Smoky Mountain News | March 11, 2020

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Western North Carolina’s Source for Weekly News, Entertainment, Arts, and Outdoor Information

March 11-17, 2020 Vol. 21 Iss. 41

NC elections highlight the importance of the West Page 6 Mainspring’s story begins new chapter Page 34

CONTENTS On the Cover: An exhibit honoring Cherokee artist John Daniel (Dee) Smith Sr. is currently being showcased at the Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual in Cherokee.

The collection of Smith’s watercolors and paintings is curated by Dr. R. Michael Abram, who travels the country constantly hosting gallery showcases of the Cherokee artwork and talking about the vibrant history of the tribe. (Page 24)

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A watercolor by Dee Smith

News Jackson jail death spurs lawsuit ......................................................................................4 Cawthorn calls for forums, Bennett silent ....................................................................6 Meadows chosen at Trump’s chief of staff ..................................................................8 Raleigh budget squabbles impact WCU ....................................................................9 Alcohol sales likely at WCU games this fall ............................................................10 Franklin unveils first land use plan ..............................................................................12 Improvement plan selected for Soco Road ..............................................................14 Haywood schools plays catch-up on capital projects ..........................................16 Community Almanac ........................................................................................................19

Opinion Budget passage critical for WCU ..............................................................................20

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Scott McLeod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . info@smokymountainnews.com Greg Boothroyd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . greg@smokymountainnews.com Micah McClure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . micah@smokymountainnews.com Travis Bumgardner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . travis@smokymountainnews.com Jessica Murray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jessica.m@smokymountainnews.com Susanna Shetley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com Amanda Bradley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jc-ads@smokymountainnews.com Hylah Birenbaum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hylah@smokymountainnews.com Sophia Burleigh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sophia.b@smokymountainnews.com Scott Collier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . classads@smokymountainnews.com Jessi Stone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jessi@smokymountainnews.com Holly Kays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . holly@smokymountainnews.com Cory Vaillancourt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cory@smokymountainnews.com Garret K. Woodward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . garret@smokymountainnews.com Amanda Singletary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . smnbooks@smokymountainnews.com Scott Collier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . classads@smokymountainnews.com Jeff Minick (writing), Chris Cox (writing), George Ellison (writing), Gary Carden (writing), Don Hendershot (writing), Susanna Shetley (writing).

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Early spring cleaning turns up some gems ..............................................................33

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Outdoors Mainspring’s story begins new chapter ....................................................................34

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Jackson jail death spurs lawsuit Melissa Rice’s family alleges wrongful death, 14th amendment violations

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he family of a Sylva woman who died by suicide in the Jackson County Detention Center last year has filed suit in federal district court against members of the sheriff ’s department who handled her incarceration.

Filed by Rice’s son Matthew Dillard, who is the administrator of Rice’s estate, the suit seeks a series of judgments that would easily exceed $3 million if granted in full. He claims that the defendants’ “negligent” acts and “malicious, willful and wanton disregard” for Rice’s rights led to her death.

Rice, 49, died on Jan. 18, 2019, after she was found hanging by a phone cord in the detention center Jan. 16. According to public documents previously reported on in The Smoky Mountain News, she had been arrested for trespassing at her ex-husband’s home in Cashiers and faced 10 charges, including breaking and entering, simple assault, larceny of a motor vehicle, burning personal property and assault on a government official, among others. After her arrest that morning, she was taken to Harris Regional Hospital for evaluation and treatment of a hand injury and then transported to the detention center.

While alone in the booking room waiting for the magistrate, she hanged herself with a phone cord just outside of clear range of the monitoring camera.

The State Bureau of Investigation investigated Rice’s death, and District Attorney Ashley Welch evaluated the resulting report.

In July, Welch announced that no criminal charges would result.

The report showed no “culpable negligence or omissions” by law enforcement, or evidence proving that any officer “failed to perform a duty of his or her office,” Welch wrote in a press release. She concluded that detention officers had monitored Rice in compliance with state law and that they did

Jackson County’s 72-bed jail has seen three suicides since 2014. File photo

Smoky Mountain News

March 11-17, 2020

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not notice any behavior indicating Rice could be a danger to herself. Earlier that day, Welch said, a medical doctor had determined that Rice was not suicidal.

THE ALLEGATIONS The facts laid out in Dillard’s lawsuit bring every one of Welch’s conclusions into question. According to the lawsuit, Rice was suicidal, and the officers knew it. She was intoxicated, and they knew that too. She never should have been held in the booking room — which in addition to containing a corded phone was not fully covered by monitoring cameras — and she should have been checked on four times each hour, not two.

Jail logs show that detention officers checked on Rice at irregular intervals twice per hour, as state law requires for all inmates.

However, those checks must occur four times per hour when an inmate is suicidal, mentally ill, intoxicated, violent or displaying erratic behavior — the suit argues that Rice should have received this enhanced monitoring.

Rice was arrested after she allegedly attempted to break into her ex-husband’s house and attempted to assault his girlfriend and child, who were the only ones home at the time. The girlfriend advised Deputy

Ridge Parris, who responded to the scene at 9:15 a.m., that Rice appeared to be “high” on drugs, as she didn’t flinch when the door was repeatedly slammed on her fingers. The suit states that Parris immediately noticed that Rice smelled of alcohol. Though Rice resisted arrest and assaulted Parris, he ultimately handcuffed her and put her in the backseat of his patrol car with his K-9 partner. He then went inside to obtain a statement from the witness and wash blood off his hands, leaving Rice and the K-9 in the car for more than 10 minutes.

“While she was handcuffed and locked in the back of the patrol car, Decedent (Rice)

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The State Bureau of Investigation investigated Rice’s death, and District Attorney Ashley Welch evaluated the resulting report. In July, Welch announced that no criminal charges would result.

used a cigarette lighter and a one dollar bill, which Parris had failed to secure, to set her clothes and the seat of the patrol car on fire in an apparent attempt to commit suicide,” the suit reads. “Upon exiting the Rice residence, Parris observed the fire in the patrol car, removed Decedent from the car, and extinguished the flames.”

A backup officer arrived, and during the noon hour Rice was taken to Harris’ emergency room “due to her hand injury and apparent alcohol use.”

Patrol Lieutenant Stephen Watson accompanied her while she was at the hospital, the suit said, and had been made aware of Rice’s previous actions. During a self-harm assessment at the hospital, Rice responded “no” to questions such as “Do you have thoughts to harm or kill yourself?” The suit alleges that Watson knew those responses were untrue and “failed to accurately report Decedent’s erratic and suicidal behavior.” As a result, the hospital determined that Rice was fit for confinement.

At about 1:30 p.m., she was booked and initially placed in a holding cell. During that time, multiple law enforcement personnel — including detention officers Aniyah McMullen, Emily Couvillon, Justin Nicholson and Kayla Elliott, as well as Detention Sergeant Shondra Collini and Bailiff Deputy Mark Junaluska — had the chance to observe Rice, with several reporting that she smelled of alcohol and appeared to be intoxicated or impaired, the lawsuit states. They were aware of her previous actions and “considered her to be a risk of harm to other inmates such that she was segregated from other prisoners.”

Due to these concerns, between 3:30 and 4 p.m. she was placed in the booking and bond room. However, this room didn’t comply with normal detention center standards.

It had only one camera, which did not offer a view of the entire room, and it had a wallmounted telephone with a cord that extended several feet from the wall — long enough for an inmate to use it to hang themselves.

At 4:06 p.m., Magistrate Judge Albert Reagan granted a restraining order against Rice filed by her ex-husband, who reported on that same document that Rice had threatened suicide. Parris visited the booking room at 6:15 p.m., detailing the list of charges she would face and serving the restraining order.

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Melissa Middleton Rice, as she appeared the day of her arrest. Donated photo

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QUESTION: How much added sugar should I be consuming per day?

ANSWER: Women: 6 teaspoons or 25 grams per day; Men: 9 teaspoons or 36 grams per day Added sugar can be found in many products, but the biggest culprits are often quite obvious…candy, cookies, cakes, other baked goods, ice cream, sugar-sweetened beverages (sodas, sweet tea, kombucha, juice drinks, smoothies). Other products that might have surprising amounts of added sugar include cereals and condiments.

While sugar is an umbrella term; it’s important to realize that added sugar isn’t just white or brown granulated sugar but also includes honey, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, agave syrup and concentrated fruit juices.

Source: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eatsmart/sugar/added-sugars

Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN

Smoky Mountain News

When reached for comment, Hall referred any questions to County Attorney Heather Baker, who said she was unable to comment on pending litigation.

Welch said that, while she stands by her office’s decision not to press criminal charges in Rice’s death, she is not surprised to see the family pressing civil charges. While a criminal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, a civil judgment requires a lower standard, called a preponderance of evidence.

“From a criminal aspect, we’re still confident in the decision we made,” Welch said.

“From a civil aspect, they’re dealing with a whole other burden of proof and a different allegation.”

A criminal conviction in the case would require proving that the officers involved were so negligent that their actions equated to manslaughter, and that a “reasonable person” would have known that Rice was likely to attempt suicide. While Dillard seems to disagree, Welch does not believe the evidence met that standard.

Since Rice’s death, several of the people named in the suit have seen changes in employment. Collini, who had worked for the sheriff ’s office since 2014, was dismissed from her position as a detention sergeant on July 1, 2019. Elliott resigned her job as a detention officer on July 14, less than a year after her October 2018 hire. McMullins resigned her detention officer position on Feb. 14, 2019, less than two years after her Feb. 20, 2017, hire. Mark Junaluska, a bailiff deputy at the time of the incident, was reclassified as a road patrol deputy on June 24, 2019.

Meanwhile, McCoy, a deputy lieutenant detective at the time of the incident, was promoted to detention captain on Sept. 1, 2019.

Rice’s death marked the third suicide in five years to occur in the Jackson County Detention Center. Charles “Chuckie” Moose died on Nov. 21, 2014, and Steve Ross died on March 13, 2015, both by hanging. In Ross’s case, gaps between visual checks were as large as 106 minutes, a far cry from the twicehourly checks required by law. The SBI investigated Ross’s death, though not Moose’s.

Welch declined to file charges.

“Suicides in a jail are not outside the norm, and that’s unfortunate, but in each case that we have reviewed we have never found one yet out of the ones that we have looked into where an SBI investigation has occurred that there is criminal liability,” said Welch. “Now, that’s completely different than civil liability.”

In 2018, there were 46 jail deaths statewide, according to a 2019 report from Disability Rights N.C., and 12 of those were suicides. Among jails in the Smoky Mountain News’ core coverage area of Haywood, Jackson, Swain and Macon counties, Jackson is the far-and-away leader in the number of inmate suicides. While Jackson has seen three such incidents since November 2014, in the same period Haywood has seen one. Swain County did report one inmate death, which occurred in 2018, but neither Swain nor Macon County has seen any inmate suicides at all in the past six years.

March 11-17, 2020

Company is named as surety for the sheriff.

Captain Patrick McCoy is named in both his individual and official capacities. Also named in both individual and official capacities are Detention Officer Kaitlyn Bradley, Elliott, McMullen, Nicholson and Couvillon, Collini, Junaluska, Parris, and Watson.

The suit lists four causes of action. It alleges that all parties save McCoy and Western Surety are responsible for a wrongful death and that Hall and McCoy are liable for failure to adequately train and supervise their employees to recognize and properly respond to signs of intoxication, suicidal tendencies and unstable behavior. The suit also alleges 14th Amendment violations — the amendment says that no state can deprive a person of life, liberty or property without due process — and violation of N.C. General Statute 162-55, which stipulates that jailers who do wrong to a prisoner contrary to law must pay triple the damages to the injured person and will be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

“The actions and omissions of Defendants, including Hall, were so outrageous as to shock the conscience of the community and violated Decedent’s right to substantive due process,” the document reads.

Dillard, on behalf of Rice’s estate, is seeking a trial by jury, judgment greater than $1 million on three separate claims, and an award of triple the damages under NCGS 162-55 and attorney’s fees.

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Then he left the room, and Rice was alone again. Nobody checked on her until 7:06 p.m., when Detention Officer Emily Couvillon found her with no pulse and the phone cord wrapped around her neck. It had likely been there since two minutes after Parris left the room.

“At approximately 6:17 p.m., after being advised that she would not be provided bail and would be retained in the jail, Decedent went to the back of the Booking Room, outside of the view of the single surveillance camera, and wrapped the phone cord around her neck and sat down to hang herself,” the suit reads. “Decedent remained alive until at least 6:27 p.m., when it is believed she became unconscious and stopped breathing.”

Twelve parties are named as defendants in the suit. Sheriff Chip Hall is named in his official capacity, and Western Surety

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NC elections highlight the importance of the West

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER here’s a strong, long-held sentiment here in rural Western North Carolina that the region is often overlooked when balanced against the state of North Carolina as a whole, but unofficial results from the March 3 Primary Election show that the counties that make up this rugged, mountainous region are more important politically than ever before.

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HOW THE WEST WAS WON

Smoky Mountain News

March 11-17, 2020

Looking first at the Democratic Presidential Preference, former Vice President Joe Biden ran away with it, garnering more than 43 percent of the vote in what was at the time really just a four-person race thanks to last-minute withdrawals by South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Biden won 96 of the state’s 100 counties.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won only four, but they were all in the west — Madison and Mitchell, Watauga (home to Appalachian State University) and Buncombe County, further cementing Asheville‘s reputation as the state’s most liberal, progressive city.

Former New York mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg, who entered the race late and withdrew after the March 3 Super Tuesday elections pulled almost 13 percent of the North Carolina vote, just ahead of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 10.5 percent.

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump’s Primary Election victory was never really in any doubt. Trump won all 100 counties against former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, both of whom got about 2 percent, and both of whom lost to the “no preference” option, with 2.5 percent.

While some may see Trump’s 93.5 percent total as a small measure of dissatisfaction among Republicans, it’s important to note that the last time an incumbent president ran for reelection in North Carolina — Barack Obama in 2012 — he earned just 79 percent of the primary vote, with the “no preference” option pulling a hefty 21 percent.

There’s a similar phenomenon at play in the Republican Primary Election for U.S. Senate; while incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis did win all 100 counties, he did it with only 78.1 percent of the vote, but the last time a sitting U.S. Senator from North Carolina faced a Primary Election — Richard Burr in 2016 — he earned just 61.4 percent of the vote.

For the Democrats, U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham took 57 percent of the vote, even with a Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnelllinked PAC spending money to promote his 6 opponent Erica Smith, who ended up with

Campaign signs dot the landscape outside a Haywood County polling place Feb. 29.

Cory Vaillancourt photo

Strong turnout in almost all WNC counties It can be difficult to compare voter turnout across VOTER TURNOUT North Carolina’s Primary County Ballots cast Registered voters Turnout Elections because of an everMitchell .............5,154................10,410 ..............49.51% shifting calendar that held Avery..................5,080................11,583 ..............43.86% different primaries on differBuncombe ........81,887..............195,942 .............41.79% ent days for different offices.

Clay ...................3,361.................8,651 ...............38.85% For example, during the Yancey...............5,127................13,480 ..............38.03% last presidential election year Madison ............5,211................16,345 ..............38.00% of 2016, North Carolina held Graham .............2,179.................5,808 ...............37.52% two primaries — one on Haywood...........16,203...............43,432 ..............37.31% March 15 that that only feaMacon ...............9,583................25,702 ..............37.29% tured only presidential, U.S. McDowell..........10,336...............28,052 ..............36.85% Senate and judicial contests, Transylvania......9,286................25,316 ..............36.68% and one on June 7 that feaCherokee ...........7,232................21,439 ..............33.73% tured council of state offices Jackson .............9,243................27,786 ..............33.26% and congressional races. In Polk ...................4,832................15,479 ..............31.22% the former, the more highSwain ................2,864.................9,526 ...............30.07% profile of the two, statewide Rutherford........12,209...............43,600 ..............28.00% turnout was 35.6 percent but Statewide ......2,148,978..........6,940,995............30.96% in the latter, it was just 7.7 Source: NCSBE percent.

This year, with everything on the same ballot, statewide turnout was 30.96 percent, however in the 17-county western region that makes up the 11th Congressional District, every county except two exceeded that number — some, by far.

WNC

34.8 percent of the vote. Smith won 19 counties, mostly in the northeastern part of the state. Cunningham won every other county, and the other three candidates in the race didn’t win any.

Gov. Roy Cooper won all 100 counties, as did his November opponent, Republican Lt.

Gov. Dan Forest. Cooper counted 87.2 percent of the vote in his favor against littleknown, oft-running Ernest Reeves, and Forest did slightly better against Rep. Holly Grange, with 88.9 percent of the vote.

Perhaps the biggest story of the Primary Election is the emergence of Republican Mark

Robinson, one of nine Republicans hoping to follow Forest into the lieutenant governor position.

Running his first campaign, Robinson kind of came out of nowhere but wasn’t exactly an unknown — his fiery speech on Second Amendment rights before the Greensboro City Council in 2018 went viral on YouTube, helping him coast to victory with 32.5 percent of the vote.

Robinson won 94 counties and earned more votes than his next two opponents combined. Both of them, Sen. Andy Wells and current State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson, had far more experience running and winning than Robinson did.

Democrats also saw a crowded field in their lieutenant governor primary, and that’s led to a runoff because the winner, Raleigh Rep. Yvonne Holley, didn’t get past the 30 percent threshold.

Buncombe County Sen. Terry Van Duyn came in six points behind Holley with 20.44 percent of the vote, but hadn’t yet called for a runoff as of press time on March 10. Van

U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham took 57 percent of the vote, even with a Mitch McConnelllinked PAC spending money to promote his opponent Erica Smith, who ended up with 34.8 percent of the vote.

Duyn won 20 counties, but Holley won more than double that, including the western counties of Cherokee, Clay and Swain although those three counties only earned Holley less than 1,000 votes against her total of more than 306,000.

Republican attorney general candidate Jim O’Neill won 85 counties and all of Western North Carolina except for Polk County.

Incumbent Democrat and longtime state auditor Beth Wood won all 100 counties in her primary, and will face Republican nominee Anthony Wayne Street, who took 56.18 percent of the vote over Tim Hoegemeyer, winner of Macon, Buncombe and Transylvania counties.

Jenna Wadsworth, who was at one time the youngest elected official in the state, took the Democratic agriculture commissioner nomination over 2016 nominee Walter Smith and newcomer Donovan Watson. Smith won 39 counties, including Graham.

Rep. Josh Dobson took 40.3 percent of the vote in his race for the Republican labor commissioner nomination and won only 42 counties, but they were larger than opponent Chuck Stanley’s 54 counties (including Haywood). Pearl Burris Floyd had incumbent commissioner Cherie Berry’s endorsement, but it didn’t help her much — she won just four counties and had

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S EE E LECTION, PAGE 8

Meadows move leaves his district hanging

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER tweet issued by President Donald Trump on the evening of March 6 made Rep. Mark Meadows’ next move pretty clear, but clarity’s in short supply when it comes to who will represent the 16 counties of Western North Carolina in Congress for the rest of the year.

“I am pleased to announce that Congressman Mark Meadows will become White House Chief of Staff. I have long known and worked with Mark and the relationship is a very good one,” Trump tweeted just after 8 p.m. last Friday, ending more than two months of speculation as to Meadows’ intentions after he announced he wouldn’t seek re-election back in late December.

Meadows still hasn’t resigned from his congressional seat, but once he does, he’ll become Trump’s fourth chief of staff in three years, and North Carolinians will have to figure out who — if anyone — will step into that role until the Nov. 3 General Election winner is sworn in next January.

North Carolina General Statute 163-13 isn’t clear on what happens now; section (a) says that “If at any time after expiration of any Congress and before another election, or if at any time after an election, there shall be a vacancy in this State’s representation in the House of

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Representatives of the United States Congress, the Governor shall issue a writ of election, and by proclamation fix the date on which an election to fill the vacancy shall be held in the appropriate congressional district.”

That leaves open the possibility that the election could happen at any time between now and the Nov. 3 General Election between Democrat Moe Davis and whoever wins the May 12 Republican runoff between Lynda Bennett and Madison Cawthorn.

Meadows still hasn’t resigned from his congressional seat, but once he does, he’ll become Trump’s fourth chief of staff in three years.

Smoky Mountain News

Aside from the runoff in the Democratic lieutenant governor’s race, there’s only one more of concern to voters in the west, but it’s - a big one. h When four-term Congressman Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, announced on Dec. 19 that he wouldn’t seek re-election (see MEADOWS, page 8), Maggie Valley real estate agent Lynda Bennett was first out of the gate in the f race to replace him. k Her 8 a.m. announcement came three hours after Meadows’ and two hours after an endorsement by the Asheville Tea PAC — n long before any other candidate had entered - the race and indeed before many Western North Carolina voters had even been roused from their slumbers. d That — and her website’s registration date of Oct. 28 — led to speculation that she was given advance notice of Meadows’ intenk tions. Meadows’ announcement came with r just 30 hours left in the candidate filing perih od, giving prospective candidates on both n sides of the aisle little time to pull the trigger.

A series of Bennett campaign events with Meadows’ wife added to the dismay - expressed by many Republicans, including - 11th District Chairman Aubrey Woodard, t that Meadows had left his own party in the g dark. t Then, a 50-second audio clip recorded in 2016 resurfaced. In the clip, Bennett can be heard expressing “never Trump” sentiments.

Big glossy flyers touting Bennett’s com-

President Donald Trump’s next Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, speaks to Swain County Republicans last fall. Cory Vaillancourt photo

March 11-17, 2020

HOW THE WEST WILL BE WON

ments began to appear in mailboxes across the district, making Bennett’s loyalty — or lack thereof — to the president the Primary Election’s number one issue.

Haywood County GOP Chairman Ken Henson, who’s been heavily involved in Bennett’s campaign, posted a candid defense of Bennett on the county party’s website but was told it violates the state party’s neutrality requirements, according to reporting in The Mountaineer.

When the full 37-minute audio was released just days before the March 3 Primary Election, it seemed to suggest Bennett’s comments were taken out of context, but the new audio didn’t satisfy everyone, and the “never Trump” suspicions still linger, right or wrong.

But that wasn’t even the worst of it for Bennett — on Feb. 22, a Smoky Mountain News investigation into so-called “conservative ballots” handed out by poll workers listing Bennett as the only choice in a field of 11 Republicans revealed that the “Official Conservative Ballot Committee of NC” was just two days old when it made the endorsement.

On top of that, the investigation revealed troubling links to one of Bennett’s campaign Lynda Bennett vendors, and to the chair of the Asheville Tea PAC, Jane Bilello, who now serves as a paid consultant to Bennett’s campaign.

Bennett refused to answer any questions about the situation when reached by SMN on Feb. 24.

Madison Several Republican Cawthorne candidates decried the sham endorsement, as did Woodard, and some mentioned potential litigation or filing formal complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the N.C. State Board of Elections. As those complaints must remain private until adjudication, none have yet been confirmed.

One candidate, Joey Osborne, even called on Bennett to leave the race because her campaign missteps had rendered her unelectable against surging Democrat Moe Davis, who handily defeated four other Democrats without having to resort to a runoff election.

She didn’t, and despite the controversies still came out on top of the crowded field, albeit with only 22.7 percent of the vote.

Not far behind her with 20.4 percent was 24-year-old motivational speaker and real estate investor from Henderson County, Madison Cawthorn.

“I think that when people saw that I had the same conservative principles as a lot of the other candidates, and when they saw how I articulated it with such passion, in such simplistic terms, they realized, wait a minute, this might be the guy that we can use to reach the masses,” said Cawthorn, who’s now made two appearances on the Fox &

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about half as many votes as Dobson.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey won 99 counties in his Republican primary, n good for 64.6 percent of the vote.

Commercial real estate developer E.C. d Sykes won almost all of the state’s eastern counties in his Republican secretary of state primary, but only defeated second place fin- isher Chad Brown by five points. Michael LaPaglia, the 2016 nominee, came in third d with 19.1 percent.

- Mark Johnson’s loss in the Republican d lieutenant governor’s primary means there c will be a new superintendent of public instruction this fall, and Republicans have n put their faith in Western Governor’s University Chancellor Catherine Truitt, who n won 89 counties. Her opponent, Rep. Craig Horn, saw strong support in western counh ties, including Avery, Cleveland, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Rutherford and Yancey, but fell short of Truitt’s 56.7 percent tally. n UNC-Greensboro associate professor Jen 4 Mangrum will face Truitt on the Democratic a side after she beat Raleigh consultant Keith n Sutton and three others. Mangrum won most of the west, while Sutton won most of the east.

Ronnie Chatterji didn’t do very well in the west in his bid for the Democratic nomination for treasurer, but still scraped out a narrow victory over Dimple Ajmera, who won 20 counties including Avery, Buncombe, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey. The third candidate, Wake County resident Matt Leatherman, won 49 counties but they were mostly rural — all of WNC and all of the east coast.

r

The statute is also ambiguous as to whether candidates seeking to fill the vacancy would be nominated by party leadership in the district, or if there would have to be a special primary to nominate candidates for the vacancy election.

The longer it takes to determine the timing of the special election, the longer Western North Carolina will go without a voice in Congress. Until Gov. Roy Cooper weighs in on the matter, speculation will continue as to which route he might take, and who might serve in advance of the new 11th Congressional District representative takes the seat in 2021.

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PARTIAL RESULTS IN NC11 GOP PRIMARY ELECTION Counties won by Bennett Bennett Cawthorn Haywood ...............................................2,132 ..........................1,094 Madison .................................................474 .............................369 McDowell ..............................................1,454............................794 Mitchell ..................................................986 .............................387 Rutherford ............................................1,025............................281 Transylvania...........................................913 .............................900 Total: ....................................................6,984 ..........................3,825 Counties won by Cawthorn Bennett Cawthorn Buncombe.............................................4,629 ..........................4,705 Henderson.............................................3,748 ..........................7,377 Polk ........................................................406 .............................657 Total: ....................................................8,783 .........................12,739 Total in counties won by Bennett or Cawthorn..........................15,767 ........................16,564 Counties won by Jim Davis Bennett Cawthorn Davis Cherokee ................................................863 .............................427 ...........................1,872 Clay ........................................................472 .............................157 ...........................1,020 Graham ..................................................254 ..............................86..............................471 Jackson ..................................................755 .............................366 ...........................1,197 Macon...................................................1,269............................423 ...........................2,996 Swain .....................................................231 ..............................73..............................453 Total: ....................................................3,844 ..........................1,532..........................8,009

Source: SMN

March 11-17, 2020

Cawthorn calls for forums, Bennett silent A ‘conservative ballot’ was distributed to voters with only Lynda Bennett listed as a candidate for the 11th Congressional District. File photo E LECTION, CONTINUED FROM 7

Smoky Mountain News

Friends morning news talk show. “That really motivated a core base of people who have been looking for an opportunity to take our country back.”

Cawthorn has officially called for a runoff, and has the support or endorsement of the majority of Republican candidates who ran — most of whom were upset with the way Bennett entered the race, and the way in which she’s run it so far.

That includes Steven Feteke, Jr., Joey Osborne and Dillon Gentry. While two other candidates believe what Meadows did was wrong according to Cawthorn — Jim Davis and Vance Patterson — they’ll both be supporting and stumping for Cawthorn in the runoff.

All that backstory sets up what will likely be a contentious runoff election between Bennett and Cawthorn on May 12. A quick look at how the candidates fared in the March 3 Primary Election shows how that might shake out, if no other scandals or controversies erupt between now and then.

“Almost 80 percent of the people who voted in the Republican primary in Western North Carolina voted against over $600,000 in PAC money, and Mark Meadows’ star 8 power, and this small ruling elite in

Washington that says, ‘Hey, you’re not sophisticated enough to pick your leader, so we’ll do it for you,’” Cawthorn said. “Yeah, perhaps she finished 2 percent ahead of me, but that was when she was outspending me six-to-one. I am beholden to the people of Western North Carolina. She is beholden to and enslaved by these special interest groups and people in Washington.”

Cawthorn narrowly edged out longtime N.C. Sen. Jim Davis for second place by winning just three counties of the 17-county congressional district — Buncombe, Henderson and Polk.

Polk is relatively small, and Buncombe is substantially larger. Cawthorn bested Bennett in those two counties by slim margins, but it’s Henderson County where he really cleaned up.

Cawthorn earned almost double the votes Bennett did there, totaling more than 7,300, good for more than a third of his 18,418 votes. Bennett came away with just 3,748 in Henderson County.

If he’s to win, he’ll need to branch out from those three counties.

The same goes for Bennett, who won Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, that part of Rutherford County that’s in the 11th District, Transylvania and her home county of Haywood.

If you’re one of the 90,000 Republicans that voted in the 11th Congressional District primary, chances are good you didn’t vote for either Lynda Bennett or Madison Cawthorn.

More than 50,000 voters had other ideas, but now that their candidates are out of the race, it’s time to learn more about the two that remain in advance of the May 12 runoff.

Cawthorn’s eager to appear before voters in a debate or public forum, Bennett not so much.

“I’ve requested that, and there have been requests from several different groups that both candidates show up to a forum,” Cawthorn said. “Ms. Bennett seems extremely unwilling to do a forum. She’s told me no several times.”

Cawthorn has a good idea as to why that is.

“She must have something to hide. It’s the greatest chance for voters to get to see who they want to represent them. You can just put both of us right side-by-side and ask us questions directly. I have no desire to sling any mud at Ms. Bennett, I have no desire to attack her, but I do believe that we should both be able to sit there and have an opportunity to say what we believe,” he said. “If she wants to have the questions written down for her so she can see them beforehand or if she wants to pick what the timeline is, she can have whatever rules she wants.”

There are plans in the works by The Smoky Mountain News to hold just such a forum in Haywood County in the coming weeks.

“I’m willing to debate anywhere, at any time,” Cawthorn said.

Lynda Bennett did not respond to SMN questions regarding her participation in SMN’s forum, or any other forum.

In the counties won by either Bennett or Cawthorn, Cawthorn holds a slight edge with 16,564 votes, about 800 more than Bennett.

Counties now at play include the two won by former Meadows advisor Wayne King, Avery and Yancey, but there aren’t many votes there, meaning that the far west — and Jim Davis — may be the key to victory for the eventual Republican nominee.

Davis won six of the seven counties he’s represented in the Senate for the past 10 years — Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon and Swain.

Together, those six counties accounted for more than 19,000 Republican votes cast in

the Primary Election. When adding King’s two counties to the total, Bennett holds a substantial advantage over Cawthorn, with almost 3,000 more votes than Cawthorn’s 1,854.

“The reason for that is because Jim Davis and I bring a lot of the same attributes to the table,” Cawthorn said.

With Davis out of the race, how well Cawthorn does in those six counties over the next few weeks — and how much Sen. Davis helps him — will go a long way toward winning the west.

Lynda Bennett did not respond to a phone call and an email request for an interview.

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER state-level budget stalemate that’s been ongoing since July could cause real problems — and real changes — at Western Carolina University if it continues much longer.

“Each of the projects listed in the budget represents a critical need for Western Carolina University,” said Chancellor Kelli R. Brown. “The long-term effects of a lack of funding could be devastating to the health of our campus.”

This is especially true in light of the university’s status as an N.C. Promise institu-

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March 11-17, 2020 Smoky Mountain News

tion. WCU is one of three University of North Carolina schools to participate in the program, which offers in-state undergraduates the chance to attend for just $500 per semester in tuition. The actual cost of offering a semester of education is far more than $500, but the agreement is that the state will fill the gap.

With no budget yet passed for the 201920 fiscal year — which began in July — the state is still operating on the 2018-19 budget. Because N.C. Promise just launched in fall 2018, that budget did not include all the funding the program now requires, especially with enrollment rising. The university faces a budget shortfall of $4 million that should have been covered in state funding for fall 2018 and 2019. According to a financial report presented to the WCU Trustees’ Finance and Audit Committee March 5, receipts from student tuition and fees decreased by $19.45 million from 2018 to 2019, when N.C. Promise went into effect.

news

Raleigh budget squabbles impact WCU

current budget went into effect, WCU has added 1,133 new students. Much of that increase is attributable to increased interest resulting from the N.C. Promise program.

“We are beginning to think about the possible need to slow the rate of enrollment growth because we don’t want to enroll a larger number of students and not be able to provide them with the high-quality edu“This is one of the reasons why the cational experiences that they expect,” said budget impasse affects Western and the Brown. “The lack of funding to meet the other two N.C. Promise institutions so needs of our increasing enrollment won’t be heavily,” Vice Chancellor for felt in just the classroom. For example, I am Administration and Finance Mike Byers concerned about the impact in our ability told trustees during a Finance and Audit to meet the health care needs of our stuCommittee meeting March 5. “We normally dents, including mental health.” would have collected tuition from students University of North Carolina System similar to the prior four years, but this year Interim President Bill Roper visited WCU that difference would have been made up March 5 to highlight the university’s budget by the buy-down in N.C. Promise. needs stemming from the ongoing budget Taxpayers would have picked up that much impasse. more of the students’ tuition than they “Continuing support of our universities already do, but for the three N.C. Promise requires fiscal backing from our state’s leadinstitutions that gap hasn’t been filled.” ers,” said Roper.

“My concern for the UNC System is, pure and simple, nonpartisan and apolitical, which is why I will continue to request that our state’s leaders on both sides of the aisle come together to find a resolution. I maintain hope that the budget will get enacted. There are no greater examples to illustrate the importance of getting this accomUniversity of North Carolina plished than the System Interim President Bill critical needs that Roper (far left) tours the face Western Carolina.”

Western Carolina University In addition to steam plant March 5.

N.C. Promise, the Ashley Evans/WCU photo budget impasse has stymied critical capital projects not included in the curThe budget is already nine months late, rent operating budget — most notably, but according to Director of External Western Carolina University is unable to Relations Meredith Whitfield, the wait is repair its outdated and failing steam plant, likely to drag on much longer. which is one harsh winter or mechanical “It sounds like there is a strong likelifailure away from a complete shutdown. hood we will not get a budget deal this year, This scenario nearly occurred in 2016, and and it might be something we’ll have to four years later, the steam plant is living on wait until after the (November) election borrowed time. The opening of the Tom for,” she told the trustee’s Administration, Apodaca Science Building will also be Governance and Trusteeship Committee delayed if operations and maintenance March 5. funding in the budget continues to be tied The current strategy is to get the state up into the next legislative session. government to at least pass a mini budget An ongoing budget stalemate will also covering universities even as the overall adversely affect WCU’s ability to attract and budget stalemate continues. The budget retain key faculty, which could in turn issue stems from Democratic Gov. Roy impact faculty-to-student teaching ratios.

Cooper’s refusal to sign a budget that doesAdditionally, university leaders fear that the n’t include provisions for Medicaid expanimpasse will impact the institution’s credit sion and the Republican-controlled General evaluation by Moody’s, which is set to Assembly’s refusal to pass one that does. occur later this spring. A lower credit rating If nothing gives, WCU might have to could limit WCU’s ability to finance make some tough decisions. Namely, it planned capital projects. might have to rein in enrollment. Since the

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Alcohol sales likely at WCU games this fall

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER hanges to the alcohol situation at Western Carolina University games are on the way for the upcoming school year, both inside and outside of stadium walls.

During the March 5 meeting of the WCU Board of Trustees’ Administration, Governance and Trusteeship Committee, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Mike Byers gave an update on efforts to offer beer and wine sales at athletic events, and it’s looking like such beverages will be available at games starting this fall.

“What we expect to see is that we’ll be in a position to have beer and wine sales at football beginning in the fall and basketball beginning in late fall, and softball in the spring,” Byers told the committee. “We do not expect to be prepared to offer beer sales at baseball by next spring because one of the requirements is that you have to have a secured venue, and baseball is not a secured venue.”

Alcohol sales can’t occur at baseball games until a fence is erected around the entire stadium, and that will be difficult to accomplish simultaneously with the parking deck’s nearby construction, expected to begin in May and last one year. It’s likely that beer and wine sales will be offered at baseball games for the spring 2022 season.

Byers has been researching beer and wine sales since trustees voted Dec. 6 to authorize such sales pending development of an implementation plan, which he delivered to trustees last week. The recommendation came as the result of three months of study from a 17-member special committee assembled in August to examine the pros and cons of alcoholic beverage sales at sporting events. That discussion was instigated by a state law enacted in June, which authorized public colleges and universities to allow alcohol sales at stadiums, athletic facilities and arenas on school property.

WCU has determined it will work with

Smoky Mountain News

March 11-17, 2020

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Western Carolina University. A Shot Above photo

Aramark for alcohol sales, and representatives of the company have visited campus to tour Ramsey Activity Center and Whitmire Stadium in order to identify the ideal point of sale and distribution locations. With the locations identified, Byers and Aramark are working through estimated costs to get sales started.

“Our intent is once we have those estimates to connect the dots between whether it can pay for itself or not,” said Byers. “I would expect that to be a barrier we’ll be able to overcome.”

“What we expect to see is that we’ll be in a position to have beer and wine sales at football beginning in the fall and basketball beginning in late fall, and softball in the spring.”

— Mike Byers, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance

The university currently expects that revenue from alcohol sales will only cover the cost of implementing the program. However, said Chief Communications Officer Bill Studenc, any proceeds over and above the cost of operations will go toward fan experience initiatives.

Parking deck construction will have another impact in addition to delaying implementation of alcohol sales at baseball games. It’s also the impetus for an overall reshuffling of game day parking and tailgating zones.

“The need for additional handicapped parking has escalated in recent years to become a problem that we need to address,” said Studenc. “Because the deck construc-

tion will cause us to reshuffle many parking areas beginning fall 2020, we wanted to go ahead and address the need for handicapped parking near the stadium.”

During their March 6 meeting, trustees unanimously approved a plan to change the location for student tailgates where alcohol is allowed from the Field House Lot, located just north of the stadium, to the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Lot, which is on the opposite side of Centennial Drive. The action also included adding the Field House Lot to the list of areas where alcohol is permissible for general tailgates but not for student tailgates. The change will allow the university to offer more handicapped-accessible parking near to the stadium.

“We looked at all the parking lots as the potential destination for it,” Byers said of student tailgates during a March 5 meeting of the trustees’ Administration, Governance and Trusteeship Committee where the matter was discussed. “This was the one that had the most overlap of interest. There was no one place that was unanimous on everybody’s part.”

David Rhode, who sits on the board as president of the WCU Student Government Association, said he was worried the lot might not be big enough.

“My concern is that Bardo might not be enough to house all the student organizations we have that do come out and tailgate, regardless of whether they’re consuming alcohol or not,” he said.

Byers said that concern was likely unfounded. The Bardo lot will offer enough tailgating spaces to accommodate the same level of interest from student-recognized organizations seen last year, he said. While the number of parking spaces is smaller, many of the spots in Bardo back up to natural wooded areas that expand the space available.

“It could actually result in a net gain,” said Byers.

As the university gears up for a slew of housing and parking-related projects in the years ahead, the tailgating change is just one of many adjustments to be made in preparation. It’s “a very simple change,” said Byers, and it’s “part of a long string of dominos we’re working on to arrange game day.”

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Cherokee passes Brunch Bill

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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER early three years after the state legislature passed a bill allowing local governments to approve Sunday morning alcohol sales, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has passed its own version of what’s known as the Brunch Bill.

In a divided vote that featured little discussion, the Tribal Council approved an ordinance change that will allow alcohol sales at locations already approved to sell alcoholic beverages between 10 a.m. and noon Sunday mornings.

“You make $3,640,000 a year for 52 days and two hours’ service — I think that’s a pretty good investment and pretty good revenue coming in for the people,” said Birdtown Representative Boyd Owl. “I’m going to move to pass.”

Yellowhill Representative Tom Wahnetah seconded Owle’s move, and the legislation passed with four members opposed and eight in favor, for a weighted vote of 31-69.

Voting against the measure were Painttown Representatives Tommye Saunooke and Dike Sneed, Big Cove Representative Richard French and Wolfetown Representative Bo Crowe. In favor were Wolfetown Representative Chelsea Saunooke, Chairman Adam

Wachacha, Vice Chairman David Wolfe, Yellowhill Representative Tom Wahnetah, Birdtown Representatives Albert Rose and Boyd Owle, Snowbird/Cherokee County Representative Bucky Brown and Big Cove Representative Perry Shell.

The Brunch Bill measure made the rounds through town halls and county commission chambers across the region a couple years ago after the state legislation passed in June 2017. Previously, no Sunday alcohol sales were allowed prior to noon in North Carolina.

The measure prompted lively debates in many localities, bringing out passionate support and passionate opposition. Some local governments, like the towns of Sylva and Franklin, passed it with little fanfare or opposition. Others, like Maggie Valley, passed it only after a long, drawn-out, public process. And some, like Jackson County and Dillsboro, didn’t pass it at all.

On the Qualla Boundary, alcohol sales in general are more limited than in other areas of the region. It’s been allowed on casino property since 2009, but until 2017 that was it. Since then, a state law known as the Blue Ridge Law has allowed some establishments in Cherokee located within 1.5 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway on-ramp to sell alcohol, a change that proved quite controversial in the community.

Sediment removal delayed at Lake Junaluska

Down Home Haywood will host its monthly community organizing meeting from 1 to 3 p.m.

Saturday, March 21, at First United Methodist Church, 566 S Haywood St., Waynesville.

“We will welcome all newcomers with a brief introduction to Down Home and then will review the status of our current work on projects concerning food insecurity in Haywood, the local elections in November, efforts to expand Down Home’s reach, and more,” said Chelsea Hoglen, Haywood Chapter organizer.

This event is open to anyone interested in helping create a Haywood County that works better for all of our neighbors. We meet on the third Saturday of each month. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Children accompanied by parents are also welcome. Transportation can be arranged by emailing chelsea@downhomenc.org or calling/texting 828.476.8189.

2018 2018 2019 2017 2018 1972 1994 2014 2013 2017 2003 2019 2018 2019 2019 2018 2014 2018 2017 2019

CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET FORD FORD FORD HONDA KIA NISSAN NISSAN NISSAN NISSAN NISSAN SUBARU SUBARU SUBARU TOYOTA

2019 2017 2010 2014 2015 2014 2016 2019 2002 2015 2007

CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET DODGE

TRUCKS COLORADO SILVERADO 1500 SILVERADO 1500 SILVERADO 1500 SILVERADO 1500 SILVERADO 1500 SILVERADO 1500 SILVERADO 1500 SILVERADO 2500HD SILVERADO 3500HD RAM 1500

9,016 13,185 1,875 19,222 10,697 97,171 74,655 95,181 110,655 21,739 37,599 45,634 11,499 39,701 44,573 95,516 39,087 71,119 42,777 15,542 40,020 149,055 109,419 78,342 68,442 50,089 9,665 266,707 93,281 142,632

2016 2019 2012 2017 2019 2019 2019

FORD FORD GMC GMC NISSAN NISSAN NISSAN

F-150 RANGER SIERRA 1500 SIERRA 3500HD FRONTIER FRONTIER FRONTIER

54,317 25,747 135,306 147,376 26,497 27,911 28,249

2020 2020 2006 2017 2017 2018 2010 2018 2018 2019 2017 2019 2019 2019 2019 2009 2018 2007 2018 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 2018 2019

CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET CHEVROLET DODGE FORD INFINITI JEEP JEEP JEEP JEEP JEEP JEEP JEEP KIA KIA NISSAN NISSAN NISSAN NISSAN TOYOTA TOYOTA

SUVS EQUINOX EQUINOX HHR SUBURBAN SUBURBAN TRAVERSE TRAVERSE TRAVERSE JOURNEY EXPEDITION MAX QX30 CHEROKEE CHEROKEE COMPASS COMPASS PATRIOT RENEGADE WRANGLER SOUL SOUL PATHFINDER ROGUE ROGUE ROGUE SPORT RAV4 RAV4

15,585 13,485 166,016 43,424 39,294 18,363 131,529 22,442 43,238 43,285 37,697 15,693 45,316 35,635 46,307 169,410 21,426 132,773 38,511 38,969 38,162 43,271 37,642 38,403 41,686 32,712

Smoky Mountain News

Down Home to host Haywood meeting

PRE-OWNED INVENTORY CARS CAMARO CAMARO IMPALA MALIBU MALIBU CORVETTE CROWN VICTORIA FOCUS FUSION ACCORD RIO ALTIMA ALTIMA MAXIMA SENTRA SENTRA FORESTER LEGACY OUTBACK COROLLA

March 11-17, 2020

Western North Carolina has experienced one of the wettest winters on record, which has severely impacted the biennial removal of sediment from Lake Junaluska and routine maintenance of the Lake Junaluska dam.

Due to the excessive rain so far this year, the sediment removal schedule has been delayed and the need for an additional drawdown of Lake Junaluska in the winter of 2020 and 2021 will be required to complete necessary work.

Since the creation of the lake in 1913, sediment from upstream has been a consistent issue and has required regular maintenance work in order to preserve the lake. Since 1994, about 300,000 cubic yards of silt has been removed, totaling 37,500 truckloads, which is equivalent to filling a super Walmart store from floor to ceiling with sediment.

“In 2020, we planned to remove 4,000 cubic yards of sediment and build a new access road for future sediment removal,” said Ken Howle, executive director at Lake Junaluska. “Unfortunately, less than 1,000 cubic yards have been removed to date and it is unlikely that we will be able to remove the remaining sediment before being required to refill the lake for spring spawning and waterfowl nesting.”

Routine maintenance to the dam will also be postponed. When the lake is down, structural inspections are conducted to the parts of the dam that are not usually visible when the lake is at full pool. Maintenance is also conducted to the spillway, which includes sandblasting exposed rebar to remove rust that can cause deterioration. Once the rust has been removed, the rebar is cleaned, a protectant is then applied to the exposed areas to prevent deterioration, ending with concrete being poured to re-cover the rebar.

Lake Junaluska will provide ongoing updates of plans for sediment removal next year.

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Adding public art in Franklin is just one of many ideas presented during public comment into the town’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

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BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR he town of Franklin is working toward creating a vision for the community that will guide growth and investment for years to come.

For more than a year, a 10-member community steering committee has been working toward drafting the town’s first Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The draft was unveiled to the community March 4 during a presentation that also included plenty of feedback from community members.

Even though it’s the town’s first comprehensive land use plan, Town Planner Justin Setser said the plan builds on prior efforts, including the town’s Principles of Growth outlined in the Unified Development Ordinance as well as the Downtown Franklin Master Plan from 2008 and BikeWalk Franklin completed in 2017.

The plan isn’t just about future land usage and zoning though — it also encompasses ideas to improve downtown and other areas of Franklin, economic development, infrastructure and transportation needs and how to better incorporate the town’s many natural and cultural resources.

After five steering committee meetings, eight community meetings and 420 survey responses, Steven Baker with Stewart Consulting said it was fairly clear the things residents and businesses love about Franklin. People love the small-town character, they love the natural beauty and access to nature, the sense of community and hospitality, low traffic and festival and events.

“With Franklin, it’s all about town character — the mountains and access to nature and the people — the people coming into

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the community and the people who’ve been here,” he said.

When asked what they would like to see improve in Franklin, survey respondents said they wanted to have better internet service, availability of good jobs, improved community aesthetics, more retailers and restaurants, stronger downtown, more sidewalks, bike lanes and greenways, solutions to the drug problem, attractions for families, connections to the river and medical services.

The town of Franklin encompasses a wide variety of land uses from downtown to wooded hillsides, rural homesteads to multi-family dwellings and industrial and commercial centers. The comprehensive plan process examined the development patterns in the community that will shape growth in the future and how the town can better facilitate that growth in a purposeful way.

When looking at the future of residential development, 59 percent of those surveyed said they wanted to see homes with smaller yards within walking distance to downtown, shared open spaces and parks, while 51 percent said they’d like to see more low-maintenance homes or townhouses.

While respondents named affordable and workforce housing as a top need in Franklin, the majority said they’d prefer to see more small single-family homes as opposed to high-density townhomes or multi-level apartment buildings.

As for commercial development, Baker said people in the community enjoyed the feel of downtown Franklin with active storefronts, pedestrian walkways and on-street parking.

“They don’t like the shopping center looks. Even though Franklin has some of those too, it’s not something y’all want to see more of,” he said.

Residents are proud of their downtown, but they also see opportunities for improve-

ments. They want to see all storefronts filled, outdoor dining, the upper levels of the buildings renovated and used for apartments or office space, more public art and facade standards to give downtown a cohesive look.

“Currently, there are many challenges and opportunities for Franklin’s downtown.

While many of the ground floors are in use along Main Street, the buildings’ upper stories are vacant providing both challenges in upfitting due to their repair costs but also serve as unused supply for potential apartment, condo, or office uses,” the draft plan reads.

Setzer said he’s gone to look at some of the upper level properties on Main Street to see what might be possible in the future, but ultimately it comes down to the private owners to push for more usage.

“Downtown is in an ‘Opportunity Zone’ so there’s a lot of potential for an investor in those areas to get some tax credits, especially if it’s creating jobs for residents,” he said. “But it’s going to take coordination from property owners as well.”

Baker said people acknowledged that there are other areas of town that need improvements.

“Main Street isn’t the only important street — there are also important side streets and alleys that need to get some attention,” he said.

Restriping parking on Palmer Street and adding mini pocket parks or streetscaping would help improve these secondary streets and draw more foot traffic to those backstreet businesses downtown.

Before making recommendations, the steering committee, with the help of Stewart Consulting, had to assess what the town has to work with — population demographics, how much land is vacant, what can be built on it, environmental restraints, existing industries and

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Cashier and Accounts Payable Apply via www.haywood.edu at the jobs page or directly at governmentjobs.com/careers/haywoodedu Contact Beverly Balliot in HR at 828-627-4562 if you have any questions.

Haywood Community College is an Equal Opportunity Employment Institution.

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The town still owns about 13 acres right in town known as the Whitmire property — a large green space that has plenty of potential. The town paid to have a study done to see the best usage of the property but still hasn’t moved forward with any plans.

“There could be a cultural element there or an opportunity to bridge the gap between the river and residential mixeduse,” Baker said.

Stacy Guffey with Stacy Guffey & Associates briefly discussed the economic development and infrastructure piece of the plan.

“There’s a couple things we wanted to do — one is to assess where we are currently, looking at strategies that are working in other communities and being realistic of what we can do in Franklin,” he said.

While Macon County would love to see more manufacturing jobs move in, Guffey said the hard reality is that Franklin has to compete with places all over the country when it comes to manufacturing jobs. But another truth is that people move to Franklin because of the quality of life it offers compared to larger towns and urban cities. Protecting that quality of life will ultimately drive the economy.

Improving broadband is a crucial component of fostering entrepreneurship and small businesses in Franklin. Guffey said expansion of broadband is already in the works, but he’d also like to see a survey to assess the needs of tech businesses and the growth of heritage tourism and outdoor recreation.

“It all ties into quality of life — that’s the economic driver. Y’all moved here from other areas because of all that and the same is true of business owners,” Guffey said.

There’s so much more included in the draft plan, which can be viewed at www.franklintownplan.com. Setser said the steering committee would be presenting the plan to the town planning board at 4 p.m.

March 16 at town hall and if the board approves it, the draft will move on to a public hearing before the town council at its April 6 meeting. The town could adopt the plan as early as May. See the complete presentation of the plan during the March 4 meeting at www.maconmedia.com.

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March 11-17, 2020

job opportunities.

Franklin residents also identified many transportation needs — but more so regarding sidewalks, bike lanes, trails and river accesses than roadways. Franklin’s pedestrian and bike plan includes many ideas for connecting sidewalks, greenways and creating new trails and bike lanes. The town is slowly filling in sidewalk projects but some of the more complicated projects are still awaiting funding.

“A well-developed bicycle and pedestrian network provides a way for people of all ages and abilities to travel in a way that is safe, comfortable, accessible and active. It connects people to community destinations, improves bicycle and pedestrian safety, multimodal opportunities, encourages active living, and provides a community amenity,” the plan states.

The goals laid out in the draft plan include creating walkable, mixed-use districts and neighborhoods in Franklin with a “distinct sense of place. Baker said this type of growth will reinforce Franklin’s identity as a small mountain town while improving quality of life for residents and business owners.

This is where new land use and zoning regulations can be developed, Baker said.

By reducing lot sizes and open space requirements between parcels, the town could encourage smaller houses or multifamily units within walking distance of downtown or other neighborhoods.

“There are people wanting to downsize and there are younger generations coming in that are not wanting a bigger home,” Baker said.

Something the town could do immediately is improve its gateway corridors by setting facade requirements and add landscaping.

The plan also identifies new districts that can be regulated and developed for the future, including Nikwasi Cultural Arts District and River Market/Whitmire District. Since the town turned over ownership of Nikwasi Mound to nonprofit Nikwasi Initiative, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has a major interest in developing property around the mound to educate people about Cherokee culture and history.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES news

N.C. Department of Transportation crews from three counties worked from sunrise to sunset over four days to clear a rockslide on N.C. 28 about two miles south of U.S. 74 in Swain County.

The highway is open to travelers once again.

NCDOT crews from Swain, Macon, and Jackson counties removed about 500 dump-truck loads of dirt, rock and debris from the road. They worked as a team operating two excavators, one bulldozer and drove circuits hauling away the debris, until they finished sweeping the road Monday afternoon.

“I’m very impressed and proud of how much

they were able to accomplish in such a short time,” Division 14 Maintenance Engineer Wesley Grindstaff said. “I know residents in the area, and folks driving to and from Franklin, are glad that the road is back open.”

On Thursday evening, crews closed the area, just north of Brush Creek Road, with barricades after a handful of basketball-sized rocks tumbled to the road. Shortly before 5 p.m.

Grindstaff witnessed a sedan-sized rock and additional debris fall from a hillside. By sunrise on Friday, the rest of the hillside slid toward the road.

“It turned out to be a pretty straight-forward cleanup,” Swain County Maintenance Engineer Travis Williamson said. “We have a great team and they did outstanding work for our residents and visitors.”

DOT clears slide debris from N.C. 28

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news

Improvement plan selected for Soco Road Town board works to mitigate impact to businesses

BY HANNAH MCLEOD CONTRIBUTING WRITER he Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen recently directed the North Carolina Department of Transportation to move forward with a plan to improve safety along Soco Road from the intersection of U.S. 276 to Fie Top Road.

The DOT presented the town with two alternatives for improvement plans.

According to project manager Danielle Schwanke both plans are “designed to make Maggie Valley more pedestrian, bicycle friendly, and also implement some traffic calming measures,” but alternative two would include more extreme measures.

The second alternative would reduce Soco Road from four lanes down to three lanes between Fie Top Road and the west end of Moody Farm Road, add a bike lane, build refuge islands for pedestrian crossing, improve existing crosswalks, and create some on-street parking.

The first alternative is a proposal to upgrade existing pedestrian crossings along Soco Road to make them more visible and to add pedestrian refuge islands in the median.

The board of alderman voted against alternative two — also called the road diet — back in October because board members as well as a majority of constituents voiced their objection to decreasing Soco Road to three lanes.

“Based upon the kind of the presentation that they saw in September, their conversations with their constituents, I think the board is much more comfortable sticking with the conservative way of alternative one, which would just focus in on the pedestrian islands, improving the cross walks, the signage, et cetera, than pursuing the road diet at this time,” said Town Manager Nathan Clark.

Smoky Mountain News

March 11-17, 2020

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Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen meet with staff from North Carolina Department of Transportation to discuss improvements on Soco Road.

Jessi Stone photo

DOT staff came back before the board of aldermen during a March 5 agenda-setting meeting to ask how the town wanted to proceed now that the road diet has been eliminated. Now decisions have to be made about the logistics of moving forward with alternative one — where to place pedestrian islands, where crosswalks make the most sense and how to signal them.

There are currently 13 crosswalks along the portion of Soco Road that will have improvements made. Aldermen discussed whether improvements needed to be made to all of them or whether some of the crosswalks could be eliminated so that pedestrian traffic can be shifted to certain areas.

“Fortunately, sometimes more is boring,

sometimes less is more. You can have 15 crosswalks, when you really need 10 crosswalks and if by doing 10 crosswalks you can actually direct the most foot traffic there, you can protect it better by having less,” Clark said.

The DOT offered upgrades that would include pedestrian islands, more signage, flashers, and repainting. However, each flasher signaling a crosswalk will cost the town up to $50,000 per installation. For this reason, the board is considering whether or not each crosswalk should have flashers, or if there are other alternatives DOT could suggest that would keep pedestrians safe and slow down traffic. These include options like more signage and 3-D paint.

The town will await a proposal by the DOT for where, and how many crosswalks make the most sense according to their research data. All in all, the board agreed that more visible crosswalks would not only keep pedestrians safe but would most likely help slow down traffic in pedestrian heavy areas.

As for the pedestrian islands, DOT Division 14 Engineer Brian Burch wanted to know “who’s going to decide where we’re putting the refuge islands?” Burch needed to know if the town was going to provide preferred locations or if the DOT should come back to the town board with a proposal of where refuge islands would make the most sense.

It’s an important question

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because the new pedestrian islands will more than likely change where drivers are allowed to make left turns, which may upset business owners if their customers can’t make a left turn directly into their parking lots.

“The DOT does a very good job at technically designing the crosswalks based upon the data they have, using their science to decide where crosswalks [go],” Clark said.

“But there’s some political consequences to that. Same thing on the islands. If we were to say, ‘Hey, we want the best islands available,’ they (DOT) design the islands and maybe all of a sudden it prevents a left turn at three businesses.”

Mayor Mike Eveland agreed that the town needed to be strategic about where they would be placed. He suggested DOT place the islands and then the board can look it over to see if there’s a way to adjust it to minimize the impact to local businesses.

“There’s no way to do it without losing a couple of lefthand turns. We’ll look at the basic plan and then look at adjusting it — it’s not going to be met with 100 percent approval,” Eveland said.

While the board noted that it may be impossible to make everyone happy about the location and construction of these pedestrian islands, they would work hard to organize the road construction in a way that was most beneficial for the town.

The board has been looking to make safety improvements in response to several major vehicle accidents along Soco Road in recent years. Following the death of two motorcyclists in June 2015 near the U.S. 276 and Soco Road intersection, a petition was signed by 1,200 people — Maggie Valley residents and tourists alike — pleading with the DOT to implement safety measures. In the petition they suggested lowering the speed limit to 35 mph, installing a caution sign with flashing yellow lights and prohibiting left turns out of Dollar General. The accident was caused when a car turning left out of Dollar General collided with a motorcycle traveling westbound killing both passengers.

However, after an investigation by the DOT to see if safety improvements could be made, an analysis resulted in no recommendations for improving the safety of the intersection. The aldermen did not take “no recommendations” for an answer though, and continued to work with the DOT to find a solution.

Since work began with the DOT to make changes to Soco Road the town has been presented with multiple plans. The idea of creating a town center, that would include street parking and a pedestrian and bike lane in a center median, along a quarter mile strip of Soco Road near the festival grounds was ultimately rejected by business owners due to the loss of road front property in order to accommodate the expansion.

Following the rejection of the road diet plan in October, the town board is now looking to move forward with this most recent plan to update pedestrian crosswalks already in place, make them more visible and construct pedestrian refuge islands. Though more conservative, the board hopes this plan will make pedestrian traffic safer and aid in slowing vehicle traffic.

15

news

Haywood Schools still playing catch-up on capital projects

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER aywood County Schools board members got their first look at a proposed budget for the next fiscal year last week, which contained few surprises and continued to concentrate on some much-needed capital improvement projects.

“The message of this budget is that we’re in a good place, we just have to be careful,” said Chuck Francis, chairman of the Haywood County Schools board.

The proposed budget assumes a 2 percent pay increase across all employment categories, a 21.5 percent retirement contributions rate — up from 19.7 percent last year — and an increase in hospitalization costs from $6,306 to $6,647. The total cost of these assumptions is almost $450,000, although the 2 percent figure is highly contingent upon what the General Assembly does.

That’s balanced against a projected $270,000 increase in revenue over the 201920 fiscal year budget, as well as a $235,000 increase in the county appropriations thanks to a revised funding formula passed by Haywood County Board of Commissioners.

“We did get what we thought was a very fair funding formula from county commissioners,” said Superintendent Dr. Bill Nolte.

The proposed capital budget for 2020-21

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includes $900,000 in improvements to eight schools, as well as equipment for the maintenance department, gravel for playgrounds and awning repairs and spare HVAC units.

“We have a lot of critical systems that are aging out,” said Dr. Trevor Putnam, associate superintendent of HCS. The $900,000 figure is the same as in the current year’s budget, which was itself an increase from the $750,000 in the 2018-19 budget. That, in turn, is a substantial increase from the funding during the Great Recession when only about $200,000 was budgeted for four straight years. HCS is still trying to address needs that were postponed during that period.

Bethel Elementary is slated to receive parking lot lights and replacements for broken lights in the cafeteria stairway and the library, as a cost of more than $17,000.

Bethel and Waynesville middle schools both need HVAC equipment totaling $75,000. Waynesville Middle School also needs $54,000 worth of roof repair, a new gymnasium heater at $16,000, a $12,000 water heater for building A and $28,000 for parking lot patching.

Canton Middle School needs a $30,000 cafeteria water heater as does Jonathan Valley, and Clyde Elementary needs $90,000 of work on an access road.

Both Haywood County high schools will likely get new turf this year.

Cory Vaillancourt photo

Meadowbrook Elementary needs $125,000 in air conditioning maintenance.

Upgrades at Pisgah High School include lighting for the softball field ($165,000), new air conditioning for the dining room ($40,000), a new dryer for the gym ($5,000) and some parking lot patching ($5,000).

Tuscola High School also needs parking lot repairs, to the tune of $7,500.

Both high schools will get new turf, to be paid for by lottery fund balance. The cost could be as high as $1.57 million, and HCS has $1.74 million available.

On the personnel side, requests for additional months of employment and up to 6 additional employees would have cost HCS a maximum of $355,000 but only one position, a social worker, was approved.

Requested positions were half of a full-time equivalent ESL (English as a Second Language)

teacher ($25,121), a part-time clerical worker in Clyde ($11,711), an additional month of employment for a lead teacher at Pisgah ($7,132) and the same for Tuscola, and an EC teacher assistant or part time EC teacher at Riverbend Elementary ($25,000-$31,000).

Small supplement increases are also proposed for athletic coaches.

No increase in school lunch pricing is anticipated.

All in all, the proposed expenditures total $18,715,199 and would require $1.55 million in fund balance appropriation in the 20202021 budget.

All proposed changes to the current year budget remain just that — proposed. A public hearing will be held on April 2, and then the budget will be presented to Haywood County commissioners for inclusion as part of the county’s overall 2020-21 budget.

March 11-17, 2020

WINTER ARTS SMOKIES STYLE

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Celebrate Music, Art, Fun and Test Your Luck!

Grab a cup of joe and start your day with our e-newsletter that hits your inbox every Friday morning at 6 a.m.

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• Lucky Specials and Wee Irish Treats at Participating Merchants • Look for the flags with ribbons on Main Street • Enter to win the “Rainbow’s End Pot of Gold” 50/50 drawing • Cash prizes up to $500 (depending on the pot) • Tickets available at the Galleries Until 3PM March 14th $ 5/ticket or $10/3 tickets. (must be 18 to enter) • Winners announced at 4PM March 14th at Metzger’s Burl Wood Gallery Hosted by: Galleries of Haywood County, Haywood County Arts Council, & VisitNCSmokies.com Proceeds go to promotions of community events.

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Community Almanac

Smoky Mountain News

Women of Waynesville accepting new members Women of Waynesville, a nonprofit organization that supports the needs of women and children in Haywood County, invites all interested women to attend an open house and membership drive event.

The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 19, at The Historic Herren House, 94 East Street, Waynesville, and will give prospective members an opportunity to learn more about WOW and its mission before making the decision to join.

WOW is an all-women, all-volunteer organization. The group currently has about 30 members and is operated by a seven-member board of directors and working committees. Members meet twice a month at The Waynesville Inn with the mission of coming up with new and fun ways to raise money for women and children.

The Open House event is a free event and open to all women in Haywood County. WOW will provide food and drinks. For more information about WOW, visit www.womenofwaynesville.org, follow on Facebook or call 828.550.7573.

Bowling for Big Brothers, Big Sisters Big Brothers Big Sisters of Haywood County will hold its annual fundraiser Bowl For Kids’ Sake from 10 a.m. to noon or noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at Sky Lanes in Asheville.

Supporters are invited to create or join a team, or just raise money, at bbbswnc.org. Each bowler is asked to raise at least $50 ($35 for students).

On the day of the event, teams bowl two free games, get a T-shirt and have lots of fun. Teams consist of four to five members.

To register, visit bbbswnc.org.

Workshop to support military applicants

Leadership for Equity Summit” from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20 at the Crest Center in Asheville.

“North Carolina is presently updating the state’s standards for school leaders including a new orientation toward leadership for equity,” said Jess Weiler, program director for WCU’s Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) program. “This summit will increase the preparedness of our schools’ leaders to meet the state’s leadership standards and build the capacity of other educators in attendance, to work toward more equitable outcomes for students.”

The theme of the summit is “What is Equity?” and attendees will hear from regional, state and national educational leaders about how they are building equitable and socially just classrooms, schools and districts.

For more information about the conference, contact Weiler at jrweiler@email.wcu.edu.

United Methodist Church, will join Lake Junaluska in February as vice president of programming and group sales.

Huber will oversee Lake Junaluska’s programs, events and ministries, and support the group sales team, which works with groups that host conferences, retreats or other events at Lake Junaluska.

He has more than 25 years of experience in outdoor education with expertise in mentoring and leading college-aged students. In addition, he has designed and implemented creative programming on topics of religion, spirituality, vocation and purpose and is a recipient of the Harry S. Denman Award for Evangelism.

Haywood Hospice offers pet therapy

To raise money for the Shop with a Cop program, the Macon County Sheriff’s Office Auxiliary has organized a benefit concert scheduled for Friday, March 13, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. The concert, A Night with the Legends, begins at 6:30 p.m. and will feature local musicians performing legendary country, bluegrass and rock classics.

This year’s headlining act will be Jackson County native Matt Stillwell. Stillwell is a nationally touring country music artist who has recorded seven full length albums, opened for country superstars and toured the country several times.

Tickets cost $15 and will be sold at the door.

WCU to host education summit

Lake J hires new VP of sales

Donations needed for PTSD event

Western Carolina University’s Educational Leadership Programs will be hosting “The School

Mike Huber, director of camp and retreat ministries with The Upper New York Conference of The

Haywood Vocational Opportunities will be hosting the second annual HVO Stands Up to PTSD

Shop with a cop fundraiser

Veteran Community Resource, Education and Job Fair on June 27 and is seeking donations.

HVO believes that individuals have the right to be respected, to have equal opportunities, to work, to earn a fair wage, and participate in activities that enrich their lives. To that end, the organization is working on a special project that will help to educate people about and bring awareness of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, also referred to as Post Traumatic Stress) to veterans and civilians alike and offer employment, education and other opportunities to those who have sacrificed so much in service to each and every one of us and this great country.

If individuals or businesses would like to make a donation of goods and services, call 828.454.6857.

Grants available through health foundation

Haywood Hospice and Palliative Care has welcomed the latest canine members to its volunteer “Love on a Leash” program.

These new volunteers will be visiting hospice patients and others at the skilled nursing facilities in Haywood County.

“We are happy to welcome Maggie, Kiah and Cody to our Volunteer program,” states Beverly Murray, Volunteer Coordinator for Haywood Hospice and Palliative Care. “Animals in general form a special bond with people, and trained therapy dogs provide even more positive effects on patients with a chronic or terminal illness.

Pet therapy has been shown to reduce anxiety and stress, increase feelings of relaxation and provide comfort and companionship to terminally ill patients.

For more information on the Hospice Volunteer program, contact Murray at 828.452.5039.

Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment will be offering a workshop entitled, “Understanding the Unique Culture of Military Applicants” from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, at WCU Biltmore Park.

This workshop is designed to provide potential employers with a better understanding of the military culture, tools to support veterans with the transition to a corporation, resources to connect with the veteran population and information on incentives for hiring veterans.

The registration fee for this course is $89 and includes a networking lunch following the workshop.

For more information and to register, visit pdp.wcu.edu and click on “For-profit and Nonprofit Professional Development Workshops” or call 828.227.7397.

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Haywood Healthcare Foundation is accepting Request For Proposals (RFPs) for grants relating to unmet healthcare needs in Haywood County.

Grant proposals can be addressed to a specific healthcare program, health educational materials or equipment. Initiatives can range broadly, such as maternal/infant health, chronic disease-related initiatives, nutrition, substance abuse, dental care for an underserved population, mental health care, senior health care issues and environmental health issues.

Grant applications are available at the Haywood Healthcare Foundation Office, 576-1 Leroy George Drive, Clyde or by calling 828.452.8343.

Grant applications are due by 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 9.

• Suicide Prevention Awareness Training will be offered from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, March 12, at the Waynesville Library, 678 S. Haywood St. Registration required. Email athleen.olsen@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2507.

• A Tai Chi class will be offered at 1:30 a.m. and at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room.

The 10:30 class is geared to seniors but open to all, and the 6 p.m. class is geared to veterans of all ages but is also open to all.

ALSO:

• Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency is offering another round of Diabetes Prevention Program classes, scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 17. The program has no cost and offers incentives to participants. Call 828.356.2272.

• G.A. (Gamblers Anonymous) meetings will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Grace Episcopal Church, located at 394 N Haywood St., Waynesville in the Community Room. For more information, call 828.476.5054.

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Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Budget passage critical for Western Carolina ou often hear that North Carolina’s public universities are the “crown jewel” of the state. While this is indeed true, the deadlock in Raleigh over funding for a new budget continues to hamstring our state’s public institutions.

Some of the most urgent needs can be found at Western Carolina University, where the lack of funding is beginning to negatively affect students and faculty.

Western Carolina is absolutely crucial to the health and vitality of Western North Carolina. Its students go on to become effective leaders in business and government, and members of the university’s faculty are nationally recognized experts in their respective fields.

The budget deadlock’s negative impacts on daily life in Cullowhee largely concern campus infrastructure, tuition and faculty salaries. Without the $16.5 million in capital funds included in the yet-to-be-enacted budget, WCU is unable to repair its century-old and failing steam plant, which is one harsh winter or mechanical failure away from a complete campus shutdown. We saw this scenario nearly unfold in 2016, and recent winter weather reminds us of how important the steam plant is to campus. Four years after this near miss, the steam plant is living on borrowed time.

While the steam plant is Western Carolina’s most critical need, the fight over the budget affects the university in other ways. The opening of the Tom Apodaca Science Building will be delayed if operations and maintenance funding continues

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to be tied up into the next legislative session. Although Moody’s recently reaffirmed WCU’s credit rating as Aa3, with a stable outlook, a lingering budget impasse has the potential to negatively affect the institution’s rating later this year, which could limit the ability to finance planned projects.

Western Kelli R. Brown Bill Roper Carolina, along with two other institutions in the UNC System, has seen sustained growth due in part to the NC Promise tuition plan, which was passed by the General Assembly in 2016 and implemented during the fall of 2018. Since the effective date of our current budget on July 1, 2018, WCU has added 1,133 new students with a population that currently exceeds 12,100. Additional growth is expected in fall 2020.

The lower NC Promise tuition generates a $4 million funding shortfall for WCU, which is supposed to be covered

There is no defense for hypocrisy O

F I N D

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save for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which is unredeemable; and that we are all God’s children with one nation or people or race not having a step up or special seat but all with equal access to salvation and Grace.

And of course, while cautioned to love our neighbors we are warned about the perils of usurping God’s judgement. The Guest Columnist prescription offered in Micah 6:8 seems a succinct prelude to the gospel message to come: He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? But putting all of that aside, if one really can, the question persists: Has Mr. Trump really promoted life both of the unborn and those already here?

I suppose an answer, although in reality quite narrow in scope, is that the appointment of federal judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade is sufficient proof. Never mind that those same judges hold theories of

Mark Jamison

ne of the defenses I have heard most often offered for support for Mr. Trump is his defense of unborn life, a term that seems oxymoronic or possibly contradictory but can at least be appreciated when offered with sincere spiritual commitment.

The contradiction, I sense, attaches less to the term itself than in its rather narrow application. This, combined with a worshipful elevation of Mr. Trump to a pedestal his life and words almost certainly don’t support and which seems almost blasphemous when accompanied by tortured explications of scripture and motivated reasoning that stands in for solid theology.

One might think there is but only one sin described in the Bible or at the very least that that one sin is worse than all of the others combined. But even a cursory examination of scripture finds far more attention paid to the treatment of the stranger or alien, the importance of truth, kindness, mercy, and charity than reference, even tangentially, to unborn life.

The New Testament, particularly and especially, would seem to harbor the solid principle that the ends cannot justify the means; a poisonous tree does not bear good fruit; that all sins are equally troubling to God

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by NC Promise buy-down funding for fall 2018 and 2019. If the budget impasse continues, we will be unable to account for that shortfall and forced to limit enrollment growth potentially as early as fall 2020 and extending into fall 2021.

Without resources to provide competitive compensation, our ability to attract talent and, more importantly, retain key faculty and staff is threatened. We have already lost faculty to other states, and we may lose more. Experienced professors with years of service are earning lower salaries than some new faculty at other institutions who have only recently emerged from their doctoral programs. The lack of competitive salaries will be felt in the faculty-to-student teaching ratios, which are critical to provide high-quality education with a high level of faculty engagement.

If North Carolina wants to support Catamount country and keep it thriving, the new budget needs to be enacted immediately.

Our concern is not a partisan one. It is, pure and simple, a desire to see our state’s institutions fully supported and fully funded. At Western Carolina, the need for an enacted budget is as critical as it has ever been. We urge leaders in Raleigh to find a solution as quickly as possible for the good of this proud university and for the people of the state.

(Dr. Bill Roper is interim president of the University of North Carolina System. Dr. Kelli R. Brown is chancellor of Western Carolina University.)

jurisprudence that promote wealth and property over life unless we are discussing the life imbued in the corporate structure.

I would submit though that cutting programs that provide access to healthcare for the poor and uninsured including those carrying the unborn is not supporting life.

Cutting programs that support nutrition, an essential element in a healthy pregnancy and a necessity for the development of children, does not support life nor does it speak to Christian values of mercy and charity. And if one argues that charity is not the place of government, then doesn’t that undermine the argument that government ought to be righteous with respect to other elements espoused in our faith?

Some of those wishing to enter our country are surely pregnant. Is their treatment consistent with the precepts of protecting the unborn? But then I might ask if God considers anyone illegal solely on account of their place of birth? Does the separation of families fulfill any commandment? For those who would argue that “those folks” (which fundamentally ignores the injunction that we are all one under Christ) ought to wait in line, I can only wonder if Jesus designated where the line formed or if “Come to me” was suffi-

cient. Are those who are refugees as a result of our country’s meddling and hubris owed consideration or recompense for our geopolitical sins?

But, when I see a multitude of those who preach a perverse prosperity gospel arrayed in their expensive finery and hovering around the seat of power as so many sycophants seeking earthly riches while praying as the hypocrites who sought notice of men, I am reminded more of the descriptions in Revelations foretelling the Beast than anything holy. In at least some of Mr. Trump’s followers I see a cult-like mob who behave with an almost rabid contempt for their neighbors.

We arrive back at the healthy, spiritually prosperous, even blessed tree, the one that yields good fruit. If you believe in the sanctity of life then act like it, not with lip service to one narrow aspect but thoroughly and fully, just as we are encouraged to submit our souls. Violating several commandments while questioningly serving one does not seem like sufficient justification for the prevarication, the lack of humility, the insults, or the policies that harm so many.

(Mark Jamison retired as postmaster in Webster and lives in Jackson County. markijamison01@gmail.com)

F A C E B O O K . C O M / S M N E W S

Smoky Mountain News

Susanna Shetley

in an overstimulating universe. The outside world is relentlessly trying to suffocate them. They have to work harder than ever to keep out all the noise. And at the same time, anything and everything is completely accessible. It’s a tricky catch 22 and a toxic mix not offered to generations before them.

Their young, impressionable minds are doing their best to navigate the input.

My older child recently performed in HART Theatre’s rendition of “Mary Poppins Jr.” For over two months, he spent hours upon hours with other kids practicing, rehearsing, bonding and experiencing the magic of the theatre. No tablets, no phones. Just human beings using sheer creativity and talent to collectively produce something powerful and captivating.

Watching these kids showed me that today’s young people have the capacity to lean into the scarcity and be very content doing so. It’s not that they’re incapable; it’s that the world is constantly shutting them down. The adults in their lives have to be intentional in creating opportunities.

Unlike when we were kids, synthetic distractions are pelting their attention spans and manhandling their character.

I sometimes wish the internet, smartphones and apps didn’t exist. But at the same time, I’m grateful for amenities such as online banking, Google Maps, a camera in my back pocket or a text from a loved one during a bad day.

As a mother, I feel it’s my responsibility to not only monitor my children’s exposure to technology but also model appropriate behaviors and coping strategies. This is easier said than done because let’s be honest, it’s simpler for me to get things accomplished when the boys are on a screen than it is to create a craft project or go on a nature walk. But, which one reaps the most long-term benefits? I think it’s obvious and that’s what keeps me pushing forward.

I don’t want my kids growing up without patience, courage, perseverance or problem-solving skills. I want them to reflect upon their childhood years with fondness and vivid images, not vague memories of watching Disney+ or playing on tablets.

Perhaps most importantly, if we’re ever going to see a pendulum shift in our society in regard to kindness, generosity and awareness, it starts with the youngest generations. If you have children in your lives, take away some of that noise. Help them be curious and thirsty for adventure.

Encourage them to try new things even if they fail. Let them be bored and irritated by not getting their way. These are the ways to raise future leaders and change makers.

And it takes all of us to make it happen.

(Susanna Shetley is an editor, writer and digital media specialist for SMN, SML and Mountain South Media. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com)

March 11-17, 2020

I’m a child of the 1980s.

With side ponytails on full hairsprayed display, my big sister and I kept busy making mixed tapes, riding banana seat bicycles and collecting plastic charms for our charm necklaces. We stayed up late watching “Dirty Dancing” and “Indiana Jones,” swooning over Patrick Swayze and Harrison Ford. We heated our food in BPA-laden plastic, drank from hoses and ran around our neighborhood for hours before returning home happy and spent and ready to hurriedly eat dinner Columnist so we could be in front of the TV by 8 p.m. to watch “Who’s the Boss” or “Growing Pains.”

Our cats were not spayed or neutered, so we learned how to comfort mama cat during labor, make kitten beds out of Avon boxes and feed them with medicine droppers. We had one cumbersome computer in our musty downstairs den. I’m not sure how or why it got there. The few times I tried to boot it up resulted in staring at a black screen with green letters for a painful amount of time with no reward. Exciting sources of technology were a Nintendo gaming system (the original), VHS player and a couple of Sony Walkmans.

Club sports were rare. If you weren’t good enough to make the school team, you just worked harder to make it the next year.

We were baton twirlers and dancers, and my dear sweet mother entered us into a slew of beauty pageants. My sis and I complained endlessly about the itchy dresses and pain of eyeliner application, but we made the best of it by making friends on the circuit and becoming experts at sleeping with curlers in our hair.

Kids today don’t have the luxury of scarcity like we had in the 80s and before.

When I was little, we made our own fun. I learned patience by waiting my turn for the one landline or surviving hours of commercials. I learned about failure when I didn’t make a team, win a contest or get accepted into a club. I learned courage when other kids were cruel and I had to say something straight to their faces. I couldn’t hide behind a text or comment on a Snapchat feed.

I learned how to entertain myself because if I annoyed my mom too much, she’d have me cleaning or raking leaves. So you better believe I was playing outside— not realizing I was getting exercise and appreciating nature. I learned about conflict resolution in the backseat of a car. With no Blu-ray player, we girls had to read, color or argue. But if we argued we got in trouble, so we figured out how to get along.

Now, I’m a mom trying to raise two boys

opinion

Helping kids keep out some of the noise

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Q:

What’s the best way to advertise your business?

ALL OF THE ABOVE.

tasteTHE mountains 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 BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slow-simmered 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.

BOOJUM BREWING COMPANY 50 N Main Street, Waynesville.

828.246.0350. Taproom Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday & Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Gem Bar Open Tuesday through Sunday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Enjoy lunch, dinner or drinks at Boojum’s Downtown Waynesville restaurant & bar. Choose from 16 taps of our fresh, delicious & ever rotating Boojum Beer plus cider, wine & craft cocktails. The taproom features seasonal pub faire including tasty burgers, sandwiches, shareables and daily specials that pair perfectly with our beer. Cozy up inside or take in the mountain air on our back deck."

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

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

828.926.1820 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Tuesdays.

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

FERRARA PIZZA & PASTA 243 Paragon Parkway, Clyde.

828.476.5058. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Sunday. Real New Yorkers. Real Italians. Real Pizza. A full service authentic Italian pizzeria and restaurant from New York to the Blue Ridge. Dine in, take out, and delivery. Check out our daily lunch specials plus customer appreciation nights on Monday and Tuesday 5 to 9 p.m. with large cheese pizzas for $9.95.

FIREFLY TAPS & GRILL 128 N. Main St., Waynesville 828.454.5400. Simple, delicious food. A must experience in WNC. Located in downtown Waynesville with an atmosphere that will warm your heart and your belly! Local and regional beers on tap. Full bar, vegetarian options, kids menu, and more.

Reservations accepted. Daily specials. Live music every Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m.

KANINI’S 1196 N. Main St., Waynesville.

828.452.5187. Lunch Monday-Saturday from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., eat in or carry out. Closed Sunday. A made-from-scratch kitchen using fresh ingredients. Offering a variety of meals to go from frozen meals to be stored and cooked later to “Dinners to Go” that are made fresh and ready to enjoyed that day.

MAD BATTER KITCHEN 617 W. Main St, Downtown Sylva.

828.586.3555. In collaboration with Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. Open 7 days a week; Saturday & Sunday Brunch until 2 p.m.

Hand-tossed pizza, local grass-fed beef and rice bowls. Scratch-made and beer inspired menu with lots of vegetarian, vegan & gluten free options. Free live music and movies. Visit madbatterkitchen.net for this week’s events.

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

828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine.

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

MAGGIE VALLEY RESTAURANT 2804 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

828.926.0425. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Daily specials including soups, sandwiches and southern dishes along with featured dishes such as fresh fried chicken, rainbow trout, country ham, pork chops and more.

Breakfast all day including omelets, pancakes, biscuits & gravy. facebook.com/carversmvr; instagram @carvers_mvr.

Mon/Wed/Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Friday/Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Closed Tuesday

Sunday 12-9 p.m.

Sandwiches • Burgers • Wraps 32 Felmet Street (828) 246-0927

SOUTH PHILLY ITALIAN PASTA & SUBS 2768 Asheville Hwy., Canton.

828.593.3580. Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

Pick-up or carryout only. Call in orders. Pasta and subs. Large portions!

WATAMI SUSHI AND NOODLES RESTAURANT 33 S. Main Street, Waynesville.

828.231.3476. Open 7 days a week serving lunch and dinner. 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 4:30 p.m.-9 p.m. on Monday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 11:30 a.m.9 p.m. Sunday. Healthy, fresh, delicious and high-quality Asian food such as Sushi and Sashimi, Hibachi and Teriyaki, Pad Thai, Wok Lo Men and Thai Coconut Noodle Soup.

Sushi, Hibachi and Teriyaki lunch specials every day. Gluten free options available. Full sushi bar and new chocolate wine bar. New party room available for weddings, birthdays or special occasions. Live bluegrass Sundays from 6-9 p.m. with Sons of Ralph.

Reservations and online ordering available. www.watamisushinoodles.com WAYNESVILLE PIZZA COMPANY 32 Felmet Street, Waynesville.

828.246.0927. Open Monday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday noon to 9 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Opened in May 2016, The Waynesville Pizza Company has earned a reputation for having the best hand-tossed pizza in the area. Featuring a custom bar with more than 20 beers and a rustic, family friendly dining room. Menu includes salads, burgers, wraps, hot and cold sandwiches, gourmet pizza, homemade desserts, and a loaded salad bar. The Cuban sandwich is considered by most to be the best in town.

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watamisushinoodles.com · 828.246.6888 33 S. Main St. #101 · Waynesville

Carver's

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Daily Specials: Soups, Sandwiches & Southern Dishes

Featured Dishes: Fresh Fried Chicken, Rainbow Trout, Country Ham, Pork-chops & more

Breakfast : Omelets, Pancakes, Biscuits & Gravy!

March 11-17, 2020

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.

and more. Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly. Live music and lots of events.

Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

Breakfast served all day!

OPEN DAILY 7 A.M. TO 8 P.M. SUNDAY 8 A.M. TO 8 P.M. CLOSED TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY 2804 SOCO RD. • MAGGIE VALLEY 828.926.0425 • Facebook.com/carversmvr Instagram- @carvers_mvr

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A&E Discovering the past through the present 24

Smoky Mountain News

Works of late Cherokee artist part of massive collection

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER hen Dr. Michael Abram thinks of the late Cherokee artist John Daniel “Dee” Smith Sr., he can’t help but smile reminiscing about his old comrade.

“We were really good friends and I miss him. We used to sit talk about Cherokee art and history for hours,” Abram said. “He would paint on anything. Artists just have that urge to create with anything around them.

Anything is art, and Dee saw that.”

Meandering around an exhibit of Smith’s works within the Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual (located on the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), Abram points out the intricate details of the pieces — ranging from watercolors to acrylic paintings to detailed imagery on animal bone.

“Dee’s paintings are beautiful, but it’s the miniatures that are super detailed,” Abram said, Dr. Michael Abram pointing to a small painting on a piece of deer antler. “He told me he would take one single strand of hair from a paintbrush, dip it in paint and then draw the scene one line at a time.”

Alongside the pieces depicting Smith’s extensive artistic career and talents, there’s also a section of the exhibit dedicated to the Trail of Tears, which was the tragic removal of native tribes in the 1830s from ancestral homelands to west of the Mississippi River, many of which not surviving the arduous journey.

A portion of Smith’s artwork focuses on the Trail of Tears, with Abram also adding the entire 1835 Henderson Roll underneath of the paintings. A census of the Cherokee Nation taken by the United States government, the roll itemizes the families, land and skillsets of those ripped from their homes and sent west, with the exhibit displaying those families torn from Western North Carolina.

“The few Cherokee that remained here [in Western North Carolina] avoided removal by hiding out and laying as low as you can to maybe be overlooked in these mountains,” Abram said.

Originally from Indiana, Abram has been collecting Cherokee artwork since he was a kid, initially being gifted a small pine needle basket from a Cherokee acquaintance who lived in Western North Carolina.

“What has always fascinated me about the

W

Want to go?

An exhibit honoring Cherokee artist John Daniel (Dee) Smith Sr. is currently being showcased at the Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, located at 645 Tsali Boulevard in Cherokee.

The exhibit is a collection of Smith’s watercolors and paintings, which is curated

by Dr. R. Michael Abram. The gallery showing will run through March 31.

For more information, call 828.497.3103.

Cherokee is that it’s an ancient culture that is right here and alive today, where you can interact and talk with these incredible people — learning about their history, beliefs and values,” Abram said.

From there, Abram relocated to the Great Smoky Mountains in 1989, a place where he and his wife continue to acquire Cherokee artwork in large quantities. The couple travel the country constantly, hosting gallery showcases of the Cherokee artwork and elaborate academic presentations on the vibrant history of the tribe.

“You are discovering the past through the present,” Abram said. “You’re not simply looking at an antique. This is one of the few real portals you can find anywhere where you’re interacting with an ancient culture.”

At age 74, Abram estimates the number of items in the collection hovers somewhere in the tens of thousands, so many pieces that he’s “never seen the whole collection at one time,” with the artwork in several storage facilities.

“Anybody can collect art, but you’ve got to know the background of the culture and the history of the people whose art you’re collecting,” Abram said. “It’s a respect thing — in order to interpret it, you’ve got to see it through the eyes of their culture.”

Known as the Cherokee Heritage Museum & Galleries Permanent Collection, Abram is currently in the process of hopefully finding a physical location for the works in the coming years (part of the collection was located in Summit Village from 1983 to 2010).

For now, Abrams walks around the Dee Smith and Trail of Tears exhibit proudly, ready and willing to share his knowledge with any and all who walk through the front door. He’s not only keeping the memory his late friend alive, he’s also keenly aware of the importance of making sure these pieces see the light of day, that the Cherokee history will never be covered up by the sands of time.

“If this collection didn’t exist, we would be missing a timeline,” Abram said. “We’ve collected long enough that we’re now into generations of families, where some of these artists have passed on, but we have their pieces preserved.”

Part of the Dee Smith collection currently on display at the Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual.

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

The ruins of The Basement East.

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Rising Americana/indie act EmiSunshine & The Rain will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville.

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Smoky Mountain News

Being the nighthawk that I am, it was around 3 a.m. on Celtic/folk act Bean Sidhe will perform at 7 p.m.

March 3 when I found myself Friday, March 13, at the Smoky Mountain listening to some music and Community Theatre in Bryson City. scrolling through Instagram.

Suddenly, I kept coming Americana/bluegrass group Ol’ Dirty Bathtub will across images of a massive perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the storm in Nashville and of a Community Room of the Jackson County Public pile of rubble that was once Library in Sylva.

The Basement East music venue in the city.

Boojum Brewing Company (Waynesville) will I couldn’t comprehend host Gold Rose (Americana/indie) during its what I was reading and seeing “St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” at 9 p.m. when reports started flooding Saturday, March 14. social media about this F3 Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host Humps & tornado ravaging through The Blackouts at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 13.

East Nashville — epicenter to not only the music and art community of the metropolis, This past Saturday, I received a text from but also home to countless musicians who I my friend, Allen Thompson, a prolific figure call dear friends. in the East Nashville scene. He’s a musician It startled me to realize how many who’s literally played with every known (and cronies of mine were playing that stage at unknown) singer and picker in Music City The Basement East less than an hour before over the last decade or so in his wide array of the tornado tore off the roof and collapsed bands and projects. In essence, he’s a salt-ofthe walls. Thankfully, the dozens of beloved the-earth artist and human being. musicians and hundreds of patrons had Anyhow, Allen and his girlfriend, Paige, already left and the venue had just closed. were rolling through Asheville last Saturday.

But, the same couldn’t be said for those who fell victim to this horrendous force of nature. It was a trip planned weeks ago. But, leaving Nashville to decompress and get some perBy morning, the internet was filled with spective took a different tone with recent images of East Nashville, reminiscent of events. Meeting at Green Man Brewing in some war zone with smashed homes, infrathe South Slope neighborhood, it was craft structure hanging everywhere and folks walking around in some sort of daze. By that ales held high in the unseasonably warm afternoon sunshine. afternoon, you started to see everyone comAfter some small talk and pleasantries, I ing together — to pick up the pieces, but, had to ask, “So, how are y’all doing after last more importantly, to pick up each other.

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This must be the place

week?” The conversation slid into a somber tone when the couple spoke of how their neighborhood and scene — their home — will never be the same after the chaos and destruction cast upon East Nashville.

Less than an hour before The Basement East was blown to pieces, Allen was onstage singing. Like any normal night in Music City, he and his friends were playing together and having a good ole time, celebrating a life of long-held dreams chased after with a reckless abandon in the bright lights of Nashville and beyond.

And then he spoke of how the city has come together so quickly to rebuild and start from scratch. The attitude seems to be the residents and natives alike setting up the new foundation before any outside interest can get ahead of them in a place where land is at a premium and the future uncertain — especially for hardscrabble musicians and generational families slowly being squeezed out.

Eventually, the mood of the conversation transitioned into one of gratitude and recollection. We began swapping stories of rollicking times in Nashville, many of which with mutual friends, the same folks who connected the dots that led to he and I becoming friends. Amongst the banter, I thought of my first time coming into Nashville.

It was June 2009 and I was 24 years old. Leaving the Wakarusa Music Festival in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, my photographer and I headed towards Knoxville and Asheville to possibly catch Phish on tour before hightailing it back to the North Country of Upstate New York via Interstate 81.

I remember sitting in some dive bar near Broadway in Nashville and thinking to myself, “I want to live here someday.” Low and behold, just a few years later, I found myself calling the South home, but in the mountains of Western North Carolina — all within orbiting distance of Nashville.

Amid my almost eight years living and writing in Southern Appalachia, I make a trek to Nashville every few months — to see friends, catch shows or simply jump into the melodic madness in whatever direction it takes me in this mecca for music freaks like myself.

I think of fleeting nights running around East Nashville, beers and chatter in Five Points somewhere, perhaps a burger at 3 a.m. at Dino’s, waking up in some guest room or couch just around the corner from The Nashville Biscuit House filled with endless cups of coffee and a greasy spoon breakfast.

All of that live music, all of those memories, tucked away on the shelves of my memory.

And I think of all my Nashville friends (and their friends, too) trying to rebuild their lives and careers as we speak. My heart goes out to them, so does my continued support of their dreams in the face of this new obstacle. Nashville will rebuild, just as any headstrong community of movers and shakers will do.

It’s a sentiment found on a mural on the side of The Basement East, a part of the wall that miraculously didn’t collapse. It simply states, “I Believe in Nashville.” And I do — we all do.

Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.

25

On the beat arts & entertainment

EmiSunshine at The Strand

Gold Rose.

Gold Rose plays Boojum Brewing Asheville-based Americana/rock act Gold Rose will perform during the “St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” at 9 p.m.

Saturday, March 14, in The Gem downstairs taproom at Boojum Brewing in Waynesville.

This alt-country trio consists of singersongwriter/guitarist Kevin Fuller, bassist Ryan Kijanka and drummer Ryan Sargent.

The band meshes crunchy guitar noise with folk, country and Americana stories.

The concert will be a special album release party for Gold Rose’s new record “Dust.” For more information, visit www.facebook.com/goldrosetheband.

Smoky Mountain News

March 11-17, 2020

Mad Anthony’s St. Paddy’s There will be a St. Patrick’s Day celebration concert with Bona Fide at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, March 17, at Mad Anthony’s Taproom & Restaurant in Waynesville.

The show will also be a fundraiser that day to benefit Helping Hands of Haywood.

There will be a raffle drawing after the performance at 9 p.m. Tickets are already on sale and you do not have to be present to win.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call 828.246.9249.

EmiSunshine & The Rain.

Rising Americana/indie act EmiSunshine & The Rain will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville.

EmiSunshine is 15 years old, but she has attracted national attention since the age of 9.

Rolling Stone once named her among the “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know.”

Her new album, “Family Wars,” which was produced by four-time Grammy-winner Tony Brown in Nashville, has received excellent reviews for its thought-provoking songs about abusive relationships, mass violence, political corruption, and freedom in America.

Recently, EmiSunshine received The ASCAP Foundation Desmond Child Anthem Award in New York City. The award, which was established by ASCAP Board member and Grammy award-winning songwriter-producer Desmond Child, recognizes talented young musical artists.

The show is all ages. Tickets are $20 and can be reserved at www.38main.com or by calling 828.283.0079.

Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors.

Ol’ Dirty Bathtub.

Sylva gets in the tub

Jackson County Americana/bluegrass group Ol’ Dirty Bathtub will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the Community Room of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

“We’ve always had energy when playing 26 on someone’s porch, but on several occa-

sions lately we have been able to replicate it live,” said ODB guitarist Jerad Davis. “And that’s what makes this fun — people dancing, rooms getting hot, creating an atmosphere that is as fun for those listening as it is for us onstage. That’s why we do it. And that fuels the passion and creativity.”

The show is free and open to the public. The band’s new album “Pack Mule” is now available for purchase. www.facebook.com/oldirtybathtub.

Highlands welcomes Drew Holcomb Popular Americana/indie act Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at Kelsey-Hutchinson Park in Highlands.

Drawing influence from Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, Holcomb has found his place in

today’s landscape of singer/songwriter Americana. He and his band have developed their sound through extensive touring, performing alongside Amos Lee, Willie Nelson, John Hiatt, Needtobreathe, Ben Rector, Don Henley, and many more.

Tickets are $60 per person, with VIP packages available. This event is presented by the Highlands Food & Wine Festival. www.highlandsfestivals.com.

On the beat Bean Sidhe.

• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host Humps & The Blackouts March 13 and Chris Pressley w/Arnold Hill March 14. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com.

Celtic/folk act Bean Sidhe will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, March 13, at the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre in Bryson City.

A four-member group, the act plays traditional Celtic tunes and ballads using acoustic instruments covering a broad range of folk music from Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. It’s an attempt to keep alive the musical heritage that influenced much of contemporary music, especially bluegrass and country.

Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.

• Andrews Brewing Company (Andrews) will host the “Lounge Series” at its Calaboose location with Kevin Smith March 12, Rags & Riches March 14, Wyatt Espalin 4 p.m. March 15, Scott Stambaugh March 19, A. Lee Edwards March 20, Eduardo March 21 and Woolybooger 4 p.m. March 22. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

ALSO:

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host an acoustic jam with Main St. NoTones from 6 to 9 p.m. March 12 and 19. Free and open to the public. www.blueridgebeerhub.com.

• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company (Maggie Valley) will host AcousticEnvy March 14. All shows begin at 7 p.m. 828.944.0766 or www.elevatedmountain.com.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host The Valley Authority March 14 and Chris Campbell 4 p.m. March 15. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night March 11 and 18, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo March 13 and 20. All events are free and begin at 8

p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host Dan Collins March 14, Mike Chaet March 20 and Gary Carter March 21. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. www.rathskellerfranklin.com.

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Liz & AJ Nance (Americana/folk) March 21. All events are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Salty Dog’s (Maggie Valley) will have Karaoke with Jason Wyatt at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, Mile High (classic rock) 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays, and a Trivia w/Kelsey Jo 8 p.m. Thursdays.

• Isis Music Hall (West Asheville) will host Arkansauce (bluegrass/Americana) 8:30 p.m. March 11, A Tale of Two (Americana/blues) 7 p.m. March 12, Art Wavey & Foxy Moron w/Shabudikah (indie/soul) 8:30 p.m. March 12, Cheley Tackett w/Grits & Soul (Americana/folk) 7 p.m. March 12, The Fritz w/STIG (funk/jam) 9 p.m. March 13, The High Lonesome Dreamers (Americana/country) 7 p.m. March 14, The Artimus Pyle Band (southern rock) 9 p.m. March 14, Giri & Uma Peters (bluegrass/blues) 6 p.m. March 15, Pierre Bensusan (world/acoustic) 7:30 p.m. March 15, Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions w/Cane Mill Road 7:30 p.m. March 17, Fwuit! (pop/rock) 7 p.m. March 18 and The Poetry Brothel (Americana/folk) 8:30 p.m. March 18. www.isisasheville.com.

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic at 6 p.m. on Thursdays and live music on Friday

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host an open mic night at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday, Scrawny Johnny March 13, Mama Danger March 14 and Gopher Broke 8 p.m.

March 17. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Sirsy March 20 and Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle March 21. All shows are at 8 p.m. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Legends Sports Grill (Maggie Valley) will host music semi-regularly on weekends.

828.926.9464 or www.facebook.com/legendssportsgrillmaggievalley.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host the “Stone Soup” open mic night every Tuesday, Heidi Holton (blues/folk) March 13 and Wyatt Espalin March 14. All shows are

• The Strand at 38 Main (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic” night from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturdays, The Moon and You 7:30 p.m.

March 13 and EmiSunshine 7:30 p.m. March 14. 828.283.0079 or www.38main.com.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Cashiers) will host Bluegrass Thursdays w/Benny Queen at 6:30 p.m. 828.743.3000.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host Bluegrass w/Nitrograss Wednesdays at 7 p.m. 828.526.8364.

• The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic Night” on Mondays, karaoke on Thursdays and semi-regular music on Fridays and Saturdays. All events at 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

828.456.4750.

• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host semi-regular music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.743.6000 or www.whitesidebrewing.com.

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• Boojum Brewing Company (Waynesville) will host a bluegrass open mic every Wednesday, an all-genres open mic every Thursday, Gold Rose (Americana/indie) “St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” March 14 and the “Boojum 5th Anniversary Party” with The Brothers Gillespie (rock/indie) 8 p.m.

March 21. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.boojumbrewing.com.

• Pub 319 (Waynesville) will host an open mic night from 8 to 11 p.m. every Wednesday.

Free and open to the public. www.pub319socialhouse.com.

• Snowbird Mountains Brewing (Andrews) will host a St. Patrick’s Day Party 2 p.m. March 14. Free and open to the public.

678.410.3035 or www.snowbirdmountainsbrewery.com.

March 11-17, 2020

• BearWaters Brewing (Canton) will host Aubrey Eisenman & The Clydes 6:30 p.m.

March 14 and Darren Nicholson Band 7 p.m.

March 20. www.bwbrewing.com or 828.237.4200.

• Orchard Coffee (Waynesville) will host Chris Staples 7:30 p.m. March 21. 828.246.9264 or www.orchardcoffeeroasters.com.

evenings. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com.

arts & entertainment

Celtic concert in Bryson City

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On the table

On the street arts & entertainment

Sylva ‘Recipe Swap’

The Shelton House.

Volunteers needed at Shelton House

Smoky Mountain News

March 11-17, 2020

The historic Shelton House in Waynesville is currently in need of volunteers for an array of upcoming events.

Alongside help for events and gatherings, the organization is also seeking a docent, gift shop attendee, data entry person, landscaper, handyperson, and other positions.

Upcoming main events include the Blue Ridge Heritage Festival June 19-21, Shelton House Halloween “Haunting on the Hill” Oct. 27-31 and Shelton House “Tinsel Trail & Appalachian Christmas.”

For more information, visit www.sheltonhouse.org or call 828.452.1551.

Open call for Greening Up There is an open call currently underway for artisans, vendors and environmentally-themed booths at the 23rd annual Greening Up the Mountains, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, in downtown Sylva.

Celebrating the new spring in the mountains, the festival has become a beloved regional event. The festival typically enjoys crowds upwards 12,000 attendees and has 175 vendor booth spaces. In addition to a variety of arts, crafts, and food vendors, attendees can enjoy a 5K run, youth talent contest, beverage arts featuring local craft

• The Smoky Mountain Model Railroad Club will host an open house from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 15, at 13 Caboose Way (off Panther Creek Road) in Clyde.

Come see one of the largest operating Ogauge model train layouts in the area and talk trains with the conductor. Suggested donation of $6 for admission.

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breweries and live music throughout the day.

Applications can be downloaded at www.greeningupthemountains.com and will be accepted through March 15.

For more information, email greeningupthemountains@gmail.com.

Trailer Center

financing available, ask for details

HaywoodBuilders.com 828-456-6051 | 100 Charles St. | Waynesville

The Jackson County Public Library Recipe Swap is a quarterly event consisting of a recipe gathering, the making of a cookbook, and finally a potluck dinner using the recipes gathered.

If anyone has a recipe they would like to participate with, please email the recipe to Danielle Duffy at dduffy@fontanalib.org or bring your recipe to the Reference Desk on the second floor of the library in Sylva. The deadline for the Spring 2020 Cookbook recipe submission is March 17.

Once the library has all of the recipes, the Spring 2020 cookbook will be put together. Each participant will receive a copy of the cookbook. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, each participant will bring their dish and everyone will share food, fellowship, stories, and community.

For more information, call the Jackson County Public Library at 828.586.2016. This

Bosu’s tastings, small plates Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville will host an array of wine tastings and small plates throughout the week.

• Mondays: Free tastings and discounts on select styles of wine that changes weekly.

• Thursdays: Five for $5 wine tasting, with small plates available for purchase from Chef Bryan’s gourmet cuisine in The Secret Wine Bar. • Wednesday-Saturday: The Secret Wine Bar will be open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Fridays: The Secret Wine Bar will be open for drinks and small plates from 5 to 9 p.m.

• Saturdays: Champagne cocktails from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Secret Wine Bar will be open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

cookbook is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org).

There will also be a free wine tasting from 1 to 5 p.m.

Dog friendly patio and front garden open, weather permitting. For more information and/or to RSVP for ticketed events, call 828.452.0120 or email info@waynesvillewine.com.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. March 12 and 19, and 2 to 5 p.m.

March 14 and 21 at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.

• Free cooking demonstrations will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays at Country Traditions in Dillsboro.

Watch the demonstrations, eat samples and taste house wines for $3 a glass. All recipes posted online. www.countrytraditionsnc.com.

ALSO:

On the wall

The next Creating Community Workshop will be held at 10:30 a.m.

Saturday, March 14, in the Atrium of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

Come and enjoy making Zentangle magic. Master this absorbing and creative art form. No drawing experience is required.

The Zentangle Method is an easy-tolearn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. They call these patterns tangles. You create tangles with combinations of dots, lines, simple curves, S-curves and orbs.

These simple shapes are the “Elemental Strokes” in all Zentangle art. These pat-

terns are drawn on small pieces of paper called “tiles.” They call them tiles because you can assemble them into mosaics.

Instructor Helen Vance has worked in landscaping, graphic design and marketing, and dabbled in various textile arts. She particularly enjoys traditional rug hooking and is a dedicated reader.

This program is free of charge. The workshop is limited to 10 participants. Call the library to register.

For more information, please call the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva at 828.586.2016. This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library.

The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org).

Smoky Mountain News

Creating Community Workshop

funds raised (100 percent donation) throughout the duration of the show will be equally distributed between SADC and the Sylva Community Garden in order to further the betterment of the community through arts, education, and environmental awareness.

This project is supported by the NC Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. Viva Arts Studio is located on 456 West Main Street in downtown Sylva.

For further information about the event or to apply for your child to be an exhibiting artist, contact the Sylva Art + Design Committee at sylvaartdesign@gmail.com or Viva Arts Studio at vivaartsstudio@gmail.com.

You can also follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sylvapublicart or on Instagram @sylvaarts.

March 11-17, 2020

The Sylva Art + Design Committee is pleased to announce a unique pop-up gallery event that will feature the artistic creations of children ages 5-18 in the Western North Carolina region.

“Nature Through A Child’s Eye” will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4, at Viva Arts Studio in downtown Sylva.

The event will focus on environmentally themed artwork created by the youth of our community in order to highlight a uniquely honest perspective on a global topic.

The show will aim to encompass the use of all art mediums including ceramics, painting, sculpture, drawing, and multimedia so long as dimensions do not exceed 12x12 inches. All submissions will be available for purchase and can be picked up after the completion of the exhibition.

Contrary to previous events, the totality of

arts & entertainment

Sylva Art + Design Committee event

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March 11-17, 2020

arts & entertainment

On the wall ‘Luck of the Art’

HCAC ArtShare

Celebrate St Patrick’s Day early from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 14, on Main Street in Waynesville.

The Galleries of Haywood County have enlisted shops and restaurants to offer “Lucky Specials” and “Wee Irish” treats — look for the flags and balloons to locate participating merchants.

Find and meet Waynesville’s Leprechaun and his lady to collect a green necklace. And enter to win the “Rainbow’s End Pot of Gold” with a 50/50 drawing to be held at 4 p.m.

Prizes will be awarded up to $500 each (as the pot allows), as well as special gifts from participating merchants. Just $5/ticket or $10 for three tickets, on sale until 3 p.m. that day. Each entry also gets a golden coin necklace.

Purchase tickets at these Galleries of Haywood County on Main Street: Cedar Hill Studio, Haywood Arts Council, Jeweler’s Workbench, Metzger’s Burl Wood Gallery, T Pennington Art Gallery, and Twigs and Leaves Gallery.

Participants for the drawing must be 18 to win, but do not need to present to win.

Winners will be posted in the galleries and online at www.haywoodarts.org/gallerieshc.

Proceeds from the drawing will go to support more Galleries of Haywood County community events.

This year marks the eighth year of the ArtShare exhibit at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville. ArtShare runs through March 28.

ArtShare is a showing of fine works of art which have been donated to or consigned with the HCAC. ArtShare was born out of a desire to allow collectors to be able to pass on art for someone else to enjoy.

If you have questions, call the HCAC at 828.452.0593. For more information, visit www.haywoodarts.org.

Innovation ‘Pottery & Pints’ There will be a special “Pottery & Pints: Free Play” class held by Viva Arts Studios from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 12, at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro. Cost is $30 per person.

For more information and/or to register for the workshop, go to Facebook, search “Viva Arts Studio” and click on the “Events” tab for the ticket link.

The Viva Arts Studio in Sylva offers weekly and monthly pottery and painting classes alongside other artisan mediums. www.vivaartsschool.com or 828.506.6067.

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Smoky Mountain News

Haywood Community College’s latest showcase “HCC Clay in Retrospect,” an exhibition featuring the work of 20 artists from the college’s 46 years of clay programming, is now on display at the school in Clyde.

These artists represent the rich history of craftspeople who have studied professional crafts clay at HCC. Gary Clontz founded the college’s clay program in 1974 and together with his colleagues, expanded the program to include areas of study in fiber, jewelry and wood.

Now in its 44th year, Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program is the only one of its kind in the country.

“HCC Clay in Retrospect” runs now through April 22 and is located on the second floor of the Creative Arts Building on the HCC campus. The public is invited to a closing reception from 4 to 6 p.m.

Wednesday, April 22, with a gallery talk beginning at 4:30 p.m.

For more information, call 828.627.4671 or email eareason@haywood.edu.

• The next meeting of the Western North Carolina Woodturners Club Inc. will be at 10 a.m. Saturday March 14, at The Bascom in Highlands. Visitors are always welcome. The club meets in Highlands the second Saturday of every month between March and November.

the medium of your choice. Cost is $25 per class. There will also be a Youth Art Class from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. on Wednesdays. Cost is $15 per class. Contact Morgan at 828.550.6190 or email bmk.morgan@yahoo.com.

BREAKFAST ITEMS Florentine Eggs Benedict, Rocky Road Pancakes & Maple Syrup, Cheesy Stone Ground Grits, Biscuits, House Baked Breads, Jellies

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HCC Professional Crafts clay exhibition

• Stonehouse Pottery (Waynesville) will be doing an Open Studio Tour and Sale the first Sunday of each month to help support our local nonprofits. Each month highlights a different artist and that artist chooses his or her nonprofit. Stonehouse Pottery and the artist then give a portion of the proceeds as a donation to that nonprofit. Haywood County Arts Council will be the April beneficiary.

ALSO:

• The Weekly Open Studio art classes will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville, Instructor will be Betina Morgan. Open to all artists, at any stage of development, and in

• The Museum of the Cherokee Indian’s exhibit, “People of the Clay: Contemporary Cherokee Potters,” features more than 60 potters from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation, and more than one hundred works from 1900 to the present.

The exhibit will run through April.

• A “Beginner Step-By-Step” adult painting class will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. There is also a class at 6:30 p.m. on the last Wednesday of the month at Balsam Fall Brewing in Sylva. Cost is $25 with all supplies provided. For more information on paint dates and/or to RSVP, contact Robin Arramae at 828.400.9560 or wncpaintevents@gmail.com.

On the wall arts & entertainment

‘Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie’

by Kit Paulson.

15 Day Guided Spring Detox Ayurveda Cleanse $199

Smoky Mountain News

The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center is pleased to present a range of photography, glasswork, and vitreography on display from now through May 1.

• “Time and Again: Glass Works by Kit Paulson and SaraBeth Post” Funded in part by the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, the exhibition brings together two Penland-based artists whose works explore ideas about time, history, memory, and the antique.

In many of their works, objects from the past are remade and reimagined in glass, creating a bridge between past and present.

• “Curious Terrain: WNC From the Air” This new exhibition features aerial photographs that explore the relationship between humans and the WNC landscape.

Taken by Alex S. MacLean, a renowned artist and pilot with over 45 years of experience photographing the land from the bird’s eye perspective of an airplane, these newly commissioned images focus on the seven westernmost counties of North Carolina.

MacLean’s striking images capture the unique qualities of the region’s built environment while also raising broader questions about humanity’s impact on the land

March 11-17, 2020

WCU Fine Art Museum exhibitions

through agriculture, energy, industry, and housing.

“The Curious Terrain: WNC From the Air” reception will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. March 19, with a gallery talk from Alex S. MacLean at 5:45 p.m. This exhibition is supported by a grant from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

• “Claire Van Vliet: Stone and Sky” This new exhibition highlights landscape prints by Claire Van Vliet, a renowned printmaker and book artist. Between 1993 and 2010, Van Vliet completed several residencies at Harvey Littleton Studios in Spruce Pine, where she experimented with the medium of vitreography, a form of printmaking that uses a glass plate to produce a printed image.

Fascinated by rocks of all kinds, Van Vliet produced detailed images of rock formations from around the world, including Wind Cave in New Mexico, Kilclooney More in Ireland, and the Moeraki Coast in New Zealand.

This exhibition brings together a selection of these vitreographs, drawn from the WCU Fine Art Museum’s Permanent Collection, and provides a glimpse into the artist’s creative process.

The exhibition includes a rare opportunity to view one of the original glass plates used in the vitreograph printing process.

The museum exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public with free parking on site. Regular hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays until 7 p.m.

For information, visit arts.wcu.edu/museum or call 828.227.ARTS.

@SmokyMtnNews

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On the stage arts & entertainment

HPAC ‘Live via Satellite’

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The Highlands Performing Arts Center will broadcast “Live via Satellite” the MET Opera’s production of “Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)” by Wagner at 12:55 p.m.

Saturday, March 14.

Sir Bryn Terfel returns to the Met for the first time since 2012, as the mysterious seafarer searching for salvation. Director François Girard, whose mesmerizing production of Parsifal recently wowed Met audiences, returns to stage Wagner’s eerie early masterwork.

Tickets available www.highlandspac.org, www.highlandsperformingarts.com or at the door.

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre.

Smoky Mountain News

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Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction

HART presents ‘Slow Food’ The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre winter Studio Season continues with the comedy “Slow Food” by Wendy MacLeod, which will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. March 13-14, 20-21 and 2 p.m. March 22 at the theatre in Waynesville.

The setting, a Greek restaurant in Palm Springs, on a Sunday night. A couple celebrating their anniversary have found the only place still serving, and they are starving after flying from the east coast. What they don’t realize is that they have entered a kind of twilight zone — where an overly accommodating waiter never seems to be willing to actually take their order.

To make a reservation, call the HART Box

Office at 828.456.6322 anytime and simply leave your name, the number of tickets you need and the performance you wish to attend. Seating is general admission, but reservations are recommended.

For more information, visit www.harttheatre.org. Harmons Den will also be open for dining before all performances and the menu is on the HART website.

• KIDS at HART, the youth drama program at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville, will present “Mary Poppins Jr.” at 2 p.m. March 14-15. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students. Reservations may be made by calling 828.456.6322 or visiting www.harttheatre.org.

ALSO:

Books

Smoky Mountain News

33

Early spring cleaning turns up some gems with these thoughts: “But if it’s burial you desire, perhaps it’s time to join the rest of the world and — gasp!

Jeff Minick

Time to do some early spring cleaning and rid my desk of some books for review.

Caitlin Doughty, mortician and best-selling author of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and From Here To Eternity, takes us to yet another encounter with the Grim Reaper in Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death (W.W. Norton & Company, 2019, 222 pages). Dedicated to “To future corpses of all ages,” Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? is a collection of “the most distinctive, delightful questions Writer I’ve been asked about death, and then I answered them.”

Here the queen of the crematorium addresses a wide range of questions about death: “Can I use human bones from a cremation as jewelry?” “Why do we turn colors when we die?” “Can I preserve my dead body in amber like a prehistoric insect?” “Will my hair keep growing in the coffin after I’m buried?” “What happens when you want to bury someone but the ground is too frozen?”

Doughty is an excellent guide to the bone yard for three reasons: she knows her stuff, she communicates well, and she is sharp-witted and funny. An example: In Doughty’s reply to “What happens when a cemetery is full of bodies and you can’t add any more?”, we learn about Israel’s Yarkon Cemetery and its towers built to hold 250,000 bodies, we discover that countries like Germany and Belgium charge rent on graves after a set number of years, and that land-starved Singapore allows burials for 15 years, at which time the corpse is dug up, cremated, and placed in a columbarium to make way for earth’s next guest. Doughty ends this chapter

— recycle our graves. Once Grandma has had her time to decompose, her bones need to step aside for a whole new generation of rotting corpses. I wonder if anyone has ever written that exact sentence before? I wonder that a lot.”

In The Hero (TLS Books, 2019, 77 pages), Lee Child, creator of the best-selling Jack Reacher crime thrillers, crams a variety of topics into this short meditation on evolution, story-telling, and heroism. We learn, for example, that heroin is derived from the word

Kathryn Byer Memorial Poetry Contest The Kathryn Byer Memorial Poetry Contest contest celebrates our mountains and our connection to them in our everyday lives. It is open to all Jackson County students, K-12.

The contest is now dedicated to the memory of Kathryn Byer, whose devotion to poetry was an invaluable asset to our community.

The poets are divided into three categories: K-4th grade, 5th8th grade, and 9-12th. Three winners, in addition to Honorable Mentions, will be chosen in each category. Poems should be no longer than 40 lines, but can be much shorter, of course. The deadline for submission is April 10.

Poems should be submitted to City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, either in person, by snail mail or by email to more@citylightsnc.com.

Include “Poetry Contest” in the subject line. Teachers may submit poems written by their students, or the poets or family members may do so on their own. Include the name and age category of the poet.

“hero,” and we travel back in time 10,000 generations to the Stone Age and witness our ancestors, “all of them armed, as we know from what we inherited from them, with a ferocious will to live, and a deep love of story.”

Near the end of The Hero, Child explains how he invented his main character, Jack Reacher. Subconsciously, Child took his inspiration the legend of Robin Hood. After examining how that legend had changed over time, Child writes that like Robin Hood and other such fictive characters, “… Jack Reacher turned out to be a man of rank (a major, a West Point graduate), now cast out from mainstream society (albeit voluntarily, by his own hand) and dispensing rough justice outside the mainstream rules.”

In this same chapter, Child asks “What is the purpose of fiction?” and then replies “I think it can be summed up in a simple phrase: To give people what they don’t get in real life.” He points out that “… readers need an antidote to an unsatisfactory everyday reality … Instead of a constant real-world buzz of low-level frustration, there will be a beginning, a middle, and an end, by which time order will have been restored.”

The Hero reminded me of a circus car, one of those tiny vehicles from which a parade of clowns emerges. This is a tiny book, but instead of clowns idea after idea poured from the pages.

Highly recommended both for Jack Reacher fans and for readers interested in big ideas.

Mark McConville is a clinical psychologist who has spent decades counseling families, adults, and adolescents. In Failure To Launch: Why Your Twentysomething Hasn’t Grown

The winners in each category will receive gift certificates to City Lights Bookstore and will be invited to read at Greening up the Mountains at 3 p.m. April 25 at City Lights Bookstore. Winners will be announced by April 20.

For more information, contact at 828.586.9499.

Lyons signing, reading at City Lights Lee Lyons will present her latest novel Southern Shamrock at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

The result of over 10 years of writing, taking a manuscript class with author and journalist Jacquelyn Mitchard in Ireland, and incorporating the loss of her own son and elements of her own Irish ancestry into a compelling fictional piece, Southern Shamrock is a story of a mother consumed with grief at the loss of her son who discovers her family’s Irish heritage, new aspects of herself, and how to let go.

Up…and What to Do About It (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020, 306 pages), McConville aims to help parents and mentors move those young people who are “twenty-two going on sixteen” into the adult world.

He begins this task by examining why so many of our young have trouble making this transition. Nick performs well in high school, goes off to college, gets academic suspension after two semesters of partying and missing classes, returns home, lives in the basement, and refuses to find employment. Kaylee, a bright young woman, can’t bring her spending habits under control and is constantly running up credit card bills. The procrastinator Kyle is terrified of making the leap from high school to college. Birdie moves out of her parents’ home seeking independence, but financial self-reliance proves more than she can handle, and soon “she was sleeping fourteen hours a day…and was severely neglecting basic self-care.”

McConville believes that these young people and others are failing in three ways to grow up — they lack a sense of purpose, they fail at “administrative responsibility,” which means taking charge of their lives, and they are missing the social skills necessary to interact with other adults. Using these case histories and examples from his own experiences as a parent, McConville offers readers wise advice on easing adolescents into adulthood.

Near the end of Failure To Launch is a chapter titled “Dear Twentysomething,” in which McConville speaks directly to the young rather than to their parents. Here is a wise letter that might benefit all those in their late teens and twenties, showing them how to take charge of their affairs, how to step into the future, how to follow a dream An excellent guide for parents of grown children still stuck in adolescence.

(Jeff Minick is a writer and teacher. minick0301@gmail.com)

Lyons is an author, thespian, storyteller, and resident of Highlands, where she is an active member of the Highlands Writer’s Group and The Highlands Cashiers Players, and shares her stories with the Asheville Storytelling Circle. She is also a member of the Foothills Writers Guild of Anderson, South Carolina.

To reserve copies of Southern Shamrock, call City Lights Bookstore at 828.586.9499.

• Benjamin Cutler, Swain High English and creative writing teacher, has just been awarded first place in the North Carolina Poetry Society’s 2020 American Heritage Poetry Contest for his poem, “A Fall Language.”

This award includes a cash prize and publication of the award-winning poem in the NCPS awards anthology, Pinesong. An award-winning poet, Cutler’s poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines and publications, and he is the author of the full-length book of poetry, The Geese Who Might be Gods (Main Street Rag 2019).

ALSO:

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Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

Trust as its work pushed outside the borders of the Little Tennessee River’s watershed and expanded beyond land conservation deals to include environmental education too.

When the land trust first formed, not a single piece of land along the Little Tennessee’s main stem had been conserved.

Now, three-quarters of it is protected. The organization’s staff has grown from three to

Smith (far right) leads a tour of a Mainspring property in Graham County. Mainspring photo

Mainspring’s story begins new chapter Taylor retires; Smith takes the reins as director

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER haron Taylor was in her mid-30s when she left her office gig to return to school, hoping to pursue a career that would allow her to spend more time outdoors and less time handling fluorescent-lit paperwork.

After graduating from Western Carolina University with a degree in natural resources management, Taylor found a job at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in Macon County, where she worked as a research technician and enjoyed the full menu of retirement and health benefits to which she was entitled as an employee of the University of Georgia. Things were going well, and if she gave UGA the next 20 years, they’d give her a comfortable retirement.

So, when Paul Carlson asked her to come on board at his new nonprofit organization, Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, the answer seemed like an obvious no.

But Carlson did his best to persuade her with a simple appeal: “Come help me save the Needmore.” The tract straddled the SwainMacon county line, and there was nothing protecting its incredible beauty and biodiversity from the accelerating development of the early 2000s. Now, more than 5,000 acres of the area are protected, including 4,800 acres that LTLT turned over to the N.C. Wildlife

S

Resources Commission to become the Needmore Game Lands.

UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS Taylor, now 63, was instrumental in those efforts. Carlson’s appeal worked.

“Everybody thought I was nuts,” said Taylor.

In 2001 she became just the third employee at the four-year-old homegrown nonprofit.

LTLT was founded in 1997 after two years of informal meetings discussing the rapid pace of development in Western North Carolina, and the threats it posed to the region’s mountains, streams and farmlands.

“It was a big leap and it was scary, but I haven’t ever regretted a day,” said Taylor. “I don’t think Paul nor I could have imagined the success this organization would have.”

Carlson retired in 2014, and Taylor, then deputy director of the organization, took over the reins as executive director in 2015. She promised the nonprofit two or three more years of work before looking at retirement herself, but she ended up staying for five.

Taylor left on Feb. 29 after 19 years with the organization. It’s been a more rewarding season than she could have dreamed.

“I would have never imagined we would have grown to this size, but I also never would have imagined that we’d have conserved as much as we’ve conserved,” she said.

Taylor’s tenure included renaming the organization as Mainspring Conservation

utive director.

When Taylor announced her impending retirement last July, Mainspring’s board decided to do a national search for her successor. The seven-member search committee interviewed several people from several places across the country, said Taylor. It just so happened that the right person was already working in the Franklin office.

“I just believe so strongly in what we do, it was almost a “I love this place and I love what sense of responsibility,” Smith said of his decision to apply. “It we do, and I believe in our mission. felt like something I was meant to do. I wanted to pick up the It’s an honor to be able to follow in ball and move things forward Sharon’s footsteps.” when Sharon decided to move on.”

— Jordan Smith Smith, like Taylor, is a homegrown product of the 11, and its number of offices has tripled from mountain region. Now 36, he lived in the one to three. Overall, Mainspring has either Caney Fork community of Jackson County directly conserved or partnered to conserve until sixth grade. When his parents divorced, more than 28,000 acres — and counting. they moved to Swain County, and he split his Storytelling was key to that success, said time between his mom’s house in Lower Taylor.

Alarka and his dad’s place in the Galbreath “We learned early on that it’s all about Creek Community. Like many young adults, telling your story, and we did that with beautiSmith left his hometown for college and ful photographs and beautiful words,” she said. career, earning a wildlife management degree “With children and dogs and cats it’s so much from Auburn University. He landed work as easier, because you can tell those heart-wrench- the hunting lease manager and recreational ing stories. With land, those spot-finned chubs properties coordinator for the Westervelt are not that endearing to anyone.”

Company in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and then Crafting a compelling story and broadcast- took a position as field supervisor for Brosnan ing it to the world is therefore the key hurdle, Forest, the 16,000-acre working forest owned and it’s one that Mainspring cleared well

by Norfolk Southern Corporation in South enough to raise the Little Tennessee waterCarolina. But he missed the mountains, and shed to an issue of national significance. eventually he and his wife decided to they Over the years, Mainspring’s land conserwanted to raise their two daughters back in vation accomplishments have been many. It’s Western North Carolina. Now they’re back at responsible for protecting the 70-acre Galbreath Creek.

Tessentee Bottomland Preserve in Macon His wife found a job first. During one of County, the 53-acre Chunky Gal Tract in Clay their scouting trips up to North Carolina, County and the 50-acre Bo Cove Tract in Smith interviewed for a state job that he Jackson County. There’s Sylva’s 1,088-acre ended up not getting. But the interview itself Pinnacle Park as well as the 912 acres of opened the door to his offer from Mainspring. adjoining land it recently helped conserve “One of the people that interviewed with other partners. Land conservation projJordan in Raleigh sent this email out to all the ects have taken place at Panthertown Valley, land trusts in this part of the state and said, ‘I the Blue Ridge Parkway and at family farms can’t hire this person, but if anyone has a job sprinkled across the region. There’s a lot to be you should look at him,’” said Taylor. proud of, but when asked her biggest accomShe gave Smith a call, which just so happlishment over the past 19 years, Taylor didn’t pened to come the day before he was preparname any of the above. ing to head back to South Carolina. Within “I am so sincere in this,” she said. “The two hours, he was at her office for an interbiggest accomplishment is building this view and hired pretty much on the spot. smart, young staff that’s going to carry this It was a dream job, but still — he was givmission forward.” ing up a position in his field that came with excellent pay and excellent benefits that would allow him to look seriously into retireNEW LEADER ment by his late 40s or early 50s.

“At the same time, it wasn’t a hard deciTaylor hired most of the people currently sion,” said Smith. on staff at Mainspring, and one of those hires He was drawn to the organization, and to is Jordan Smith, who came on in 2016 as land the work that it does. His colleagues share conservation manager. Like Taylor, he left a well-paying job with stable prospects and ben- that passion, he said. That’s why Mainspring has been so successful and why its staff has efits to come work for Mainspring and, also remained so stable over time. like Taylor, he hasn’t regretted it since.

Smith is excited for what the Especially after the board of directors chose him earlier this year to succeed Taylor as exec- coming years will bring, but he

A

Play pickleball outdoors

Pickleball lessons are now offered Mondays and Wednesdays at the Waynesville Recreation Center.

Lessons are 9 a.m. to noon every Monday and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. every other Wednesday and are geared toward new and novice players.

Class size is limited, with signup sheets available at the Old Armory and Rec Center. Free for rec center members or $20 for 10 play days. Donald Hummel, 828.456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

Pickleballers try out their new skills. Donated photo

Jackson County TDA photo Logo courtesy of SCC Graphic Design Students.

All proceeds benefit the Jackson County Humane Society.

Visit us on Facebook or email barwatt@hotmail.com for more info

facebook.com/smnews Jordan Smith, formerly land conservation manager for Mainspring Conservation Trust, is now its executive director following Sharon Taylor’s retirement. Mainspring photo

In general, Smith wants to keep Mainspring on the same successful path it’s currently walking. But down the road, he said, the land trust will eventually need to shift direction.

“As we continue to conserve land and protect lands that are worthy, our needs on the land conservation side of things are going to start to go down,” he said. “But on the flip side of that are the stewardship responsibilities, because it’s a huge burden and liability for this organization to take on conservation easements every year. On each one of those we have to monitor in perpetuity to make sure the terms of that easement are being honored.”

The risk of those terms being violated

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Smoky Mountain News

THE ROAD AHEAD

increases as time goes on and land changes hands. The new owners might not be fully aware of the easement’s existence, or of its seriousness and enforceability. In the future, Mainspring might find itself spending less time and money on conserving new properties than on protecting ones that are already conserved.

To that end, the organization has already put some effort toward planning its land acquisition strategy in the years ahead, spending the past two years working on a new conservation planning tool. The tool compiles more than 90 sets of data to look at Mainspring’s 1.8-million-acre service area and determine where Mainspring should direct its focus.

“We appreciate that there’s a place for development in our region,” said Smith.

“That’s the only way our region is going to grow and thrive. It’s just a tool for us to decide what is the ‘best of the rest’ and where do we need to focus our work. Where is development maybe not the best idea?”

Smith also foresees challenges due to climate change, regulation rollbacks and increased local populations impacting Mainspring’s work in the years ahead.

Still, he’s optimistic about the future and enthusiastic about his new role in helping to shape it locally.

“I’m super excited about it,” he said. “I love this place and I love what we do, and I believe in our mission. It’s an honor to be able to follow in Sharon’s footsteps.”

March 11-17, 2020

knows there will be challenges as well.

Fundraising is always a big one — with 11 people on the payroll, it’s a constant effort to cover operations while also bringing in the money needed to fund the mission.

Private funds and fundraising cover about three-quarters of Mainspring’s salary costs.

To secure the future, an endowment fund newly established in Taylor’s honor seeks to ensure that someday there will be enough automatic revenue to cover those overhead costs so that that fundraising efforts can focus more directly on conservation needs. But there’s still a long way to go until that’s a reality.

49 Spicewood Dr Suite 10B • Clyde 35

outdoors

Ozone forecasts now available The 2020 ozone season is underway as of March 1, and for the first time the daily air quality forecasts from the N.C. Division of Air Quality will include ozone forecasts for nearly every county in the state.

The county-based forecasting replaces the previous system of regional forecasting, providing users up-to-date and localized forecasts for 91 North Carolina counties and two Ridge Top zones, including the next day’s forecast.

The new process will continue monitoring and forecasting ozone and particulate matter via the air quality index. Nextday and extended products are issued by 3 p.m. with a morning update by 10 a.m., and the forecast is automatically saved every 15 minutes.

The ozone season extends through Oct. 31. Ozone forms when nitrogen

oxides react with hydrocarbons on warm, sunny days with little wind. Find the forecast at xapps.ncdenr.org/aq/forecastcenterenvista.

Regenerate the planet Learn about the benefits of soil regenerations during a program at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, March 18, at FROG Quarters in Franklin.

Faye and Allan Streiff will present on a topic contained in their soon-to-be-published book Soil Regeneration — Healing the Planet to Heal our Bodies. Faye is a naturopath, herbalist, writer and farmer, while Allan is a soil scientist, international ag consultant and farmer. Even those who don’t garden will find valuable information about healthy choices and ways to green the planet.

The program is presented as part of Friends of the Greenway’s Naturally Green Initiative program series. FROG Quarters is located at 573 East Main Street.

Critters of Coweeta

Smoky Mountain News

March 11-17, 2020

Explore the history of wildlife research at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in Franklin with a presentation at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 16, at Cowee School in Macon County.

Jason Love, who worked as site manager for the Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research program for nearly 11 years, will deliver his presentation “Critters of Coweeta” as part of the lecture series “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture.” Coweeta is famous for its research on forest hydrology, forest ecology and stream ecology but also boasts an impressive number of wildlife studies. “Where We Live” programs are free and held on the third Monday of each month.

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Lecture series to explore impact of nature connectedness dimensions of nature connectedness. n Monday, March 16. “Connection to Nature: What it is and Why it Matters” will highlight the different ways in which “connectedness to nature” has been articulated in environmental philosophy and social science, and discuss Christian Diehm. how connection to the natural Donated photo world is an important factor in how people behave toward it. n Tuesday, March 17.

“Outdoor Experience, Connection to Nature and Environmental Advocacy” will examine the importance of outdoor experiences to pro-environmental attitudes and outlooks. n Thursday, March 19. “Loving More than Human Life” will look at claims that people need nature for recreational, aesthetic and psychological reasons as well as material ones, also examining how love of nature has influenced fields from environmental education to urban planning.

All lectures will take place from 5 to 6:30 These lectures are part of the WCU Jerry p.m. in the theater of the A.K. Hinds Jackson Lecture in the Humanities series University Center, presented by Christian and sponsored by the Campus Theme comDiehm, professor of philosophy and environmittee. John F. Whitmire, associate profesmental ethics at the University of Wisconsinsor of philosophy and religion, Stevens Point. Deihm will draw on philoso828.227.7262 or jwhitmire@wcu.edu. phy and social science to analyze multiple Western Carolina University’s theme this year is sustainability and the environment, and a series of three lectures this month will explore various facets of this theme.

Insurance available for hemp farmers Two programs are available to protect hemp producers’ crops from natural disaster, and the deadline to sign up is March 16.

A pilot hemp insurance program through the Multi-Peril Crop Insurance provides coverage against loss of yield due to insurable causes of loss for hemp grown for fiber, grain or CBD. The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program protects against losses associated with lower yields, destroyed crops or prevented planting where no permanent federal insurance program is available.

To be eligible, growers must have a license to grow hemp and comply with applicable state, tribal or federal regulations, or operate under a state or university research pilot as authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.

Contact the local Farm Service Agency office to apply for coverage.

National forest burns planned Prescribed burns are planned for the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest over the coming months, aiming to create healthier, more diverse and more resilient forests that better support wildlife.

Burn areas in the Nantahala Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest are:

• Deweese Ridge, 840 acres near Burningtown • Bull Pen, 722 acres near Horse Cove • Fire Gap, 1751 acres near Nantahala • Split Whiteoak, 1,025 acres near Nantahala • Hickory Branch, 1,107 acres near Nantahala • Yellowhammer, 220 acres near Nantahala • Buzzard Knob, 695 acres near Rainbow Springs

• Kimsey Bald, 8 acres near Rainbow Springs • Panther Knob, 3,000 acres near Rainbow Springs • Wolf Knob, 574 acres near Alarka Laurel • Awl Knob, 243 acres near Little Canada • Sugar Creek, 255 acres near Little Canada • Big Green, 497 acres in Panthertown • Locust Gap, 255 acres near Wayehutta • State Line, 1,700 acres near Whitewater Falls Burn areas in the Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest are:

• Dodson’s Knob, 2,450 acres north of Lake James • Clinchfield, 200 acres near North Cove • Big Lost Bear, 4,725 acres near Old Fort Burn dates and number of units burned will depend on weather conditions. Prescribed burning will only occur when environmental conditions related to wind and relative humidity permit.

outdoors

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37

outdoors

Congratulations to NAI Beverly-H Hanks’

Red-breasted grosbeak.

Larry Thompson photo

BILL LY Y CASE

Awarded Aw

CCIM Designatiion

Certified Commercial Investment Member The CCIM designation is awarded to commercial real estate professionals upon successful completion of a graduate-level education curriculum annd presentation of a portfolio of qualifying experience. CCIMs are recognized experts in commercial real estate brokerage, leasing, asset management, valuation, and invesstment analysis.

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Let Us Sell Your House

Become a bird photographer A seasoned bird photographer will offer up his tips on getting top-quality photos during a program offered 2 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, March 14, at the Cullowhee United Methodist Church.

Larry Thompson was executive director of the N.C. Wildlife Federation and spent 23 years as the National Audubon Society’s Southeast Regional Vice President. He will discuss his techniques for photographing

wild birds using some very basic methods for setting up an aesthetically pleasing shooting environment at home.

The presentation is offered as part of the Sylva Photo Club’s regular meeting.

Following Thompson’s presentation, members will share their photos depicting winter and wild critters. Meetings are free for first-time guests of members, and for nonmembers the cost is $5.

March 11-17, 2020

Container gardening program offered Get the scoop on container gardening with a presentation offered 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, March 19, at the Waynesville Public Library.

Master Gardener Volunteer Jim Janke will teach best practices for growing annuals and vegetables in containers. The program will cover container design, materials, planting media, plant selection and spacing.

No registration required. Refreshments provided by Friends of the Library.

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Puzzles can be found on page 46 These are only the answers.

ID trees sans leaves Get acquainted with winter trees and how to identify them during a workshop noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at the Balsam Mountain Trust in Jackson County.

The adventure will include a walk on the trail to the Boarding House from the Nature Center to look at telltale signs on individual trees. It’s free, with donations appreciated and registration required by March 19 with Michael Skinner, mskinner@bmtrust.org or 828.631.1062.

Buzz about bees Get to know native bees a little better during a nature program 1 to 2 p.m.

Tuesday, March 17, at the Highlands Nature

Bees enjoy a flowery meal.

Cookie Patterson photo

Center in Highlands.

With a short introduction and a walk around campus, participants will find out which “weeds” are actually perfect for pollinators and discover some tricks for being bee-friendly. The event is free, but weatherdependent. 828.526.2623.

Weekly closure proposed at Panther Top The Nantahala National Forest is accepting public comment on a proposal to close the Panther Top Shooting Range in the Tusquitee Ranger District every Thursday from sunrise to noon, beginning April 1.

The closure will allow the U.S. Forest Service to perform critical maintenance while working in a safe environment. Activities will include building new target stands, collecting trash, maintaining the grounds and repairing structures and fixtures.

A 30-day comment period on the proposed weekly closure began Feb. 20. Send comments to sm.fs.r8nctuscom@usda.gov.

A proposal seeking to close Cades Cove to vehicles for a full day each week, May through September, is open for public comment through Friday, March 27.

For more than 40 years, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has offered several vehicle-free opportunities for cyclists and pedestrians in Cades Cove, with the road currently closed on Wednesday and Saturday mornings until 10 a.m. May through September. Growing use and congestion has prompted the park to propose a pilot study for the 2020 season, evaluating changing the vehicle-free period to a weekly, full-day closure on Wednesdays during the season while eliminating the Saturday morning option.

Over the last 25 years, use during the vehicle-free time periods has continued to increase with up to 1,100 people per day cycling or walking along the roadway during the threehour closure. This increase use has resulted in congestion, lack of parking and disruption to campground and picnic area operations. During the morning closures, parking for cyclists and pedestrians has resulted in blocked access to recreation and concession amenities. As a result, traffic leading toward the Cades Cove area is often gridlocked by a line of motorists waiting for Loop Road to open at 10 a.m.

Closing the roadway for the entire day would give cyclists and pedestrians more than 12 hours of daylight to use Loop Road without vehicles. Spreading use throughout the day should improve parking opportunities with fewer impacts to campground, picnic area and concession operations.

Eliminating the Saturday morning closure would give motorists more access to Cades Cove during what is traditionally the busiest travel day of the week. Park staff

Wildlife Commission adopts rule changes

intact, it must be skinned and dismembered before registration. n Cervid Excretions. No person may possess or use any substance that contains excretion from a cervid to hunt or scout a kill, but the prohibition does not apply to natural substances collected by an individual from non-farmed cervids legally taken in North Carolina, or to synthetic products. n Pee Dee River Game Land. Pursuing deer or bear with dogs for training or hunting purposes is prohibited on the game land south of U.S. 74. n Veterans/Military Waterfowl Days. On designated days, veterans and active military members may hunt on game lands and impoundments not designated as permitonly areas from a half-hour before sunrise until sunset.

View the full text of proposed regulations at http://bit.ly/2VPLnUt.

Prepare for turkey season A turkey hunting seminar will be offered 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, at the Mountain Horticulture Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River.

Topics will include biology, hunting methods, calls and decoys, firearms and ammo selection, camouflage clothing and brief overview of meat processing and cooking. A Q&A session will conclude the evening.

The seminar is free and one of 11 scheduled across the state this month, presented by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the National Wild Turkey Federation. Pre-registration is required at www.ncwildlife.org/sbs, and parental permission is required for participants 16 and younger.

A youth-only turkey hunting week will be offered April 4-10, with the statewide season for male or bearded turkey only is April 11 through May 9.

and volunteers would also be better able to support visitor operations rather than devoting all personnel to traffic management and parking.

The action is proposed as a temporary change, with park managers assessing its effectiveness at the end of the 2020 season.

To comment, follow the link titled “Cades Cove Vehicle-Free Days” at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/grsm or by mailing comments to Superintendent, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738.

March 11-17, 2020 Smoky Mountain News

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission voted last month to adopt all 44 rule changes for wildlife management, fisheries, game lands and law enforcements presented at public hearings in January, though several rules were modified before adoption.

Rules that were amended prior to adoption were: n Big game harvest reporting. Big game harvested in remote areas must be registered by noon the day after leaving the remote area. Big game harvested in such areas may be placed in the possession of another person, as long as that person has the hunter’s name and harvest date on their person. If the carcass can’t be transported

Cyclists take a break during an earlymorning ride in Cades Cove. NPS photo

Seven open houses are planned throughout the region in the coming weeks to give members of the public a chance to chat with U.S. Forest Service planning team members about what’s in the 2,500 pages of materials drafting management of the PisgahNantahala National Forest in the decades ahead, the first of which will be held March 10 in Morganton.

Meetings will be held 5:30 to 8 p.m., with an overview of the plan presented at 6 p.m. and the rest of the meeting dedicated to offering the chance for attendees to talk oneon-one with resource specialists. Meetings will be held: • Tuesday, March 10, at the Foothills Conference Center in Morganton.

• Thursday, March 12, at the N.C. Arboretum Education Center in Asheville.

• Monday, March 16, at the Rogow Family Community Room in the Brevard Library in Brevard.

• Thursday, March 19, at the Brasstown Community Center in Brasstown.

• Tuesday, March 24, at the First Presbyterian Church’s Tartan Hall in Franklin.

• Thursday, March 26, at the Bentley Fellowship Hall in Mars Hill.

• Tuesday, March 31, at the Four Square Community Action Center in Robbinsville.

The complete proposed plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement, as well as supplementary material including an interactive map of the forest and proposed management areas, is available at bit.ly/forestplanwnc. The site also includes information on how to submit comments. The deadline is May 14.

outdoors

Park proposes changes to Cades Cove vehicle-free periods

Forest plan meetings scheduled

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WNC Calendar

Smoky Mountain News

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • A week of activities is scheduled for March 21-27 celebrating the installation of Kelli R. Brown as chancellor of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. Installation ceremony is at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 27, in the Ramsey Regional Activity Center in Cullowhee. Full schedule of activities: installation.wcu.edu.

• The Evergreen Foundation will host information sessions in each of the seven western counties for nonprofit organizations and agencies on March 25-26 at the following times and locations: 10 a.m. on March 25 at Moss Library in Hayesville; 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, at Cherokee Public Library in Murphy; 1:30 p.m. on March 25 at Graham County Library in Robbinsville; 9 a.m. on March 26 at Haywood County Public Library in Waynesville; 10:30 a.m. on March 26 at Macon County Public Library in Franklin; 12:30 p.m. on March 26 at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City; 2 p.m. on March 26 at Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Info and registration: dcoleman@evergreennc.org or 421.7483.

• Tax-Aide volunteers will be available to assist with federal and state income tax preparation and filing through April 14 at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Service is provided by appointment from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays. Appointments: 524.3600 or visit the library at 149 Siler Road.

• Volunteers are available to assist with federal and state income tax preparation and filing through April 14 at two locations in Jackson County. Assistance is provided on a first-come, first-serve basis from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays at the Department on Aging in Sylva. The same service is also provided by appointment from 2:30-6:45 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Appointments: 586.2016.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • The Nantahala Outdoor Center will hold a job fair from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, in Swain County. Register in advance: www.noc/com/events/work-hard-play-hard-job-fair. Job opportunities listed at: www.noccareers.com.

n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com includes light breakfast and lunch. Info: jrweiler@email.wcu.edu. Info about registration: https://tinyurl.com/ugdbm6c OR 227.7397.

• Registration is underway for a seminar entitled “How to Write a Business Plan,” which will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, in Clyde.

Info and Registration: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512.

• Registration is underway for “Marketing Your Business,” a seminar that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:308:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, in Clyde. Info and Registration: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512.

• Registration is underway for a “Website Construction 101: Learn the Basics of Coding” workshop that will be offered by Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment department from 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. on Friday, Friday, April 3, for those who want a next-level course. Registration fee: $139. For info and to register: pdp.wcu.edu and click on “Forprofit and Nonprofit Professional Development Workshops” or 227.7397.

• Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment is accepting registration for a two-part, Six Sigma Whitebelt training that will be offered from 9 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays, April 7 and 14, at WCU Biltmore Park in Asheville. Topics include team dynamics in Lean Six Sigma projects, tenets of effective project charters, valid measuring systems and more.

Registration fee: $249 before March 7 or $279 after. For info or to register: pdp.wcu.edu or 227.7397.

• Registration is underway for “How to Find Your Customers,” a seminar that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:308:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14, in Clyde. Info and Registration: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512.

• The Smoky Mountain Model Railroad Club will host an open house included from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 15, at 13 Caboose Way (off Panther Creek Road) in Clyde. Come see one of the largest operating O-gauge model train layouts in the area and talk trains with the conductor. Suggested donation of $6 for admission.

• Submissions are being accepted for Southwestern Community College’s Cultural Fusion art/literature contest, which will be featured during the Cultural Fusion Festival on Wednesday, April 15, on the college’s Jackson Campus. Submissions accepted through April 1 in “Artwork or Photography” or “Literature (poetry, short stories, prose).” Info: 339.4325, tknott@southwesterncc.edu or SouthwesternCC.edu.

• Registration is underway for a two-part workshop entitled “The Tenets of Project Management” that will be offered by Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment from 9 a.m.-noon on consecutive Tuesdays, March 17-24, at WCU Biltmore Park in Asheville. $279. For info or to register: pdp.wcu.edu or 227.7397.

• Registration is underway for “Basics of Bookkeeping,” a seminar that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, in Clyde. Info and Registration: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512.

• Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment is accepting registrations for a workshop entitled “Understanding the Unique Culture of Military Applicants” that will be held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, at WCU Biltmore Park in Asheville. Cost $89; includes a networking lunch. For info or to register: pdp.wcu.edu and click on: “For-profit and Nonprofit Professional Development Workshops” or call 227.7397.

• Registration is underway for “The School Leadership for Equity Summit” that will be offered from 8:30 a.m.4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20, at the Crest Center in Asheville. Theme is “What is Equity?” Hear from regional, state and national educational leaders about how they are building equitable and socially just classrooms, schools and districts. Registration fee: $85;

• Registration is underway for “Your Small Business Taxes,” a seminar that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 9-11 a.m. on Thursday, April 21, in Clyde. Info and Registration: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512.

• Registration is underway for several session of a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician program through Landmark Learning. Upcoming sessions include May 23-June 19, July 11-Aug. 7 and Oct. 3-30. www.landmarklearning.org.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • Bowl for Kids’ Sake is set for March 14 for Swain and Haywood County, respectively. Fundraiser for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Western North Carolina. Times, places, registrations and more: bbbswnc.org.

• Matt Stillwell will perform at a benefit concert for Shop with a Cop at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Other performers include Limited Distance, The Hackers, Michaella Hedden, Brent Ledford, Chelsi Reynolds and more. Tickets: $15 at the door (cash or check).

• Tickets are on sale for the inaugural Great Smokies Eco Adventure, a multifaceted fundraising event for Discover Life in America set for April 19-21 near Gatlinburg, Tenn. Includes glamping at A Walk in the Woods’ luxurious off-grid camp near Cosby, gourmet food and drink, guided nature hikes and live music.

Cost: $1,500. Proceeds support DLiA, which coordinates the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in the park. Tickets: www.dlia.org.

VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS • There is an open call currently underway for artisans, vendors and environmentally-themed booths at the 23rd annual Greening Up the Mountains, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, in downtown Sylva. Applications can be downloaded at www.greeningupthemountains.com and will be accepted through March 15. greeningupthemountains@gmail.com.

• The historic Shelton House in Waynesville is currently in need of volunteers for an array of upcoming events. Alongside help for events and gatherings, the organization is also seeking a docent, gift shop attendee, data entry person, landscaper, handyperson, and other positions. Upcoming main events include the Blue Ridge Heritage Festival June 19-21, Shelton House Halloween “Haunting on the Hill” Oct. 27-31 and Shelton House “Tinsel Trail & Appalachian Christmas.” www.sheltonhouse.org or 452.1551.

• Haywood Vocational Opportunities is seeking donations of goods, services, time and support for the second annual “HVO Stans Up to PTSD Veteran Community Resource, Education and Job Fair,” which will be held on June 27. 454.6857.

HEALTH MATTERS • Suicide Prevention Awareness Training will be presented from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, at the Waynesville Library. Covers risk factors and the “S.A.V.E.” model: Signs of suicide, Asking about suicide, Validating feelings, Encouraging help and Expediting treatment. Registration required: Kathleen.olsen@haywoodcountync.gov or 356.2507.

• Kula Wellness will present experts in the field of health and wellness to discuss their upcoming workshops and classes from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, in Brasstown. www.Kula.Love or @KulaWellnessCenter on Facebook.

• Registration is underway for the Diabetes Preventaion Program that will be offered starting March 17 at Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency.

Lifestyle change program dedicated to preventing type 2 diabetes through a series of 24 one-hour group classes. Classes are held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Info: 356.2272 or 356.2292.

• “Yoga for Back Care” will be offered from noon-1 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, at Waynesville Yoga Center.

Cost: $15. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• “Wheels of Life: Deep Dive into the Chakra System” will be offered from 2-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• “Inspiring Confidence in Yoga Teaching: Learn Trauma-Informed Adjustments” will be offered from 2-

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: n n n n

Complete listings of local music scene Regional festivals Art gallery events and openings Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers n Civic and social club gatherings 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 22, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Waynesville Yoga Center will offer “Everyday Inner Ease within the Whirlwind of Life: Yoga for Trauma and Anxiety” from noon-1 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, in Waynesville. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Waynesville Yoga Center will offer “Yoga for Hip Health” from 1:30-2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, in Waynesville. Register: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

RECREATION AND FITNESS • The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department is offering Pickleball lessons from 9 a.m.-noon on Mondays and from 9-11 a.m. on every other Wednesday at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Free for members or $20 for 10 play days. Info: 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

• ZUMBA is offered at First United Methodist in Waynesville in the Youth Room on Thursdays at 6 p.m. with Patti Burke. Check Facebook page Patti Burke Zumba Students for additional information such as holiday or weather related cancelations. $5 per class. https://pattiburke.zumba.com • ZUMBA is offered at Dance Tonight Haywood Studio, 62 ½ Main Street in Canton on Saturdays, at 10 a.m. with Patti Burke. Check Facebook page Patti Burke Zumba Students for additional information such as holiday or weather related cancelations. $5 per class.

• Sylva Yoga is offering Intro to Belly Dancing at 6:15 p.m. and Belly Dance Skills & Choreography at 7:15 p.m. on Fridays in Sylva.

• Registration is underway for “The Artist’s Way” – a three-hour paddle trip on the Cullasaja ending below Currahee Brewing. Trip is set for April 23. Cost: $58 to rent a kayak or $35 if you bring your own. Register and get more info: www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcomingevents.

• Tai Chi for Veterans will be offered at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, in the Macon County Public Library’s Meeting Room in Franklin.

• Sylva Yoga is offering a Mountains Songs for Soul Workshop from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, in Sylva.

POLITICAL • Miriam Chu, Vice Chair of the N.C. Republican Party, will be the featured guest speaker at a special event at noon on March 14 at the Jackson County Republican Party Headquarters, 52 Front Street in Dillsboro. Theme is: “Centennial of the 19th Amendment – Celebrating the Women’s Vote.” 371.8247 or visit the group’s Facebook page.

• The Democratic Women of Macon County will host their annual Potato Supper from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, at the Carpenter Community Building in Franklin. Tickets: $10 for adults; $5 for children.

Advance tickets: 678.357.7718.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • “Pints, Poems & Prose” will be held at 7 p.m.

Thursday, March 12, at Nantahala Brewing’s Outpost taproom in Sylva. Sponsored by the NC Writers’ Network. Free and open to the public.

• Lee Lyons will present her latest novel Southern Shamrock at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. To reserve copies of Southern Shamrock, please call City Lights Bookstore at 586.9499.

• Haywood Community College’s Library will hold a Book Sale from March 23-27 in Clyde. Sale hours are 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday. Info: 627.4551 or wrkinyon@haywood.edu.

• City Lights Bookstore will host an event Saturday, March 28 for Brannen Basham, Sylva Herald weekly nature writer and contributor to Smoky Mountain Living magazine, release of her book “A Guide to the Wonderful World Around Us: Notes on Nature”. The event will feature a reading, native bee talk and Q&A at 3 p.m. www.sprigglys.com

SENIOR ACTIVITIES

• Storytime for children is held from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Mondays at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Info: 488.3030, ext. 130.

• “Nature Nuts: Skunks” program will be offered for ages 4-7 from 9-11 a.m. on March 16 and 25 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard.

Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• “Eco Explorers: Compass” program will be offered for ages 8-13 from 1-3 p.m. on March 16 and 25 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard.

Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• Jackson County Public Schools will hold the annual Kick-Off to Kindergarten from 1-6 p.m. on Monday, March 23, at the Sylva Comfort Inn. ldills@jcpsmail.org or 586.2311, ext. 1950. Children who turn five before Aug. 31 are eligible to enroll in Kindergarten this fall.

• Registration is now open for the spring/summer PGA Jr. League team for players age 13 and younger of all skill levels. Team captain is Charlie Carswell, PGA golf professional. Deadline is April 30. Fee: $190 per player, includes practice sessions, matches, home and away jerseys, bag tag and more. Register: www.pgajrleague.com/sign-up. Info: 456.5777 or ctcarswell@lakejunaluska.com.

• Kid Create: An art and music experience for kindergarten-fourth grade students is offered from 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at First Baptist Church in Waynesville. Fbcwaynesville.org/after-school/kidcreate.

• The Mexican Train Dominoes Group seeks new players to join games at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• The STEAM Club meets at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. STEAM is Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math. Info: 488.3030, ext. 130.

• Book Club is held at 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800

• Homeschoolers get special rates at Cataloochee Ski Area by presenting their homeschool credentials on Tuesdays at the ticket center. Rates are $25 for lift tickets and $50 for lift, lesson and rental. Lift and rental ticket is $35. Rates apply only to skiing from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

• A Hand & Foot card game is held at 1 p.m. on Thursdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• Senior Sale Day is on the third Friday of every month at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore. Patrons 60 and older get 20 percent off all purchases.

Proceeds benefit the Sylva Library.

• Mah Jongg is played at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• A Canasta card game is set for 1 p.m. on Mondays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• A Parkinson’s Support Group is held at 2 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

KIDS & FAMILIES • The Kathryn Byer Memorial Poetry Contest contest celebrates our mountains and our connection to them in our everyday lives. It is open to all Jackson County students, K-12. The poets are divided into three cate-

KIDS FILMS • “Onward” is showing through March 19 at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville Plaza. Visit www.fandango.com or smokymountaincinema.com for showtimes, pricing & tickets. Info on Facebook or 246.0588.

• “I Still Believe” is showing through March 19 at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville Plaza. Visit www.fandango.com or smokymountaincinema.com for showtimes, pricing & tickets. Info on Facebook or 246.0588.

A&E

• The Galleries of Haywood County will offer “Luck of the Arts” from noon-4 p.m. on March 14 on Main Street in Waynesville. Find and meet Waynesville’s Lebrechaun and his lady to collect a green necklace; 50/50 drawing will be held at 4 p.m. www.HaywoodArts.org/GalleriesHC.

• The Cold Mountain Music Festival is proud to announce the lineup for its 4th annual event happening June 5-6 at the picturesque Lake Logan Conference Center in Canton. Weekend passes are on sale now on the Cold Mountain Music website. General admission passes are available for $75, and youth passes for

those aged 12-17 can be purchased for $40 apiece.

Overnight camping spots and catered breakfast meal tickets are also available for $75 (per site) and $12$15 (per person), respectively. Group discounts may be applied for parties of 15 or more. Enter the code “DioWNC” at checkout to purchase each pass (minimum 15) for $60 each. www.coldmountainmusic.org.

FOOD & DRINK • Pottery & Pints: Free Play” class held by Viva Arts Studios from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 12, at the Innovation Station in Dillsboro. Mold, sculpt and create anything you want. Cost is $30 per person. For more information and/or to register for the workshop, go to Facebook, search “Viva Arts Studio” and click on the “Events” tab for the ticket link. www.vivaartsschool.com or 506.6067.

• Irish Beer Tasting will be offered from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, March 13, at Bryson City Wine Market. at 1161 Main St. in Bryson City. Cost: $10. Info: bcwinemarket@gmail.com or 538.0420. Must be 21.

• Bryson City Wine Market will host its “Spring Sip-nSocial” from 4-7 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, at 1161 Main St. in Bryson City. Cost: $10. Info: bcwinemarket@gmail.com or 538.0420. Must be 21.

• A Wine and Pizza Party will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, at Bryson City Wine Market. at 1161 Main St. in Bryson City. Cost: $30 ($5 discount if you RSVP in advance). Info: bcwinemarket@gmail.com or 538.0420. Must be 21.

• A program entitled “Chefs in the House Dinner with Bill Smith and Justin Burdett of Crooks Corner” is set for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, at Half Mile Farm, 214 Half Mile Dr., in Highlands. Cocktails are set for 6:30 p.m.; dinner at 7:15 p.m. Cost: $155 per person, plus tax and gratuity. https://tinyurl.com/qkrgb3n.

• Wednesdays are family days at Cataloochee Ski Area with children 17-under receiving a free lift ticket when accompanied by a parent purchasing a full-price adult lift ticket. Regular rental and lesson rates apply.

Only on non-holiday Wednesdays.

• The Sylva Art + Design Committee is pleased to announce a unique pop-up gallery event that will feature the artistic creations of children ages 5-18 in the Western North Carolina region. “Nature Through A Child’s Eye” will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4, at Viva Arts Studio in downtown Sylva. If you have a child that you think may want to be a participant ages of 5-18 apply by emailing sylvaartdesign@gmail.com or vivaartsstudio@gmail.com.

Facebook at www.facebook.com/sylvapublicart or on Instagram @sylvaarts. All submissions will be available for purchase and can be picked up after the completion of the exhibition. All money raised will be equally distributed between SADC and the Sylva Community Garden in order to further the betterment of the community through arts, education, and environmental awareness.

• Registration is underway for the Challenger International Soccer Camp, which will be offered to

Smoky Mountain News

• Pinochle game is played at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

ages 3-14 from July 20-24 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Costs vary based on age group from $90-197. Separate goalkeeper and scorer program is $25 for ages 6-14 from 9-11 a.m. on Saturday. Register: challengersports.com. Info: 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

March 11-17, 2020

• The “Senior Follies” will return to Macon County.

This event is part of the SilverARTS division of the N.C. Senior Games. In partnership with the Macon County Senior Games, the Arts Council will be producing the 2020 “Senior Follies” show. The games will be held April 27 through May 16. Anyone age 50 and over who resides in Macon County for at least three months a year can participate. Performing artists may compete in the following categories/disciplines: Comedy/Drama, Dance/Line Dance, Instrumental, or Vocal Music. peekaboomom@gmail.com.

gories: K-4th grade, 5th-8th grade, and 9-12th. Three winners, in addition to Honorable Mentions, will be chosen in each category. Poems should be no longer than 40 lines, but can be much shorter, of course.

Poems should be submitted to City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, either in person, mail or by email to more@citylightsnc.com by April 10. Please include “Poetry Contest” in the subject line. The winners in each category will receive gift certificates to City Lights Bookstore and will be invited to read at Greening up the Mountains at 3 p.m. April 25 at City Lights Bookstore. Winners will be announced by April 20.

586.9499.

wnc calendar

• Macon County Republican Party’s annual convention and precinct meetings are set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 21, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Rd., in Franklin.

Silent and live auctions; refreshments. www.Macongop.com or Maconrepublicans@gmail.com.

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wnc calendar

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • The Smoky Mountain Community Theatre will present its 12th annual Celtic Concert at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 13, in Bryson City. Tickets: $10. Info: 508.6645 or 488.8227 or @smctheatre on Facebook.

• The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre winter Studio Season continues with the comedy “Slow Food” by Wendy MacLeod, which will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. March 13-14, 20-21 and 2 p.m. March 22 at the theatre in Waynesville.

456.6322 or www.harttheatre.org.

• Gold Rose will perform during the “St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” at 9 p.m. Saturday, March 14, in The Gem downstairs taproom at Boojum Brewing in Waynesville. www.facebook.com/goldrosetheband.

• The Highlands Performing Arts Center will broadcast “Live via Satellite” the MET Opera’s production of “Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)” by Wagner at 12:55 p.m. Saturday, March 14. www.highlandspac.org or www.highlandsperformingarts.com • EmiSunshine & The Rain will perform at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 14, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. The show is all ages. Tickets are $20 and can be reserved at www.38main.com or calling 283.0079.

• KIDS at HART, the youth drama program at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville, will present “Mary Poppins Jr.” at 2 p.m. March 14-15.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students.

Reservations may be made by calling the HART Theatre at.456.6322 or clicking www.harttheatre.org.

Smoky Mountain News

March 11-17, 2020

• St. Patrick's Day celebration concert with Bona Fide at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, at Mad Anthony’s Taproom & Restaurant in Waynesville. Raffle fundraiser that day to benefit Helping Hands of Haywood with the drawing after the performance at 9 p.m. Tickets are already on sale now and at the event. No need to be present to win. The concert is free and open to the public. 246.9249.

• Ol’ Dirty Bathtub will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the Community Room of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. www.facebook.com/oldirtybathtub.

• Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at Kelsey-Hutchinson Park in Highlands at the Highlands Food & Wine Festival.

Tickets are $60 per person, with VIP packages available. www.highlandsfestivals.com.

• Tickets are on sale now for the “Americana Concert” featuring Balsam Range and the Atlanta Pops Orchestra. Event is set for 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 24, at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. Early bird tickets on sale for $75 (VIP), $30 (general admission, ages 21-over) and $20 (general admission, ages 1220). After May 1, prices are $85, $40 and $25. Info: www.haywoodarts.org.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • Gamblers Anonymous meets from 1:30-2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Grace Episcopal Church, 394 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. Meet in the Community Room.

476.5054.

• The Jackson County Public Library offers e-services support from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. on Tuesdays in Sylva. For those with new devices or need help accessing library resources. Appointments: 586.2016.

• Saturday morning cooking classes will be offered from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. throughout March at McKinley Edwards Inn, 208 Arlington Ave., in Bryson City. Expertise, food and wine provided. Cost: $45 per person. Reservations required by 5 p.m. on Thursday prior to class: 488.9626.

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• James Lyle will be offering a “Sequential Art Class Series” running through May 23 at the Haywood

County Arts Council in Waynesville. In this session, the class will participate in a group exercise dealing with the process of creating a “superhero” (or any other type of character in any media, really).

Make your reservation and pre-payment today. Class fee is $20 for HCAC members or $25 for non-members. Cash and Checks made payable to James Lyle.

Please call 828.452.0593 for more information. www.haywoodarts.org.

• Cold Mountain Strutters Chapter of the NWTF will hold its annual banquet on Friday, March 13, at the Canton Armory Building. Info: 231.8864 or 421.6606.

Tickets: $80 for couples, $50 single or $20 for ages 17-under.

• The American Chinese Friendship Society of WNC is sponsoring a lecture and live demonstration of a traditional Chinese tea ceremony from 2-4 p.m. on Friday, March 13, in the Waynesville Library Auditorium. Registration required: Kathleen.olsen@haywoodcountync.gov or 356.2507.

• Western North Carolina Woodturners Club, Inc., meets at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 14, at the Bascom, 323 Franklin Rd., in Highlands.

• Helen Vance will present “Zentangles” – a Creating Community Workshop – at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 14, in the Atrium of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. create images by drawing structured patterns. 586.2016.

• An exhibition and demonstration of an O-gauge model train layout will be held from 1:30-4 p.m. on March 15 at 13 Caboose Way off Panther Creek Rd. in Clyde. $6 donation suggested. 627.3863.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • “HCC Clay in Retrospect” runs now through April 22 and is located on the second floor of the Creative Arts Building on the HCC campus. The public is invited to a closing reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, with a gallery talk beginning at 4:30 p.m. “HCC Clay in Restrospect” is an exhibition featuring the work of 20 artists from the college’s 46 years of clay programming. Mandatory coursework includes photography of finished pieces for gaining entrance into craft shows, creating a business plan, and designing and building a studio tailored to fit production needs.

627.4671 or eareason@haywood.edu.

• Jenean Hornbuckle, a landscape painter, is currently showing her works, at the Rotunda Gallery in the Sylva library. info@jacksoncountyarts.org or 507.9820.

• Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center will host an exhibit by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist José Galvez on Latino life in North Carolina in the museum’s second-floor gallery at Hunter Library. The center’s first bilingual exhibit, “Al Norte al Norte” will be on display through Friday, April 10. Admission is free. The 51 black-and-white photos are from a 10-year project to capture images of daily life of Latinos living in North Carolina, from business owners to farmers at work, multi-generations of families at home and at church, and other candid moments. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday. 227.7129.

• The Jackson County Public Library Recipe Swap’s deadline is March 17 for accepting recipes for its Spring Cookbook. 586.2016.

• Art exhibit, “Time and Again” – a glass works exhibit by Kit Paulson and SaraBeth Post – will take place through May 1 at the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center in Cullowhee. arts.wcu.edu/museum or 227-ARTS.

• “Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope” – an award-winning film about Adverse Childhood Experiences – will be shown at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, at the Beth Community Organization, 664 Sonoma Road in Waynesville. Brief discussion afterward. Info: 648.1358.

• A display featuring more than 50 pieces of art focused on generating public attention surrounding the unintended consequences of human interaction with nature will be on display through May 10 at the Baker Exhibit Center within the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. www.ncarboretum.org.

• Voices in the Laurel will hold a Bingo night at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 20, at the Haywood County Fairgrounds. Cost: $20; includes 20 games to start with. Group will perform throughout the evening. Look up the group on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

• The Museum of the Cherokee Indian has recently opened a major new exhibit, “People of the Clay: Contemporary Cherokee Potters.” It features more than 60 potters from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation, and more than one hundred works from 1900 to the present. The exhibit will run through April.

• A program entitled “Operation Fraud Prevention!” will be offered from 1-3 p.m. on Friday, March 20, in the Waynesville Library Auditorium. Join the U.S. Department of Justice/U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western North Carolina, the FBI, the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office and the AARP; learn how to protect yourself and your family from financial schemes targeting older adults.

• All women and teenage girls are invited to a presentation entitled: “Human Trafficking: In Our Shadows” scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 21, at First Baptist Church of Waynesville, 100 South Main Street. Speaker is Lt. Chris Chandler of Waynesville Police Department.

FILM & SCREEN • “Call of the Wild” will be showing through March 19 at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville Plaza. Visit www.fandango.com or smokymountaincinema.com for showtimes, pricing & tickets. Info on Facebook or 246.0588.

• “Gretel & Hansel” will be showing March 13-19 at The Strand on Main in downtown Waynesville.

38main.com.

• Alarka Expeditions will offer “The Artists Way” with James Nave from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on March 21, at Cowee Arts and Heritage Center in Franklin. Read more about Nave at www.jamesnave.com. To register: www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcoming-events.

• Alarka Expeditions will offer “Seven Miles of Silence” from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on March 26 on a stretch of the Bartram Trail. Consider what you think of and what you observe when you’re alone in the forest. To register: www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcomingevents.

• Registration is underway for the ninth annual Heritage Life Skills event offering classes in a variety of survival-related skills from May 8-10 at the Folkmoot Center in Waynesville. Bread-making, harvesting medicine plants and more. Cost: $135 or $60 for 18-under. Carolinareadiness.com.

Outdoors

• Motion Makers Women’s Group cycling rides will be offered at 6 p.m. on Mondays and 10 a.m. on Wednesdays in Asheville. Monday rides meet at Ledford Parking Lot; Wednesday rides meet at Rice Pinnacle. Rides are 6-to-8 miles. Info and to RSVP: www.facebook.com/groups/977882092306563.

• Registration is underway for the 10th annual Three River Fly Fishing Festival, which will be held April 30May 2 in Highlands. Entry: $500 after. For info, to reg-

ister or sponsor: hilary@highlandhiker.com or 526.0441.

• Landmark Learning will offer a course in Wilderness First Responder on March 14-22 in Cullowhee. Info: www.landmarklearning.org.

• Learn how to get the most out of a trip to America’s most-visited national park during a program offered from 7-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11 at REI in Asheville. Offered by Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

• Intro to Fly-Fishing will be offered to ages 12-up from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on March 13, 23 and 31 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard.

Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• The Macon County Horse Association will hold its annual Coggins Clinic from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on March 14 at the Macon County Fairgrounds. 369.3903.

• The 14th annual Winter Bird Watch is set for 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 14, at Lake Chatuge near Hayesville. Breakfast at 9:30 a.m. at Hinton Center for $10. Registration for birding portion: www.mountaintrue.org/event/winter-bird-watch.

• Larry Thompson will present “Photographing Birds at Home” at the Sylva Photo Club meeting from 2-4 p.m. on March 14 at Cullowhee United Methodist Church.

• Jason Love will speak on “The Critters of Coweeta” at 6:30 p.m. on March 16 at Cowee School, 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin. Part of the “Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture” series.

• A birding hike will be offered to ages 14-older from 9-11 a.m. on March 16 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• A series of three lectures will explore Western Carolina University’s campus theme of sustainability and the environment on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, March 16, 17 and 19, in the theater of A.K. Hinds University Center. Each lecture is from 5-6:30 p.m. Info: 227.7262 or jwhitmire@wcu.edu.

• “On the Water: Little River” will be offered to ages 12-up from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on March 17 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will present a turkey hunting seminar from 6-9 p.m. on March 17 at the Mountain Horticulture Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River. Advance registration required: www.nwtf.org/sbs.

• Nature 101: Buzz about Bees – How Can We Help?

Will be presented from 1-2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, at The Highlands Biological Station in Highlands.

526.2623.

• Faye Streiff, N.D., and Allan M. Streiff will present a program on “Soil Regeneration – Healing the Planet to Heal our Bodies,” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, at FROG Quarters, 573 E. Main St. in Franklin.

• “Casting for Beginners: Level I” will be offered to ages 12-up from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on March 18 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard.

Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• State officials will host a public hearing at 6p.m. on March 19 at A-B Tech Community College in Asheville to gather comments on the application for a 401 water quality certification submitted to the N.C. Division of Water Resources from Biltmore Farms, LLC. Written comments accepted through April 20: PublicComments@ncdenr.gov. View application online: https://tinyurl.com/s788ob8.

• The Nantahala National Forest, Tusquitee District is accepting public comments on a proposed weekly closure of Panther Top Shooting Range through March 20. Proposed closure would be from sunrise to noon on Thursdays starting April 1 for critical maintenance.

at 930 Horse Cove Road in Highlands.

526.2623.

• A program on “Winter Tree Identification” will be presented from noon-2 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, at Balsam Mountain Trust. Register: mskinner@bmtrust.org or 631.1062.

• Orders are being accepted through Friday, March 13, for the Macon County 4-H Club’s annual plant sale. Fundraiser. Info and order form: https://tinyurl.com/rw39w7x.

• The U.S. Forest Service will hold a public meeting for Nantahala and Pisgah National Forest plans from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on March 24 at the First Presbyterian Church’s Tartan Hall, 26 Church St., in Franklin. Proposed plan at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/nprevision.

• Registration is underway for the Landmark Outdoor Educator Semester, which is offered May 14-June 30, through Landmark Learning. www.landmarklearning.org.

• An “Outdoor Skills – Fire & Shelter building” program will be offered to ages 12-up from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on March 30 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• Sons of the American Legion will present a Turkey Shoot at 9 a.m. every Saturday through April at 171 Legion Dr. in Waynesville. $2 per round; refreshments provided. Weather permitting. 456.8691.

• An easy cycling ride aiming to help people ease into a healthier lifestyle through cycling is offered in the Canton area, typically covering 8-10 miles. Road bikes are preferred, and helmets are required. Nobody will be left behind. A partnership of Bicycle Haywood N.C., the Blue Ridge Bike Club and MountainWise. For specific start times and locations: mttrantham@hotmail.com.

COMPETITIVE EDGE

• Registration is underway for the 10th annual Assault on Blackrock, which will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 21, starting from the parking lot of Pinnacle Park in Sylva.

Preregistration fee: $25; $30 on race day.

Register: ultrasignup.com. Info: 506.2802 or barwatt@hotmail.com.

• Registration is underway for Lake Junaluska’s Annual Friends of the Lake 5K, which is Saturday, April 11. Provides financial support for maintaining the walking trail and other recreation opportunities. $30 adults, $15 students and kids fun run is free for ages 10-under. www.lakejunaluska.com/run.

FARM AND GARDEN • The Higholands Biological Station will offer a guided tour to show what’s new in the demonstration gardens from 11:30 a.m.12:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month

HIKING CLUBS • Nantahala Hiking Club will hold its general meeting at 7 p.m. on March 13 in the meeting room of the Franklin Public Library.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 7.5mile hike with a 1,750-foot ascent on Saturday, March 14, from Big Falls to Thompson River. Info and reservations: 505.2036, 408.887.3666 or daisytk@yahoo.com.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate, seven-mile hike with an elevation change of 950 feet on Saturday, March 14, at Coweeta Hydrological Lab. Info and reservations: 524.5298.

• Nantahala Hiking Club will take an easy, two-mile hike with little elevation change on Sunday, March 15, in the woods near Macon County Library in Franklin. Info and reservations: 369.7352.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have an eightmile hike with a 2,600-foot elevation gain on Sunday, March 15, from Toms Creek to Woods Mountain. Info and reservations: 738.0751, 443.2532 or jimr57@yahoo.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 5.2mile hike with a 900-foot elevation gain on Sunday, March 15, at Panthertown Valley 3 Waterfalls and Big Green Mountain Loop. Info and reservations: 406.3274 or matt@verygoodphotographer.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have an eightmile hike with a 2,500-foot ascent on Wednesday, March 18, to Pilot Mountain from Gloucester Gap. Info and reservations: 704.877.7804 or waltersharon204@gmail.com.

• Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate-to-strenuous, seven-mile hike with an elevation change of 900 feet on Saturday, March 21, from Long Branch to Rock Gap. Info and reservations: 421.4178.

• Nantahala Hiking Club will take an easy, two-mile hike on Sunday, March 22, to Mud Creek Falls. Info and reservations: 526.6480.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have an 11.9mile hike with a 2,000-foot ascent on Sunday, March 22, from Buck Spring to US 276. Info and reservations: 564.3662 or sarahebroughton@icloud.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 5.9mile “Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve Wildflower Hike” with a 1,054-foot ascent on Sunday, March 22. Info and reservations: 505.0471, 860.798.9905 or mwbromber@yahoo.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 12.6mile hike with a 3,000-foot ascent on Wednesday, March 25, from Chasteen Creek to Hughes Ridge. Info and reservations: 628.6712 or knies06@att.net.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 10.5mile hike on Saturday, March 28, on Buckhorn Gap and Club Gap Loop. Info and reservations: 606.1490, quilter290@gmail.com, 606.3989 or jqs290@gmail.com.

SFR, ECO, GREEN

147 WALNUT STREET • WAYNESVILLE

828.506.7137

aspivey@sunburstrealty.com

www.sunburstrealty.com/amy-spivey

• Carolina Mountain Club will have an 11.5mile hike with a 1,400-foot ascent on March 29 from Thomas Divide to Mingus Mill. Info and reservations: 628.6712 or knies06@att.net.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 5.5mile hike with a 1,000-foot elevation gain on Sunday, March 29, on Bridal Veil Falls Loop.

Info and reservations: 857.756.3815 or billsnow123@gmail.com.

• Nantahala Hiking Club holds monthly trail maintenance days from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on every fourth Saturday at 173 Carl Slagle Road in Franklin. Info and to register: 369.1983.

• Hike of the Week is at 10 a.m. every Friday at varying locations along the parkway. Led

by National Park Service rangers. www.nps.gov/blri or 298.5330, ext. 304.

• Friends of the Smokies hikes are offered on the second Tuesday of each month. www.friendsofthesmokies.org/hikes.html.

• Nantahala Hiking Club based in Macon County holds weekly Saturday hikes in the Nantahala National Forest and beyond. www.nantahalahikingclub.org • High Country Hikers, based out of Hendersonville but hiking throughout Western North Carolina, plans hikes every Monday and Thursday. Schedules, meeting places and more information are available on their website, www.highcountryhikers.org.

Juli Rogers, REALTOR 828.734.3668

JuliMeaseRogers@gmail.com 71 N. MAIN STREET | WAYNESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

828.564.9393

• Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, located in East Tennessee, makes weekly hikes in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park as well as surrounding areas. www.smhclub.org.

• Benton MacKaye Trail Association incorporates outings for hikes, trail maintenance and other work trips. No experience is necessary to participate. www.bmta.org.

• Diamond Brand’s Women’s Hiking Group meets on the third Saturday of every month.

For more information, e-mail awilliams@diamondbrand.com or call 684.6262.

Ellen Sither esither@beverly-hanks.com (828) 734-8305

OUTDOOR CLUBS • The Jackson County Poultry Club will hold its regular meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Jackson County Cooperative Extension Office. The club is for adults and children and includes a monthly meeting with a program and a support network for those raising birds. For info, call 586.4009 or write heather_gordon@ncsu.edu.

• The North Carolina Catch program, a threephase conservation education effort focusing on aquatic environments, will be offered through May 15. The program is offered by the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. Free for members; daily admission for non-members. 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov.

Laura Thomas

BROKER ASSOCIATE —————————————

(828) 734-8478

Smoky Mountain News

• Registration is open for the Mighty Four Miler – a race to honor hometown hero Riley Howell - and Smokies Half Marathon. Event is Saturday, April 4, and will run through downtown Waynesville. Proceeds go to the Riley Howell Foundation Fund, which seeks to help people affected by gun violence. Registration is $35 for the four miler and $70 for the half marathon. Register: www.gloryhoundevents.com.

• A program entitled “Backyard Birds: Keeping Chickens” will be offered from 5:306:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, at the Waynesville Library Auditorium, 678 S. Haywood St.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 7.5mile hike with a 1,500-foot elevation gain on Wednesday, March 25, from Purchase Knob to Hemphill Bald. Info and reservations: 692.0116, 699.6296 or bbente@bellsouth.net.

March 11-17, 2020

• Lake Junaluska Golf Course will host a three-person scramble format St. Patrick’s Tournament starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 14. Entry fee: $40; includes green fee, cart fee, prize payout and helping of Irish stew. 456.5777 or ctcarswell@lakejunaluska.com.

• A program on container gardening will be offered from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, in the Waynesville Library. Led by master gardener volunteer Jim Janke.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 9.6mile hike with a 1,800-foot ascent on Wednesday, March 25, from Big Fork Ridge to Rough Fork Loop. Info and reservations: 628.6712 or knies06@att.net.

wnc calendar

Send comments to: sm.fs.r8nctuscom@usda.gov.

lthomas@beverly-hanks.com

43

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Automobiles

75% OFF ALL LARGE POTTED Landscape trees. Dogwood, Apple, Maple, Ash & More. Also Rustic Lumber, Timbers, Beams, Posts, etc.

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Auction ONLINE ONLY AUCTION Entegra 45B Coach, Farm Equipment, Boats, Trucks, Cars, Guns, Fine Art and Much More, Begins Closing 3/11/2020 at 4pm, Check our website for Inspection times and days, ironhorseauction. com, 800.997.2248, NCAL 3936 214+/- ACRES DIVIDED In Scotland County, NC on Calhoun Rd. Online w/ bid center, Begins closing 3/24 at 2pm, Inspections at Buyer’s Leisure & Liability. ironhorseauction. com, 800.997.2248 NCAL#3936 ONLINE REAL ESTATE AUCTION Lake Wylie, Laurinburg, Marston, Peachland, Norwood, Raeford & Red Springs, NC, Begins Closing 3/19/2020 at 2pm, Check our website for Inspection times and days, ironhorseauction.com, 800.997.2248, NCAL# 3936

2000 ACURA INTEGRA Reduced! $600 She was my daily driver for 5 years. Needs some work to run.

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Business Opportunities BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR! Publications sold at all major secular & specialty Christian bookstores. CALL Christian Faith Publishing for your FREE author submission kit. 1-877-484-4025

Employment MEDICAL BILLING & CODING TRAINING. New Students Only.

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March 11-17, 2020

AIRLINES ARE HIRJOBS AT HCC HayING - Get FAA apwood Community proved hands on AviaCollege is hiring: FT tion training. Financial Accounting Technician, DLG IRU TXDOLÂżHG VWXGHQWV )7 6HFXULW\ 2IÂżFHU )7 - Career placement asLead Teacher RCAC, sistance. CALL Aviation PT HRD Instructor, PT Institute of Maintenance Teacher Assistant/Sub866-441-6890. stitutes RCAC. Visit: www.haywood.edu ADMINISTRATOR NATURALIST BROWN TRUCKING BALSAM MOUNTAIN Is looking for Company TRUST Great opporDrivers & Owner Opertunity for candidate ators. Brown requires: who: is organized, CDL-A, 2yrs of tractor has strong work ethic, trailer exp. OTR or ReKDV RIÂżFH DGPLQLVWUDgional in last 3yrs, good tion experience and MVR & PSP. Apply: who has experience driverforbrown.com with, or interest in, the care of native wildlife.

MOUNTAIN PROJCandidate will also be ECTS, INC. HEAD outgoing, articulate START Is seeking proposals for the replaceand enjoy engaging ment of the glass doors our members and the on the front of both mogeneral public. Email bile classrooms at FairMichael Skinner @ view Head Start at 453 mskinner@bmtrust.org Fairview Rd., Sylva. We for a job description. would like to replace the mskinner@bmtrust.org double glass doors with PART-TIME CUSTODIAL WORK 20-30 hrs/wk. Averages 4 hrs/night, 5-9 pm. $10.25/hr. Email responses only: Jerry.Southard@ LongsChapel.com Jerry.Southard@ LongsChapel.com MEDICAL BILLING & CODING TRAINING. New Students Only.

Call & Press 1. 100% online courses. Financial Aid Available for those who qualify. Call 833-990-0354

double commercial metal doors with a small or medium window on the side or top to let light in. The doors will also QHHG WR EH ÂżWWHG ZLWK push bar exit devices.

Please send estimates

by March 20, 2020 to j wa l l a c e @ m o u nt a i n projects.org or by mail to Joy Wallace, 2177 Asheville Rd., Waynesville, NC 28786. For questions, please call 828-456-4546.

SPACE AVAILABLE 828 | 452 | 4251

WNC MarketPlace

THE JACKSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT Of Social Services is recruiting for a Processing Assistant III. Duties will include reception, FRS\LQJ ÂżOLQJ VFDQning, receiving and providing information to the public, data entry, and other related clerical tasks. Applicants should have excellent customer service skills, good computer skills, the ability to communicate effectively in person and by telephone, a general knowledge RI RIÂżFH SURFHGXUHV and the ability to learn and apply a variety of guidelines. The starting salary is $25,340.

Applicants must have completed high school and have at least one year of clerical experience or an equivalent combination of training and experience. Applicants should complete a NC State PD-107 application and submit it to the Jackson County Department of Social SerYLFHV *ULIÂżQ 6WUHHW Sylva, NC 28779 or the NC Career Works Center by March 20, 2020.

FTCC - Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Cloud Systems Analyst, Information Tech (IT) Security Engineer, Grant Coordinator. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin. com/ Human ResourcHV 2IÂżFH 3KRQH 678-7342

THE JACKSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT Of Social Services is recruiting for a Foster Care Social Worker in Child Welfare.

This position will work with foster children and provide services to families where needs have been LGHQWLÂżHG 5HTXLUHV limited availability after hours as needed.

The starting salary is $39,310.99, if fully qualL¿HG 0LQLPXP TXDOL¿cations include a four year degree in a Human 6HUYLFH ¿HOG 3UHIHUence will be given to applicants with a Master’s or Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and/or experience providing Social Work services.

Applicants should complete a NC State application form (PD-107) and submit it to the Jackson County Department of Social SerYLFHV *ULIÂżQ 6WUHHW Sylva, NC 28779, or to NCWorks Career Center by March 20, 2020.

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Legal Notices MOUNTAIN PROJECTS, INC. HEAD START Is seeking proposals for the installation of electronic keypad/card access door locks at Waynesville Head Start at 489 Pigeon St., Waynesville, NC. The locks will be installed on two sets of doors located at the front and back of the building’s foyer. The door lock system for each door should inFOXGH DQ ,Q¿QLDV 'RRU Controller with surIDFH PRXQW ER[ ,Q¿QLDV Keypad/Card Reader Combo access point, and all materials needed for the installation.

The system should also LQFOXGH ,QÂżQLDV &ORXG Setup for each door. If you have questions or would like to see the doors before providing a quote, please call Joy Wallace at 828456-4546. Please send estimates by March 20, 2020 to jwallace@ mountainprojects.org or by mail to Joy Wallace, 2177 Asheville Rd., Waynesville, NC 28786.

Lost & Found

LOST DOG Older Spaniel mix, medium size. Medium long black coat, long hair on tail, some white on face, chest, and one front paw. Name

is Crystal. Last seen in Dillsboro area of Jackson County. Call 828-230-0673

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March 11-17, 2020

• Carolyn Lauter - carolyn@bhgheritage.com Beverly Hanks & Associates- beverly-hanks.com • Ann Eavenson - anneavenson@beverly-hanks.com • Billie Green - bgreen@beverly-hanks.com • Michelle McElroy- michellemcelroy@beverly-hanks.com • Steve Mauldin - smauldin@beverly-hanks.com • Brian K. Noland - brianknoland.com • Anne Page - apage@beverly-hanks.com • Brooke Parrott - bparrott@beverly-hanks.com • Jerry Powell - jpowell@beverly-hanks.com • Catherine Proben - cproben@beverly-hanks.com • Ellen Sither - ellensither@beverly-hanks.com • Mike Stamey - mikestamey@beverly-hanks.com • Karen Hollingsed- khollingsed@beverly-hanks.com • Billy Case- billycase@beverly-hanks.com • Laura Thomas - lthomas@beverly-hanks.com • John Keith - jkeith@beverly-hanks.com • Randall Rogers - rrogers@beverly-hanks.com • Susan Hooper - shooper@beverly-hanks.com • Hunter Wyman - hwyman@beverly-hanks.com

Christie’s Ivester Jackson Blackstream

• George Escaravage - george@IJBProperties.com ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com • Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com • Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com

Jerry Lee Mountain Realty

Jerry Lee Hatley- jerryhatley@bellsouth.net Keller Williams Realty - kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com • Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff@kw.com

Lakeshore Realty

• Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

Mountain Dreams Realty- maggievalleyhomesales.com Mountain Home Properties mountaindream.com • Cindy Dubose - cdubose@mountaindream.com

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com

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• Madelyn Niemeyer - Madelyn.niemeyer@nestrealty.com

RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com

remax-maggievalleync.com Holly Fletcher - holly@hollyfletchernc.com The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com Ron Breese - ronbreese.com Landen Stevenson- landen@landenkstevenson.com Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com Mary & Roger Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net David Rogers - davidr@remax-waynesvillenc.com Juli Rogers - julimeaserogers@gmail.com Rob Roland Realty - robrolandrealty.com

• • • • • • • •

• Rob Roland - rroland33@gmail.com

The Smoky Mountain Retreat at Eagles Nest

• Tom Johnson - tomsj7@gmail.com • Sherell Johnson - sherellwj@aol.com

WNC Real Estate Store

• Jeff Baldwin - jeff@WNCforMe.com • Melanie Hoffman - mhoffmanrealestate@gmail.com • Thomas Hoffman - thoffman1@me.com

TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com WNC MarketPlace

45

SUPER

CROSSWORD

A STEP BACKWARDS ACROSS 1 Sol, la or ti 5 Low-pitched 9 Salt Lake City resident 14 Ahead by a single point 19 Otherworldly glow 20 Admit openly 21 Spanish appetizers 22 More sensible 23 Datum for a hard drive 26 Brand of fake fat 27 Geriatrics topic 28 Vegetable in Cajun cuisine 29 Beach birds 31 St. Patty's land 32 Gains' opposites 34 Australian avian 35 Defunct figure-skating show 37 Robin's place 39 Woven together 41 Take one's turn after all others 42 Actress married to Steven Spielberg 47 Develops an affinity for 48 Strong glue 49 MGM lion 50 Sling mud at 54 Mushy food 55 Itinerary info 56 Morgenstern of 1970s TV 57 Hoarse 62 Evoke 64 Camera-to-computer upload 66 Like some sci-fi aliens, location-wise

67 69 70 71 74 75 76 77 79 81 83 84 85 89 92 93 96 97 99 101 106 107 108 110 111 113 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123

Caterer's receptacle Got the gold Fruity frozen dessert Jackson or Lincoln, e.g.

Lay to final rest Actress Daly and novelist O'Connell Largest frat in the U.S. Pooch name Lowly worker - -la (utopia) College e-mail ender Supreme Court's Sotomayor With 33-Down, arm of the Indian Ocean Voyager Golden Record, e.g.

Roving sorts Is sickeningly sweet Old fruity soda Sailor's reply In shape Should it happen that Skinny Epsom Redding with a Grammy Flynn of early films Classic tune Snapshot go-withs Edmund of "Miracle on 34th Street" Apple messaging software Like men Ovid's 2,002 Swamp plant Bête Multitude Word hidden backwards

in this puzzle's eight longest answers DOWN 1 Vocally twangy 2 Expenditure 3 Three, in Lille 4 Deserves 5 Bit of luggage 6 Chevrolet hatchback 7 Collection for a wrench 8 Hive cluster 9 Actress Hagen 10 Maneuver 11 Each 12 Strong dislike 13 "It's Gonna Be Me" band 14 Mil. hangout 15 Sierra Nevada brew 16 New York tribe members 17 Least distant 18 Cuba's Guevara 24 Part of CIA 25 Cook Deen 30 Continuing dramas 33 See 85-Across 36 Kitty 38 Snowball impact sound 40 Extend - welcome 42 Beer cask 43 Galore 44 Moniker for TV's Tim Taylor 45 Make amends for 46 Sod-busting tool 47 - II (Gillette razor) 51 Stole's kin 52 - stick (jumping toy) 53 Utopia 55 The "D" of CD

58 59 60 61 63 64 65 66 67 68 72 73 74 77 78 80 82 84 85 86 87 88 90 91 93 94 95 98 100 102 103 104 105 109 112 114 115

Fate who cut the thread of life Secondary option list Heat to 212 degrees in advance As of now Old Toyota Prefix with 39-Across "It will come - surprise ..."

East, in Bonn Go - smoke Bond girl player Diana Hot - oven " 'Tis -" ("So sad") Draw out Like women: Abbr.

Same No, in Selkirk Lock holders Kind of piano Comparable things Sovereign's "I," often Revised Supporting "C - Cookie" Food tuna Tricolor cat Chinese fruit Car security system Easy putt Gossip tidbits Pinch into small folds Good smell Kind of boom - the Cow (milk mascot) Markdown Shanghai-to-Tokyo dir.

Adaptable truck, briefly Church perch

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March 11-17, 2020

WNC MarketPlace

Observing birds is a habit that never grows old Editor’s note: This column first appeared in a March 2009 issue of The Smoky Mountain News.

L

George Ellison

ately, I’ve been writing a lot about birds. I guess I have them on my mind, in part, because the spring migration season is underway. I heard my first Louisiana waterthrush (a warbler) of the year this Columnist past Sunday morning. But then again, birds are always on my mind summer, fall, and winter, too. And I’m not alone. Each week that I write about birds, I receive at least 10 emails from readers who share their bird observations and insights with me.

Here we go again.

I’ve always supposed that we’re fascinated by birds because they are attractive, often beautiful. And they can sing and fly. Unlike me, many of you who are reading this can actually sing. So you will not be as awestruck by that capability as I am. But my guess is that few of you can fly.

Just how bird flight evolved has been hotly debated in academic circles. For what it's worth, I suspect that those who maintain

BACK THEN that bird life evolved from ancient dinosaurs are going to prevail. Their case has been strengthened in recent years by a team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. The team unearthed a juvenile dromaeosaur dating back 130 million years, which proved to be the first dinosaur discovered with a body covering apparently consisting of fossilized feathers and down.

Bird flight has no doubt come a ways since those long-ago days when dromaeosaurs were flapping around trying their best to become airborne.

As we can readily observe on a daily basis, many modern species have become aerial specialists.

Turkey vultures are generally underrated in this regard. They are experts at reading the thermals created as the earth warms each day. Have you ever spotted a flock of vultures riding upwards in the same thermal in a circular flight pattern?

Ornithologists call that “a kettle of vultures.”

Think of the explosive and thereby elusive flight pattern displayed by a turkey, grouse, or bobwhite. Then there is the ungainly, yet somehow graceful, flight of a great blue heron, arising awkwardly with a croak and then leveling out in a long smooth glide.

Among raptors, Peregrine the peregrine falcon falcon. is the speed king.

One of the most amazing birds in the world, a peregrine feeds on other birds that it takes in midair with a powerful dive that may reach speeds in excess of 180 miles per hour.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds are the showboats of the bird world. Their wing beats, which stroke the air at more than 70 times a second, are often heard before one actually sees the bird. They hover, they fly backwards or vertically, and they zoom around. Then, just for the pure fun of it, they dive bomb one another.

One spring day from a high outcrop I

watched a pair of ravens mating over Blue Valley near Highlands. Together, they would go so high up into the air that they looked like dark specks. Then they would plummet in tandem, making tight downward spirals, until it appeared they were going to crash into the valley floor. At the very last microsecond, they’d pull out of their dive and then do it all over again.

Another time, I was at Blue Valley watching ravens from a high overlook when one sailed by and eyed me. The first time he came back he did a full somersault. And then, just for good measure, he came by again and did a full body roll, flying for a beat or so while upside down.

“Now that's flying,” the raven seemed to be telling me.

Barn swallows are the ballet dancers of the bird world. They bring flying to another level. I never tire of watching the patterns — intricate, endless, ever changing, and yet somehow the same — they etch against the sky.

Little wonder that the ancient Cherokees made the birds the guardians of their Upper World, the realm of peace and light and the hereafter. With their songs and with their flight patterns, the birds continue to lift our spirits every day.

(George Ellison is a writer and naturalist who lives in Bryson City. info@georgeellison.com)

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