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Landslide threatens Macon trout farm

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March 20-26, 2013 Vol. 14 Iss. 42

New MedWest-Haywood CEO up to the challenge

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On the Cover: Blue Ridge National Heritage Area launches their latest initiative – the Blue Ridge Music Trails. Mark Haskett photo (Page 20)

News The meaning of southern hospitality at Clyde’s Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Jackson lawmakers full steam ahead toward train deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 New MedWest-Haywood CEO takes the reins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Friends of the Lake launches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tourism agencies debut new spring slogans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 SCC hits county government up for construction money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Bear zoo owners fight back against mistreatment accusations. . . . . . . . . . 10 Swain schools to commissioners: keep funding steady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Unstable landslides teetering above trout farm in Nantahala . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Steep slope regulations get the red ink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Cullowhee subdivision gets the green light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Sweepstakes to be barred from U.S. 441 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Haywood weighs cost, benefits of school safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Opinion Off-the-beaten-path spelunking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

A&E WNC music heritage slides back into the spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

March 20-26, 2013

Kayakers test latest in water gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

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March 20-26, 2013

Smoky Mountain News

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A host/server for the better part of the last decade at Clyde’s Restaurant in Waynesville, Bobby Harracks has become the face of a storied business he truly enjoys being part of.

Service with a smile

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER If you want a seat at one of Bobby Harracks’ tables, you better get to Clyde’s Restaurant early.

A steady crowd of customers makes a beeline for Harracks’ section of the mainstay hometown diner in Waynesville, filling in the booths and counter space for a chance to be entertained by the beloved server.

“Everybody knows me here,” he said. “I love to deal with customers. I like being here and I’m having fun.”

As sunshine trickled through the big bay windows of Clyde’s, Harracks is bouncing between cleaning tables, taking orders, ringing up customers, delivering meals and seemingly everything else in between. He’s resembles a plate spinner, one filled with laughter and a jovial spirit.

Smoky Mountain News

March 20-26, 2013

news

Garret K. Woodward photo

“Bobby always has our coffee cups ready,” Scott said.

“He teases me just like he’s known me all my life, and that’s wonderful. It’s nice to walk into somewhere and be known.”

And with Clark having Huntington’s disease, it means that much more to them that Harracks makes him feel comfortable each time they come for a bite to eat.

“It means everything to John,” Scott said. “He welcomes us and makes us feel like part of the group.”

Knowing exactly what someone wants and needs is just part of the job for Harracks. He’s a member of a community filled with people looking out for each other. It’s an enjoyment for him to run into a customer outside of work.

“People always say ‘hi’, whether they know my name or not,” he said. “My daughter always goes, ‘another customer daddy?’”

Working with Harracks for the last three years, cook Cricket Gibson points to his sense of humor and upbeat attitude as something that ties together the entire staff and clientele at Clyde’s.

“He’s just a fluffy bundle of joy,” she laughed. “His customers love him, we love him and he’s just a good person.”

So, could Gibson ever imagine the restaurant without Harracks?

“No,” she emphatically said. “You can feel bad and come in here and he can actually make you feel better by putting a “You just take one customer at a time and that’s all you smile on your face when you least expect it.” can do,” he said. “It becomes a habit after awhile.”

It’s that two-way street of respect and compassion that Heading for the door after a gut-busting breakfast, anothHarracks cherishes the most. With his wife’s recent cancer er satisfied regular customer waves goodbye to Harracks, diagnosis, he’s grateful for the support given to him by his who returns the gesture with a big grin. customers, many of which have become friends over the “Just remember who makes it happen around here,” he years. jokes from behind the counter. of that love goes around Working at the longtime and “All of that love goes around and and“All comes back,” he said. “It’s famed culinary location for the just like what the sign outside better part of the last decade, comes back. It’s just like what says. We’re a friendly home Harracks moved with his wife the sign outside says. We’re a crowd here.” and in-laws to Waynesville from The hectic breakfast crowd is Florida in 1992. He likes the peofriendly home crowd here.” long gone. In an hour or so, the ple and the true sense of com— Bobby Harracks, host/server lunch rush will arrive. Harracks’ munity that this region offered. at Clyde’s Restaurant corner is spotless in anticipaHarracks has worked in the tion. The booths are empty, for food industry since he was a now, but he’s still running around, getting anything that teenager, eventually attending culinary school. needs to be done, done. He stops for a moment, with his “This business is in my blood,” the 47-year-old said. “And trademark smile rolling across his face.

I’ll keep doing it until my knees give out, which hopefully “I love my job,” he said. “You’ll never hear me complain won’t happen after I get one of them replaced when I turn 50.” that I don’t want to be working here.”

At a nearby table, Tina Scott and John Clark are enjoyThere may be other characters, in other diners, in other ing their meals. The couple comes to Clyde’s a few times a corners of the country, but there is only one Bobby Harracks, week, especially every Tuesday morning right when the and Waynesville is glad to call him their own. restaurant opens.

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Part of Jackson’s $700,000 grant would also pay for the expansion of the maintenance yard.

The full cost of the repairs aren’t known.

If there’s enough money left over, it would go toward the construction of two turntables, used to turn the steam engines around once they reach the end of the track.

In exchange for the grant, the railroad would have to create six full time jobs within three years and stay operational for 15 years.

Dillsboro business owners and Dillsboro town leaders are backing the deal. Dillsboro has long been encouraging the county to help the struggling touristoriented village by helping the railroad.

Dillsboro Town Board Member David Gates urged commissioners at their most recent meeting Monday to get onboard.

“I hope our commissioners think about how important this is,” Gates said. “It’s a great thing for Jackson County.”

A recent study undertaken by Western Carolina University projected the arrangement could have a $25 million per year impact on the Jackson County, granted the steam engine is completed and operational.

However, not all commissioners fully support the measure. Commissioner Mark Jones said he approves the concept but would prefer if it were a low-interest loan rather than what resembles a grant. If the railroad fulfills the requirements of the loan, it does not have to repay the money.

But the most vocal opponent was Commissioner Vickie Green. She said the county should be hesitant to enter into a deal with a company whose owner has been part of at least one other failed business venture: the formerly bankrupt Ghost Town amusement park in Maggie Valley.

Green said she would like to see financial disclosure from the railroad company first. She also pondered whether or not the money would be better spent in other areas that may attract jobs that are better paying, non-seasonal and not subject to the changing whims of the tourism industry Also, she asked, if a steam engine was such a lucrative endeavor, why couldn’t the company repay the loan?

“Is it worth $700,000 in Jackson County funds to make it happen?” she said.

Jackson has two assurances it will get what it pays for.

The train will put up its maintenance yard in Dillsboro worth $1 million as collateral. If the railroad fails to meet the terms of the deal — such as offering trips out of Dillsboro or creating jobs — it would have to repay the money or the county could seize the property.

Also, rather than give the railroad a $700,000 check, according to the agreement, the county will administer the funds and directly pay for the work done and materials purchased as invoices are sent in.

March 20-26, 2013

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFF WRITER ackson County is one step closer to giving money to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad to outfit the scenic rail line with a refurbished steam engine in hopes of getting a tourist boost in return.

County leaders are considering a $700,000 economic development grant to rehabilitate an old-time steam engine, build turntables and expand its maintenance yard.

Train officials say putting a steam engine online between Dillsboro and Bryson City would lead to increased ridership — and in turn more tourists coming to Jackson County.

Jackson County Commissioner Doug Cody said the economic development promise of the train is a safe bet and a good investment for the county.

“I don’t think there’s anything else out there that can do this,” Cody said. “It’s a proven moneymaker.”

Swain leaders have already promised up to $700,000 to the railroad as well.

If Jackson County signs on, both counties would be part of the $1.4 million joint venture betting on more tourists.

A draft of an agreement between the railroad and Jackson County was drawn up and submitted to commissioners for review at a work session Monday. A public hearing on the funding is scheduled for April.

The negotiations between the railroad and the county have been going on for upwards of two years.

In exchange for the $700,000 grant, Jackson County wants the railroad to bring trips back to Dillsboro.

Several years ago, the train moved its headquarters to Bryson City from Dillsboro and soon shifted nearly all of its train departures to Bryson. As riders flocked to Bryson City, the change was said to have closed a number of Dillsboro shops that were dependent on train tourists.

As part of the deal, Jackson insisted that half the steam engine trips would have to depart from Dillsboro. Swain likewise insisted half the steam engine trips would depart from Bryson.

Jackson has also asked the tourist railroad to bring more trips back to Dillsboro immediately — and not wait two years from now when the steam engine is finished.

Commissioner Charles Elders said bringing more departures back to Dillsboro for this season could be a shot in the arm for the small, riverside town.

“Now it’s just like a ghost town,” Elders said. “I feel like this is something. Get this moving if we can by this season.”

However, it could take about two years to get the steam engine serviceable. Much of that work will be done in Dillsboro at the railroad’s maintenance yard.

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Will Jackson ante up to bring tourist train back to Dillsboro?

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New MedWest-Haywood CEO comfortable in challenging situation

March 20-26, 2013

With just more than 100 days on the job under her belt, MedWest-Haywood CEO Janie Sinacore-Jaberg has already gained a reputation for her friendly personality among Haywood County residents. Becky Johnson photo

Smoky Mountain News

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER anie Sinacore-Jaberg has run a lot of hospitals — small hospitals, financially precarious hospitals, turf-war embattled hospitals, hospitals in the midst of a merger, even hospitals in the midst of hostile take over.

By default, more so than by design, managing hospitals in a state of flux has become her de facto forte. Needless to say, she feels right at home in her latest role as CEO of MedWestHaywood — a hospital with a limping economic ledger and identity quandary.

“I think they appreciated my background because I have been in some unsettling and challenging hospital environments,” said Sinacore-Jaberg.

Of course, that’s not exactly a novel résumé claim among hospital CEOs these days. What smaller hospital isn’t facing a litany of challenges?

“I would daresay any CEO we were entertaining would have had experience at a hospital in a similar situation,” said Frank Powers, a retired financial services manager with Smith Barney who is on the MedWest-Haywood Board. “In the environment we are operating in, most if not all hospitals are operating in a state of flux.”

Where Sinacore-Jaberg stands out, however, is how she handles the near-constant adversity faced by her hospitals.

“I was able to calm waters and pull the 6 team together,” said Sinacore-Jaberg.

J

Sinacore-Jaberg has been described as approachable, non-intimidating, extroverted, friendly and charismatic. She’s universally called by her first name “Janie” — partly because her hyphenated last name is a bit iffy to pronounce, but mostly because she’s just “Janie.”

As Sinacore-Jaberg strolled through the hospital lobby en route between meetings one day last week, she stopped to chat with a new mom who was leaving the hospital with a newborn baby in her lap. Sinacore-Jaberg knelt down, smiled and cooed at the baby, and asked the mom whether she’d been taken good care of during her stay — as if the tired and tattered mom was a VIP guest at the Omni and Sinacore-Jaberg was the bellhop.

She took another brief detour, this time behind the main information desk, to introduce herself to one of the many senior volunteers who help man the hospital switchboard.

Within seconds, Sinacore-Jaberg was clutching her hand, listening intently as she recounted her husband’s recent surgery.

Her charismatic bedside manner might be a holdover from her early days in the healthcare field as a nurse. But don’t let the painted nails, high heels and flouncy scarves fool you.

Back in the board room, Sinacore-Jaberg is all business. She thrives on it, in fact. After her first couple of stints as a hospital CEO, she stepped back down to the role as chief operating officer — and soon decided that wasn’t for her.

“Quite frankly, I was a little bored. I missed being a CEO,” she said.

Despite her role as the top administrator, Sinacore-Jaberg still sees health care as a calling. She settled on a career in health care at 16 after her father died of a massive heart attack while she gave him CPR. “I knew then. I told myself I want to do something in health care,” Sinacore-Jaberg said.

She initially went to school to be a surgical technician then worked her way through nursing school. After becoming an operating room nurse, she quickly moved to a head nurse and then chief nursing officer, before making the leap to chief operating officer and ultimately a hospital CEO. Sinacore-Jaberg is in a relatively small fraternity of hospital CEOs in the country. There’s only about 4,000 of them. They tend to move around, staying no more than a few years in one place on average.

That’s certainly been Sinacore-Jaberg’s trajectory, hospital hopping five times in various CEO or COO roles from Ohio to Georgia to South Carolina.

There’s a few universal rules of thumb though.

“Priority one is patient care. I don’t care what hospital you are at,” Sinacore-Jaberg said.

Priority two? Meet the needs of your community, doctors and employees.

“That’s the same for any hospital,” she said. “If you don’t do that, you don’t have any business running a hospital — if I can be blunt, which I typically am.”

General principles aside, each community has its own dynamic, and learning what that is in Haywood has been Sinacore-Jaberg’s mission of late.

“She is eager to learn our community. She takes the time to go out and meet other people,” said Norm Yearick, a hospital board member and retired manager of Corning manufacturing plants.

KEEPING IT LOCAL With a $113 million operating budget and 943 employees under her, Haywood isn’t the biggest hospital Sinacore-Jaberg has run. But she was drawn to it nonetheless.

“Look out the window is one,” she said of why she came.

But the allure of living in a beautiful place wasn’t what sealed the deal.

“Ultimately in the end, what tripped my trigger over this is the medical staff and their absolute dedication to the success of this organization,” she said, citing the high caliber of Haywood County’s doctors. “You don’t always find that, and in fact, you rarely find that in my professional opinion.”

The medical talent and expertise, plus the sheer depth of medical specialties, is “extraordinary” for a community of Haywood’s size, she said.

“And I don’t use that term lightly,” she

added.

She’s primarily worked in the for-profit hospital world. And even now, while at the head of a nonprofit community hospital, Sinacore-Jaberg’s ultimate boss is the hospital giant Carolinas HealthCare, a Charlotte-based network of 32 hospitals of which MedWestHaywood is part.

Carolinas was already familiar with Sinacore-Jaberg before she interviewed for the job. One of her most recent CEO posts was at the hospital in Mount Pleasant, S.C. There, she was locked in a fierce battle with a competing hospital, owned in part by none other than her current boss, Carolinas HealthCare.

Carolinas, simply put, was impressed by her maneuvering in the competitive health climate, and it is still a bit of a running joke.

“When I go to corporate, it’s like, ‘Ha, gotcha on that one, didn’t I?’” Sinacore-Jaberg said.

Despite being answerable to Carolinas, she can’t wear her corporate allegiances on her sleeve. Haywood patients still cling deeply to the idea of a community hospital, and that pride could ultimately help drive them to get their health care at home instead of Asheville.

“I make sure that I am part of this community. I am going to go to Kiwanis and Rotary and churches and meetings with county commissioners,” she said. “That’s what you do.

You use as much community involvement as you can.”

While patients claim they like the idea of a community hospital in principle, the “bigger must be better” syndrome has been a thorn in Haywood’s side.

“That is a philosophy in a lot of things, not just health care,” Sinacore-Jaberg said.

Too many patients are driving the half hour to Mission Hospital for medical care they could just as easily get at MedWest-Haywood, and stemming that tide is a top priority — if not a critical one.

“What we have to show is we are here for our community. We have the quality, and we are going to show you we have the quality,” she said.

‘PERSON OF THE HOUR’

Sinacore-Jaberg has her work cut out for her, however. MedWest-Haywood had a roughly 10 percent negative operating margin for the last fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, 2012. It was one of the worst records it has posted in recent years.

Meanwhile, the number of hospitals in America has shrunk from 10,000 to 4,400.

Another quarter of them could go out of business before the hospital industry hits the bottom, wagered John Young, a vice president for Carolinas HealthCare, the parent company of MedWest with a 32-hospital network.

F

“Ultimately in the end, what tripped my trigger over this is the medical staff and their absolute dedication to the success of this organization. You don’t always find that, and in fact, you rarely find that in my professional opinion.”

— Janie Sinacore-Jaberg, CEO of Medwest-Haywood

Friends of the Lake launched to support walking path

E

Lake Junaluska is the most popular recreation site in Haywood County but is maintained entirely through private funds. Friends of the Lake will now offer a way people who enjoy the space can give back.

Outdoors section of the paper for details.)

Green said word will spread quickly through the running and walking communi-

to unravel.

A vice president with Carolinas HealthCare, the management company over MedWest, stepped in as acting CEO. But the result was a protracted holding pattern.

“That desk is a big hole,” Sinacore-Jaberg said. “When the head leadership role is gone, you are a ship without a rudder.”

UNCERTAINTIES AHEAD

MedWest-Haywood CEO Janie SinacoreJaberg chatting with a hospital volunteer.

Becky Johnson photo

said. One thing she’s learned is that new partnerships take time.

“It takes a long time, years, to develop a strong relationship between your organizations,” Sinacore-Jaberg said.

But whether the two sides are willing to give it the time — or just want out — remains to be seen. Sinacore-Jaberg plans to let the board of directors for each hospital chart the course and didn’t offer her own opinion.

“Do I know what we should do right now?

No. I need to see what the boards want to do,” she said. “I think I need to see what shakes out.”

In Sinacore-Jaberg’s eyes, MedWestHaywood’s largest challenge is something that it has no control over.

“Ask me what keeps me up at night?

Reduction in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement,” she said.

With the lion’s share of Haywood patients on either Medicare or Medicaid, the shrinking federal reimbursements mean the hospital doesn’t recoup the actual cost of treating patients. Yet it simply has to take its lumps, struggling to offset the losses with an everincreasing goal of greater efficiency — a factor that forced a workforce reduction of 80 employees last year.

“You just get smarter. You work harder,” she said.

These days, you won’t hear SinacoreJaberg complaining she’s bored.

“I am called to organizations that are challenged. I want to help,” she said. “I’m the kind of person who continues to push even when people put blocks in the way.”

Smoky Mountain News

ing those around her for a common goal and purpose.

“I am not a manager — I am a leader. I have a firm belief in that. I hope to lead change and hope to have people who are smarter than me to make that happen,” she said. “I don’t micromanage. My team will tell you that. If I need to micromanage them, I don’t need them.”

Sinacore-Jaberg has been the helm of MedWest-Haywood for roughly 100 days. For nearly a year before that, MedWest-Haywood was without a permanent CEO following the departure of Mike Poore.

Poore got out just as the hospital’s finances were tanking — and just as its fledgling partnership with Harris and Swain hospitals under the new MedWest banner began

One of the biggest issues facing SinacoreJaberg — although one she declined to speak about much — is the strained relationship inside the MedWest partnership. The partnership was forged three years ago, bringing the hospitals in Haywood, Jackson and Swain under one umbrella.

Hospital leaders and doctors had high hopes for the newly formed alliance at the time, but the medical communities in Jackson and Swain — which had previously formed a two-hospital alliance — were dissatisfied almost from the start.

The sentiment ultimately led them to officially declare last summer that they wanted out of MedWest and to go their separate way from Haywood. Whether leaders can work through their differences and hold the partnership together will be decided during the coming year by the MedWest board.

Sinacore-Jaberg is no stranger to hospital mergers or the struggles and clashes they can bring. Twice, Sinacore-Jaberg has overseen hospital mergers.

There’s no magic formula for making it work, and every joint venture is different, she

ty of the Friends of the Lake concept, thanks to the sense of camaraderie among runners at Lake Junaluska.

“It is a little bit of a social event,” Green said. “You just get to know people who are in that circle.”

The walking trail at Lake Junaluska is one of the most popular privately owned recreation areas in Western North Carolina.

Kathy Sheppard, of Sheppard Insurance, has already signed on as a corporate sponsor with Friends of the Lake.

“They open their doors willingly to the public to use the trail, and I think this is a way for thanking them for that,” Sheppard said. “It is an inspiring place.”

To donate and join Friends of the Lake, contact 828.454.6680 or developmentoffice@lakejunaluska.com.

March 20-26, 2013

Sinacore-Jaberg has to make sure Haywood doesn’t become one of them.

But Sinacore-Jaberg is hopeful. During the past 18 months, the hospital has bit off a lot. It opened a new urgent care center in Canton, opened a new outpatient surgery center, implemented a costly new electronic medical records system, purchased several physician practices and has seen success recruiting new doctors.

All that cost money, of course, but has created momentum.

“I think we are very well set to take it to the next level,” she said. “The baseline is there. I feel like we are moving in the right direction.”

The board of MedWest-Haywood said Sinacore-Jaberg is proving to be the right person for the job.

“We will have to face the changes in health care in a bold way. Janie is the right person of the hour to do that,” said Yearick.

“The fact that she came up through the ranks, she knows a hospital is more than a business but a place where we show our county residents compassion and the need for quality care — and at the same time recognizing financially it is a struggle.”

Board members lauded the wealth of experience Sinacore-Jaberg has in the health care industry. But they also see her as simply a positive presence.

“She is a high-energy person and very in tune with listening to people and relates well,” said Mark Clasby, a hospital board member and the county economic development director.

One of Sinacore-Jaberg’s strengths is rally-

formal way to contribute to a place they value, Howle said.

“I think most people have said it is about time,” Howle said “It is long overdue, and they are excited to help ensure that Lake Junaluska can sustain the recreation area and remain a beautiful place to come and recreate.”

The cost of an annual membership in Friends of the Lake is just $25, but Howle expects some people will give much more.

“Long term, we want to cover the cost of maintaining the grounds and recreation opportunities through charitable donations,” Howle said.

There’s more than just the walking path to keep up. There’s the park and picnic area below the dam, the rose walk, numerous pocket gardens and manicured public spaces throughout the grounds. It takes a 10-person landscaping crew — constantly mowing, weed eating, handweeding, mulching and planting, not to mention maintaining the path itself.

Friends of the Lake is being officially kicked off on Saturday, March 30, with the Friends of the Lake 5K and fun run. (See the

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BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER d Green has plenty of time for contemplation during his 15 mile runs on the paths circling Lake Junaluska. One of his recurring thoughts turns to what’s underfoot: how lucky he is to run in such a beautiful place.

“You are along the shore of the lake; it is peaceful; it is quiet. You don’t worry about the everyday things you worry about if you are on the road running,” said Green, 64, who works as a nurse at Mission Hospital.

It got Green to thinking. He runs at the lake five times a week sometimes but was free-loading in a sense. The cost of keeping up the grounds and several miles of walking paths and trails tops $250,000 a year — an expense born solely by the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center and donors.

Green approached fellow fans of the Lake Junaluska walking path with the idea of doing something to contribute, which ultimately led to the creation of the newly formed Friends of the Lake.

“On any given summer day, we estimate 1,000 people come and recreate at the lake,” said Ken Howle, director of advancement for Lake Junaluska.

Friends of the Lake has been wellreceived. People are eager to finally have a

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New tourism pitches unveiled in time for spring

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER he mountains are an undeniable tourist magnet, but with so many WNC destinations to chose from, the crusade to stand out from the pack is prompting county tourism agencies to constantly refine and redefine their message.

What will entice a vacationer to their corner of the Smokies — will outdoor adventures catch their eye, a quaint downtown draw them in or mountain music festivals win them over?

In Western North Carolina, the natural landscape is an obvious and principl piece of tourism marketing campaigns. But tourism agencies have to ask themselves, “What makes their county different from others?”

During the winter, county tourism agencies have been prepping their new taglines for debut in April advertising — just as tourism season is gearing up.

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will premiere a new marketing campaign centered on the tagline “Fresh from the N.C. Smokies,” which will be featured in each ad.

The advertising strategy focuses on unique items found and made in Haywood County, including dulcimers, trout and a quilt trail — playing up a homegrown, homemade feel.

“They are trying to be true to who they are,” said Jay Sokolow, an account executive with The Tombras Group, a Knoxville-based advertising agency. “That’s important in any business.”

Haywood’s tourism agency has contracted with The Tombras Group for about seven years to design ads that appear in magazines from Our State to Southern Living to Smoky Mountain Living, on billboards and as banner ads on different websites. They developed a slate of magazine ad ideas with the new “Fresh from the N.C. Smokies” slogan, which was recently unveiled to the tourism board.

The ads are designed with specific audiences in mind. One pictured fruit with the words “These blueberries aren’t going to pick themselves.” Another read “I am going to need a bigger weekend” over top the outline of a beer bottle to play up the three craft breweries in Waynesville.

Meanwhile, Swain County tourism leaders will kickoff a new advertising tagline this year as well. The county’s old slogan was “Make a play date in Swain County.”

This year, it will be “Have a big vacation in a small town.” It’s debut in an Our State magazine ads will run with an image of the allAmerican family against the backdrop of

Smoky Mountain News

March 20-26, 2013

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Fontana Lake, the mountains and downtown Bryson City.

Ads, no matter whether they target outdoorsy families or motorcycle enthusiasts, will feature the distinct tagline. It has to capture the essence of the county yet work in just about any ad catering to different types of tourists.

“We don’t want six different taglines,” said Karen Wilmot, executive director of the Swain County Chamber of Commerce. “We want one comprehensive tagline.”

Wilmot said, so if you can’t afford to place an ad in a publication more than once or twice, the money might not be worth it.

“Is it really a good investment for us considering we are going to get lost in the shuffle?”

Wilmot said.

Swain County works with Charles and Ellen Snodgrass of the Whittier-based Deep Creek Arts, who Wilmot said are keenly aware of how to market the county because of their proximity and connection to area.

“You don’t develop this sense of place if you do it every year. You don’t develop a following.”

— Karen Wilmot, Swain County Chamber of Commerce executive director

“We have a big picture and then they bring us ideas,” Wilmot said.

“It is very easy for them to understand what we want.”

Similarly, Haywood County’s tourism board devised the idea for underlining all the activities, places and products that are part of the county’s identity but looked to the professionals to build a comprehensive ad campaign around it.

“It’s clean; it’s simple; and it really is representative of what we have in Haywood County to Haywood County’s Tourism Development Authority will launch a sell,” said Lynn Collins, new advertising campaign this spring, which will emphasize unique executive director of Haywood County items found or made within the county. tourism development authority.

A slogan change is part and parcel with Unlike a Disney vacation, beach resort or new branding campaigns, which counties and cruise, people coming to the mountains are towns typically revamp every few years. looking for a genuine experience — not necesThere’s a balance in just how often to reinvent sarily a touristy one. They want to eat where their message. By running with the same a the locals eat and hike where the locals hike. A brand for at least a few years, small counties good ad will make them feel invited into that with small advertising budgets can start to inner circle. build a customer base.

“Your best experience is going to be more “You don’t develop this sense of place if authentic,” Sokolow said. “I don’t want to go you do it every year. You don’t develop a fol- to a chain restaurant [when I go on vacation].” lowing,” Wilmot said.

Feeding off that idea, the tourism board’s Budgets affect where and how often an ad advertising campaign will spotlight buying will run. As a rule of thumb, an ad must run fresh, local products. four times before it’s noticed by the reader, “‘Fresh’ is a fabulous word for Haywood

County,” Sokolow said. The idea conjures up everything from fresh air to fresh foods to fresh music.

In Jackson County, tourism leaders are also coming up with a new slogan. Since a county’s entire tourism campaign will ultimately revolve around its slogan, coming up with one was seen as job number one for the newly formed Jackson County Tourism Development Agency.

Jackson County used to have two tourism authorities —one in Cashiers and one for the county. This year, however, the two were combined into one overarching tourism agency to manage promotions and campaigns for the county as a whole.

That means that the newly formed tourism agency needs to create a new brand and advertising campaign from scratch.

Ads paid for by the two, now defunct tourism agencies will continue to run until July, giving the new countywide tourism board time to craft just-the-right brand. y “This an exciting time for us, and this is a time we can’t afford to screw it up,” said Clifford Meads, chair of the Jackson tourism authority board and manager of High Hampton Inn in Cashiers.

Jackson hired the Virginia-based marketing company BCF to handle its reinvention.

The company sent out 7,000 surveys and made calls to Jackson County business owners to collect information on what people like about the county and what they would want to see highlighted in an advertising campaign or slogan.

The Jackson tourism board will not see proposed branding ideas until later this month.

“What that identity is going to be I have no clue,” Meads said. “I’ve got ideas that I think would fly really well, but I don’t know what they will come up with.”

In addition to kicking off a print advertising campaign, an important piece of any rebranding campaign is an online presence.

Now more than ever, people are planning their vacations online. Tourism agencies’ have upped their Internet advertising budgets and also improved their websites.

“Because of the way people shop now, if you will, for vacations, we do a lot more digital centric marketing,” Sokolow said.

The websites must also be more userfriendly to persuade someone to visit.

Haywood’s new website, that will debut along with its new advertisements, will feature a picture of the Smokies, maps showing people how close the county is to other tourism areas like Knoxville or Asheville, and tabs for specific activities such as hiking or motorcycling.

“Full Disclosure” workshop shines light on public information, open data In honor of Sunshine Week in North Carolina, Carolina Public Press will hold a “Full Disclosure” workshop in the Cardinal Conference Room at Western Carolina University from 2:30-6 p.m. on April 4.

The event will give journalists, students, public information officers, citizens and civic and IT leaders the essential tools, guides and instruction needed to understand and access public records and data at the local, state and federal levels. It will provide up-to-date case studies including court cases and proposed legislation.

Trainers include Amanda Martin, N.C. Press Association’s general counsel; Jon Elliston, investigations and open government editor at Carolina Public Press; and Angie Newsome, executive director and editor of Carolina Public Press.

Admission is free for WCU students with an ID and $30 for all others. Advance registration is required, and seating is limited. www.carolinapublicpress.org or 828.279.0949.

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Smoky Mountain News

expand the culinary arts classrooms, renovate the gymnasium and physical education spaces, adding showers, along with improvements a multi-purpose room in the building. In a tourism-oriented economy, the culinary arts programs are very popular at SCC. “That program is highly sought after,” Tomas said. “Many go to work at Harrah’s or Highlands and Cashiers resorts.”

• The welding facilities are also in store for a $268,000 face-lift, including an expansion to instructional facilities and enclosing some of the classroom space located outside.

• Part of the proposed projects is handicapped accessibility. The campus is plagued with several areas of campus that are either difficult to access by someone in a wheelchair or with limited mobility, or impossible to access at all.

Tomas said at students have come forward and expressed their concerns about campus accessibility.

“I visited with a young man who was wheelchair bound and addressed some of his concerns,” Tomas said. “It was very difficult for him to maneuver from one building to another and get to class without being late.”

March 20-26, 2013

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFF WRITER contingent of administrators from Southwestern Community College made a pitch to Jackson County commissioners Monday to help pay for a campus building plan.

College President Don Tomas asked commissioners to supply an extra $600,000 in the upcoming budget to contribute towards several renovations and expansions. The county has already committed $600,000 to the campus building plan. The money has been set aside, ready to be tapped when building starts. SCC leaders want another $600,000 added to the kitty this year, for a total contribution of $1.2 million.

The estimated cost of the campus plan is about $3.6 million, but the remaining funds will come from the state and other sources.

Tomas said some the improvements are necessary to keep up with the college’s growing student population and maintain its status among other community colleges. One of the top priorities is a campus quad and central student gathering area designed with outdoor seating, walkways and green spaces, which Tomas said is long overdue.

“We’re probably the only community college in the state without a centralized place for students to gather,” he said.

The campus quad project is part of the first phase of proposed projects and is estimated to cost about $300,000. It would connect to the recently completed, $8.8 million Burrell Building.

Construction will begin in six to eight months. If full funding for the plan materializes, it could be completed within two years.

County leaders will decide whether to put in another $600,000 during the budget planning process for the next fiscal year that will take place over coming months, according to County Manager Chuck Wooten. He added that because the county could afford to set aside the $600,000 in the current budget already, it should probably be able to do the same for next year.

“Assuming our revenues our comparable, then it should have a negative impact on next year’s budget,” Wooten said.

The campus building plan has six components, ranging from additional classrooms to

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SCC wants money for building plan

new parking lots to accessibility.

• Another top priority is a 6,600-squarefoot, $1.5 million addition to Founder’s Hall, the oldest building on campus, built 50 years ago. The Founder’s Hall addition would create more instructional space for cosmetology students. Currently there is a backlog of potential students who want to study the subject but can’t get a space in the program. With the additional space, the waiting list would be eliminated within two years.

The plan for Founder’s Hall also includes expanding the food services available on campus and designating space for a café. A food service entry door would be added to the building. Tomas said food services and parking are two areas for which students are consistently requesting more services and better service.

• A new $500,000 parking lot is also slated for the first tier of building activity along with a $100,000 improvement to the school’s fire hydrant system and water infrastructure.

• A second phase of the construction plan would include nearly $1 million in improvements to Bradford Hall. The work would

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news

Cherokee bear zoo debate roars on

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER s the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ leaders mull the fate of bear zoos on the reservation, representatives from two of Cherokee’s three bear zoos have said they are being unfairly harried because of one bad egg.

Federal regulators closed Chief Saunooke Bear Zoo in Cherokee last month amid a myriad of animal welfare violations, but animal rights activists and some enrolled members of the Eastern Band have denounced all bear zoos — including Cherokee Bear Zoo and Santa’s Land.

Collette Coggins, an enrolled member and owner of Cherokee Bear Zoo, has cried foul after her establishment was lumped in with Chief Saunooke Bear Zoo. “We take a lot better care of our bears than some people take of their children,” Coggins said.

But she did not claim her bear zoo is the picture of perfection. Cherokee Bear Zoo’s 10 bears live in concrete pits, which have been decried by critics as cruel. The bears have logs to scratch and chew on, but there is no natural vegetation. Although Cherokee Bear Zoos is up to snuff when it comes to federal regulations, Coggins admitted that simply meeting standards isn’t enough.

After nearly two decades of showcasing bears in concrete pits for paying tourists, Coggins acknowledged sensibilities over what constitutes an adequate environment for the bears has changed.

“We realize now that they need to be upgraded,” Coggins said. “We want to do better.”

Coggins and her husband Barry have proposed plans to build a multi-million dollar bear “sanctuary,” as Coggins refers to it.

It’s hard to create a better environment on her current site, however, so she began looking for other land to relocate the bear zoo to.

The couple has asked for Tribal Council to lease them empty tribally owned land near Cherokee Phoenix Theatres to create a new home for the bears. Coggins wants an on-staff veterinarian, a live birthing center, educational and cultural information, and

Members of the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested the living conditions of bears housed at Chief Saunooke Bear Park in Cherokee in January. plenty of space and natural plant life.

“I want it to be more grass, more plants,” Coggins said.

The Cogginses brought their proposal before Tribal Council in February and again in March. But the council has tabled the matter until further discussions can be had.

Kenneth Howell, who has worked with the animals at Santa’s Land for 13 years, told Tribal Council that the bear zoo controversy is a case of one bad egg spoiling the bunch.

Coggins and Kenneth Howell, a representative for Santa’s Land, both fought back against claims that their animals are mistreated and not fed properly. The public is allowed to feed the bears lettuce, bread and apples, but the bear zoos give them other sources of nutrition, both in season items like nuts and pumpkins and the bear-specific food Mazuri.

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“We monitor all the protein intake, all the vitamin intake,” Coggins said.

Howell, who has worked with the animals at Santa’s Land for 13 years, told Tribal Council that the bear zoo controversy is a case of one bad egg spoiling the bunch.

“That seems unfair to me,” Howell said.

At Santa’s Land, the shaded animal enclosures are improved every year, he said, and include trees and other natural vegetation for the animals.

“We have continually upgraded our park and our facilities,” Howell said. “These animals go into bigger and better facilities each year.”

Santa’s Land is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after a capuchin monkey escaped its enclosure in 2007 and bit a child. That same year, it was also fined $10,312 for not providing adequate shelter from inclement weather, for not properly monitoring the nutritional needs of its large cats, lack of strong housing and adequate veterinary care for a few of its animals. Only one violation — lack of proper shelter from the elements — specifically mentions bears.

U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors have never investigated or fined Cherokee Bear Zoo for any violations. But

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Smoky Mountain News

March 20-26, 2013

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the Animal Legal Defense Fund sent a letter to the Cogginses Monday indicating the organization’s plan to sue them for violations of the Endangered Species Act. Cherokee Bear Zoo has four grizzly bears, which are considered a “threatened” species.

And by keeping the grizzlies in concrete pits and denying them “everything that is natural and important to them,” the Animal Legal Defense Fund claims, the Cherokee Bear Zoo is violating the act.

“Bears belong in the wild or in reputable sanctuaries, not in barren pits,” ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells said in a press statement. “The Endangered Species Act is designed to protect grizzlies from harm and harassment — and that’s exactly what the bears at Cherokee Bear Zoo face every day.”

Animal rights activists around the U.S. have questioned the humanity of the concrete pit bear zoos for years, calling for tribal leaders to shut them down. Their cries picked up momentum earlier this year when the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released an undercover video of Chief Saunooke Bear Zoo in Cherokee.

The video showed bears in concrete pits gnawing on metal bars until their teeth snapped and employees at the bear zoo making derogatory statements about enrolled members of the Eastern Band.

A couple of enrolled members asked tribal leaders to revoke the zoos’ business licenses and force them to shut down immediately.

Tribal Council has not yet made a decision on the matter.

“Those bears are suffering,” said enrolled member Peggy Hill-Kerbow.

However, Tribal Council members agreed that if the zoos were closed, the bears could not be suddenly moved elsewhere. Planning would be involved.

“There is no timeline. You have to give people time,” said Tribal Council member Tommeye Saunooke of Painttown.

After hearing Coggins’ plan, one enrolled member who spoke out previously against bear zoos said she liked the idea.

“Collette (Coggins) is willing to put them back in a natural environment. I will support her,” said enrolled member Amy Walker.

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Smoky Mountain News

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER Despite a big wish list, Swain County school leaders won’t be asking the county for more money next year.

Swain school officials instead have posed a quite modest request — just don’t cut our budget.

“If you all can maintain what you did last year, we will be like a pig in a haystack,” Swain County Superintendent Bob Marr told county commissioners at a joint meeting between school officials and the county earlier this month.

The county gave $750,000 for operations and $145,000 for capital projects to the school this year.

School leaders warned county commissioners, however, that they have laundry list of needed projects piling up — including replacing the current high school with a brand new one — and expressed concerns over waning state funding.

“It seems like we have a dwindling flow of money that comes from the legislature each year,” said Charles McMahan, a school board member.

While school leaders indicated they could survive without increased funding from the county next fiscal year, Auxiliary Services Director Sam Pattillo presented a list of projects that it intends to tackle during the next 10 years.

Ranked among the highest priority are adding classrooms to both East Elementary and Swain County High School. The school’s building to-do list also includes expanding the high school’s cafeteria, building circular drives for buses to drop off students at the county’s two elementary schools and making Swain Middle School more energy efficient.

School leaders gave the high-priority items a timeline for completion of one to three years from now.

But even among the high-priority projects, some outrank others in urgency.

“East Elementary School would probably be the most demanding,” Marr said.

Enrollment at East Elementary school has picked up and is expected to continue increasing. The school currently has 427 students, compared to 338 pupils during the 2006-07 school year.

East Elementary isn’t the only school in Swain County wanting for space, however. West Elementary faced similar problems, but the county spent about $1.8 million on eight new classrooms for the school in 2011. The middle school and high school continue to outgrow their facilities as well.

“The middle school seems to be really coming to more stress because of the space,” Pattillo said.

But before the middle school can get any relief, a completely new high school must come first.

Somewhere in the next five to 10 years, school administrators hope to start construction on a new high school, which, once finished, would make way for the old high school to become the new middle school.

“Swain County Middle School has a lot of connections with what happens with the high school,” Pattillo said.

The largest obstacle the county faces to school improvements, though, is where to find the money.

“Nobody wants to fund schools,” said County Manager Kevin King.

The county placed a quarter-cent sales tax increase on the ballot last November to help pay for school construction, but it was voted down.

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Swain school leaders set bar low on budget

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news March 20-26, 2013 Smoky Mountain News 12

No recourse for trout farmer in wake of menacing landslides

BY ANDREW KASPER built road on land above his farm during major STAFF WRITER rain storms.

Howard Brown doesn’t sleep well when The 2004 slide was triggered by the remthere’s rain in the forecast. nants of two hurricanes that parked themselves His trout farm in Nantahala — teaming over the region for several days. The landslide with $400,000 worth of rainbow trout at any came down the mountain so powerfully that it given time — has twice been victim of near took out trees on the hillside and sounded like miss landslides from a road on a too-steep thunder when it hit the valley, Brown said. It slope above him. was 800 feet long and 200 feet wide.

The most recent was in January. A landThe most recent landslide happened folslide nearly destroyed Brown’s trout farm, just lowing prolonged heavy rains in January. That missing a vital intake that provides fresh water one was up to 400 feet long and 100 feet wide. from nearby White Oak Creek to his fishery. In “It was just mud and rocks coming 2004, a different landslide almost registered a through,” Brown said. “It’s a mess, it really is.” direct hit on the intake.

And both landslides have left scars in the Now Brown is wondering when the next landscape, absent of vegetation, that slowly big one will come and seep sedimentation who will pay for it if it into the stream and the “If problems show up in trout farm. does devastate his valuable trout farm.

Mark Cantrell, a later years after [a road “If that other side of biologist with the U.S. is] constructed those the mountain comes Fish and Wildlife Service off we’re going to lose based in Asheville, said sedimentation erosion the whole farm,” sediment from landBrown said. “This is a slides can be especially ordinances don’t really very serious thing for harmful to fish. While apply anymore.” us right now. It doesn’t the water is clouded seem like the people with debris, fish have — Rick Wooten, geologist with down below these difficulty finding food. the N.C. Geological Survey things have any rights And as the sediment setat all.” tles at the bottom of the Brown runs Andrews-based Carolina stream, it can harm nests of fish eggs and other Mountain Trout, with several trout farm sites insects the fish feed on and diminish the circuin the area. The one in Nantahala is the largest lation of oxygen in the water. and most important — it’s where he raises finEach time another storm occurs, that same gerlings that then supply his other trout farms. sedimentation can be stirred up again until it It’s a big operation, claiming to be the largest is finally flushed out of the system. Cantrell rainbow trout supplier in the East. said the safer bet for the fish is to prevent large Brown estimates that there are about amounts of sediment from entering the ecosys275,000 pounds of fish on the farm that, when tem in the first place. harvested, could be sold for an upwards of “It should be said that construction on steep $1.50 per pound. So, for Brown to have a slur- slopes for roads or houses should be at a safe ry of water and dirt run down the mountain enough distance from waterways,” Cantrell said. and smother the fresh water source his fish Brown said the roads above the stream depend on, the scenario would not only be feeding his trout farm were put in place unbedamaging but expensive, too. knownst to him. And, judging by the steep Both landslides originated from a privately angle of the slope on which the roads are locat-

Rep. Mark Meadows opening offices in 11th District Rep. Mark Meadows (R-Cashiers) has opened 18 offices throughout the 11th Congressional District. “Constituents can set up meetings at any of the district office locations to receive help with anything from navigating the federal government to assistance with their Social Security and Medicare,” Meadows said.

Office locations include: • Haywood County Justice Center, 285 N. Main Street in Waynesville. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 828.452.6022.

• Jackson County’s Southwestern Commission Building, 125 Bonnie Lane in Sylva. Hours are 9 a.m. to noon the first and third Thursday of the month.

• Macon County Courthouse, 5 W. Main Street, Room 332 in Franklin. Hours are 10 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m. the first and

A landslide in Nantahala came down the mountain in January and nearly destroyed a commercial trout farm below. Donated photo ed, they should have not been put in place, Brown said.

LANDSLIDE PRONE SLOPE After the second landslide in January, Brown sought outside help from the experts in the field of landslide science. It turns out a set of landslide hazard maps the N.C. Geological Survey developed in 2006 labeled the area as highly unstable and prone to landslides during rain.

Rick Wooten, a geologist with the N.C. Geological Survey, visited the site in February.

Wooten determined that the roads were built on a slope approaching 100 percent grade. The soil type is also problematic. It is rich in mica, which doesn’t compact well. As a result the fill dirt used for the road gave way.

However, Wooten said his agency is not a regulatory one.

When roads are under construction, they must comply with state and county sediment and erosion control rules.

“If problems show up in later years after it’s constructed those sedimentation erosion

ordinances don’t really apply anymore,” Wooten said.

While Macon County now has an ordinance that requires basic standards for private road construction in subdivisions, it wasn’t in place when this road was built.

Macon County also doesn’t have any mechanism for placing blame after a landslide has occurred, said County Planner Matt Mason.

“At this point it’s something the two landowners have to settle,” said Mason.

Brown may be left without any recourse except to work directly with the landowners or through litigation.

If a third landslide were to affect his business, Brown said he would likely take the matter to court. He said he has contacted the owner of the road and that property owner doesn’t want to invest in any improvements. He’s left looking at alternatives, such as buying the property himself or offering to fix the road to avoid another catastrophic incident.

“That road should have never been put in there, but people just come in and do what they want to do and somebody’s got to pay for it,” Brown said.

third Tuesdays of the month. 828.349.2025 x2602.

• Cherokee Ginger Welch Building, 810 Acquoni Road in Cherokee. Hours are from 10 a.m. to noon and 1-3 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of the month.

• Swain County Administration Building, 101 Mitchell Street in Bryson City. Hours are 1:30-4:30 p.m. the first and third Thursdays of the month.

The course will be held from 6-9 p.m. every Thursday for six weeks at the Oak Park Inn, 196 South Main Street in Waynesville.

828.551.2095 or www.mountainbizworks.org.

Mountain BizWorks offering business planning course

The Golden LEAF Foundation and Swain County will host a public forum from 5:30-8 p.m. on Monday, March 25, at the Business Training Center at 45 East Ridge Road in Bryson City.

The purpose of the forum, the fourth in a series, is to continue the Golden LEAF Foundation’s Community Assistance Initiative by completing the development of success measures for identified funding priorities. The Community Assistance Initiative is a grant-making process targeting economically distressed counties across North Carolina and is currently being implemented in Swain County. pcabe@goldenleaf.org or 888.684.8404.

Mountain BizWorks will offer a business-planning course in Waynesville beginning March 21.

The six-session course will help entrepreneurs evaluate and estimate start-up and overhead costs, determine profit goals, project cash flow, develop marketing plans, and learn about necessary licensing and record keeping. Additional material will also be provided for those in agricultural enterprises.

Forum to focus on how to measure success

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFF WRITER he Jackson County Planning Board voted last Thursday to eliminate a pivotal component of the county’s steep slope building rules.

The planning board wants to do away with a controversial limits on how many homes can be built on steep slopes. It is one of the most stringent parts of Jackson’s steep slope rules, and the most stringent of its kind in the region.

Ultimately, any changes to the Mountain and Hillside Development Ordinance need to be approved by county commissioners, but the vote last week marked the first major recommendation by the planning board to weaken the county’s existing rules for steep slope construction.

The board has been discussing changes to the ordinance for months now in a systematic page-by-page review.

Current regulations limit the number of

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follow his remarks at Ryan’s.

On Friday, April 12, N.C. Sen. Jim Davis (RFranklin) will present a report on activity in the state legislature and outline the agenda for the 2013 session. That, too, will be followed with a question-and-answer session.

The Jackson County Patriots is a politically neutral grassroots organization numbering more than 200 members from the county and surrounding area. Its focus is to actively promote a Constitution-based leaner government, fiscal accountability and individual responsibility.

Ginny Jahrmarkt at Box547@aol.com or Bill Adams at Ubsrub@aol.com.

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The Jackson County Patriots have announced two special town hall events for March and April.

On Thursday, March 21, at Ryan’s restaurant in Sylva, County Commissioner Jack Debnam will address the group on Second Amendment issues as they pertain to county government. A question-and-answer period will

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Smoky Mountain News

Political leaders to be featured at Jackson County town hall

WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY | SA AT T U R D A Y, Y, A P R I L 6

March 20-26, 2013

aesthetics by limiting development. He said the goal of the steep slope law should be safety, not aesthetics.

“Density standards speak more to people’s view shed standards,” Jamison said. “That’s a different thing than safety.”

Jamison said the philosophy of the current planning board differs from the previous planning board that wrote the steep slope laws.

One audience member spoke out in support of the current rules, however, and asked the planning board not to toss them out. Dan Pittillo, a retired Western Carolina University biologist who was on the previous planning board, pleaded that board members don’t undo the past work done toward protecting the county’s hillsides.

“Be careful about changing what we’ve done in the past about slope development this county,” Pittillo. “In the long run, we will have to deal with those things coming down the hill.”

Yet, the board has maintained that it is not weakening the ordinance, but instead is only tweaking it and improving it.

“We’re not trying to diminish Jackson County’s steep slope law was part of a this ordinance,” said board memsuite of development regulations passed six years ber Richard Frady. “We’re trying to ago. But the planning board today has a much differstrengthen and make it enforced.” ent makeup, and a different ideological take on what Only one planning board the county’s development rules should look like. member, Joe Ward, wanted to There is also a new majority on the board of counkeep the density requirements in ty commissioners elected in 2010. They have endorsed place. Ward said keeping the regua review of the county’s ordinances in principle and lations in place protect people publicly stated the current rules are too strict — but who may buy a piece of property they have not weighed in specifically on what portions with the hopes of building on it they want to see changed or by how much. only to find later that they can’t.

On the steepest slopes, small lots can be hard or even impossible to houses that can be built on steep slopes based shoehorn a house onto, given the extent of cuton a sliding scale. and-fill needed to level out a foundation pad.

At the high end of the spectrum — on He suggested that tossing out the concept slopes greater than 45 percent — there can of housing density limits altogether seemed only be one house per every 10 acres. Mid- extreme. range slopes with a grade of 30 and 34 percent “So, we want to throw that whole part of can have one house per every two acres. the ordinance out?” Ward said.

Planning Board Member Mark Jamison Others on the board felt the limits placed said the only purpose served by the rule was an undue burden on landowners trying to

news

Jackson planning board wants to toss out part of steep slope rule

build few houses on their property. Planning ing capacity for drinking wells.

Board Member Mark Jamison said the uninBut the planning board doesn’t need to tended consequences of the county’s regula- worry about groundwater recharge anymore, tions are that local property owners, not devel- since they have a separate ordinance for that opers, can’t make use of their own property if now, said Board Chairman Zac Koenig, owner they decide. of Koenig Homebuilders.

“This is beating up on the wrong people,” The planning board has previously extractJamison said. ed references to groundwater recharge from Planning Board Member Clark Lipkin, a the county’s development regulations and put land surveyor, said there is no safety justifica- them in their own ordinance — although it is tion for the density standards. He wondered not as stringent as the old language. where the previous planning board that initialKoenig said the number of homes on steep ly approved the regulaslopes will naturally be tions came up with regulated by the ability “Density standards them. to put in roads and sep“Frankly, I think speak more to people’s tic tanks, which are also they’re pulled out of thin already covered in other view shed standards. air,” Lipkin said. “I’m regulations. not entirely sure we need The planning board That’s a different thing them. If it’s not going to and county staff also than safety.” slide off the hill in a landcriticized what they perslide, then why do we ceived as a flaw in the — Mark Jamison, need density stansliding scale. The scale planning board member dards?” makes big jumps and Density standards isn’t graduated enough, have been cited as a regulatory way of distrib- they said. Between 35 and 39 percent slope, uting the impact of construction across a steep lots must be five acres. Above 40 percent, lots slope, from tree clearing to earth moving. must be 10 acres.

Houses clustered on a hillside could have a The planning board had previously discumulative effect of placing stress on the soil in cussed the merits of a more graduated scale like one area of the mountain. the one Buncombe County uses, with numerAlso, larger lots mean if an uphill slope ous incremental steps. However, they ultimatefails, it will be less likely to impact neighbors. ly decided to discard the rule altogether.

Fewer homes on steep slopes also leaves more The recommendation will be part of a largundeveloped ground to absorb heavy rains. er rewrite to the ordinance that will ultimately The original rule writers feared too many come to county commissioners for final homes could overtap the groundwater carry- approval later this year.

13

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Rallying support for the Affordable Care Act

The Jackson County Chapter of Organizing for Action will hold a rally from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 23 at the fountain in front of the historic Jackson County Courthouse in Sylva.

The group will celebrate the third anniversary of the passing of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and focus on the need for affordable access to health care for the citizens of Jackson County. There will be balloons for the children as well as speakers.

Statistics from the North Carolina Institute of Medicine show that 6,432 Jackson County residents have no health insurance and that 894 of them are children. Many more residents are underinsured, meaning their access to health care is very limited. According to Organizing for Action, without the Affordable Care Act uninsured people end up in the emergency room at the hospital when they are sick, where care is the most expensive

March 20-26, 2013

MemoryCare caregiver education program offered MemoryCare Clinic is hosting a series of six two-hour lectures for caregivers of persons with memory disorders. Sessions are from 4 to 6 p.m. every Tuesday from April 4 through May 7.

The classes are designed to improve caregiver understanding of different aspects of dementia care. Space is limited so sign up in advance at the office in Haywood County’s Senior Resource Center. There is no fee for caregivers enrolled in MemoryCare. For others, there is a $65 attendance fee.

MemoryCare is a community based nonprofit organization that provides care for patients with dementia, and education and counseling for their caregivers and families.

828.771.2219

Smoky Mountain News

Summer day camp offered at Cullowhee United Methodist

14

Cullowhee United Methodist Church will offer two summer day camp experiences — one for children ages 6-12 and another for toddlers ages 3-5 — from June 3 to Aug. 2.

The camp will include activities such as outdoor games, an ice cream party, water days and arts and crafts. The older children will also take field trips to places like the Sylva pool.

There is a one-time registration fee of $75 (or $10 per week) per family to reserve your spot. The total program cost for either camp, however, is $650 for the whole summer, $90 per week, or $25 per day.

There will also be a half-day program available for the toddler program for $450 for entire summer, $60 per week, or $15 per day.

The camp will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Space is limited.

828.293.9215 or www.cullowheeumc.org/summer-camp-2013.

Cost-benefit of school safety weighs on Haywood L

commissioners whether to fund the officers, but the school board first must decide whether to even request them.

But employing more school resource officers is not the only option. The county could

Sweepstakes establishments in Jackson County may be getting the boot from the U.S. 441 Corridor leading to Cherokee.

Although sweepstakes-style gambling was outlawed by a recent N.C. Supreme Court ruling, County Planner Gerald Green believes it doesn’t hurt to have local laws in place in case the matter isn’t settled.

U.S. 441 corridor is a localized planning district, with rules on what types of commercial development are allowed. Although sweepstakes parlors are not on the list of allowed businesses, they are also not explicitly prohibited. The changes would explicitly prohibit them.

Two sweepstakes establishments existed along the corridor before the state ruling came down. Green said he identified one that may have been open and operating as of last Friday and has notified the Sheriff’s Office. Several sweepstakes businesses around the region have flaunted the law by continuing to operate.

Green said the topic has been discussed for months at local community meetings for the district, and no objections have been raised to banning sweepstakes.

“No one spoke against prohibition at community meetings,” Green said.

However, county commissioners need to approve the change.

They will host a public hearing on April 1, followed by a vote.

A commercial property along U.S. 411 owned by Commissioner Jack Debnam was being leased by someone who was running a sweepstakes parlor.

— By Andrew Kasper

Cullowhee River Club gets green light in exchange for greenway The Jackson County Planning Board last week approved a preliminary plan for the Cullowhee River Club housing development proposed along the Tuckasegee River near Western Carolina University.

Planning department staff gave a report saying the master plan for the large project met local development regulations, except for the rules stipulating how wide roads should be in subdivisions.

The development calls for nearly 300 homes, condos and cottages south of campus on a more than mile stretch of the river. It is the largest development to come before the planning board in as many as five years.

Although the preliminary plan was approved by the board, it did come with stipulations. One of those stipulations was that the developer, Tim Newell of Atlanta, work with the county to implement a public-use greenway along the riverfront.

Two board members were also displeased that the developer was asking for an exception to the county’s laws regarding road width. Board Member Mark Jamison said it could be a mistake making the paved portion of the main entrance road, that provides access for such a large subdivision, two feet narrower than required. The difference could possibly make the roadway unsafe for bikers and pedestrians looking to use it.

— By Andrew Kasper

Smoky Mountain News

Sweepstakes parlors could be banned near Cherokee

for $200,000 to hire officers to be stationed in its four elementary schools, plus $150,000 in start-up costs for equipment. But commissioners were not ready to commit, and some expressed reservations that it would not be a wise use of money or accomplish the intended goal.

A request for more resource officers is pending from the Macon County school district.

In Swain County, the board of commissioners did not hesitate to hire three new officers in January, promptly putting in school resource officers at its elementary and middle schools following Sandy Hook.

And at a recent meeting, Swain commissioners and school board members expressed satisfaction with the choice.

“I think you heard a collective sigh of relief,” said Mellie Burns, a Swain County school board member.

Haywood County school leaders plan to wait until spring budget planning gets in full swing to officially lobby for funding for school safety measures. But in the meantime, local law enforcement will continue to keep a close eye on the schools.

Newly appointed Sheriff Greg Christopher is in the process of assigning deputies to different areas of the county, which they will be responsible for while onduty.

“As that deputy takes ownership of their area, they will take ownership of that school,” Christopher said.

Waynesville police officers have also made a more concerted effort to cruise by schools in the town limits as of late.

However for years now, the police department has sent one patrol car to each school for morning drop-off and, if it can, for afternoon pickup.

“It makes me feel better when I drop kids off at the school,” said Waynesville Police Chief Bill Hollingsed.

In the event of an emergency, officers also have access to school layouts and emergency response plans so first responders know what to expect when they arrive.

March 20-26, 2013

high schools, where students are constantly entering and exiting different buildings for classes, and Waynesville Middle School, which has more doors than could be adequately covered.

The Haywood County School Board has not officially backed any course of action but has met regularly with others to talk about school safety.

“Everything is on the table as far I am concerned,” Francis said.

The school district has already implemented some changes.

Parents are no longer allowed to walk their kids through the halls.

Only school employees can pull a student out of a class to leave early.

And teachers are now trained to ask any stranger who they are and what they are doing at the school.

Francis has received calls from parents complaining about the rules inhibiting them from moving freely around the school as they used to, but he said it’s worth it as long as the kids remain safe.

“I think I would be willing to take those irate phone calls,” Francis said.

As a pilot program, the county Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher spoke installed a video entry system in one Monday about his department’s increased emphasis of its elementary schools. The on patrolling areas around county schools. school’s doors remain locked to the outside all day. Receptionists act as instead spend money during a period of years gatekeepers. They can look at a video of on safety improvements such as upgrading someone outside the door wanting to enter security cameras or possibly installing a butthe school before deciding whether to buzz ton that would simultaneously lock every them in. door when a school goes into lockdown.

It’s a departure from how the schools “The more barriers we can create the bet- were designed. ter off we will be,” said Tracy Hargrove, “We built these schools to be open and maintenance director for Haywood County inviting. We didn’t build them for intrudschools. ers,” Garrett said.

Hargrove is researching a variety of But past tragedies have forced school school safety measures, including the possileaders to be more cautious and protective bility of providing school kids with ID cards of students in their care. or another item to swipe into their school.

In Jackson County, the sheriff and school The idea is particularly appealing for the leaders asked the county earlier this month

news

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER aw enforcement officials in Haywood County are stepping up to keep a watchful eye on schools as leaders plot their next steps toward increasing safety.

Parents have probably already noticed one simple and cost-free solution to better school security: deputies and police officers have started parking their patrol cars at one of Haywood County’s 16 schools whenever they need to take care of administrative tasks such as filling out reports or doing paperwork.

A parent suggested the idea of a “parkand-watch” protocal for patrol officers to sit in school parking lots during downtime on their shifts at a school board meeting in January shortly after school safety came into national focus following the Sandy Hook shooting.

Superintendent Anne Garrett took the idea to law enforcement agencies, and it was well-received. The tool has been implemented in some other communities as well.

“We also invited them to come and eat breakfast and lunch,” Garrett said. It would be “on the house” anytime officers join kids in the cafeteria, she said.

The goal is to generate a greater police presence at the schools while county and school leaders debate whether to hire enough school resource officers to man each of the 16 public schools. If money were no option, the decision would be simple.

“We would definitely like to have one in every school,” Garrett said.

But it would come at a high cost to the county. The county currently pays $288,955 for five school resources officers who work at the middle and high schools.

There are no resources officers at any of the county’s 11 elementary schools. It would cost $770,666 the to 11 officers, which includes vehicles and other related expenses the first year.

“That is a pretty big number,” said Chuck Francis, chairman of the school board.

It would ultimately be up to the county

15

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Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

My journey to the center of the Earth, and back

ur Saturday morning cave adventure started Oflashlights. out innocently enough. We would need Check. I had purchased three apiece,

plus four spare AAA batteries. Change of clothes. Check. Layers for warmth, since it was after all underground and therefore likely to be chilly. Check. Hiking boots. Water bottle. First aid kit, including snakebite venom extractor just in case we did happen to run across an angry and poisonous snake two miles deep into the cavern. (You never know. It could happen.)

In any event, first aid kit, check. Sandwiches.

Chocolate chip cookies. Check plus. They were very good cookies. I put a few in a bag to take into the cave and left the rest in the car for when we came out. We were packed and ready. The possibility that we might need anything else, like rope or a ladder or a safety net, never occurred to me.

Rachel, Rose and Neil picked up my son, Adam, and me first thing in the morning, and we set off to Tennessee. It was a car full of happy people and pleasant conversation, and at our final stop at McDonald’s for a last bathroom break, we met up with our guide, Neil’s brother Mike, who had gone through the cave several times before.

When we got out of the car at the cave site, Mike was kind enough to lend me a head lamp; I didn’t really figure that I needed one, but since everyone else had one, I might as well take it. I also noticed that Mike had a couple of helmets which he gave to the kids and several bags of trail mix, which seemed like good foresight — trail mix was a little heartier than cookies and might make a nice change of pace.

So off we went, hiking joyfully down the trail, oohing and aahing over our first sight of the square, black hole in the hillside. We switched on our headlamps and in we went. It was wonderful. Daylight quickly faded as we walked through several caverns dripping with water and stalactites. (Stalactites, Mike said, cling “tritely” to the ceiling.) In one room, the

Voter ID law a waste of time, money

To the Editor: The voter suppression monster has reared its ugly head again in Raleigh. Although details are not known yet, any move to require voter ID is a thinly-veiled attempt to restrict the voting rights of certain groups for partisan reasons — the young, elderly, disabled, poor, and people of color. A Republican legislator bragged about the use of voter ID to assure a

rock was black but was studded with tiny flecks of some mineral, mica maybe, which sparkled in the soft light of the headlamps. It was like looking up at the stars on a clear night, far away from any towns, the whole universe just spreading out before us, infinite but simple and beautiful. Mike told us about rim pools, in which a puddle of water would gradually dissolve the rock but would leave mineral build-ups which evenColumnist tually formed a rim around the puddle. The rim pools reminded me of the mineral terraces at Yellowstone.

Then, he told us about soda straws, which are hollow little stalactites with water flowing down and out through their centers. Mike flashed his light on a bat curled up against a ceiling high up in the cave, and we looked down one long slope and saw the clear water of a stream at the bottom. It was all perfectly marvelous. Dark and quiet, but marvelous. We clambered over and around rocks, we slid down slick clay slopes, and we crawled up slippery clay mounds. One time, we had to lie down and commando-crawl sideways under a rocky ledge, but the commando-crawl was too difficult, so we all ended up just rolling over and over under the ledge for twenty or so feet until the roof opened up again. There were no walkways or guardrails or lighted mineral formations. It was not like a commercial cave at all. It was at least twenty times better.

Until we came to what is aptly known as Devil’s Staircase. To begin with, one person had to somehow climb up a tall, slick wall of rock and across a narrow chasm, using only a slippery impression in the clay for a foothold. Mike accomplished this feat, and then managed to wedge himself behind a rock in order to help pull the rest of us up. After about 30 minutes and much grunting and squealing with a few yelps of terror, we were up. We breathed a collective sigh of relief that the Devil’s Staircase was behind us. Mike said nothing.

Stephanie Wampler

“You’ll need to bring flashlights and a change of clothes. Mike said that it’s not a commercial cave.”

— My friend Rachel Torda

Republican victory in Pennsylvania before the last election.

I am opposed to the voter ID requirement for the following reasons: • It is unnecessary. According to the state Board of Elections, only one voter fraud case in the last 10 years involved voter impersonation, the problem which would be addressed by requiring a photo ID. That’s only one out of the state’s more than 6 million registered voters. Identity is already verified at the polls during each election by the voter’s signature.

Voter fraud is already a felony.

Just around the next bend, we came to another high ledge that we had to get up on.

This one, instead of being a slick vertical rock, was concave so that there was nothing even to slide against. Luckily, it was not deep, so Mike was able to stand and help push our feet against the slick clay on the far side in order to get something like a foothold. The first person up helped to pull the rest up from the top. Again, 30 minutes later, with much grunting and squealing and a few yelps of terror, we were up.

Collective sigh of relief. Mike said nothing.

The next ledge was similar to the first, except that once we got up the vertical drop, we still had to pull ourselves sideways across a steep clay bank (no footholds) until we could finally grasp a rock that provided enough traction to keep us from slipping backwards. Again, 30 minutes. Grunting, squealing, yelps of terror.

Collective sigh of relief. Mike said nothing.

Now we were high enough in the cave that occasionally, a flashlight would shine on a deep pit near the side of the cave. Or on a narrow crevice that one could slide down into and get trapped in. Or a deep chasm filled with broken boulders. Or a gaping hole with the sound of water dripping far down inside.

Sometimes, the path would split, and one path would lead up to the left around a giant boulder and another path would lead off to the right and down into the rocky darkness, and Mike would study his map for a long time before leading us off again.

Several tight squeezes through dark rooms with low ceilings and tight walls; several fast slides down steep, wet banks with no handholds anywhere; and several long climbs over piles of broken rock slabs that threatened to snag the foot or leg of an unlucky climber. Many grunts, squeals, and yelps of terror. Collective sigh after each one. Early on Mike said that we only had a few minutes to go before we hit the farthest end of the loop. After that, he said nothing.

Somewhere in there, we stopped to eat our sandwiches. While we ate, Mike pulled out some other things he had brought along, in addition to the trail mix and helmets for the kids. He had a long rope, two emergency blankets, an ankle splint, and a 40 pack of AAA

LETTERS • It will be expensive. A study by the Institute for Southern Studies in 2011 estimated the cost of implementation at around $20 million. To avoid the legal challenge of a poll tax, IDs must be free for the voter; cost must be picked up by the state. In addition, funds will be required for extensive voter education, training of local Board of Election staffs, etc.

During these hard times, with funding for public education and safety nets for our most vulnerable citizens slashed, spending money

headlamp batteries. A 40 pack! How long was he expecting us to be in here? God only knows what else was in there that he didn’t show us.

But finally, we came to the piece de resistance — a rocky climb down to either a yawning pit of death that could only be skirted by a sloping, wet clay bank without footholds or a bottomless chasm bridged by a flat boulder maybe three feet wide. After this boulder, one would climb down several other sloping boulders that emptied into bottomless chasms on either side.

Neil had climbed a steep rock and come down from the other direction. Mike edged carefully around the Yawning Pit of Death and then said nothing about that being a good choice for the rest of us, so I opted for the Bottomless Chasm Boulder Bridge and lowered myself onto the boulder and then slowly, slowly slid across on my behind. Then I turned and helped my son and Rose do the same. Rachel was at the back and held onto the children as they climbed down to me. No squealing or yelps of terror here. Just quiet voices and careful movements and occasional glances between Rachel and me.

One by one we slid across without accident.

After that, it was almost easy. Just a fast, 30foot slide landing in an icy creek, a half-mile wade through the creek, and then we had made the loop and were back on the original track, just below Devil’s Staircase. And so we went out, soda straw stalactites, glittering ceilings, rim pools, and finally, sunlight.

We were soaked through and covered from head to toe with grey clay, but we had made it.

Waiting for us at the car were chocolate chip cookies and clean, dry clothes; Mike had even brought blankets to hang up to change behind.

On the ride home, my husband called to check on us (he was out of town with my other son), and I said that it had been wonderful— that we had seen beautiful things, that we had learned lots of interesting facts, that Adam had loved getting wet and muddy, and that only once or twice had death seemed imminent.

Altogether it had been a marvelous adventure.

“After all, ” I told him when I reached the end of my tale, “it’s definitely not a commercial cave.”

Stephanie Wampler lives in Waynesville and can be reached at stephaniewampler-@aol.com.

on a non-problem is unconscionable.

• It will disenfranchise voters. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. Voting should be easy and convenient in order to encourage more voter participation in the election process. According to the State Board of Elections, more than 500,000 active registered voters do not have a state-issued photo ID. Assuming the state picks up the costs of birth certificates and ID, travel to the DMV for an ID would be burdensome for many due to disability, age, illness, and transportation issues. If the

F

state does not pick up costs, the requirement for a photo ID would be equivalent to a poll tax many could not afford.

Credit should be given to the Raleigh Republicans for holding public hearings on this subject. This is in contrast of the rush to implement other recent legislation without public input, which includes refusal of Medicaid expansion, preventing Medicaid coverage for 500,000 North Carolina citizens, and preventing the creation of 23,000 new jobs.

I am afraid that the voter ID requirement is only the start of a program to support partisan manipulation of the election process. I fear that bills to cut back early voting and end same day registration will follow.

Carole Larivee Waynesville

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March 20-26, 2013

To the Editor: With the recent death of Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, there has been much speculation in the media as to whether the reforms he brought about in his country’s economy and society would be retained. As one who visited Venezuela two years ago and saw these changes for myself, I would be very surprised if the vast majority of the population who supported him would allow them to be reversed.

With my group, I met people in both the city of Caracas and the mountain village of Sanara, and several places in between — cooperatives, women’s groups, teachers, university students, coffee merchants, health promoters, a dance group, a crew in a people’s TV station, young people, musicians, a Catholic priest, members of the militia, etc.

With the exception of the university students (who complained about raised tuition and reduced services), all were enthusiastic about improvements in their lives and society since Chavez became president and began diverting proceeds from the oil industry away from U.S. oil companies and the local wealthy elite and into improvements in health care, education, infrastructure, and

community development.

Among the results from Chavez’ policies and programs which I saw: • An increase in the literacy rate from 20 to 90 percent. • An adult education system that took people from illiteracy to community college in 10 years, and made them teachers, paralegals, architects, nurses, paramedics, social workers, etc. • Health centers in villages throughout the country, staffed by Cuban doctors and health promoters, provided in exchange for oil. • A nationwide music education system that has put symphony orchestras in many towns and villages. • An improved road system that enables farmers to deliver their crops to markets in urban centers. • Village councils provided with federal funds and empowered to decide locally how to spend them for their own community development. • Women achieving parity with men in local business and government. • Government-funded daycare centers for small children that allow their mothers to work. • People well-fed, energetic, happy, and enthusiastic about their president and their future.

The people who elected Chavez twice, put him back into power after a CIA-engineered coup tried to force him out, and consistently gave him two-to-one margins of support, will not allow the gains made under his leadership in the above-mentioned areas to be taken away from them.

Some try to discredit this program of utilizing government resources to benefit all the people by calling it “socialism.� I call it “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.�

And isn’t it curious how the media invariably refer to leaders like Chavez and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua as “socialist presidents,� and the Castros of Cuba as “communist leaders,� but never refer to presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama as “capitalist leaders?�

Doug Wingeier Waynesville

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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.

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. Friday-Saturday; 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.

BOGART’S 35 East Main St., Sylva. 828.586.6532.

Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Serving classic American food and drink in a casual environment. Daily lunch and dinner specials. Children’s menu available.

Call for catering quotes. Private room avail-

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

Closed on Sunday. We specialize in hand-cut, 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 familystyle 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.

CHEF’S TABLE 30 Church St., Waynesville. 828.452.6210.

From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday dinner starting at 5 p.m. “Best of” Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine. Set in a distinguished atmosphere with an exceptional menu. Extensive selection of wine and beer. Reservations honored.

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.

CORK & CLEAVER 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville.

828.456.7179. Reservations recommended.

4:30-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Tucked away inside Waynesville Inn, Cork & Cleaver has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Executive Chef Corey Green prepares innovative and unique Southern fare from local, organic vegetables grown in Western North Carolina. Full bar and wine cellar. www.waynesvilleinn.com.

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

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

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,

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tasteTHEmountains 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.

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.

J. ARTHUR’S RESTAURANT AT MAGGIE VALLEY U.S. 19 in Maggie Valley. 828.926.1817.

Lunch Sunday noon to 2:30 p.m., dinner nightly starting at 4:30 p.m. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round. Children always welcome.

Take-out menu. Excellent service and hospitality. Reservations appreciated.

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.

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.

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.

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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. Home-Grown Music Network Venue with live music most weekends. Pet friendly and kid ready.

TAP ROOM SPORTS BAR & GRILL 176 Country Club Dr. Waynesville 828.456.5988. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Enjoy soups, sandwiches, salads and hearty appetizers along with a full bar menu in our casual, smoke-free neighborhood grill.

MOONSHINE GRILL 2550 Soco Road, Maggie Valley loacted in the 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

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.

Sunday, March 31st 2013

Easter Brunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Adults: $29.95 • Young at Heart Age 70+: $19.95 Ages 6-11: $14.95 • Under Age 5: Free Taxes and Gratuities Not Included

Reservations Required

Smoky Mountain News

MAGGIE VALLEY CLUB 1819 Country Club Dr., Maggie Valley.

828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine.

Open daily for lunch and dinner. Fine and casual fireside dining in welcoming atmosphere. Full bar. Reservations accepted.

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. Also on facebook and twitter.

March 20-26, 2013

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.

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.

72471

68585

shakes. Private seating inside & out for both locations right across from the train station & pet friendly.

72483

The Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville, NC 828.456.3551 www.thewaynesvilleinn.com 19

20

A&E

Smoky Mountain News

Selected as one of the musical treasures of the Blue Ridge Music Trails, legendary banjoist Raymond Fairchild (left) owns/operates the Maggie Valley Opry House, which is open every night of the week from April until October.

Garret K. Woodward photo

THE

Blue Ridge Music Trails of Western North Carolina

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER It was a decade in the making, but its origins are hundreds of years old.

Partnering with the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, the North Carolina Arts Council recently launched its latest initiative – the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.

Encompassing 29 counties in Western North Carolina, the trails were created to preserve, interpret and promote these rich pockets of music and dance that have had a profound impact on American culture and beyond.

“This region has an incredible wealth of history and heritage around our music,” said Angie Chandler, executive director of the BRNHA. “It has been part of these mountains for hundreds of years, and we want to share all of that.”

When Congress designated the BRNHA in 2003, five areas of focus were identified: agriculture, Cherokee history, craft, music and natural heritage. These areas have been explored during the course of the last decade, with each continuing to evolve and thrive.

Though the first Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina guidebook was published in 2003, it’s this updated, more comprehensive edition of the book (release date: April 22) that made 2013 the year for concentrating on music trails. To get the ball rolling, the book received funding from the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

“This is North Carolina’s definitive map to the traditions of old-time bluegrass music and dance,” said Dale Bartlett, BRMT coordinator for the BRNHA. “We’re developing this initiative to bring together these regions and make it marketable. As the heritage area has been able to spread its wings, finding opportunities and partnerships, it has been able to label these areas as assets that should get more attention.”

Working with Appalachian folklorists Fred C. Fussell and Steve Kruger, the book identifies 60 locations within the 29 counties as major events, key historical sites and traditions that have been longstanding. The BRNHA itself has named and catalogued more than 160 sites, venues and events that

Road TO

Success

By the numbers In preparation for the Blue Ridge Music Trails initiative, audiences at 26 traditional music venues in 18 counties where surveyed in 2011.

• These 26 venues equal $20.7 million in economic impact (which is less than 20 percent of the total venues identified in the guidebook/initiative).

• Attendees who travel specifically for an event spend 1.85 times more than visitors in the area for other reasons.

• Not holding these events would equal a loss of more than $13.5 million in spending in the region.

• 40 percent of attendees came specifically for an event.

• More than 160 music venues thrive in the region.

• 99 percent of attendees said they would return again.

• 116,000 attendees at the events studied.

• 2.9 - the average number of nights spent in the area by out-of-town audiences.

• 1.25 percent - the average percentage of annual household income spent on music.

• 10 states represented in audiences surveyed.

occur in Western North Carolina.

“This book is for the consumer, the historian, the music buff and the curious traveler,” Bartlett said. “Now we’re taking it back to the people who have nurtured the asset throughout the years, helping them with promotion, cross-marketing and anything we can do to help build the network for the local resident and tourist.”

RIGHT FROM THE SOURCE Though a lifelong musician, it wasn’t until banjoist/storyteller Laura Boosinger came to Western North Carolina as a teenager that she truly connected the beauty of sound and those who played and danced to it. Attending Warren Wilson College in the late 1970s, she found herself right at the source of real mountain culture and music. At that time, David Holt began to develop and direct the Appalachian Music Program at the college. The program was ahead of its time in terms of preserving the old-time music and also bringing forth legendary musicians from their front porches to the stage.

“I didn’t really know anything about mountain music. The music was incredible, but it was the people that fascinated me,” she said. “Why did these people do this? Why were these traditions in their families? I mean,

— Laura Boosinger, banjoist/storyteller

WHERE THE HEART IS With the initiative comThe Blue Ridge National Heritage Area recently kicked off its latest initiative, the Blue Ridge Music Trails, which ing to fruition, the BRMT focuses on the longstanding history of music and dance in Western North Carolina. (From left to right) BRMT will begin conducting comCoordinator Dale Bartlett, BRMT Consultant and Appalachian musician Laura Boosinger and BRNHA Executive munity input sessions in Director Angie Chandler. Garret K. Woodward photo April for each region. Local leaders, residents, business owners and musicians are essay on Appalachia heritage by Joe Sam encouraged to participate and form a plan to Queen is featured in the guidebook. It speaks strengthen partnerships. Besides the newly about the importance of embracing one’s updated guidebook release, the BRMT webThe Blue Ridge Music Trails is always lookown backyard and also makes note of the site and map will be available in July, with the ing for participation from local leaders, beloved Friday night traditional dances in national marketing and public relations plan residents, business owners and musicians.

Waynesville, which he is a caller for. being launched in the fall.

If you have any ideas or information you “My belief is that if we can keep our “Hopefully, this will deepen education, think would help in making these trails sense of self and place, we will thrive. resources and pride for this region as more thrive and evolve, contact Dale Bartlett, Appalachia is a bastion of individualism and people come and visit it,” Chandler said. “It’s BRMT coordinator, at community,” he wrote. “There are not a lot amazing how few people really know the BRNHA.Dale@gmail.com or 828.708.7907. of places left that have such a strong sense of depth of history and heritage of this music. place, but Appalachia’s one of them that These people had an international impact does. It’s a wonderful place to visit, and to coming right from these mountains.” families continue for generations, and this Chandler said the BRMT is looking for music needs to stay in people’s focus because learn to feel that sense.”

Owner of Grandpa’s Music in Bryson partners interested in supporting the initiait’s still evolving.”

City, Larry Barnett has been running the tive. There are also grants offered for musicstore for 12 years and is constantly asked related projects. An open call for the most HE FAR WEST where visitors can find the “real deal.” recent cycle of proposals wrapped up in “A very common question is where can December, with the projects currently being Of the six regions featured in the guidereviewed. Chandler feels if attention can be book, “Walking the King’s Highway” (Region they go hear music, not rock or blues, but traditional music,” he said. called to the music, then it can be a catalyst 6) covers Haywood, Swain, Graham, Barnett said it’s important to preserve for more public and private investment that Cherokee, Clay, Macon and Jackson counis much needed in Western North Carolina. ties. A popular square dance move, “Walking mountain music. For him, the sound stretches from the young children he currently gives “The key to our future is always staying the King’s Highway” is a nod to the famous lessons to all the way back to his grandfather, tied to our history because our history is tied family heritage of Haywood clogger Sam who played and ultimately influenced him. to the land and the natural importance of Queen, grandfather of N.C. House Rep. Joe “Kids are especially important because if this land,” she said.

Sam Queen. A thoughtful and insightful

Want to help?

(Haywood, Swain, Graham, Cherokee, Clay, Macon, Jackson)

Major Events/Venues: • Fading Voices Festival, Memorial Day Weekend, Little Snowbird Baptist Church, Robbinsville

T

• Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, Labor Day Weekend, Lake Junaluska • Mountain Heritage Day, last Saturday in September, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee • John C. Campbell Folk Festival, first full weekend in October, Brasstown • Waynesville Street Dances, select Fridays on Main Street • Music and dance at the Stompin’ Ground, Maggie Valley • Maggie Valley Opry House, Maggie Valley

• • • •

Music in the Mountains at the Bryson City Railroad Depot Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center, Robbinsville Jimmy’s Pick N Grin, Andrews Clay’s Corner New Year’s Possum Drop and Weekly Jam Sessions, Brasstown • Jam sessions at the T.M. Rickman Store, Cowee • Thursday concert and jam session at Western Carolina Univeristy, Cullowhee

Smoky Mountain News

Region 6: Walking the King’s Highway

March 20-26, 2013

I didn’t have any traditions that were generations old.”

An acoustic guitarist since she was 12, Boosinger fell in love with the banjo when banjoist Marc Pruett (of Balsam Range) gave her one to take home, look at and learn to play. It was at that moment when she began her journey down the rabbit hole of mountain music history and the faces behind the instruments.

“If you really think about it, how bluegrass grew out of old-time music and how it developed, it wouldn’t have existed without North Carolina,” she said. “People like Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson, what they brought to the music in terms of style and finger picking, were huge for how the sound evolved.”

Boosinger points to the current state of mountain music, where it continues to seep back into the mainstream consciousness after decades of depleting interest.

With highly successful artists like Mumford and Sons, The Avett Brothers, The Band Perry and Yonder Mountain String Band selling out arenas worldwide, the sound appears to be in good hands, at least in music circles. But then when you add in enormous festivals like Merlefest, Bonnaroo and Wakarusa, where old-time and bluegrass music are one of key genres showcased, one begins to see the importance of preserving and promoting the original places and faces that make all of this possible.

“My hope is that this music will still remain a cultural treasure,” she said. “These

arts & entertainment

they aren’t exposed to it, they won’t know it exists,” he said. “Luckily for us here, there are enough local people that play and the kids know what it is and how it should sound.”

Regardless of whether its performing on a large cosmopolitan arena or a tiny backwoods stage, what matters most is picking up the instrument and letting your fingers do the talking or grabbing the clogging shoes and dancing the night away.

“This music is unadulterated by any electronics,” Barnett said. “What I like is the fact you can walk out onto the porch and not have anything else than what’s in your hands.”

“If you really think about it, how bluegrass grew out of old-time music, and how it developed, it wouldn’t have existed without North Carolina.

People like Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson, what they brought to the music in terms of style and finger picking, were huge for how the sound evolved.”

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arts & entertainment

HART to hold auditions for Johnny Cash musical

A free seminar on food business regulations will be held at HCC on March 28.

Free seminar for catering entrepreneurs

Smoky Mountain News

March 20-26, 2013

A seminar entitled “So…You Think You Want to Serve Food?” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 28, at the Haywood Community College Student Center.

Topics will include the regulations for catering requirements, the do’s and don’t of festival food ventures, specialty lodging (such as bed and breakfast operations), and contact information for home canned foods and baked goods. Hosted by the HCC Small Business Center.

Haywood County Environmental Health Program Specialist Donna Brown will be the presenter. 828.627.4512.

Auditions for “Ring of Fire,” a Broadway musical celebrating the music of Johnny Cash, will be held at 6:30 p.m. March 24-25, at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

The show features roles for musicians in an onstage band and lead roles for three men and three women of various ages who take on the characters of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash at different moments in their lives.

Rehearsals will generally be Monday and Thursday evening, though they tend to be scheduled to adjust to individual conflicts.

Anyone auditioning will be expected to come prepared to sing.

Anyone interested in working backstage on the production is also encouraged to come by during auditions to sign up.

The show will run May 24 to June 19 and is being directed by Mark Jones. www.harttheatre.com or 828.456.6322.

Liars Bench to host Sheila Kay Adams The Liars Bench will present storyteller/musician Sheila Kay Adams at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 28, in the Mountain Heritage Center auditorium at Western Carolina University.

A resident of Madison County, Adams is renowned for her artistic endeavors within the

or www.facebook.com/TheLiarsBench or 828.227.7129.

Improv acting class for teens in Waynesville

The Liars Bench presents storyteller/musician Sheila Kay Adams on March 28 at WCU. rich history of Southern Appalachia and is a seventh-generation bearer of the her family’s 200 year old ballad singing tradition. She won the 1997 North Carolina Society of Historians’ Clark Cox Historical Fiction Award and received the North Carolina Folklore Society’s Brown-Hudson Award for outstanding contributions to the folklore of her home state.

The Liars Bench was created in the early summer of 2010 by Dr. Gary Carden, recipient of the 2008 Brown-Hudson Folklore Award and the 2012 North Carolina Award for Literature, to promote southern Appalachian storytelling, music, poetry, drama, and folk arts. The group will perform southern Appalachian stories, music and songs onstage.

The event is free and open to the public. www.theliarsbenchgazette.blogspot.com

Your IQ is at least 110.

The average fish's is around 30.

(This really shouldn’t be much of a contest, but it always is.)

Claim a piece of the $10,000 purse in our 3rd Annual Cherokee Fishermen Appreciation Trout Fishing Tournament, March 29 –30.

Held by the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce, this is the first of several big tournaments we have in Cherokee. So get your season started by trying to take home a big part of the $10,000 total purse. Register at any of our 28 fishing license locations in Cherokee, or online at FishCherokee.com. The entry fee is $5, and prizes will be redeemed at Artist Row on Highway 441.

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A six-week improvisation workshop for middle and high school students will be held afterschool at Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

The middle school workshop runs each Monday from April 1 to May 6. The high school workshop runs each Thursday from April 4 to May 9. Both classes will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Feichter Studio.

Taught by Kristen Donelle Livengood (a member of Asheville’s premiere improvisational comedy troupe, The OxyMorons), students will learn improvisation fundamentals that will help them develop critical skills like teamwork and creativity. Workshop attendees will learn improvisation fundamentals in a fun, constructive environment.

Students will gain a new outlook on interacting with others, as well as working towards a goal where everyone succeeds by contributing.

Improvisation is not only a fun way for young people to develop important life lessons it is also an excellent way for students familiar with theatre to get a new perspective on acting.

Each workshop will culminate with an improvisational performance for friends and family. Workshops will cost $90 per student. kristendonelle@gmail.com or 828.508.0868 or www.harttheatre.com or 828.456.6322.

arts & entertainment

Alicia Keys will be at Harrah’s Cherokee on March 27.

Alicia Keys hits Harrah’s With her unmistakable blend of soul, hip-hop, jazz and classical music, superstar Alicia Keys will be performing at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center.

Keys burst onto the music scene in 2001 with her debut release “Songs In A Minor.” The album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 Chart and went on to sell more than 10 million units worldwide. She is a 14-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and producer whose latest record, “Girl On Fire,” has Keys emerging as stronger and wiser, taking the reins of her career in a way she never has before. Her past hits include “No One,” “Fallin’” and “Empire State of Mind (with Jay-Z),” among others. www.harrahscherokee.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Open call for chocolate lovers, bakers

“Bring Nature Indoors: A Wreath Making Class” will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. each Thursday from March 21 to April 11 at Southwestern Community College’s Macon campus.

There will be a class for beginners on how to bring nature indoors with wreaths, centerpieces, wall art, flowers/plants, which will give your home a no-cost spruce up.

Enrollment is $35 and the class supply kit is $30.

828.339.4426.

The Haywood-Jackson Volunteer Center is looking for bakers to create their favorite chocolate or dessert recipe for the 14th annual Taste of Chocolate Plus on Saturday, April 20, at the Maggie Valley Country Club.

This year’s categories are: Amateur, Bed and Breakfast, Professional and Bakers Choice.

Prizes will be given out for first, second and third place in each category.

The Taste of Chocolate Plus is a fundraiser for the Haywood Jackson Volunteer Center with all proceeds going to connect volunteers and assist seniors with the NC SHIIP program.

828.356.2833 or jchicoine@mountainprojects.org.

Western Carolina University history professor Gael Graham will be the keynote speaker at the North Carolina Association of Historians annual meeting at 12:30 p.m. Friday, March 22, at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee.

The evening address will focus on Graham’s research into a Raleigh newspaper editor’s campaign to prevent white people from criticizing the state of race relations in North Carolina and the South, even after black residents lost the right to vote in North Carolina in 1900. The association meeting is being held in cooperation with WCU’s Department of History and the staff of NCCAT. www.nchistorians.org.

The Lovin’ Spoonful to play Franklin Acclaimed 1960’s rock group The Lovin’ Spoonful will be performing at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 29, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

In 1965, as the “British invasion” dominated the American music scene, The Lovin’ Spoonful began to record and perform some of the songs that would dominate the charts and establish them among the greats of the midsixties era.

Tickets are $15 and $20 per person. www.greatsmokymountainmusic.com.

Smoky Mountain News

WCU professor to address state historians

March 20-26, 2013

Learn to make wreaths and other nature crafts

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arts & entertainment

Celebrate Easter in WNC Communities across the mountains are rolling out the green carpet for the Easter bunny over the next two weekends. Check out the “Easter Events” section of the calendar for a full lineup Easter egg hunts, Easter services and even breakfast with the Easter Bunny.

‘Bonnets & Bunnies’ at Dillsboro Easter Hat Parade

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828-452-6844

March 20-26, 2013

170 N. Main St. | Waynesville www.shopmainstreets.com

Come celebrate Easter at Lake Junaluska Grab your Easter basket and head to Lake Junaluska March 30-31 for an exciting weekend of Easter activities.

On Saturday, March 30, Easter crafts and egg decorating for children will start at 10 a.m. at the Harrell Center Auditorium. The famed Lake Junaluska egg hunts will commence at 10:30 a.m., grouped by age. The hunt for 1- to 3-year-olds is at 10:30 a.m.; 4- to 7-year-old at 10:45 a.m.; and 8- to 12-year-olds at 11 a.m. Awards for the egg deco-

Smoky Mountain News

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828-246-0880 24

Big hats, tall hats, little hats and small hats are all welcome during the 25th annual Easter Hat Parade at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 30, in Dillsboro.

If you can’t find a festive hat, you can make one on the lawn of Dogwood Crafters. Official hat judges award prizes in more than 20 categories.

In addition to colorful hats, the parade features vintage cars provided by the Old Timers Model A Club.

The Easter bunny also hops into the mix. He rides in the The “Bonnets & Bunnies 25th Easter Hat Parade” parade and is will take place in Dillsboro on March 30. available for photos with children throughout the day. An Easter egg hunt for children begins at 10 a.m. at Dogwood Crafters, which will coincide with the hat making.

Dogwood Crafters also presents an English tea at 1 and 3 p.m., at the Jarrett House Inn. Tea and food will be served on fine china, with the artisans from Dogwood Crafters showcasing their cooking skills by preparing the delicacies. Cost is $12 per person.

800.962.1911 or www.visitdillsboro.org.

58 Montgomery St. Waynesville joel@weaverpalaw.com

rating contest will be held at 11:45 a.m.

On Sunday, March 31, there will be an “Easter Sunrise Service” at the Amphitheater at the Cross, with a breakfast buffet to follow from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Lambuth Inn. At 10:30 a.m., Long’s Chapel will hold a UMC Easter Service in Stuart Auditorium.

A lunch buffet will Lake Junaluska welcomes hundreds of then run from 11:30 children from the community every year to a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the partake in egg hunts along the lake shore.

Terrance Hotel. Tickets for the buffet are available online and at the Terrace Hotel Front Desk. Reservations may also be made by calling 828.454.6662.

Easter activities are presented by Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center and Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department.

The mission of Lake Junaluska is to be a place of Christian hospitality where lives are transformed through renewal of soul, mind, and body.

828.452.2881 or www.lakejunaluska.com/easter.

Friends of the Lake 5K, Family Walk, and Children’s Fun Run will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 30, as part of Easter festivities at Lake Junaluska. See the outdoors section for details.

Easter Beagle Express stops in Bryson City The PEANUTS Easter Beagle Express will roll into the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad with special rides at 11 a.m. March 29 and 30 departing from Bryson City.

The train will travel into Dillsboro for a one-hour layover on Friday and a two-hour layover on Saturday. Passengers will join Snoopy, Lucy, Charlie Brown and our Easter bunnies for old-fashioned Easter fun.

Riders will also go on an Easter egg hunt.

Tickets start at $51 per adult, $29 per child (age 2 through 12).

800.872.4681 or www.gsmr.com.

Haywood fundraiser showcases lineup of mountain music, dance A seemingly endless array of mountain music and dance will be showcased at the Dr. Ann R. Wilke Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at the Haywood County Fairgrounds in Waynesville.

Entertainment will be provided by The Inmans, The Believers, Cross Ridge, Branded Heart, Mountain Tradition, Bobby & Blue Ridge, Southern Appalachian Cloggers, Smoky Mountain Stompers, Fines Creek Flatfooters, Dixie Darlins, The Blackberry Jam Band and The Coffee Branch Band. There will be various demonstrations, displays and related discussions of music and dance. Food and refreshment will be on-hand.

Wilke practiced medicine in rural communities, often sacrificing her time and effort in making house calls and providing care and comfort to families in need. She was well aware of the negative impact of drug dependency issues on the family structure. This memorial scholarship, dedicated in her name, is to provide financial education and career training assistance for young adults of Haywood County who have survived the challenges of drug dependency issues within their immediate family environment.

The event is free and open to the public.

828.627.1931 or 828.280.6188 or magadm@healthtiquegroup.com.

Singer McKayla Reece will be one of the numerous performers hitting the stage at the Dr. Ann R. Wilke Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser.

Books

Smoky Mountain News

25

An insightful look at guerilla warfare ince the Second World War, Americans have lived by the old dictum that only the dead have seen the end of war. For almost 70 years we have served as the world’s policeman, opposing the Soviet Union in a cold war, communism in Korea and Vietnam in hot wars, and a variety of fanatics, terrorists, and dictators in wars hot and cold. We fought to a stalemate in Korea, lost in Vietnam, won the Cold War, and won — at least militarily — the battles of the Middle East. Our armed services remain the most battle-tested in the Writer world, and we spend far more on these services than any other country. (A good part of this spending, incidentally, is for veterans’ entitlements).

Even taking into account those cuts which must surely come to our military budgets, the United States will for years remain the world’s strongest nation in terms of military might.

Given our propensity for sending our military into foreign conflicts, some of which have little to do with our national security, it is likely that the next few generations of Americans will continue to fight wars around the world.

That world is, after all, a bumptious place, and we will likely carom about the globe as we have so often done, putting a finger in the dike here, slapping some duct-tape on a conflict there. In short, neither we nor our grandchildren have seen the end of war.

Since many of these wars will be small, fought against terrorists or guerillas, it behooves us to study the conflicts of the past and bring the lessons learned into the present. In Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present (ISBN 978-0-87140-424-4, $35), writer Max Boot gives us a rich history of guerilla warfare, a history in which he exam-

Jeff Minick

S

modern-day Afghanistan. He follows the development of guerilla warfare and counterinsurgency in chronological fashion, with the great bulk of this 700-page tome given over to the conflicts of the last 200 years, the age which witnessed the sophisticated development of brushfire wars and terrorism. Boot examines leaders as familiar as T.E. Lawrence, Mao Zedong, and Che Guevara, but also introduces figures who may be unfamiliar to us, guerillas and those who fight them, a collection of idealists, fanatics, and eccentrics who have a good deal to teach modern warriors.

Boot is particularly adept at giving us thumbnail sketches of these often-unusual combatants. There was, for example, Orde Charles Wingate, an Englishman who Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient became the Second Times to the Present by Max Boot. Liveright, 2013. 809 pages.

World War’s “equivalent to his distant relaines leaders, tactics, and successes and failtive T.E. Lawrence.” Being reared in a strict ures. household left Wingate with a life-long averBoot, who is the author of The Savage sion to authority (Why he decided to attend Wars of Peace and the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick the Royal Military Academy Boot does not Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at explain. It seems an odd choice of career for the Council on Foreign Relations, ranges in someone who disliked being told what to do). this fascinating study from Ancient Rome to Wingate was an eccentric — he chewed

onions, for example, the way most of us chew apples, and often was openly contemptuous of his superiors — but he was a brilliant commander who led British and Zionist troops against Palestinian rebels in the 1930s. Later he helped destroy the Italian army in Ethiopia in 1941 with a small number of guerillas, and then developed in the fight against the Japanese in Burma the idea of “long-range penetration operations,” in which his troops, later mishandled by American general Joe Stilwell, struck deep behind Japanese lines.

Killed in a plane crash in 1944, Wingate didn’t live to see the outcome of this operation.

In addition to these well-written minibiographies, Boot also gives us much to contemplate in the successes and failures of such wars. Some readers will be surprised, as I was, to learn that more guerilla fighters fail more often than they succeed in their battle for power. In both his Epilogue and in the following chapter titled “Implications: Twelve Articles, or the Lessons of Five Thousand Years,” Boot includes some important conclusions to Invisible Armies, conclusions which most of us would hope that our generals and diplomats will study in great depth.

Boot shows us, for example, the importance of winning public opinion for or against the guerillas, especially in the last 200 years when technology has brought us close to the news from around the world. He demonstrates that patience can either win or lose a war by counter-insurgents, that “guerilla warfare is not the ‘Eastern Way of War’; it is the war of the weak,” and that winning the war by either the insurgents or their opponents depends on winning the local population.

Invisible Armies is a book that belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in military history, in the conflicts of the last 50 years, or in the future of warfare. Well-written and entertaining, this book also offers both a plan of battle against such terrorist groups as the Taliban while again reminding us of the costs and demands of such battles.

Hiking the Mountain-to-Sea Trail Hike leader and author Danny Bernstein will talk about the Mountain-to-Sea Trail and present her book, The Mountain-to-Sea Trail Across North Carolina: Walking a Thousand Miles Through Wilderness, Culture and History, at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 29, at City Light Bookstore in Sylva.

Bernstein’s book is a historical look at the natural and cultural aspects of the 1,000-mile trail that stretches from Clingman’s Dome to Jockey’s Ridge in the Outer Banks. She has also written Hiking North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains and Hiking the Carolina Mountains.

828.586.9499.

Coffee with the Poet ‘Beckons’ The monthly “Coffee with the Poet” series will feature Brenda Kay Ledfordat at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 21, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Ledford will read from her newly released chapbook, Beckoning. A retired educator, she is a member of the North Carolina Writer’s Network.

“Ledford’s collection sings harmony and color. She lets us take a peek into her world as she shares her Appalachian roots in verse. We relate to the constancy of seasons in nature and our lives,” Glenda Beall, director of the Writer’s Circle, said about Beckoning.

The Coffee with the Poet series is cosponsored by the NetWest chapter of the North Carolina Writer’s Network and meets every third Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

828.586.9499.

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

26

hitewater fanatics wait in line for their chance to do tricks, flips, spins and somersaults with their play boats on the Tuckasegee River near last Saturday for annual Kayak Demo Day. The day was unseasonably sunny and warm. It featured a full lineup of freestyle practice sessions, kayak instruction and top-of-the-line equipment for anyone to use.

The range of skill sets was also apparent, from first-time freestyle kayakers struggling to stay upright to seasoned experts honing their skills. But the common denominator is connecting with the river, and reveling over the latest boats, said Jenna White, a graduate student at nearby Western Carolina University and one of the event’s organizers.

“It helps cultivate a strong paddling community and gives students a chance to try boats they wouldn’t normally get to use,” she said.

W

Paddling springs eternal eam Pyranha member Mike Patterson charges toward “Eternity,” a standing wave on the East Fork of the Tuckasegee River.

Patterson and several other members of Pyranha’s South East play-boating team known as the “DemShitz” came out to the demo day put on by WCU’s outdoor adventure organization, Basecamp Cullowhee. Team manager “Big D” said the demo event was a perfect chance to evaluate his team after a winter off-season, scout for new talent and hang with other local Western North Carolina paddlers.

“This is where the locals come to hang and play,” he said.

T

he “Nano,” a new play boat by Pyranha, was one of the new boat models being showed off at the freestyle demo event. Pyranha reps also showcased their new carbon fiber freestyle boat that hasn’t even hit shelves yet. The Nano typically cost about $1,100 and the carbon model carries a price tag of around $2,000. Those boats, along with six others donated for the day by Endless River Adventures rafting company in the Nantahala Gorge provided an arsenal typically unavailable to students on a budget.

“We bring them out every year to support the college and the students,” said Braden Henry, the store manager for the guide company.

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Grant to help farmers fence cattle out of Little Tennessee Several organizations have won a $214,195 state grant that will allow Macon County landowners improve water quality in the Little Tennessee River watershed.

The goals of the Franklin to Fontana Restoration Project are to improve water quality in three tributaries to the Little Tennessee

River — Iotla Branch, Cat Creek and Rabbit Creek. These streams face threats from agriculture and development and register high fecal and bacteria counts.

The grant will help install livestock fencing and provide alternative water sources for cattle that currently drink straight from the stream. It will also help plant trees along the stream banks. An estimated 2,244 tons of topsoil, 13,467 pounds of nitrogen and 4,488 pounds of phosphorus will be saved from washing into the river. The grant will offer a cost-share arrangement that allows

farmers to afford these practices.

The Southwestern N.C. Resource Conservation & Development Council applied for the grant from the N.C. Division of Water Quality on behalf of the Macon Soil and Water Conservation District, the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, the Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research Program, the N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program, the N.C. Natural Heritage Program, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The N.C. Division of Water Quality will also provide technical assistance in addition to the grant funds.

BY DON H ENDERSHOT

I have seen the light

IDA photo

Wildlife Commission pushes for Sunday hunting on private land The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is backing a bill in the N.C. General Assembly that would allow people to hunt on Sundays on private lands.

The Wildlife Commission maintains that the prohibition against Sunday hunting serves no purpose with regard to conservation of wildlife resources and habitats and limits

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Talk on environmental leadership in Sylva A workshop on environmental leadership called “Taking Passion and Activism to the Next Level in Local Communities” will be held from 10 a.m. to noon April 6 at The Community Table in Sylva.

The free leadership development workshop is put on by the Western North Carolina Alliance regional environmental advocacy group. It will feature environmental-minded leaders who will talk about experiences and opportunities they’ve had to make a difference in their positions and to make positive changes in local communities.

The workshop is organized in conjunction with the North Carolina Conservation Network.

There is no charge, but registration is required. action.ncconservationnetwork.org

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Volunteer weather trackers are being sought to help with the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow network.

Volunteers are needed to document the size, intensity, duration and patterns of rain, hail, and snow by taking simple measurements in their own backyards. The network spans all 50 states with thousands of observations reported each day.

Volunteers must obtain an official rain gauge through the organization’s website for about $27. Volunteers are also required to take a training module online and submit reports.

“North Carolina has one of the most complex climates in the U.S.,” said Ryan Boyles, state climatologist and director of the State Climate Office, based at North Carolina State University. “Data gathered from volunteers are very important in better understanding local weather and climate patterns.” www.cocorahs.org

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Smoky Mountain News

will save money. According to IDA, the United States spends over $2 billion on light-energy that only serves to blot out the night skies. You can learn about many alternatives and how to support them on the IDA website or you can call them at 1.520.293.3198 and request information.

IDA also has a program where it recognizes places of exceptional nighttime beauty. There are still a few left in the U.S. and one, listed in their “International Dark Sky Parks” — Big Bend National Park — still sings to me. A group of friends and I took a float trip out to Big Bend back in the 1970s and between Santa Elena Canyon and Mariscal Canyon we slept in the dessert — one of those places where night’s curtain drags across the stage, and one of those places that leaves a scar on your soul.

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

Weather data network seeks volunteer weather reporters

March 20-26, 2013

I have seen the light, and I don’t like it. I have seen the light emanating from strip malls; from sports stadiums; from urban skylines; from cul-de-sacs; from factories; from almost any place twilight finds Homo sapiens and I don’t like it. I don’t like it because I can’t see the stars; I can’t touch the heavens; I can’t revel in the firmament of dying and exploding suns; I can’t see the stuff I’m made of.

It wasn’t always so. Our ancestors had an intimate relationship with the night skies. Ancient mariners would have never docked without Polaris. And where would science be without Copernicus and Galileo?

The heavens have always reflected thoughts of beauty, love, imagination, philosophy, literature and awe. “I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch the earth with my feet: I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia” — Ptolemy.

I love it when the night sky plops to the ground like a curtain dragging across a stage, when the stars actually twinkle and the eye of Taurus glows red. My co-workers thought me a bit daft, when I worked as an offshore surveyor in the Gulf of Mexico because I would always volunteer if one of the survey points was on an abandoned platform. Sure it would mean no cooked meal, no hot shower and gasp, no television, but it would mean being bathed in starlight from dusk till dawn and I was OK with the tradeoff.

Light pollution (the illumination of the night sky caused by artificial light) is increasing (at the speed of light?) around the world since the invention of the incandescent bulb 125 years ago. It is estimated that today, fully two-thirds of Americans cannot walk outside at night, look up and see the Milky Way. And even more than that are affected in some way by light pollution.

International Dark-Sky Association

(IDA,) created in 1988, was the first organization to call attention to the perils of light pollution. IDA is still in the forefront when it comes to seeking, promoting and helping to implement programs/procedures that can limit and/or reduce the impacts of light pollution. It has a wonderful website — www.darksky.org — where you can go to learn about light pollution and its sources, causes, remedies, etc.

Unlike many of the environmental challenges facing us, light pollution, is something we have the technologies and abilities to deal with right now. And instead of costing us money, most light pollution remedies

The Western North Carolina Alliance is looking for volunteers to help close illegal roads contributing to poor water quality in the Hurricane Creek area of the Pisgah National Forest in Haywood County. There will be two workdays April 8 and 9.

Volunteers will support contractors by building silt fences, raking, seeding, dragging brush, and other physical activities. These workdays support a larger effort to improve water quality funded by a National Forest Foundation grant.

WNCA will provide all equipment. To volunteer, RSVP to Cynthia@wnca.org or 828.258.8737, ext. 207.

recreation opportunities. Currently, many North Carolina residents hunt in neighboring states that do allow Sunday hunting, which has an economic impact on local rural communities. Since 2010, hunting on Sundays on private lands with archery equipment has been allowed, but not with firearms. www.ncwildlife.org.

outdoors

The Naturalist’s Corner

National forest volunteer workday to target renegade roads

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outdoors

AIN THE fledgling woods

By Caitlin Bowling

I once was lost, but now I’m found The directions said turn left, so naturally I turned right.

I was still an hour drive from Sugarland Visitors Center in Tennessee — where I planned to take an introductory orienteering class — when I remembered that on occasion, I still have to hold my hands in front of my face in order to tell left from right.

Undoubtedly, this predicament would make the course more challenging. In my defense, I’d woken up at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday, a day I typically revel in the glory of sleeping in.

Thankfully though, I immediately realized my error and quickly turned the right (or rather left) way around, continuing toward the visitor center. Running in just in time, I found my seat next to an older couple from Fort Wayne, Ind., Cathy and Tom Jones

(Insert Tom Jones joke here).

What amazed me most about the couple is that they had traveled eight hours to learn orienteering that weekend. In fact, in my thus far brief foray into the wilderness, I have noticed that people are willing to travel long distances to enjoy the outdoors. Most people in the class had driven at least an hour, if not more. The Appalachian Trail thru-hiking course I had attended a couple weeks ago in Swain County had been the same; attendees had driven three hours that

Smoky Mountain Field School regularly holds classes on the Tennessee side of the Smokies. Upcoming classes including animal tracking and identifying edible and medicinal plants. Check out the school’s course offering or register at www.outreach.utk.edu/smoky.

and the stories I was writing, but I also tried to convey the amazing feeling you get when you wake up each morning and see the sun rising over the mountains — mountains that sit right in your backyard.

I said words like “It is the most beautiful view from the grocery store parking lot,� and was answered with strange looks. But I just shrugged and said, “If you saw it, you would understand.� So who wouldn’t drive hours just to spend the day in the mountains?

But back to my ineptitude. Walking into the class, I knew that orienteering involved maps and compasses, but I failed to realize that it would also include my lifelong enemy — numbers. I have tried to make friends

The directions said turn left, so naturally I turned right. morning to make a 9 a.m. class.

I can’t say I’m surprised. I mean, look around. The Smoky Mountains can be breathtaking. When I returned to my college town in Ohio last year, I obviously told my fellow journalism graduates about my jobs

with numbers. One minute I think we are getting along and understand each other; the next thing I know the teacher is handing me a ‘D,’ and I am never quite sure where things went wrong.

The instructor, Neal Buckingham, prom-

ised he would move slowly from step to step, explaining how to read topographical maps and the difference between grid north and magnetic north. “There is no rocket science to it,� he said.

Thankfully, Tom was on much better terms with numbers than myself and was there to help. We made a good team. He brought wisdom to the group, and I brought charisma. While my contribution doesn’t really help when calculating how many degrees west we should walk to make it from point A to point B, Tom’s knowledge did.

And I must say if I ever need to use my newly learned orienteering knowledge, I hope the Joneses are nearby to help.

The only disappointment of the day was that a personal commitment kept me from taking off on a short trail or visiting Cades Cove after class concluded that afternoon.

But I remedied that the next day with a trip to Max Patch, which I only bring up to say that if you haven’t been, you should on the next warm day.

Max Patch is like “Introduction to the Outdoors 101.� All you do is turn right off the Harmon Den exit (Exit 7) on Interstate 40 and drive for about 20 minutes or so up a dirt road. There will be a parking lot eventually and then you just have to walk threefourths a mile uphill to a “patch� on top the mountain.

Max Patch has a 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains and is a fantastic place to picnic or fly a kite. You can hear the peace in the air.

March 20-26, 2013

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your friendly, local blue box — smoky mountain news

Pitching in for the Appalachian Trail

Calling all fly fishermen for ‘Pints and Flies’ Attention fly fishermen: load up your fly-tying gear to partake in “Pints and Flies” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Frog Level Brewery in Waynesville. The event is organized by the Cataloochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Fly fishermen who pledge to tie 25 flies get $2 pints in return, with the flies being donated to support veterans. All proceeds are going to Trout Unlimited Cataloochee Chapter Veterans Program.

828.246.1357 or froglevelbrewing@gmail.com.

Becoming a fly fishing woman in three days As part of the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman series a three-day fly fishing weekend for women will be held April 5-7, at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education .

The one-on-one instruction includes casting, tying, stream ecology and an introduction to equipment, including a guided fly fishing experience on prime trout waters. Equipment is provided.

The program is offered by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Becoming an Outdoors-Woman is an international program for women to learn outdoor skills through hands-on experiences.

Cost is $125, but partial scholarships up to $90 are available. 919.218.3638 or bb.gillen@ncwildlife.org or www.ncwildlife.org.

The search for life in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be commemorated at a unique gathering in Gatlinburg March 21-23 hosted by Discover Life in America. The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory Conference will highlight the research, conservation and educational efforts being made to understand and protect the estimated 60,000 to 80,000 species in the Smoky Mountains, considered to be one of the world’s most biologically diverse ecosystems.

At the heart of this effort is an ecological undertaking to find and document every species of life in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, from ferns and fungi to birds and beetles. The effort began in 1998 and is serving as a model for efforts to document the diversity of life throughout the nation — at other national parks, state parks and preserves. To date, over 900 species have been identified that are new to science and over 7,000 species have been identified that are new records for the Smokies.

The conference will also feature field trips in the Smokies, nature hikes, photography workshops, fund-raising auctions and book signings. The conference is open to scientists, researchers, educators, media and interested members of the public. www.dlia.org

If you, or someone you know, believe the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has improperly denied you farm loan benefits between 1981 and 2000 because you are Hispanic or female, you may be eligible to apply for compensation.

Claims MUST be postmarked

by MARCH 25, 2013 to be considered for cash payment or loan forgiveness.

If you think you might be eligible to file a claim, please access the Farmer and Rancher Call Center or Website: 1-888-508-4429 www.farmerclaims.gov

Smoky Mountain News

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation will provide $740,000 for projects and programs on the Parkway this year, including children’s education, projects for visitors’ servic-

Conference to celebrate search for life in the Smokies

COMPENSATION FOR CLAIMS OF DISCRIMINATION

March 20-26, 2013

Graveyard Fields overlook to get makeover

es and preservation of historic, cultural and natural resources along the Parkway.

Part of the funds will go toward a major overhaul of the crowded Graveyard Fields overlook. It serves as a jumping off point for the Shining Rock Wilderness. A scenic, waterfall studded stream winds through high-elevation open meadows, making it a popular hiking destination — so popular the site has taken a beating.

Improvements will include better parking to alleviate congestion issues, restrooms, interpretive signs and trail improvements.

Funding was also provided by the Scenic Byways program.

Other projects include the rehabilitation of campsites at the Mount Pisgah Campground, replacing damaged and worn interpretive signs along the Parkway, replacement of historic stone water fountains and Parks as Classroom program that provides fieldtrips and in-classroom programs for local schools.

Over $600,000 of the funding is for projects that were deemed critical or are already in process. The remaining projects will only be undertaken if external funding from grant sources, companies or private donations can be found to help offset the costs.

“The Parkway has given us an important list of needs this year, but we cannot accomplish them all without the help,” says Carolyn Ward, CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. “We will be working hard to find the funds to make all of these projects a reality.”

NOTICE TO HISPANIC AND/OR WOMEN FARMERS OR RANCHERS

outdoors

A group of 12 students from Emerson College in Boston spent last week on an Alternate Spring Break helping maintain the Appalachian Trail south of the Nantahala Outdoor Center under the supervision of the Nantahala Hiking Club. They installed 152 feet of cribbing, 18 log steps, and completed 300 feet of side hill excavation.

United States Department of Agriculture USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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A lawsuit has been filed over a new backcountry camping fee imposed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Southern Forest Watch claims the backcountry camping fee was “rejected by public sentiment, improperly vetted and imposed upon citizens without their consent.”

Backcountry camping has historically been free in the Smokies. The park this year implemented a $4 per person per night fee.

The Swain County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution last week in support of the lawsuit. The resolution cited the historical ties many Swain County people have to the land that is now the Smokies, including the remains of family homesteads and cemeteries still located on national park lands.

“Many Swain County residents use the backcountry campsites to visit the cemeteries where their ancestors are buried, to explore the home places that their ancestors occupied and to enjoy simple outdoor recreation,” the resolution states. “The imposition of the backcountry camping fee and reservation system may hinder the use of the backcountry campsites by Swain County families who engage in backcountry camping to strengthen familial bonds, reflect on the history and culture of their ancestors, fish and enjoy nature.”

The resolution also noted the economic importance of park visitation to Swain County.

Southern Forest Watch formed expressly to fight the fee, fearing it could lead to a slippery slope for an entrance fee for the national park.

newsdesk crafts

outdoors March 20-26, 2013 Smoky Mountain News 30

Smokies backcountry fee taken to court

A.T. hiking season kicks off in Franklin Franklin will celebrate its love for Appalachian Trail hikers with the annual April Fools Trail Days festival on Saturday, March 30, timed to coincide with the wave of A.T. hikers passing through the region at the beginning of their long journey to Maine.

The day-long celebration in downtown Franklin will bring together hikers, locals and visitors, featuring displays, workshops, live entertainment, food and more.

Saturday’s activities begin at 10 a.m. with national vendors displaying hiking gear alongside educational exhibits and workshops about wildlife medicine, photography, outdoor leadership and boot fitting.

All workshops will be held in the lower level of Franklin Town Hall on Main Street.

The event will feature a gear exchange this year hosted by Three Eagles Outfitters.

“If you have hiking gear, a canoe or even skis that you want to sell or trade, you’re welcome to participate in this free gear exchange,” said Linda Schlott, Franklin Main Street Program Executive Director. It is free but those interested in participating must pre-register. 828.524.9061.

Cubs on the Run 5K kicks off spring The family-friendly Cubs on the Run 5K will be held on Saturday, March 23, at Meadowbrook Elementary School in Canton, with a fun run starting at 8:30 a.m. and a 5K at 9 a.m.

The Meadowbrook Cubs on the Run 5K and fun run was created to help solve the growing problem of childhood obesity. The event helps raise money for physical activity programs at the school. One year the proceeds went toward a nine-hole disc golf course on campus.

More than 75 students have been preparing for the run through the Cubs in Training program, a 30-minute afterschool program that gets kids physically active and gives them the sense of accomplishment of running a 5K. There will be a health fair in the gym from 7:30 to 11 a.m. to share ways families can be physically active. There will also be several local health care providers with booths.

✁

Franklin Tourism Development Authority, Three Eagles Outfitters and the Nantahala Hiking Club. www.aprilfoolstraildays.com.

Library series welcome spring to the mountains

Books Unlimited will have outdoors authors throughout the day of the festival signing their books.

Running in conjunction with April Fools Trail Days is the annual Hiker Bash hosted

by Ronnie Haven at Sapphire Inn on East Main Street. The event will begin at 6 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday and allows participants a way to connect, share stories and advice on hiking the A.T. and fill up on food.

April Fools Trail Days is sponsored by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, Outdoor 76, Franklin Main Street Program, Town of

The Fun Run is $5 for kids under 12 or $10 for 12 and over. The 5K is $20. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m. or from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday afternoon. teacher.haywood.k12.nc.us/bswanger/meadowbrooks-cubs-on-the-run-5k/ or 828.646.3445.

Friends of the Lake 5K to celebrate Junaluska lakeshore recreation

The Macon County Public Library is also hosting the annual “Walking with Spring Series” in the week leading up to the April Fools Trail Days festival in Franklin.

All programs are at 7 p.m.

■ Monday, March 25, “Yoga for Hikers” with Robin Calahan.

■ Tuesday, March 26, “Section Hiking” with Bill & Sharon VanHorn.

■ Wednesday, March 27, “Leave No Trace” with Mairi Padgett.

■ Thursday, March 28, “Hiking the Appalachian Trail & Preserving Shuck Stack Fire Tower” with Peter Barr.

■ Monday, April 1, “Just Add Water” with Kim Lippey ■ Wednesday, April 3, “Poetry, Prose, and Paintings” with George & Elizabeth Ellison.

■ Thursday, April 4, “The Dividing Spring: Mythology & History of the Once Common Source of the Chattooga & Little Tennessee Rivers” with Brent Martin.

Gym with registration from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. The 5K race will start at 9 a.m., the 5K Family Walk at 9:10 a.m. and the Fun Run for Kids 10 and under at 10 a.m. Cost is $25 for adults, $15 for ages 11 to 18 and free for 10 and under.

Registration can be found at the Bethea Welcome Center or 828.454.6680 or www.lakejunaluska.com.

Lake Junaluska will host the Friends of the Lake 5K, Family Walk, and Children’s Fun Run at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 30, as part of its annual Easter weekend activities.

Proceeds for this event go towards the annual maintenance and improvement of the recreation areas at Lake Junaluska. Participants will also become a member of the Friends of the Lake program.

The race headquarters will be at the Weldon

SYLVA FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH will will host host their their annual annual Brunch with the Bunny Pancake Breakfast & Easter Egg Hunt Saturday March 23, 2013

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There will be pancakes and a special appearance by the Easter Bunny who will be available for pictures.

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77 Jackson St, Sylva • (828) 586-2358

WNC Calendar BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Franklin Chamber’s Alive After Five! 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 21, Macon County Historical Museum, 36 W. Main St., Franklin. Where Shadows Walk Tour, door prizes, refreshments and a brief presentation on tours available. 524.3161.

• Mountain BizWorks Express Foundations business planning course 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 21, Oak Park Inn, 196 S. Main St., Waynesville. Ashley Epling, 253.2834 x 27, Ashley@mountainbizworks.org, or course facilitator John Woods, 551.2095, johnw@mountainbizworks.org. www.mountainbizworks.org.

• Western Carolina University history professor Gael Graham, Friday, March 22, North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee. $40, includes dinner, all sessions and refreshments. WCU students free to attend sessions. www.nchistorians.org and click on “Conference.”

• The Golden LEAF Foundation and Swain County public forum, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Monday, March 25, Mountain View Room at the Business Training Center, 45 East Ridge Road, Bryson City. Pat Cabe, pcabe@goldenleaf.org or call 888.684.8404.

• Technical Coordinating Committee of the Southwestern Rural Planning Organization (RPO), 9:30 a.m. Monday, March 25, Cecil Groves boardroom at the Macon County campus of Southwestern Community College. Philip Moore, coordinator of the Southwestern RPO, at phil@regiona.org or 339.2213.

• Transportation Advisory Committee of the Southwestern Rural Planning Organization, 5 p.m.

Monday, March 25, Chestnut Tree Inn at 37 Tsalagi Road, Cherokee. Philip Moore, coordinator of the Southwestern RPO, at phil@regiona.org or 339.2213.

• Growing a Business in Cherokee 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wednesday, March 27, and Thursday, March 28, Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Free. All materials provided. Lunch included. Hope Huskey, 359.5005/ hopehuskey@sequoyahfund.

• Free seminar, Business Planning for Business Success, 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, Student Center, first floor, Haywood Community College.

627.4512.

• The Small Business Center of Haywood Community College free seminar entitled “So… You Think You Want to Serve Food?” 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 28, HCC’s Student Center building, first floor.

Presenter will be Donna Brown, Haywood County Environmental Health Program Specialist, 627.4512.

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Lions Club Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser, 4:30 to 7 p.m.

Thursday, March 21, First United Methodist Church, Haywood St., Waynesville. $8 for adults and $4 for children under $12. Carry out available. Proceeds go for food for kids, vision wear, Camp Dogwood for blind, and events for the blind. 734.2633.

• A New Paradigm in Women’s Leadership workshop, March 22-23, The Loft at Harvest Moon Gardens, Sylva.

Register at leadlikeawoman.eventbrite.com or email marsha@harvestmoongardens.net.

• Fourth annual pancake breakfast, 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 23, Maggie Valley United Methodist Church, 4192 Soco Road, Maggie Valley. $8 for adults, $3 for children under 12. All proceeds go to church missions. Tickets will be available at the door and in advance. 926.9794.

• The Smoky Mountain Chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

Association meeting noon, Saturday, March 23, Seville Room, Lambuth Inn, Lake Junaluska. Musical program presented by Craig Summers with Medwest Haywood Hospice & Palliative Care. The Chapter serves Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, and Graham Counties. Ed Fox, 456.5251, Haywood County; Betty Brintnall, 586.9292, Jackson County; Luci Swanson, 369.8922, Macon County.

• Jackson County Chapter of Organizing for Action (OFA) rally, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 23, at the fountain in front of the old Jackson County Courthouse in Sylva, to celebrate the third anniversary of the passing of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and focus on the need for affordable access to healthcare for the citizens of Jackson County.

• Fines Creek Volunteer Fire Department annual budget hearing 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, fire department.

734.6249.

• Seventh annual Pet Photography Contest to benefit Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation. Deadline for pet photo entries is Monday, March 25. $10 entry fee per photo. www.sargeandfriends.org.

• The Fines Creek Volunteer Fire Dept. will hold its annual hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. on March 27 for 2013-2014 year, The meeting will be at the fire department. Everyone encouraged to attend. 828.734.6249

HEALTH MATTERS • Blue Ridge Holistic Nurses Chapter Meeting, 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, March 23, West Asheville Library Community Meeting Room, 942 Haywood Road, Asheville. Enter to the right of the main entrance. Lillian Norris at brholisticnurse@gmail.com or call 734.4399.

• Ladies Night Out Program, Tobacco Cessation, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., choose one, Tuesday, March 26, cafeteria of Angel Medical Center, Franklin. Guest speaker will be Kim Watson, RN, CDE, Community Education/Cardiac Rehab, Angel Medical Center. 349.2426.

• Men’s Night Out Program, Emergency Preparedness, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, third floor Angel Medical Center, video conference room. Speaker will be Melissa Leatherman, preparedness coordinator for Macon County Public Health. Don Capaforte, 349.6887 or Dawn Wilde Burgess at 349.2426.

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE • Weekly Lenten Services, noon, through March 21, Canton First United Methodist Church, 31 Newfound St., Canton. Speakers will be from various churches. Meal available for $5 after the service.

• Discussion group, sponsored by the Baha’i Faith of Sylva, 2:30 to 4 p.m. Friday, March 22, meeting room, Holt Library Southwestern Community College, Sylva.

Open to the community. BahaiFaithSylva@yahoo.com.

• Special service to observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, First United Methodist Church, 77 Jackson St., Sylva. Immediately following the Holy Eucharist, a Tennebrae service will begin. 586.2358.

• Maggie Valley United Methodist Church: Maundy Thursday service, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 28; Good Friday service, 7 p.m. Friday, March 29; Community Easter Egg Hunt & Party, noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 30; Community Easter Sunrise Service, 6:30 a.m.

Sunday, March 31, Maggie Valley Town Hall Pavilion, followed by a free pancake breakfast in the Community

Smoky Mountain News

Center. Easter Worship service, 11 a.m. Maggie Valley United Methodist Church. 926.8036 • First United Methodist Church, Waynesville: Palm/Passion Sunday services 8:30 a.m., 8:40 a.m. and 11 a.m.; Maundy Thursday, communion and Faure Requiem 7 p.m. Thursday, March 28; Good Friday Cross Walk up Main Street 10:45 a.m., Good Friday service, 7 p.m. Friday, March 29; Easter Sunday services, 8:30 a.m., 8:40 a.m. and 11 a.m., cross celebration and decoration 10 a.m., Sunday, March 31. First United Methodist Church, 566 South Haywood St., Waynesville.

456.9475 or www.fumc-waynesville.com.

SENIOR ACTIVITIES • Live and Learn Committee of the Junaluskans, 2 p.m. Thursday, March 21, Bethea Welcome Center, Lake Junaluska. Topic is: opportunities for senior citizens at Haywood Community College. 452.7802.

DAY CAMPS • Elementary School Summer Day Camp, ages 6 to 12, Cullowhee United Methodist, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, June 3 to August 2, with no camp July 45. One-time registration fee $75 (or $10 per week if less than 8 weeks) per family to reserve your spot and will help cover the cost of supplies and some activities.

Cost is $650 for the whole summer, $90 per week, or $25 per day. Space is limited and filling up fast. Call 293.9215 or visit http://www.cullowheeumc.org/summer-camp-2013/.

• Preschool Summer Day Camp Cullowhee United Methodist Church, ages 3 - not yet attended kindergarten, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, June 3 through August 2, with no camp July 4-5. Full-day program $650 for the whole summer, $90 per week, or $25 per day. Half day program $450 for entire summer, $60 per week, or $15 per day. Space limited, call 293.9215 or visit http://www.cullowheeumc.org/summer-camp2013/.

EASTER EVENTS • Breakfast with the Easter Bunny 8 to 10 a.m., Saturday, March 23. For ages 10 and under, Jackson County Senior Center. Easter Egg Hunt, noon, Recreation Park, Cullowhee.

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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 and a 2-hour layover on Saturday. Join Snoopy, Lucy, Charlie Brown, and our Easter Bunnies for old-fashioned Easter fun. Tickets start at $51 per adult, $29 per child 2 through 12. Infants 23 months and under ride free.

Upgrades available. 800.872.4681 or www.gsmr.com.

• Special service to observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28, First United Methodist Church, 77 Jackson St., Sylva. Immediately following the Holy Eucharist, a Tennebrae service will begin. 586.2358.

• Maggie Valley United Methodist Church: Maundy Thursday service, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 28; Good Friday service, 7 p.m. Friday, March 29; Community Easter Egg Hunt & Party, noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 30; Community Easter Sunrise Service, 6:30 a.m.

Sunday, March 31, Maggie Valley Town Hall Pavilion, followed by a free pancake breakfast in the Community Center. Easter Worship service, 11 a.m. Maggie Valley United Methodist Church. 926.8036 • First United Methodist Church, Waynesville: Palm/Passion Sunday services 8:30 a.m., 8:40 a.m. and 11 a.m.; Maundy Thursday, communion and Faure Requiem 7 p.m. Thursday, March 28; Good Friday Cross Walk up Main Street 10:45 a.m., Good Friday service, 7 p.m. Friday, March 29; Easter Sunday services, 8:30 a.m., 8:40 a.m. and 11 a.m., cross celebration and decoration 10 a.m., Sunday, March 31. First United Methodist Church, 566 South Haywood St., Waynesville.

456.9475 or www.fumc-waynesville.com.

• 2nd annual Easter Egg Hunt 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 30, Snow Hill Inn, 531 Snow Hill Road, Franklin.

Bring a basket. Various age groups. Prizes, games, pictures and crafts.

• Community Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 23, Highlands Rec Park and Civic Center. www.highlandschamber.com.

• 25th annual Easter Hat Parade, 2 p.m., Saturday, March 30, Dillsboro, featuring fun and creative hats, the Easter bunny and more. Pets and people welcome with hats. Prizes awarded in 20 categories.

• Annual Easter egg hunt, 10 a.m. Saturday, March 23, Swain County Recreation Park Office. Ages 2 to 10.

Inclement weather date: 1 p.m. Sunday, March 24.

Easter egg hunts, 10 a.m., hat-making sessions, 10 a.m., Dogwood Crafters. Jackson County Visitors Center, 800.962.1911, or go to www.visitdillsboro.org.

• Stecoah Easter egg hunt 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 23, Stecoah Valley Center, Robbinsville. Also, visit from the Easter Bunny, Easter bonnet contest, arts and crafts, and refreshments. There will be a Deviled Egg Contest. Entries must be in by 10:30 a.m. Entrants should be prepared to make at least 24 deviled eggs. “Peeps on the Creek” rubber duck race is open to adults and children for $1 per chance. www.stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• Easter weekend activities Saturday, March 30 at Lake Junaluska, include the Friends of the Lake 5k, Family Walk, Fun Run, Easter Egg Hunts for ages 1-12, and other family activities. 452.2881 or visit www.lakejunaluska.com/easter.

• 2nd annual Easter Egg Hunt for children preschool 5th grade, 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 23, Encouraging Word Baptist Church located at the Historic Bethel Presbyterian Church, 664 Sonoma Road, Waynesville.

Enjoy an egg hunt, pony rides, face painting, egg decorating, bouncy house and slide, cake walk, games, prizes and hot dogs. In case of inclement weather, the event will be held in the Bethel Middle School Gymnasium.

• PEANUTS™ Easter Beagle Express 11 a.m. departure for Dillsboro, Friday, March 29, and Saturday, March 30, historic Bryson City Depot. 1½-hour layover on Friday

• Sunrise Easter service, Sunday, March 31, Amphitheatre Cross, Lake Junaluska, featuring Rev. Rob Huckaby and a brass quintet. 452.2881 or visit www.lakejunaluska.com/easter.

• Easter service by Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church, 10:25 a.m. Sunday, March 31, historic Stuart Auditorium, Lake Junaluska. Come early before the service for coffee and fellowship. www.longschapel.com or 456.3993.

• Breakfast buffet in the Lambuth Inn will follow the Easter Sunrise Service, Sunday, March 31, and an Easter Buffet will be available 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Buffet reservations, 454.6662, purchase tickets online at www.shop.lakejunaluska.com, or purchase tickets at the Bethea Welcome Center between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.

wnc calendar

• English Tea, 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday, March 30, Jarrett House, Sylva. $12 per person by reservation only. Register at Dogwood Crafters, 586.2248 or call Mary Nolan, 586.4686.

POLITICAL GROUP EVENTS & LOCAL GOVERNMENT • Jackson County Republican Party annual convention and precinct meetings 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 22, Jackson County Senior Center, 100 County Services Park, Sylva. U.S. House of Representatives Congressman Mark Meadows is the featured speaker.

For convention and dinner reservations (required), call Chair Ralph Slaughter, 743.6491 or Jim Mueller, 743.3057 or email jacksonctygop@yahoo.com. www.jacksoncountygop.com.

• Haywood County Republicans annual precinct meetings and county convention Saturday, March 23, Canton Armory, 71 Penland St., Canton. Registration 8:30 a.m., precinct meetings 9:30 a.m., convention 10:30 a.m. www.haywoodncgop.org, 506.0939.

• OccupyWNC working groups (public welcome), 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, room 220, Jackson County Justice Center.

SUPPORT GROUPS • MedWest-Harris WNC Breast Cancer Support Group, 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, Harris Medical Park, conference room 98, Doctors Dr., Sylva. Mary E. Mahon, RN, 631.8100.

A&E March 20-26, 2013

FESTIVALS, SPECIAL & SEASONAL EVENTS • The Haywood Chamber of Commerce is accepting applications for artists and crafters – as well as craft demonstrators – for the 25th annual Haywood County Apple Harvest Festival, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct.19 on Historic Main Street downtown Waynesville. Deadline for applications is August 30. Booth space assignments for the festival will be announced after October 4. Applications are available from the Chamber of Commerce by visiting HaywoodAppleFest.com or by calling 456.3021.

• Barbara Bates Smith, 1 p.m. Thursday, March 21, Senior Resource Center, 81 Elmwood Way, Waynesville, 452.2370. Free.

Smoky Mountain News

• The Dr. Ann R. Wilke Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser, noon to 10 p.m., Saturday, March 23, Haywood County Fairgrounds. Great food, entertainment and lots of family fun.

• Hunger Games Fan Tours - Walking Tours March 30, April 20, June 8, July 6, Aug.17, & Aug. 31, DuPont State Forest (between Hendersonville and Brevard). $59 per person and includes: guides for filming locations, exploring waterfalls, Hunger Games lunch, camouflage lesson like Peeta, archery like Katniss and sling shot like Rue. Hiking required. Make reservations at www.hungergamesfantours.com. Hike begins at Hooker Falls Parking Lot in DuPont State Recreational Forest. Archery and sling shot classes will take place in downtown Brevard.

LITERARY (ADULTS) • Coffee with the Poet Featuring Brenda Kay Ledford, 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 21, City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, 586.9499.

• Adult Creative Writing Workshop, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, Jackson County Public Library, Sylva, 32 586.2016.

• Intercultural Superhighway presentation with John Stiles, 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, Jackson County Public Library, Sylva. 586.2016.

• Hiking the Mountain-to-Sea Trail with hike leader and author Danny Bernstein, 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 29, City Lights Bookstore, Sylva. Bernstein is the author of The Mountain-to-Sea Trail Across North Carolina: Walking a Thousand Miles Through Wilderness, Culture and History. 586.9499.

• Birke Baehr, 13, talks sustainable farming 3 p.m.

Saturday, March 30, City Lights Bookstore, Sylva.

586.9499.

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • Guest artists Allan Ware, clarinet, and Wolfgang Mechsner, piano, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, recital hall of the Coulter Building, Western Carolina University. Free concert of German Romantic works.

Shannon Thompson, WCU associate professor of music, 227.3956 orthompson@wcu.edu.

• Free concert, The Barefoot Movement, 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, community room, Jackson County Public Library, Sylva. 586.2016.

• Darius Rucker, 9 p.m. Friday, March 22, Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center., 777 Casino Drive, Cherokee. www.ticketmaster.com or 800.745.3000. Must be 21 years of age or older to attend. www.dariusrucker.com.

• Sharkadelics, DJ Suave, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, March 22, Essence Lounge, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

• ACM Awards Co-Host and CMA Awards Entertainer of the Year Blake Shelton, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23, Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center, 777 Casino Drive, Cherokee. Tickets at www.ticketmaster.com.

• Grammy-award winning singer, songwriter and producer Alicia Keys, 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center. Tickets at www.ticketmaster.com. Must be 21 years of age or older to attend.

• Balsam Range, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, Colonial Theater, Canton. 235.2760.

• Grace Noon Concert Series, noon, third Thursdays of the month, April 18 – June 20, Grace Church in the Mountains, 394 Haywood St., downtown Waynesville.

Featuring The Signature Winds. 456.6029.

ART/GALLERY EVENTS & OPENINGS •5th annual Spring Cashiers Arts & Crafts Fair, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 25-26, Cashiers Village Green.

Spring juried event. Artisans interested in participating in this show email artsandcrafts@cashiersrotary.org.

CLASSES, PROGRAMS & DEMONSTRATIONS • Catch the Spirit of Appalachia Art Workshops, Discovering Your Hidden Artist, 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 6, Nature’s Home Preserve, Tuckasegee. $36, materials furnished. Open to beginning and experienced art students. 293.2239 or go to www.doreylart.yurtstudio.com and email from Doreyl’s website. http://colorfestartblog.com.

• Bring Nature Indoors: A Wreath Making Class, 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays March 21 - April 11, room 114, SCC Macon Campus. Enrollment, $35 plus class supply kit, $30. Bring craft scissors and glue guns or glue pots.

Latresa, 339.4426.

• Comic Stripped: A Revealing Look at Southern Stereotypes in Cartoons, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, through Tuesday, May 14, Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University. 227.7129.

• Spring glass class, Glass Easter Egg, 30-minute time slots from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 23, Jackson County Green Energy Park, one mile from the

intersection of highways 74 and 441, in Dillsboro.

Assistance from local glass artist Aaron Shufelt. $30, due at registration. Pre-registration strongly suggested. No experience necessary. Ages 13-17 may also participate with parent present. Dress in cotton clothing (no polyester); wear closed shoes and long pants.

Register at 631.0271. www.JCGEP.org.

• One-day basket weaving class 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday, March 23, Macon County Cooperative Extension Building, Thomas Heights off Highlands Road, Franklin. Led by master weaver Joanne Nolen.

Adult basket makers only. $35 fee covers materials and instruction. Arts Council, 524.7683 or arts4all@dnet.net. www.artscouncilofmacon.org.

• Western North Carolina Carvers (WNCC) monthly meeting 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 24, 205 Kenilworth Road, Asheville. Bruce Dalzell, 665.8273.

FILM & SCREEN • The Groovy Movie Club will show the film Argo, 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, at Buffy Queen’s green., solarpowered home, Dellwood. Mostly organic potluck dinner, 6:15 p.m. Free, open to the public. 926.3508 or 454.5949 to make reservations/get directions or emailjohnbuckleyX@gmail.com • Classic Marx Brothers film, 4 p.m. Saturday, March 23, Marianna Black Library, Bryson City. Free popcorn and refreshments. 488.3030 • Free family movie with Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra and others, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, Marianna Black Library, Bryson City. Popcorn provided.

488.3030.

• Free movie, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, Jackson County Public Library, 586.2016.

DANCE • Pisgah Promenaders 1950s square dance, 6:45 to 8:45 p.m., Saturday, March 23, Old Armory, 44 Boundary St., Waynesville. Plus and Mainstream dancing with caller Marty Northrup. 586.8416 or 507.7270.

• Waynesville Community Dance, 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24, Gateway Club Ballroom, 37 Church St., Waynesville. $5. Circle, square and contra dances. No experience necessary, no partner required. Barbara Groh will call the dance to live music by Laura Lengnick and Karen Gaughan. www.dancewnc.com.

MUSIC JAMS • Winter Pickin in The Park, Friday, March 22, Canton Armory. Free • Community music jam, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, Marianna Black Library, downtown Bryson City, library auditorium. 488.3030.

Outdoors OUTINGS, HIKES & FIELDTRIPS • The Nantahala Hiking Club, easy two-mile hike with a gentle climb to Mud Creek Falls, Sunday, March 24.

Meet at 2 p.m. at the Smoky Mountain Visitors Center.

Drive 20 miles round trip. Leader Joyce Jacques, 410.852.7510, for reservations. Visitors welcome, no pets.

• The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will offer a three-day fly-fishing weekend for women April 5-7 through the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW), Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education and Davidson River Campground south of Asheville near Brevard.

Cost is $125, but partial scholarships in amounts up

to $90 available. No experience necessary. Register at 919.218.3638 or bb.gillen@ncwildlife.org www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/ClinicsCoursesWorkshops /BOW. • Sons of the American Legion Turkey Shoot, 9 a.m. every Saturday, Legion Drive, Waynesville. Benefits local charities.

PROGRAMS & WORKSHOPS • Green Drinks meeting for a presentation on Jackson County’s steep slope ordinances, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 20, Lulu’s on Main Street, 612 W. Main St., Sylva. Green Drinks meets on a monthly basis, and is co-sponsored by the Western North Carolina Alliance and the WENOCA chapter of the Sierra Club. http://wnca.org/maconjackson-greendrinks/ or lourocturner@gmail.com.

• Great Hikes on SAHC’s Protected Land Presentation 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21, REI Asheville, Register/Info: http://www.rei.com/event/49609/session/67942.

• Volunteers needed for litter pick-up and bird-watching activity 9 a.m. Saturday, March 23, Sandy Mush Game Land. Organized by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Meet at 9 a.m. in the parking area where Old N.C. 20 crosses Turkey Creek (N35.704637, W082.669082). The Commission will supply bags, gloves and bottled water. Bring binoculars, bird guides and notebooks. 682.6718.

• Friends of Panthertown Wilderness Falls Trail Reroute Work Day, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 23, Panthertown Valley. Volunteers needed to help reroute the popular Wilderness Falls Trail to make for easier and safer access to the waterfall below. http://panthertown.org/volunteer.

• Yoga for Hikers, with Robin Callahan, 7 p.m.

Monday, March 25, Macon County Library meeting room, Franklin.

• Section hiking the AT will Bill and Sharon Van Horn, from the Nantahala Hiking Club, 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, Macon County Library meeting room, Franklin. The Van Horns have covered 1,980 miles of the Appalachian Trail and plan to complete their last 220 miles through Maine in the Fall of 2013.

524.3600.

• Leave No Trace—Enjoying the Outdoors Responsibly, Mairi Padgett with Landmark Learning, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, March 27, Macon County Library meeting room, Franklin. 524.3600.

• Bike Maintenance: Derailleur and Shifting Systems, 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, REI Asheville. $20 REI members, $40 non-members, Register/Info: www.rei.com/event/49552/session/67844.

• WMI Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT), April 1-26 in Cullowhee, Landmark Learning, 293.5384 or main@landmarklearning.org.

COMPETITIVE EDGE • Fourth annual Cubs on the Fun Run Sprint and 5K, 8:30 a.m. Saturday, March 23, Meadowbrook Elementary School. Entry form at http://teacher.haywood.k12.nc.us/bswanger/files/2011/10/2013brochure-entry-form2.pdf.

• Third annual Cherokee Opening Day Trout Fishing Tournament March 29-30 Cherokee Reservation rivers. $5 entry fee and $10,000 in tagged fish. Open to all ages and for all legal fishing methods. Registration necessary to redeem cash prize. http://www.fishcherokee.com/tagged.html • Valley of the Lilies Half Marathon and 5K Saturday, April 6 at WCU. Register at imathlete.com. http://halfmarathon.wcu.edu or email valleyofthelilies@wcu.edu.

• Registration now open for the Fourth annual Blue Ridge Breakaway, Saturday, Aug. 17, Haywood County.

Pre-register online at www.BlueridgeBreakaway.com.

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 ART AND PICTURES Ranging from $10 to $35. For more information call 828.994.0870.

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.

Rates:

AUCTION

■ 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.

2 OUTSTANDING LAKEFRONT LOTS. Smith Mountain Lake, VA. 4.89A (Moneta) & 2.1A (Huddleston). Absolute Auctions. Saturday, April 6, 10am. Terms, photos online: www.countsauction.com.

800.780.2991. VAAF93 CRYSTAL COAST REAL ESTATE Auction - Townhouses, Condotel & Houses in Atlantic Beach & Morehead City, NC. ONLINE ONLY AUCTION, Bidding Ends April 2. Register & Bid at www.HouseAuctionCompany.com. 252.729.1162.

NCAL#7889

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

GOING, GOING, GONE! Promote your auction with a classified ad published in 100 North Carolina newspapers with over 1.3 million circulation. A 25-word ad is only $330. For more information, call this newspaper at 828.452.4251 or visit www.ncpsads.com.

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, COO

INC.

R

DI

SC OV ER E

ATR

PE

Serving Haywood, Jackson & Surrounding Counties

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

AUCTION Construction Equipment & Trucks, March 22nd, 9am, Richmond, VA. Excavators, Dozers, Dumps & More.

Accepting Items Daily. Motley's Auction & Realty Group.

804.232.3300. www.motleys.com.

VAAL#16 INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT AUCTION ONLINE: Diesel Box Truck, Punch Presses, Grinders, Welders, Compressors, Powdercoat Ovens, Loaders, Forklifts, Warehouse Racking, Tools, Aluminum Coils. Photos, Dates, Bidding: EBIDLOCAL.com (ncaf#9197) 2,106+/-sf 4/5BR, 2BA Renovated Farm House on 9.630+/- Acres. 1948 Lone Oak Crossing, Huddleston, VA. Absolute Auction, March 23, 10am. www.countsauction.com.

800.780.2991. VAAF93

AUCTION RESTAURANT EQPMNT. AUCTION Wednesday, March 27 at 10am.

3400 Forest Drive, Columbia, SC. Complete liquidation of TGI Friday's Restaurant & Bar Equipment. Large Decor Package, Antiques, Old Signs. Tony Furr 704.791.8825. scal2893r/5508. www.ClassicAuctions.com.

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

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 SULLIVAN HARDWOOD FLOORS Installation- Finish - Refinish 828.399.1847.

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 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.

CARS - DOMESTIC 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.

EMPLOYMENT 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.

BALSAM MOUNTAIN INN Is now accepting applications for waitstaff. Please apply in person.

Call for directions 828.456.9498.

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 ASSISTANT PROPERTY MANAGER Responsible for the day-to-day administration and implementation of those policies, procedures and programs that will assure a well managed well maintained property. The Assistant Property Manager will be assigned to specified action areas at the discretion of the Property Manager post available Full-Part/ time Send resume to: kevin.hardy@aol.com AVIATION CAREERS Train in advance structures and become certified to work on aircraft. Financial aid for those who qualify. Call aviation institute of maintenance 1.877.205.1779.

SAPA A FEW PRO DRIVERS NEEDED! Top Pay & 401K. Recent CDL grads wanted. 877.258.8782. www.ad-drivers.com

R

WNC MarketPlace

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

COMPANY DRIVER: Solo & Team OTR Lanes. Competitive Pay. Great hometime. CDL-A with 1 year OTR and Hazmat End. Sin-On Bonus. $2000 Solo & $5000 Teams. 888.705.3217 or apply online at: www.drivenctrans.com

EMPLOYMENT

DRIVERS - REGIONAL Class A CDL - Company Drivers & Owner Operators Out 5 to 7 Days 1.800.444.0585 Press 2 for Recruiting or Online applications www.howellsmotor.com DRIVERS- APPLY NOW! 12 Drivers Needed. Top 5% Pay. Class A CDL Required. Call now 877.258.8782 or go to: www.ad-drivers.com

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 experience. 800.414.9569. www.driveknight.com

DRIVERS: 25 Company Drivers Needed! New Regional & OTR Lanes. Home Weekly. Great Pay, Benefits & 401k, 1 year CDL-A Exp. Req. Tanker, HazMat and TWIC. Call Cliff @ 888.379.7075 or apply at www.Work4QC.com

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

NOW HIRING! National Companies need workers immediately to assemble products at home. Electronics, CD stands, hair barrettes & many more. Easy work, no selling, any hours. $500/week potential. Info 1.985.646.1700 DEPT NC - 4152 (Not valid in Louisiana) SAPA

HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR Career! 3 Week Hands On Training School. Bulldozers, Backhoes, Excavators. National Certifications.

Lifetime Job Placement Assistance.

VA Benefits Eligible.

1.866.362.6497

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 1.877.206.7665 www.CenturaOnline.com SAPA NEED MEDICAL OFFICE TRAINEES! Become a Medical Office Assistant at CTI! No Experienced Needed!

Online Training gets you job ready!

HS Diploma/GED & Computer needed. For program disclosures, go to Careertechnical.edu/northcarolina. 1.888.512.7122 OILFIELD JOBS Immediate Opportunity. $64,000 $145,000/year. No Experience Necessary. Call 24 Hour Free Recorded Message. 1.800.653.0206 SAPA OWNER OPERATORS: $5,000 Sign-On Bonus. Excellent Rates. Paid FSC, loaded & empty.

75% Drop & Hook. Great Fuel & Tire Discounts. L/P available. CDLA with 1 year tractor-trailer experience required. 888.703.3889 or apply online at www.comtrak.com

TRUCK DRIVERS WANTED Best Pay and Home Time! Apply Online Today over 750 Companies!

1 Application, 100’s of Offers! www.HammerLaneJobs.com. SAPA THE CHALET INN Recruiting Professional Housekeeper, references required.

Full Time including Sundays.

Call 828.586.0251.

TANKER & FLATBED COMPANY. Drivers/Independent Contractors!

Immediate Placement Available.

Best opportunities in the Trucking Business. Call Today.

800.277.0212 or www.primeinc.com UP TO $14.50 - $29/hr Calling small business owners and setting appointments for our sales representatives! NO Selling Required. Call Recorded Hotline 1.507726.4051. $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

EMPLOYMENT

FURNITURE

TANKER & FLATBED COMPANY. Drivers/Independent Contractors!

Immediate Placement Available.

Best opportunities in the Trucking Business. Call Today.

800.277.0212 or go to: www.primeinc.com "CAN YOU DIG IT?" Heavy Equipment Operator Training! 3 Wk. Hands On Program.

Bulldozers, Backhoes, Excavators.

Lifetime Job Placement Asst. w/National Certs. VA Benefits Eligible.

1.866.362.6497

REMAINING FURNITURE LUMBER Walnut, Butternut, Cherry. Need to clear building, $3,250 Call for more info 828.627.2342 COMPARE QUALITY & PRICE Shop Tupelo’s, 828.926.8778.

HAYWOOD BEDDING, INC. The best bedding at the best price!

533 Hazelwood Ave. Waynesville 828.456.4240

PETS HAYWOOD SPAY/NEUTER 828.452.1329

FINANCIAL $$$ 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 BEWARE OF LOAN FRAUD. Please check with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection Agency before sending any money to any loan company.

SAPA

Prevent Unwanted Litters!

Beat the Heat $10 spay/neuter special going on until March 31st!

Hours: Monday-Thursday, 12 Noon - 5pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville

72610

Great Smokies Storage March 20-26, 2013

10’x20’

92

$

20’x20’

160

$

ONE MONTH

FREE WITH 12-MONTH CONTRACT

828.506.4112 or 828.507.8828

www.smokymountainnews.com

Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction

34

Puzzles can be found on page 37.

These are only the answers.

SASSY - A 60 lb., purebred Redtick. She is 1-2 years old.

Very gentle, she will make a wonderful pet. Call 1.877.ARF.JCNC.

CHICKADEE - A Beagle/Feist pup. Just 10-11 weeks old, she is adorable. She is black and white and presently weighs under five pounds. Call foster home at 828.293.5629.

LONESOME DOVE - A 10 week old, female Terrier mix. She is brindle colored, has longish hair and looks like a Teddy bear. Call foster home at 828.293.5629.

TENNESSEE - A two year old Border Collie mix. She has long hair, is sweet, loving and housebroken. Call 1.877.ARF.JCNC.

MANNY - An 8 month old Dachshund mix. He weighs about 20 lbs., is black,

shorthaired, very friendly and active. Call 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 877.ARF.JCNC. BEN - A 5lb. purebred

HEAVY EQUIPMENT SAWMILLS FROM ONLY $3997.00 Make & Save Money with your own bandmill. Cut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship.

FREE DVD: 800.578.1363, Ext. 300N

LAWN AND GARDEN HEMLOCK HEALERS, INC. Dedicated to Saving Our Hemlocks. Owner/Operator Frank Varvoutis, NC Pesticide Applicator’s License #22864.

48 Spruce St. Maggie Valley, NC Please call 828.734.7819, 828.926.7883, or email us at: hemlockhealers@yahoo.com

Ann knows real estate!

Ann Eavenson

WNC MarketPlace

Pet Adoption

PETS CONTROL FLEAS, TICKS, Mosquitoes & mites before heavy infestation with Happy Jack® DuraSpot®. Patented technology.

Contains NO Fipronil! At Southern States. www.happyjackinc.com

CRS, GRI, E-PRO

ann@mainstreetrealty.net

506-0542 CELL

Chihuahua He is white and brown. He is a bit shy. No small children. Special pricing applies.

Call 1.877.ARF.JCNC.

72618

GIBBS - A two-year-old,

101 South Main St. Waynesville

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. Call ARF at 877.ARF.JCNC

Rodney - One of the most unique looking dogs we have seen in awhile. He looks like a Clumber Spaniel mix but mixed with what? It really doesn't matter because his personality is amazing--sweet, funny and just a little dramatic.

ARF’S next low-cost spay/neuter trip will be April 8th. Register and pre-pay at ARF’s adoption site on Saturdays from 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.

MainStreet Realty

(828) 452-2227 mainstreetrealty.net

Beamer - A playful young male kitty with a shiny medium length black coat. Come meet him and see if he would be the right match for you!

facebook.com/smnews 72611

white. I am 5 years old and I’m a cute, small, sweet guy. I ride well in the car and love to curl up and snuggle with you. $125 adoption fee, Animal Compassion Network 258.4820 or go to: animalcompassionnetwork.org.

ANDY - Dachshund Mix –

LASSIE - Collie/Australian Shepherd Mix – tan & white. I am an adult gal who is very sweet and likes to be with people. I’m also crate-trained

Mountain Realty

Ron Breese Broker/Owner 2177 Russ Ave. Waynesville, NC 28786 Cell: 828.400.9029 ron@ronbreese.com

NEED A NEW HOME 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, 828.258.4820

www.ronbreese.com Each office independently owned & operated.

FREE NEUTERING! ACN proudly offers the donor-supported Betty Fund Spay/Neuter Project, which pays up to full cost of surgery for anyone who cannot afford it. A co-pay is requested but not required. For assistance or to donate to this program, please call 828.258.4820.

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.

72583

72461

WE SAVE YOU MONEY

TUPELO’S

BEST PRICE EVERYDAY

INDOOR & OUTDOOR

10-5 M-SAT. 12-4 SUN.

FURNITURE

72452

ON DELLWOOD RD. (HWY. 19) AT 20 SWANGER LANE WAYNESVILLE/MAGGIE VALLEY 828.926.8778

smokymountainnews.com

reddish brown. I am about 4 years old, and I am friendly and love to wiggle/waggle when people approach me. I get along well with kids, cats, and other dogs. $125 adoption fee, Animal Compassion Network 258.4820 or go to: animalcompassionnetwork.org.

and get along fine with cats and other dogs. $125 adoption fee, Animal Compassion Network 258.4820 or go to: animalcompassionnetwork.org.

March 20-26, 2013

SARGE - Chihuahua Mix – tan &

Full Service Property Management 828-456-6111 www.selecthomeswnc.com Residential and Commercial Long-Term Rentals

35

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT

WNC MarketPlace

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT PUBLISHER’S NOTICE

Haywood County Real Estate Agents Beverly Hanks & Associates — beverly-hanks.com • • • • • • •

Michelle McElroy — beverly-hanks.com Marilynn Obrig — beverly-hanks.com Mike Stamey — beverly-hanks.com Ellen Sither — esither@beverly-hanks.com Jerry Smith — beverly-hanks.com Billie Green — bgreen@beverly-hanks.com Pam Braun — pambraun@beverly-hanks.com

ERA Sunburst Realty — sunburstrealty.com Haywood Properties — haywood-properties.com • Steve Cox — haywoodproperties.com

Keller Williams Realty kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • Rob Roland — robrolandrealty.com • Chris Forga — forgarentalproperties.com

• Sammie Powell — smokiesproperty.com

Main Street Realty — mainstreetrealty.net McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern — shamrock13.com

Prudential Lifestyle Realty — vistasofwestfield.com

VACATION RENTALS OCEAN ISLE VACATION SPECIAL: Mention this ad and receive $50 off any vacation in March or April only. Redeemable by calling Cooke Realty Hotline, 1.800.NCBEACH.

STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE Conveniently located off 19/23

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• • • • • • • • •

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Phone # 1-828-586-3346 TDD # 1-800-725-2962 Equal Housing Opportunity

CALL NOW TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 OR ads@smokymountainnews.com

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

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Mountain Home Properties — mountaindream.com

March 20-26, 2013

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. To complain of discrimination call HUD toll-free at 1.800.669.9777. .

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WEEKLY SUDOKU

Super

CROSSWORD

SUPER CROSSWORD GOING FORMAL ACROSS 1 Have faith 6 Alan of TV and film 10 Shish 15 - Stanley Gardner 19 Pacific atoll belonging to the U.S. 21 “Spenser: For Hire” star 22 Brand for hair removal 23 Comedy club event for amateurs, formally?

25 Loretta of country 26 Unescorted 27 Like poison ivy rashes 28 Chair creator Charles 29 Do a boxing “dance,” formally?

35 For no profit, perhaps 36 “Look what -!”

37 4, on some clocks 38 West German city 40 With 91-Across, tone oneself up 41 Supporter of drapes, formally?

46 “Dr.” of hip-hop 49 List the particulars of, to a Brit 51 Zap with a stunning weapon 52 Opera house boxes 54 Owner of an online company, formally?

59 Digital music pastiches 61 Pollen eater 62 Away from the wind 63 Baby goat 64 Best draft status 65 Damone or Tayback

68 Its students learn road 4 Got a feeling 5 East - (nation since rules, formally?

2002) 73 Crafty 6 Giant in foil 74 Heavy burden 7 “- -di-dah!”

76 Serpent or alp suffix 8 Forensic ID 77 Ice skater Kulik 9 Citrus drink 78 Tiny charged bit 80 Arctic Circle region of 10 - Kinte 11 13th-century king of Europe Denmark 82 Aesthete’s question, 12 Egotists have them formally?

13 Throbbing 88 Depression 89 Defensive end Antwan 14 Food preservative inits.

91 See 40-Across 15 Interweave 92 Furry sitcom alien 16 Sci-fi fryers, formally?

93 Stuck to one’s deci17 Creases sion, formally?

18 Painter Max 99 Japanese dance20 Nile deposit drama 24 Peaceful ‘60s protest 100 Rock’s - Tull 28 Antiknock fluids 102 Suit part 29 Stiff 103 Having left 104 “- & Juliet” (animat- 30 Poem title starter 31 Dog to avoid ed 2011 film) 32 - to pick 106 Pay, formally?

33 Day, to Juan 112 Painting holder 113 Prefix with fan or jet 34 Xbox 360 competitor 35 King topper 114 Resound 39 Weak state 115 Site of bliss 41 Referenced 116 Victor Hugo classic, 42 Herald formally?

123 Big Apple squad car 43 Playa del 44 I-40, e.g. abbr.

124 Often-dipped cookies 45 Sculler’s tool 125 Bun or bagel toppers 47 Force back 48 Analytic work 126 Spa sounds 50 Wild bunch 127 River to the Oise 53 “Well well!”

128 Chaps 55 Bat’s home 129 End on - note 56 Corrida call 57 Sartre’s sea DOWN 58 “Let - down. O Juno!”: 1 A pair of Cleopatra 2 Ice-T hit, e.g.

60 Eighth-century pope 3 Guitar kin

63 “The Bridge on the River -” 65 Long river in Russia 66 Totally 67 Java serving, formally?

69 Not alfresco 70 Yalie 71 Not dat?

72 Backs, anatomically 75 - -pitch 79 - power 81 Beer brand 82 Muscle mag display 83 Play caller 84 - Tac 85 Far Eastern capital 86 Once - time 87 Alter, as a skirt edge 90 Nitwits 94 Even if, for short 95 Role player 96 Tricycle rider 97 Bowl cheer 98 Suffix with Canaan 101 Makes corrections to 103 Orbs 104 “Angie” star Davis 105 “Octomom” Suleman 107 “What the Butler Saw” playwright 108 Past portly 109 Bawls 110 2001 hit for Ja Rule 111 City in Tibet 113 Hatcher of “Soapdish” 116 Hawaii’s Mauna 117 Car ad abbr.

118 Debt note 119 KGB worker 120 Papal name 121 U. URL end 122 Former Russ. state

answers on page 34

Answers on Page 34

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Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

March 20-26, 2013

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37

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bi-monthly magazine that covers the southern Appalachian mountains and celebrates the area’s environmental riches, its people, culture, music, art, crafts and special places. Each issue relies on regional writers and photographers to bring the Appalachians to life.

In this issue: Mountain couple explores art in life Renowned schools and studios foster creativity Mimicking nature with hook and hair Paul Marchand’s botanical beauties PLUS ADVENTURE, CUISINE, READING, MUSIC, ARTS & MORE

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Smoky Mountain News

March 20-26, 2013

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OR CALL TOLL-FREE

866.452.2251

My wife knows good morels when she sees them

I

George Ellison

t’s just about morel time. By early April (if not sooner), the succulent springfruiting fungi that are the most sought after mushrooms in North America will be popping up in woodlands across Western North Carolina.

The only problem is spotting them. I can do pretty well in the fall seeing the various milky mushrooms (those in the Lactarius genus) or orange-colored chanterelles or the shining white oyster fungi, and so on. But morels are difficult, Columnist for me. Their pitted tan fruiting bodies seem to blend right in with the leaf litter.

There are those — my wife is one — who can locate a morel in a heartbeat. When we’re out hunting them together, she’ll say, “There’s one,” pointing to a big fine seemingly obvious specimen beside my right foot.

A few moments later, she’ll exclaim, “And there’s another one!” pointing to an even larger seemingly even more obvious specimen beside my left foot. And so on. I fake it by acting like I’m not really trying to find morels, but just tagging along.

Once in a blue moon, my brain and eyes will get in sync, and I’ll go off on a hot

BACK THEN streak, finding one morel after another. But that’s not very often. A good outing for me is one that turns up, say, four. Meanwhile, Elizabeth will be disappointed if she finds less than 15.

Like fishermen and sang hunters, morel enthusiasts have their favorite spots and idiosyncrasies.

A fisherman who has great faith in a certain plug can fish it from dawn to dusk with success. Good morel hunters tend to frequent habitats in which they first had success.

Some look for them in areas affected by a burn the previous year, noting by way of historical precedence that, “Morels have long been so sought after and have such an affinity for burned areas that the practice of slashing and burning to produce a morel crop the next year was banned by royal decree in medieval Germany.”

I haven’t seen him in awhile, but Mike Hamrick, our dentist here in Bryson City, used to go up Deep Creek and come back loaded with morels. Ask him where he found them and he’d say something like, “Oh, under a tree.” When pushed, he’d allow that he sometimes liked to look “under white pine.” Now Mike is a truthful fellow— but he is also capable of creating a smokescreen to lure others away from a favorite

spot. In mid-April one year, I looked under every white pine from the Deep Creek campground to the turnaround and back (4.2 miles in all) and found two.

Elizabeth likes to look under tulip poplar when as she says, “Their leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear.” She believes in that as a mnemonic device and it works … for her. In an article by Soc Clay titled “The

Finest Fungus Among Us — and How To Find It,” that appeared in American Forests magazine, readers were advised to search under “large poplar trees growing on flat areas just under the ridge tops of east-facing slopes.” I don’t know about the “east-facing” part. It does, however, makes sense to check out terraces because spores would be more likely to accumulate in level places.

Another tree she looks under with great luck is under slippery elm. I am guessing

that morels favor slippery elm because that species sheds limbs and twigs year round thereby creating favorable soil conditions.

But that’s just a guess.

Most everyone agrees that — when all else fails — look under old apple trees; or better yet, apple trees that have recently fallen and are starting to rot. If you can’t find morels in that situation, you’d probably best find something else to do.

Morels seem to be almost social; that is, where you find one, you tend to find more – sometimes a whole lot more, which is exciting. It’s like looking for Easter eggs.

Morels fruit from late March into early May or even a little later, if it’s not too warm. There are different sizes and shades, ranging from gray or blackish ones the size of golf balls to creamy-yellowish ones the size of baseballs. Never eat any sort of fungi — even something as distinctive as a morel — without consulting a field guide.

Misidentify a bird or a flower and no one cares. Misidentifying a mushroom can be a serious matter.

There is an informative and entertaining video created by CountryLife.com that can be accessed via You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNh_R C5rSm4.

Readers can contact George Ellison at P.O. Box 1262, Bryson City, N.C., 28713, or at info@georgeellison.com.

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E AT SR NU BO As IR

Age has its Benefits!

The older you are, the higher your IRA Rate!

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Smoky Mountain News

March 20-26, 2013

1) Start with our already high rate: 0.80% APY for 24 months 0.70% APY for 18 months 2) Let us know your age - don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone 3) We'll add your age in percentage terms to the base rate!

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