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March 6-12, 2013 Vol. 14 Iss. 40

Meet Haywood County’s new sheriff

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Haywood appoints new sheriff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Jackson commissioners delay decision on resource officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Merger with Waynesville would save, not sacrifice Junaluska identity . . . . . 6 Last minute deal saves Franklin factory, jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Tug-of-war over tourism tax rears its head in Haywood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Need for foster care on the rise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Jury still out for HCC president . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Cullowhee gathering aims to discuss societal issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Is Murphy the next destination for a casino? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Landslide hazard mapping on the table in Jackson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Haywood pulls trigger on landslide maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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news March 6-12, 2013 Smoky Mountain News

New Haywood sheriff pledges modern, professional leadership

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFF WRITER There’s a new sheriff in town.

Greg Christopher, a 51-year-old former lieutenant in the N.C. State Patrol, assumed the role of top lawman in Haywood County this week.

The position was left vacant by retired Sheriff Bobby Suttles, who served just four years in the post. Christopher was chosen as the new sheriff by Haywood County Democratic Party leaders during the weekend and was affirmed by county commissioners Monday. He received two standing ovations from a room full of supporters and sheriff ’s deputies after the commissioners unanimously approved his nomination.

Christopher thanked Democratic leaders for their vote of confidence and assured people that he takes his responsibility to protect Haywood County citizens and his employees “very, very seriously.”

“I will do my best to do my job to take care of these men and women,” Christopher said.

Suttles retired with two years left of his term. Suttles was a Democrat, and that meant the job of picking a replacement was up to the party bosses.

“We believe Mr. Christopher is highly worthy and a great candidate for this office,” said Janie Benson, chairwoman of the Haywood Democratic Party.

Chief Deputy Larry Bryson, second-incommand under Suttles, was also vying for the nomination. He got 32 votes, while Christopher got 104.

Christopher wasted no time his first day as sheriff, beginning the swearing-in of all the current deputies, which must be done with each change in leadership; an equipment inventory, and meeting with county leaders.

Christopher named Jeff Haynes, a detective with the Waynesville Police Department, as his chief deputy. Earlier in his career, Haynes worked for the sheriff ’s office and rose to the rank of lieutenant before joining Waynesville’s force, first as a patrol officer and then a detective.

“Haynes is extremely credible and professional,” Christopher said. “I’m really glad to have him as the chief deputy.”

Based on feedback from residents,

level of communication between the two agencies, by having somebody down there that was a member of this agency,” Waynesville Police Chief Bill Hollingsed said. “(Haynes) has developed some very, very good relationships with people in both agencies.”

Hollingsed said the sheriff ’s office is lucky to have Haynes as the second-in-command.

“Jeff Haynes is a very experienced officer.

Greg Christopher

“We believe Mr. Christopher is highly worthy and a great candidate for this office.”

— Janie Benson, Haywood Democratic Party chairwoman

Christopher said there are three key areas he would like to focus on during the onset of his administration: the professionalism of the office, customer service and collaboration with other law enforcement agencies — including police from Maggie Valley, Clyde, Canton and Waynesville, as well as state law enforcement agencies.

Picking Haynes as his right-hand man could help on that front.

“Obviously, that would only increase the

He has lots of years not only at the Waynesville police department but also lots of experience in operations and administration at the sheriff ’s office,” Hollingsed said.

Another change Christopher wants to implement is indeed an administrative one: expanding reception hours at the office.

“We’re going to try to improve so that more people have access rather than the 9-5 they have now,” Christopher said.

He would also like to start staffing the

Free homework tutors in Haywood The Waynesville library offers free homework tutors from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. No appointment is necessary.

A one-on-one session is not guaranteed, but the program will do their best to assist everyone who needs help with reading, spelling, math or other subjects. Volunteer tutors are ready to assist all elementary-aged students with their homework and are willing to have a go at helping older students, too.

828.356.2511 or cdennis@haywoodnc.net.

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substation in Canton.

In the longer term, the new sheriff wants to increase the deputy force from its current five per shift. He said five deputies per shift to patrol a county as geographically large as Haywood with a population of 60,000 is too little coverage. That equates to one deputy per 12,000 residents at any given time.

“I want to substantially increase that number because our county is so large,” he said. “We want to work on getting more deputies onto the road.”

Christopher plans to meet with local school officials about posting deputies in more schools, as well.

He also wants to look at the equipment used by deputies and make sure each has a vehicle equipped with a laptop — called a mobile data terminal and used to access criminal and state databases — as well as mounted cameras.

Christopher even indicated he’d like to provide drug rehabilitation and outreach services through the sheriff ’s office.

Christopher said he believes drug abuse is at the root of the county’s crime problem and can be linked to many robberies, break-ins and other property crimes menacing local residents.

A prescription drug epidemic has begun to surpass meth as the biggest drug scourge in the county and is taking lives through overdoses.

“Meth is still a huge problem in Haywood County,” Christopher said. “But prescription drugs are also a real issue that we are going to attack.”

Also, as a method to track down suspects and wanted criminals, warn the public about scams and collect crime tips from citizen, Christopher will have the sheriff ’s office utilize social media like Twitter and J Facebook. There, the agency will post surveillance videos, issue alerts and interact with citizens.

Christopher also indicated that he plans on running again in two years, and that this post is no short stint for him.

“This is a long-term commitment for me,” Christopher said. “As native of the county, I want to give back.”

Republican Bill Wilke, who ran for sheriff two years ago, has already announced his intentions to run again in two years, when the sheriff ’s position is officially up for election by county voters.

Christopher will earn $74,285 a year as sheriff — the same amount as former Sheriff Bobby Suttles. The salaries of sheriffs in comparable counties are between $80,000 and $85,000, Mark Swanger, chairman of y the county board of commissioners said.

“He specifically asked that it not be v increased,” Swanger said.

Staff writers Caitlin Bowling and Becky Johnson J contribute to this article.

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consideration of any additional officers in county schools until the county goes through the budget process.

“What I want to be able to do is make the best informed decision I can on this issue,” Greene said.

A budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1, is typically hashed out in April, May and early June.

All but one of the commissioners voted along with Greene, meaning no additional officers will be funded for this school year at least. County Manager Chuck Wooten said he would include the four officers, their cars and equipment in the draft budget for the coming year so commissioners can see what it would look like.

Commissioner Doug Cody, who also voted to push back the vote, said he would also like time to consider the most effective methods for keeping schools safe.

The measure called for one officer to be placed at Smokey Mountain Elementary School and another to rove between the county’s three other elementary schools starting in April.

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Smoky Mountain News

“To be comfortable in my decision, I’d like to do a little bit more research on it,” Cody said. “I don’t know if (school officers) are the final answer.”

Greene said that many school districts that have added officers in recent years are now second-guessing the strategy and looking to other forms of security, such as video surveillance and secure buildings. Haywood County, like other school districts, is experimenting with video entry systems. Greene added that it may not be prudent to hire school officers right before the summer either when school is not in session.

However, Sheriff Jimmy Ashe, who also appeared at the commissioner’s meeting with Wike, said the summer is the prime time for the officers to receive their specialized training.

Jackson County Commissioner Mark Jones was the only commissioner in favor of the school system’s request. He voted against postponing a decision. Jones said he would like to have the county explore grants and outside sources of funding to help with the costs.

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March 6-12, 2013

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFF WRITER ackson County commissioners have postponed a decision on hiring deputies to man the county’s elementary schools.

The school board and sheriff ’s office made a joint request recently for funding for four additional deputies to serve as school resource officers in elementary schools. The issue of cops in schools has taken center stage nationally since the Sandy Hook shooting late last year. While school resource officers are common in high schools, traditionally they have been rare in elementary schools.

Swain County commissioners were the first to act locally, promptly hiring three deputies back in January to be stationed at the county’s two elementary schools and its middle school.

In Haywood County, which has 11 elementary schools, school officials are contemplating whether to seek county funding for additional school officers as part of the annual budgeting process that occurs in the spring. In Macon County, a request may also be pending when the budget process cranks up but has not formally been made.

Matthew Wike, a county school board member and sergeant with the N.C. Highway Patrol, brought the proposition before Jackson County commissioners at their meeting this week. The measure called for one officer to be placed at Smokey Mountain Elementary School and another to rove between the county’s three other elementary schools starting in April. The request called for two additional officers to come on board by the start of next school year to give each elementary school a full-time officer.

“We want to see this program move forward,” said Wike, speaking on behalf of the school board, which voted last week to make the formal request.

Currently, Jackson County spends nearly $160,000 a year on the salaries of three school officers, but $150,000 of that is paid for by state at-risk student services funds. Adding four officers would cost the school district an additional $180,000 to $211,000 in salaries a year, plus approximately $150,000 up front to outfit the officers with equipment and four vehicles.

Wike said the cost is worthwhile because Jackson County is known for its education — especially as the site of Western Carolina University and Southwestern Community College.

“This is an education county,” Wike said.

“The first thing you look at when you move into a county is the education system” But Jackson County Commissioner Vickie Green said she was not sure that additional officers are the solution to making schools safer. She made a motion to postpone the

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Jackson commissioners mull request for deputies in elementary schools

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Emotions run high as Lake Junaluska task force votes for merger

quickly to address the problems,” said Joe Stowe, a member of the task force.

CONFERENCE CENTER ON THE LINE

Smoky Mountain News

March 6-12, 2013

The burden to Junaluska homeowners aside — the costly infrastructure repairs would be a drain on the already precarious bottom line of the Methodist conference center that lies at the heart of community.

The costly tab under a go-italone scenario would weaken the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, according to Buddy Young, the director of Lake Junaluska’s public works department and member of the task force.

“The most important factor to protect the identity of this community is the health of the conference center. It is not who we pay for water or who picks up our trash,” said Young.

The Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center hosts tens of thousands of visitors a year who flock to its campus for religious retreats and conferences. But it has been struggling financially. It barely broke even last year — marking only the second time in the past decade it didn’t lose money.

But it was only accomplished Lake Junaluska home owners debate the merits of remaining autonomous or joining the town of thanks to generous donors who Waynesville at an impassioned task force meeting last week. Becky Johnson photo made more than $200,000 in unrestricted contributions to help cover

BY B ECKY JOHNSON make up the backbone and identity of Lake general operating expenses and overhead.

STAFF WRITER Junaluska today.

Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Lake Junaluska task force voiced overIndeed, the issue of maintaining its identi- Center has developed a 10-year plan for a whelming support last week for merg- ty has been a cornerstone of discussions dur- major overhaul of its campus, including masing the 765-home community with the ing the past year. sive renovations and newly constructed faciltown of Waynesville before a packed audience But the majority of the task force believes ities. Leaders hope the improvements will pay of homeowners. the choice isn’t an either/or proposition. off, bolstering its status as a signature The 14-member task force has spent 10 Joining the town of Waynesville would not Christian retreat center as well as building a months weighing the future course of the compromise Lake Junaluska’s identity — new line of secular resort business. (Read The community with century-old roots as a sum- rather it is the only way to preserve it, they Smoky Mountain News next week for an artimer Methodist retreat. Financial solvency concluded. was the deciding factor for those in favor of “I think that the only way that the Lake “I think that the only way being absorbed into Waynesville’s town lim- is going to maintain its identity in the that the Lake is going to its. The community does not have the critical future is by being realistic about the ecomass nor economies of scale to go it alone, nomic realities that the Lake faces,” said maintain its identity in especially given the costly repairs it would Kelley Bonfoey, a task force member and face during the next decade to fix its crum- Junaluska resident. the future is by being bling infrastructure, task force members said.

Remaining autonomous could actually realistic about the eco“The staggering costs of replacing our jeopardize Junaluska’s identity if it plunges water and sewer lines and roads and infra- the community into financial insolvency, task nomic realities that the structure will continue to fall on property force members maintained. owners at a rate many of us would not be able “Staying the same would be a money pit,” Lake faces.” to absorb,” said Don Rankin, president of the said Ron Phelps, a Junaluska resident, task — Kelley Bonfoey, task force member Lake Junaluska Property Owners’ force member and retired businessman. “We Organization and a task force member. are too small to take it on, my business Only one member of the task force spoke instinct tells me.” cle detailing this campus master plan.) in favor of autonomy, calling on Lake Lake Junaluska faces roughly $10 million Although some homeowners in the audiJunaluska’s homeowners to band together in street, water and sewer line repairs during ence said they were willing to “dig a little and form their own, independent town the next decade, according to an engineering deeper” to retain their autonomy, where instead. study commissioned jointly by the town of would that leave the Lake Junaluska “Lake Junaluska has a strong identity and Waynesville and the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, asked Ron history that I treasure,” Mary Allen Conforti Conference and Retreat Center. That cost Clauser, chairman of the task force and a said in an impassioned speech. would be absorbed and picked up by the Junaluska resident.

Conforti comes from a long lineage of town under a merger.

“Who can’t afford to do it is the conference “Waynesville is better equipped to move and retreat center. They are the ones that can’t 6 Methodist preachers, whose descendents still

A

Lake Junaluska at a crossroads: continuing coverage Decision time has arrived for Lake Junaluska following a nearly year-long examination of the best path for the 765-home residential community.

The community appears headed toward a merger with the town of Waynesville, but there are still several steps to go before Lake Junaluska would be officially absorbed into the town limits. A task force voted last week in favor of a merger, but four more entities will be weighing in during the next week: • Junaluska Community Council, a seven-member board elected by homeowners to represent community interests and concerns, will vote Tuesday, March 5.

• Survey results of more than 800 property owners will be announced Thursday, March 7.

• The Lake Junaluska Board of Directors, the governing body for the Methodist conference and retreat center, will vote Friday, March 8.

• The Waynesville town board will vote Tuesday, March 12.

And finally, a state bill would have to be approved by the N.C. General Assembly declaring Lake Junaluska part of Waynesville.

afford to do it,” Clauser said. “We need a strong conference and retreat center to do ministry for the United Methodist Church.”

And if homeowners have money to spare, they should marshal their financial resources to donate to the fundraising campaign the conference center has launched to pull off the campus master plan, Clauser said.

Concerns over identity clearly weighed on task force members, even though they ultimately chose to cast their lot with the town of Waynesville.

Ed LaFontaine, a task force member, said it has been a “difficult and emotional issue” but one that came down to financial stability.

Ron Phelps, a task force member and Junaluska resident, also preached pragmatism when explaining his pro-merger position.

“Emotions are wonderful,” Phelps said.

“But sometimes an emotional response does not allow you to see a practical view. There is no denying it, it is change, and many of us have difficulties when change occurs. But change we must.”

In the long view, Lake Junaluska has been on a constant trajectory of change, a slow but incremental departure from its traditional Methodist pedigree — one that is bound to continue as new homeowners move in.

“To stay the way we are is not an option,” said Bill King, a Junaluska retiree who grew

here, we still have a unique Lake Junaluska environment.”

Jack Ewing, CEO of Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, has been a steady, guiding hand in the process, setting a respectful tone for the community-wide discussion over such an emotional issue. Becky Johnson photo

up coming to Lake Junaluska as a boy in the 1940s and 1950s, when the lake was populated by the families of Methodist preachers.

King recalled memories of those days, memories clearly shared by many in the audience.

“Jim Hart used to sell banana splits for 35 cents in the soda shop,” King said.

But there’s no soda shop anymore, and certainly not 35-cent banana splits, he said.

Support offered for sufferers of essential tremors The International Essential Tremor Foundation has started a new Sylva support group for those affected by essential tremors.

The first meeting will be held at 1 p.m.

Saturday, March 16, at the Alliance Bible Church on North River Road.

Essential tremor is a neurological condition that affects 10 million adults and children. Although it is not a life-threatening condition, it is a life-altering condition that causes rhythmic trembling of the hands, head, legs or voice. They frequently impact everyday activities such as eating, drinking and writing. All interested in essential tremors — patients, friends, family and health care professionals — are welcome.

828.631.5543 or tkubit@frontier.com or www.essentialtremor.org.

Pisgah, Central high schools celebrate new fitness facilities Haywood County Schools will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newly constructed fitness facilities located on the campuses of Pisgah High School and Central Haywood High School at 1 p.m.

Thursday, March 7, at the Pisgah High School gymnasium.

The new fitness rooms enhance physical education programs at the schools through Mountain ROADS (Reducing Obesity via Activity and Diet for Students). The Carol M. White PEP Grant, a federal grant designed to initiate, expand or enhance physical education programs for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, fully funded the project.

The fitness facilities span about 900 square feet of workout space. It features an array of popular amenities and equipment for students to enjoy, including cardio equipment, yoga, Zumba, dumbbells and a big screen TV, among other things.

Smoky Mountain News

Several members of the audience spoke up after the task force members made their speeches and voted, and most who came to the microphone decried the idea of merging with Waynesville.

Paul Starnes, a Junaluska property owner, said the Lake should not forever sell out its future over fear of short-term financial hurdles.

“Lake Junaluska is about much more than water and sewer and garbage and roads.

These concerns must never be allowed to become more important than who we are and why we exist,” Starnes said. “Economies of fscale are also important but should not be allowed to dictate the future. Surely the God that motivated our founders to birth this institution will motivate this generation to save it.”

Starnes said he fears Lake Junaluska could lose its religious ties and become “just another subdivision.”

Some criticized the decision as too rushed. Despite an intensive, research-driven, analysis-rich process with myriad public input meetings, homeowners complained they haven’t been able to digest the issue at the same pace as the task force.

“I feel like we are jumping into something here. I feel like we are going into something entirely too fast,” said Gretchen Branning, longtime Junaluska property owner.

Many who spoke up at last week’s meeting did so for the first time in the process, despite more than eight public meetings during several months that all allowed unlimited time

for public comment and questions.

The time frame for a decision was accelerated in the past couple of months, however, as the task force realized the window was closing to consecrate a merger, should that be the direction the community wanted to take.

The N.C. General Assembly must approve a merger, and the deadline for introducing a state bill is mid-March. The legislative window would not come around again for another two years.

This week, the results of a survey sent to all 800 property owners at Lake Junaluska “I am old enough to remember will be publicly announced. The highJunaluska’s past, but I am also young ly anticipated survey enough to envision its future ... I want to results will be a strong indicator of public preserve what is desirable about Lake sentiment. Are the concerns voiced at last Junaluska so when it is my turn to retire week’s meeting merely here and have our grandchildren visit a vocal minority turning out at the 11th here, we still have a unique Lake hour? Or is there truly Junaluska environment.” a groundswell of opposition among home— Mary Allen Conforti, task force member owners over annexation into Waynesville’s town limits? ture unique to the community. “The lake alone Conforti, the lone task force member would guarantee our continued identity.” against merging with Waynesville, said she While Waynesville’s leaders haven’t forwas disappointed there wasn’t more of a mally weighed in — their vote will be held on groundswell in support of Lake Junaluska to March 12 — town board members have all but form its own town. extended an open invitation to Lake Junaluska, But unlike the vast majority of those in the if that’s what their community wants. room who were well into their retirement “When you get down to it, it is about peoyears already, Conforti is far from that day — ple,” said Lee Galloway, a task force member a year she pegs around 2045. and longtime former town manager of “I am old enough to remember Waynesville. “I believe the town and communiJunaluska’s past, but I am also young enough ty should join together as one. For 100 years, the to envision its future — a future that I plan to lake and the town have been important to each be a part of in 30, 40, even 50 years,” Conforti other, supported each other and benefited from said. “I want to preserve what is desirable each other. We go to church together, share the about Lake Junaluska so when it is my turn to same schools, the same social groups, volunteer retire here and have our grandchildren visit for the same organizations — we are one.”

The 2013 annual meeting of Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, March 15, at the Shelton House Barn in Waynesville.

The business meeting will include electing new board members and approval of minor changes to the by-laws.

The featured guest speaker is Kristen Limbert, the director of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Animal Relocation Initiative. The program helps facilitate the transfer of shelter animals from areas of oversupply to areas where they are more likely to be adopted.

The meeting will start at 6 p.m. with refreshments and conclude around 8 p.m.

March 6-12, 2013

FROM THE AUDIENCE

Those speaking in favor of a merger with Waynesville returned time and again to a simple fact: Waynesville is a first-rate town. It has exemplary leaders, a well-run town hall, a sound budget and healthy bank account, and generally has its act together.

The town’s current leaders were also heralded as “progressive,” a philosophical posture that by-and-large aligns with the unique demographics of Junaluska homeowners.

But can Junaluska always count on that?

“Waynesville is a wonderful place, but what happens when they change the city council or change the mayor in 10 years? How does that change Junaluska?” asked Jake Martinson, a Junaluska property owner. “This is irrevocable.

We can’t go back to where we are. We can’t get out. We can’t be independent.”

Conforti, like her counterparts on the task force, agreed Waynesville is a “desirable” place.

“I stand firm in the belief that Waynesville and Junaluska enrich each other in numerous ways,” Conforti said. “I feel that the current Waynesville leadership is supportive of Lake Junaluska’s identity, but will that always be the case?”

Task force members repeatedly referenced the Hazelwood analogy — citing the former standalone town of Hazelwood on Waynesville’s borders that went broke two decades ago and was taken in by Waynesville.

Phelps said Hazelwood was already part of Waynesville when he moved here, but even newcomers like himself quickly came to know it as “Hazelwood.”

“And they don’t even have a lake,” Phelps said, pointing to the obvious geographic fea-

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‘WE ARE ONE’

Animal rescue group plans annual meeting

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11th-hour deal saves 100 Franklin manufacturing jobs

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFF WRITER n a move that could save nearly 100 jobs and keep a Franklin factory from closing, an English-based company struck a deal early this week to purchase the assets of the Whitley Products plant, a struggling metal manufacturer.

For nearly $3 million, Tricorn Group bought Whitley’s Franklin factory and equipment owned by the company, some of it located at another plant site in Indiana, according to a press release from Tricorn.

The property was valued at more than $4 million and had been held by a third party receiver since January.

The Whitley plant manufactures precision metal products such as tubing for use in equipment and vehicles made by companies like Caterpillar and Volkswagen. The plant is one other one of the largest employers in Franklin, and one of the last big manufacturers in the area. The announcement of new ownership was made to plant workers on Tuesday.

The Whitley plant was almost certainly destined for permanent closure last week before government entities became involved in the talks and offered economic incentives to Tricorn to make the purchase.

Now the deal is being applauded by local and state government as a victory for economic development in the state and a

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demonstration of government cooperation with private enterprise. Last week, the deal to purchase Whitley nearly fell through before the N.C. Department of Commerce, Franklin and Macon County officials stepped in to offer incentives to the potential buyer and bridge the difference between the asking price and the offer made by Tricorn.

“There was a little bit of difference between what the new buyer was willing to pay and what receivership was willing to take,” said Franklin Alderman Verlin Curtis.

Curtis said the factory has been in the area for nearly two decades, and when the prospect of the closure became public, keeping those jobs in the town became a priority of the local governments.

Both the town and county government passed resolutions last week offering incentives to the buyer in the form of a forgivable loan and other incentives over a five-year period.

County Commission Chairman Kevin Corbin said the town and the county offered $67,000 in a forgivable loan toward the deal, split equally between the two. The receiver, which is charged with managing Whitley’s assets, also agreed to forgive about $33,000 of the sale price, bringing the total offering to $100,000, Corbin said.

That amount was enough to facilitate the purchase of the plant.

Smoky Mountain News

March 6-12, 2013

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Silver Bluff Village has been honored with Haywood County Chamber of Commerce’s February Business of the Month Award. Presented by the Economic and Business Development Committee the purpose of the award is to recognize our community businesses who contribute to our communities through charity, good customer service, job creation, and making Haywood County a better place to live.

Owned and operated by Bob and Lisa Leatherwood, Silver Bluff Village is comprised of several facilities and levels of care including: Silver Bluff Long Term Care, Silver Bluff Rehab, Arrowhead Cove Assisted Living, Pigeon Valley Residential Care and The Bluffs Silver Bluff Villiage Independent Living. The first of the Silver Bluff family, the Pigeon Valley Center was opened in 1951 by Lisa’s grandparents, followed by Silver Bluff Nursing Home in 1984.

Silver Bluff Village offers a staff of 250 highly trained, professional caregivers, who are dedicated to providing quality long-term health care to individuals who need assistance in meeting the challenges of daily living that come with the advancing of age and the decline of physical and/or mental health.

Recently, Silver Bluff Village has implemented a wealth of “green” updates to their everyday business practices in an effort to become more environmentally friendly. The installation of a solar hot water system provides 50% of the facilities hot water, and additional renovations have reduced water consumption by 50%.

Silver Bluff Village is located at 100 Silver Bluff Drive, Canton.

Visit www.silverbluffvillage.com for additional information.

Business of the Month!

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28 Walnut St. Waynesville | 828.456.3021 | haywood-nc.com

The new developments are far different from what many employees of the factory were expecting. At the start of the 2013, the outlook at the Whitley was grim. It temporarily closed the factory doors in late January, laying off about 100 workers and threatening to remain shuttered. The plant’s officials had cited funding shortages as one of the reasons it closed.

“They were only $100,000 short,” said Corbin. “That’s what separated the buyer and seller — but they were both willing to walk away from it.”

There are also other annual incentives of $14,000 offered together by the town and county to Tricorn over the next four years. But the agreement stipulates that Tricorn must maintain a certain number of employees over that time and pay an accumulated $16 million in payroll for the incentives to be doled out and for the loan to be forgiven.

“You’ve got 100 families making income from that property, and if we can step in and save that property you’re making $16 million with a small investment,” Corbin said.

Furthermore, the operational factory is projected to contribute a combined $20,000 to the town and county in tax revenues annually over the next few years, before accounting for the incentives.

The N.C. Department of Commerce also made available a grant of up to $56,000 to the Tricorn Group from the One North Carolina Fund, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The money is contingent upon creating jobs and local funding matches. However, it offered no money up front for the Whitley deal.

The deal will keep the 600,000-squarefoot plant operational under a subsidiary called Franklin Tubular Products and possibly grow the business. Tricorn’s other operations specialize in manufacturing parts similar to those made by Whitley and already employ about 300 workers worldwide. Last year, the company opened a manufacturing plant in China. The Franklin factory is another step in its global expansion.

“This is an ideal platform from which to increase sales in the U.S. for the Franklin facility,” a press release from Tricorn stated. “The directors of Tricorn believe that the acquisition is highly complementary and significantly enhances the growth prospects for the Group.”

The company could add about 30 jobs there over the next five years — a stark contrast to the 100 or so that would be lost if the plant closed. The average wages for the new jobs will be about $32,000, per year, in addition to benefits.

The company also expressed an interest in investing millions of dollars in plant upgrades to make the operation more efficient and expects the new acquisition to make “an increasing contribution” to Tricorn’s earnings by 2014.

The new developments are far different from what many employees of the factory were expecting. At the start of the 2013, the outlook at the Whitley was grim. It temporarily closed the factory doors in late January, laying off about 100 workers and threatening to remain shuttered. The plant’s officials had cited funding shortages as one of the reasons it closed. The Tricorn press release also indicated that Whitley, which also operates a plant in Indiana, posted a $2.2 million net loss in the year ending May 2012. At least one other company, Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., had filed a lien on Whitley’s assets.

However, several days after the closure, the plant had reopened and began courting buyers, but when no deal could be reached with Tricorn early last week, the plant threatened a final closure by late April or early May. County Commissioner Ronnie Beale said he was relieved the purchase was made just in time to save the factory jobs. He also welcomed the new owners to the county.

“This secured a lot of good jobs for Maconians for years to come,” Beale said.

“We’re very appreciative of company and excited to see them come to community.”

Expected I-40 lane closure in Haywood North Carolina Department of Transportation will close one lane of Interstate 40 West at Mile Marker 7 (Harmon Den) in Haywood County from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, March 8, weather permitting.

The closure is necessary so that crews can perform a slope scaling operation. The slope had rock catchment netting placed over it in 2010, and the scaling operation will enable the netting to work more effectively. The work is part of N.C. DOT’s ongoing program to monitor slope activity in the Pigeon River Gorge and respond proactively to any changes. www.ncdot.gov.

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HCC president finalists to remain off the record The Haywood Community College Board of Trustees has decided not to release the names of its finalists for president of the community college — even though it did so during the first round of searching last year.

Three finalists have been chosen, but only the person who is ultimately chosen as the next president will be publicly named, said Chairman Bob Morris Monday.

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER he number of children in foster care in Haywood County is on the rise, a depressing sign for Department of Social Services workers whose first goal is to keep a family together.

“Growing up in foster care or growing up in an institution is no way to grow up,” said Ira Dove, director of the county’s Department of Social Services. Dove presented his case to the Haywood County Board of Commissioners Monday, requesting additional money to pay for the increasing costs of running foster care.

The commissioners agreed to give DSS $342,113 to cover a budget shortfall between now and the end of the fiscal year in June brought on by increase in foster kids. The federal government will reimburse the county between 60 percent and 66 percent of that cost.

Despite efforts by the DSS to keep children in the same home as their parents, the number of children in foster care rose 53 percent during a 12 month period. There were 102 kids in foster care in October 2011, and by October last year, there were 156 kids in the program.

Part of the problem is children kept entering foster care last year quicker than they left.

“We didn’t move a lot of kids out of foster care last year,” Dove said.

The number has come back down, with 109 Haywood County children in foster care as of this week, but the spike caused DSS to burn through its budget allotment before the year was up.

Haywood County is not the only county in the state seeing such an increase.

Jackson County’s foster care population doubled, and Swain saw similar increases to Haywood.

Dove said he could not name a single correlating cause of the statewide rise in foster children. It is usually a combination of factors, he said.

In most cases, the parents of foster care children have substance abuse and/or mental health problems. In more than 30

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After agreeing on three finalists, HCC’s board of trustees sent its list to the state in February to be vetted and OK’d per state policy. The state has now sent the finalists names back to HCC, and all that is left now is for the board of trustees to vote on their appointment for the next president of HCC. However, it is unknown whether the board will vote at its next meeting or call a special meeting.

“I can’t give a date,” said Trustee Richard Lanning. “We just want to make sure we get behind that person whoever it is.”

The board of trustees began looking for a new president last year after former HCC President Rose Johnson announced

“It’s ironic the more effective law enforcement is the higher foster care costs we have.”

— Mark Swanger, Haywood commission chairman

bers willing to care for the child. But it can be difficult to track down relatives living outside North Carolina or, in some case, convincing them to take the child.

“Those kids have some pretty significant traumatic issues,” Dove said.

If the in home program is ineffective or willing relatives cannot be found, the child is placed in foster care.

“This is the last resort for us. It’s not where we go first,” Dove said.

Although the department goes through several steps before resorting to foster care, Dove told commissioners that he would not be happy until the program was not needed.

“As long as there is one child in foster care, we can do more. We can do better,” Dove said.

DSS is in need of volunteers willing to take in foster children. To start the process of becoming a foster family, call DSS at 828.452.6620.

her impending retirement. A search company was hired, and the pool of applicants was narrowed.

After the college agreed on three finalists, their names were made public, and they were even invited to HCC to meet with stakeholders. But in the end, the trustees could not agree on whom to hire and voted to start the search process over.

This time around, the board of trustees has kept everything under wraps — not announcing the finalists or holding any public meetings for employees, student and community members to meet them.

— By Caitlin Bowling

Smoky Mountain News

doesn’t belong to the Maggie hotel and motel owners.

“It is not their money. The fact of the matter is they are collecting tax money, and it is supposed to be for the good of the whole county,” Swanger said. “It has to be the whole county pulling together. We can’t be so narrow-minded.”

The room tax increase is being billed as a way to fund tourism-related capital projects, such as a sports tournament complex, facility improvements at event venues or grants for private tourist attractions. It would bring in an additional $450,000 at the current room tax collection rate.

The bill as written would prevent the majority of the money from being tied up on any one project. It would limit funding for any single project to no more than one-third of the annual revenue generated by the increase. It would also limit funding for any one project to a maximum of 10 years.

“Any one group is not going to get all the money,” Matthews said.

Maggie Valley business owner and TDA board member Lyndon Lowe said it’s not off base for Maggie to want the share of money it collects to be reinvested in town ventures.

“It’s not totally unfair for them to think that,” Lowe said.

TDA board member Ken Stahl pointed out that the 12-member tourism board currently has seven representatives from Maggie. The TDA board will have final say over what projects to fund.

A separate committee would be appointed to make recommendations, however.

“We are the ultimate control. We are the ones who have the funding say so,” Stahl said of the TDA board.

Initially, which projects to fund were going to be made “in concurrence with the county commissioners.” The vague wording would have opened the door for the Haywood County Board of Commissioners to have some input on which projects got funded, but it will not be included in the final bill.

County commissioner and TDA board member Mike Sorrells said he and other commissioners want to play a role in the projectfunding process but understand that you can’t always get what you wish for.

“There are things that the county commissioners wanted that we won’t get,” Sorrells said.

March 6-12, 2013

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER he Haywood County Tourism Development Authority board responded to outcries from Maggie Valley business owners about a proposed lodging tax increase during its meeting last week.

Several business owners in Maggie voiced their collective concerns about the possible increase at a town meeting two days prior. A portion of the meeting was spent correcting misperceptions about the matter.

Rob Edwards, a member of the TDA board, said the tourism authority could have done a better job educating people about the proposed lodging tax increase.

“Whose fault is that? Who takes responsibility for lack of education and factual errors?” asked Edwards, who owns A Holiday Motel in Maggie Valley.

The town boards of Canton and Waynesville both passed resolutions supporting the increase. But the Maggie aldermen’s vote was split 2-to-2, meaning the board will neither officially support nor oppose the lodging tax increase.

Maggie Valley Mayor Ron DeSimone has been open about his support of the increase.

He said he would work to convince Aldermen Phillip Wight and Mike Matthews, the two nay votes, to change their mind. DeSimone added that the new revenue stream could benefit the valley’s revitalization efforts.

“If not this, then what?” he said. “You can’t do anything without money.”

Wight stated that he and Matthews could not agree to back the proposed increase without more specifics.

“This 2 percent occupancy tax has been submitted before us without detailed planning,” Wight said. “It does not say what the monies could or could not be used for.”

Maggie lodging owners, who collect more than 50 percent of lodging tax revenue from tourists each year, have argued that a portion of the room tax increase should be earmarked for projects specifically benefitting Maggie Valley. “‘We deserve it all.’ I think I heard that ‘til my ears bled,” said Al Matthews, Canton Town Manager and a tourism board member.

Mark Swanger, chairman of the Haywood County commissioners who supports the room tax increase, said room tax collected from tourists spending the night in Maggie

percent of cases, the child was physically and/or sexually abused. Nearly half of the time, there is a history of neglect and no stable housing.

Both Haywood County commissioners and Dove indicated that a rise in prescription drug abuse may have influenced the number of cases moving through DSS. “It appears the foster care population grows and fades with the (popular drug of the day),” said Commissioner Kirk Kirkpatrick.

Some parents with drug addictions end up in prison, leaving children without a guardian. Chairman Mark Swanger postulated that the increase might be a result of concerted efforts by police to crack down on prescription drug abuse in Haywood County.

“It’s ironic the more effective law enforcement is the higher foster care costs we have,” Swanger said.

Dove assured the board that DSS tries every other option before separating a child from their family. The first strategy is having social workers visit the family regularly and work on rectifying issues affecting child safety.

If the child cannot remain with a parent, DSS searches for other family mem-

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Proponents of Haywood room tax increase rebut criticism

Troubling spike in foster children prompts budget shortfalls

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news March 6-12, 2013 Smoky Mountain News

Drinking up the essence of thought, innovation

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD anyone to say anything, and if it gets vulgar STAFF WRITER or attacking, I wrangle it in.”

It’s a room full of strangers, ideas and Starting at 6:30 p.m. every other alcohol.

Wednesday, the program begins with one Still in its infancy yet gaining steam, the presenter who has up to 20 minutes to talk Drink-N-Think congregation came together on a pre-chosen topic that they’ve prepared last Wednesday evening at the Mad Batter for. After that, the floor is opened up to any Bakery & Café in Cullowhee, near the heart participant to voice a viewpoint, one at a of Western Carolina University. With the time in a “round-robin” fashion. “What does philosophy of having a healthy conversation it mean to be an American?” and National about any given topic in a comfortable and Defense Authorization Act were the first two embracing environment — with microbrews subjects explored within the walls of the café. in-hand — the jovial event seems the place “I don’t think there’s enough thinking to be on Wednesday nights at Western. being done as a society, as an individual, and “It’s OK to be heated; It’s OK to be you, this takes you out of your comfort zone, forcand the whole point ing your opinions to of this is freedom of stand on their own, speech,” said organizand not on the er Curt Collins, who friendship of others,” also runs Avant said first-time particiGarden Farm and pant Vince Gendusa.

Venue in Cullowhee.

Gendusa’s intent The idea was in coming to Drinkinspired by “TED N-Think was to listen Talks,” a globally and think about renown sounding things, and if he had board that collects something to conspeeches from “the tribute, he would. world’s most inspir“I think it’s ing voices” under the important to quesmoniker “Ideas tion fundamental “It’s OK to be heated; It’s Worth Spreading.” concepts that indiOK to be you, and the Hundreds of commuviduals accept on a nity versions have daily basis,” he said. whole point of this is sprung up around “Attending here will freedom of speech.” the nation in the likeallow them to ness of TED, offering strengthen their cur— Curt Collins, Drink-N-Think organizer a public forum for rent opinions or constimulating conversasider that possibly tion on a local level and sparking dialogue they need do some rethinking.” between listeners and participants from all Here, those of opposing views are on walks of life. neutral ground, without fear of persecution For Collins, it’s about providing Western or ridicule — without the walls that all too North Carolina with just such a podium for often separate those with differing opinions. much-needed connectivity between relatives, “Alcohol can sometimes tear that wall friends and neighbors of Southern down, but it also can contribute to individuAppalachia. als getting distracted or going on a tangent,” “We encourage everyone to exercise their Gendusa said. “So, you have to find a balance First Amendment right,” he said. “We allow between all of that, which I think we do here.”

Bowl for Big Brothers, Sisters of Haywood

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Haywood County is currently seeking county business sponsors and individuals looking to organize a bowling team and help raise money for its annual “Bowl For Kids Sake” fund-raising event on March 9 at Sky Lanes in West Asheville.

The event is an opportunity for church, civic and educational groups as well as anyone wishing to get involved and have some fun. All bowlers receive free bowling shoes, refreshments including pizza, a T-shirt and the chance to win door prizes.

There will be two bowling sessions from noon to 2 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. $300 minimum donation/funds raised per team of four.

10 To make an on-line contribution please visit:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/marthaba rksdale/haywood-bowl-for-kids-sake.

828.273.3601 or haywood@bbbswnc.org.

Learn more about bridge replacements The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold a three informational workshops about proposed road and bridge redesigns and construction in the region.

• Proposed replacement of the bridge on Chestnut Cove Road over Chestnut Cove Creek in Swain County: 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, at the Smoky Mountain County Club in Whittier.

• Proposed replacement of the existing bridge on Fisher Creek Road over Fisher Creek in Sylva with a wider one: 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, at the Jackson County Justice Center

A local version of the popular “TED” open forum discussion about world topics, Drink-N-Think, takes place every other Wednesday in Cullowhee. First-time participants Vince Gendusa (far left) and Sara Shields (bottom right) enjoyed their initial experience at the event and look forward to attending again. Garret K. Woodward photo The topic at hand last week was “Is money necessary for an economy?” Collins started with a short personal observation about the idea of money and if a barter system could function on a regional, national or international playing field. Like the conch in the novel Lord of the Flies, a large spaghetti squash was passed around to the person who had the floor without interruption.

Conversation quickly ricocheted around the room, bouncing between the idea of localizing economies, either connecting or disconnecting globalization, and how a barter system could flourish in a modern world, amid other key points.

“Each one of these events has been really unique,” said Tabitha Miller, an employee at the Mad Batter. “There have been heated discussions, but there has also been a high level of respect of one another. It’s cool to see all the different sorts of people that have come in.”

The clock struck 9 p.m. as a whirlwind of conversation wound down. Regardless of one’s viewpoint, handshakes and smiles were offered to each participant in gracious in Sylva.

• Resdeigns to U.S. 23/441 between Cat Creek Road and U.S. 441 Business in Franklin, including median modifications to add additional left turns and add U-turns: 4 to 7 p.m.

Thursday, March 14, at the Franklin Town Hall Board Room. www.ncdot.gov.

WCU Open House is March 16 Western Carolina University will welcome prospective students and their families and friends to campus as the university holds its second open house of the spring semester Saturday, March 16, in Cullowhee.

Hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Admission, the open house gives visitors a

Want to go?

Drink-N-Think takes place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. every other Wednesday at the Mad Batter Bakery & Café in Cullowhee. The next free speech open mic session is scheduled for March 13 (with the caveat that schedules are subject to change). Free and open to the public. Donations are accepted.

828.293.3096. thanks of providing a certain angle on the issue. It’s the essence of what a democracy is, an array of people coming together, searching for a common ground. “[In a community], we sometimes don’t know what everyone is thinking, and it’s important to come together and see the views, to connect in order to progress in a positive way,” said first-time participant Sara Shields. “This was great, and I can’t wait to come back again.” chance to tour the campus, learn about the university’s wide array of academic programs and extracurricular opportunities, and find out the details of topics such as financial aid.

The day’s activities will begin with registration and an academic fair located around the concourse of WCU’s Ramsey Regional Activity Center. Following a welcome session in the main arena of the Ramsey Center, prospective students will have a chance to engage in more indepth academic sessions led by WCU faculty members. Tours of campus will be followed by an information fair, where visitors will be able to find out about the many activities, student organizations and services that are available.

Lunch will be available at university dining facilities, and prospective students can redeem their free lunch voucher at Courtyard Dining Hall or the A.K. Hinds University Center food court.

828.227.7317 or 877.928.4968.

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9 am • Pinnacle Park • Sylva 7 mile trail race 2700’+ elevation gain All proceeds benefit The Community Table of Sylva Visit us on facebook for more info

All participants who finish in 101 minutes or less will receive this belt buckle

Logo courtesy of SCC Graphic Design Students

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March 6-12, 2013 Smoky Mountain News

BY CAITLIN BOWLING become a regular offering at events.

STAFF WRITER Robert Kehrberg, dean of the College of eople attending productions at Fine and Performing Arts, said they would Western Carolina University’s John be looking into it for some upcoming W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts shows.

Center may soon have the chance to enjoy a Details must be worked out for how glass of wine or a beer before a show or dur- alcohol would be sold. Most likely, an outing intermission. side concession company would come in WCU’s board of trustees Friday unani- and keep any money earned. mously approved a policy change allowing for the sale of The advent of alcohol is now possible beer and wine at the after residents voted last year to performance venue.

The advent of allow its sale countywide. Previously, alcohol is now possible after Jackson the county was dry outside town County residents limits, so the university could not sell voted last year to allow its sale countyalcohol on its premises. wide. Previously, the county was dry outside town limits, so the university could not sell alcohol on its premises. The consumption of beer and wine were permitted at Ramsey Regional Activity Center, the University Outreach Center, Bardo arts center, A.K. Hinds University Center and Jordan-Phillips Fieldhouse, among a handful of other places, but at any events including alcohol, it was either free or BYOB. The Western Carolina University Board of Trustees met Friday, March Trustee George 1, and unanimously approved a new policy to permit alcohol sales in Little quickly read the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. Caitlin Bowling photo the change to the policy and said beer and wine could be offered as early as April.

The performance center currently doesAs of now, there are no plans to allow n’t have a concession service, despite having alcohol sales anywhere else on WCU’s cam- concession counters. pus.

In the past, a outside vendor sold conPaul Lormand, director of the fine arts cessions at the Bardo center, but it quit center, viewed the addition of wine and beer because it was not making enough money at events as a possible positive. on the venture. “It will create more of a little social Instead, Lormand began buying beveratmosphere,� Lormand said. ages and light snacks, which are offered to However, he added, that he doesn’t feel the public during intermission in exchange strongly about the change either way. for donations. Anyone wanting a candy bar Lormand does not envision alcohol sales or bottle of water simply puts whatever being a revenue generator in and of itself money they want to donate in a basket on but would perhaps increase attendance by the concession counter in exchange for their augmenting the experience of coming to a selection. Lormand loses money but said performance. the value of the service outweighs the cost.

Although the board approved the new “We kind of just took it over,� Lormand policy wording, alcohol will not necessarily said. “It was just a nice little service.�

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WCU opens the door for wine and beer sales at performance venue

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Cherokee leaders contemplate second casino in Murphy

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER he Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians could decide soon whether to move forward with a second casino near Murphy, but some tribal members are raising concerns.

The Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise will go before the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Tribal Council Thursday to ask for permission to continue planning the development of a $110 million casino outside Murphy.

For several years, the tribe has been discussing the idea of a second, smaller gambling establishment in Cherokee County to capture more of the gambling market share.

The tribe even bought up land to build one outside Andrews but is now eyeing a different tract of land just outside Murphy.

Members of the five-person gaming enterprise board, which oversees the tribe’s casino operations, held meetings in communities across the reservation last week to give tribal members an idea of what building a new casino would entail.

The proposed plans call for a 50,000 to 60,000 square foot casino and 300-room hotel — an estimated cost of $110 million.

The hotel alone will cost $30 million but is a necessary part of the plan because people who stay overnight spend more money, said Adele Jacobs-Madden, vice president of finance at Harrah’s Casino.

“We get more revenue from those customers. That is why we need a hotel down there,” she said.

Numbers crunched by Harrah’s financial officers and the tribal gaming enterprise predict that a casino in Cherokee County would bring in $50.7 million in income during its first year and would continue to grow year after year.

The first-year number does not account for annual debt payments but does factor an estimated $47 million decline in revenue at the current Harrah’s casino in downtown Cherokee. If built, some people who previously patronized Harrah’s casino would choose to visit the Cherokee County casino instead.

Despite the promising numbers put out by the gaming enterprise, some tribal members aren’t so sure it is a wise venture. Lisa Frady, a 35-year-old enrolled member, attended the informational meeting in Big Cove last week with her young daughter and was worried about leaving massive amounts of debt for her child’s generation to pay off.

The tribe is still paying off loans from the $633 million expansion of its current casino and is continuing with plans for a $92 million family adventure park.

“I don’t feel comfortable handing them 12 that much debt,” Frady said.

Smoky Mountain News

March 6-12, 2013

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of Murphy, there are 2.3 million customers who have been to casinos under the umbrella of Caesars Entertainment, Harrah’s parent company — but only 476,000 of those have actually come to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

That leaves 1.7 million customers within half a day’s drive who have been known to visit casinos but for whatever reason haven’t ventured to the existing casino in Cherokee.

“We should be able to pick up a significant portion of those gamers,” said John Houser, chairman of the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise. The Cherokee County location is about an hour closer to Chattanooga, Nashville and Atlanta.

TRIBAL MEMBERS

QUESTION PLANS Enrolled members asked how the new casino would affect tourism to downtown Cherokee and wondered if Cherokee was putting too many eggs in the casino’s basket.

“If you want to keep growing gambling, that scares me,” said enrolled member Amy Walker. “I don’t like the idea of becoming Reno with so many gambling joints.”

Enrolled members have asked tribal leaders to invest in more varied and more cultural attractions for years.

Frady said she would like to see the tribe invest more in downtown Cherokee businesses rather than the casino. The Cherokee County casino would only draw people away from the main part of the reservation and John Houser, chairman of the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise, last week spoke to about 25 harm locally owned businesses, she added.

Big Cove residents on the reservation about possible plans for a second casino in Cherokee “I see us hurting more from it than beneCounty. Caitlin Bowling photo fitting,” Frady said.

Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise memTribal members also raised concerns road from Walmart and near U.S. 19/74. ber Ray Rose argued the exact opposite: that about putting too much emphasis on gamThen they would build a temporary facility, gambling has improved Cherokee. Gaming bling as a source of revenue and siphoning more like a warehouse, to house gaming revenue is a substantial part of the tribe’s business away from local businesses in operations while the actual casino is conbudget, which funds services for enrolled Cherokee should a second casino open in structed. The second casino would offer both members, from housing to health services to Murphy. table games and slot machines. education. It also pays for cultural attracBig Cove representatives Perry Shell and Early on, the tribe envisioned a secondtions such as the Oconaluftee Indian Village Bo Taylor both stated that they would ask and Cherokee Indian Museum, their fellow Tribal Council members to table and language preservation iniEarly on, the tribe envisioned a the enterprise’s request for approval and tiatives. funding to give them more time to gather “Our culture has benefitsecondary casino with limited types feedback from other enrolled members. ted,” Rose said. “Our culture is of gambling, something more than “Not enough people are aware of the stronger because of gambling.” details,” Shell said.

Officials with the gaming a bingo hall but less than a fullTaylor agreed that he would like to hear enterprise also pointed to the more opinions on the plan. number of jobs the new casino blown casino. But now, the tribe “There are still some unanswered queswill create. plans to go all the way — even tions,” Taylor said. “It’s probably a good Projects leaders estimate investment, but if Big Cove says ‘no,’ I’ll that the Cherokee County casioffering live dealers and table go ‘no.’” no would add 800 jobs. The games — after winning state Rather than taking out another bank bulk of the new jobs created loan to pay for the construction of the new would include hotel staff, card approval last year to enter the casino, the tribal gaming enterprise would dealers and customer service ask the lenders to simply tack the new debt employees. world of the Vegas-style gambling. onto what it owes for the current downtown Enrolled members Cherokee casino. expressed concerns that those “It basically won’t be a problem getting ary casino with limited types of gambling, jobs would not go to unemployed tribal the $110 million (loan) approved,” Jacobssomething more than a bingo hall but less members. Only about 300 of the 2,640 Madden said. than a full-blown casino. But now, the tribe employees at Harrah’s are enrolled members.

If it gets approval from the Eastern plans to go all the way — even offering live However, Houser countered that enrolled Band’s Tribal Council, the gaming enterprise dealers and table games — after winning members are not applying for gaming jobs. would not waste any time. state approval last year to enter the world of About 45 enrolled members applied for the It first must close on the purchase of an the Vegas-style gambling.

700 new jobs the casino added 85-acre tract in Murphy, which sits down the Data shows that within a 180-mile radius last year, he said.

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The Macon County affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International is now Habitat for Humanity Macon/Jackson.

Macon county affiliate has assumed responsibility for restoring operations in Jackson County.

“We’re anxious to restore Habitat services and getting involved with the community in Jackson County,” said Dave Jones, president of the board of directors.

In restoring Habitat operations in Jackson County, the merged organization has taken responsibility for the seven Habitat houses that were built there.

In additional to new home construction, Habitat in Macon has recognized and responded to an additional need in the community by conducting housing rehabilitation work for handicapped homeowners.

This work has mostly focused on helping the physically handicapped and disabled by building wheel chair ramps and making modifications to improve access.

Volunteer for Habitat For Humanity Macon/Jackson, please call Pete Drevas 828.369.3716. Tax-deductible cash donations may be sent to Habitat for Humanity, Macon/Jackson, P.O. Box 1585, Franklin, NC 28744 or through www.maconcountyhabitat.org.

JOHN HAMEL M.D.

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March 6-12, 2013 Smoky Mountain News

“That’s a shame,” Houser said.

Despite questions and apprehension from enrolled members, Houser said from where he stands, the new casino would be good for Cherokee County and the reservation.

“I can’t figure out what’s bad about it,” Houser said.

Among the other benefits listed during the meetings last week: an increases to enrolled members’ per capita checks. Half of the income generated from casino operations goes toward tribal operations and services. The other 50 percent is distributed to tribal members twice a year in the form of a per capita check — an amount pushing $7,000 a year.

According to projections provided by the tribal gaming enterprise, that amount could increase by $579 per person during the Cherokee County casino’s first full year of operation. By its sixth year, that number is estimated to reach $1,990.

“When we reinvest in ourselves, it pays off,” Jacobs-Madden said.

The tribe added the sale of alcohol in the casino in 2009, in hopes of luring more business and resulting in larger checks to enrolled members. The recession hit at the same time, however, and took its toll on casino profits across the nation. The timing makes it difficult to measure what kind of bump alcohol sales would resulted in had it not been for the overall economic decline.

But “Alcohol did not deliver like it was expected to,” Rose said, arguing that such will not be the case this time around.

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13

news

Haywood picks up the torch on landslide hazard mapping

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER team of laid-off state geologists will soon start mapping landslide hazard zones in Haywood County after a coalition of environmental nonprofits raised money to keep the project alive.

The state two years ago axed an ongoing effort to map landslide risks in mountain counties. Haywood was supposed to be next up on the list when the mapping was terminated.

“The state had the skills in hand, and before all their staff escaped to other jobs, we wanted to see if we could take advantage of them still being in the area and get something done for Haywood County,” said Eric Romaniszyn, director of Haywood Waterways Association.

“This project will have very positive impact on life and property.”

Several landslides have caused property damage in Haywood County. A few homes have been crushed by a mountain of debris from above, while others have been destabilized due to gradually shifting and creeping slopes, rendering them unlivable.

County Commissioner Kevin Ensley, a land surveyor and developer, said he personally would like to use the landslide hazard maps in his profession.

“If I am planning a subdivision, if I know where those hazard areas are I can make adjustments,” Ensley said. “To me you know exactly where to build your house on that lot. It is important information.”

The maps, which show slopes potentially prone to landslides, have been controversial in the past, however. Some in the building and real estate industry fear the maps could be a used as ammunition to stop or hamper development, or that they could hurt property values.

Ensley said the maps wouldn’t be used to stop people from building in certain areas, but could simply help developers make smarter choices about where to position a building pad or the level of engineering they need.

“I am in the development business, and I think it is important to know where those areas are. You can say, ‘These are the precautions you need to take to build your house,’” Ensley said.

Often, a house can be shifted so it’s outside the boundary of the projected landslide debris field, just like a house can be sited outside the limits of the flood zone, Ensley said.

Ensley said he realizes the maps aren’t seen as favorable by everyone, however.

“I think it would be a good tool. But there are some people who don’t think so,” Ensley said.

Exactly how the landslide maps will be put to use in Haywood County is unclear.

Smoky Mountain News

March 6-12, 2013

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S EE HAYWOOD, PAGE 15

To map, or not to map?

Jackson ponders the question amid spate of rain-induced landslides and steep slope rewrite

To complete the remainder of the work, and provide the county with sets of landslide maps, the cost would be between $160,000 and $200,000. To fund it, the planning board could ask county commissioners or seek assistance from non-profit organizations with an interest in landslides and their effects.

Part of the mapping project identifies houses and structures that are in a hazard zone and could be used by Jackson County residents to avoid being caught in a precarious situation.

“OK, a heavy rain is coming; my house is right in the middle of one of these,” Bauer said. “Maybe I want to go stay in a hotel tonight or maybe I want to go stay with my upslope neighbor.”

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFF WRITER ackson County planning board members are considering whether to re-start a landslide hazard mapping initiative that was axed by the state two years ago.

A team of state geologists had been creating landslide hazard maps for every mountain county. They had just started working on Jackson two years ago when conservative state lawmakers terminated the project, due both to state budget constraints and controversial aspects of the landslide maps.

The planning board is now the midst of rewriting the county’s steep slope development rules, and knowing where landslide prone areas are — and aren’t — could help guide the process. Highlighting the issue of landslides and slopes, a rainy January triggered about 50 landslides in Jackson County.

After the state mapping project ended in 2011, three of the laid-off state geologists formed their own private firm, called Appalachian Landslide Consultants, to continue the work should the counties left with incomplete or non-existent landslide maps choose to finish the mapping on their own.

“We saw that counties and other organizations still had the need to know A planning department where landslides are,” map indicating slopes of said Jennifer Bauer, one of more than 30 percent the geologists with grade Jackson County.

Appalachian Landslide Consultants. “So we decided to start this company to provide Bauer that information.” said the The firm has already been hired to com- maps for Macon plete landslide mapping work in Haywood had accurately preCounty. Before the project was cut by the dicted the site of at state, the team had finished landslide maps least one slide during for Buncombe, Macon, Henderson and the January rainstorms.

Watauga counties.

At the same planning board meeting, John But they had just gotten started in Jeleniewski, a code compliance officer with Jackson. Out of a three-phase process, they’d county, gave a brief report about the scope of only started the first phase, which inventories landslides triggered by the massive soakers past landslides in the county. Bauer and fel- that took the county by storm in January. low geologist Stephen Fuemmeler came The landslides spanned the county from before Jackson County’s planning board last Cherokee to Cashiers. One of the largest was week and talked about their work. near Dillsboro in the Mountain Heritage

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Estates. It was nearly 2,000 feet long and disturbed about 2.5 acres.

All the landslides documented by the planning department following the January rains had happened on slopes where there had been human disturbance or grading of some sort. Some of the biggest culprits were poorly constructed and unmaintained roads in private mountainside subdivisions and what Jeleniewski called “weekend” type grading work not done by a professional.

Landslides were also reported to have occurred on natural slopes where no work had been done.

Part of the landslide mapping project would be indentify unstable hillsides where incremental shifting or creeping is happening — a precursor to a landslide.

The inventory of past landslides is also a good predictor of future landslides.

“Often landslides will occur in the same location over and over again,” Bauer said. “So it’s good to know where they are.”

Another predictor is a slope where cutand-fill grading has been done for home sites or roads, Bauer said. When a hillside is disturbed it is more likely to succumb to pressures from rains.

Since 1940, 64 percent of documented landslides have occurred on modified slopes.

Landslides on developed slopes can result in millions in property damage and even take lives.

According to Bauer, since 1916, 48 people have been killed due to landslides in Western North Carolina.

At least one planning board member, board chairman Zac Koenig, expressed an interest in pursuing the consultants’ services and making use of the survey and maps to guide discussion on the county’s hillside development ordinance.

“It certainly would be helpful,” Koenig said. “It’d be wasteful to say ‘let’s do our ordinance and get that (information) later.’ We certainly should incorporate it.”

Planning Director Gerald Green also wanted to explore the idea of contracting with the landslide consultants.

“I tend to think it could help with the steep slope ordinance,” Green said. “But I’d have to see how I could use it, if we go through with it.”

Green said the topic will be discussed at the upcoming planning board meeting and a decision made as to whether to make a request to county commissioners for funding.

HAYWOOD, CONTINUED FROM 14 It is also unclear who will “own� the maps.

When county commissioners were first presented with the idea two years ago of picking up where the state left off and carrying on with the landslide mapping anyway, they were publicly supportive of the project. The county commissioners did not offer to put up any money to pay for the landslide mapping, but essentially said it would be useful to have the data at the county’s disposal.

Haywood Waterways Association and its partner in the project, Southwestern Resource Conservation and Development Council, then retreated into fundraising mode to piece together money from different sources. They raised $122,000 in grants and private donations, including from Pigeon River Fund, Mountain Landscapes Initiative toolbox fund, Foundation for the Carolinas. “There is still money to be found. We don’t have enough in place to actually have them finished,� Romaniszyn said. But it is enough to get started.

Now, however, it is unclear exactly what relationship the county wants to have with the finished maps. “We aren’t sure where it is going to be housed, who would actually hold the data,�

Romaniszyn said.

For example, will the county put the landslide hazards maps on the county web site or include it with the county land records mapping software? Will the county planning office even have a copy of the landslide maps on the shelf?

Proponents of the landslide mapping are

hopeful to have that level of buy-in. “That would certainly be a good home for it if the county wants the data,�

Romaniszyn said.

Like Ensley, County Commissioner Mark Swanger said he sees the landslide hazard maps as potentially useful as well. “There is no objection to it. It is good information,� Swanger said. “I philosophically supported it when the state started doing it. It is another tool.�

That said, Swanger emphasized the landslide mapping wasn’t commissioned nor paid for by the county. He suggested the landslide maps could be on their own independent website.

Macon County went through similar hesitation about hosting the landslide hazard maps on its county web site. Landslide maps were completed for Macon County under the auspices of the state before the project was axed.

In the end, Ensley said he personally would want to know if a home or lot he was buying was in a landslide hazard zone, and thinks other people do to. “Just because we don’t know about it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, so a buyer should have that option,� Ensley said.

Romaniszyn said the landslide maps are actually directly related to his group’s mission of water quality. “The maps will provide information on where unstable soils are located, which will help developers and others implement lowimpact development practices that create stable road and home sites and prevent erosion,� Romanizing said.

news

Heavy rainfall in January caused a number of big and small landslides throughout Western North Carolina. Most caused limited or no damage, but others took out parts of homes and even moved cars. Caitlin Bowling photo

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16

Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Making tourism sustainable as economic development

BY KEN STAHL G UEST COLUMN here appears to be controversy concerning the proposed 2 percent occupancy tax increase. This is a good thing as it generates a reflection on concerns of the stakeholders. Several issues have been discussed, and a lot of people have been confused as to what this is all about.

We here in Haywood County must rely on tourism for our livelihood. Almost all of our industrial jobs are gone.

The big players in tourism here in Western North Carolina are our neighbor to the east, Buncombe County, and our neighbors to the west, the Cherokee. Buncombe County tourists spend approximately $729 million per year in the county. Swain County tourists spend approximately $256 million. We struggle to get tourists to spend $116 million annually with us.

Our research shows that tourists come here for the scenic beauty. The problem is getting visitors to come here for the first time and then getting repeat business. This takes a multifaceted approach.

Buncombe County has been successful with implementing a tourism economic development program. Their core princi-

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Give McCrory, GOP a chance before piling on

To the Editor: Ms. Abel’s letter said that the state’s Democratic ideals are fading fast since the last election (“State’s democratic ideals fading fast,” Feb. 27, SMN). For about 140 years North Carolina was under the control of the Democratic Party of North Carolina. That meant that all 100 counties had two Democrats on the Board of Elections and one Republican. For the next four years these board will have two Republicans on the board and one Democrat.

This change came because Pat McCrory defeated the former Democratic Lt. Governor in the last election, but for the next four years all of the counties will have two Republicans and one Democrat on the local election boards. In addition the Republican candidates’ names will appear first on the ballot instead of the Democratic candidates’ names. That has been a big advantage the Democrats enjoyed for 140 years.

Currently we have about the fifth highest unemployment rate in the country. Gov. Pat McCrory’s job will be to lower that rate and get our men and women off of the welfare rolls and back onto the payrolls. Our state taxes exceed the taxes in our surrounding states of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina. If raising taxes would have put more people to work, Gov. Perdue would still be in office. Gov. Perdue’s plan of taxing the rich did not work.

We will have voter ID in our state. Any legally registered person in our state can get a voter ID card. They are free. Try getting into the governor’s mansion without a valid ID card or getting a library card. Not being able

ple was that any project they undertook had to be able to show an increase in room night stays. This innovative approach has also been implemented in other counties. We must not rely on the status quo and hope things will get better. The proposed 2 percent occupancy tax increase will enable us to implement our own tourism economic development plan. We would hope to be as successful as Buncombe.

One of the main concerns voiced in several meetings was the representation of Maggie Valley in spending the 2 percent tax money. The people that spoke about this indicated they thought that the Tourism Development Authority (TDA) and the new proposed Product Development Committee would spend the money on projects that would not benefit Maggie.

This thought seems to come from the belief that Maggie would not have a voice in this process.

Having been involved in the previous 1 percent tax increase, I can say that Maggie will be well represented in both the new proposed 2 percent tax increase as well as the existing 4 percent occupancy tax. The TDA has the final approval authority on any and all spending projects. Currently the TDA has 12 voting members on its board. Seven of these — including the chairperson — are from Maggie Valley. This is a 58 per-

to get a valid ID card is a false argument.

In four years, the citizens of North Carolina can dump Gov. McCrory if he does not improve the employment rate in the state.

Too many North Carolina citizens have lost their homes and their jobs in the last four years. Let’s hope the Gov. McCrory can get our state headed in the right direction.

Finally, for many years the Democratic Party controlled our state without evil consequences. However, in the last few years there have been some troubled times in our governor’s mansion. If Gov. McCrory can bring prosperity back to North Carolina we will all be better off, including Ms. Abel.

Jim Mueller Glenville

Joining Waynesville right move for Junaluska To the Editor: From my perspective, much of the discussion of whether or not to allow annexation of Lake Junaluska by Waynesville is a result of the deep felt emotional attachment many of the residents have to Lake Junaluska and a perceived loss of identity. In truth, I see the driving factor and the underlying focus of the Municipal Study Task Force as necessarily being the more realistic financial sustainability of the Lake Junaluska community and the Lake Junaluska Conference Center and Retreat. The Municipal Study Task Force has fairly, thoughtfully and expansively reviewed the issue of what is in the best interest of sustaining Lake Junaluska and of preserving the quality of life and sense of community for its residents. Both the minutes of their meetings (and the other governing committees) as well as the infrastructure studies and costs have

cent majority. Additionally, the new product development committee — which has no spending approval at all — will have 10 members. Per the existing proposed legislation, Maggie has the opportunity to have five members on this committee that will analyze proposed projects.

Maggie will be well represented on both committees.

We on the TDA have learned a lot with the implementation of the previous 1 percent tax. All guidelines, rules and procedures that were developed will guide us in fairly implementing the new proposed 2 percent tax.

Frankly, we have been good stewards with the existing 4 percent tax money we now collect. However, in order to do more we need to look to economic development projects to increase our market share of tourism?

Maggie Valley should be applauded for its efforts in creating a strategic plan that will look at their strengths, weakness, threats and opportunities. This plan will probably be a work in progress, perhaps with baby steps to start with. It’s like the mayor of Maggie said, we all should be pulling on the same end of the rope.

(Stahl is chairman of the Haywood County TDA Finance Committee. He can be reached at kendalstahl@gmail.com.)

LETTERS been made accessible on the Lake Junaluska website for those persons who could not attend the public meetings.

Many of the public meetings were indeed held during the spring, summer and early fall months of 2012 when most people visit their homes at Lake Junaluska. Claims that there was not enough notice, or that no meetings were held during the summer months, or that enough time has not been taken, simply overlook the need to step forward and make a deliberate but forward-looking decision on what truly is in the overall best interests of everyone —both for Junaluskans and, just as importantly, for the residents of Waynesville.

Without question, Waynesville is one of (if not the best) more well-run and progressive cities in Western North Carolina in terms of economic stability, governance and quality of life. Gaining Waynesville’s resources, expertise in governance and professional leadership is a bonus for the future of Lake Junaluska that should not be overlooked or even taken lightly. The recent articles contained in the Feb. 20-26 print edition of the SMN on “Junaluka’s Crossroads” clearly lay out the longstanding support that Waynesville has provided to Lake Junaluska with much shared goodwill and economic advantages given in return.

But, this is now, and Waynesville, with care and due diligence, is making Lake Junaluska an offer that may not be available or attractive or politically feasible in an additional two years time. Preliminary talks between Lake Junaluska and Waynesville have, I believe, shown that there are far more positive aspects to annexation and relatively few, if any, serious distractions. The 11th hour suggestion that Lake Junaluska should consider

incorporation and self-governance itself does not rise to the same level of fiscal sustainability, expansion of resources, and level of professional governance that annexation affords. Go back and read the Task Force minutes on why they became more conceptually aligned with the idea of annexation and why they found much more questionable the idea of incorporation.

A major consequence of keeping the status quo is that, in my understanding, it immediately puts the Lake Junaluska community on the hook for the initial $3 million dollars of necessary infrastructure repair. While I have the greatest sympathy and respect for continuing the unique sense of community that Lake Junaluska offers, I believe that annexation still allows for that sense of community to continue — literally unchanged in spirit. And, more importantly, Lake Junaluska decidedly and urgently needs to move in a direction of sustainability and growth. Keeping the status quo or waiting only delays an inevitable time when this community will reach a tipping point where it cannot sustain itself. Then what?

The answer would first have to be additionally increased service fees and/or possible assessments — at this point there would be no time left to find a way to effectively spread the risk. Politically, there may not be a time when annexation would be in as potentially a favorable position as it appears to be now at both the state and local level.

Am I concerned about political representation of Lake Junaluska’s interests by the Waynesville’s Board of Aldermen? Yes, to an extent, but I trust that Lake Junaluska’s interests will be treated in the equitable and fair manner, comment attributed to the town manager on this issue. Realistically and practically the time to act is now — annexation will allow Lake

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Junaluska to grow and expand its vision both short term and in the long term. Change is essential.

James Ryer Lake Junaluska property owner

A great night of music at the Bardo Center

The roots of the U.S. gun culture

S EE LETTERS, NEXT PAGE

Smoky Mountain News

To the Editor: In all the current commentary about gun violence in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook, little if any attention has been give to the roots of the problem in our Western/American culture.

Three aspects come to mind: • Individualism — The rights of the individual are supreme. “I want what I want when I want it.” Personal advancement, competition, recognition are primary.

Community well-being, social cohesion, the common good are subordinate.

• Superiority — We’re different, better than those others. The perpetrators are different from us, inferior, something’s wrong with them — never with us. We stigmatize them, set them apart as needing to be treated, ostracized, locked up. We could never do anything like that. We’re different.

• Violence as a legitimate means of winning, dominating, controlling. Whether in the form of military invasion (Iraq), fighting crime (mass incarceration, the death penalty), being Number One (sports, test scores), or asserting who’s boss (corporal punishment, video games, spouse abuse), or exploitation of

March 6-12, 2013

To the Editor: What a wonderful evening recently at the Bardo Arts Center. Western Carolina University School of Music presented The Symphony Band, 108 students conducted by David Starnes and Graduate Conductor Emily Talley. It was so encouraging to see these young people coming together with one goal, music!

It takes dedication, motivation, a great deal of discipline and of course practice, practice, practice to perform at the Bardo.

My favorite number right after “The Star Spangled Banner” was “An American Elegy.”

It was composed in memory of those who lost their lives at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and to honor the survivors. It was so moving and such an inspiration of hope. Congratulations to the students, the conductors and to the school of music.

That being said, the one disappointment was that the auditorium was not packed. I must say that those who were not in attendance missed a marvelous evening of entertainment and for those of us who were there it was a pleasure. Thank you, Western Carolina University School of Music.

Frank Parrish Sylva

17

LETTERS, CONTINUED FROM P. 17 the environment, violence is OK. To be sure, this is not all there is to American culture, but these three attitudes are front and center, and combined they make violence acceptable — and inevitable.

It doesn’t have to be this way, and in fact it isn’t in most traditional cultures around the world (several of which I’ve lived in).

Rather than Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” — which sets people apart — their motto is “I belong, therefore I am,” which draws folks together. Among the indigenous Hawaiians, for example, whom I visited last year, the three pillars of culture are: (1) “Olu’olu” (compatible, non-conflictive, mellow, comfortable, affirming); (2) “Lokahi” (importance of family, seeing things holistically); and (3) “Aloha” (caring, sharing, inclusiveness, love).

Such sets of fundamental values, learned from early childhood, shape our self-understanding and relations with one another — and with religions (Islam), nations (Iran), and cultures (Hispanic) different from our own. Realizing that there are alternatives to ours is a first step toward making a deep cultural shift. Are we up to it? Or are we resigned to more Sandy Hooks around the corner?

Doug Wingeier Waynesville

Smoky Mountain News

March 6-12, 2013

Once again, we need to save Needmore

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To the Editor: After all the time and effort put forth by the citizens of Macon and Swain counties, the NCDOT is back again wanting to pave Needmore Road. It seems the public gets to have its input, but does anyone listen? We have our say, but we are not heard. Things seem to be settled for a short period, but then it’s right back again. Most of the people do not want to see their history, heritage and our beautiful God-made mountains and rivers destroyed.

In the early 1900s, Needmore was purchased to make way for a dam. The dam never materialized, so in 2003 it was designated as a wildlife sanctuary. As people discovered its beauty and diversity, more and more people came. Now the uniqueness that it was created for has turned into its worst enemy — everybody wants to come, and they want it changed to suit themselves. Forget wildlife, beauty, peace, etc. Now it’s “I want this, I want that, I want I want; I don’t want this old gravel road. I want a nice new paved one.”

My grandchildren love to go to Needmore. They love to get on the swinging bridge, look at rocks and wildflowers, and see all the wonders they would not get to see.

It is amazing to them. At Needmore they are free to roam.

Needmore is also a sportsman’s paradise.

They can hunt, swim, canoe, walk for miles, look at wildflowers, birds and experience a little piece of undisturbed natural beauty, Don’t pave Needmore, save Needmore.

Judie Parrish Whitus

(Editor’s note: The final draft of the following letter was received before removal of the maples on the courthouse lawn was tarted.

Several of the trees have now been removed.)

Don’t be in a rush to cut courthouse trees To the Editor: I am concerned that the decision to remove the trees at the courthouse was hasty and illjudged. Once mature trees are removed, they will not be replaceable in our lifetime.

According to Cornell University, sugar maples, such as those at the courthouse, are long-lived, often 300 to 400 years. While topping these trees can cause damage and promote weak limb structure, selective thinning can restore strength and vigor to them.

My inspection of these trees does not reveal any widespread disease or decay problems except in one or two. Although not a certified arborist, I do have personal experience with sugar maples in that we bought a property 12 years ago with three maples of about the same age as those at the courthouse. They also had been topped years ago, which caused them to develop thin weak branches. Over the last 12 years I have selectively removed branches which are too close together, thin or weak. Now, 12 years later, the trees appear strong, healthy and well shaped. We have not had any problem with limb breakage.

While not impugning Mr. Leatherwood's credentials, I do wonder whether he has any particular expertise with sugar maples. Just as one would not want a dermatologist to treat a heart condition, I would like to know that the decision to remove these maple trees is guided by an expert on maples.

I would also suggest that the liability concerns sound overstated. The trees are not going to rain death down on a playing child on a calm summer day. Yes, in a severe ice storm branches may break. In a severe windstorm, a tree may fall. But people are not going to be strolling or picnicking under the trees in these circumstances. Additionally, the height and location of most of the trees do not seem to pose much if any structural risk to the courthouse. Furthermore, the county does have liability insurance.

Has any insurance official suggested that these trees pose any undue risk?

I would be the first to advocate removal of dangerous trees. The trees in my yard are taller than those of the courthouse and they are close to my house. But there is no reason to suspect that they pose any excessive risk, nor has my insurance agent suggested such.

Yes, danger can lurk anywhere: people have been killed by lightning out of a blue sky. The question is should we sacrifice beauty to an unreasonable fear? Removing these trees is not going to make our lives appreciably safer or more comfortable.

Rather, removing them will take away an icon of our community and impoverish our landscape. There should be no stampede to sacrifice the history and beauty of these trees for what seems to be a theoretical concern.

William Dinwiddie, MD Haywood County

tasteTHEmountains Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251 AMMONS DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT & DAIRY BAR 1451 Dellwwod Rd., Waynesville.

828.926.0734. Open 7 days a week 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Celebrating over 25 years.

Enjoy world famous hot dogs as well as burgers, seafood, hushpuppies, hot wings and chicken. Be sure to save room for dessert. The cobbler, pie and cake selections are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

ANTHONY WAYNE’S 37 Church St, Waynesville. 828.456.6789.

Open for lunch Monday-Friday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; open for dinner Thursday-Saturday 5 to 9 p.m.; and Sunday brunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Exceptional, new-American cuisine, offering several gluten free items.

BLUE RIDGE BBQ COMPANY 180 N. Main St., Waynesville.

828.452.7524. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. TuesdayThursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. FridaySaturday; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Blue Ridge BBQ is a family owned and operated restaurant. The BBQ is slow hardwood smoked, marinated in its own juices, and seasoned with mountain recipes. All menu items made from scratch daily. Featuring homemade cornbread salad, fresh collard greens, or cornbread and milk at your request. Old-fashioned homemade banana pudding and fruit cobbler of the season.

Catering, take-out, eat-in. blueridgebbq@gmail.com.

BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997.

Monday-Friday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slowsimmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts.

Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily.

Brown bagging is permitted. Private parties, catering, and take-out available. Call-ahead seating available.

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE 454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Dinner nightly from 4 p.m.

Closed on Sunday. We specialize in handcut, all natural steaks, fresh fish, and other classic American comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available. We also feature a great selection of craft beers from local artisan brewers, and of course an extensive selection of small batch bourbons and whiskey. The Barrel is a friendly and casual neighborhood dining experience where our guests enjoy a great meal without breaking the bank.

HERREN HOUSE 94 East St., Waynesville 828.452.7837.

Lunch: Wednesday - Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday Brunch 11 a. m. to 2 p.m.

Enjoy fresh local products, created daily.

Join us in our beautiful patio garden. We are your local neighborhood host for special events: business party’s, luncheons, weddings, showers and more. Private parties & catering are available 7 days a week by reservation only.

CATALOOCHEE RANCH 119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley.

828.926.1401. Mile-high mountaintop dining with a spectacular view. Join us for cookouts on the terrace on weekends and Wednesdays (weather permitting) and family-style dinners on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Social hour starts at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. Our bountiful family-style meals include prime rib, baked ham, and herb-baked chicken; cookouts feature steaks, ribs, chicken and pork chops, to name a few. Every dinner is complemented with an assortment of seasonal vegetables, homemade breads, jellies and desserts, and we offer a fine selection of wine and beer.

Breakfast is also served daily from 8 to 9:30 a.m., and lunch from 12 to 2 p.m.

Please call for reservations.

CITY BAKERY 18 N. Main St. Waynesville 828.452.3881.

Monday-Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Join us in our historic location for scratch made soups and daily specials. Breakfast is made to order daily: Gourmet cheddar & scallion biscuits served with bacon, sausage and eggs; smoked salmon bagel plate; quiche and fresh fruit parfait. We bake a wide variety of breads daily, specializing in traditional french breads. All of our breads are hand shaped. Lunch: Fresh salads, panni sandwiches. Enjoy outdoor dinning on the deck. Private room available for meetings.

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, espresso, beer and wine.

Come taste the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more. Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly. Live music and lots of events.

Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

CORNERSTONE CAFÉ 1092 N. Main Street, Waynesville.

828.452.4252. Open Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fresh meats purchased daily, great homemade breakfast, burgers made to order. Comfortable and friendly atmosphere, with curb service available. Make lunch easy and call ahead for to go orders.

COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT 3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley.

828.926.1820 Open Daily 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., closed Tuesday. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

FRANKIE’S ITALIAN TRATTORIA 1037 Soco Rd. Maggie Valley.

828.926.6216 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

tasteTHEmountains Tuesday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley. frankiestrattoria.com FRYDAY’S & SUNDAES 24 & 26 Fry St., Bryson City (Next To The Train Depot). 828.488.5379. Winter hours: 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thur & Sun. 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fri & Sat. Fryday’s is known for its Traditional English Beer Battered Fish & Chips, but also has burgers, deep fried dogs, gyro, shrimp, bangers, Chip Butty, chicken, sandwiches & a great kids menu. Price friendly, $3-$10, Everything available to go or call ahead takeout.

Sundaes has 24 rotating flavors of Hershey's Ice Cream making them into floats, splits, sundaes, shakes. Private seating inside & out for both locations right across from the train station & pet friendly.

FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St. Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Sunday lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Mondays. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors. Come for the restaurant’s 4 @ 4 when you can choose a center and three sides at special prices. Offered WedFri. from 4 to 6. frogsleappublichouse.org.

JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday through Saturday. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

MAD BATTER BAKERY & CAFÉ Located on the WCU Campus in Cullowhee.

828.293.3096. Open Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Earth-friendly foods at people-friendly prices.

Daily specials, wraps, salads, pastries, breads, soups and more. Unique fare, friendly service, casual atmosphere and wireless Internet. Organic ingredients, local produce, gourmet fair trade and organic coffees.

MOONSHINE GRILL 2550 Soco Road, Maggie Valley loacted in the

PASQUALE’S 1863 South Main Street, Waynesville. Off exit 98, 828.454.5002. Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Classic Italian dishes, exceptional steaks and seafood (available in full and lighter sizes), thin crust pizza, homemade soups, salads hand tossed at your table. Fine wine and beer selection. Casual atmosphere, dine indoor, outside on the patio or at the bar.

Reservations appreciated.

PATIO BISTRO 30 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.454.0070. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Breakfast bagels and sandwiches, gourmet coffee, deli sandwiches for lunch with homemade soups, quiches, and desserts. Wide selection of wine and beer. Outdoor and indoor dining.

Thursday March 7th • 8pm Adam Bigelow & Friends

Friday March 8th • 8pm Pearly Peach

Saturday March 9th • 8pm Circus Mutt Tues.- Fri. 11a-9p & Sat. 12 noon - ‘til

628 E. Main Street • Sylva 828.586.1717 • soulinfusion.com 72455

ITALIAN

MEDITERRANEAN

STEAKS • PIZZA CHICKEN • SEAFOOD SANDWICHES ————————————

OPEN FOR LUNCH & DINNER 7 DAYS A WEEK

JOIN US FOR SPRING ON THE PATIO 1863 S. MAIN ST. WAYNESVILLE 828.454.5002 HWY. 19/23 EXIT 98

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 828.926.0201 Bar open Monday thru Saturday; dining room open Tuesday thru Saturday at 5 p.m. Full service restaurant serving steaks, prime rib, seafood and dinner specials.

SOUL INFUSION TEA HOUSE & BISTRO 628 E. Main St. (between Sylva Tire & UPS). 828.586.1717. Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday noon -until.

Scrumptious, natural, fresh soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps and desserts. 60+ teas served hot or cold, black, chai, herbal.

Seasonal and rotating draft beers, good selection of wine.

THE WINE BAR 20 Church Street, downtown Waynesville.

828.452.6000. Underground cellar for wine and beer, served by the glass all day.

Cheese and tapas served Wednesday through Saturday 4 p.m.-9 p.m. or later. info@classicwineseller.com.

VILLAGE GREEN CAFE 389 Walnut Street, Walnut Village Plaza, Waynesville. 828.550.9489. Open Monday thru Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A fun, casual lunch spot offering fresh made salads, sandwiches, panini, and soups. All meats are all-natural and we support local growers when produce is available. Free delivery in the Waynesville area and call-in orders welcome. villagegreencafe.com.

Like on Facebook to view daily specials and promos.

Fresh, Local Food made daily.

Delivery & Call-ins Welcome.

Business Lunch Catering.

ARTISAN BREADS & PASTRIES

HOTCROSS BUNS TRADITIONAL FOR LENT SPICED WITH CARDAMOM, NUTMEG, ORANGE ZEST, VANILLA AND CURRANTS. TOPPED WITH ORANGE GLAZE. $2 EACH

BREAKFAST • LUNCH TAKE-OUT • EAT-IN • CATERING

Scratch-Made Fresh Daily Breads • Biscuits • Bagels Cakes • Pies • Pastries Soups • Salads • Sandwiches Fair Trade Coffee & Espresso

18 North Main Street Waynesville • 452.3881 www.citybakery.net MON-FRI: 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

SAT: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. SUN: 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

ASHEVILLE: 60 Biltmore Ave. 252.4426 & 88 Charlotte St. 254.4289

Located in Walnut Village Plaza just down from Champion Credit Union.

389 Walnut Street • 828-550-9489 MONDAY THRU FRIDAY, 11-3

VillageGreenCafe.com

Burgers to Salads Southern Favorites & Classics 117 Main Street, Canton NC 828.492.0618 • SidsOnMain.com Serving Lunch & Dinner

MON.-THURS. 11 A .M. TO 9 P.M. • FRI. & SAT. 11 A .M. TO 10 P.M. SUNDAY BRUNCH 11 A .M. TO 2:30 P.M. 72599

72469

FRIDAY 3/8

DAWN MICHELLE BEHLING Art Opening & Singing by Ubuntu

SATURDAY 3/16

ERIC HENDRIX & FRIENDS Green Beer Festival

Smoky Mountain News

LOS AMIGOS 366 Russ Ave. in the Bi-Lo Plaza.

828.456.7870. Open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 10 p.m. for dinner Monday through Friday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Enjoy the lunch prices Monday through Sunday, also enjoy our outdoor patio.

OLD STONE INN 109 Dolan Road, off Love Lane.

828.456.3333. Classic fireside dining in an historic mountain lodge with cozy, intimate bar. Dinner served nightly except Sunday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Signature dinner choices include our 8oz. filet of beef in a brandied peppercorn sauce and a garlic and herb crusted lamb rack. Carefully selected fine wines and beers plus full bar available.

Open year round. Call for reservations.

Simple Food in a Complicated World!

March 6-12, 2013

GUADALUPE CAFÉ 606 W. Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.9877.

Open 7 days a week at 5 p.m. Located in the historic Hooper’s Drugstore, Guadalupe Café is a chef-owned and operated restaurant serving Caribbean inspired fare complimented by a quirky selection of wines and microbrews. Supporting local farmers of organic produce, livestock, hand-crafted cheese, and using sustainably harvested seafood.

Smoky Falls Lodge. 828.926.7440. Open Wednesday through Saturday, 4:30 to 9 p.m.

Cooking up mouth-watering, wood-fired Angus steaks, prime rib and scrumptious fresh seafood dishes. The wood-fired grill gives amazing flavor to every meal that comes off of it. Enjoy creative dishes made using moonshine. Stop by and simmer for a while and soak up the atmosphere. The best kept secret in Maggie Valley. themoonshinegrill.com

72481

S PRING S TREET, D OWNTOWN S YLVA

CREPES, PANINIS, SOUPS, SALADS, GOURMET PASTAS WINE & BEER

CityLightsCafe.com

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Owner/founder of New Native Press in Jackson County, poet Thomas Rain Crowe sits in his cottage in Tuckasegee and leafs through a copy of his latest project, Writing The Wind – A Celtic Resurgence, which is a collection of translated Celtic poetry. An exhibit of all of the titles he has published over the years is now on display until the end of March at the front entrance of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. www.newnativepress.com. Garret K. Woodward photo

Getting the ‘word’ out

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER t’s a sunny, crisp afternoon in the high hills of Tuckasegee and Thomas Rain Crowe throws another log into the woodstove.

Unwinding into a nearby seat, the renowned Western North Carolina poet is all smiles. As owner/founder of New Native Press, his entire catalogue of printed works — including his own writings and those of others he has published — is currently on display in a glass case at the Jackson County Public Library.

Since its inception in 1979, over 50 titles have come to fruition because of his initial vision of being able to track down quality work by wordsmiths from around the globe.

“I was impressed seeing it because those books are all on the shelves and in boxes, you never get to see them all together,” he said. “I have neighbors that don’t even know I’m a publisher, and I want to let people know that New Native Press exists.”

He runs the operation out of his cottage. The books are physically printed offsite in Michigan. Structured after famous niche literary presses like New Directions and City Lights (run by legendary poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti), New Native Press’ perfect-bound books and it’s Stewardship Series of chapbooks focus on up-and-coming poetry and aesthetically designed paperback books.

“I love the rhythm of poetry,” he said. “I find that rhythm, stay with it and let it take me away.”

The name “new native” comes from Crowe’s stint in California during the 1970s, where he absorbed himself in the Beat literary movement and the bioregional cultural and environmental movement.

Raised in rural Robbinsville, Crowe incorporated a deep passion for nature as a kid frolicking around the thick woods of Western North Carolina with a never-ending thirst for the writ-

I

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Smoky Mountain News

ten word. His soul became restless. In the early 1970s, at age 21, he took off for France in an effort to immerse himself in the homeland of his literary idols.

Once that faded, he ended up in California, where he soon fell into the world of the Beat poets in San Francisco, which included the original pioneers of the genre (Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski, amongst others).

“The cafes and the bars were our classrooms, the universities of the streets,” he said. “In San Francisco we sat around, watching our heroes, taking it all in and sharing your work. If you can’t get it that way, you’re not going to get it.”

In 1979, Crowe was living in a teepee in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California. The impending, harsh winter was upon him. He decided to head back to North Carolina and stay in the cabin of a now deceased old mountain man Crowe had befriended years earlier. The cabin, which has no electricity or running water, was like a page out of Henry David Thoreau.

Crowe jumped at the chance to live off the land — an experience he chronicled in Zoro’s Field, a throwback to Walden Pond.

“I didn’t have any family, job or responsibilities. I was young and healthy and that was the time to do it,” Crowe said. “I went back to Western North Carolina and never left.”

A decision to stay in Western North Carolina came from a need for personal inspiration and the eternal quest to find his writing voice. Yes, being around all of those prominent writers in California was great and all, but he also found it very suffocating to his own work.

“You’re around all of these creative, smart and inspiring people there,” he said. “But, you emulate them and end up just writing like them. You need to isolate yourself and break away from the others.”

And thus began the New Native Press. In the early 1980s, Crowe started working in the print shop of The Sylva Herald,

which gave him the tools and access he needed to a press.

Besides his own work and that of others he interacted with, he also started producing broadsides. These large, poster-sized pieces combined the work of regional artists and poets to create one-of-a-kind art pieces for collectors.

Branching out even further, Crowe also started Fern Hill Records in 1993. The idea behind the label was to bring together poetry and music to provoke an interest in spoken-word performances and artist collaborations. Through it all, it has been a true labor of love, something Crowe is well aware of as his identity and business evolves in such a fast-paced world where literature can often fall to the backburner of society.

“If you’re going to survive, you have to find something that nobody else is doing,” he said.

That survival for Crowe has come from a keen interest in translations of endangered languages. His latest project, which took the better part of three years piecing together, Writing The Wind – A Celtic Resurgence, is a collection of translated Celtic poetry. Plans are also currently in the works to release a translation of poems written in the ancient Mayan language.

“I’ve always been interested in endangered languages and publishing translated works [from across the globe],” he said.

Crowe admits he breaks about even, with most of his published titles being sold to libraries, other poets and those curious who show up at readings and dis“You’re around all of cussions. these creative, smart It’s a tough world these days to and inspiring people be a publisher, a there. But, you emulate tougher one at that to be a poet. But, for them and end up just Crowe, this is his life, for good or ill. writing like them. You “It’s too late, like what the hell else need to isolate am I going to do?” yourself and break he laughed.

Reflecting on away from the others.” the display at the library, Crowe — Thomas Rain Crowe, on being surrounded by the Beat poets pushes forth into in San Francisco the 21st century with New Native Press. He points to the deterioration of modern society, in terms of language and the literary priorities of the world.

“People are getting lazier because technologies are doing everything for them,” he said. “Books from 300 years ago are hard to read today, and 100 years from now, people will be having a hard time reading what we write.”

But, for now, in this moment in time, Crowe is proud. Not only because of the display, but also at the decades he’s spent pursuing and achieving his dreams.

“I did what I set out to do,” he said. “It’s nice to look back over the last 30 or 40 years and feel good about it.”

Textile art exhibit opens in Waynesville

The Vital Theatre Company will present the musical “Angelina Ballerina” in Franklin on March 16. Donated photo

Angelina Ballerina comes to Franklin

Haywood Arts Council picks contest winner

The musical “Angelina Ballerina” will be onstage at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin, brought by the award-winning Vital Theatre Company of New York.

The musical follows 8-year-old Angelina as she starts a new school where she makes friends with a cast of characters who celebrate music and bring to life many forms of dance including ballet, modern, tap, jazz, classical and ethnic. Angelina, a beloved mouse, and her friends are aflutter because a special guest is coming to visit Camembert Academy. She works very hard to reach her goals and learn from her mistakes as she focuses on her dreams. She inspires children of all ages to do the same.

Tickets start at $16 per person. www.GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.

Local artist Diannah Beauregard was awarded $250 for winning the first annual Haywood County Arts Council T-shirt contest with her design entitled “Mountain Streams and Dreams.” The T-shirts will be available this spring and can be preordered by calling the Haywood County Arts Council at 828.452.0593 or by stopping by their location at 86 South Main Street in Waynesville.

Artist/archaeologist featured in Macon

Ron Laboray will be the featured speaker at the Macon County Art Association’s monthly meeting at 1 p.m. March 11, at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin.

Laboray is an Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at Western Carolina University.

His studio practice is driven from his experiences as an artist and archaeologist. He uses seemingly worthless material for subject matter to produce large pieces of abstract art.

Tuscola students to create school sculpture with visiting artist Tuscola High School art students will collaborate on a metal sculpture for the school during an artist in residency program with Cullowhee metalsmith William Rogers.

Almost four dozen art students will make up the core group participating in the intensive residency, with an additional 25 welding students who will learn about working with steel.

The project is funded by the North Carolina Arts Council. Tuscola art teacher Donna Rhodes, herself an accomplished artist, collaborated with Rogers and the N.C. Arts Council to craft the unique program for students.

During the 10-day residency, advanced art students will work with Rogers to learn copperforging using hammers and punches in a little known technique known as “repousse.” While the name of this technique is not well known, repousse is the method by which the Statue of Liberty was built, with large copper sheets hammered into a three-dimensional form.

Rogers is owner of Rogers Metals, a production studio that makes commissioned metalwork for area homes and businesses. rogersmetals@gmail.com or 828.293.3777.

Smoky Mountain News

Nantahala School for the Arts will have an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, at Southwestern Community College in Bryson City.

The studios will be open, with faculty and staff available for tours or to answer questions. Anyone interested in pursuing a degree in art or a career in art should attend. The Nantahala School for the Arts offers an Associate in Fine Arts degree as well as Heritage Arts certificate programs that focus on Native and Appalachian art and craft. It is located on SCC’s Swain campus south of Bryson City.

828.366.2000 or www.southwesterncc.edu/finearts.

The event is free and open to the public.

828.349.4607 or www.MCAAgallery.org.

March 6-12, 2013

Nantahala School for the Arts open house

Haywood County Arts Council presents the exhibit “Textures,” beginning March 13. Of the featured artists is Peggy Debell, whose latest work “Limber Pine” (pictured) will be displayed.

arts & entertainment

The exhibit “Textures” featuring the work of nine textile artists will open next week at the Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86, in downtown Waynesville.

“Textures” run from March 13 through

April 6, with an artist’s reception held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 22.

Textiles were first formally used as protection to the elements, social cues, and to soften, shield, and/or embellish living spaces. Most textile arts are begun by spinning and plying to make yarn, which in turn is made into fabric for clothing and soft furnishings such as quilts. There are many forms of textile arts including embroidery, needlework, weaving, and quilting. The exhibit celebrates the many forms and techniques of textile art.

The featured artists include Amy Putansu, Suzanne Gernandt, Liz Spear, Laurel Tewes, Peggy Debell, Elizabeth Garlington, Kathrin Weber, Catharine Ellis and Neal Howard.

The project was supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources. www.haywoodarts.org or www.facebook.com/haywoodarts.

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arts & entertainment

The Isaacs bring gospel, bluegrass to Franklin

WCU’s marching band will be featured at a national event in Greensboro on March 21. Donated photo

Pride of the Mountains in the spotlight at band directors convention Western Carolina University’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band will be highlighted next week at the national convention of the College Band Directors National Association in Greensboro.

A video of the band will be presented by

David Starnes, director of athletic bands, and Matt Henley, assistant director of athletic bands. The convention, which is held every four years, takes place this year at the UNC-Greensboro. WCU is one of 10 bands from the country being highlighted. Bands were selected based on criteria including quality of musical and marching performance, showmanship and audience effectiveness and depiction of effective tradition or innovation.

828.227.2259 or dstarnes@wcu.edu.

Internationally acclaimed country and bluegrass gospel family group The Isaacs will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

The group has won multiple awards throughout a career that spans across more than 30 years, including Gospel Voice Song of the Year, Dove Award for Bluegrass Album of the Year and International Country Gospel Music Association award for top Bluegrass Album of the Year.

They’ve made guest appearances alongside many artists including Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, Ralph Stanley, Mark Lowry, and many others.

Tickets start at $13 per person. www.GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.

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Blake Shelton to play Cherokee March 23

Renowned country artist Blake Shelton will be hitting the stage at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 23, at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center.

ACM Awards Co-Host and CMA Awards Entertainer of the Year, Shelton, is one of the most versatile of contemporary country singers with 12 No. 1 smash hit singles which include, “God Gave Me You,” “Honey Bee” and “Hillbilly Bone,” among others. He’s also a host on NBC’s “The Voice.” www.ticketmaster.com.

Celebrate St. Patty’s with Celtic music The Chris Minick Trio

The Chris Minick Trio at Sylva library March 12 The Chris Minick Trio will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

Comprised of Chris Minick (guitar/vocals/harmonica), Greg Kidd (bass) and Lee Kram (percussion/drums), the Waynesville-based group plays a variety of styles, including folk rock, swing, reggae, blues, a touch of country/folk and more.

Original material created by band members reflects its many influences.

828.586.2016.

GREEN LIVING

Inflame, a world music fusion band fronted by renowned performer Kumar Das, will make an appearance at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University.

Das is an award-winning BangladeshiAmerican musician renowned for his mastery of classical percussion music. A versatile performer, Das plays bluegrass, hip-hop and jazz in addition to classical music.

Inflame melds traditional Indian and Flamenco music and also takes its name from the two genres. Band members are Inflame, a project from Kumar Das (picSnehasish Mozumder, from India, on Indotured), will perform a blend of Indian and mandolin; Das on tabla hand-drums; Christian Puig, from Argentina, on Spanish Flamenco music on March 12 at WCU. guitar; and Peter Basil, of New York, on cajón (a box-shaped percussion instrument) and tambourine.

Tickets are $5 for the general public and free for students.

828.227.3622 or www.ace.wcu.edu.

newsdesk crafts

Smoky Mountain News

March 6-12, 2013

World fusion group touches down at WCU

Blake Shelton

The 5th annual Celtic Concert will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, at The Smoky Mountain Community Theatre in Bryson City.

Bean Sidhe, pronounced “Banshee,” will play traditional Celtic tunes and ballads using acoustic instruments covering a broad range of folk music from Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. It is an attempt to keep alive the musical heritage that influenced today’s contemporary music, especially bluegrass and country.

The four members of the ensemble include Amanda Burts (accordion and recorder), Karin Lyle (harp and violin), David Russell (guitar, bouzouki, tenor banjo, and mandolin) and Ralph Wright-Murphy (vocals, bohdran and guitar).

Tickets are $6 per person.

828.488.8227 or 828.488.8103.

Pay your bills online Paper bills contribute a significant amount to our national waste stream. Consider paying as many bills as possible ONLINE. Many companies offer this service FREE of charge so don’t be afraid to ask about Electronic Bill Pay. This GREEN LIVING TIP brought to you by Haywood Builders Supply …WE BUILD GREEN!!

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“most amazing collection of rare motorcycles” he’d ever seen, and the “best venue to learn the history of these rare motorbikes.”

RFD-TV is a channel that is devoted to rural issues, concerns, and interests. The networks name is a reference to Rural Free Delivery, the proper name given to the U.S. Postal Service’s system of delivering mail directly to rural patrons. www.smalltownbigdeal.com or www.wheelsthroughtime.com.

Wheels Through Time Museum, one of America’s most famous motorcycling destinations located in Maggie Valley, will be featured on the show “Small Town Big Deal,” which airs on RFD-TV at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14.

The crew spent the better part of an entire day filming at the museum last October, highlighting not only the great stories of countless machines housed within the 38,000 square foot facility, but the story of how the museum came into being and the path traveled to develop it into what it is today — the country’s premier collection of rare and significant American motorcycles and autos.

RFD-TVs “Small Town Big Deal” will be airing a program Host Rodney Miller was about the Wheels Through Town museum in Maggie Valley on more than impressed with the March 14. museum, and called it the

Visitors guide available in Jackson County

A community dance including circle and square dances, as well as contra dances, will

A talk called “The Structure of Traditional Cherokee Kinship (and why so many mountainfolk have Cherokee grandmothers),” will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, at the Jackson County Courthouse in Sylva.

Dr. Anne Rogers, an anthropology professor at Western Carolina University, will give the program, hosted by the Jackson County Genealogical Society. Rogers has done archaeological research on a number of Cherokee sites and also serves as the president of the North Carolina chapter of the Trail of Tears Association.

This will also be one of the final opportunities to place a prepaid order for the reissue of Volume I of the Jackson County Heritage Book.

The event is free and open to the public.

828.631.2646.

Smoky Mountain Roller Girls “Spring Fling’Her” bout against G-Force (Gastonia) is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, March 16 at the Swain County Recreation Center in Bryson City.

Proceeds from the bout will benefit the Big Brother and Big Sister Program of Swain County. The Smoky Mountain Roller Girls are also asking fans to bring toiletry donations for families in need.

Smoky Mountain Roller Girls is a nonprofit all women’s flat track derby team from

Bryson City. Women interested in joining are invited to come check out the team during their twice-weekly practices held Sunday and Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m.

There is also a Balsam Mountain Roller Girls team that is based in Waynesville.

Tickets for Spring Fling’Her are $5, with children under 5 free.

Tuckasegee Tavern will be hosting an after party beginning at 8 p.m. following the bout. www.brownpapertickets.com.

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Smoky Mountain News

Come shake a leg in Sylva March 10

Got a Cherokee ‘grandmother?’

Join the club.

Smoky Mountain Roller Girls “Spring Fling’Her” bout will be March 16 in Bryson City.

March 6-12, 2013

Discover the shopping, dining, lodging, hiking, rafting, fly fishing and other visitor activities and offerings in Jackson County in the new 2013 NC Mountains Visitors Guide.

Copies are free from the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority.

The 48-page, fullcolor guide explores a variety of leisure pursuits in Jackson County’s popular mountain towns of Cashiers, Cherokee, Cullowhee, Dillsboro and Sylva. Folks can learn about unique destinations like the Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Trail and the Richland Balsam Overlook, the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway at 6,053 feet in elevation.

There’s also a detailed pullout map of hiking trails and waterfalls.

Lodging options include cozy bed-andbreakfast inns, cabin rentals, riverside hotels and notable mountain getaways.

800.962.1911 or www.MountainLovers.com.

be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 10, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

All dances will be taught and walked through, so no previous experience is necessary and no partner is required. Frederick Park will call the dance to the live music of Out of the Woodwork, a band made up on local musicians, who invite anyone who plays an instrument to sit in with the band, to jam and learn how to play music for dancing.

There will also be a potluck dinner following the dance at 5 p.m. Please bring a covered dish, plate, cup, cutlery and a water bottle. ronandcathy71@frontier.com or www.dancewnc.com.

Roller girls host ‘Spring Fling’Her’ bout arts & entertainment

Wheels Through Time to be featured on TV cable show

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Books

Smoky Mountain News

25

Rash’s Appalachia is both rich and flawed The term “sea change” is both poetic and informal, meaning a gradual transformation in which the form is retained, but the substance is replaced: a marvelous petrification.”

— Wikipedia on Rash’s latest collection of short stories echos a theme that runs through all of his works: an awareness that Appalachia is in transition, that it is becoming something else. Of course, this is a quality that is shared by all things — what the poets call “mutability” — but in this instance, the author is mindful of what our world is becoming in contrast to what it once was.

Like the drowned girl in his short story by the same title, Appalachia may be Writer undergoing a “sea change” and will emerge as “something rich and strange.” The substance may be alien, repugnant and/or fascinating.

However, although the world is changing around them, many of the characters in Nothing Gold Can Stay are trapped, victims of forces beyond their control. Tricksters, fools and doomed lovers abound; many owe their origin to prototypes that are found in Chaucer, Grimm and Native American folklore. Rash’s Pied Piper is driving a minibus down the Blue Ridge Parkway; he is freighted with marijuana and “magic tabs,” on his way to San Francisco; Coyote, the trickster, has metamorphosed into Sinkler, the chain gang “trusty” who plots to win the trust of a mountain girl (who has an agenda of her own).

There are “good people,” too: mountain veterinarians who venture out amid deep snows to deliver a breached calf in a distant mountain cove because of a promise made once at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. Some of Rash’s struggling dreamers will touch your heart — especially the lovers. Consider Danny and Lisa in “Cherokee,” a young married couple with an overdue truck payment, cutbacks at the cement plant and dwindling funds. Like thousands of others, they harken to the siren

Gary Carden

R

call of the big casino in Cherokee. The big billboards glimmer like mirages. Eventually, they gas up the truck for one desperate bid.

Then, there is Jody and Lauren, the doomed couple in “They Who Are Dead Are Only Now Forgiven” is especially tragic since

doned farmhouse that now contains a meth lab in the basement. When Jody returns from college to rescue her, he knows that their future is at stake: either she goes with him, or he joins her in the old “haunted” farmhouse.

There are other responses to entrapment in Nothing Gold Can Stay.

Amy, the mentally and physically disfigured protagonist of “Nighthawks,” finds solace in becoming a nighttime DJ at the local radio station, a job that allows her to interact with other people without any direct contact with them. She is a “nighthawk” (like the customers in Edward Hopper’s midnight cafe) ... solitary, gainfully employed and finally ... needed. Then, there is the nameless woman in “The Woman at the Pond,” a poignant figure who may represent multitudes. Abused, trapped in a loveless marriage and perceiving the future as hopeless, she chooses to slip over the side of a boat with a cinderblock tied to her arm. This story has a disturbing element. It may be that the narrator could have saved her.

However, there is little to admire about the unnamed narrator and his buddy, Donnie, in “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Rendered stupid by pills and beer, these two young men spend their days Nothing Gold Can Stay by Ron Rash. HarperCollins, 2013. 239 pages trolling the countryside looking for part-time work they embody wasted promise. Again, this is a or an opportunity to steal something that can frequent refrain in Rash’s work: be bartered in Asheville. They meet an old Appalachia’s talented, hopeful youth who are WWII veteran with a jar full of gold teeth, a entrapped by poverty, biological necessity or souvenir of from a brutal battle in the South naturalistic forces. Jody, lonely and discourSeas. The old man ruefully notes that after the aged, is in college. Lauren, who shared Jody’s experience, he had to “learn to be a human promise, becomes hopelessly addicted to being again.” Donnie is fascinated. How much drugs and is slowly succumbing in an abanwould those teeth bring in an Asheville pawn

Rash presents new collection

Short story contest

City Lights Bookstore will host author Ron Rash as he reads from his new collection of short stories on at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, at the Jackson County Public Library.

Nothing Gold Can Stay is a collection of stories set in Western North Carolina, spanning from the Civil War to present day and continues Rash’s tradition of offering powerful stories about the people of the Southern Appalachian region.

828.586.9499.

Mountain Writers of North Carolina is holding a short story contest with a deadline of March 15.

The stories can be set anywhere, populated by any people in any time frame. The first-place winner gets $100, second-place $50 and third-place $25. Entry fee is $15. Late entries accepted until March 20 for an additional late fee of $5 per entry.

The author’s name must not appear on any page of the entry proper. Contact information (name, address, phone, email, story

shop?

Rash frequently acknowledges the old scars and lingering pain — mute evidence of the Civil War. There are still bitter memories, like the rope that hangs in a farmer’s barn in “Where the Map Ends” — a place where two escaped slaves experience an encounter that has much to do with loss and retribution. In like manner, a grievance that had its birth in a 17th century Scottish ballad finally finds a kind of belated justice in “A Servant of History.” When an erstwhile ballad collector finds himself in an Appalachian cove recording “The Snows of Glencoe” from the lips of an ancient beldame, he belatedly discovers that he has become an unwitting instrument of justice.

There is humor, of course, a bit dark perhaps, but humor nonetheless. In “A Sort of Miracle,” Rash gives the reader another heedless fool who yearns for undeserved wealth.

Denton is not plagued by debts nor does he need funds to improve his education.

Watching TV, he has learned that the paws and gallbladders of black bears are valuable, and he begins to develop a scheme. Why not buy a ham at the grocery store, drive deep into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, tie the ham to a tree limb and set a trap.

What could be easier? After waiting a few days, Denton, accompanied by his wife’s teenage brothers, Baroque and Marlboro (visiting from Florida), decides to claim his prize. In some ways, “A Sort of Miracle” reads like a parody of “Something Rich and Strange.” Alas, poor Denton! He too, is destined to undergo a transformation.

This is a marvelous collection. Like a gifted musician in a midnight speakeasy, Rash glides from muted love songs to funeral hymns to bold marches soulful ballads. They are all here then, the people of Appalachia.

Foolish, flawed, vain and callow. Many of them elicit empathy, for they are all mortal and foolish. They are like Chaucer’s pilgrims or Christian’s fellow travelers in Pilgrim’s Progress. However, unlike the indomitable Christian, they will sink in the muck of the Slough of Despond and vanish, or they will go charging off in pursuit of phantasms and mirages ... perhaps not of the Celestial City, but ... a Cherokee casino.

title) should be provided on a separate cover sheet. Entries must be in 12-point Courier or Times New Roman font, double spaced, with one inch margins, top, bottom, left and right. Black ink, white paper. Include a header with title/page number on each page.

Maximum length is 2,000 words.

Mail one cover sheet and three copies of entry and fee to: Tom Davis (att’n: MWNC Contest); P.O. Box 66; Webster, N.C., 28788.

Please paperclip each copy of the entry. No staples. No revisions or resubmissions accepted. Reading begins as material is received. www.mountainwritersnc.com.

26

Smoky Mountain News

Follow me, into the wild The last time I went camping I was 10 or 11. I was in my grandparents’ backyard, snug in my sleeping bag between my older sister and cousin Jake. I laid awake nervous about a ravenous bear attacking the tent, or maybe a ghoul from one of the scary stories my dad had just finished telling.

To me, we were out in the wilderness, braving the elements, possibly fending for our lives if it came down to it. But I’ve always had quite the imagination.

In the morning, we woke up, cold in the late October chill, and ran 30 yards into the house, where grandma was waiting with donuts and hot chocolate — fun, but hardly Darwin’s survival of the fittest.

As a kid, I climbed trees and regularly found myself covered in dirt or mud (much to my mother’s chagrin). But growing up in a suburb of Louisville, Ky., my adventures were confined to the neighborhood, riding bikes, running around large empty lots or bushwhacking through a small patch of trees that separated the neighborhood from an animal graveyard.

I didn’t hike or camp or paddle. Not for any particular reason. They just weren’t things that I did.

The pattern trickled into my adult life but was something I was sure would change when I took a reporter’s position at The Smoky Mountain News among the forest of rural Southern Appalachian.

In my grandiose imagination, I would spend my weekends hiking through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or camping with friends. I would take kayaking lessons, and I might even be good at it. I was going to try it all. But a year and a half later, I haven’t; I don’t.

During the week, I work on stories for the newspaper and attend meetings. And my weekends — time I planned to spend outside, adventuring in the wilderness — became time to clean my apartment, drive to Asheville, goof off with friends and read.

Cue light bulb.

If I needed extra motivation to get outside, I would make it part of my work. I would somehow convince my publisher that he should pay me to learn outdoors skills. And he fell for it.

Now, every other week, I will attend a class or event that will teach me a new outdoor skill —anything from orienteering to flyfishing to wilderness safety. Then, you the readers get to follow along my journey from novice to outdoorswoman. I will no doubt ask dumb questions, trip (both literally and figuratively) and struggle to accomplish what some would consider easy tasks.

That being said, setting up tents is hard.

I went out Sunday with my co-worker Andrew with the idea of taking exaggerated photos that conveyed me trying, and failing, to start a fire or carry an overloaded pack on my back. I knew there would be some acting involved, but when it came time to figure out how to pitch the tent, I didn’t have to act at all.

I pulled out a small, wadded up item made out of some sort of plastic, unfurled it and asked if it was the tent. Confident in my innate ability to conquer such a simple task, I immediately grabbed the

“Have fun. There are so many things I could say, but if you aren’t having fun out there, why stay out there?”

— Tim Black, employee at Nantahala Outdoors Center and AT thru-hiker

poles and gave it my best try.

I wrestled with the tent. I spent some quality time staring blankly at it. I started connecting the poles to the tent without regard for which side was the bottom and which was the top of the tent. I bent the poles and openly fretted that I would break them. My experiment wasn’t going well already, and it had barely even begun.

I spent a good 15 minutes, just me and the tent, before getting help. And I should clarify, by help, I mean I watched as Andrew and his girlfriend set up the tent so we could proceed with our photo shoot.

If that is any indication, my journey to becoming an outdoorswoman will be bumpy. But I think I can learn, if I set my mind to it. I am stubborn and committed. As Tim Black said, it’s all about your attitude (see related article). So follow along with me every other week as I regale you with stories of my trials, errors and, hopefully, triumphs.

— Caitlin Bowling

Outdoors

Prepping for the AT 2,184 miles to be ‘in the moment’

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER During the next several weeks, thousands of people will leave from Springer Mountain in Georgia and begin the 2,184-mile trek to Maine along the Appalachian Trail.

For some, the trip is a lifelong dream. They have meticulously planned what to bring, where to stop, how many miles they want walk each day. They have queued up their own resupply boxes, packed with fresh headlamp batteries, deodorant and their favorite candy bars, ready and waiting to be shipped to “mail drops” along the trail.

A few will attempt to hike the A.T. almost on a whim and with minimal preparation.

Others will go for bonus points, traversing the trail quickly with an ultra-light pack, bringing only the bare necessitates.

Half will give up in the first few weeks. Others will reach Harper’s Ferry, W. Va. — the halfway mark — and with a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment, decide they don’t want or need to hike the rest. Only one in four aspiring thru-hikers will stick it out until the end, a six month or so journey to Maine.

The key to completion is attitude. If someone is driven to finish, they can do it, said Tim Black, an employee at Nantahala Outdoors Center who thru-hiked the A.T. in 2003. It doesn’t matter how much or how little they prepared.

Back in 2003, Black worked at REI outfitters in Atlanta, prepping for his own hike. A customer walked in one day, announced his intentions to hike the A.T. and asked what he’d need.

Black, admittedly doubtful, handed him a prep book. The guy read it that night and came back the next day to buy his gear.

Sure enough, he was at Springer Mountain the day Black set off. And to Black’s surprise, he was also in Maine finishing his A.T. thru-hike on the same day as Black.

“It just all depends on your attitude,” Black said.

Now 10 years later, Black shares stories like that one with people serious about hiking the A.T. After his own trip, Black created a course that offers people an inside look at what thruhiking can be like and gives people one more chance to make sure they have not overlooked anything.

“I can tell you about my hike, but what you choose to take or don’t take is your business,” Black said.

The class, held this February at Nantahala Outdoors Center, attracted 19 people who for the most part fell on one end of the spectrum or the other — older, possibly retired folk and 20-somethings. They have one thing in common though: they’re at a flexible stage of lives when they can leave for six months and not have to worry too much.

Kaitlyn Breiten, a 22-year-old soon-to-be graduate of Sewanee University in Tennessee, plans to hit the trail in May after getting a degree in psychology. Without a careerrelated job lined up and with nursing school in her future, Breiten decided to under-

Learning at NOC

BY DON H ENDERSHOT

Louisiana lagniappe

Maddie with pine snake at BBLNWR Learning Center. Denise Hendershot photo these Friends and all Friends groups around the country do, they are going to get dumped on again by the people in D.C. we elected, whose responsibility should be to upkeep our public lands in such a manner that Friends groups, should be lagniappe, rather than nuts and bolts.

According to a National Resources Defense Council study, the budget cuts that just went into effect because of more political posturing and line drawing in the sand like bullies on a playground that want to take their ball and go home rather than let everyone play will cost our public lands about $220 million. It will cost those highly profitable energy companies who are receiving $8 billion in subsidies a whopping $0 — c’est la vie.

(Don Hendershot is a writer and naturalist. He can be reached a ddihen1@bellsouth.net.)

Learn how to grow shiitake mushrooms

Smoky Mountain News

I know, I know, we’ve been in Louisiana for two weeks now, but when I look back at some of the photos and think of our trip I see a lot in common between public lands there and public lands here. Because of a lot of political demagoguing and hypocritical chest-thumping about fiscal conservatism with one hand while passing obscene subsidies on to the most profitable energy companies in the world with the other hand, over the past few years public agencies like the National Park System, the National Forest Service, National Wildlife Refuges and state and local parks have come to depend on “Friends” groups for basic undertakings like education, outreach and research.

Most everyone in Western North Carolina is familiar with groups like Friends of the Smokies, Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway and others. Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Monroe, La. has it’s own stellar “Friends.” Friends of Black Bayou (FoBB) came into existence in 1997 just one month after the opening of the refuge in July. FoBB has been instrumental in forging a vibrant, eclectic outreach, fundraising and educational component at BBLNWR. They were instrumental in moving and renovating an original “planter’s” home on the property to create the refuge’s visitor center.

In 2004, FoBB was cited as the top Refuge Friends group in the country. The next year they helped add the Conservation Learning Center next door to the Visitor’s Center. They continue today to support the refuge through educational programs, celebrations like their annual Fall Celebration, guided kayak/canoe trips and so much more. They sponsor an annual photography contest plus help with upkeep of the photo blind and the refuge trails.

One of the areas made possible by FoBB is a small demonstration prairie with a boardwalk trail. I am especially fond of this area, being from the land of the red sea — Mer Rouge. Legend has it that when French explorers made it to Red Hill a bump in the landscape just west of Mer Rouge, they looked down on a prairie swimming with the russet heads of switchgrass and/or little bluestem — thus the name Mer Rouge (red sea.)

We were so fortunate on the day we were there for the Great Backyard Bird Count to meet new FoBB president Allen Dunn and former president, now vice president, Ann Smith. Dunn, who also does outreach for FoBB at local schools, took Izzy and Maddie over to the Conservation Learning Center and let them hold baby alligators and endangered Louisiana pine snakes.

And now for all the wonderful work

March 6-12, 2013

take the challenge of thru-hiking the A.T. “I thought ‘why not?’” said Breiten, who described herself as active, though admitted she rarely hikes. “Gut check time — see what you’re made of.”

Breiten plans to hike by herself, which may seem like a scary endeavor, but the culture of thru-hikers ensures that no one is truly alone. In fact, the A.T. isn’t a place for solitude seekers.

“You will know about 200 people before and behind you,” Black said. “It’s a real close-knit community.”

When he hiked the AT, Black said he would hear about things happening hundreds of miles ahead. His year, a woman was murdered near the A.T., and within three days Black knew, even though he was 1,000 miles away and the woman had no connection to the A.T. or thru-hiking.

Black said hiking with a partner could be more difficult. When he hiked the A.T. with his longtime friend Jane, they had never backpacked together before. They tried to stay together but often ended up fighting; one person would always be holding the other person up.

If people are planning to hike with a friend or lover, then they need to get some of their fighting out of the way before they leave and have talks such as, “If I get off the trail, will you continue hiking or come with me?”

“You are committing to this person for six months,” Black said, cautioning class attendees.

But, there are little things backpackers can do to keep from ending up like Black and Jane who finished thru-hiking separately.

Hike at your own pace, Black said. Just pick a place to meet for lunch or camp overnight, and take two tents. Although another tent will add weight to a pack, in the long run, it’s worth it.

People need alone time. If it’s pouring down rain one day, you may end up spending all day in a tent with your partner, Black said, so think about how you would feel being confined in a small twoperson tent with him or her.

Friends Scott Sheldon and Josh Jack, both 22, had originally planned to take a single tent but rethought that strategy after hearing Black’s talk.

The duo decided about a year ago to hike the AT together but did not begin serious planning until a few months earlier. They plan to leave within the next week or two and didn’t want to overlook anything.

“I had not thought out [some of] the aspects,” Sheldon said. For example, he

The Naturalist’s Corner

outdoors

The Outdoor School at Nantahala Outdoor Center in Nantahala Gorge offers a variety of classes — from whitewater canoeing and kayaking to wilderness first aid and survival — each year for both the novice and expert outdoors person. www.noc.com/noccom/outdoor-school or 888.905.7238.

bought a backpack but did not have it fitted specifically to his body, which Black suggested for comfort.

Jack, a resident of Albany, Ga., said he has wanted to thru-hike for a longtime and asked Sheldon if he wanted to go.

Although Sheldon had not backpacked before, he hiked with friends and said he often felt like he was just getting into a rhythm as the hikes ended and always felt like he could continue on.

And as Black said, it’s all about the attitude. Do you have the will to continue on?

If a hiker gets to the point they are ready to quit, there are a few unwritten rules, Black said. You must be on the trail, and it must be sunny. You can’t quit after its been raining for a week straight, Black said. The trail will test your mettle.

“You will never laugh or cry more than when you are on the trail,” Black said.

Even though he had wanted to hike the A.T. since he was a teen, Black flirted with the idea of quitting. He hiked to Waynesboro, Va., and sat in a dark hotel room for three days, wanting to give up.

Black called his mom — his support person at home, who sent him food throughout his trip — and asked her to pick him up.

But she refused, knowing he would not buy a bus ticket, Black said. She told him to walk home or keep hiking toward Maine where she would be waiting for him. So he kept walking and finished thruhiking the AT in late September.

Black spent most of the class talking about gear for the trip, what each item weighs and what typically works for certain people. Decisions about how thick your sleeping pad should be if you sleep on your side or back, or how long you should spend in a store testing how backpacks and tents take on an added importance.

He emphasized treating gear well, especially since it will only last so long under the stress of constant use. Most gear manufactures assume that people will only use items for a few weekends a year — not live in it daily.

“Take care of your gear because it’s taking care of you most times,” Black said.

He also warned against accepting gifts of gear from friend or relatives — especially if they are not hikers themselves. The item may be superfluous and only add weight to a pack.

“Just because somebody gives you something don’t feel obligated to use it,” Black said. “If the family is buying you stuff, tell them what to get you.”

Black offered warnings throughout the class of what and what not to do but also spent time reminiscing about his own six months on the trail. He encouraged his pupils to revel in the time they have hiking and not to be too concerned about what is coming a few miles or few days up the trail. Hiking the AT is about finishing, but it’s also about not looking back and realizing you didn’t take time to just enjoy it, Black said.

“One of the things I learned from the trail is be in the moment,” he said.

A shiitake mushroom workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 7, at the Swain Extension Center outside Bryson City.

Learn about the aspects of Shiitake mushroom production, including a “hands on” experience where participants will inoculate their own logs to take home.

The workshop will be led by Christy Bredenkamp, NCSU Extension Horticulture Agent in Swain and Jackson counties, along with the staff of Dr. Omoanghe Isikhuemhen, NC A&T Professor of Mushroom Biology and Biotechnology.

27 Workshop fee is $10. Bring your own logs. 828.488.3848.

outdoors

Last call for berries and fruit trees at the Haywood plant sale Time is running out to order plants from the Haywood County Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Association plant sale. The sale carries a variety of berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, asparagus crowns, and fruit trees like hazelnut, serviceberry, elderberry, mulberry and apricot. All are offered at reduced prices.

Order forms are due by March 15. Plants will be available for pickup on April 13. Proceeds from the plant sale fund education-related horticulture projects in Haywood County.

828.456.3575 or mgarticles@charter.net.

Hikes of the Smokies series kicks off A guided hike in the Deep Creek area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be held on Tuesday, March 19, by Friends of the Smokies.

The hike will be nine miles long with

National Park. The Deep Creek hike features the Parks as Classrooms program which utilizes the location as an outdoor classroom.

The hike will be led by Danny Bernstein, author of two regional hiking guides. Depart

Streambank restoration with LTLT The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee will host a volunteer workday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday, March 9, on the Lakey Creek Farm conservation tract. The outing will feature a live staking workshop. Live staking is a common technique used to quickly re-establish vegetation in streamside areas. It uses cuttings from woody shrubs that will sprout roots once planted, stabilizing stream banks and restoring streamside vegetation. Healthy vegetation in streamside areas helps provide shade, prevent erosion, trap sediment and filter out pollutants. blaseter@ltlt.org or 828.524.2711 x308.

Prescribed burn season ignites Nantahala The U.S. Forest Service will be doing prescribed burns on 1,353 acres in the Cheoah Ranger District in the Nantahala National Forest between early March and late April. The Cheoah Ranger District plans to burn between 1,400 and 2,500 acres each year to prevent wildfires and promote a healthy forest.

The prescribed burn areas in Graham County are located in the following areas: 822 acres at the Shell Stand area, 352 acres near Cheoah Bald, 80 acres at West Buffalo, 88 acres at the Big Fat area and 11 acres at the Cheoah Ranger District Helispot near the Cheoah District Office.

March 6-12, 2013

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

A guided hike in the Deep Creek area of the Smokies will feature three waterfalls, including Tom Branch waterfall. Donated photo 1,600 feet of elevation change, visiting three waterfalls and three cemeteries. It kicks off the monthly Classic Hikes of the Smokies for the year.

To celebrate the Friends’ 20th anniversary, each hike this year will focus on an achievement or cause that the group has supported in Great Smoky Mountains

from Waynesville at 9:15 a.m. or Bryson City at 10 a.m. and head for Deep Creek. A donation of $10 for members and $35 for nonmembers is requested. Non-members receive a complimentary membership to Friends of the Smokies. Pre-register for this hike. outreach.nc@friendsofthesmokies.org or www.friendsofthesmokies.org

Teachers invited to bring the AT into their classroom

Maine have gone through the workshops, including several teachers and students in Macon and Jackson counties have graduated from the program, and in turn many have developed their own outdoor-oriented curriculums to offer their students.

All lodging, meals, and materials are included. Deadline is March 15. ttec@appalachiantrail.org or www.appalachiantrail.org/TTEC

Teachers and educators interested in incorporating the Appalachian Trail into their lessons ad classrooms can apply to the Trail to Every Classroom program, a series of three workshops led by the Appalachian

Smoky Mountain News

Appalachian Trail ambassador appointed for WNC

28

Summit Charter School participants from 2012 in an outdoor education program offered by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

Trail Conservancy.

The program encompasses the fundamentals of hiking, environmental stewardship and ethics, GPS technology, grant writing, an opportunity for backpacking, networking and curriculum writing specific to the educator’s instructional subject.

More than 275 teachers along the Appalachian Trail corridor from Georgia to

Mary Bennett has been selected by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to serve as a volunteer trail ambassador for Franklin in Macon County.

Franklin has been designated an official Appalachian Trail community.

Bennett will serve as a community liaison to the ATC and the Nantahala Hiking Club to encourage volunteerism and stewardship of the Appalachian Trail at the local level.

Bennett has lived in the Franklin community for nearly 20 years and enjoys the mountains and forests in the Nantahala region.

She is an educator, horticulturalist, hiker and has section hiked much of the AT. She enjoys designing environmental service learning opportunities for students and leading nature-oriented activities for families. This is her second year as an Ambassador.

outdoors

Mountain scramble to Black Rock The third annual Assault on Black Rock will test the strength and stamina of trail runners as they try to make it to the top of Pinnacle Park outside Sylva on Saturday, March 16, in Sylva.

The course will be approximately seven miles with a 2,770 foot elevation gain. Hikers are welcome to come out and enjoy the trail to Pinnacle Peak as well.

To be knighted as part of the elite Blackrock 101 club, which comes with a custom belt buckle, you have to finish in 101 minutes.

Prizes will be awarded to top finishers.

The cost is $25 to preregister and $30 on race day. All proceeds from this race will go to the Community Table in Sylva. Registration forms are available from Community Table and their website features a course map. Online registration is also possible at www.active.com. www.communitytable.org.

U.S. 441 through park should reopen by May 15

Bird watching on the Sandy Mush Game Land straddling Buncombe and Madison counties has gotten easier, thanks to a new birding checklist developed by biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

The 2,600-acre game land is popular year-round for birders. The birding checklist, developed with help from the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society, lists 153 bird species that have been documented in Sandy Mush over the last seven years.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s half of the 300 or so bird species found in WNC as a whole, depending on the season. Data from the birding checklists should provide biologists with a better

understanding of the number of birds, their distribution, and their habitat preferences during the different seasons. To keep biologists informed, birders can share observations on a central bird observation reporting site such as eBird.

The tract consists of largely open habitat in an otherwise heavily forested part of the state and was dairy farmland in the past.

Now it is a mix of native grass fields and other habitats. Birds such as orchard orioles, field sparrows, bobwhite quail, ovenbirds, wood thrush and Acadian flycatchers are found on the land. www.ncwildlife.org.

Smoky Mountain News

New checklist will aid birders and biologists

March 6-12, 2013

Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is expected to be repaired and open by May 15 in time for the busy summer travel season.

The Federal Highways Administration has just awarded a nearly $4 million contract to Phillips & Jordan Inc. of Robbinsville. The contract has a May 15 completion date.

Last week, the company prepped to begin work on phase two of the reconstruction project, which will include rebuilding the paved roadway and filling the area washed away during the landslide with crushed stone. The design will allow for the drainage of water, which will protect the road and park resources from future damage.

The contract stipulates the company could earn bonus money of up to $18,000 per day for each day the project is finished before the May 15 deadline, up to a maximum of $500,000. This was offered jointly by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian and the National Park Service.

Likewise, the contractor will be charged $18,000 per day past May 15 Newfound Gap Road will remain closed to thru traffic during the construction, but visitors are still able to access the park to Newfound Gap from the Tennessee side and to Collins Creek Picnic Area from the Cherokee entrance.

29

outdoors

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WNC Calendar BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Issues & Eggs, 8 a.m. Wednesday, March 6, Gateway Club, Church St., Waynesville. Speaker is Jack Ewing, executive director of Lake Junaluska, in celebration of the Lake’s 100th anniversary.

• Computer Class: Intro to Excel, 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, Jackson County Public Library. Register at 586.2016.

• Nantahala School for the Arts open house, 4 to 7 p.m.

Thursday, March 7, Southwestern Community College, Swain Center, 60 Almond School Road, Bryson City. www.southwesterncc.edu/finearts or 366.2000.

• Ribbon cutting for MusicWorks! Studio of the Performing Arts new location, 4 p.m. Thursday, March 7, 99 Kingdom Hall Drive, Clyde.

• WCU School of Nursing Education Fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 9, WCU’s instructional site at Biltmore Park Town Square, Asheville. jshirley@wcu.edu or 654.6506.

• Computer Class: Digital Photos on Facebook, 5:45 p.m. Monday, March 11, Jackson County Public Library, space limited. Call to register, 586.2016.

• Computer Class: Intermediate Excel, 5:45 p.m.

Wednesday, March 13, Jackson County Public Library.

Space limited. Register at 586.2016.

• Free seminar, Business Essentials: Tax Implications, Workers’ Compensation, and Employment Issues, 10 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, March 13, Haywood Community College Student Center. Sponsored by Small Business Center of Haywood Community College.

Presenters from NC Dept. of Revenue, Industrial Commission, and the Employment Security Commission.

Register at http://dornc.com/business/smallbusseminars.html#clyde.

• Haywood Chamber Ribbon Cutting, 4 p.m. Thursday, March 14, Insight Marketing, Gateway Club Building, 37 Church St., Waynesville.

• Open House, Saturday, March 16, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee. Register at openhouse.wcu.edu or call Office of Undergraduate Admission, 227.7317 or toll-free 877.928.4968.

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Public meeting to discuss benefits of historic preservation, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, Waynesville Town Hall Board Room, 9 S. Main St. (Police Department building), Waynesville.

• Franklin Open Forum, 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub, 58 Stewart St., Franklin.

349.0598.

• Bowl For Kids, annual fund raising event for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Haywood County, Saturday, March 9, Sky Lanes on Patton Ave., West Asheville.

Martha Barksdale, BBBS program coordinator, 273.3601 or haywood@bbbswnc.org. Donate online at www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/marthabarksdale/haywood-bowlfor-kids-sake.

• Western North Carolina Civil War Round Table March meeting, 7 p.m. Monday, March 11, Justice Center, Sylva. Chris Behre, 293.9314 or Chuck Beemer, 456.4212.

• N.C. Department of Transportation informational workshop, 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12, Jackson County Justice Center, 401 Grindstaff Cove Road, Sylva, on the proposed replacement of the bridge on Fisher Creek Road over Fisher Creek in Sylva. ncdot.gov or Virginia Mabry, 919.707.6604 or vmabry@ncdot.gov.

• N.C. Department of Transportation informational

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. workshop, 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, Smoky Mountain Country Club, 1112 Conleys Creek Road, Whittier, on the proposed replacement of the bridge on Chestnut Cove Road over Chestnut Cove Creek in Swain County. ncdot.gov or Virginia Mabry, 919.707.6604 or vmabry@ncdot.gov.

• Team captain meeting for American Cancer Society Relay for Life of West Haywood, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, Lake Junaluska Visitor Center. Dinner provided. Register team at RelayForLife.org/westhaywoodnc or 254.6931. 254.6931 or RelayForLife.org/westhaywoodnc.

• Western Carolina University student teachers fundraisers: lasagna dinner, 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, Cullowhee United Methodist Church $5 per person, with children age 5 and younger eating free.

Vegetarian lasagna available; Wednesday, March 13, Jack the Dipper Ice Cream Parlor will donate a portion of its proceeds to the group; and Friday, March 15, the group will hold a drawing in room 120 of the Killian Building at WCU for $450 worth of spring shrubbery.

Suggested donation, $20. 227.2061 or rqscales@wcu.edu.

• Jackson County Genealogical Society’s March program, The Structure of Traditional Cherokee Kinship (and why so many mountainfolk have Cherokee grandmothers), 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, community room historic Jackson County Courthouse. WCU professor of anthropology Anne Rogers. 631.2646.

• N.C. Department of Transportation informational workshop on proposed safety improvements to U.S. 23/441 east of Franklin, 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, Franklin Town Hall Board Room, 95 E. Main St., Franklin. Wesley Grindstaff, NCDOT District Engineer, 321.4105 or wtgrindstaff@ncdot.gov; or Jeremy Potter, HDR Engineering, 919.232.6669 or jeremy.potter@hdrinc.com.

• Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation meeting, 6 p.m.

Friday, March 15, Shelton House Barn, 49 Shelton St, Waynesville.

• Spring Fling’Her, 6 p.m. Saturday, March 16, Swain County Recreation Center. Smoky Mountain Roller Girls versus G-Force from Gastonia. Proceeds to benefit Big Brother and Big Sister Program of Swain County. Bring toiletry donations for families in need. $5, www.brownpapertickets.com. Children under 5 free.

BLOOD DRIVES Jackson • Skyland Care Center Blood Drive, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 7, 193 Asheville Highway, Sylva.

Wanda Martin, 586.8935.

• MedWest Harris Hospital Blood Drive, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., 68 Hospital Drive, Sylva. Melissa Southers, 586.7130.

Haywood

Smoky Mountain News

RECREATION & FITNESS • Youth Swim Refresher Swim Course 6:25 to 7:20 p.m.

March 11-13, Reid Gymnasium pool, Western Carolina University, Cullohwee. $59. 227.7397 or learn.wcu.edu and select Conferences and Community Classes.

• Grand opening of new fitness rooms at Central Haywood and Pisgah high schools, 1 p.m. Thursday, March 7. teacher.haywood.k12.nc.us/pepgrant/

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE • Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster will preach at the 9:30 a.m. service of worship at Francis Cove United Methodist Church and the 11 a.m. service of Faith United Methodist on Sunday, March 10.

• The Come to the Table Project, fourth regional conference series on how people of faith can relieve hunger and support local agriculture in North Carolina, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, March 15, Southwestern Community College. Sarah Gibson, Conference Coordinator, 919.259.5169 or sarah@rafiusa.org.

• Weekly Lenten Services, noon, through March 21, Canton First United Methodist Church, 31 Newfound St., Canton. $5 meals after the service.

SUPPORT GROUPS Jackson • Man to Man Support Group for prostate cancer patients and survivors, 7 to 8 p.m., Monday, March 11, Harris Medical Park conference room at 98 Doctors Dr., Sylva. Mary E. Mahon, RN, 631.8100.

• International Essential Tremor Foundation (IETF) support group, 1 p.m. Saturday, March 16, Alliance Bible Church 501 North River Rd., Sylva. Ted Kubit, 631.5543 or tkubit@frontier.com to RSVP.

Swain • MedWest-Swain WNC Breast Cancer Support Group, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, private dining

31

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings room next to cafeteria, MedWest-Swain, Bryson City.

Mary E. Mahon, RN, 631.8100.

A&E LITERARY (ADULTS) • Adult Creative Writing Workshop, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, Jackson County Public Library, 586.2016 • Author Ron Rash, 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, community room, Jackson County Public Library. To reserve a book, call City Lights Bookstore, 586.9499.

• Contemporary romance novelist, Ryan Jo Summers will read from her book, Whispers in Her Heart, 3 p.m.

Saturday, March 16, City Lights Bookstore, 586.9499.

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • Solo marimba virtuoso Andy Harnsberger, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 6, recital hall of the Coulter Building, Western Carolina University. Harnsberger will lead a free marimba master class, at 2:30 p.m. in the Coulter space. WCU School of Music, 227.7242.

• Buchanan Boys, DJ Paul Gallo, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Friday, March 8, Essence Lounge, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

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• Pisgah High School Blood Drive, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Friday, March 8, Pisgah High School Library, 1 Black Bear Drive, Canton. Stephanie Kuykendall, 646.3440.

• Junaluska Fire Department Blood Drive 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 11, Junaluska Fire Department, 90 Old Clyde Road, Lake Junaluska. Billy or Larry, 452.4404 or 800.733.2767.

Macon • Franklin Community Blood Drive, 12:30 to 5 p.m.

Thursday, March 14, First Baptist Church of Franklin, 69 Lotla Street, Franklin. First Baptist Church of Franklin, 369.9559.

4 5 6 - 3 0 2 1 Supported by: Haywood County Chamber of Commerce, Haywood County Economic Development Commission and Haywood Community College - Small Business Center, Haywood Advancement Foundation.

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wnc calendar

â&#x20AC;˘ Fortunate Sons, DJ Suave, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday, March 9, Essence Lounge, Harrahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cherokee Casino. â&#x20AC;˘ Concert with The Chris Minick Trio, 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, Jackson County Public Library, 586.2016. â&#x20AC;˘ Inflame, a world music fusion band fronted by renowned performer Kumar Das, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee. Tickets are $5 for the general public and free for students.

Lori Davis, 227.3622 or visit ace.wcu.edu. â&#x20AC;˘ Fifth annual Celtic Concert featuring Bean Sidhe (pronounced Banshee), 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, Smoky Mountain Community Theatre, 134 Main St., Bryson City. $6, 488.8227, or theatre president Toby Allman, 488.8103. â&#x20AC;˘ Social Function, DJ Moto, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, March 15, Essence Lounge, Harrahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cherokee Casino. â&#x20AC;˘ Angelina Ballerina, the Musical, 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16, Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. Presented by Vital Theatre Company, New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading not-for-profit family theatre company. Tickets start at $16. GreatMountainMusic.com or call 866.273.4615.

â&#x20AC;˘ Woman to Woman â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Southern Craft Revival Program, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, Macon County Public Library meeting room, Franklin. Speaker is Anna Fariello, Craft Revival project director of Hunter Library Special Collections at Western Carolina University. www.artscouncilofmacon.org or 524.7683. â&#x20AC;˘ Jackson County Green Energy Park March class offerings for blacksmithing and glassblowing: Saturday, March 9, Glass Garden Orb with Aaron Shufelt; introduction to blacksmithing with John Burtner; Saturday, March 16, Cane Pickup (Advanced Glass) with Tadashi Torii. www.JCGEP.org or 631.0271. â&#x20AC;˘ Western North Carolina Woodturners Club meeting, 6 p.m. Thursday, March 14, Blue Ridge School, Glenville.

â&#x20AC;˘ Closing reception for Greg McPhersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exhibit Furrow currently on view at the Rotunda Gallery at the historic Jackson County Courthouse, 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Friday, March 8, Rotunda Gallery, Sylva.

CLASSES, PROGRAMS & DEMONSTRATIONS â&#x20AC;˘ Visiting artists Lindsay LeBlanc and Daniel Sherman will create a large glass sculpture installation to

FILM & SCREEN â&#x20AC;˘ Second Tuesday Movie Group, 2 p.m. Monday, March 11, Haywood County Public Library, Waynesville, auditorium. Kathy, 356.2507.

â&#x20AC;˘ Second Sunday Community Dance, 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 10, community room, second floor, Jackson County Library Complex, Sylva. Potluck dinner

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MUSIC JAMS Haywood County â&#x20AC;˘ Winter Pickin in The Park, Fridays March 8 and 22, Canton Armory. Free â&#x20AC;˘ Live music and dancing, 7 to 10 p.m. every Saturday night throughout March, Old Fines Creek School. $7 for adults, children 12 and under free.

736.8925.

Swain County â&#x20AC;˘ Community music jam, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 7, Marianna Black Library, downtown Bryson City. 488.3030.

â&#x20AC;˘ Haywood Community Band rehearsal, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 7, Grace In The Mountains Episcopal Church, 394 Haywood St., Waynesville. Rhonda Wilson Kram, 456.4880 or www.haywoodcommunityband.org. â&#x20AC;˘ Drumming Circle, 6 p.m. Friday, March 8, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Franklin, 39 Sierra Dr., Franklin. Bring your own drum or use one of ours.

369.8658.

DANCE â&#x20AC;˘ Pisgah Promenaders Shamrock Special square dance, 6:45 to 8:45 p.m., Saturday, March 9, Old Armory Recreation Center, 44 Boundary St., Waynesville. Caller Ken Perkins. 586.8416 or 507.7270.

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will follow. Bring a covered dish, plate, cup and cutlery and a water bottle. Ron Arps, ronandcathy71@frontier.com or www.dancewnc.com.

MUSIC MAKERS

â&#x20AC;˘ Family movie, featuring the Cat in the Hat, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, Marianna Black Library, Bryson City. Popcorn provided. 488.3030.

ART/GALLERY EVENTS & OPENINGS

March 6-12, 2013

reside in the gardens at the Jackson County Green Energy Park, 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, and noon to 4 p.m. Thursday, March 7. www.jcgep.org or call 631.0271.

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Outdoors OUTINGS, HIKES & FIELDTRIPS â&#x20AC;˘ Live Staking Workshop 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 9, Little Tennessee Land Trust Lakey Creek Farm. RSVP to Ben Laseter at blaseter@ltlt.org or 524.2711 x308. â&#x20AC;˘ Nantahala Hiking Club, Saturday, March 9, Deep Creek, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Five-mile moderate hike. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at Bi-Lo parking lot in Franklin to carpool. Gail Lehman, 524.5298, for reservations. No pets. â&#x20AC;˘ Nantahala Hiking Club, Sunday, March 10, from Wallace Gap to route 64 at Winding Stair Gap. Meet at 2 p.m. at Westgate Plaza, Franklin. Jean Hunnicutt, 524.5234, for reservations. No pets. â&#x20AC;˘ Nantahala Hiking Club, Saturday, March 16, ninemile moderate-to-strenuous hike along Palmer Creek Trail. Meet at 9 a.m. at Waynesville Ingles. Keith Patton, 456.8895, for reservations. No pets. â&#x20AC;˘ Nantahala Hiking Club, Saturday, March 16, 11-mile strenuous loop to Pumpkin Town-Savannah Ridge.

Includes a 1/4 mile bushwhack. Meet at 8 a.m. near KFC at Holly Springs Plaza in Franklin. Don Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neal, 586.5723, for reservations. â&#x20AC;˘ Nantahala Hiking Club, Sunday, March 17, easy three-mile hike up Skitty Creek Trail to the Cliffside Lake loop trail. Meet at 2 p.m. at Bi-Lo parking lot in Franklin. Kay Coriell, 369.6820. No pets. â&#x20AC;˘ Classic Hike of the Smokies, guided hike, Tuesday, March 19, Deep Creek, Bryson City. Hikers commuting from Asheville will leave Asheville at 8:30 a.m., Waynesville at 9:15 a.m. and Bryson City at 10 a.m. $10 for members of Friends of the Smokies, $35 for nonmembers. Register at outreach.nc@friendsofthesmokies.org or call 452.0720. friendsofthesmokies.org

PROGRAMS & WORKSHOPS â&#x20AC;˘ WMI - Wilderness First Responder (WFR) March 2-10 in Cullowhee. Landmark Learning, 293.5384 or main@landmarklearning.org.

â&#x20AC;˘ Bike Maintenance Basics, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, REI Asheville, free, register at www.rei.com/event/38770/session/66518. â&#x20AC;˘ Map and Compass Navigation Basics, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 10, REI Asheville. $30 REI members/$50 non-members. Register at www.rei.com/event/43656/session/66551. â&#x20AC;˘ Survival Skills Workshop: Basic Wilderness First Aid (1 of 3 in series), 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, March 16, Chimney Rock State Park. $25 adults, $12 annual passholders (includes Park admission); entire series: $65 adults, $35 annual passholders. www.chimneyrockpark.com. â&#x20AC;˘ Bike Maintenance: Derailleur and Shifting Systems, 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 12 and Wednesday, March 27, REI Asheville. $20 REI members, $40 non-members, Register/Info: www.rei.com/event/49552/session/67844 & www.rei.com/event/49553/session/678. â&#x20AC;˘ Spring into the Outdoors with Acupuncture Presentation, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, REI Asheville, free. Register/Info: www.rei.com/event/49595/session/6788. â&#x20AC;˘ Getting High - The Annapurna Circuit in Nepal Presentation, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, REI Asheville, free. Register/Info: www.rei.com/event/49533/session/67894. â&#x20AC;˘ Garmin GPS Basics, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 16, REI Asheville. $30 REI members/$50 non-members. Register/Info: www.rei.com/event/49575/session/67847. â&#x20AC;˘ Western North Carolina Alliance tour of the Biltmore Estate, Saturday, March 16, to showcase Biltmoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clean energy and sustainability initiatives. $40 for WNCA members and $45 for non-members. Biltmore Estate year passholders, $20. Register at Rachel@wnca.org or wnca.org/march-16th-cleanenergy-and-sustainability-tour-of-the-biltmore-estate/ â&#x20AC;˘ Eighth annual Kayak Demo Day, noon, Saturday, March 16, the Slab, east fork of the Tuckasegee River, Eternity Hole. www.basecamp.wcu.edu â&#x20AC;˘ WMI - Wilderness First Aid, Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17, Montreat. Fundamentals of remote first aid. Landmark Learning, 293.5384 or main@landmarklearning.org. â&#x20AC;˘ Community Relief Medic, Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17, Cullowhee. Landmark Learning, 293.5384 or main@landmarklearning.org.

COMPETITIVE EDGE â&#x20AC;˘ Third annual Assault on Black Rock trail race to benefit the Community Table in Sylva, Saturday, March 16, Pinnacle Park. $25 to preregister, $30 on race day. Registration forms and course map at www.communitytable.org/ under Event Calendar.

FARM & GARDEN â&#x20AC;˘ Free gardening class on propagating and transplanting seeds, 6 p.m., Monday, March 11, Clayton Municipal Complex, Hwy. 76 West. 706.782.7978 or smlcinc@windstream.net â&#x20AC;˘ Beaverdam Community Development will host Clara Curtis, North Carolina Arboretum, 7 p.m. Monday, March 11, Community Center, 1620 North Canton Road, Canton. Melissa, 648.0589. â&#x20AC;˘ Growing Hops in Western North Carolina, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 16, Mountain Horticultural Crops Research & Extension Center, 455 Research Drive, Mills River. Directions at www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/directions2.html. $15 per person (cash or checks).

PRIME REAL ESTATE

INSIDE

Advertise in The Smoky Mountain News

ARTS & CRAFTS

MarketPlace information:

ALLISON CREEK Iron Works & Woodworking. Crafting custom metal & woodwork in rustic, country & lodge designs with reclaimed woods! Design & consultation, Barry Downs 828.524.5763, Franklin NC

The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 every week to over 500 locations across in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties along with the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. For a link to our MarketPlace Web site, which also contains a link to all of our MarketPlace display advertisers’ Web sites, visit www.smokymountainnews.com.

AUCTION ABSOLUTE ONLINE Real Estate Auction, 100 Lots & Land Tracts in Person County, Roxboro, NC. 3/11 at 8am to 3/21 at 3pm. Bid Center at Palace Pointe in Roxboro, NC. Iron Horse Auction Co., Inc. 800.997.2248. NCAL3936, ironhorseauction.com

Rates: ■ Free — Residential yard sale ads, lost or found pet ads.

■ Free — Non-business items that sell for less than $150.

■ $12 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2.

■ $12 — If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type.

■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad.

■ $35 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold.

■ $300 — Statewide classifieds run in 117 participating newspapers with 1.6 million circulation. Up to 25 words.

■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

BUILDING MATERIALS HAYWOOD BUILDERS Garage Doors, New Installations Service & Repairs, 828.456.6051 100 Charles St. Waynesville Employee Owned.

Classified Advertising: Scott Collier, phone 828.452.4251; fax 828.452.3585 | classads@smokymountainnews.com

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING DAVE’S CUSTOM HOMES OF WNC, INC Free Estimates & Competitive rates. References avail. upon request. Specializing in: Log Homes, remodeling, decks, new construction, repairs & additions.

Owner/Builder: Dave Donaldson.

Licensed/Insured. 828.631.0747 or 828.508.0316

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, COO

Serving Haywood, Jackson & Surrounding Counties

SULLIVAN HARDWOOD FLOORS Installation- Finish - Refinish 828.399.1847.

R

DI

SC OV ER E

ATR

PE

INC.

Offering:

MAJOR-BRAND TIRES FOR CARS, LIGHT & MEDIUM-DUTY TRUCKS, AND FARM TIRES.

Service truck available for on-site repairs LEE & PATTY ENSLEY, OWNERS STEVE WOODS, MANAGER

MON-FRI 7:30-5:30 • WAYNESVILLE PLAZA

456-5387

72607

TRIM CARPENTER/HANDYMAN Projects start to finish. Any job no size too big or small, Free Estimates. Painting, Tile Work Replacement/New, Kitchen Remodeling, Bath Renovation, Honey-dolist, Doggie Doors, Bookshelves, Closets. References - Toll Brothers and American Home Place. Call Harold for more info 828.456.4000.

ELECTRICAL BOOTH ELECTRIC Residential & Commercial service.

Up-front pricing, emergency service. 828.734.1179. NC License #24685-U.

CARS - DOMESTIC 2000 FORD MUSTANG GT Convertible. New custom paint, style bar, Mach I rims and lots of upgrades completed. Serious inquiries only. $10,000. Please call 828.226.7461.

DONATE YOUR CAR, Truck or Boat to Heritage for the Blind. Free 3 Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. 877.752.0496.

TOP CASH FOR CARS, Call Now For An Instant Offer. Top Dollar Paid, Any Car/Truck, Any Condition. Running or Not. Free Pick-up/Tow. 1.800.761.9396 SAPA

AUTO PARTS DDI BUMPERS ETC. Quality on the Spot Repair & Painting. Don Hendershot 858.646.0871 cell 828.452.4569 office.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES SEARCHING FOR AN Environmentally friendly franchise with strong recurring revenues?

NaturaLawn of America is a nationwide system with over 25 years experience. Average location revenues in excess of $500k. www.naturalawn.com. SAPA

EMPLOYMENT "CAN YOU DIG IT?" Heavy Equipment Operator Training! 3 Wk. Hands On Program.

Bulldozers, Backhoes, Excavators.

Lifetime Job Placement Asst. with National Certs. VA Benefits Eligible. 1.866.362.6497 $1,200 WEEKLY GUARANTEED, Mailing our company loan applications from home. NO experience necessary. FT/PT. Genuine opportunity. FREE Information (24/7) 1.800.279.3313 SAPA DRIVERS Hiring Experienced/Inexperienced Tanker Drivers! Earn up to $0.51/Mile! New Fleet Volvo Tractors! 1 Year OTR Exp. Req. Tanker Training Available. Call Today: 877.882.6537. www.OakleyTransport.com

EMPLOYMENT NC PRE-K TEACHER ASSISTANT Haywood County - Must have an AA degree in Early Childhood Education, have the ability to assume the responsibilities of teacher when absent, work well with parents and co-workers, good judgment/problem solving skills, 1-2 yrs. experience in Pre-K classroom and good record keeping skills. Candidate must be able to work well with diverse families. Basic computer skills helpful. This is a 10 month position with benefits.

Family Service Work - Haywood County - AA degree in Early Childhood Education preferred.

Must have Child Care Credentials I and II, good record keeping, time management, judgment and problem solving skills. Candidate must work well with families and co-workers and diverse population. This is a 10 month position with benefits.

Applications will be taken at Mountain Projects, 2251 Old Balsam Rd, Waynesville, NC 28786 or 25 Schulman St, Sylva, NC 28779. Pre-employment drug testing required. EOE/AA. ADMINSTRATIVE ASSISTANT Trainees Needed! Become a Certified Microsoft Office Professional!

NO EXPERIENCED NEEDED! Online Training gets you job ready ASAP! HS Diploma/GED & Computer/Internet needed. 1.888.926.6057.

AIRLINES ARE HIRING Train for hands on Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial Aid if Qualified Housing available. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance.

1.866.724.5403. SAPA AVIATION CAREERS Train in advance structures and become certified to work on aircraft. Financial aid for those who qualify. Call aviation institute of maintenance 877.205.1779. SAPA DRIVERS: Start up to $.40 per mile. Home Weekly. CDL-A, 6 mos. OTR Exp. Required. 50 Brand New Coronados You’ll be Proud to Drive!

877.705.9261.

R

EMPLOYMENT WNC MarketPlace

HAYWOOD SPAY/NEUTER

Part-time Bilingual Program Assistant. Motivated, reliable individual to work in our office and assist with transport and outreach. For full job description: http://haywoodspayneuter.org/ docs/jobs.pdf

EMPLOYMENT MEDICAL CAREERS BEGIN HERE Train ONLINE for Allied Health and Medical Management. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified.

SCHEV authorized. Call Now 1.877.206.7665 or go to: www.CenturaOnline.com SAPA A FEW PRO DRIVERS NEEDED! Top Pay & 401K. Recent CDL grads wanted. 877.258.8782. www.ad-drivers.com

EMPLOYMENT GYPSUM EXPRESS Regional Hauls for Flatbed Company Driver Terminal in Roxboro. Ask about Performance Bonus coming April 1st & more. Melissa, 866.317.6556 x6 or go to: www.gypsumexpress.com TRUCK DRIVERS WANTED Best Pay and Home Time! Apply Online Today over 750 Companies!

One Application, Hundreds of Offers! HammerLaneJobs.com. SAPA

Southwestern NC Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.

www.smokymountainnews.com

March 6-12, 2013

PO Box 1230, Waynesville NC 28786 • www.southwesternrcd.org JOB POSTING: Executive Director POSTING DATE: February 28, 2013 APPLICATION DEADLINE: Fri., Mar. 15, 2013, 5:00 p.m.

34

POSITION SUMMARY: The Executive Director (ED) develops and implements initiatives to help utilize and conserve the tremendous natural resources of Southwestern North Carolina in order to benefit the people living in the area.

The ED focuses on four primary areas of activity: non-profit management, fundraising, project management, and communications. The ED reports directly to the council’s board, works closely with numerous partner organizations and agencies, and supervises one staff position.

ORGANIZATION SUMMARY: The Southwestern NC Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works with local communities to support resource conservation and development projects to benefit the people of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain Counties, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. For additional info, please go online to: www.southwesternrcd.org POSITION DESCRIPTION - For a more detailed description visit: www.southwesternrcd.org Non-Profit Management (25%) - Fundraising (40%) - Project Management (20%) Communications (10%) - Other Duties as Assigned (5%) QUALIFICATIONS • Bachelor’s degree (or higher).

• At least two years work experience in non-profit management, fundraising, project management, and/or communications.

• Excellent communication skills, including writing, speaking, and listening. Experience creating website and social media content preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to work well individually and as a part of a team, including previous membership on a non-profit board and/or previous staff support to a non-profit board.

• Knowledge of Microsoft Office programs required; knowledge of QuickBooks preferred.

• Valid North Carolina driver’s license required.

• Preference will be given to those individuals with: a background in resource conservation and development; experience in identifying and alleviating problems related to economic development, the natural environment, and/or rural development; and experience recruiting others to assist with planning and implementing projects.

COMPENSATION The Executive Director position is currently budgeted for 25-35 hours per week at $20 per hour, with paid time off after six months and a possible health insurance stipend. The position is supported by the successful fundraising efforts of the council board and staff. Salary growth will be based on satisfactory completion of the job requirements and available funds.

HOW TO APPLY Please send a cover letter, current resume, and names and contact information for two references to Southwestern NC RC&D Council, PO Box 1230, Waynesville NC 28786, or ddudek@haywoodnc.net. The application deadline is Friday, March 15, 2013, 5:00 p.m. No calls, please.

EMPLOYMENT SENIOR RESOURCE CENTER MANAGER Oversees the administration of the Senior Services & the Senior Volunteer Programs as well as overall operations of the Senior Resource Center. Candidate must have a degree in Human Services or Business Management, 3 yrs. supervisory and budget management. Flexible work schedule and grant writing experience preferred. Ability to manage multiple tasks, excellent organizational, communication and people skills is required.

Applications will be taken at Mountain Projects, Inc., 2251 Old Balsam Rd, Waynesville, NC 28786 or 25 Schulman St, Sylva, NC 28779. Pre-employment drug testing required. EOE/AA DRIVERS CDL-A $5,000 SIGN-ON BONUS For exp'd solo OTR drivers & O/O's.

Tuition reimbursement also available! New Student Pay & Lease Program. USA TRUCK. 877.521.5775. www.GoUSATruck.com

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

FAMILY INTERVENTION SPECIALIST Sylva, NC. At Youth Villages helping families find long term success is what drives us. We are looking to hire a Family Intervention Specialist who provides Therapy to the families and youth in our program.

Interventions focus on the family, child, school, community and peer groups. If you are results oriented person, ready to impact lives, and have a MA/MS degree in a mental health field or are currently enrolled in a MA/MS program with 2 years experience, don’t miss your chance to join our team. Relocation reimbursement available. Individuals not only have the opportunity to sharpen their clinical skills, but can advance their career after only 6 mos. Children’s lives are waiting to be impacted by you today.

Apply online at: www.youthvillages.org/jobs DRIVER Daily or Weekly Pay. $0.01 increase per mile after 6 months and 12 months. $0.03 Enhanced Quarterly Bonus. Requires 3 months OTR exp.

800.414.9569 www.driveknight.com

TANKER & FLATBED COMPANY. Drivers/Independent Contractors!

Immediate Placement Available.

Best opportunities in the Trucking Business. Call Us Today.

800.277.0212 or go to: www.primeinc.com FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Director of Public Safety & Security. Accounts Technician (Accounts Receivable). Deadline: March 11. Applications must be submitted online through our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com by the closing date. HR Office, FTCC, PO Box 35236, Fayetteville, NC 28303. Phone: 910.678.8378 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer.

OTR/CDL CLASS A DRIVERS Singles, Teams, Owner Ops. Multiple Locations at Ryder Facilities in NC and SC. USA/Canada routes.

Good Home Time, Excellent Pay with Monthly Bonus and Good Benefits. www.catconcord.com.

Call 1.800.869.2434, Ron Hettrick.

Puzzles can be found on page 37.

These are only the answers.

TENNESSEE - A two year old Border Collie mix. She has long hair, is sweet, loving and housebroken. Call 1.877.ARF.JCNC.

BEN - A 5 lb. purebred Chihuahua. He is white and brown. He is a bit shy. No small children. Special pricing applies.

Call 1.877.ARF.JCNC.

MANNY - An 8 month old

GIBBS - A two-year-old,

Dachshund mix. He weighs about 20 lbs., is black, shorthaired, very friendly and active. Call 1.877.ARF.JCNC.

purebred, male Beagle. He is tricolored, weighs 35 lbs., and is very friendly. He gets along well with other dogs, is affectionate with people, and obeys house rules. He is housebroken, walks on a leash, and knows how to use a doggie door. Call ARF at 1.877.ARF.JCNC.

SAM - A one year old Sheltie/Fiest mix. He weighs 25 lbs., is housebroken, gentle, and is a good climber. He is tan with white boots. Call 1.877.ARF.JCNC. FUDGE - A five year old, male Dachshund. He is housebroken, leash trained, and knows how to use a doggie door. Call 1.877.ARF.JCNC.

HAYWOOD BEDDING, INC. The best bedding at the best price!

533 Hazelwood Ave. Waynesville 828.456.4240

Ann Eavenson CRS, GRI, E-PRO

ann@mainstreetrealty.net

72618

101 South Main St. Waynesville

TRIXIE - Chihuahua (longhaired) Mix dog – tan & white, I am 3 years old and can be a bit nervous, but also loving. I’m sweet and playful once I get to know you. $125 adoption fee, Animal Compassion Network 258.4820 or animalcompassionnetwork.org.

for your pet? Animal Compassion Network provides a re-homing service that includes neutering, microchipping, and food – all FREE to you! You'll bring your pet to our adoption events and we'll find them a loving new home! For details, contact us at 828.258.4820.

MainStreet Realty

Shellie - A three year old fox hound mix, settled in to her new foster home immediately. This girl is extremely laid back and easy going around the house, and she loves to snuggle with people. She is crate trained, housebroken, walks on a leash, rides in the car, and gets along with other dogs.

(828) 452-2227 mainstreetrealty.net

Darbi - A beautiful long haired gray/white tabby who is looking for a special home. Her vision is impaired in one eye so sudden movement can startle her. This doesn't stop her from playing with other cats, climbing their cat tree or giving love!

facebook.com/smnews

SMN

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TUPELO’S

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INDOOR & OUTDOOR

10-5 M-SAT. 12-4 SUN.

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ON DELLWOOD RD. (HWY. 19) AT 20 SWANGER LANE WAYNESVILLE/MAGGIE VALLEY 828.926.8778

72610

ANIMAL COMPASSION NETWORK Pet Adoption Events - Every Saturday from 11a.m. to 3p.m. at Pet Harmony, Animal Compassion Network's new pet store for rescued pets. Dozens of ACN dogs, puppies, kittens and cats will be ready to find their permanent homes. The store also offers quality pet supplies where all proceeds save more homeless animals. Come see us at 803 Fairview St. (behind Province 620 off Hendersonville Rd), visit www.animalcompassionnetwork.org, or call 828.274.DOGS.

72461

Great Smokies Storage 10’x20’

92

$

20’x20’

160

$

smokymountainnews.com

brown & white, I am just over a year old and I’m good with kids and other dogs, but obviously I’m large because of my breed and could be a bit much for smaller dogs, children, and cats. Even though I weigh in around 130 lbs, I’m just a sweet boy who really loves to lay around on the couch. $125 adoption fee, Animal Compassion Network 258.4820 or animalcompassionnetwork.org.

COMPARE QUALITY & PRICE Shop Tupelo’s, 828.926.8778.

Ann knows real estate!

506-0542 CELL

ARF’s next low-cost spay/neuter trip will be March 11th. Register and pre-pay at ARF’s adoption site on Saturdays from 1-3.

Spaces are limited.

NEED A NEW HOME BEE - St. Bernard Mix dog –

BEWARE OF LOAN FRAUD. Please check with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection Agency before sending money to any loan company. SAPA

REMAINING FURNITURE LUMBER Walnut, Butternut, Cherry.

Need to clear building, $3,250 Call for more info 828.627.2342

March 6-12, 2013

dog – white & tan, I was born in summer 2011 and I’m a very sweet gal who is believed to be partially blind and deaf. I would love to find a forever home that is compatible with my special qualities. $125 adoption fee, Animal Compassion Network 258.4820 or animalcompassionnetwork.org.

$$$ ACCESS LAWSUIT CASH NOW!!

Injury Lawsuit Dragging? Need $500-$500,000++ within 48/hours? Low rates. Apply Now By Phone! 1.800.568.8321. wwwlawcapital.com Not Valid in CO or NC. SAPA

VISIT ARF ON SATURDAYS 1-3

ARF (HUMANE SOCIETY OF JACKSON COUNTY) Holds rescued pet adoptions Saturdays from 1:00 - 3:00 (weather permitting) at 50 Railroad Avenue in Sylva. Animals are spayed/neutered and current on shots.

Most cats $60, most dogs $70.

Preview available pets at www.a-r-f.org, or call foster home.

DAISY - Labrador Retriever Mix

FURNITURE

WNC MarketPlace

Pet Adoption

FINANCIAL

ONE MONTH

FREE WITH 12-MONTH CONTRACT

828.506.4112 or 828.507.8828 Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction

Full Service Property Management 828-456-6111 www.selecthomeswnc.com Residential and Commercial Long-Term Rentals

35

WNC MarketPlace

Talk to your neighbors, then talk to me. ®

See why State Farm insures more drivers than GEICO and Progressive combined. Great ser vice, plus discounts of up to 40 percent.* Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

C CALL ALL FFOR OR QUOTE QUOTE 24/7.

24/7.

PETS HAYWOOD SPAY/NEUTER 828.452.1329

®

Chad McMahon, A gent 3 4 5 Wa l n u t S t r e e t Waynesville, NC 28786 Bus: 828 - 452- 0567 chad.mcmahon.r v37@s t atef arm.com

1001174.1

Prevent Unwanted Litters!

Beat the Heat $10 spay/neuter special going on until March 31st!

*Discounts var y by states.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company State Farm Indemnit y Company, Blooming ton, IL

Hours:

Mike Stamey

mstamey@beverly-hanks.com

HEAVY EQUIPMENT

828-508-9607

SAWMILLS FROM ONLY $3997.00 Make & Save Money with your own bandmill. Cut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship.

FREE Info/DVD: www.NorwoodSawmills.com.

1.800.578.1363, Ext. 300N.

74 NORTH MAIN ST. • WAYNESVILLE, NC

www.beverly-hanks.com

LAWN & GARDEN 72616

The Real Team

JOLENE HOCOTT • LYN DONLEY MARLYN DICKINSON

Real Experience.

Real Service. Real Results.

March 6-12, 2013

828.452.3727

www.The-Real-Team.com

MOUNTAIN REALTY 1904 S. Main St. • Waynesville

HEMLOCK HEALERS, INC. Dedicated to Saving Our Hemlocks. Owner/Operator Frank Varvoutis, NC Pesticide Applicator’s License #22864. 48 Spruce St. Maggie Valley, NC 828.734.7819 828.926.7883, Email: hemlockhealers@yahoo.com MANTIS DELUXE TILLER. NEW! FastStart engine. Ships FREE. One-Year Money-Back Guarantee when you buy DIRECT. Call for the DVD and FREE Good Soil book!

888.485.3923

HOMES FOR SALE BRUCE MCGOVERN A Full Service Realtor shamrock13@charter.net McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112.

HOMES FOR RENT UNFURNISHED 3/BR 1/BA - WAYNESVILLE Newly Remodeled Home, Walk to HART & Downtown Waynesville.

W/D, Dishwasher, New Central Heat/Air, New Carpet, Large Yard.

No Smoking. First/Last + Sec. $725/mo. Call 828.400.5713.

VACATION RENTALS CAVENDER CREEK CABINS Dahlonega, North Georgia Mountains. **WINTER SPECIAL: BUY 2 NIGHTS, 3RD FREE!**1,2,&3 BR Cabins with HOT TUBS! Virtual Tour: www.CavenderCreek.com Call NOW Toll Free 1.866.373.6307 SAPA

NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

72615

147 WALNUT ST. • WAYNESVILLE, NC

828.456.7376 • 800.627.1210 TOLL FREE www.smokymountainnews.com

EVER CONSIDER A Reverse Mortgage? At least 62 years old? Stay in your home & increase cash flow! Safe & Effective! Call Now for your FREE DVD! Call Now 888.418.0117.

SAPA NC MOUNTAINS Spacious 2bdrm, 2ba cabin, 1+ wooded acs w/stream $139,900.

Lrg. kit open to living rm., stone fpl, screened porch, new appl, available now. 828.286.1666.

Monday-Thursday, 12 Noon - 5pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville

72614

111 CENTRAL AVE. • ASHEVILLE, NC

828.258.1284 • 800.490.0877 TOLL FREE

www.sunburstrealty.com

Offering 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments, Starting at $400

MOUNTAIN REALTY

Mieko Thomson

Thomson ROKER/R /REALTOR EALTOR®® BBROKER

mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com www.ncsmokies.com www.ncsmokies.com

2177 Russ Avenue Waynesville NC 28786

GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE Conveniently located off 19/23

by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160.

Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.

MEDICAL ATTENTION DIABETICS With Medicare. Get a FREE Talking Meter and diabetic testing supplies at NO COST, plus FREE home delivery! Best of all, this meter eliminates painful finger pricking!

Call 877.517.4633. SAPA ATTENTION SLEEP APNEA Sufferers with Medicare. Get CPAP Replacement Supplies at little or NO COST, plus FREE home delivery!

Best of all, prevent red skin sores and bacterial infection! Call 1.888.470.8261. SAPA CANADA DRUG CENTER Is your choice for safe and affordable medications. Our licensed Canadian mail order pharmacy will provide you with savings of up to 90 percent on all your medication needs. Call Today 877.644.3199 for $25.00 off your first prescription and free shipping. SAPA DO YOU KNOW YOUR Testosterone Levels? Call now 888.414.0692 and ask about our test kits and get a FREE Trial of Progene All-Natural Testosterone Supplement. SAPA VIAGRA 100MG AND CIALIS 20MG! 40 pills + 4 FREE for only $99. #1 Male Enhancement, Discreet Shipping. Save $500! Buy The Blue Pill! Now 1.800.491.8751 SAPA

BEAUTY SERVICES

OFFICE HOURS: Tues. & Wed. 10:00am - 5:00pm & Thurs. 10:00am- 12:00pm 168 E. Nicol Arms Road Sylva, NC 28779

MIA PERMANENT COSMETICS Is Haywood County’s Premier Permanent Makeup Clinic. We offer Custom Eyebrows, Eyeliner, Lip Liner and Shading. Eyelash Extensions, Eyelash Perm and Areola Pigmentation. For pricing, photos and more info, visit online at: www.miatattoos.com or call 828.619.0055. Let your outer beauty catch up with your inner beauty!

Phone # 1-828-586-3346 TDD # 1-800-725-2962

Bruce McGovernn

72617

STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT

Section 8 Accepted - Handicapped Accessible Units When Available

Equal Housing Opportunity

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WEEKLY SUDOKU

Super

CROSSWORD

77 Shriver gets off her soapbox?

84 Tattered cloth 85 - -Wan Kenobi 86 City map ACROSS 87 Suffix with krypton 1 Wise to 88 Llama’s kin 8 Raven calls 91 Ostentatious display 12 Salve target 93 Alito gets an arena 15 Vacation facilities 19 Sticky stuff on a bat worker’s attention?

20 Andy’s radio sidekick 98 Lord of a manor 101 Tillis of song 21 Abnormal 102 Really annoy 23 Curry does a patis103 Damone plays a perserie job? cussion instrument?

25 Ripped open 109 Alaskan lang.

26 Olds antiques 110 Dr. Seuss title crea27 Gains a lap? ture 28 Big scuffle 111 Sour fruit 29 Petroleum 30 Hopper lifts weights? 112 Key near Alt 116 Directed light rays 35 Lighter fuel at 38 Atop, to poets 118 Brynner divides a 39 “Swinging on -” site into districts?

(1944 hit song) 122 Slum digs 40 Wilder picks up a 123 Its cap. is 97-Down bug?

124 Accustoming (to) 46 Forget to mention 125 USMC NCO 48 Gain entry to 126 “- gratias” 49 - Lady of Fatima 127 Defendant’s answer 50 Setback 128 Some photocopies 53 “- right?”

DOWN 54 “Little Red Book” 1 On - (equal in value) writer 2 Chablis, e.g.

55 Carrey is amorous 3 - Domini (in the year of with gals?

60 Big name in sports- the Lord) 4 Graycoats wear 5 Greek letter 64 Like Smurfs 6 Sturdy wood 65 Justices’ org.

7 - lens (spotlight com66 Astor feeds her ponent) infant?

73 Lyric-writing Gershwin 8 Prickly desert plants 9 Garner 74 Ending for billion 10 Asian pan 75 Duncan of dance SUPER CROSSWORD ALPHABETICAL ACTS ATO-A

11 Tampa-to-Ft. Myers dir.

12 Provide food 13 Letter-shaped iron bar 14 Mother with a Nobel 15 - Lanka 16 Sweeping views 17 Against lawbreaking 18 Embezzled 22 Scuba spots 24 Moral lapse 28 - mortal 30 Morse bits 31 Space chimp of 1961 32 Nearly an eternity 33 Deletes, with “out” 34 Platte River tribe 35 “Stop panicking!”

36 Old 7UP nickname, with “the” 37 No-frills shirt 40 Chess, e.g.

41 “- dare?”

42 Total amount 43 Rankle 44 Western actor Lee Van 45 Lean- - (hovels) 47 “- a pity ...”

51 Stinging hits 52 Native Israeli 55 - de mots (pun, in Paris) 56 Henrik who wrote “Peer Gynt” 57 - -mo (replay choice) 58 End-of-word add-on: Abbr.

59 Voiced 61 Actor La Salle 62 Pancake pour-on 63 Sluggish sort 67 Jamaican with dread-

locks, often 68 “Yes, -!”

69 Time chunk 70 Contract need: Abbr.

71 “Nick and - Infinite Playlist” 72 Brings honor to 76 Gel for a petri dish 77 Explode 78 Eradicates 79 Aping 80 Prof’s aides 81 Shop - you drop 82 Addams family cousin 83 School lobby gp.

88 Dumb - ox 89 Attract 90 Free TV ad 92 Church seat 94 Tullius’ 2,020 95 180, slangily 96 Right angle 97 City northwest of Tucson 99 Stupid, clumsy sort 100 Wore away 103 Bodices, e.g.

104 Norwegian currency 105 Brazil’s Espírito 106 Colonel North, briefly 107 Cheesy pie 108 Medical care gp.

112 Italian “dear” 113 Cereal that’s “for kids” 114 Lacoste of tennis 115 Fails to keep up 117 Bottom line 118 Sharp bark 119 Online address 120 Ending for phenyl 121 Prefix with tax

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Smoky Mountain News

March 6-12, 2013

Currently building in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Rabun, Graham and Swain Counties.

38

The harbingers of spring are upon us

A

George Ellison

s you read this it may well be freezing or even icy outside. But before long you’ll be outside working in the garden or searching for early spring wildflowers.

How do I know? Well, for one thing, it always happens doesn’t it? Spring follows winter. Yes, but certain early signs — harbingers of spring — also assure me that things are on track.

Song sparrows are working on their songs for mating and territorial purposes.

It’s a little comical to listen to their first efforts, which come out as an incoherent jumble of notes.

Before long, however, they’ll have the notes down pat.

Columnist Eastern towhees are just as amusing.

Their full song by mid-March or earlier will be “drink-your-tea!” Now you only hear a tentative “drink” or “tea” … never the full song. One would assume that much involving bird song for each species is genetic, but much is also obviously “relearned” from year to year. Or maybe a better analogy is that birds in early spring are like fine musicians who have had a long layoff.

Red-winged blackbirds have made their

BACK THEN appearance in small numbers here in Swain County. It’s curious that the males come first with their bright red-and-yellow epaulettes flashing. Then the females, which resemble large streaked sparrows, will appear. The males are, I suppose, scouting out the terrain … making sure things are shipshape.

Then, in late summer and fall, the males will depart southward followed a little later by the females and young birds.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds and other species also utilize the same male/female migration strategy. Most notable in this regard are the purple martins, which arrive almost every year on March 15 here in Bryson City.

The all-dark males will fly over residences to which they have returned for years complaining if the homeowners don’t have their gourds or houses properly situated.

Then the females with their dark backs and white bellies will arrive and set up house.

Among my favorite harbingers of spring are the tassel-like catkins that dangle from the tag alder (alnus serrulata) shrubs that grow along creeks or in wet meadows. These structures are normally two to three inches in length, but they can sometimes be five or so inches long. Catkins are a very ancient invention for pollinating flowers by wind to

make seed.

In early spring they expand and display the bright yellow pollen that had been sealed inside the structure through the long winter. In The Natural History of Wild Shrubs (1989) Donald Stokes describes what happens next: “The pollen matures a little at a time, and instead of falling directly out of the catkin, collects in little cup-like sections of the flowers. When there is suffi-

cient wind, the pollen is blown out and, with a little luck, carried to a female flower. The female catkins are very different in appearance. They are small and shaped like miniature pine cones.”

These yellow-shimmering catkins, dangling in great numbers over a meadow or stream, are a delight when they catch your eye … sure harbingersof-spring.

George Ellison wrote the biographical introductions for the reissues of two Appalachian classics: Horace Kephart’s Our Southern Highlanders and James Mooney’s History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. In June 2005, a selection of his Back Then columns was published by The History Press in Charleston as Mountain Passages: Natural and Cultural History of Western North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains. Readers can contact him at P.O. Box 1262, Bryson City, N.C., 28713, or at info@georgeellison.com.

72620

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