard Black Perigord winter truffles as culinary trophies. Most are produced in regions of France, Italy, and Spain—not the United States. A truffle farmer who relocated from Oregon to Tennessee talked Blackberry Farms into the truffle growing business when he showed up with a container of truffles, the

DIRECTORY

The holiday season is the time for baking and trading homemade goodies. Try these Western North Carolina creations next time the kitchen is calling.

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Toast Cookies From Jenny Weaver, owner and baker at The Sweet Onion Restaurant and Tipping Point Tavern, Waynesville, N.C. 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 1 cup crunchy peanut butter ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp vanilla

½ tsp nutmeg 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 cup butter (softened) 1 tsp kosher salt 2 eggs 1 tsp baking powder

Mix all the ingredients together. Allow dough to chill until it is firm enough to work. Shape into medium-sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375˚ for 8-12 minutes.

Swag Bars From mountain top resort, The Swag, Waynesville, N.C. 1 cup white sugar 1 cup white corn syrup 2 cups creamy peanut butter

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLACKBERRY FARMS

knowledge to grow them, and an adverseness to dogs. Blackberry Farms proprietor Sam Beall agreed to procure the Italian Lagotto Romagnolos in exchange for starting a truffle orchard at the resort. It takes seven years for truffles to reach harvest. The resort is in its fourth year of growing.

— Jim Sanford The Romagnolos come with an added benefit of being particularly cute—there’s a waiting list for puppies.

“They are very adaptable and get along well with other dogs, cats and children of all ages,” Sanford said. “They bond very closely with their primary care taker and prefer to spend as much time as possible with you.”

“This is purely a

trained behavior.

Potentially, any dog with a good sense of smell could be taught to locate truffles.”

6 cups scrunched corn flakes 1 – 8 oz. package of semisweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate chips)

Combine white PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SWAG sugar, white corn syrup and peanut butter in large heavy pan. Heat over medium heat, bringing almost to a boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from stove. Add crushed corn flakes. Mix well together.

Press into lightly greased/sprayed pan (9×13). Spread chocolate chips over the top and place in a warm (250˚) oven (just long enough to allow the chips to melt). Using a spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly as a topping. Score into bars while still hot as they are difficult to cut when cool. Swag Bars can be wrapped individually and can be stored in the freezer. They are best served warm or at room temperature.

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DEPARTMENT

out & about

Cherokee storyteller Lloyd Arneach receives Mountain Heritage award Lloyd Arneach shares the story of the Milky Way. DONATED PHOTO

L

loyd Arneach, recipient of the 2011 Mountain Heritage Day Award, was born and raised on the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. His father served for a time as vice chief of the Eastern Band, his mother was the first woman to be elected to the Tribal Council, and his grandmother, Lula Owl Gloyne, was a “Beloved Woman” of the

tribe. As a young man, Arneach attended Guilford College and served in the U.S. military, including a year in Vietnam.

Arneach first learned Cherokee legends as they were told by two storytelling uncles, David and George Owl. He moved to Atlanta to work in 1967, and in his spare time Arneach traveled around the state of Georgia lecturing on Cherokee history and culture. Later on, he added storytelling to his presentations, and in 1993, Arneach began a full-time career as both storyteller and historian.

Arneach is now nationally recognized for his ability to present stories in a style that is humorous, informative and moving.

His tales range from the “old stories” of the Cherokee to contemporary stories he has collected and others from a variety of Native American tribes. He has said, “I’m fortunate to have a wealth of stories to share, and I’ll tell stories to anyone who will sit down and listen.”

Arneach’s storytelling has taken him across the United States, with performances at the Kennedy Center, during the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and on the Discovery Channel. He also lectures on Cherokee history and culture in schools, universities, museums, and at many other venues, and he conducts workshops on Native American storytelling, helping to build appreciation for Native American culture.

In 1992, Children’s Press published Arneach’s book The Animal Ballgame, which is based on one of his favorite Cherokee animal stories, and his book Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee, released in 2008, is now in its third printing.

For more information, visit arneach.com.

Stecoah Valley Center’s cultural endeavors The Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center was named as the 2011 Mountain Heritage Day Award Organizational Recipient. Built of native rock with the skill and labor of many local residents, Stecoah Union School in Graham County opened to its first students in 1926. After 68 years of serving as a center of the community, the school was closed due to consolidation in 1994.

For two years, the school sat abandoned, but the Stecoah Valley Arts, Crafts and Educational Center Inc., a nonprofit corporation, was formed by a group of concerned citizens who wanted to restore the old school to its original role as the community hub. Now the 14,000-square-foot building is home to the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center, which offers cultural and heritage programming and community services to about 12,000 people each year.

The arts center’s well-known summer concert series, “An Appalachian Evening,” draws top acts such as Doc Watson and David Holt to perform, and the new Stecoah Artisans Gallery and Guild provides sales promotion and support for more than 125 local and regional artists.

The center also provides many services to the local community, including an award-winning after-school program that serves more than 50 students 18

Over 100 artisans exhibit in the Stecoah Gallery.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE STECOAH VALLEY CULTURAL ARTS CENTER

each year. The center’s Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program offers students an opportunity to learn to play traditional stringed instruments, helping to preserve the culture of the region.

The award presentations were part of activities at Western Carolina University’s 37th annual Mountain Heritage Day festival. Each year the university honors one individual and one organization in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the preservation or interpretation of the history and culture of Southern Appalachia, or for outstanding contributions to research on, or interpretation of, Southern Appalachian issues.

For more information, visit stecoahvalleycenter.com.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

SML_Vol.11-Iss.6 TRAVIS:Layout 1 11/3/11 9:28 AM Page 19

Celebrating Thirty One Years

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The 6th Annual Winter Heritage Festival in the Smokies is a celebration of East Tennessee history, Appalachian traditions, and the natural beauty of Townsend, Tenn., Cades Cove and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Winter Heritage Festival will take place Feb. 2-5 at several locations in the Townsend and Maryville area, including the Townsend Visitors Center, the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, the Little River Railroad Museum, and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

For more information, visit smokymountains.org/ winter-heritage.html or contact the Smoky Mountain Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800.525.6834.

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The Historic McMinn Building, Built in 1899

The Titanic Museum Attraction features a replica of the original ship’s Royal Staircase.

TITANIC MUSEUM ATTRACTION PHOTO

1000 miles from here, someone just used the word “synergistically.”

OBSERVING A FATEFUL ANNIVERSARY

ans the ery.

Y OF LLEY NTER

April 15, 2012, marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, and the crew of the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., is celebrating.

Throughout the year, visitors to the Titanic Museum may each help memorialize the passengers and crew of the ill-fated ship by placing a rose petal in a vessel that will go out to sea on April 10 with the Coast Guard. The petals will be released at the exact site the Titanic was lost.

In addition, the museum and its counterpart in Branson, Mo., will be holding a competition for brides who wish to be married on the ship museum’s Royal Staircase. Three brides will be picked for each museum location, and web voters will select the winning bride as well as the bride’s dress, flowers, cake, and honeymoon destination.

Another opportunity to win features six 11-day trips to Ireland.

For more information, visit titanicattraction.com.

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DEPARTMENT

mountain voices

Making a house a home “It will take many years of laughter, love, and work before one feels the warmth an older home has the moment one walks in the door.”

McClain Willis celebrates his first birthday at Pennsylvania Avenue.

DONATED PHOTO

H

aving grown up on the western side of Haywood County, N.C., I had some preconceived notions of the eastern end of the county, not all of them positive. But for a young couple on a budget, my husband and I could not pass up the value and location of Canton.

The original plan was to stay in our starter home for a few years while Patrick finished his master’s degree, then move some place more suitable. Little did I know how suitable Canton would be.

20

A keen interest in history made us much more receptive to buying our first mill house, which was built in 1913. We romanticized the nature of owning an almost 100-year-old home.

And then reality struck. I still remember removing the vinyl floor in the bedroom to find another layer of vinyl, then linoleum, and finally plywood. We had a nail-pulling party for the plywood because one of the previous owners thought each plywood sheet needed a minimum of 50 nails in order to stay down on the floor.

We used to muse about the previous owners—their tastes, their lives, and why they thought some repairs were a good idea.

With the birth of our son we outgrew our first mill town house. By that point however, we had fallen in love with our town. It never occurred to us to look elsewhere for our second home. We had the time to get past the “superficial” challenges, such as the mill (and its “smell of money”), and realize the amazing opportunity we had been given to live in a real working-class American town. We live lives that seem to rarely exist outside of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Our second home is a 1932 bungalow. It happens to be just one of many styles available on our street. If a bungalow does not suit one’s fancy, there are other options to choose from, including Colonial, Tudor, Mid-century Modern, and other styles. No one would ever accuse Canton’s neighborhoods of being full of cookie-cutter “McMansions.”

Just as each house style is different, every family has placed a unique mark on its home. I wave at the neighbors and wonder who planted the gnarled apple trees in their side yard; admire the birdbath built into a stone wall; and ponder over paint swatches that might match the perfect shade of weathered grey from a house down the block.

Certainly new construction has its conveniences, but it will never have original French glass doors hiding in the corner of the basement waiting to be rehung in the dining room. It will never have the satisfaction of five layers of paint painstakingly removed from a brick fireplace (without harsh chemicals mind you). It will take many years of laughter, love, and work before one feels the warmth an older home has the moment one walks in the door. Most importantly, new homes rarely come with a whole community. Tales of previous owners and commiseration with other intrepid souls like our neighbors, the Fitzpatricks, who also are working on their mill town homes, have made for some lasting friendships and a sense of belonging. I would not have my home or town any other way.

— By Brianna Ganskopp Willis

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

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I

I think it’s been worth it though. The place was uninhabitable when we bought it. Eleven dogs can ruin the most impenetrable structures. The house even came with it’s own horror movie-worthy bathroom, with a rotting floor and porn and prescription bottles hidden in the ceiling. After 100 gallons of paint, refinished floors, new electrical, plumbing, heating, and a finished second floor, she looks pretty good.

This house is stout. Concrete and plaster on the walls make picture hanging tedious, but the transoms above all the doorways make up for it. Even though the front door looks directly down the hallway into the bathroom, the breakfast nook with its original table and benches is cozy. High ceilings make heating expensive, but I can sit on my front porch and watch my entire neighborhood pass by.

Brianna is right when in her comparison of life in Canton to something from a Norman Rockwell scene. My kids ride their bikes until dark, and I know everyone on my street. At the high school football games, the goalposts are set against the mill’s smokestacks and cargo trains. In the summer, I drop my kids off at the town pool, and I know they will probably go explore the Pigeon River too after they’ve fed the goats at the local feed and seed store.

Old homes like the Fitzpatricks’ However, my favorite part of offer a fine mix of character and living in Canton is its authenticity. headaches. DONATED PHOTO This is not a polished place. In the winter, the empty storefronts seem The first whistle blows at 7 a.m., which gloomy. There’s a rummage sale going on is when my two teenage daughters know in an empty parking lot somewhere they have to be downstairs having seemingly seven breakfast. I mark my lunch just like the days a week. The mill workers do from noon to 12:30, and sidewalks that the final whistle at 3:30 means the kids run in front of my should be home from school. The whole house are town hears the whistle’s sound, and it crumbling. But creates a kind of shared rhythm. The daily, when I return human habit of work is always felt in from more Canton. I grew up in a wealthy tourist polished, formal town, and I have to come to embrace the places, I smile at industrious pace of this little paper town. the beacon of My home is impressive in its size and light as I pass the Hot Spot gas station strange in its layout. It is a brick bungalow just before I get into town. Canton is not built in 1918. I have run into several people a perfect place; sometimes it even feels in town who told me, “Oh yes, we looked like a ghost town. Except, Canton is at that place, but it seemed to be too much gritty and real. That’s why I live here. work.” I respond, “Oh, you were right.”

— By Amy Fitzpatrick

live across from Brianna.

Though I cannot see it directly, I can always hear the mill and see the steam, and sometimes a very cabbagey aroma is indeed present. But the factory whistles have become a part my family life that I didn’t expect.

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DEPARTMENT

mountain letters

Tales from Appalachia’s past

BY REBECCA TOLLEY-STOKES

Tales From a Free-Range Childhood by Donald Davis.

Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair Publisher, 2011. eaders grow up seeing the world through Davis’ eyes beginning as early as when he thought his name was “Baby” up through his experience watching Hitchcock’s “Psycho” on the big screen in this collection of twenty stories.

As the older of two boys growing up in 1950s Waynesville, N.C., many of Davis’ tales center around mischief he and little brother Joe make. Imagine cow pastures, adventures in sledding, cutting each other’s hair, playing tag football in the front yard, and all manner of rough and tumble play boys get into and mix those together with a wise but stern mother and a father who laughs at every exploit. Depending on how quickly you read, the work offers a few hours or days worth of delightful, heart-warming yarns reminiscent of what one’s parents might share of their own vim and vinegar youth.

But Davis is a professional who regularly headlines at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn. And he’s a retired Methodist minister. His stories meld nostalgia and mostly good clean fun (smoke, dirt, and cow manure have small roles) with life lessons. “Something Up Her Sleeve” follows Davis through several years of Valentine’s Days at his elementary school. The first year he hands out four cards to only his best pals. When his mother gets wind of this, she makes

R

The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb. NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 2011.

This story of Tom Dooley is told from two characters’ perspectives: Zebulon Vance and Pauline Foster, both whom provide compelling new “evidence” as to the motives surrounding the murder of Laura Foster, the crime for which Civil War veteran Tom Dooley was hanged and for whom the famous ballad was written. McCrumb weaves an intriguing and compelling story wherein the lives of the two Foster women, cousins, intersect with Dooley and another cousin, Mrs. Ann Melton, with whom Pauline recently comes to live. The author found evidence of her version of this story in the extant trial records and drew upon various experts to 22

sure he addresses cards to all his classmates and walks him to school to be sure he delivers the cards instead of throwing them in the trash like he did the first year. Everyone in his classroom rips through his and her cards, calling out how many he or she got. Davis notices that one girl, Willie Freedle, received none. That finally changes one year when Miss Metcalf lets the children decorate their Valentine’s Day boxes like something out of a Victoria’s Secret catalog and something wonderful happens to Willie.

In “Ducktail,” Davis reminds us that teenagers have always rebelled against their parents when it comes to their personal appearance. Davis has the town barber style his hair in a Ducktail when his mother allows him to make the visit on his own.

And many readers may especially appreciate “Braces,” about a time Davis visited his orthodontist in Asheville, missed his bus accidentally on purpose, and spent many hours exploring downtown, including stops at the S & W, the Flatiron Building, Woolworth’s, and Sears and Roebuck.

Storyteller Donald Davis.

PRESS PHOTO

craft accurate characterizations in coming to her conclusions.

A true page-turner, this ballad novel demonstrates McCrumb’s storytelling skills and her understanding of Appalachian people, history, and culture, especially in the mountains bordering North Carolina and Tennessee. Of special note in this novel are the subtle interplay of class and race. McCrumb points out that Vance’s origins were the same as the people he legally represented—Dooley and Melton—but that for as many “stereotypical” examples of Appalachia that we find such as Dooley and Melton (who could not read or write, but was stunningly beautiful), there are many such as Vance who defy stereotypes and lead remarkable lives to the contrary.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

Several aspects of McCrumb's version will appeal to modern audiences. First, syphilis is passed around, which also means lots of sex.

McCrumb doesn’t detail those explicit bits, but this aspect of nineteenth century culture is interesting because frequently we have this notion that “back in the good old days” folks were chaste. They were not. Second, toward the end, when a body is found, and Dr. George Carter is called in to examine it to determine cause of death, those with interest in forensic sciences get a peek at nineteenth century techniques, primitive though they may be compared to today’s.

Finally, McCrumb compares the relationships between Tom and Ann and Ann’s husband James to Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and the narrators of the story, Zebulon and Pauline, to Bronte’s narrators, Mr. Lockwood and Nellie Dean.

SML_Vol.11-Iss.6 TRAVIS:Layout 1 11/3/11 9:29 AM Page 23

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Enjoy deluxe guest rooms, suites, a heated indoor pool and hot-tub spa, a complimentary hot breakfast bar and an atmosphere flowing with charm.

One block from Historic Dillsboro, NC. Railroad Tickets Sold Here www.bwriverescape.com WWW.SMLIV.COM

JACKSON COUNTY TOURISM AUTHORITY

800.962.1911 www.FlyFishingTrail.com www.MountainLovers.com 23

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DEPARTMENT

outdoors

Fight against fatal bat disease continues A podcast released by Great Smoky Mountains National Park outlines efforts to save bats from White-nose syndrome, a potentially fatal disease sweeping through the Appalachian bat population.

The park is home to at least 11 species of bats, a primary group of flying mammals that play a critical role in the health of ecosystems by consuming forest and agricultural crop insects such as moths, beetles and mosquitoes.

In the winter of 2010, two bats in a park cave tested positive for a newly described fungus, Geomyces destructans, which is thought to be the cause of White-nose syndrome.

To help prevent the unintentional spread of the fungus, the park closed all of its 16 caves and two mine complexes to people in 2009.

In addition to the podcast, a new bat exhibit has been installed at the park’s Sugarlands Visitor Center.

A bat displaying the telltale symptoms of White-nose syndrome. USFWS PHOTO

“The educational materials provide a wealth of information on bat biology, their roosting and foraging behavior, the potential implications of white-nose syndrome and what researchers and biologists are doing to manage this threat, as well as how the public can help protect bats,” said Bill Stiver, park wildlife biologist.

Produced by Great Smoky Mountains Association, the podcast is posted at nps.gov/grsm/ photosmultimedia/wns-bat-video.htm.

24

Keep those boughs green

T

he North Carolina Christmas Tree Association has a few tips for keeping your real tree healthy and fresh this holiday season.

Certain species simply last longer and remain fresh much longer than others. Some of the best are the North Carolina Fraser fir, Balsam fir, Scotch pine and Douglas fir.

Regardless of species, consumers must make the final judgment of quality by looking at, touching, feeling, smelling and shaking the tree.

Before setting up a tree, remove a thin disk (1/4 to 1/2 inch) off the trunk before placing the tree in a water holding stand. It is always a good practice to make a new cut before putting the tree into the stand.

As a general rule, a tree can use up to a quart of water per day for each inch of stem diameter. The warmer the temperature and the lower the relative humidity where the tree is displayed, the greater the amount of water required by the tree.

Always check all electrical cords before beginning to decorate, and never use lights with frayed or worn cords. Also, never use lighted candles on a tree, and be sure that trees are not placed near any heating source such as a radiator, tel-

evision set, or fireplace. Remember to turn off all lights and decorations before going to bed or leaving the house, and on that note—don’t overload the electrical outlets!

For more information about N.C. Christmas Trees, including farms where one can cut his or her own tree, visit ncchristmastrees.com or call 800.562.8789.

KEN KETCHIE PHOTO

Online resources for sportsmen Learn about the great outdoors and wildlife regulations with Tennessee’s “Wild Side.” Episodes are produced in conjunction with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources commission and target dedicated hunters and fishers with tips and reports from the region. There are also outdoor adventures and ideas for around the house including recipes for dove, quail, rabbit, turkey and more. Visit tnwildside.org for all this and free videos of “Wild Side Weekly,” which is shown on public television channels in Tennessee and Kentucky.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

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T

he newest addition to the North Carolina Scenic Byways program begins on the highest peak east of the Mississippi and traverses a national forest, state park, and National Park Service land.

The Mount Mitchell Scenic Drive, packed with vistas, roams 52 miles among the peaks and valleys of Yancey and Madison counties.

“It”s a beautiful corridor for a number of reasons,” says Jeff Lackey, manager of scenic byways for the NCDOT. “It has scenic quality, and also a tremendous amount of cultural and historical aspects, which is rare in a byway experience.”

After an opening five-mile stretch of N.C. Highway 128 in Mount Mitchell State Park, the route heads east on the Blue Ridge Parkway for nearly a dozen miles. From the parkway, it dives onto N.C. 80 for a 13.4-mile descent into the Toe River Valley.

The Toe River Valley is the cultural heart of the Mount Mitchell Scenic Drive. It’s an area full of artist studios and quilt trails. Some of the best-known glass blowers on the East Coast are located in the Celo community, just off N.C. 80.

The N.C. 80 portion of the drive concludes in Micaville. From there, the byway runs four miles

The Mount Mitchell Scenic Byway traverses 52 miles of High Country roads.

PHOTO COURTESY OF N.C. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Take a scenic mountain drive westward into Burnsville, via U.S. 19E. The route passes Town Square—a one-acre green space— and continues down the Main Street of Burnsville, a Norman Rockwell kind of place with plenty of shops and restaurants.

The byway’s final leg goes nearly 17 miles westward along U.S. 19 to Madison County,

THE HEART & SOUL OF THE NORTHEAST GEORGIA MOUNTAINS

Where

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Historical Landmarks, State Parks & Local Artists

where it intersects with Interstate 26.

All told, the Mount Mitchell Scenic Drive takes 1.5 hours to drive. It crests the Eastern Continental Divide, bisects the Pisgah National Forest and passes 46 WNC Quilt Trails blocks.

For more information, visit ncscenicdrive.com or call 828.682.7413.

December

1-10 • Festival of Trees (Ends at 2pm on Dec. 10), Unicoi State Park, 706-865-5356 3 • Deck the Halls, Unicoi State Park, 1-800-573-9659 x 300 3 • Annual Christmas Parade, Downtown Helen, 2 p.m., 706-878-2181 3 • 12th Annual Christmas in the Mountains Celebration, Downtown Cleveland, 706-865-5356 3 • Lighted Christmas Parade, Downtown Cleveland, 7 p.m., 706-865-5356 3 & 4 • 4th Annual Christkindlmarkt, Downtown Helen, 706-878-1908 9-11 • Community Chorale Concert, SNCA, 706-878-3300 10 • Nacoochee Village Christmas, Nacoochee Village, 706-878-2181 31 • New Year’s Eve Party, SNCA, 706-878-3300

January

14 • Hogpen Hill Climb, Habitat for Humanity, 706-754-5313 x 223 28 • Winter Wino Festival, (a Fasching event), Sautee-Nacoochee Vineyards, 706-878-0542

February

11 • Valentine’s Celebration, Babyland General, 706-865-2171 11 • Fasching, Helendorf River Inn & Conference Center, 7 p.m., 706-878-1908 18-19 • 37th Annual Fireside Arts & Craft Show, Unicoi State Park, 1-800-573-9659 x 300

March Adopt Hand-Stitched Originals

Bavarian Shops

17 • St. Patrick’s Celebration, Babyland General, 706-865-2171 31 • 23rd Annual Trout Tournament, Helen Chamber of Commerce, 706-878-1908 31 • Easter Eggstravaganza, Babyland General, 706-865-2171 or 706-865-5356 All events subject to change. Call the White County Chamber for new or changed information.

60717

From waterfalls to beautiful mountains, our natural surroundings are breathtaking!

1-800-392-8279

whitecountychamber.org

WWW.SMLIV.COM

25

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DEPARTMENT

After a stormy day, Appalachian State shines brightly at night on Friday, Sept. 23, 2011 at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon at West Potomac Park in Washington D.C.

sustainable living

STEFANO PALTERA/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PHOTO

ASU’s solar homestead outshines competition

A

ppalachian State University has won the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 People’s Choice Award for its Solar Homestead. This award gives the public the opportunity to vote for its favorite house. This year, 92,538 votes were cast. The award was announced at a Victory Reception in the solar Village in West Potomac Park—the last official event of Solar Decathlon 2011.

“The team’s passion and enthusiasm were contagious,” said Terri Jones, Solar Decathlon Communications Contest official. “The People’s Choice Award is a popular vote, and I believe the Solar Homestead house and team appealed to people on many levels.”

The Solar Homestead is a self-sustaining net zero-energy house inspired by the pioneer spirit of the early settlers to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The isolation of early settlers to the Appalachian region fostered a pioneer spirit in those who established self-sustaining living/working compounds on the frontier. The Solar Homestead fuses these values into a highly energy-efficient home, which remains true to these underlying principles by integrating renewable resources and innovative technology into a prototype that is adaptable, selfsufficient, rugged, affordable, and attractive.

“The Solar Decathlon’s impact is threefold,” said Richard King, director of the Solar Decathlon for the U.S. Department of Energy. “Over the last two years, the student competitors have received unique training that prepares them to enter our nation’s clean energy workforce. Visitors and consumers learned firsthand that affordable, energy-efficient features in these innovative houses can help them save money today. And this year’s competition houses will become teaching tools for industry professionals and students around the world.”

The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal 26

energy production and maximum efficiency. The top three overall finishers of the Solar Decathlon 2011 were the University of Maryland, Purdue University, and New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington).

In addition to the People’s Choice Award, Appalachian State also won second place in the Communications Contest and third place in the Architecture Contest.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu speaks with Jeffrey Tiller (left), Chair of the Technology and Environmental Design Department for Appalachian State University, and student team member David Lee (second from left) as he tours the Appalachian State University house at the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011. STEFANO PALTERA/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SOLAR DECATHLON PHOTO

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

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RECOGNIZING A JOB WELL DONE The leaders of the two primary Great Smoky Mountains National Park partners were recently presented with the Department of Interior Citizen’s Award for Exceptional Service.

Terry Maddox, executive director of the Great Smoky Mountains Association and Jim Hart, president of the Friends of the Smokies, were recognized for their outstanding support to the Smokies and the National Park Service.

Maddox has led the GSMA since 1990.

The nonprofit corporation runs bookstores in the park and markets Smokies’ interpretive products outside the park as well.

Under his leadership, the Association has grown from a small book retailer to a major publisher of award-winning educational products including books for adults and children, field guides, maps, videos, podcasts and web-based material.

Hart has served as president of Friends since 2002. Under his guidance, the

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Western Carolina University

Conference Services WCU is the perfect place to conduct meetings, training programs, retreats, conventions, reunions, festivals, and summer camps.

We have an assortment of meeting rooms, dining, computer labs, recreation and theater space.

Friends group has substantially increased the public’s awareness of the value of the park and its various threats. They have placed a strong emphasis on providing educational programs for young people who will be the stewards of the Park in coming years by funding fieldtrips and ranger programs for area schools as well as internships for high school and college students.

Over the nine years of Hart’s tenure, Friends donations have swelled from about $1.8 million a year to over $3.5 million, supporting everything from the restoration of historic buildings to black bear preservation. The Friends have also created a new “Trails Forever” endowment, which is approaching $4 million.

The two groups also worked together to fund the construction of the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center at the North Carolina entrance to the Smokies.

•

Affordable summer accommodations for on-campus stays

•

Expert staff assistance

•

Dining and catering services

•

A variety of regional entertainment and excursions to experience during your stay

Come get away in the mountains!

828.227.3024 or hbradshaw@wcu.edu

wcu.edu/8135.asp 60603

WWW.SMLIV.COM

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A long glance

B Y PAT R I C K W I L L I S

30

For most of us, “home” usually conjures feelings of warmth and comfort. We often define home as a physical, tangible place where we either live, have grown up, or share memories with ones we love. In a sense, “home” is a friend to us.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THOMAS WOLFE MEMORIAL

SML_Vol.11-Iss.6 TRAVIS:Layout 1 11/3/11 9:31 AM Page 31

f

or Thomas Wolfe, Western North Carolina’s most famous literary figure, the sense of warmth and comfort of home was lost to his family’s struggles and his own inner turmoil. None of us would probably know about his sensitivity to his personal and familial issues if it were not for his masterpiece, Look Homeward, Angel, published in 1929. The novel, a thinly-disguised narrative of

Wolfe’s childhood growing up in Asheville, described a dynamic mountain city in the early years of the 20th century. The book more famously highlights, however, many of his family’s character flaws, from the drinking and bar-fighting of his older brother Frank to the penny-pinching ways of his tightfisted mother, Julia.

Thomas Wolfe was born to middle-class parents W.O. (William Oliver) and Julia in Asheville on Oct. 3, 1900, the eighth and last child. W.O., a successful stone-cutter by trade, owned a shop on Pack Square in the heart of the city. Asheville at the turn of the century was a growing city with a robust economy. The arrival of the Western North Carolina Railroad in 1880 spurred visitors from the Piedmont and coastal areas looking to enjoy the cool, favorable climate of the mountains.

Wolfe’s hometown was quite a modern city for the region. Its first fire department was organized in 1883 and the first telephone line was installed two years later. By 1889, the city boasted electric streetcars that serviced downtown. The city’s population grew from about 10,000 in 1890 to close to 30,000 residents in 1920. In addition to attracting regular tourists, the city also promoted itself as a health resort. Respiratory patients, especially tuberculars, flocked to the city to take advantage of the dry air and sanitariums the city offered.

Thomas Wolfe grew up in the middle of this boom. However, despite the city’s success, or

My hometown is Asheville, N.C., entrance to the nation’s most scenic highway, The Blue Ridge Parkway. I was born, raised and still live, just outside Asheville, in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. I love it here and would never consider living anywhere else. I have traveled many places, and none are as beautiful as these mountains.

We are so fortunate to live in an area where we can experience all four seasons. Winter brings a snowy blanket to the both the Appalachian mountain line and the ski slopes at Cataloochee. Spring brings out the new birth and all the wonderful flower colors and also the green of the mountains. Summers spent in the mountains are always fun with picnics, river fishing, and mountain trail hikes. Fall, my favorite time of the year is breathtaking from the lowest elevations to Richland Balsam Overlook, the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway. From my travels, I do see why people flock to my hometown for the fall colors. They are so vibrant and much more beautiful than any I have ever seen.

I love to travel and see different areas, but I always love coming back home. Once I see the mountains looming in the distance, I know I am home.

— Sherry Shook WWW.SMLIV.COM

DONATED PHOTO

HOMETOWN: ASHEVILLE, N.C.

31

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more accurately, because of its success, his childhood was far from normal. The growth of Asheville spurred his mother to purchase a boardinghouse about a block from the family home and move her youngest child in with her.

This physical move, only about a block down the street, would cause a deeper spiritual and emotional split in Wolfe’s life. And after this event, the writer’s life, and his concept of “home,” would never be the same.

Wolfe’s childhood was essentially growing up as one of his mother’s boarders in the boardinghouse she ran for almost 40 years. This boardinghouse was called the “Old Kentucky Home” in real life; a name given by its previous owner, a Kentucky minister. This house would later become immortalized in Look Homeward, Angel as “Dixieland,” and served as the backdrop for many of the stories of personal angst and torment of Wolfe’s autobiographical character, Eugene Gant.

Mrs. Wolfe purchased the “Old Kentucky Home” in 1906, and Tom moved in with his mother while the rest of his siblings and father remained at the family home. Wolfe described

“The voice of forest water in the night, a woman’s laughter in the dark, the clean, hard rattle of raked gravel, the cricketing stitch of midday in hot meadows, the delicate web of children’s voices in bright air—these things will never change.”

— Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again

his new residence in the novel as “a big cheaply constructed frame house of eighteen or twenty drafty high-ceilinged rooms: it had a rambling, unplanned, gabular appearance, and was painted a dirty yellow.” And more importantly, it represented a stark contrast to the relatively warm home that he remembered before his move.

Wolfe became torn between his parents and their two houses. “But the powerful charm of Gant’s [Wolfe father’s] house, of its tacked and added whimsy … its roaring internal seclusiveness … the comfort and abundance, seduced him

easily away from the great chill tomb of Dixieland, particularly in winter …” In 1906, Wolfe was torn between the comforts and fond memories of the family home and his natural connection with his mother at her boardinghouse.

Wolfe had difficulty removing himself from his mother’s shadow at the boardinghouse, and instances of his mother’s frugality and deference to the boarders had dramatic effects on his memories of home. “As the house filled, in the SEE HOMEWARD, PAGE 36

Waynesville—it’s an easy place to write about in the fall. In the mornings, colorful mountains break through the light fog nestling in the valleys. In the evenings, the smells of the first fires of the season drift through the air, as the sun takes rest behind Mt. Lynn Lowrey. All of these sounds, sights, and smells for me are tied to memories because I grew up here, and for me this is home.

I remember helping pick apples in my grandfather’s apple orchard and how my whole family would come together for the harvest. I remember Nana’s fried apple pies and pressing homemade apple cider. I remember canning fresh vegetables from my parents’ garden, and strawberries, and sweet peas. Growing up in the rural areas around Waynesville—Saunook to be exact—helped me develop a strong appreciation for country life and country folk.

Going into town for me didn’t happen too much unless a school bus took me there. I always looked forward to staying over with my friends that lived closer into town because they were the only ones with cable TV. Saturday trips with my father to the local music store, Strains of Music, were cherished; then we would get lunch at the best sandwich shop in town called Spanky’s. After that we would go check on my mom at the first cheese and wine store Waynesville ever had, appropriately named “The Cheese Shop,” and then maybe head on up to Britches to check out some of their cool watches. Twenty years ago we had no Walmart or Best Buy, and if you forgot the newest release on VHS, it became puzzle night at the house because one couldn’t stream anything on Netflix.

32

FAMILY PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSEPH MASSIE

HOMETOWN: WAYNESVILLE, N.C.

However, the best thing about Waynesville is its people. We are determined and faithful thinkers, hard workers, farmers, and characters. If you didn’t grow up here, it’s okay; give us a couple of years and we will change you forever. We help each other out; we watch one another’s back; we teach our children well; and I am thankful that I got to grow up in such a beautiful little town. Hold on tight to this, Waynesville.

— Joseph Massie

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

SML_Vol.11-Iss.6 TRAVIS:Layout 1 11/3/11 9:32 AM Page 33

Discover the Best of Regional Craft Allanstand Craft Shop at the Folk Art Center Milepost 382 Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, NC Open Daily | 828-298-7928

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HOMETOWN: CANTON, N.C.

Thomas Wolfe (seated in foreground) in front of Old Kentucy Home, circa 1908.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PACK MEMORIAL PUBLIC LIBRARY,

“The mountains were his masters. They rimmed in life.

They were the cup of reality, beyond growth, beyond struggle and death.

They were his absolute unity in the midst of eternal change.”

Have you ever been greeted by a neighbor with a cold drink after a long day mowing grass? Have you cheered on a Friday night while draped in red and black? Do you take pride in a hard day’s work and a blue-collar swagger?

Have you seen the sun rise over Newfound and set in Thickety? Have you told time not by a watch, but by a mill whistle? Dropped your head when white crosses dot the ground in memory of soldiers lost? Do the words “Labor Day” ignite wonderful memories of family, friends, and carnival rides? Have you seen a red “P” on the back of a vehicle and smiled? Floated down the Pigeon on a hot summer day? Is the start of spring marked not by the blooming of flowers, but by the crack of a softball bat? Do church bells call to you on a Sunday morning? Is it where your grandparents fell in love? Have you said yes when asked to help or been there in a time of need? Have you been sunburned after spending a day wading into the waters of the Rec Pool? Do you know your neighbors by name and plan to give them freezer jam for Christmas? Called someone “Coach” no matter his or her age? And have you realized that you can always come home?

This is why I love my hometown—Canton, N.C. — Zeb Smathers

— Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward Angel

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SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

828.926.1686 or 800.624.4431

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SML_Vol.11-Iss.6 TRAVIS:Layout 1 11/3/11 9:32 AM Page 35

If you love mountains that roll like a green forest ocean beyond the horizon and are dotted with smiling communities—well Boone’s the place for you. The Blue Ridge Parkway passes right through it. Two national parks totaling 8,000 acres rest along this stretch of parkway and feature over 100 hundred miles of hiking trails, 3 lakes, camping and 25 miles of perfectly maintained “carriage trails” ideal for walking, jogging and cross-country skiing. Eight miles down the Parkway from this is Grandfather Mountain, one of the top twenty tallest east of the Mississippi, and host to a new 12,000-acre state park recreated by North Carolina.

I’m just scratching the surface here—I haven’t even gotten off the parkway to tell you about the Watauga Gorge, Tater Hill, Howards’ Knob or the New River.

Folks here have a real sense of community—there’s a movement in the area to do business with one another, to foster a life with-in and with their mountain forests and neighbors that’s comfortable, vigorous, prosperous, sustainable, and quite literally green. We have two local coffee roasters, a burgeoning farmer's market, an amazing university, great local restaurants, innovative non-profits, LEED engineered office space, a mountain bike park, small business galore, renewable energy and green tech entrepreneurs and

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

HOMETOWN: BOONE, N.C.

North Carolina's largest wind energy turbine. The brightest promises of the future fused with the best of our Appalachian past.

Backpacking, kayaking, floating rivers, climbing, bouldering, hiking, trail running, road biking, motorcycling, mountain biking, porch setting, outdoor campfires—if you can do in, on or around a mountain—Boone's got it in spades.

And you get 4 neatly equal 3-month seasons to do it in—each as vibrant and unique as the next.

— Jeff Deal

WWW.SMLIV.COM

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HOMETOWN: WAYNESVILLE, N.C. There is just something about waking up here in the mountains, whether to birdsong in the spring or to the peace and tranquility of a snow-covered morning in the winter.

One gets to experience all four seasons here—to feel the crisp bite of the winter chill and the soft caress of a warm summer breeze, the excitement from when trees start turning green in the spring and of the rise in fiery color of the mountains in the fall.

There is so much of my history here. For example, the land that I live on in Waynesville, N.C., has been owned by

summer season, and it was necessary to wait until the boarders had eaten before a place could be found for him, he walked sullenly about beneath the back porch of Dixieland … which Eliza [Julia] rented, when she could, to negresses.” In Wolfe’s memories, his mother’s desire of wealth and independence inhibited his opportunity to have a real home experience.

Wolfe describes moving from room to room, bed to bed as he spent 10 years in the “Old Ken-

tucky Home.” He never had a space to call his own; he never had his own bed. During the busy summers, when the house was filled to capacity, Julia would force Tom to get up from a bed to make room for boarders. He wrote, “[T]here was no place sacred unto themselves, no placed fixed for their own inhabitation, no place proof against the invasion of the boarders.”

Wolfe wrote in Look Homeward, Angel that he became ashamed of his mother’s boardinghouse. He felt like he had “two houses, but no home,” and to the sensitive child, this prob-

(NEW) HOMETOWN: ASHEVILLE, N.C. My hometown isn’t much of a “town.” I grew up in the Irish countryside, several miles from anything resembling a town. The borders of my townland were as far as I could pedal on my bike in an afternoon, in one direction an other-worldly bog, full of wild creatures and prickles of gorse, in another a dense wood for climbing trees, and in another a small stream, perfect for catching minnows.

The land was fairly flat and perfect for a kid with a bike: wide-open farmland with a few big grand-daddy trees, but mostly low hedgerows and quiet back roads.

The first time I saw the Blue Ridge Mountains, nearly 20 years ago, I fell in love with the landscape. Ireland is beautiful, but here was everything we didn’t have: steep, tree-shrouded mountains, miles of undeveloped wilderness, and craggy trails leading to spectacular views. After years of moving about the US, my wife and I found our way back to Asheville and the heart of those mountains. Although we love to hike in the Smokies or drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the drive to pick the kids up from school provides a daily dose of breathtaking vistas. Coming over a ridge at 7:40 in the morning and seeing the sun shine its spotlight on five, six, seven mountain ridges stretching away into the distance with the mist 36

ably reflects an accurate representation of his childhood. But later in his career, as his thoughts matured, Wolfe also felt that “home” was more than just a physical place; more than just four walls. “Home” was a combination of time and place that will never return; an experience that can never be recreated. Maybe this is why he was so taken with the phrase “You Can’t Go Home Again,” a phrase that that so aptly described Wolfe’s memories of his childhood and the title of his posthumously-published novel in 1940.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ASHEVILLE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

HOMEWARD, CONTINUED FROM 32

my family for years. It was passed down from my mother's side of the family. My cousins own an apple orchard and fruit stand, so there are apple trees aplenty below my house. I love to just stand on the front porch and look across the valley at the breathtaking view that I grew up with. If I look to the left, I can see the cross on Mt. Lynn Lowry. It is a sad night if I cannot see the cross lit up.

The mountain was named after the daughter of General Sumter Lowry, and Rev. Billy Graham dedicated the cross there. The cross has always been a constant in my night sky.

I hope that everyone has a chance to visit Waynesville at least once in his or her lifetime. I know that once one visits, one will want to come back again. I love the place that I call home, and I hope to share it with generations to come.

— Heather Long

drifting through the valleys in between is as much of a welcome jolt to the system as any fancy coffee drink.

We still go back to Ireland every year to revel in the 400 shades of green, wander through the old haunts, and catch up with family and friends. But even after seven years in WNC we’re still discovering new hikes, vistas and great campsites in the mountains, and the most mundane drive to the grocery store is still filled with beauty.

— Rich Rennicks

SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

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A ROOF ISN’T ENOUGH In our hills and hollers, our homeless neighbors need support, safety and compassion

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SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

BY ANNA OAKES

SML_Vol.11-Iss.6 TRAVIS:Layout 1 11/3/11 9:07 AM Page 39

The Beloved Community House in Asheville is focused on problem solving and support through love and relationship building. ANNA OAKES PHOTO

ince homelessness began growing in the 1980s, churches, nonprofit organizations, and civic groups have been filling in the gaps as government services for the poor have decreased. Today, those gaps are growing wider and wider: job growth is stagnant, federal stimulus funds are gone and budgets for social services continue to be slashed. More than ever, mountain people are called upon to take care of our own.

In October, John Withington, who used to be homeless and is now president of the Asheville Homeless Network, asked this question: “Does Asheville need another shelter?”

“No,” answered Ron Stimson, who currently lives in a tent.

“I don’t think that another temporary shelter is going to solve a permanent problem.”

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T SEE IT…

Well, chances are that the rising homelessness in Appalachia is a largely unseen problem. The homeless—that’s anyone spending nights in places not meant for human habitation, ac-

cording to the federal definition, whether in a car, on a park bench, on the streets, in abandoned buildings, on a friend’s couch or in homeless shelters—are just as likely to be in rural areas as in urban areas; they’re just not as visible.

In northeast Tennessee, “we have a lot of people on the street in our cities, but the homeless rate per capita is about the same throughout each rural county,” said Dreama Shreve, executive director of the Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness, the Continuum of Care (CoC) group for northeast Tennessee.

“They say around here that our people take care of our own,” she said. Families might let someone stay in a camper in their backyard, or in a barn. “We see that a lot in the rural counties. These people are still homeless by all definitions. They do have a roof over their heads, but it’s not a place meant for living.” Mason said, “We know people who … [are] camping; they may stay in their cars. They also stay in storage sheds,” she said. “Fortunately, we don’t see people out on the streets and under the bridges.”

While many factors leading to homelessness are the same in both urban and rural areas, there are notable conditions related to homelessness in rural areas and in our mountains.

WWW.SMLIV.COM

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Homelessness trends

“W

e went from 30 to 180 homeless families in a 12-month period, which is huge,” said Dreama Shreve, executive director of the Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness, the Continuum of Care (CoC) group for northeast Tennessee.

Counties or regions must establish CoCs to be eligible for federal funds for homeless programs, which can then be allocated to various agencies that serve the homeless. “We help the helpers,” Shreve put it more simply.

The growing number of homeless families is a statistic troubling those who work with indigent populations in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. In two years, the reported number of homeless households (at least one parent with dependent children) jumped from 78 to 296 in the seven-county Northwest North Carolina region—and the number of homeless children multiplied more than four times during that time span, from 132 in 2009 to nearly 600 this year.

The number of homeless children, in fact, matched the total number of homeless adults, and 93 percent of these kids weren’t staying in shelters. These figures are derived from an annual Point-in-Time Count, mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). One night each January, agencies that serve low-income populations work together to provide a “snapshot” of homeless numbers.

“The number of families we’re serving has increased dramatically,” said Lynne Mason, executive director of Hospitality House, a Boone-based shelter and crisis agency serving the seven-county region. The organization moved to a new, larger shelter facility in March—one with spaces designated for families. But already, she noted, “we’ve been averaging six or seven families at any given time when we were planning for three.”

The Tennessee Valley Coalition to End Homelessness, coordinator of the Morristown/Blount, Sevier, Campbell and Cocke counties CoC in eastern Tennessee, reported 29 homeless families in 2011, down from 78 the year before. “The [Point-in-Time] committee questioned service providers and reached the conclusion that the numerous [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] programs available throughout the region (particularly rental and utility assistance and foreclosure prevention) prevented the usual increase in winter homeless numbers,” said Melanie Cordell, administrator for the coalition.

In the Asheville/Buncombe County CoC, the count for families also decreased from 2010 to 2011, from 40 to 24. North Carolina’s eight most southwestern counties—Cherokee and the Cherokee reservation, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and Transylvania—reported 39 homeless families in 2011.

“A veteran who has served his country honorably should not have to live that way.”

— Ron Kennedy

“We all know when we go to the grocery store we’re spending two to three times more,” Shreve said. “People who have $10 an hour or less jobs, even with two people working, is not enough. Wages are just not inflating like the cost of living is.” And then there are the people who had good jobs— but layoffs have hit them, too.

“Those are the hardest people to assist,” explained Shreve, because “one, they don’t want people to know that they’re struggling, and two, they don’t know where to go [to get assistance].”

There are other trends. Veterans can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and brain injuries, and some turn to substance abuse as self-medication; both mental illness and substance abuse are common

Venus and her 6-year-old son have lived for a year at the Hospitality House, where she is an assistant cook. “They’re family to us,” she said of the staff at the shelter.

Venus hopes to eventually get a degree in criminal justice and work with troubled kids.

ANNA OAKES PHOTO

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ABCCM’s Restoration Quarters is about 52, and generally, most fought in Vietnam. But the area is seeing more and more vets from the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and Kennedy expects those numbers to grow ever larger as the U.S. continues troop withdrawals from the Middle East.

“That seems to be picking up quite a bit,” he said.

Recent veterans are having a harder time finding work than the civilian population, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 11.7 percent of veterans who left the service since 2001 were unemployed in September 2011, compared with 8.6 percent of non-veterans.

Within that segment, the incidence of female homeless veterans is becoming more prevalent. Veteran women are nearly four times more at risk for homelessness than their male counterparts, reports the Ron Kennedy is the front desk supervisor and intake coordinator at ABCCM’s Veterans Restoration Quarters in Asheville. Kennedy is a product of the program. Originally from Charlotte, he was hurt while working in the aftermath VA. In September, the VA estimated there of Hurricane Katrina and came to the Asheville VA for surgery but then found himself homeless. ANNA OAKES PHOTO were 55,000 homeless female veterans, representing 3 percent of the 1.8 million factors contributing to homelessness. A joint report from HUD and the U.S. veteran women in the country. The numbers correlate with increased Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released earlier this year found that 16 deployment numbers, as more women are sent to war zones than ever percent of homeless adults were veterans, while the National Coalition for before in U.S. history.

Homeless Veterans’ estimate is higher, at one-third.

“What we’re seeing now are more and more women who are “A veteran who has served his country honorably should not have to live homeless veterans as the military has liberated its policies to allow that way,” remarked Ron Kennedy, intake coordinator and front desk women to serve in combat,” said John Spitzberg, a member of the supervisor for Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) Asheville Homeless Network.

Veterans Restoration Quarters, while shaking his head.

And much more often than men, women in the military encounter yet The image of the homeless veteran isn’t new, of course. But the another factor limited to homelessness—sexual abuse. Governmentnumbers are rising. funded studies have concluded that between 20 and 28 percent of Kennedy said the average age of homeless veterans served through women are raped or sexually assaulted while in the military.

For some time now, poverty levels have been higher in rural America than in urban centers.

And throughout Appalachia in particular, the poverty rate was 15.4 percent from 2005 to 2009, while the U.S. average was 13.5 percent during that time, the Appalachian Regional Commission reported. Several counties along the North Carolina-Tennessee border saw even higher rates; Johnson, Carter, Greene and Cocke counties in Tennessee and Watauga, Jackson, Swain and Graham counties in North Carolina ranged between 19 and 25.8 percent poverty rates in those years.

With the loss of manufacturing, many mountain locales depend on tourism and secondhome markets to drive their economies, and those who once earned respectable wages on the textile and furniture assembly lines are left with low-paying service jobs. “The No. 1 issue is the lack of affordable housing in our commu-

“We spend a lot of time thinking about how to attract tourists and development.

But people here have been left behind.”

— Amy Cantrell, Beloved Community House of Asheville

nities,” said Mason. A number of factors have inflated housing prices in some mountain areas, including demand from gated communities and second-home markets and topography. HUD defines housing as affordable when no more than 30 percent of a household’s income is spent on housing-related expenses, which includes utilities. In May, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the North Carolina Housing Coalition released a report revealing that an estimated 50 percent of renters WWW.SMLIV.COM

in the state do not earn enough to afford a twobedroom apartment at fair market price. Meanwhile, there are long waiting lists for Section 8 housing subsidies.

Amy Cantrell, a community organizer who helped create the Beloved Community House in Asheville, said that while the 30 percent of income standard for housing was created to protect people, it is now used as a “gatekeeper” to keep people out. Even though many families would be willing to pay more than 30 percent 41

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“I’m retired—just not the way I wanted to be.”

— Marty

Marty, 48, sorts through food donations at the Hospitality House in Boone. After moving to Boone, N.C., from Fayetteville, N.C., to help his boss open a restaurant, Marty lost his job and suffered from major depression after the business failed, becoming homeless in December 2010. He spent 20 years in textiles prior to finding work in restaurants eight or nine years ago. ANNA OAKES PHOTO

of their income for housing, many apartment communities will not rent to folks who cannot provide proof of sufficient income.

“We spend a lot of time thinking about how to attract tourists and development,” she said.

“But people here have been left behind.”

Among women, family conflict is a primary cause of homelessness—homelessness, for women who are victims of domestic violence and who lack support networks, becomes a survival strategy. And rural areas are enduring strongholds for patriarchal family structures.

“That’s a cultural thing around here,” Shreve commented. “There’s never enough services or shelter space [for domestic violence victims].”

Some studies suggest that about 90 percent of homeless women have been traumatized in some way, Mason said.

That’s how Venus, 46, who chose not to disclose her last name, and her son ended up in Boone’s homeless shelter, the Hospitality House. “I met a guy online,” she said. After seven or eight months, he convinced her to move to Wilkes County, N.C., from Pennsylvania. Then he spanked her son, “and that was it,” Venus said. She stayed at SAFE, Inc., the women’s shelter in Wilkes for 60 days, and she 42

was then sent to stay at the Hospitality House, where she and her son, who just turned 6, have been for a year.

In the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Smokies, winters can be cold and harsh, and on top of struggles for food and a place to sleep, the homeless must fight to stay warm and dry.

“Every year we find at least one person frozen to death under a bridge,” Shreve said. “We hate that. We truly hate that. This winter really scares me because we do have a lot of families. They camp on the riverbanks. It just really worries me about kids sleeping in a tent in the winter.”

In Asheville, agencies who serve the homeless have a procedure in place called Code Purple— when the temperature drops below 32 degrees (or the equivalent wind chill factor), shelters will open their doors to anyone who needs a warm place to stay, even if they’re at capacity.

“We will not turn anyone away,” Kennedy said, even if people have to sleep in the dining room.

THE HELPERS NEED HELP The Hidden America, published in 2001, claims that those at risk for homelessness in rural areas are at a disadvantage because of limited SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

services and resources, negative attitudes toward public social services and geographic dispersion and lack of transportation. Jonathan Jones, development coordinator for Western Carolina Rescue Ministries in Asheville, said his organization serves clients from throughout rural areas in the region who come to the city for better availability of services and job prospects.

“We’re seeing a number of needs from the surrounding counties,” Jones said.

But Mason doesn’t see it that way.

“In a community like this, we can take care of individuals who need that assistance,” she said. “I think there’s something to be said for rural areas. There is a greater sense of community, people working together, and that includes different agencies.”

Boone is fortunate to have a free public bus system, but even clients from other counties are able to arrange rides to Hospitality House to access its food box program and other services, she noted.

“I’m always amazed that transportation is rarely an issue,” she added. “They find a way.

People still know people here.”

Marty, 48, who chose not to disclose his last name, came to the Boone area from Fayetteville.

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Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been homeless since December 2010 and said the access to services is much better in northwest North Carolina than in Fayetteville. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I got more help than Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had in 48 years,â&#x20AC;? he said.

CoCs work together with various agencies to provide a multitude of services for the poor and homeless, to varying degrees: meals and food boxes; rent, mortgage or utility assistance; access to mental health and substance abuse treatment; health care; clothing; computer classes; and job skills training. The VA offers some of these services to veterans, as does the ABCCM in Asheville. ABCCMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Veterans Restoration Quarters, a former Super 8 hotel building, has capacity for 225 veterans, who are permitted to stay at the facility for up to two years while they receive health care services, work to secure jobs and permanent housing. Kennedy said the average stay is around 13 to 14 months, and the program has a waiting list of 30 to 50 men. The campus is located beside the Swannanoa River, with park benches, a vegetable garden, a cafeteria, a workout room, a library and computer room, a disc golf course, a meditation hill and a barbecue pit. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want the men to feel that this is their home,â&#x20AC;? said Kennedy.

ABCCM also offers the Steadfast House, a shelter for homeless women and children.

As governments continue to reduce funding for social services, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nonproďŹ ts, churches and private donors who have stepped in to care for the most vulnerable people in our society. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To me, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not good,â&#x20AC;? lamented Spitzberg, adding that in cities where governments take an active hand, the programs work well: Seattle.

Portland, Ore. Minneapolis. Driving down an Asheville highway, Spitzberg pointed out areas where his homeless friends often congregated, and, spotting a couple, pulled over and offered to give them a ride to where they were going.

Spitzberg rattled off his version of a quote from social work researcher Bryan Lipmann: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Homelessness, to some extent, is the mark of a society in decline.â&#x20AC;?

More people are being underserved in an age of mental health reform, Mason said, and as a result, those who work at homeless shelters ďŹ nd themselves overwhelmed with the level of personal problems theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re expected to address. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Homeless shelters have become agencies serving mental illness,â&#x20AC;? she sighed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It just takes so much more.â&#x20AC;?

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MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

“[A 10-year plan is] a laudable goal … but I think we’ll always need homeless shelters. Every person comes with a unique journey. That can’t be remedied in 30 days or less in many cases.”

— Lynne Mason, Hospitality House of Boone

Will the U.S. eliminate chronic homelessness in four years? That seems improbable. Yet, that’s the stated goal of the U.S. government, and it has affected policies and programs for the homeless. Since 1995, HUD has urged cities and regions to adopt Ten-Year Plans to Prevent and End Homelessness. Basically, these plans aim to significantly reduce the amount of time individuals and families spend on the streets or in emergency shelters by putting more people in permanent supported housing. Housing is certainly important. “It’s a lot easier to stay sober when you’re in housing than when you’re 44

in a tent,” said Bill at a Asheville Homeless Network meeting in October. Bill, who struggled with a drinking problem and chose not to disclose his last name, became homeless when his company moved operations to Mexico.

But these initiatives fail to address the needs of the chronically homeless, said Spitzberg.

“About 20 percent of the homeless are chronically homeless and will never get into housing for one reason or another,” he said, often due to substance abuse, mental illness or both. What these people need are “wraparound” services: not only food and shelter, but also medical SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

treatment, life skills training and therapy provided in a seamless and complementary manner. Sticking them in housing without wraparound services won’t solve the problems that caused their homelessness in the first place, he indicated.

Cost savings is a stated reason for the emphasis on supportive housing; a bar graph on the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness website, for example, depicts the amount of money five states have saved when clients entered supportive housing. In 2006, Asheville’s Hospitality House, a long-term

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The 2009 economic stimulus package designated $1.5 billion to Following is a list of organizations in Western the Homeless PrevenNorth Carolina and Eastern Tennessee that can tion and Rapid Reassist those at risk for homelessness or provide Housing program. The referrals to other agencies. funding was used for fiy North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness nancial assistance with 919.755.4393 • ncceh.org rent, utility or security y Haywood Christian Emergency Shelter deposits and moving 828.506.7875 costs and was credited y Haywood Salvation Army with keeping homeless 828.456.7111 or 828.250.5774 numbers down in the y Mountain Projects, Waynesville wake of the economic (rental assistance, homeless prevention) recession. Now, these 828.452.1447 programs are winding y Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care down as funds have 828.259.5851 been depleted. The y Asheville Homeless Network Appalachian Regional ashevillehomeless.org Coalition on Homey Beloved Community House lessness is appealing to 828.242.8261 • beloved.bbnow.org the community to pick y Northwest NC Continuum of up where government Care/Hospitality House funds have ended.

828.264.1237 “We no longer have hospitalityhouseofboone.org the program to help y Chattanooga/Southeast Tennessee with rent,” Shreve said, Continuum of Care adding that on average 423.710.1501 it costs $1,300 to stabiy Morristown/Blount, Sevier, Campbell, Cocke lize a family’s housing Counties Continuum of Care costs to prevent them 423.494.0143 from becoming homey Appalachian Regional Continuum of Care less. “That’s not a lot 423.928.2724 of money to keep a family off the street,” she remarked.

For varying reasons, emergency shelter since 1988, changed its some homeless people choose not to stay in name to Homeward Bound and shifted its shelters. One man, speaking from the Beloved focus “from managing homelessness with shelCommunity House in Asheville, said he would ter to ending homelessness with permanent rather camp in the woods than stay in shelters, housing.” It ended the Safe Haven program, which he described as “oppressive” and “forcewhich provided shelter to people with mental ful” with regard to rules and religion. Others illnesses, and opened The Woodfin Apartstruggle with community living situations, fearments, an 18-unit affordable apartment buildful of getting into fights or of having their things ing. But Homeward Bound says its housing stolen—“it comes down to a trust factor,” focus has been successful: the program has Kennedy noted. A place to store possessions is helped move 329 individuals into their own a major reason the homeless may prefer camphomes, its website states, and 89 percent are ing in tents or vehicles to staying in shelters, as still stable in their housing. many shelters provide overnight stays only and In northeast Tennessee, the local VA hospidon’t allow clients to leave anything behind tal system offers beds for homeless veterans but during the day. To address this, some locations, recently reduced stays from long term to no such as the new Hospitality House shelter in more than 90 days, Shreve said.

Boone, provide storage lockers. Another area of Mason said the Northwest NC CoC has not need is money management, said Shreve. “We developed a 10-year plan. have 600 veterans on our streets in Johnson “It’s a laudable goal…but I think we’ll always City who all have income. There’s no reason for need homeless shelters,” she said. “Every perthem to be homeless if they could manage their son comes with a unique journey. That can’t be income.” She would like to see expanded proremedied in 30 days or less in many cases.” grams that control paychecks for homeless peo-

Know someone at risk?

OTO

WWW.SMLIV.COM

ple by paying all of their bills and giving them a weekly allowance.

Some organizations have taken new approaches. The Asheville Homeless Network is “for the homeless, by the homeless”—according to its bylaws, 25 percent of its officers must be homeless, 50 percent must be formerly homeless and only 25 percent may be supporters who have never been homeless. Spitzberg is the network’s secretary. It’s a grassroots organization with no paid employees that holds meetings every Thursday at 2 p.m. at Asheville’s Firestorm Café. “We thought what we needed here was an organization that was made up of people who are volunteers who are not tied to any one ideology that wasn’t beholden to any group,” Spitzberg said. “To the best of my knowledge, none of the agencies have any homeless people working for them, because then they wouldn’t be homeless.”

The network works to address specific needs of the homeless, such as providing active members with a free monthly bus pass and distributing used clothing.

And on 39 Grove Street in Asheville, you won’t find the stiff and quiet atmosphere of many homeless shelters. It’s exactly the opposite at the 1.5-year-old Beloved Community House, a project of Amy Cantrell and Lauren White; it’s loud, people are everywhere, laughing, relaxing on couches. Instead of providing services to people who are seen as a client or a number, Beloved is focused on relationship building. The most vulnerable homeless people—the sick or disabled—are given transitional housing at the home, and anyone is welcome to gather there for friendship, food, clothing and rest. “You have heard it takes a village to raise a child,” reads a brochure about Beloved. “We believe that everyone needs a village.”

Community members provide help to one another as they are able. When a local homeless agency stopped its laundry program, Beloved picked it up. There’s an open kitchen. A media project. A summer camp. A school supplies drive. “We allow our relationships to dictate the things we get into,” Cantrell said. The willingness to build deep relationships with people who are vulnerable inevitably means there will be pain—five members of the community died in June alone. “We lose people,” Cantrell said.

“You have to be ready for a lot of heartbreak, but a lot of joy also.”

Cantrell said the art of neighboring and communal living is embraced by other cultures but has recently been lost in our society.

“People don’t know their next-door neighbors,” she said. “It’s something that now more than ever we have to look at. I think we have a lot to teach.”

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A DVERT ISING SEC T IO N

Haywood County, N.C. Winter Family Fun in the Smokies!

This winter bring the kids and have a blast with affordable family fun in Maggie Valley, Waynesville, Canton, Clyde and Lake Junaluska.

Cataloochee Ski Area, located in Maggie Valley, has 16 exciting slopes and trails for both skiers and snowboarders to enjoy With the KIDS STAY FREE KIDS SKI FREE program, children 17 & under can STAY FREE on any nonholiday Sunday through Thursday night and SKI FREE on any nonholiday Monday through Friday, when accompanied by a paying adult. But the fun doesn’t stop on the slopes. Restaurants & merchants in the area will also be offering giveaways and special deals throughout the season, making your Smoky Mountains

winter getaway even more affordable. For a list of participating accommodations and rules visit the KIDS SKI FREE website.

Find something unique for everyone on your list in an enjoyable atmosphere and a beautiful setting. Stroll the brick sidewalks of quaint downtown Waynesville adorned with holiday decorations, where you’ll discover everything from art galleries, bookstores and home furnishings to clothing, antiques and toys.

Several cafés provide the perfect respite.

Take some mountain holiday spirit home with you by visiting one of our Christmas tree farms and create your perfect family memory.

For detailed information on the Kids Stay Free, Kids Ski Free program, visit www.KidsSkiFree.com.

For information on Haywood County connect with us at www.visitNCsmokies.com or on Facebook at www.facebook/SmokyMountainsNC.

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SML_Vol.11-Iss.6 TRAVIS:Layout 1 11/3/11 9:09 AM Page 47

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COME. SEE. CONQUER.

STROLL THE GALLERIES OF WAYNESVILLE UNTIL 9 P.M. THE FIRST FRIDAY OF MAY-DEC.

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THE HISTORY & INTRIGUE of the

APPALACHIAN LOG HOME

BY SARAH SMITH NESTER

he evocation of the log home incites images of a beautiful blend of past and present. One often envisions the modest, one-room structures of the past as well as the glamorous, awe-inspiring cabins that romanticize the term “vacation home.”

How did the log home of the past, which would most likely never be referred to as glamorous, become what it is today? What is it about log homes that draw people in? And does aesthetic appeal mean staying true to the traditional Appalachian style?

Type “Appalachian log cabin” into any search engine and thousands of company Web sites appear, each claiming to recreate the “traditional” look and “rustic” feel of a genuine mountain home.

According to an essay printed in the Digital Library of Appalachia, “Historical Survey of Log Structures in Southern Appalachia,” what can now be considered folk art can be traced back to mostly German, Scotch-Irish, English and Scandinavian cultures. This amalgam comprises the very essence of what modern Appalachian culture has become.

The first American log homes can be traced back to 1638 in Delaware and Maryland; however, the Appalachian log cabin came from the influence of Ger50

man and Scandinavian traditions in the 18th century.

The masonry can mostly be traced to Scotch-Irish influence, and the design is a nod to the English.

Most logs used during that time used would have been chestnut, oak, spruce and poplar.

What really separates the Appalachian log cabin from log cabins across America is the system of notching, what holds the logs in position. According to the essay, saddle or round notching was often used because it was “quick and relatively easy.” An-

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other style is v-notching. “V-notching, characteristic of Pennsylvania German houses, found its way to the Appalachian mountains. Each log is hewn with an inverted V on the edge and on the underside. These fitted tightly together, forming a strong joint.”

While structures like outhouses were usually built in the rough, cabins were structured to be secure against weather and insects. The practice of filling the gaps was known as chinking, and it was done so with a mixture of clay and mud.

Large spaces were covered by rocks or extra wood, and then holes and spaces filled with the mixture. This process is unique to old cabins; new structures of today often use concrete.

Restoration Specialist Jennifer Cathey of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources said that preserving the old log homes of Western North Carolina is an important and growing effort among scholars and builders who have a connection to not only the architecture of the log home but the history.

She said that some restore with a careful eye on historical appropriateness, but plenty will move to modernize, not necessarily with the intent to maintain the older structure’s look.

According to “Historical Survey of Log Structures in Southern Appalachia,” the first homes of early settlers were often temporary, one-room structures used until nicer homes were built. The more elaborate, two-story homes had two rooms separated by a hall and a stairway that led to a long upstairs room, building an English style called “Hall and Parlor.”

“There are countless log houses that date to the earliest settlement period all the way to the late 20th century, as well as many rustic cabins that date to the 1920s and 30s, throughout the mountain region. Although some are abandoned, I’ve seen some small log houses that were adapted many years ago for use as hay or tobacco barns. Some you might not recognize when you see them— the log structures have been covered up by modern materials or additions,” Cathey said.

“Some good examples of well-restored log houses within the region are maintained by museums and historic sites. These include the Robert Cleveland Log House in Wilkesboro, the Vance House at the Vance

Facing page: example of an early Appalachian log home. Right: Scotch-Irish masonry and English design produced the typical southern Appalachian log home.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BEREA COLLEGE BY PERMISSION

Birthplace State Historic Site, and the David House at the Mountain Farm Museum in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.”

Notable log barns called “single cribs” were also built, which held livestock, corn or hay. Other buildings on the homestead were blacksmith shops, corn cribs, smoke or meat houses, tool sheds, well houses, wash houses and root cellars.

Public buildings came later as Appalachian communities began to grow. Gristmills, or mills for grinding grain, were erected. An example of one that remains today is Francis Mill, located just outside of Waynesville, N.C. If the community was prosperous, there would be a one-room schoolhouse.

“Twentieth century log buildings that fit with the rustic revival tradition of log building

include the large, three-story Worst Craft Cabin at Penland School, which is now houses offices, bookstore, and dormitory rooms. Penland also has preserved their Weaving Cabin, which was constructed in 1926 to house the school’s weaving program,” Cathey said.

PRESERVING LOG HOMES IN HAYWOOD COUNTY Haywood County is not unlike the rest of Western North Carolina in that not even 100 years ago, many if not most of the homes were log structures. But log buildings can deteriorate rapidly without proper care and restoration.

Authentic log homes, once the majority, are now rare. Those in good condition are even

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harder to find. But having the original structure is not only important to some, but it gives a true sense of authenticity.

“It becomes an artifact of Appalachian culture, and a picturesque backdrop for modern activity. Homeowners often adapt log buildings for contemporary living, providing modern conveniences while maintaining the original location and traditional look and feeling of the house,” Cathey said.

Bruce Briggs of the Haywood County Historical and Genealogical Society said that restored structures have been uprooted and moved to businesses; very few have stayed in the same place.

“A lot have been converted,” Briggs said. “If no one’s living in them, and you just let them go, especially the roof, they just cave in. These are not amateur structures; a lot of the cabins today use concrete, not dirt. You have to know what you’re doing.”

Dan Boyd, owner of Boyd Mountain Log Cabins and Tree Farm, is one of those people who works to modernize yet maintain log homes. He searches painstakingly for abandoned cabins and structures to restore and moves them to he and his wife Betsy’s home on Boyd Mountain, near the Great Smoky Mountain Mountains National Park in Haywood County. The cabins are rented out to visitors. All of his current cabins are anywhere from 150 to 200 years old.

Once he obtains and moves them, he restores them and modernizes them by installing kitchens, washer/dryer units, and other modern amenities. They’ve even installed fireplaces, Internet and cable, a far cry away from the modest 400-square-foot, oneroom buildings he usually finds that housed entire families with multiple children.

Boyd likes to think about who might have lived in the homes, worked in these buildings and the stories the walls may hold.

“All these cabins have a history, everything from the home to the corn cribs and outhouses; they haven’t been touched for years.

Local people and folks from all over the country come stay in the cabins after we’ve furnished them,” he said. “They like the atmosphere it provides. They like the look, the age and patina.”

Renovating homes is a family tradition for Boyd. He said he became interested as a young man from watching his uncle Ben restore log cabins and put them on his vacation site, Pioneer Village resort in Maggie Valley.

Boyd finds his homes all over the South—especially in Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Western North Carolina. He said there are differences between log structures in Western 52

Many log homes in the Appalachian Mountains (above) were considered crude in appearance and small in size. Given their rapid deterioration, these homes in their original state are rare today. Another example of a log structure other than a home is a double-crib (below). The first story was used for stabling, while the loft stored grain or hay. PHOTOS COURTESY OF BEREA COLLEGE BY PERMISSION

North Carolina and the rest of the Southern Appalachians.

“Around here, most cabins were smaller, 20 by 20, one-story, with an outhouse. In Tennessee and Ohio, they built a lot of larger homes, but you hardly see any of those here. It’s amazing how many people could fit in them.”

He also said in Western North Carolina he saw a lot of oak wood used and structures were notched in a dovetail format as opposed to the V-notch style.

A dovetail notch is most elaborate style of notching found in corner timbering. The top SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

“[The log cabin] becomes an artifact of Appalachian culture, and a picturesque backdrop for modern activity.”

— Jennifer Cathey, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

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edge of the logs has a basic notch angled downward from back to front, and the bottom has a simple notch angled upward from the end, according to “Historical Survey of Log Structures in Southern Appalachia.”

Boyd said he sees very few log structures other than homes, although he pointed out that often the log cabins used as local churches in Haywood County are the originals.

Boyd prefers renovating the old, original structures to building cabins from new.

“Old log structures are getting scarce and expensive as time goes by, and the originals are getting harder and harder to find, but the kits and sod cabins just don’t work for me. There’s just a history there,” he said.

“EVERYBODY I KNEW HAD A LOG CABIN” Frank Wood is a lifelong resident of Haywood County who grew up in a log cabin on Hemphill. This was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Back in my day [1930s], 90 percent of the people I knew grew up in log buildings,” he said. “Everybody I knew had a log cabin or knew someone who had a log cabin.”

Wood taught himself to build log cabins “like the old ways,” because it was easy for him and good money.

“Back then we didn’t have big companies or anything like that; we just got together with our chainsaws. I love to build them, all different sizes.”

Wood said he’s built cabins for all types of homeowners, from lifelong residents to people moving in from all over the country. He has built homes all over Haywood County and Asheville, N.C. Once, he even built log homes for prospective buyers who had a beachfront property in Myrtle Beach, S.C. “If you can believe that, folks even wanted a cabin by the beach,” he said.

He’s also restored cabins he’s found all over the Southern Appalachians, like Boyd. He said he found cabins all over the Cataloochee area of the mountains.

“They were everywhere, just everywhere, back then,” he said. “We’d tear ‘em down and put ‘em back up somewhere else. I helped put two up in Cades Cove, took them from being an eyesore to looking nice. Some of those cabins had been sitting there since the 1830s. We set them up for people to look at them.”

Wood said that about 25 years ago he started noticing that people wanted a different type of log home, straying away from the traditional style he built earlier in his career. A lot of people moved in from out of town and didn’t necessarily like the look of the older type of log homes.

Dan and Betsy Boyd, owners of Boyd Mountain Log Cabins and Tree Farm, have relocated antique mountain cabins to their farm in Haywood County, N.C., where they have been restored and updated with modern amenities. DONATED PHOTO

“Local people and folks from all over the country come stay in the cabins after we’ve furnished them. They like the atmosphere it provides. They like the look, the age and patina.”

— Dan Boyd

Homeowners wanted a look that strayed from the simple style he saw in his youth in favor of elaborate homes made out of non-indigenous wood and materials and construction that would have never been used in the 1800s or even 80 years ago.

But Wood doesn’t think the more elaborate and modernized homes are necessarily an improvement.

“The old logs, they were much prettier,” he said. “The homes built today, well, to me, they just aren’t the same.”

THE FUTURE OF LOG HOMES Whether or not historical value is important, log homes maintain their part as not only an important piece of folk art but also a wildly popular home choice in the mountains. According to the National Association of Home Builders, while log homes are still a common style for a vacation home, the majority are built as primary residences. Log homes are even WWW.SMLIV.COM

touted as the “original Green House,” as trees are a renewable resource in construction and less energy to manufacture. Log cabins retain warmth better than drywall, are more energy efficient for the homeowner, and are quieter.

Ever hang a picture on wood instead of drywall? It’s much easier.

“I think that a big part of the appeal of a log house or cabin is that they are literally made by hand and out of native materials. By working on or living in a log building, one might feel a direct connection to those who built it or lived there long ago. Because they are handmade and such a common housing form in the region, log buildings have become very symbolic of early 18th and 19th century settlers and folkways in Appalachia. Those who choose to reuse, restore, or live in a log building often want to connect to that history,” Cathey said.

But there’s a simpler, more tangible reason: “People just like them because they’re warm and inviting,” Boyd said.

Given their long and rich history throughout the Appalachians, that appears to be case.

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Animal Abodes Bedding Down in the Wilds of the Mountains

BY DON HENDERSHOT

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here’s a host of furry, feathery, slinky, slimy, big and tiny creatures making their homes across the mountains and with which we share the landscape. Some homes are but temporary.

White-tailed deer like to bed down in thickets or brushy areas, usually near a source of water. While no kind of permanent shelter is maintained, as long as food is readily available whitetails, especially females (does), will live their entire life within a half-square-mile area.

The whitetail’s larger cousin, the elk, was recently reintroduced to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Cataloochee Valley and adapted to the same type of al fresco existence.

These large herbivores—cows often weigh around 600 pounds and bulls can reach 1,100 pounds—generally eschew the dense brambles preferred by whitetails and often band together on the forest floor where low-hanging limbs of conifers offer some protection from the elements.

On the other hand, some creatures construct shelters so interesting and intricate that editors at Architectural Digest are left drooling. Spiders immediately come to mind. Their webs’ gossamer strands, which are stronger than steel and finer than thread—a beautiful marriage of form and function—serve not only as an abode but also as a source of sustenance. And like all custom homes webs, come in an assortment of styles and sizes.

That cool orb that radiates from the corner of one’s deck, holding dew drops in the sun, is probably the web that most associate with spiders. But there are funnel webs, tangle webs, tubular webs, dome webs, and tent webs, to name a few. The tiny Western Samoa spider spins a web of only ten to twenty millimeters, while the newly discovered Darwin’s bark spider of Madagascar weaves a web of up to 80 feet. And there are a few communal species that join together to build webs that might encompass several meters.

But the arachnid world was turned upside down in 2007 by the discovery of a massive web nearly the size of two football fields along a trail at Lake Tawakoni State Park in Texas.

Entomologists at first suspected some communal spider was responsible, but upon study discovered species from twelve different families of spiders had contributed to this colossal spider apartment complex. It appears the discovery of a pond laden with mosquito larvae and other insects spurred this innovative collaboration between species that are “normally … cannibalistic and their webs are separated,” according to Texas A&M University entomologist Allen Dean.

Form and function are not, however, unique to only spiders. If it’s split-level living one pines for, look no further than Castor canadensis, the

American beaver. The rustic, dome-shaped wooden exterior of the beaver’s lodge is designed and built by the residents themselves using only local beaver-selected, beavergnawed and paw-crafted limbs and branches cemented in place with the finest area mud. The wooden exterior is usually surrounded by water and the entrance is safely and conveniently tucked, out of sight, below the water’s surface.

The beavers enter the lodge into a combination mud room (for drying) and pantry, where choice, local organic produce (limbs, etc) is stored for dining pleasure. The next level up is the living area, where the colony (beavers mate for life and a colony generally consists of breeding pair, last year’s young, and this year’s kits) sleeps and lounges.

“The owl can be found in the evergreen forests along the Smokies’ crest.

They nest inside natural tree cavities or old woodpecker holes high off the ground.

The winter wren builds a nest low to the ground out of grass, leaves and lichens, usually tucked inside a hole in a log or rock wall.”

— Stephen Lyn Bales

The Smokies are home to a number of wonderful nature centers that showcase native flora and fauna. At the Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, Tenn., “bird guy” Stephen Lyn Bales is senior naturalist and author of two books, Natural Histories and Ghost Birds. Bales notes that different species of birds nest at different elevations throughout the Smokies. Two of his favorite high-elevation nesters are the Northern saw-whet owl and the winter wren.

“The owl can be found in the evergreen forests along the Smokies’ crest,” Bales says.

“They nest inside natural tree cavities or old woodpecker holes high off the ground. The winter wren builds a nest low to the ground out of grass, leaves and lichens, usually tucked inside a hole in a log or rock wall.”

Another of Bales’ feathered friends is the ovenbird, a small thrush-like, ground-dwelling warbler named for the type of nest it weaves from leaves and other dried vegetation. “Its name says WWW.SMLIV.COM

it all. When finished, the nest looks like a little old-fashioned Dutch oven,” said Bales.

But Bales’ favorite bird home is made from spider silk and lichen. The nest of the diminutive ruby-throated hummingbird “looks like a tiny silk purse hanging from the fork of a branch high in a tree,” Bales says. The ruby-throats are most often found at lower elevations near creeks with lots of nectar-producing flowers like jewelweed.

In Asheville, N.C., the Western North Carolina Nature Center is home to more than sixty species of animals native to, or once native to the Smokies.

While architects and builders are busy designing creature comforts into the homes they build, Jesse Paden, exhibits curator, at WNC Nature Center is busy planning for comfortable creatures. Paden says the center strives to make its exhibits as natural as possible for the animals. This is evident in the recent renovation and expansion of the river otter habitat.

In the wild river otters establish burrows or dens near the water’s edge. There are usually several tunnels with at least one that allows the otter to enter and exit underwater. The WNC Nature Center’s renovated exhibit gives the otter pair (Olive and Obiwan) easy access between terrestrial and aquatic habitat. The expanded terrestrial habitat with different substrates of grass and soil allows the otters to roll around, dry, sun and groom themselves like they would in the wild.

Because Olive and Obiwan are potentially a breeding couple, the nature center habitat allows for their separation, mimicking the way adult females move and den alone during breeding season in their natural habitat.

The largest area at the WNC Nature Center is the Appalachian Predators exhibit. Here in separate, adjacent habitats mirroring the native forests where these animals now roam or previously roamed are red wolves, gray wolves, cougars, bobcats and coyotes.

The red wolf was declared extinct in the wild in 1980. The WNC Nature Center is one of only 46 red wolf breeding sites in the country.

It is an integral part of the red wolf captive breeding and reintroduction program. Paden says the forested red wolf habitat are corresponds to the native forests they once inhabited throughout the Smokies. He also notes that the nature center provides water features as well as artificial dens modeled after the ones wolves would create in the wild.

The WNC Nature Center is continuously upgrading and enhancing its exhibits. A new small mammal exhibit opened in 2009 containing red and gray foxes. In the wild, both of these animals utilize dens, both for rearing young and also as non-breeding resting sites.

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Paden said that plans were in place to create den sites for the foxes.

Gray foxes do, indeed, utilize dens, probably even to a greater extent than red foxes but gray foxes are quite unique. They are excellent tree climbers and there are accounts of them using abandoned hawk nests for napping.

The Highlands Biological Station, located in Highlands, N.C., includes the Highlands Nature Center and Botanical Garden. The Highlands Nature Center is open from May through October, while the Botanical Garden and its self-guided trails are open year round. The Biological Station is a year-round biological field station and an inner-institutional center of the University of North Carolina.

More:

What does an animal call home?

Bat: Roost Cave Bear: Den Beaver: Lodge Bee: Hive Bird: Nest Bird of Prey: Eyrie Cougar: Lair, Den Fox: Den, Hole, Lair Otter: Holt, Ledge Rabbit: Warren, Burrow, Spider: Web Squirrel: Cavity, Drey (nest of leaves and sticks) Wasp: Nest, Vespiary Wolf: Lair, Den

Dr. James T. Costa is executive director of the Highlands Biological Station, professor of biology at Western Carolina University, entomologist, research associate in entomology at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, and author of The Other Insect Societies and The Annotated Origin—an annotated edition of the Origin of Species both published

by Harvard University Press.

Suffice it to say, Costa is passionate about bugs, and he knows a lot about how and where bugs live in the Smokies. Those strange looking bumps, knots, balls and/or cones on the stems and leaves of plants are galls, which are little life supporting systems. “Lots of plantfeeding insects and their relatives are able to induce galls—abnormal plant growths that provide the insects with both food and shelter,” Costa says. The insect egg produces a chemical that mimics the plant growth hormone causing the plant to grow around the egg. The larva grows inside its new home, which provides food and shelter.

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Lyn Bales of the Jiams Nature Canter in Knoxville talks about the center’s birds of prey program.

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The giant web of twelve different families of spiders was an awesome— and creepy—discovery in Texas.

GARDE, TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE PHOTO

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The WNC Nature Center is home to wolves, panters, and foxes among other species native, or once native, to the area. MARGARET HESTER PHOTOS

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“Gall-inducing insects are typically very specific with respect to the plant they feed on,” Costa says. “Their galls, too, usually have very particular shapes, so that it’s possible to identify the species of insect just by the plant species and gall shape.”

For example, an aphid known as Hormaphis hammamelids creates little cones on witch hazel leaves that look like witches’ hats.

Dr. James T. Costa, executive director of the Highlands Biological Station.

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For me, they are the true harbinger of spring. In our area around mid-March I delight in seeing their bright and shiny tents dotting the landscape, lining the highways and byways on black cherry trees.

— Dr. James T. Costa

The locust leaf miner, Odontota dorsalis, munches down on black locust leaves in the summer. These larval leaf miners are so tiny and flattened live between the upper and lower layers of a single thin leaf, Costa says. Other types of insects’ homes include “leaf rolls and ties,” where insects roll and/or tie leaves together to create shelter; silk tents; log galleries, where “wood roaches” excavate tunnels in rotting logs; and, of course, hives, where social wasps and/or bees live together in colonies ranging in number from a dozen or so to many hundreds, Costa says.

It may be hard to think of “bug people” as being sentimental, but Costa has a favorite insect home.

“As for my favorite nest, for sentimental reasons I’d have to go with the eastern tent caterpillar’s tents,” he said. “For me, they are the true harbinger of spring. In our area around midMarch I delight in seeing their bright and shiny tents dotting the landscape, lining the highways and byways on black cherry trees. This is one of the very earliest insects to emerge after the long winter, and those fresh silken tents seem to glint brightly in the sunlight. Each one is the work of an industrious group of caterpillars, a family group in fact, which have lain dormant in their little egg cluster since early in the previous summer… For me their tents are not only beautiful but marvelous in their construction and their function. No one caterpillar can build one; their tents are group efforts, and their home is both refuge and information center.”

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A wolf at the WNC Nature Center in Asheville, N.C. MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

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Haywood County’s

Real Estate Resource View homes for sale Find an agent Resources for relocation

CHECK OUT SMOKY MOUNTAIN HOMES ONLINE!

www.MountainHomesNow.com WWW.SMLIV.COM

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Homes Alone The stories of four historic mountain structures, as told in the new edition of North Carolina Curiosities B Y J O N E L L I S T O N , K E N T P R I E S T L E Y A N D C O N S TA N C E E . R I C H A R D S

Excerpts from North Carolina Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff, from Globe Pequot Press The glow of Westglow Resort & Spa—is it the sun over the mountains or the artistic spirit of painter Elliott Daingerfield? WESTGLOW RESORT & SPA PHOTO

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“Home” means different things to different people, a fact aptly documented in the new edition of a Tar Heel literary chestnut, North Carolina Curiosities.

On its mountains-to-the-sea review of “quirky characters, roadside oddities and other offbeat stuff,” the book explores scores of unique spots and structures. These excerpts showcase three historic Western North Carolina homes (and one historic dome) that get the curious treatment.

BILTMORE BUILT MORE

North Carolina-based William Dudley Pelley.

The U.S. government soon had enough and in 1941 worked with the Mexican government to put Brinkley out of business.

Dogged by claims of tax evasion and drowning in malpractice suits, Brinkley died of a heart attack in May 1941 and was buried in Memphis, Tenn.

I

THE GOAT GLAND KING

his stone cottage in the East Laport community in Jackson County gives little hint of the reckless and wildly influential life of its former owner, Dr. John R. Brinkley.

Before men had drugs like Viagra and Cialis to put, as they say, “the lead back in their pencils,” legitimate cures for erectile dysfunction were hard to come by. In that age of quackery, no one quacked quite as loudly as Dr. Brinkley.

Born here in 1885, Brinkley grew up an underachieving student. Nevertheless, by 1918, with a string of medical degrees from unaccredited colleges under his belt, Brinkley set up a medical practice in Milford, Kansas. His specialty was “curing” impotence by stitching goat glands into his patients, a procedure he was later estimated to have performed on 16,000 men. With capital amassed from his popular cure, in 1923 Brinkley built that state’s first radio station, KFKB (“Kansas First, Kansas Best”).

Ever the entrepreneur, he gave medical talks alongside the regular performances by local musicians, building his practice gland by valuable gland.

When officials caught wind of the good doctor’s dubious earnings, they yanked his license to practice medicine. Brinkley answered by moving his practice to a hotel in south Texas.

Across the border at Villa Acuña, Mexico, he built powerful radio stations with signals that could be heard as far away as Russia. The “border blaster” stations helped to popularizer early country music stars like the Carter Family, as well as banjoist and singer Samantha Bumgarner, also a Jackson County native.

Some of Brinkley’s programming choices were less inspired; in 1939 and 1940 he gave airtime to a string of Nazi sympathizers including

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Before men had drugs like Viagra and Cialis to put, as they say, “the lead back in their pencils,” legitimate cures for erectile dysfunction were hard to come by. In that age of quackery, no one quacked quite as loudly as Dr. Brinkley.

The East Laport residence was built in 1929 when Brinkley was still a rising star. His surname is emblazoned in pale river rocks on the entrance gate. In 1937, Brinkley erected an elaborately carved stone monument to his beloved Aunt Sally, the woman who raised him. It stands about a mile north on N.C. 107 on a shady bend of the road.

Brinkley’s house is located on the northwest side of N.C. 107, 1.1 miles north of State Road 1172. It is not open to the public, but can easily be viewed from a comfortable distance.

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t’s no secret that George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore House, built in the late 1800s, is the largest family dwelling in U.S. history. To the public’s good fortune, the house and the scenic estate surrounding it have long been open to paying visitors.

And by now, you might think that you had heard all there is to hear about the 250-room mansion, which is perched on an enviable piece of property in Buncombe County. Millions of folks have visited the majestic gardens, grand terraces, the ornate banquet halls and boudoirs, and the library bursting with books.

But in a dwelling that big, you never know what might be discovered and uncovered.

Asheville’s Biltmore House is a gift that keeps on giving, and it keeps revealing parts of itself.

Every few years Biltmore House curators open up still more rooms. After careful restoration, four new rooms opened in 2009. Renovated to its original splendor, one suite offers visitors the first opportunity to fully see the house as a family home and the Vanderbilts as parents. The Louis XV Room was the birthplace of George and Edith Vanderbilt’s only daughter, Cornelia, in 1900. Years later, it was where Cornelia delivered her own two sons, George Henry Vanderbilt Cecil and William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil in 1925 and 1928, respectively.

Biltmore’s team of curators, conservators, and craftsmen spent years researching and sourcing materials from around the world to restore a part of Biltmore House that’s been closed to visitors for nearly one hundred years.

So authentic was this search that on-site curators pieced remnants of original wallpaper found underneath door moldings and drapery brackets together to determine wallpaper patterns for the reproduction process. They even traveled to France to collaborate with fabric and wallpaper company designers to ensure the original fabrics were reproduced exactly. That’s pretty cool! Would that we all had those kinds of resources for our humble abodes.

Additionally, some 250 furniture pieces and decorative objects in the suite, part of George Vanderbilt’s collection, have been stored out of public view since the 1930s. Think we’d find anything like that in the storage units that dot the North Carolina countryside?

AFTERGLOW IN THE MOUNTAINS

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o you’ve been hiking and biking every day on the Blue Ridge Parkway. For something completely different, there’s an elegant inn just outside Blowing Rock that was once the summer manor of artist and writer Elliott Dainger61

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The house that glands built: Brinkley‚ East LaPorte home, which he built using profits from his unconventional surgeries.

JON ELLISTON PHOTO

Asheville’s Biltmore House is the largest private home in America. DONATED PHOTO

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field. Today, Westglow Resort and Spa, offers genteel piano concertos at cocktail hour, sumptuous gourmet cooking surrounded by art at the in-house restaurant, and a luxury spa to sweat and soak your worries away. The view from the “relaxation room” and terrace, in fact, is one of the best of the mountains.

On the 20-acre estate is a 1917 Greek Revival manor house, rich with details of turn-of-the-20th-century elegance. Drawing rooms in quiet foam green and the living room and lounges in cream, white, gold, and sunshine yellow provide appealing bursts of color against a serene setting.

Daingerfield’s original oils, watercolors, and sketches appear throughout the manor. His personal volumes of art books and literature fill the library. Perhaps most impressive is the mansion’s façade—spectacular Grecian columns form the west portico that overlooks an expanse of meadow and Grandfather Mountain beyond. These were shipped from Italy and pulled up the mountain by oxen.

Daingerfield was born in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, son of a Confederate officer and friend of Robert E. Lee. The family moved to Fayetteville, N.C., when Daingerfield was little, and his father was the commander in charge of the armory there during the Civil War. He and his family remained in Fayetteville through his childhood and adolescence, and Daingerfield studied art as best he could in postwar Fayetteville, working with an itinerant sign painter and with a china painter. He moved to New York in 1880 at 21 and studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League. Within a year or so he was teaching life study classes. In 1886 he married and bought a summer home at Blowing Rock, where he would maintain a residence for the rest of his life.

Westglow was named for the vistas that “glow” rather than glare “throughout the shadows, clouds, or mist.” It remained in the Daingerfield family until 1978, later taken over by various owners who turned the expansive property into the oh-soelegant spa and resort it is today.

The Jeweler’s Workbench Don’t Just Run With The Pack…

Dare to be Different!

Specializing in Fine Hand-Crafted Jewelr y & Distinctive Watches 80 N. Main St. • Waynesville • (828) 456-2260 • thejewelersworkbench.us

S E T

Y O U R S E L F

A P A R T

Home Furnishings Complete Design Services 30,000 sq ft Showroom Lighting & Rugs Custom Window Treatments

www.highcountry.com 3232 Dellwood Rd., Waynesville, NC

828.926.1722

HOME OF THE DOME

S

tructure, science and style. The three came together in Black Mountain, where visionary thinker and doer R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) built the first of his geodesic domes. The futuristic structure was a milestone in what might be called humanistic design.

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Buckmaster Fuller’s first dome home was first constructed in Black Mountain N.C. DONATED PHOTO

Lloyd Sieden described how “Bucky” did it in a 1989 article in the journal The Futurist. When he set out to craft the perfect dome, using the principles of spherical geometry, Fuller was trying to find “nature’s coordinate system” and build “a structure that would, because it was based on natural rather than humanly developed principles, be extremely efficient,” Sieden wrote. The construction he created was the geodesic dome, which, Sieden noted, “encloses much more space with less material than conventional buildings.”

The unconventional project required an unconventional space in which to build it. So in the summer of 1948, Fuller took his head full of dome dreams to Black Mountain College, an avant-garde institution that was a hotbed of artistic and cultural innovation.

Fuller had previously worked in architecture and construction, fields that deeply shaped his thinking. “He came to realize that the dome pattern had been employed, to some extent, ever since humans began building structures,” Sieden notes. “Early sailors landing upon foreign shores and requiring immediate shelter would simply upend their ships, creating an arched shelter similar to a dome.”

With help from the college’s students and

some fellow instructors, Fuller spent much of the summer designing a new sort of dome. He acquired a sizable store of Venetian blind strips,

DONATED PHOTO

his basic building materials. By September, the prototype design was complete, and Fuller and crew erected the first geodesic dome.

That first dome was an impressive but short-

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lived structure—within moments of going up, it sagged from its own weight and crumpled to the ground.

So Fuller spent another year back at the drawing board, trying to get the spines of the dome in perfect position. In the summer of 1949, he returned to Black Mountain College to give it another go. With help from students from the Chicago Institute of Design, this time the inventor pulled it off. Built with aluminum aircraft tubing, his second dome, which was 14 feet in diameter, stood strong this time. He covered it in vinyl, and—voilà—a lightweight and functional structure was born.

Fuller went on to craft domes of many sizes, from all sorts of building materials, and today the geodesic wonders can be found in dozens of countries and serving as everything from homes to concert arenas to “immersive environments”—where multimedia artists and educators use the dome’s ceiling and walls as a canvas for creating virtual realities. Perhaps the most recognizable one in the United States is “Spaceship Earth,” a main attraction at the EPCOT Center at Disney World in Orlando, which has a diameter of 165 feet and houses an educational amusement ride.

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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 CACKLEBERRY MOUNTAIN Waynesville’s best kept secret offers a huge selection of affordable home décor, gifts and custom floral designs.

460 Hazelwood Ave. • Waynesville, NC 828.452.2432 cackleberrymountain.com

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 GLASS FEATHER STUDIO GALLERY April-Dec., Wed.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Unforgettable mountaintop shopping.

Featuring functional art glass and fine art photography.

200 Glass Feather Dr. (off Reasonover Rd.) Brevard/Cedar Mountain, NC 828.885.8457 • glassfeather.com

CHARLES HEATH GALLERY, THE The Charles Heath Gallery is located at the corner of Depot and Everett Streets in Bryson City, North Carolina. Look for the old train depot and the Gallery is just across the street. 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

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

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

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 100 Charlotte St. • Asheville, NC 828.456.4297 • justduckyorignals.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

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

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 66

MUD DABBERS POTTERY & GIFTS Open all year.

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 SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

OCTOPUS GARDEN Open Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 1-6 p.m.

Five locations to serve you in the Asheville Area!

Smoking accessories, gifts, T-shirts and more.

Call for directions: 828.232.6030 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 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 TOOL SHED Open Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

“The place to shop in Waynesville”—gifts, decorative accessories, jewelry, Christmas Shoppe and bridal registry.

784 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC 828.452.5720 mountainshops.com/ maggievalleywaynesville/hpages/toolshed 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

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.

Christmas Is… Everyday

Twigs and Leaves 828.456.1940 98 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC www.twigsandleaves.com Twigs and Leaves Gallery—where art truly dances with nature.

Pictured: clock by Bob and Lucy Gibson.

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

White Squirrel Shoppe

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.

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.

Mast General Store

Cackleberry Mountain

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

828.452.2432 460 Hazelwood Ave. Waynesville, NC Featuring Donna Sharp™ bags and an array of jewelry including Bauble Lulu beads.

Tool Shed 828.452.5720 784 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC Tell the fashion story this winter with colorful cable knit wraps They're versatile, colorful and just the thing to brighten up your winter ensembles!

Gaines Kiker Silversmith & Goldsmith 828.295.3992 132 Morris St. • Blowing Rock, NC www.gaineskikersilversmith.com Walnut and steel table with pewter inlays

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DIRECTORY

T. Pennington Art Gallery 828.452.9284 15 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC One in a series of eight—leaves with different scenes. To see them all go to www.tpennington.com

Glass Feather Studio Gallery 828.885.8457 • 200 Glass Feather Dr. Brevard/Cedar Mountain, NC www.glassfeather.com Unforgettable mountaintop shopping, fine art glass and photography.

Fused glass and photography classes.

Art on Depot 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.

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select lodging

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 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 full 3-course gourmet breakfast reflects. Within walking distance of historic downtown Waynesville.

244 Love Ln. • Waynesville, NC 888.608.7037 • oakhillonlovelane.com 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 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 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. 68

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

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

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

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

HISTORIC PROSPECT HILL BED AND BREAKFAST INN Catch the feel of "Home". Stylish, Affordable and Luxurious large, private rooms where you belong to a beautiful, quiet place. A/C, fireplaces, whirlpool tubs, king/queen beds.

Mountain views. Wake up to birds, fresh air and tasty breakfast. Go to bed with firefly and starstudded skies. 40 minutes from Parkway - near Mountain City's 1950's vibe. Guest rooms $99$179. Online discount promo code: PARKWAY 801 W. Main St./Hwy. 67 Mountain City, TN 423.727.0139 • prospect-hill.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 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 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 SMOKY MOUNTAIN LIVING VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 6

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 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 VACATION RENTALS 4U OF EAST TENNESSEE Fully equipped, privately located vacation rental cabins & cottages in the tranquil side of the Smoky Mountains. Located in the Tellico Plains and Coker Creek areas, these special vacation getaways offer a wide variety of amenities and sleep all size groups from 2 to 18. You will find the beauty of the Cherokee National Forest abundant with natural recreational opportunities. Motorcycles love our scenic byroads including the famous Cherohala Skyway.

888.5.RENT4U • tnvacationrentals4u.com

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Magnificent

Mountain Escape BEAUTIFUL 2BR/2BA CONDO FOR RENT AT SEVEN DEVILS

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• Near Boone, Banner Elk & Blowing Rock • First floor unit with Fireplace • Gorgeous Views from Deck • Sleeps 4

704.237.4372 www.vrbo.com/129334

Ask About Alumni Discounts

A Blowing Rock Tradition...

For over a century, the village of Blowing Rock, North Carolina has provided a cool mountain retreat for discerning people to enjoy upscale shops, fine dining, and family entertainment. The original structure of historic Hemlock Inn, centrally located in the village, was built over an artesian spring regarded to be the beginning of the New River.

Today, the original inn has been refurbished and additional rooms have been added.

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

11914 Hwy. 105 S.

find us on facebook www.facebook.com/smliv

60751

Banner Elk NC 28604

828-963-6505 Smoketree-Lodge.com Managed by Vacation Resorts International

Rustic Elegance

IN NORTH CAROLINA’S GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS

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

445 Boyd Farm Rd. Waynesville, NC

(828) 926-1575

www.boydmountain.com

Named one of the top 25 hotels in the U.S. in the 2011 Trip Advisor Travelers’ Choice Awards

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Your mountain retreat within the heart of the city. Our all-suite hotel is located just outside the gates of the Biltmore Estate with studio, one and two bedroom suites all including our exclusive 24-hour concierge service. Convenient to all of the most sought out tourism destinations, restaurants, and shopping in the area.

“Everyone we dealt with was exceptional. The suite was beautiful, very well laid out and you have a great location. This was our first visit to The Residences at Biltmore but it will not be our last!”

Ted & Bonnie — October 2010

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WWW.SMLIV.COM

700 Biltmore Avenue

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

866.433.5594 ResidencesAtBiltmore.com 69

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CALENDAR

upcoming events

DECEMBER Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade

3rd Annual Sculpture Stroll

An outdoor exhibition of 3-dimensional work by local artists. Enjoy pieces installed in multiple, easy to walk to locations from artists Julia Burr, Dan Howachyn, Giuilia, Dave Taylor and Tekla. Black Mountain, N.C. Through May 1, 2012. 828.669.0930.

This popular parade features over 100 illuminated floats, marching bands from all over the southeast, equestrian units and helium balloons in the streets. Don’t miss Santa’s autograph party!

Gatlinburg, Tenn. December 2.

800.568.4748 or gatlinburg.com.

Christmas Craft Fair

Get in the Christmas spirit with mountain views, gifts, crafts, food and more. Sparta, N.C. December 23. 336.372.5838.

Sevierville Christmas Parade

A traditional hometown parade with baton twirlers, pageant winners, marching bands and floats leading up to the appearance of the Grand Marshal, Santa Claus. In historic downtown Sevierville, Tenn.

December 3. 888.738.4378 or visitsevierville.com.

Appalachian Potters’ Market

An annual event showcasing 66 potters from across North Carolina. Features various forms of clay work including raku, sgraffito, decorative stoneware, earthen cookware and traditional folk pottery.

Includes children's activities, demonstrations and live music. Marion, N.C. December 3. 828.652.8610.

11th Annual Appalachian Christmas Celebration

Enjoy performances by the Lake Junaluska Singers, Voices in the Laurel and four-time Grammy Award winner David Holt. Celtic sounds, traditional carols and selections from Handel’s Messiah. Christmas Craft Show featuring the work of local artists and crafters. Harrell Center and Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska, N.C. December 9-11. 800.222.4930 or lakejunaluska.com/christmas.

Santa Hustle Smokies

Runners and walkers alike will don Santa hats and beards for the first annual Santa Hustle 5k and Half Marathon. Features holiday decorations, Christmas music and an after party offering a buffet of food and plenty to drink. Sevierville, Tenn. December 10. santahustlesmokies.com.

GATLINBURG DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM & CONVENTION CENTER PHOTO

USDAA Dog Agility Trial

The Blue Ridge Agility Club of Western North Carolina will host a United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA) agility trial. Over 150 purebred and mixed breed dogs from throughout the southeast will compete at various levels of difficulty.

Fletcher, N.C. December 16. 828.697.2118 or blueridgeagility.com.

New Year’s Eve Ball Drop & Fireworks All of downtown Gatlinburg will celebrate the coming of the New Year with a ball drop from the Space Needle and a choreographed fireworks show.

Gatlinburg, Tenn. December 31-January 1, 2012.

800.568.4748 or gatlinburg.com.

8th Annual New Year’s Eve Possum Drop

Ring in the New Year with a Miss Possum contest, bluegrass music, Little Brasstown Church Choir, the Blessings, cider and good clean fun. Brasstown, N.C. December 31-January 1, 2012. 828.837.3797.

High Mountain Squares New Years Eve Dance

Celebrate the arrival of the New Year with Mainstream and Western style square dancing.

Franklin, N.C. December 31st-January 1, 2012.

828.349.0905 or highmountainsquares.org

JANUARY 22nd Annual Wilderness Wildlife Week

Enjoy a full schedule of outdoor recreational activities amidst the rustic beauty of nature in the Smokies.

Nearly 100 mountain experts will guide guests on walks, hikes, seminars, hands on workshops and lectures on topics ranging from Smoky Mountain history to plant and animal habitation. Pigeon Forge, Tenn. January 7-14. pigeonforge.com.

Classic Car Show

Cruise-in and show off your classic car, truck or motorcycle. Old Fort, N.C. January 15. 828.442.5135 or route70cruisers.com.

The 21st Annual Big Band & Swing Dance Weekend

Enjoy a full weekend of all things swing with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C. January 20-22. 800.438.5800 or visit groveparkinn.com.

American Kennel Club (AKC) Dog Agility Trial

The Blue Ridge Agility Club of Western North Carolina hosts an American Kennel Club (AKC) dog

Christmas at Biltmore

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BILTMORE PHOTO

This year’s Christmas at Biltmore promises another extravagant celebration, complete with more than 40 Christmas trees, miles of ribbon, garland and lights, live music and inspirational holiday demonstrations.

Asheville, N.C. Through Jan. 2. biltmore.com. 800.411.3812.

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agility trial. Over 300 purebred dogs from throughout the southeast will compete at various levels of difficulty. Fletcher, N.C. January 20.

828.687.1414 or blueridgeagility.com.

AMANDA LUGENBELL PHOTO

Evergreen Ball

Winterfest Celebration Celebrate the fun side of winter with ice carving, hayrides, a wine auction, live bluegrass music, a chili cook-off, and kids activities.

Or take the Polar Plunge in Chetola Lake. Blowing Rock, N.C. January 26-29. 877.295.7801 or blowingrockwinterfest.com.

A celebration of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the history of its support and preservation by the people of the Smoky Mountain region.

Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn. January 28.

865.932.4794 or evergreenball.org.

Tennessee Winter Special Olympics

Watch and cheer as Special Olympics athletes compete for the gold in the annual Winter Olympics day. Sporting events include snow skiing, ice skating and snowboarding. Gatlinburg, Tenn. January 29-31. obergatlinburg.com.

FEBRUARY 17th Annual Bluegrass First Class Festival

A weekend of bluegrass from Dailey & Vincent, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, the James King Band, the Seldom Scene, Lonesome River Band, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice featuring Wyatt Rice on guitar. Asheville, N.C. February 17-19. 800.733.3211 or bluegrassfirstclass.com.

9th Annual Saddle Up!

A celebration of the American West. Live entertainment from cowboy poets and western

musicians including a Stories and Strings presentation. Enjoy cowboy themed activities at the Buckaroo Roundup along with food at the Chuck Wagon Cook Off. Pigeon Forge, Tenn. February 2326. 865.429.7350.

Rose Glen Literary Festival

Features lectures and book signings by local authors and those who have written books about Sevier County. Walters State Community College in Sevierville, Tenn. February 25. 865.453.6411.

MARCH Carnival of Magic

Learn tips and tricks from the pros during this twoday event. Watch quick change shows, comedy routines and large-scale illusions intensified by sound and lighting effects. Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

March 8-10. 800.792.4308 or wintercarnivalofmagic.com.

5th Annual March of the Leprechauns A celebration of Irish heritage and entertainment along with a costume contest. Downtown Hendersonville, N.C. March 17. 828.233.3216.

Spring Corvette Expo & Auction

This indoor auction is open to the public. An outdoor swap meet features race car parts, engine parts; custom and stock wheels, rims and tires new or used for sale. Watch as corvettes cruise the Smokies.

Sevierville Events Center in Sevierville, Tenn. March 23-24. 865.453.0001 or corvetteexpo.com.

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

Mountain

Living readers enjoy any week of the year for only $1050* SmokyMountainVacation@gmail.com for more information. *does not include any local taxes or additional fees.

BILTMORE PHOTO

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.

All Smoky

WWW.SMLIV.COM

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DEPARTMENT

mountain views

Extending a crepe myrtle branch

BY LUCY ADAMS

T

he last crepe myrtle branch drops as I turn into the driveway. Through the windshield I lock eyes with a guy guiltily grasping loppers and hold him fixed in my glare.

Getting out, I pick my way around the limbs until I square off with the destruction. A chill wind rushes and blusters.

Three crepe myrtles create an informal, but necessary, border between my driveway and the neighbors’ yard. “Those are my trees,” I tell the stunned landscaper, clearly as surprised to see me as I am to see him. “Why are you cutting them?”

“That’s how they’re supposed to be pruned,” he defends himself.

Though I live within the city limits now, two blocks west of Main, I grew up on a farm. We raised horses and goats and cows and ducks and chickens and pigs and cats and dogs and geese and a donkey named Delilah. Our long gravel driveway unraveled itself from the road, up the hill between the fences. When it arrived at our country house, it split around a cluster of unkempt crepe myrtle trees. Many childhood hours were wiled away peeling the papery bark, climbing on spindly trunks and squeezing buds between my fingers to prematurely burst them into bloom.

I don’t want my crepe myrtles pruned correctly, or at all. “Who told you to do this?”

Sheepishly clutching his sheers and backing into the neighbors’ yard, he croaks, “Miss Estelle.”

When my husband and I and our four children, ages 1, 3, 5 and 7 at the time, moved in next door to Miss Estelle and her husband, Mr. Henry, we changed the face of the picturesque street. On move-in day, our boys bounded into their yard, stripped naked and ran in their sprinklers. Until we settled here, residents on Lee Street hadn’t seen a real live child in a front yard in 20 years. They’ve yet to recover from the shock.

Our circa 1908 brick house rumbles with the chaos of family life, threatening to bring down the neighborhood with it. Miss Estelle gives us the stink-eye any time a stray dog or child wanders down the sidewalk.

In a place where the garden club’s Yard-of-the-Month sign regularly puts down stakes, we are an enigma. Anyone who dares enter our backyard does so at great mortal risk. Last summer a privet of Little Shop of Horrors’ Audrey Juniors popped up, snipping and hissing over the fence. Secretly, it brings me misguided joy to envision Miss Estelle suddenly recoiling while peering through the knothole into my yard seeking further affirmation of her contention that we indeed are irresponsibly inadequate.

Miss Estelle and I, however, are not so different. I, too, make cursory judgments of people, refusing to let them free

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from the pigeonholes in which I put them, summing up every man and woman by his or her response to weeds. Weed Watchers, for example, don’t have time to pull, kill or prevent weeds because of football, baseball, NASCAR, water polo and synchronized swimming events on ESPN. They refuse to face problems, but they enthusiastically embrace change; particularly changing channels. Weed Killers, on the other hand, are calculating, power-hungry control freaks. All ends justify the means.

Then there are the Miss Estelles of my world, the Weed Preventers. No one surpasses their punctuality, but they possess less spontaneity than cicadas on a 20-year mating schedule.

Meticulous perfectionists, they plan their calendars months, even years, in advance. Weed Preventers do not sweat, perspire or glisten, and can gracefully move from pruning the roses to serving a six-course meal for 12.

This is where Miss Estelle and I are at odds. I’ve got the personality of a Weed Puller. I live for instant gratification. I stay busy, but I’m easily distracted. A Weed Puller doesn’t mind uncertainty and tends to act impulsively.

Often, passing by the flower beds on my way from the car to the front door, I bend over and pluck a weed. Soon I’m weaving my way erratically through plantings—sweet-scented gardenias, traffic-stopping hydrangeas and other less fortunate flora I’ve demoralized—with my forgotten purse slung over my shoulder. It swings like a wrecking ball and slaps me in the face as I reach for another weed. Miss Estelle spies me. She sees that I need help, but it takes the whole of fall for her to decide exactly what kind.

In the true spirit MANDY NEWHAM ILLUSTRATION of Christmas giving, she sends her yardman with his pruners to do indecent deeds to my crepe myrtles. I pout like I did when I was 10 and craved a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans for Christmas, but got another monogrammed sweater instead. My mama taught me to smile and say thank you, anyway, so I force a grin. Miss Estelle, I know, only has the best interest of my soul at heart. Nonetheless, staring the proverbial gift horse in its mythical mouth, I tell the young man to let Miss Estelle know that next Christmas I’d like to have my hedge of Audrey Juniors clipped.

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ANDREWS 828-321-2050 BAKERSVILLE 828-688-5800 BLOWING ROCK 828-295-8072 BREVARD-DOWNTOWN 828-884-3649 BREVARD-STRAUS PARK 828-884-2600 BRYSON CITY 828-488-1168 BURNSVILLE 828-682-9992 CASHIERS 828-743-6600 CHEROKEE 828-497-3734 ETOWAH 828-890-3600 FRANKLIN 828-369-6197 HAYESVILLE 828-389-6363 HENDERSONVILLE 828-698-5684 MURPHY 828-837-9291 NEWLAND 828-733-9281 ROBBINSVILLE 828-479-3037 SPRUCE PINE 828-766-8880 SYLVA 828-631-9166 SYLVA-ASHEVILLE HWY. 828-631-9600 WAYNESVILLE 828-452-0307

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Where the wild things are

Recipe: Peanut Butter Cinnamon Toast Cookies