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April 6-12, 2016 Vol. 17 Iss. 45

Corruption found in preliminary Cherokee audit Page 4 Survey says Haywood favors land-use planning Page 9

CONTENTS

STAFF

On the Cover: Jim Parham and MaryEllen Hammond of Bryson City are celebrating the 25-year anniversary of creating their business Milestone Press. Many say they are “living the dream” as they dedicate much of their lives to researching, writing and publishing high-quality trail guides for the Southeast. (Page 38)

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News Corruption found in preliminary Cherokee audit results ..........................................4 Waynesville town manager search gets under way ..................................................5 Waynesville and Mad Anthony’s resolve impasse .................................................... 6 Survey says Haywood residents favor land-use planning........................................9 Sylva considers loosened alcohol ordinance ..........................................................11 Cherokee re-examines adventure park idea ............................................................12 More testing under way for SCC shooting range ..................................................15 Bryson City to keep Fry Street open ..........................................................................16 Haywood residents to vote on countywide alcohol ..............................................19 Franklin board split on future of Whitmire property ................................................20 Education news ................................................................................................................23

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Scott McLeod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . info@smokymountainnews.com Greg Boothroyd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . greg@smokymountainnews.com Micah McClure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . micah@smokymountainnews.com Travis Bumgardner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . travis@smokymountainnews.com Emily Moss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . emily@smokymountainnews.com Whitney Burton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . whitney@smokymountainnews.com Amanda Bradley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jc-ads@smokymountainnews.com Hylah Birenbaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hylah@smliv.com Scott Collier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . classads@smokymountainnews.com Jessi Stone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jessi@smokymountainnews.com Becky Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . becky@smokymountainnews.com Holly Kays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . holly@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 Barbee (writing).

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Community involvement is the key................................................................................24

A&E Blacksmithing program expands Green Energy Park’s vision ............................28

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Corruption found in preliminary Cherokee audit results Chief to involve the FBI

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER rincipal Chief Patrick Lambert bore the look of a man on a mission when he presented Tribal Council with a first look at results of an ongoing forensic audit on Tuesday. The results he held in hand may have been only preliminary, he told council, but they were disturbing enough that he’s already encouraged the FBI to start investigating.

“What we’ve found is clear fraud, wrongdoing, crimes and a failed system of checks and balances within this tribal government,” Lambert told council.

“I intend on taking these clear violations of federal laws to the FBI and federal attorney’s office. It’s beyond serious,” he continued.

“I’m not playing games.

Patrick Lambert I want those responsible tried, convicted and sent to jail.”

When Lambert took office six months ago, getting the audit ball rolling was one of the first actions that he took. He was convinced that there had been mismanagement and misuse of tribal funds during the previous administration, of which Michell Hicks was Principal Chief from 2003 to 2015, and launched an extensive investigation into the money trails in departments and programs throughout the tribe.

“These truths that we’ve all known well over time but have been hidden has rocked the very foundation which allows for the people of this tribe to consent to be governed,” he said.

Preliminary audit results show thousands of dollars and cash advances, authorized by Hicks’ administration to “parties unknown,” that were paid at ATM machines during business hours when tribal offices would have been open, Lambert said.

“We understand that credit cards can be used in certain emergency situations, as noted, but upon review of the transactions we noted that all transactions during the review period occurred on a business day,” Lambert read from the auditor’s report. “In addition we did not identify any of the transaction dates as a holiday. As such, tribal government offices would likely have been open to release funds. Overall, the initial findings are disturbing.”

Though the findings are still preliminary, Lambert said, outside of wrongdoing “it’s difficult to see what other explanation

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could be found.”

The ATM payouts aren’t the only suspicious items turned up in the preliminary audit, Lambert said. It also showed thousands in miscellaneous car and insurance payments, as well as thousands to clothing stores such as Banana Republic, Macy’s, White House Black Market, Victoria’s Secret, Joseph A. Bank and Oakley’s Sunglasses.

Then, there were the charges for stretch limousine rentals, Dollywood tickets, a trip to Dorado Beach Golf Course in Puerto Rico and another to Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Among others.

“Imagine what we’ll find when the full report for the past 12 years comes into view,” Lambert said. “This government is in serious need of transparency, honesty and ethics. We can only get to that place when we have all the cards out on the table.”

Lambert said that the unwillingness of some departments to produce the paperwork needed for the audit tells him there’s more corruption to be found.

“This government is in serious need of transparency, honesty and ethics. We can only get to that place when we have all the cards out on the table.”

— Principal Chief Patrick Lambert

He also compared his administration’s spending patterns over the past six months to those of Hicks’ administration during the same six-month period for the past four years. Since October, Lambert said, he’s spent $2,520 on business-related gas, food and travel. During that same October through March time period, Hicks averaged $16,980 between 2012 and 2015, according to numbers Lambert presented to council.

Lambert spent 35.5 percent less for travel and training and 63 percent less in credit card charges than Hicks did during the first six months of the last budget year.

Lambert told council that he intends to keep pursuing the audit and criminal consequences for those associated with any wrongdoing.

“I’m working hard, and I’ll continue doing that for the full time I’m here,” he concluded as applause broke out from the audience.

Waynesville’s interim town manager Mike Morgan (middle) talks to Police Chief Bill Hollingsed and Fire Chief Joey Webb on the front steps of town hall.

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“The candidate will sit in there and have three hours to write it up,” Waynesville’s Interim Town Manager Mike Morgan explained.

Finally, they’ll be asked to develop and deliver a mock presentation on a real issue facing the town, such as a firefighter shortage.

All the while, they’ll be sized up by a panel of evaluators consisting of real experts in the fields of human resources, finance, law enforcement, public works and so on, brought in from around the region to help with the assessment.

Putting candidates through these paces may seem excessive, but it’s the only way to really know who’s right for the job.

“I can sit here and tell you I can handle a situation but until you see me do it, you don’t know if I can or not,” Morgan said. “It is becoming very common to have these types

“Even though we disagreed on some things, we still want what is the best for the town of Waynesville.”

— Gavin Brown, Waynesville mayor

The last town manager, Marcy Onieal, was selected with flying colors four years ago — winning universal support from the consulting firm, the town board itself and the role-playing evaluators.

During her four-year tenure, Onieal is credited with modernizing town operations, implementing more professional protocols and expecting more out of employees.

What seemed like progress was also her downfall, however. Some employees didn’t like the changes she made or her management style, and Onieal was besieged by disharmony in the ranks.

She was abruptly fired in January after the majority on the town board shifted in last fall’s election.

Morgan has already sought input from employees on the traits they like to see in their new town manager.

“We got the town staff involved right out of the box, so it will be a collective decision,” Brown said.

Despite the controversy and split vote over Onieal’s firing, the town board is in lock step as it moves forward.

“Even though we disagreed on some things, we still want what is the best for the town of Waynesville,” Brown said.

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BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER own manager hopefuls wanting to run one of Western North Carolina’s largest, most progressive towns will need more than budget know-how and political savvy — they’ll need stage presence, improv skills and nerves of steel to make it past the final round.

Candidates applying to be Waynesville’s next town manager will have to navigate tricky and delicate role-playing scenarios before an audience of judges, like settling a pretend dispute between a disgruntled employee and their supervisor.

They’ll also get locked in a room, presented with a municipal challenge and have to formulate a plan to address it, such as how to make the town more business friendly.

skilled in match-making and is no stranger to what makes Waynesville tick.

“They know Waynesville and the region very well,” Morgan said.

Brown said despite the heavy lifting done by the consulting firm in winnowing and prevetting applicants, the board has an active role to play as well.

As the board of aldermen charted out the hiring process during a town meeting last week, Brown pulled out a bulging binder — the portfolio with dossiers on all the finalists in the last manager hiring process four years ago.

“We’ve got a lot of work in front of us,” Brown said, gesturing to the binder. “We need to be prepared to give it the time necessary to make sure Waynesville gets what it deserves.”

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In search for new Waynesville town manager, acting skills are a plus

of assessments.”

To help with the monumental hiring process, the town board has engaged the services of a consulting firm. The firm will advertise the job opening, sift through dozens and dozens of applications, and cull out the top 15 to 20.

From there, the list will be turned over to the town board to narrow down further. Only seven or so will advance to the next round of vetting involving role-playing skits.

Those who perform well will make the last and final round: grueling interviews with the town board itself.

Waynesville is lucky to have Morgan on board as it delves into the hiring process. He’s something of a pro at hiring town managers.

After retiring as the long-time town manager of Weaverville, Morgan has done four stints as interim manager.

And naturally, everywhere Morgan lands on the interim circuit, hiring a full-time manager tops the to-do list.

While Morgan hasn’t actually made the hiring decisions — that’s up to the town board or city council — he’s had a front row seat in the process.

Mayor Gavin Brown said Morgan has already offered some safe advice: the goal isn’t simply to find the most-qualified, experienced candidate.

“At the end of the day, the board has to find that good fit,” Brown said. “They could fit for what Asheville needs or what Black Mountain needs, but it is about hiring the person that is right for you.”

Morgan warned Brown that if none of the finalists seem like “the one” in his opinion, he will be brutally honest and tell the board they should go back to the drawing board.

Brown said he’s thankful for that.

“Waynesville is the best community in the world. We aren’t looking for a caretaker,” Brown said. “If we don’t get a good pool of applicants, we’ll try again.”

But if all goes well, a town manager will be in place by mid-August.

The town will pay consulting firm Developmental Associates $14,000 for guiding the process.

The town board is putting faith in the firm to chose wisely when winnowing down candidate in the preliminary round. More than 90 percent of the applications could get tossed out before a short list is handed up to the board of aldermen. But the North Carolinabased consulting firm chosen by the town is

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Food trucks and festoon lights run afoul of building codes Waynesville and Mad Anthony’s resolve impasse with new spirit of cooperation

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER hen David Young pulled a food truck onto the lot of Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden in downtown Waynesville this winter, he launched the first salvo in a tangled tug-of-war testing the old adage: is it better to ask for forgiveness than permission?

Young faced an uphill slog to renovate a run-down old house into a craft beer hub and music venue, a nightmarish mix of DIY home makeover and the start-up struggles of an entrepreneur. He was often frustrated by the hoops he had to jump through with the town’s building code officers.

“Now they won’t even offer me the hoops anymore,” Young said two weeks ago.

Things had gone from bad to worse for Young after he skipped the crucial step of getting building permits for some finishing touches on Mad Anthony’s outdoor beer garden. In response, the town threatened to revoke his already tenuous food truck permit.

So last month, with little left to lose, Young rallied his patrons to stand with him as he prepared for a public face-off with the town.

“We have been harassed, threatened and, finally, targeted for shutdown,” Young wrote in an open letter on Facebook. “Our response is simple: we will fight. We will fight in the court of law. We will fight in the court of public opinion. We will fight on social media, in print, and on television. If the town wants to go to war, they should have chosen a business that doesn’t embrace the motto ‘Issue the orders, sir, and I will storm hell.’”

That motto was spoken by General Anthony Wayne, Waynesville’s namesake and a Revolutionary War hero known as Mad Anthony, which is where Young got his bar’s name.

A crowd of two dozen of Mad Anthony’s supporters at last month’s planning board bought into the storyline of Young as the underdog fighting bureaucratic obstructionists.

Folks who work in the town’s development and permit office were at a loss, however.

They are legally bound to enforce building codes and ensure public safety, explained Elizabeth Teague, development services director who’s over the town’s building code enforcement section.

Town building code officers had met with Young twice, but somehow weren’t getting 6 through.

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April 6-12, 2016

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David and Amanda Young, owners of Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden, in front of MA’s Kitchen food truck that serves patrons in the absence of an inhouse restaurant. Becky Johnson photo

“If there has been miscommunication between us and Mad Anthony’s, we will make efforts to help him understand what is required,” Teague said. “We will continue to work with them to reach code compliance.”

FOOD TRUCK FORAY Unknotting the issues between the town and Mad Anthony’s isn’t easy, but it’s impossible to understand without first talking about food trucks.

Food trucks aren’t allowed to set up shop day in and day out on same site under the town’s current rules.

But Young took a gamble and opened one anyway this winter with a temporary permit from the town. The permit was good for only six months, but Young had high hopes that before his time was up, the town would embrace the growing scene and rewrite its food truck rules to grant him permanent status.

The rewrite has proved more complex than Young thought, however.

Fans claim food trucks add to a community’s street scene and vibrancy, catering to an alternative demographic. But opponents claim the low overhead of food trucks give them unfair advantage compared to the established restaurant industry, jeopardizing their vital role as anchors in the economy.

Food trucks also pose philosophical questions of aesthetics and community character — issues that likely wouldn’t be sorted out on the timetable Young hoped for.

With the larger food truck debate just heating up, it’s now unclear whether new rules will be settled on before the six-month limit on Young’s temporary permit catches up with him.

But that recently proved the least of his concerns. In February, Young faced another

bump in the road, one that would bring his food truck to a screeching halt for entirely different reasons.

Young was put on notice by town code officers that he was in violation of building and fire codes for recent additions to his property, and if not fixed in haste, he would have to forfeit the temporary permit for his food truck.

Young had failed to get proper building permits before erecting a covered roof over his outdoor patio. He also ran afoul of build-

“I think it served as a wake-up call. I can understand there may have been some hurt feelings, but the end result is I feel like the development office is our ally.”

— David Young, owner of Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden

ing and fire codes when stringing a maze of industrial-grade lighting from tree branches over his outdoor beer garden without a permit, as well as violating the town’s light pollution ordinance.

Young saw the cease and desist order as a threat to his survival. Mad Anthony’s has no restaurant onsite, and despite offering the best selection of eclectic craft brews in Western North Carolina — even when compared to beer-crazed Asheville — Young lost customers every night when they ventured off in search of supper, whether that meant heading home, hitting the drive-thru or bar-hop-

ping to somewhere else that served food.

“Food was always supposed to be part of this,” Young said of his master plan for Mad Anthony’s. “We didn’t realize just how critical it would be, or how quickly it would be critical.”

THE IMPASSE

While Young questioned the rationale of tying his food truck operation to seemingly unrelated building code violations, town building code officers said they were willing to work with Young if he just showed some due diligence.

“We would like them to address the presence of the building code violations before we automatically renew the food truck permit,” said Teague.

Young felt like that was a catch-22, however. He claimed he was never given a detailed list of how his lights and patio roof violated building codes.

He was simply ordered to take them down because he hadn’t gotten a permit, and thus was automatically in violation.

“Can I get some specifics? They will not tell me what the problems are,” Young said.

“Isn’t there an intermediary step to mitigate the situation? There is almost always a way to bring something into compliance.”

However, town officials felt like they were in a catch-22 of their own.

They couldn’t tell Young how to bring the lights and canopy into compliance, because they had no building permit from Young that described any sort of specs to go by.

Tom McGuire, the town’s senior building code officer, said it’s not the town’s job to design construction plans for the public. To give Young a detailed list of issues would put the onus on McGuire to measure the size and span of the awning roof timbers, calculate the load, calibrate the number and size of the bolts needed, and so on.

That’s the type of thing that’s supposed to be contained in the building permit, which Young never submitted.

“We would like them to come apply for a permit and then we can go out and take a look at what is there,” McGuire said.

Teague said it comes down to an issue of safety.

“You have a responsibility as a business owner to make sure it is safe for the public,” Teague said. “We don’t know who built it or how it was built. We have no specs.”

As for the festoon lighting system suspended from trees, in the absence of a building permit, McGuire said he has no way of knowing whether they meet electrical code or are properly supported. They also don’t pass muster with the town’s light pollution ordinance, which requires lighting to shine down, not up and out.

With media attention on the stand-off building, and the deadline drawing nearer to get into compliance or face penalties, Teague reached out to Young in hopes of starting over.

Following a two-hour meeting with Teague and a building code inspector on Mad Anthony’s property last Friday, Young acquiesced on his depiction of the town.

“The people who regulate the codes have to go by the letter and can’t pick and chose,” Young said. “It is a

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“As a business, we are in a position where we are dealing with a governing body that is willing to work with us, willing to compromise with us, and willing to help us move forward — with the expectation that moving forward involves us addressing their issues in a timely agreeable manner,” Young said.

In hindsight, Young couldn’t say whether the tack he took was necessary to arrive at the current resolution.

“I think it served as a wake-up call. I can understand there may have been some hurt feelings, but the end result is I feel like the development office is our ally,” he said.

Young said one reason he geared up for battle was partly based on historical issues with a particular town building code officer — who incidentally isn’t with the town anymore — during his initial renovation phase of the building Mad Anthony’s occupies. It’s also why he tried to avoid the building permit process when installing the lights and awning.

“When you fear overbearing, over-burdensome decrees from on high, it makes one very reluctant to get involved with that agency,” Young said. “There was that reputation. This in no way reflects on the entire department today.”

WHAT’S NEXT While Young has escaped imminent shutdown of the food truck, the outcome remains up in the air. The town planning board discussed new rules for food trucks last month that would be more permissive than they are now. But just how permissive is to be determined, and would still have to garner approval from the town board of aldermen.

The new rules being considered by the planning board, while more lenient, would

Smoky Mountain News

A NEW LEAF Young said he is glad a knock-down-dragout with the town has been avoided and they all seem to be on the same page now.

The new food truck rules being considered by the planning board, while more lenient, would still classify food trucks as temporary, although they could effectively operate year-round by continually renewing the temporary permit, with no limit on duration.

April 6-12, 2016

cover-your-ass thing for the town. If something ever happened people would start looking at ‘Did the town do its due diligence?’”

Young was also pleasantly surprised by the town’s willingness to compromise.

“We kind of hit a happy medium,” Young said.

Both parties agreed to concessions. The town backed off its previous drop-dead date of April 7 — which incidentally had already been extended once — and extended it again, giving Young more time to fix the building code issues, and would let the food truck stay in the meantime as well.

In exchange, Young acquiesced as well.

He was given the option of leaving the patio roof and lights up, on the condition that he retroactively filed for proper building permits and they passed inspection.

“They wanted me to get drawings and the engineering and technical details on paper and then come to them and pull and permit so they can come and inspect them,” Young said.

But Young said he now plans to tear them down anyway. The lighting and patio roof were only temporary improvements until he could pull off a larger master plan for the property — namely a bigger and better covered patio and a permanent pole-style lighting system throughout the beer garden.

He’s decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on those plans, instead of jumping through the hoops of getting a retroactive permits for what he intended only as a temporary measure in the first place.

“Fortunately we will be able to avoid all of that. They will be coming down anyway in the time it would take me to get those drawings together,” Young said.

Young said he is able to accelerate his master plan thanks to robust business.

“We actually had a much better winter than we had projected,” Young said. “It is exceeding expectations across the board.”

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Mad Anthony's supporters turned out for a recent Waynesville Planning Board meeting in a show of solidarity for allowing the bar’s onsite food truck to continue operating. Becky Johnson photo

still classify food trucks as temporary, although they could effectively operate yearround by continually renewing the temporary permit, with no limit on duration.

Young spoke against anything other than permanent designation for food trucks at the last planning board meeting.

“We aren’t asking to be shoehorned into your temporary use ordinance. Putting us into the temporary use category belittles us,” Young said. “We don’t want to keep rolling temporary permits back to back. Restaurants on Main Street don’t have to go in every 180 days and prove to the town they have a right to be here.”

What Young was asking for, however, was an oxymoron. Food trucks can’t simultaneously be mobile and permanent per state building codes, Teague explained.

“To be a permanent structure you are going to have to actually comply with state building codes,” Teague said.

“We are not empowered under building codes or zoning codes to allow a mobile food truck to be a permanent fixture on a site.”

Young said he has a better understanding of the town’s conundrum after the meeting with town development officers last week.

“There are problems with having a temporary permit that lasts forever,” Young said.

Young plans to propose another alternative, one that would put food trucks in an entirely new classification unto their own.

“It seems like they are genuinely interested in working with us,” Young said. “There are always going to be growing pains, and all we can do is grit our teeth and get through them together.”

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Survey says A telephone poll of 800 randomly selected residents of Haywood County measured public opinion surrounding land-use planning.

• 66 percent agreed there should be a land use plan, 20 percent disagreed, and 14 percent were unsure.

• 64 percent supported additional industrial land-use regulation, 24 percent opposed them, and 13 percent were unsure.

• 50 percent supported additional commercial development regulations, 36 percent were opposed, and 12 percent were unsure.

• 48 percent supporting additional residential land-use regulations, 40 percent opposed them, and 12 percent were unsure.

• When asked about the severity of land development as a problem, 39 percent said the problem is a major one, 35 percent think of it as a minor issue, 22 percent reported that it was not a problem and 4 percent were not sure For the full survey results, go to smokymountainnews.com and click on this article.

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Sachs, a Haywood resident, said at a county meeting in February.

Still, commissioners didn’t know if the isolated NIMBY conflicts — an acronym for not-in-my-backyard — were indicative of larger public interest.

“Those very much in favor or very much opposed to something often end up dominating the conversation,” Swanger said. “I wanted to know what the larger feeling was. I wanted to scientifically determine it.”

Enter the WCU Public Policy Institute.

“Our goal, as it always is, was to help them get a more repetitive sample of opinions from the entire county,” said Todd Collins, the director of WCU’s Public Policy Institute.

“That is the goal of taking surveys instead of town hall meetings, because it is not just who yells the loudest.”

Collins said the cold call from Haywood County officials asking for help measuring sentiment on a local issue is exactly the type of public service the Public Policy Institute hoped to offer in the region when it was created in 1999.

“They are just a wonderful asset to have,” Swanger said of the Public Policy Institute.

The survey reduces the guesswork that often goes into trying to assess the community’s wishes.

“It was a good barometer to get a measure of public opinion,” David Francis, the special projects coordinator for the county, said.

The telephone survey polled more than

April 6-12, 2016

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER aywood County residents support landuse planning by a large margin, according to the results of a recent telephone survey.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said they support a common plan for land-use and development, with only 20 percent saying they were opposed, and the remaining 14 percent undecided. The survey of 800 randomly selected residents was commissioned by the county and carried out by Western Carolina University Public Policy Institute.

“I think it is quite clear there is a desire for the county to engage in some planning,” Haywood County Commissioner Mark Swanger said of the results.

Land-use planning comes in many flavors, however, and as to what direction the county might go, if any, is way too soon to say.

But Swanger is fairly confident there’s one path land-use planning won’t take: countywide zoning.

“I still think this is going to have to be from the grassroots level,” Swanger said, citing a community-led a process.

Until recently, commissioners were operating under the assumption that landuse planning wasn’t popular with the public. The idea hasn’t been broached since the late 1990s, but the heated hearings and angry crowds who dominated the last debate still loomed large in local politicians’ memories. They weren’t eager to go down that path again.

Commissioners were forced to rethink that notion recently and postulate whether public opinion has shifted in the intervening two decades.

“People from both sides of the political spectrum, and for potentially different reasons, were asking for intervention from the county in the absence of a county land-use plan,” Swanger said.

The final revelation for commissioners came this winter. A rural farming community repeatedly begged commissioners to stop a shooting range from encroaching on their tranquil quality of life, one they’d known for generations.

It was the third time in less than a year that public outcry had erupted in the county over the prospect of development deemed unsavory by a particular community. Land-use conflicts had also cropped up over a trash and recycling sorting center, a charter school campus and a dogboarding kennel.

During the disparate debates, several members of the public urged commissioners to take a more proactive approach.

“Rather than reacting to each individual thing that happens, I think it is a good opportunity for communities in Haywood County to think about what do we want to see, what is the character we want to preserve,” Susan

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Haywood residents favor land-use planning

800 randomly selected residents of Haywood small-area land-use plans for individual County based on voter registration rolls, communities like Cullowhee and Cashiers, specifically those who have voted at least once but nothing countywide. Macon County, in the last six years. Collins said he is confi- meanwhile, has a high-impact use ordident that the results are a statistically accu- nance that stipulates where more intrusive rate representation of the greater public. The types of development like factories, racetracks or landfills can go. survey cost the county $6,000.

Haywood has a handful of piecemeal Collins said graduate students in the public affairs get valuable experience craft- development regulations already on the ing a survey, carrying it out and analyzing books — including steep slope construction, trailer parks, strip clubs, junkyards the results.

“I think we fill a need in the community and can do it “Those very much in favor or very less expensively than a private consultant, but there is also much opposed to something often the educational opportunity,” end up dominating the conversation.

Collins said.

Collins said it is obviously I wanted to know what the larger up to commissioners what, if anything, they want to do with feeling was. I wanted to scientifically the survey now. determine it.”

“If your goal is to create a policy, then you can look at — Mark Swanger, Haywood commissioner these survey results and create a policy that follows the will of and soon, outdoor commercial shooting what people seem to want,” Collins said.

Commissioners have not decided exactly ranges — but nothing akin to actual landwhere to go from here. So they’ve passed the use planning.

“The county is getting the reputation of issue on to the planning board to consider.

“We asked them to basically formulate a ‘Oh you can do whatever you want,’” Bruce game plan,” Swanger said. “We want them Bowen complained during a county meeting to brainstorm some and use their tools as a in January about the shooting range coming planning board to look at the results of the to Francis Farm. “We don’t have proper zoning. We have to have guidelines for people to survey.”

Swanger suggested an analysis of what follow. It is important. You are talking about other counties in the region have and don’t changing the nature of a community that have. Jackson County, for example, has goes back centuries.”

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Sign of the times Some say Sylva’s sign fees are too high

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER or some people, spending free time cross-referencing town fee schedules would be as boring as watching paint dry. But for Tyler Watras, a sign painter by trade, watching paint dry isn’t so bad, and delving into the world of sign permit fees is more likely to induce passion than yawns.

His verdict? Sylva’s sign fees are way too high, and it’s hurting businesses.

“A business in downtown Sylva that has a 15year-old sign, if they’re looking at upgrading not only are they having to pay for the cost of the Tyler Watras sign, but they’re having to pay for a permit that is so high they’re less inclined to do it,” Watras said. “I’ve seen businesses waiting until their sign falls down before replacing it.”

Simply having a sign fee isn’t what sparked Watras’ criticism. Most towns have them. But Sylva’s rate is much higher than the other towns around it, and that bothers Watras. A Haywood County resident as of six months ago, Watras lived in Sylva for more than 10 years before that and paints signs in Asheville, Andrews, and everywhere in between — including Sylva.

“I honestly think the fees are disproportionate,” he said.

In Sylva, a double-sided sign — regardless of how big or how small — carries a permit fee of $200. Compare that to Waynesville, where the rate is based on size and uses a formula of $2 per square foot with a $20 minimum. There, a four-by-four-foot sign would

Smoky Mountain News

April 6-12, 2016

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carry a $32 fee. In Franklin, the fee for that same 16-square-foot sign would be $44. It would be $25 in Bryson City, $50 in Cashiers and $100 in Brevard, Webster or Dillsboro.

Watras combed the fee schedules of towns from Black Mountain to Murphy, and even the most expensive fees for a 16-square-foot double-sided sign were only half of what’s charged in Sylva.

“I’m trying to propose some potential changes for that,” he said. “A different way of calculating their fees.”

During the public comment period of the Thursday, April 7, town meeting, Watras plans to give the board an overview of his concept, which would include options using a base fee of either $75 or $100 with an additional 3 to 5 percent per dollar of sign value.

The plan would generally result in fees placing Sylva on the high end compared to surrounding towns, but its fees would come within range of the municipalities around it.

The town board has mixed opinions on Watras’ perspective.

“All of the towns in that list have a much higher tax rate than we do, so they have a base, but that $200 fee isn’t just for the fee,” said Commissioner Greg McPherson. “It’s for enforcement of the ordinance.”

Ordinances cost money to enforce, and permit fees go toward that cost. Sylva has an interlocal agreement with Jackson County for planning and enforcement services, for which it pays $20,000 per year. In the fourth quarter of 2015, permit fees — which include, but are not limited to, sign permit fees — covered only $2,000 of the $5,000 quarterly cost. In the third quarter, they covered $2,280. So, the argument could be made that permit fees aren’t high enough, as revenues from the various permits the town issues don’t cover the cost of enforcement.

“We don’t want to have a fee that makes it difficult for businesses to operate, but we do have costs associated with having a zoning ordinance,” said Town Manager Paige Dowling.

And, pointed out Commissioner Harold Hensley, the sign fee is a one-time deal.

“That’s not per week or per month or per year,” he said. “You pay that one time as long as you own that business, so to me that’s not outrageous.”

“A business coming to Sylva has to do its due diligence on what the fee is, and that $200 has to be wrapped into their business plan — and a 16-square-foot sign is massive,”

addition to the above-the-awning sign proclaiming his store’s presence, he’s got a couple of little signs under the awning that simply say “books.” Those small signs carry the same $200 fee as the large, doublesided sign hanging above.

“It is a shock when you’re first starting a business, having to pay for all the signs at once,” said Alter, whose business has been inside city limits for about two-and-a-half years.

Melissa Wilcox, who’s owned Melissa’s Backstreet Takeout for one year as of March 30, is still in the midst of that shock. She wants to replace the signs that were in place from the business’s previous owner, but that $200 fee, in addition to the cost of the sign itself, has kept her from doing so.

“I’m a single person and a sole proprietor, so it’s just me,” she said.

“There’s not a whole lot of extra cash in there. The fees have kept me from changing signs or putting up a new sign.”

The feeling is not necessarily unanimous, however. Steve Baxley, In Sylva, sign fees are higher than in surrounding towns who opened Baxley’s Chocolates in and the same regardless of the sign’s size. Some think October alongside his wife Beth and that should change. Holly Kays photo daughter Lauren, said the fee didn’t really faze him.

McPherson said.

“To be honest with you, we didn’t really If anything, perhaps, the gap between think about it because we weren’t really lookenforcement costs and fees collected shows ing at anywhere else but here,” he said. “We that fees are lower than they really should be. accepted it as a cost of getting open.”

That’s the conclusion of Commissioner David Other costs in Sylva are low. For example, Nestler — but that doesn’t necessarily mean property tax is set at 30 cents per $100 as comhe believes the fees should go up, or even that pared to 43.8 cents per $100 in Waynesville, he’s against them going down. though the Sylva board is discussing a tax hike “They’re way higher than the towns of 6 or 7 cents this year. And while state law around us, and that’s a problem whether or said that permit fees must go to enforcement, not we’re charging enough or not,” he said. regardless of the property tax rate, that’s not “It’s not smart to charge more than all the to say that property taxes can’t go to cover towns and counties around us.” enforcement. Often, they do. So, said some Regardless of whether the fee levels are commissioners, with a lower tax rate it stands justifiable on paper or not, the impacts trickle to reason that fees might be higher to pay for down to private business owners, who are a greater share of the enforcement than they ultimately the ones in control of their store- otherwise might. front and how it affects Sylva’s public face.

Town commissioners won’t set the fee Harry Alter, owner of Harry Alter Books schedule for the upcoming 2016-17 budget on Main Street, said that the fee levels have year until their May 5 meeting, but between certainly given him pause. now and then Watras — with the help of “The current ordinance does discourage Sylva’s business community — hopes to bend me from changing anything,” he said. In their ears to see it his way.

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Public hearing will precede vote

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER lcohol could start showing up at some downtown Sylva events if town commissioners approve an ordinance slated for public comment on April 7.

“A majority of the board wanted staff to look into the possibility of allowing alcohol at certain special events,” said Paige Dowling, Sylva town manager. “We’ve always had requests to have alcohol at special events or weddings at Bridge Park, but it seems like there have been more in the last year.”

In response, commissioners asked Dowling to draft an ordinance amendment that would allow alcohol consumption on town property — pending specific, case-bycase approval from the board.

To get approval — whether it be for a private event at Bridge Park or a large festival like Greening up the Mountains — the person seeking permission from the board would first have to get the OK from the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, present proof of insurance and hire security personnel to cover the event.

A

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Sylva’s commissioners will hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, at Town Hall on 83 Allen Street to take input on an ordinance that would allow them to give case-by-case permission for alcohol to be consumed on town property during special events.

Anyone with an opinion is welcome to come and speak.

“The whole point of the public hearing is for us to get public input, and that could definitely sway my opinion,” said Commissioner David Nestler.

Commissioners will vote on the ordinance during their regularly scheduled meeting immediately following the public hearing. more viable force for the economy,” said Commissioner Greg McPherson.

“I’ve seen many other towns decide to do these things, and it’s beneficial to the town’s economy and the way it brings the tourists,” agreed Mayor Lynda Sossamon.

Commissioner David Nestler also voiced his support, though with the caveat that he could change his mind depending on what’s said at Thursday’s public hearing. Passing the ordinance would help get the younger generation engaged in community life, he said.

“This is something that the younger generation wants to see in their town, and this is what keeps young kids engaged in their community and living in a small town,” he said.

Support is not unanimous, however.

Commissioner Harold Hensley, who’s served on the board since 2005, sees the change as a threat to Sylva’s family-friendly atmosphere.

“I don’t care if they drink beer or have a home brew or not, but I don’t think it ought to be done at the park when you’re having family affairs,” he said. “There’s other places to do that.”

Nestler countered that alcohol consumption doesn’t carry the connotation that it once did.

“The culture around alcohol consumption has drastically changed in not even one generation,” he said. “You can have a community environment and a family-friendly environment and have well-regulated consumption as well.”

For an example, he pointed to Innovation Brewery, where it’s not uncommon to see parents stopping by for a craft brew with kids in tow.

While Hensley acknowledges others may not share his view, he stands by it.

“Right now they’ve been able to sell beer at the McGuire Garden during Greening of the Mountains, but I think it ought to stay there,” he said. “I don’t think anybody has any business with it anywhere else.”

After the public hearing, commissioners will vote the ordinance up or down.

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The draft ordinance states that commissioners would have the option to draft a resolution allowing for alcohol consumption within a specific timeframe and geographical area, with the particular type of alcohol to be specified as well. The ordinance does not specify the criteria commissioners should use to decide whether to pass a resolution or guidelines to determine how many security personnel should be required for a specific event.

According to Dowling, those provisions were not present in the similar ordinances of other towns on which she based her draft.

Town commissioners seem to be largely in favor of the idea. Passage would give a boost to the downtown economy, they say, and make for a more vibrant and engaging community.

“I think that alcohol downtown and the bars downtown are becoming a more and

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April 6-12, 2016

“The culture around alcohol consumption has drastically changed in not even one generation. You can have a community environment and a familyfriendly environment and have well-regulated consumption as well.”

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Sylva considers loosened alcohol ordinance

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Cherokee re-examines adventure park idea Tribe explores concepts for outdoor adventure park

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER fter four years of hibernation, Cherokee’s plan to build a one-of-a-kind family adventure park is back on the table.

In 2012, Tribal Council gave the go-ahead to construct a $92 million park featuring water slides, rock climbing, zip-lining, splash pads and indoor amenities such as a 302room hotel, restaurants, retail shops and an arcade. But the plan found itself growing alongside pushes for other expensive construction projects — most notably a new casino in Murphy and a new hospital — and it got sidelined. Now, the casino and hospital projects are built and open for business, and Tribal Council has a renewed interest in the adventure park concept.

“It wasn’t the project or the studies or anything that we had done at the time that had stopped it,” said Councilmember Alan “B” Ensley, of Yellowhill, when Tribal Council discussed the idea during a March 23 work session. “It was the state of the tribe.”

With the continued threat that someone closer to population centers like Atlanta and Chattanooga will build a casino and cut off Cherokee’s share of the casino market, diversification has long been a buzzword for tribal leaders. A theme park showcasing Cherokee culture and Smoky Mountain beauty could be the magic bullet to sustaining and growing Cherokee’s share of tourism dollars.

“Everyone says you need an anchor,” Ensley said. “You need a wow factor to come into Cherokee. This could be our wow factor right here.”

Cherokee started pursuing an adventure park concept in 2012 but wound up setting it aside. The newly elected Tribal Council is now revisiting the idea. Iconica rendering

April 6-12, 2016

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ENVISIONING THE PARK

Smoky Mountain News

That’s a statement with which Tom Pientka — CEO of the design, engineering and construction company Iconica, which is working on the project — whole-heartedly agrees.

Cherokee’s “captive audience” — spurred

by the millions of tourists funneled through each year en route to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — the 18 million people who live within a three-hour drive of town, its stunning natural beauty, its cultural uniqueness and potential for collaboration with Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in this type of venture make it a perfect choice for the project, Pientka said.

“It starts to become a no-brainer for me,” he said.

The park could tie in Cherokee culture as its main “brand,” Pientka said, urging councilmembers to think about it as an opportunity to “create Epcot here in your backyard.”

In fact, Pientka said, Cherokee should really start thinking bigger than the $92 million, 300room project originally envisioned in 2012. Up the capacity to 400 rooms, maybe, and by all means consider adding an outdoor adventure park component to the existing plans.

“Today everybody’s built water parks. We think given the lay of the land here it’s time to

will require capital and an investment, but it’s going to help ensure the success.”

Regardless, the adventure park — if built — would have a huge impact on the local community as well as on tourists. Pientka estimates such a facility would provide 300 to 350 jobs, with about 150 of those positions full-time. It would also jumpstart retail business in town.

“You’ve got a captive audience. You can bring the families back in multiple ways,” he said. “Destination retail shopping is something that’s needed. I don’t see it here.”

REACTIONS FROM

TRIBAL LEADERS

Ensley wasn’t the only councilmember to react favorably to Pientka’s presentation.

“We can sit back and talk about it for another two to six years, but it’s not going to do us any good,” said Councilmember Travis Smith, of

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take it to the next generation of adventure park,” he told Tribal Council. “Elements of this are being built out on the East Coast, but nobody’s really done it holistically, and we think your location is perfect for that.”

The adventure park component would include snow tubing, mountain biking trails and perhaps even a rapid river course with pumps that allow the rapids to increase or decrease in intensity.

“How cool would that be here?” Pientka said. “It will become a true destination.”

Of course, all that will probably increase the cost by millions, though the exact figure remains to be seen. However, Pientka urged council to strongly consider adding the extra dimension to the plans, promising that it would be worth it in the long run.

“This is what makes it work 365. It’s not just your summer destination. Your seasons are longer than they are up in Wisconsin or up in the Poconos, so I think we should take advantage of that,” Pientka said. “Of course it

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A family adventure park is not the only project in the works on the Qualla Boundary.

In February, Tribal Council approved a resolution from Principal Chief Patrick Lambert to build a $13 million bowling facility adjacent to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

“The resolution itself fulfills the idea of putting it where it is the most feasible to make the most money yet still have an entrance that our tribal members can go and enjoy the facility,” Lambert told Tribal Council.

The facility would be built without taking out any additional debt, Lambert, said with the tribe paying for half of the project and the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise picking up the other half. The tribe’s portion would come from reserves.

“It’s not just simply bowling,” said Vice

FACTORS AFFECTING COST

Smoky Mountain News

The exact proposal will depend on which option Tribal Council decides to pursue once it gets some hard numbers back on the costs associated with various approaches to the project.

“This isn’t an exercise in design,” Pientka said. “It’s now about the numbers.”

How much is Tribal Council willing to spend to get the project done? How much should be spent to get it done right?

In 2012, council had approved a plan for a $92 million facility, but that plan included only 300 rooms — the general idea had been to bring the total up to 400 rooms later — and some of the outdoor adventure components Pientka is now presenting weren’t included. Pientka didn’t have any numbers on hand for how much the adventure component might account for but offhand threw out $5 or $10 million as possible marks.

The change in economic climate will also affect the total price tag.

“We budgeted this in 2010 in the heart of the recession,” Pientka said. “Costs have gone up. I don’t know where it’s going to land. But the last thing I want to see happen is not put

the right horsepower behind it to make that destination.”

The degree to which Tribal Council decides to tie the adventure park to the casino could also impact the total price. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino sports a variety of amenities that could be attractive to adventure park users as well, such as restaurants and stores and hotel rooms.

“We can leverage the casino meeting space, we can leverage the restaurants, and we can start to downsize some of the things we would typically build in the creation of a destination resort,” Pientka said.

Especially, he said, if Tribal Council elects to go with a possible, though rather mountainous, location sitting catty-corner from the casino itself. In that case, perhaps a tram could even be installed to ferry visitors back and forth between the two establishments.

“The difficulty with the site is the terrain, but that can be dealt with,” Pientka said. “We can knock the mountain down to a certain point. I’m sure we’re going to hit rock somewhere, but we don’t know what we don’t know at this point.”

The other site option would be on the site of the old Cherokee Elementary School.

If the casino didn’t exist, Pientka said, he’d lean toward that second site as the best option for the park, especially since shaving the mountain down is a wildcard cost for the first site.

But potential cross-pollination with the casino could prove extremely valuable, and it might be harder on a site that was farther away.

“What’s best for the customer, and that’s where I need a little help,” Pientka said. “If we have all these ancillary services here at the casino, it might make more sense there.”

There are a lot of variables to consider, but dialing those down to objective measurements will be the next step. Councilmembers’ feedback to Pientka was overwhelmingly positive, and they ultimately directed him to start working on a dollar figure for what the project might cost. With those numbers in hand, they’ll be able to move forward on the project.

“We can sit around here and old school it all day to where we’re scared to spend our money,” Smith said, “but unless we’re scared, we’re not going to make it.”

April 6-12, 2016

Birdtown. “I would be in full support of this and move forward with it.”

“I like the idea that it is going to be more Cherokee-themed,” agreed Councilmember Adam Wachacha, of Snowbird. “I think that’s what this town needs.”

“I think everybody’s ready to move forward with that,” added Chairman Bill Taylor, of Wolfetown.

But nothing’s set in stone. There are still a lot of unknowns.

That’s the position the tribe’s executive office is taking.

During the meeting, Principal Chief Patrick Lambert said that the adventure park is “something that is very intriguing in concept and idea,” but his Chief of Staff Sage Dunston clarified that it’s hard to tell for sure, at this point, whether it’s a good idea or not.

“We’re not in favor or in opposition but just studying the proposal,” Dunston said.

Chief Richie Sneed. “This will also keep and attract people on the casino property, which helps drive revenue up in gaming.”

The two-story building would have bowling lanes on both floors, sell food and drink — including alcohol, as it would be part of the casino — and include a family arcade area with ticket games.

“The financial projections look really, really good and probably the most important thing is we’re not borrowing any money to do this,” Sneed said.

The proposal met favorable comment from tribal member Peggy Hill.

“It’s a real outlet for those of us who are older,” she said. “It’s not very strenuous, it’s very social.”

The resolution passed with opposition from Councilmember Bo Crowe, of Wolfetown, and Councilmember Anita Lossiah, of Yellowhill. Councilmember Adam Wachacha, of Snowbird, abstained from the vote.

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Bowling alley coming to Cherokee

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Additional testing under way for SCC shooting range

On the beautiful campus of Haywood Community College

BY HOLLY KAYS sition took place.

STAFF WRITER Concern over the shooting range began he lead-contaminated shooting range in 2014, when the college approached at Southwestern Community College in Jackson County for funding to fix up the Webster is in for another round of testrange — including removing the estimated ing after the state called for further sam60 tons of lead shot stuck in the berm. That pling to determine levels of several other number led to questioning about whether potentially toxic substances in the soil. those 60 tons of lead had caused any enviThe additional sampling will measure ronmental contamination, and testing levels of antimony, zinc, copper and revealed levels as much as 73 times higher arsenic, but its main focus will be polycyclic than the amount considered safe. aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. So, SCC began considering plans to get “When we grill our meat and get that the place remediated, asking for bids to start really delicious char, we’re producing the clean-up process. Because the soil was PAHs,” said Sandy Mort, environmental toxicologist for the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. “Any organic material that combusts, that’s going to produce this compound called PAH. We would determine them ubiquitous.”

They’re a natural substance, but when present in high concentrations they can cause a problem.

Mountain Environmental Services gather soil samples at Accidentally eating Southwestern Community College’s firing range during the first soil with high PAH round of testing in 2014. Donated photo levels is dangerous — but environmental issues are probably the too contaminated to be safe for a landfill asmore likely impact. is, the cleanup would involve excavating the “They could be a problem if they are soil, mixing it with phosphates that would attached to the soil and then they travel bind to the lead and keep it from washing with that soil in heavy rainstorm to a surout of the soil into the environment, truckface water,” Mort said. “They can be toxic to ing that mixture to a landfill and replacing the organisms that live in an aquatic envithe excavated area with new dirt. ronment, either in the water column like Those plans are on hold, pending the the fish or the algae or the insect-like things outcome of the PAH testing. The additional that live in the mud.” sampling and reporting, to be done by Because the range is located just uphill Asheville-based ECS Carolinas, is estimated from the Tuckasegee River, with a seasonal to cost $6,100 and be finished by late April. stream flowing even nearer to the shooting Once the sampling is done and the levels range, that’s a real concern. reported, the next step will be to figure out Currently, the shooting range is used as exactly what kinds of PAH are responsible, training grounds for public safety classes at if any, Mort said. The substance is part of a SCC as well as for officers with a variety of group containing about 16 different types. law enforcement agencies in the region. But “Those have a very broad range of chemin the past, skeet shooting was part of the ical structures, and that chemical structure officers’ training to give them practice trackwould relate to how they move through the ing moving targets, and back in the day environment, how toxic they are, how easily skeet targets were held together using crethey are taken up by organisms,” Mort said. osote. Creosote is primarily composed of It’s possible that the test results could PAH. impact the type of remediation that’s ulti“I thought it would be good to test for mately needed to get the site cleaned up, some additional parameters,” said Harvi and it will be impossible to say for sure Cooper, environmental chemist for DEQ. until the numbers come back. But Mort has Cooper, who is based in Raleigh, is in a hunch. charge of the case on the state’s end but has “Without seeing the data we never know only recently begun working on the project. for sure, but it would be my semi-educated After Roberta Proctor, who had been the guess that if we treat for the lead, that will environmental chemist on the case, retired probably take care of the PAH issue,” she Dec. 31, movement forward on the samsaid. “I think lead will be the determining pling and cleanup slowed down as the tranfactor in how the soil needs to be removed.”

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Bryson City to keep Fry Street open

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR lderwoman Heidi Woodard’s motion for the town to abandon the right-of-way on Fry Street was met with silence at Monday night’s Bryson City board meeting, but town leaders say that doesn’t mean the issue is dead.

Fry Street has been a reoccurring item on the town agenda for more than a year, but board members keep finding reasons to put off making a decision. It was tabled so the board could get public comment, it got tabled so aldermen could do more research and it even got tabled when a board member missed a meeting. Mayor Tom Sutton finally gave the board a deadline last month to reach a decision on the controversial issue once and for all.

The boardroom Monday night was packed with people who wanted the town to relinquish the right-of-way, which would allow the street to be closed off to vehicle traffic, but they were disappointed with the decision to keep the street open.

“I am a little disappointed with the decision, but am not surprised,” Woodard said.

“This has been such an emotional issue in our town and county with people feeling strongly either one way or another, and there is still information that needs to be obtained regarding property ownership at Fry Street.”

Fry Street is located right downtown between the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad

April 6-12, 2016

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Fry Street will remain open to vehicular traffic after the Bryson City Board of Alderman denied the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad’s request to relinquish the right of way in order to close the street and make the area more pedestrian friendly. File photo train depot and a plaza of businesses. With the support of the Swain County Tourism Development Authority, the railroad asked the town in late 2014 to give up the right-ofway so that the street could be shut down to improve safety concerns but also so the TDA and railroad could move forward with plans to construct a pedestrian plaza.

The town held two public hearings to give residents a chance to weigh in on the decision. A majority of people liked the idea of creating a more pedestrian-friendly area in the heart of downtown, but they didn’t trust that the railroad would follow through with its promise to do so. Many Bryson City residents said they felt like the train gets special treatment while other businesses are left to fend for themselves.

Many people who spoke at the public hearings agreed there were safety concerns on Fry Street because of pedestrian traffic from the train mixing with vehicle traffic to and from the surrounding businesses.

The town gave the idea a chance, though, by allowing a temporary closure of the street during the winter months when the train holds its popular Polar Express excursions.

When it was all said and done, the town felt like the railroad didn’t handle the temporary closure well. Fry Street merchants complained that their sales plummeted because the railroad put up signage and barricades giving the appearance that people couldn’t even walk down the street to access businesses.

Alderman Rick Bryson, who had initially been in support of the street closure and the

plaza project, changed his mind at that point and instead started to look at how the town could address the issues on Fry Street.

Alderman Jim Gribble has made his opposition to the closure well known since the beginning, and Alderwoman Janine Crisp has stayed fairly quiet on the issue. But when Woodard made the motion to relinquish the right-of-way and none of the other aldermen would even entertain the motion with a second, it was clear the board wasn’t going to give up the right-of-way.

Bryson said it wouldn’t be the last time Fry Street is discussed, though. He said the board was starting a conversation about how to improve safety on Fry Street without having to give up the right-of-way and shut it down to vehicle traffic.

Woodard said a discussion followed regarding maintenance of Fry Street, and the board authorized the town manager to draw new lines on the street and install a crosswalk to make it a safer area for pedestrians.

“My main concern has been the safety of pedestrians in the area of Fry Street, which would be solved through the creation of a pedestrian park, since this is not a possibility at this time, the town will be taking measures to better designate that area as a street,” Woodard said.

The street also needs to be repaved as it is riddled with loose gravel and potholes, but Bryson said that would probably have to wait.

The town has already spent most of its road maintenance money on higher-priority road paving, but perhaps Fry Street could be included in next year’s budget.

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BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR iece by piece, Canton is setting the stage for future economic success through a number of new initiatives.

A couple of new economic development issues will be discussed at a special-called meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, at the Canton municipal building. Assistant Town Manager Jason Burrell said the meeting would give downtown business owners, property owners and the general public a chance to review and provide input on the creation of a downtown business improvement district.

“The reason we’re looking into doing this is because of our effort to implement some grant programs we put into our economic incentive policy, and one of the requirements is you need to create a business improvement district,” Burrell said.

Canton Board of Aldermen approved a policy that will allow the town to offer a long list of economic development incentive grant programs for business and property owners wanting to invest in the downtown corridor.

The grants would provide some funding for capital investments, creating jobs, upgrading building facades, architectural design assistance and more. Burrell said state laws require municipalities to map out and create a special business improvement district if they want to offer special grants.

He will have maps at the April 7 meeting to show people where he sees the district lines being drawn.

Once a consensus is reached regarding the district lines, Burrell said letters will be sent out to all affected property owners and an official public hearing will follow before the improvement district is officially adopted. Establishing the district won’t mean additional taxes for businesses within the district like Waynesville’s downtown district.

The Canton board will also be considering the adoption of a reimbursement agreement ordinance that could prove beneficial in the next few months. The ordinance would allow the town to reimburse others for doing work that benefits the town. For example, when the N.C. Department of Transportation repaves Main Street Canton in May it may be easier for the DOT crews to go ahead and pave some sidewalks while they’re at it. Then the town could reimburse DOT for the work.

While Burrell can’t release much information about a new business looking to locate to Canton, he said the reimbursement ordinance could come into play if the deal goes through.

“There’s a business looking to locate on Canton property and there may be some roadway improvements and utility line work done as part of that project,” he said. “While they’re onsite doing that work, we would consider reimbursing them for a portion of the work if it’s beneficial to the town.”

The project is still under wraps as the details are worked out but an announcement could be made in the next month if all goes as planned.

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Canton preps for economic success

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April 6-12, 2016

news

Towns preach health message to hold down insurance rates

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER ric Messer only has one complaint about the health and wellness initiatives the town of Waynesville has been pushing with its employees. The fitness tracking bracelets passed out by the town weren’t designed with sewer plant workers in mind.

“They don’t do so well immersed in water,” said Messer, who works at the town’s wastewater plant.

Messer was among more than 300 town employees from Waynesville, Canton, Maggie Valley and Clyde who cycled through an annual health and wellness fair staged in the gym of Waynesville’s rec center last Friday.

Attendance was mandatory, but getting off work for a couple of hours wasn’t the only perk. Aside from the free croissant sandwiches, employees were able to parley with over three dozen health and wellness vendors and organizations. Employees swarmed the fair en masse over the course of the morning, milling about the tables and booths grabbing up free pens, fridge magnets and flyers for everything from vitamin vendors to fitness studios.

“This is a fun way for employees to get information from various resources in a relaxed environment,” said Brittany Buchanan, Waynesville’s human resources manager.

But there was an ulterior motive for the four towns in Haywood County who sent their employees to the fair.

“A healthier workforce is a more produc-

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tive workforce,” said Andrew Bowen, Maggie Valley’s town planner who can often be seen sporting a kayak on top of his car come Friday afternoon.

There’s a direct financial benefit, as well.

“To have healthier employees means lower insurance rates,” said Buchanan. “The impact of workplace wellness can be seen in the bottom line for health insurance costs.”

When employees’ claims go up, insurance companies respond by jacking up the town’s rates.

“You can offer better benefits to employees if you keep your group plan costs low.”

It was mandatory for Waynesville employees to attend a wellness fair last week as part of the town’s ongoing healthy lifestyle campaign for workers. Donated photo

— Lisa Stinnett, Canton town clerk

The town, in turn, has to pass the higher costs along to employees, whether it’s higher out-of-pocket costs or higher deductibles.

“You can offer better benefits to employees if you keep your group plan costs low,” said Lisa Stinnett, Canton’s town clerk.

Aside from the annual health and wellness fair, Waynesville uses a suite of strategies to keep health and wellness on employees’ radar, such as the fitness tracking bracelets that measure activity level and help combat

sedentary lifestyles.

Waynesville also has a staff health and wellness committee and hosts monthly lunch-and-learns on health topics, which have steadily grown in attendance.

Ideally, the concept of health and wellness seeps into employees’ consciousness and trickles down to family members who may be on the town’s insurance plan as well, Buchanan said.

“Their whole family is healthier,” Buchanan said.

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Buchanan is proud to report that Waynesville escaped with essentially no health plan rate hike last year, and is hoping to see the same again this year, thanks to holding the line on claims.

As for the durability of Waynesville’s fitness bracelets? Messer wasn’t the only one with issues.

“A lot of our employees deal with water and nasty stuff,” Buchanan said, from trash haulers to water line repair crews. So she’s got new waterproof fitness bracelets on order.

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BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR aywood County voters will be asked to weigh in during the general election on whether businesses outside town limits should be allowed to sell alcoholic beverages.

“I’ve had some requests by persons who own convenience stores or restaurants outside the city limits who out of economic fairness want to know why they can’t sell alcohol,” County Manager Ira Dove told commissioners on Monday.

While some people feel like it could help economic development in the county, while others feel expanding alcohol sales could result in an increase in alcohol-related incidents.

“Regardless of what side of the issue you fall on, this is putting it to the citizens of Haywood County so they can decide what they want,” Dove continued.

Dove said 1952 was the last time the countywide alcohol issue was voted on by Haywood County residents. Beer and wines sales are allowed only in the town limits of Canton, Maggie Valley and Waynesville. Clyde is a dry town with no alcohol sales allowed. The referendum pertains only to beer and wine sales

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because liquor can be sold only at the state-regulated ABC stores.

Dove said the referendum would let residents decide whether restaurants, convenient stores and hotels outside city limits should be able to sell beer and wine with the appropriate permits.

Voters will say “yay” or “nay” to the following options — allow the off-premise sale of beer; allow on-premise sales of beer at hotels and restaurants and off-premise sale by other permitted businesses; to allow only on and off-premise sales of wine and to allow off-premise sale only of wine.

“I think this should be an easy decision for us to make. The other decisions we’ve been faced with in last month are more difficult because we had to make the decision but this one we can put in front of constituents and let them make the decision,” said Commissioner Kirk Kirkpatrick.

Commissioners voted 3 to 1 in favor of passing the resolution allowing the alcohol referendum to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. The board excused Commissioner Michael Sorrells from voting on the issue since he owns a convenience store that could potentially benefit if such a referendum passed. Commissioner Kevin Ensley voted against the referendum because of his religious beliefs.

“I can’t vote on this based on the convictions of my Christian faith — I’ll be voting against this now and in November,” he said.

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19

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Board split on future of Franklin property

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR he town of Franklin has been sitting on about 13 acres of pristine greenway space for about 12 years with no concrete plans for how to utilize it.

The board of aldermen has just recently begun to talk about the possibilities for the so-called Whitmire property, but members are split on how it should be used. Aldermen Billy Mashburn and Joe Collins want to explore the option of selling the property to a developer while Mayor Bob Scott and the other aldermen would like to see it developed into a recreational park.

The town purchased the tract of land back in 2004 for $1.6 million with the intention of building a new government building, but the value of the land and the desire to keep town offices downtown essentially killed the plan.

Jimbo Ledford and several other outdoor enthusiasts in Franklin recently presented the town with a preliminary recreational plan for the Whitmire property. Ledford told the board that the property — located on the corner of East Main Street and Highlands Road — would be perfect for a multi-use town park.

“This park could focus on a variety of outdoor recreational options for individual sports enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels,” Ledford said. “While there are multiple team sport facilities in the area, this would be the first park of this type.”

The land could have a variety of recreational uses, including walking and running trails, an all-wheel skate park, racquetball courts, disc golf, mountain biking trails, a bouldering wall and an open air theater for entertainment.

Ledford said creating a town park would

April 6-12, 2016

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encourage residents to lead a more healthy, active lifestyle and attract more families and young professionals to locate to Franklin. He also pointed out that decreasing chronic diseases associated with obesity and recruiting more primary care physicians have been top priorities in Macon County’s State of the County annual report.

“Improving the livability of the town will help retain and recruit those types of professionals,” he said. “It will provide a sense of community and help the local economy.”

Having a park with trails right in the heart of town will also tie in perfectly with the town’s efforts to make the area more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. Franklin was one of 10 towns in North Carolina to receive a $36,000 grant from the Department of Transportation last year to create a bicycle and pedestrian plan. The plan is still in the early stages of planning with the project team collecting public input.

With the Whitmire property located near downtown and the greenway, Ledford said, now is the perfect time to link the town’s assets together.

“This is about the preservation of townowned property,” Ledford said. “Someone was smart enough to buy it — why would we get rid of it when there’s not another piece of property like this in the town of Franklin?”

Ledford was eager to move forward with getting the ball rolling to create a park and asked what the next step should be in the process.

Alderman Joe Collins is the town’s recreation liaison but the town doesn’t have a recreation department or even a committee to take on these types of projects. Scott said the town could work toward establishing a committee to explore the possibilities.

The town of Franklin purchased the 13-acre Whitmire property on the corner of East Main Street and Highlands Road back in 2004, but the town board has yet to make concrete plans on how the property should be used. Jessi Stone photo “I think this is premature,” Mashburn said.

Collins agreed.

“This certainly is one concept that looks good, but the board really needs to sit down and figure out the best use for the land, and we haven’t done that yet.”

Alderwoman Patti Abel said she loved the idea for a recreational park, but agreed the board needed to explore all possibilities before making a final decision.

Aldermen Brandon McMahan and Adam Kimsey both loved the idea of using the property for a multi-use park and asked that a recreation committee be formed.

Mashburn said he wanted to wait and see

what other options present themselves for the property.

“How much longer do we wait for other options to arise?” McMahan asked.

“If you’ll hold on a minute, you’ll see,” Mashburn replied.

Town Attorney John Henning Jr. said developers had presented a number of plans to the town throughout the years.

Ledford asked what he could do before the next town meeting to try to convince the board to pursue a recreation park.

Scott suggested the board hold a work session to discuss the issue in more detail and look into parks and recreation funding options before the next meeting.

Diane E. Sherrill, Attorney

Is a Will Enough?

339-07

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Greenhill Cemetery clean up to begin In an effort to maintain the overall appearance of the Greenhill Cemetery, the town of Waynesville Outside Facilities staff will be trimming and/or removing some of the bushes and shrubbery in the cemetery beginning on Monday, April 11, and continue through Friday, April 22.

Signage will be placed at all entrances to the cemetery to inform those visiting of the planned cleanup. 828.456.3706.

A hands-on workshop to help retirees and those approaching or planning ahead for retirement will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 9 at Southwestern Community College’s Jackson campus.

Entitled “Shifting Gears To Your Life & Work After Retirement,” the seminar will provide tips for re-inventing post-retirement life and creating a new experience of work, play, travel and leisure. Deborah Aiton, who spent 40 years as a registered nurse, will be the instructor.

The class, costs $65. To register, visit www.southwesterncc.edu, call 828.339.4497 or email j_williams@southwesterncc.edu.

Safe Kids Macon County will be hosting the third annual Buckle Up Baby event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at the Factory in Franklin.

Buckle Up Baby will feature free giveaways like coloring books and goodie bags from local businesses to free books from Read2Me. There will be games and actives for children including a display of emergency service vehicles like ambulances,

American Legion meeting features pathologist speaker William E. Dillard Post 104 of The American Legion will have its next meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 11, in the Sylva Legion Hall, at 915 West Main Street, Sylva, beside Mark Watson Park.

This meeting will feature Post member Joe Hurt, M. D., who served as a pathologist in Vietnam, 1970-71. Speaking from his civilian and military background, Hurt will discuss diverse methods for identifying human remains. He will use examples of remains from different eras and from various circumstances.

Military veterans in Jackson and Swain County interested in joining Post 104 are invited to attend. www.sylvalegion.org or 828.293.5385 or jknicholl@frontier.com.

Farm Bureau to host law enforcement dinner A law enforcement appreciation dinner will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 8, at Haywood County Farm Bureau, 1520 Asheville Road, Waynesville. All law enforcement is invited for a free barbecue dinner. RSVP at 828.452.1425.

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However, before taking action, it’s helpful to know what the near-term direction of interest rates may look like. The Federal Reserve has stated that it plans to keep short-term rates at their current historic lows until at least mid-2015. The Fed doesn’t control longterm rates, making them somewhat less predictable, but it’s still likely that these rates will rise sooner than short-term ones.

In any case, rather than worry about something you can’t control – that is, interest rate movements – try to focus on those things you can accomplish. And one achievable goal is to create an investment mix that includes three types of income: variable, reliable and rising.

• Variable income investments – Some variable income investments, such as certificates of deposit (CDs), offer significant protection of principal, and the value of your investment won’t change with fluctuating interest rates, provided you hold your CD until maturity. Of course, current rates are quite low, which means CDs provide you with little income today, but their rates have the potential to rise along with shortterm interest rates.

• Reliable income investments – When you purchase reliable income investments, which can include individual bonds, you have the opportunity to earn more income today, and more consistent income over time, than you’d typically get from variable income

investments. However, you will likely also experience greater price fluctuations as interest rates change.

Specifically, as interest rates rise, the price of your existing bonds typically will fall.

• Rising income investments – When investing for income, you’ll want to keep at least one eye on inflation – because if the interest rates paid on your CDs and individual bonds are lower than the annual inflation rate, you may lose purchasing power. If this gap persists over time, it could grow into a real problem for you. Consequently, you’ll want at least some of your investment income to come from rising income investments, such as dividend-paying stocks.

Of course, not all stocks pay dividends, but with the help of your financial advisor, you can find companies that have paid – and even increased – their dividends for many years running. And if you don’t actually need the dividends to supplement your cash flow, you can reinvest them to build your ownership stake in these stocks. Keep in mind, though, that companies can reduce or discontinue dividends at any time.

Also, remember that stock prices will constantly rise and fall, so the value of your principal could decline.

As you can see, all three types of income-producing investments – variable, reliable and rising – offer some benefits, along with some risks of which you need to be aware. But putting together a mix of these investments that’s appropriate for your individual needs, goals and risk tolerance may help you boost the productivity of the “income” portion of your portfolio – no matter what’s happening with interest rates.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.

Jack C Bishop Jr, CFP Financial Advisor

Jack Bishop III AAMS®

Financial Advisor 209 Walnut Street, Waynesville, NC 28786

828-452-4048

www.edwardjones.com

Smoky Mountain News

Child safety event to be held in Franklin

The Haywood County Senior Resource Center will be starting its 15th Senior Leadership Program on Tuesday, April 26.

Participants meet from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. one day a week for 14 weeks. Missed classes may be made up during the 16th session.

The cost is $50 a person. The program is designed to equip seniors with information they can use in their own communities to help seniors, caregivers and individuals with disabilities find needed programs and services. It also equips them to serve as volunteers in nonprofit agencies across the county.

After graduation, we will invite participants to attend quarterly meetings that include breakfast or lunch and provide an opportunity for leaders to continue to learn and share with others.

828.356.2833 or jchicoine@mountainprojects.org

If you depend on fixed-income investments for at least part of your income, you probably haven’t been too happy in recent years, as interest rates have hit historic lows. Nonetheless, even in a low-rate environment, you can broaden the income-producing potential of your investment portfolio.

April 6-12, 2016

SCC offers seminar on post-retirement life

Senior leadership program starts April 26

Battle Those Low Rates with Three Types of Income

news

On Track Financial Education & Counseling will conduct “Dreaming of Debt Free Living?” at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, at Haywood Community College, main auditorium classroom in Clyde.

The class, co-sponsored by Haywood Habitat for Humanity and Haywood County Board of Realtors, is helpful for anyone who is interested in getting out of debt, but doesn’t know where to start. All attendees receive class materials, a meal, and are entered in a gift card drawing.

Habitat for Humanity homeowners are also entered in a “$50 off your next mortgage payment” drawing. A reservation is required, and can be made by calling 828.452.7960 or www.haywoodhabitat.org.

patrol cars, and fire trucks. Safe Kids Macon County will also have information on other programs such as the free gun lock distribution where free gun locks will be available for anyone who wants one.

The car seat safety clinic provides the following important tips that will help parents, grandparents and caregivers begin to ensure that their car seat is used and installed properly.

828.421.7950.

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news

Real Estate Resource CHECK OUT SMOKY MOUNTAIN HOMES ONLINE!

View homes for sale Find an agent Resources for relocation

Smoky Mountain News

April 6-12, 2016

Haywood County’s

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www.MountainHomesNow.com

Education WCU launches Whee Lead Alumni Challenge Western Carolina University’s Whee Lead Alumni Challenge kicked off Tuesday, March 29, with a goal to secure 400 new or returning alumni donors by Friday, April 22.

If the goal is met, WCU will donate an additional $20,000 for scholarships and academic programming. All contributions are entirely tax-deductible. Gifts can be made by going online to wheelead.wcu.edu. Donations may be made by mail to: Whee Lead Alumni Challenge, Western Carolina University, Office of Development, 201 H.F. Robinson Administration Building, Cullowhee, NC 28723. cjburns@wcu.edu or 828.227.2868.

Student contests open for new monument

Fairview robotics team competes in Lego competition Fairview School Robotics teams recently competed in the North Carolina For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Lego League State competition held at North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro.

Students from all over North Carolina between the ages of 9 to 14 have spent the past six months learning about robotics, mechanical design, introductory engineering and computer programing in order to build an autonomous robot made out of LEGO materials. The teams met two to three times per week after school to research and design innovative solutions to solve the world’s trash problems.

Foundation Forward, Inc. is hosting a variety of student contests in preparation for installing Jackson County’s “Your Charters of Freedom” monument.

The contests are open to all public and homeschool students in the area. Winning entries will be placed inside the monument’s time capsule, scheduled to be opened on Sept.

17, 2087.

Contests are grade and age appropriate.

Visit www.chartersoffreedom.com for contest details.

Registration for summer and fall semester 2016 is under way now through April 22.

828.627.4575.

Catch the Spirit shares plans for 2016

Mountain Credit awards $7,000 in scholarships

In their ongoing efforts to successfully fund a $15,000 endowed scholarship with Southwestern Community College, the founders and board members of Catch the Spirit of Appalachia have set their fundraising goals for this year.

The first endowment goal is to be at upcoming festivals selling their famous mixed pickles, apple jelly, apple butter and/or a new perpetual calendar, and an upcoming new cookbook. The second endowment goal will be to host a scholarship dinner in September at the Burrell Building on the campus of SCC.

Mountain Credit Union in Waynesville recently awarded $7,000 in scholarships to college-bound students in Western North Carolina.

One winner is chosen from applicants from each of the seven branch offices of Mountain Credit Union. Winners this year won $1,000 each to go toward their educational expenses.

Holly Ogden of Weaverville will be attending Montreat College; Emily Brooks of Candler will be attending Asheville-Buncombe Technical College; Sarah Hyatt of Cherokee plans to attend Lenior Rhyne University; Madelline Metts of Mills River plans to attend Western Carolina University; Megan Davis of Franklin is attending Southwestern Community College; Kira Ross of Cullowhee is attending Western Carolina University; and Jacob Sutton of Maggie Valley will be graduating from Tuscola High School in the spring and is undecided.

HCC to offer engineering associate degree Starting this fall semester, Haywood Community College will offer an Associate in Engineering college transfer degree.

This is a college transfer pathway to a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science. Students can finish two years of study at HCC, then meet requirements to transfer to one of five North Carolina public universities with engineering programs at Western Carolina University, UNC-Charlotte, NC State University, East Carolina University, and NC A&T.

Smoky Mountain News

SCC launches ‘March to a Million’ April 5 A launch event for Southwestern Community College’s “March to a Million” campaign’s second phase will be held at 4 p.m.

on Tuesday, April 5, in the Burrell Building’s Conference Center on SCC’s Jackson Campus.

A commemorative plaque will be unveiled, recognizing donors who’ve each contributed more than $1,000 to the campaign. The public is invited, and light refreshments will be served. Phase I of the campaign was achieved in 2014 as SCC was able to fully leverage a federal challenge grant that matched the first $300,000 raised. With more than $680,000 in the bank, the campaign now aims to reach the seven-figure plateau in an effort to provide more scholarships than ever before.

828.339.4241 or b_woods@southwesterncc.edu.

Nazario-Colon to lead diversity initiatives A yearlong process to find a campus champion for inclusion and diversity initiatives at Western Carolina University has reached a successful close with the appointment of Ricardo Nazario-Colon, currently the director of student activities, inclusion and leadership at Morehead State University.

Nazario-Colon’s appointment as director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Programs at WCU is effect June 1. The position at WCU, which represents a restructuring of an equal opportunity and diversity programs directorship previously held by Henry Wong, is similar to others across the University of North Carolina system, where titles range from chief diversity officer to director of institutional equity and diversity.

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• Haywood Community College registration for summer and fall semester 2016 is under way now through April 22.

828.627.4500.

• Sabrina Gunnels and Cynthia Laws, Southwestern Community College graduates, now national color educators for John Paul Mitchell, recently returned to SCC to give presentations and demonstrations to current students.

• Lisa Bloom, professor in Western Carolina Univeristy’s School of Teaching and Learning, was named as the Jay M. Robinson Distinguished Professor in Educational Technologies, and Todd Collins, associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs, as the inaugural David and Lois Steed Distinguished Professor in Public Policy.

ALSO:

• Southwestern Community College respiratory therapy program students have won all four statewide competitions they’ve attended. The most recent of those came last month when second-year students successfully defended the program’s championship at the Gladiator competition in Blowing Rock.

• Competing under the team name “The Dead Space Invaders,” Jay Cleary, Matt Hixon and Kasey Wilson won by completing the four-station course the fastest.

• Current students and recent graduates of Western Carolina University’s master’s program in accountancy did better on the certified public accountant exam than the national average, results show. The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, which proctors the exam, listed WCU test takers performing at a 67 percent pass rate in 2015, compared to the 50 percent national average.

828.227.7398.

• Leslie Montoya of Franklin, a junior majoring in geology at Western Carolina University, is this year’s recipient of a $2,000 scholarship from the Gem & Mineral Society of Franklin.

• The Kenneth Haigler Endowed Scholarship Fund has been set up with an initial donation of $15,000 to the Southwestern Community College Foundation and will be awarded annually to a deserving student in the college’s radiography technology program. 828.339.4241 or b_woods@southwesterncc.edu.

• Open enrollment for Haywood Christian Academy is currently under way. Online applications can be accessed at www.haywoodchristianacademy.org.

828.627.0229.

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Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Community involvement is the key To the Editor: I won’t be voting for Michele Presnell, but it seems silly for this newspaper and local elected officials to blame her for the failure of local initiatives like the proposed room tax increase, school funding issues that influenced the closing of Central Elementary and the failure of the proposed Lake Junaluska/Waynesville merger to get on the ballot. Maybe part of the problem is we’re not doing enough to engage our citizens in information exchange or dialogue.

Local elected officials have many tools available to them in addition to their regular meetings to promote public awareness and analysis of all types of issues they address.

They can hold public forums, appoint task forces and study committees, assign staff to gather research and make presentations. I like it when local governments use these kinds of tools. At a minimum, they help bring local stakeholders together in ways that encourage them to share current experiences and information and work toward a consensus. In addition, they allow local media to cover the discussion as it progresses, instead of only when the elected body is ready to vote, and that contributes to broader public awareness.

Sometimes these types of local efforts serve as an effective counterbalance to the fingerpointing, grandstanding and selective information we see during election years, especially ones as bombastic as this one. That’s why it’s encouraging to see the Board of Commissioners appoint a task force to examine issues related to housing and homelessness, as they wait to see if the proposed housing project at the old hospital will move forward in August. It hasn’t been all that long ago that we had similar local efforts on both tourism and education. Maybe there are lessons there to revisit.

If memory serves, the last time Haywood County was granted an increase in the room tax by the General Assembly was in 2007, after the board of commissioners appointed a tourism committee to study the issue and make recommendations. I attended those meetings and some of them weren’t easy. Not everyone wanted the room tax increase, and some meetings got pretty heated, but enough did to recommend it to commissioners. Even then, when the committee made its presentation to commissioners, some members spoke against it. However, there was a strong enough consensus for it to proceed and it passed the General Assembly on the first try. The most recent effort has failed at least twice, as I recall.

Of course, the higher room tax went into effect about the same time that the nation’s

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economy tanked, which probably impacted travel budgets for a lot of people, so who knows whether the increased revenue the room tax generated helped Haywood County all that much or not. It might have been nice to convene another committee of tourism stakeholders to see what we’ve learned in the last eight years, and discuss the pros and cons of the last room tax increase, before seeking another one from the General Assembly.

In addition, some 15-16 years ago, the board of education formed a citizen’s task force to develop a long-range plan for our school system. As the task force did its work, the community got the opportunity to learn more about funding and other issues our schools were facing, and to understand the short-term and long-term goals that emerged from the process. Maybe if we’d had such a task force in the last few years, teachers, parents and students wouldn’t have felt so blindsided by the closing of Central Elementary, and there would have been more awareness in the community that we faced having to close a school.

According to the Haywood County budget adopted last May, commissioners gave the school system an additional $292,890 in revenue for 2015-16, with no restrictions on how they spent it. That’s more than half the annual cost of operating Central Elementary, according to information presented in this newspaper in January. In addition, the county budget included over $100,000 in additional funds for capital outlay. That’s not a lot of money and it couldn’t all have been used for Central, and it doesn’t address funding cuts at the state level in recent years. Still, it feels like some pieces of the funding puzzle are missing. Is next year’s projected $2.4 million shortfall in the Haywood County Schools budget the product of several years of state funding cuts, new cuts in the current state budget or both? Shouldn’t we expect less funding, and, theoretically, less cost, if our school system is serving fewer students every year?

I’m not asking because I agree with education funding cuts, and I don’t dispute what this newspaper’s editorial said about the importance of education funding as a election issue. Nor do I agree with Presnell’s charges that it was due to poor management by our school system. Still, it’s important to help local citizens understand how to connect the dots between local budget processes and changes coming from Raleigh in ways that minimize political posturing and encourage real dialogue.

It used to be that the board of education and the commissioners held a joint public

meeting each year early in the annual budget process and separate from their regular meetings, to discuss what issues, funding and otherwise, the school system was facing and how it would affect their budget request to the county. Now key staff and a few elected officials meet privately and work out the funding details and often the only chance the public gets to hear what’s being considered is near the end of the process when the issue is scheduled for a vote.

Last April, for example, both boards met separately on the same night to consider and approve a three-year funding resolution that was developed mostly in private meetings.

Interested citizens would have had to choose between one meeting or the other to monitor the discussion and try to understand what was going on, and very little information was provided on what specific factors they considered in determining the three-year formula. A month later, during a public hearing on the county budget, school officials praised the funding formula and the good working relationship with commissioners. So, how did we get from there to a discussion about closing a school that started in January?

I’m not really convinced that the timing of the discussion of Central’s closing is only about budget concerns and losing students.

Some have speculated that it’s related to the development of Shining Rock Academy, but I wonder if it’s not tied to other projects getting underway, such as the proposed low-income housing project at the old hospital. If that project proceeds, I believe the County is required to provide adequate space for school system administrative offices. If that has to happen quickly, it seems like a logical choice for the school system to move its administrative offices to Central, at least temporarily.

Maybe school and county staff and elected officials have been using the same strategy for Central Elementary that seemed to have worked with the funding formula — hold as much of the discussion as possible in private, but agree to a template for public discussion.

That seems to be a common strategy in recent years as public discourse has become more contentious. Official meetings are only to formalize behind-the-scenes discussions. One wonders how the remaining members of both boards get the information they need to get up to speed, since there’s so little public discussion before the issue is put to a vote. Do the board members who attend the private meetings divvy up the remaining members and brief them? Do they go over to a corner at other public functions and brief them there?

Do staff members call or email the remaining

board members, or meet with them privately, and fill them in that way?

Maybe everyone who will be displaced by closing Central should ponder that as they mourn the loss of of their school and await word on what will happen to the property.

According to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction website, 18 public schools across North Carolina closed in July 2015, so it’s not like it’s that unusual. Still, it cuts deep into the heart of a community and there should have been a way for us to see it coming and talk about it for longer than a few months. I wonder if those 18 communities had a more public discussion before the schools closed.

Regarding the proposed Lake JunaluskaWaynesville merger, I’m not sure we should blame Presnell alone for blocking the attempt to get the voter referendum. Despite a welldocumented advocacy effort to build support for the project that included letters from key local organizations, it still seemed geared toward bypassing real public dialogue. For me, there’s a fundamental question of when, if ever, it’s appropriate for local taxpayers to shoulder costs associated with assisting a religious conference center, no matter how valuable it is to the community. I also would have liked information on how other religious retreat centers in western N.C. operate, how they relate to local governments, and how that compares/contrasts with the JunaluskaWaynesville proposal. Between Montreat, Ridgecrest, Bonclarken, Kanuga and others, there’s no shortage of examples to evaluate.

Though I don’t live within town limits and wouldn’t have been able to vote, that kind of information might have been useful before holding a referendum, instead of just a litany of who’s for it.

I don’t often make decisions based on who’s endorsing something, I need something more than that. In a recent essay, author Parker J. Palmer wrote that the more often we turn outward for help, the more likely we are to forget what’s close at hand. He suggested it was always tempting to play the “if only” game — “If only we could raise enough money to fund this important project … If only we could amass enough firepower to make our neighborhood safe ... If only we could elect more true public servants to political office.” Palmer stated that, yes, there are times when we need resources from “out there” to help solve big problems, but the odds of finding solutions increase dramatically when we begin “in here.”

If Presnell is the only reason these issues didn’t go as local officials hoped, she seems to have accumulated a lot of influence in a relatively short period. I don’t

F

The Smoky Mountain News encourages readers to express their opinions through letters to the editor or guest columns. All viewpoints are welcome. Send to Scott McLeod at info@smokymountainnews.com., fax to 828.452.3585, or mail to PO Box 629, Waynesville, NC, 28786.

Like Palmer said, our odds of getting what we need “out there” may dramatically increase if we begin with what we have “in here.” At some point, our community, our state and our nation must learn how to create civil public discourse again. Why can’t Haywood County be a model for that?

If I’m going to help get a train rolling, I’d rather it be for that.

David Teague Waynesville

Chris Cox

10:30 a.m. to midnight. Sunday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. We are excited to be on Main St. serving lunch and dinner with a full bar.

Our menu includes items such as blackberry salmon, fettuccine alfredo, hand-cut steaks, great burgers, sandwiches, salads and more. Join us for live music every Friday and Saturday nights. Friday 6 to 9 p.m. live piano music. Saturday 6 to 9 p.m. live jazz music. No cover charge.

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; slowsimmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts.

Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily.

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

AMMONS DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT & DAIRY BAR 1451 Dellwwod Rd., Waynesville.

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

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

APPLE ANDY'S RESTAURANT 3483 Soco Road, Maggie Valley located in Market Square. 828.944.0626. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Wednesday and Thursday. Serving the freshest homemade sandwiches, wraps, and entrees such as country fried steak and grilled flounder. Full salad bar and made from scratch sides like potato salad, pinto beans and macaroni and cheese. www.appleandys.com APPLE CREEK CAFE 111 N. Main St., Waynesville.

828.456.9888. Tuesday through Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

BOGART’S 303 S. Main St., Waynesville. 828.452.1313.

Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Carry out available. Located in downtown Waynesville, Bogart’s has been long-time noted for great steaks, soups, and salads. Casual family atmosphere in a rustic old-time setting with a menu noted for its practical value. Live Bluegrass/String Band music every Thursday. Walking distance of Waynesville’s unique shops and seasonal festival activities and within one mile of Waynesville Country Club.

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Ganko Express 828-246-9099 1896 S. Main St. Waynesville

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Join Us on Our Dog Friendly Outdoor Patio 1863 S. Main Street • Waynesville 828.454.5002 Hwy. 19/23 Exit 98 LUNCH & DINNER TUES. - SUN.

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7-9 P.M. Upcoming Bands: April 12th - Tommy Payne April 19th - Wyze Guys

Smoky Mountain News

buy it. I think our own limited public discourse affected these outcomes and it would be nice to have local media that still held elected officials accountable for how far they’ve moved away from how much they’re letting the public see of their decision-making process. We’re not supposed to see only the end of that process, we’re supposed to see and understand the process from beginning to end, and have the opportunity to comment or raise questions all along the way.

I

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

April 6-12, 2016

have turned off the talk shows, put down the newspapers, avoided barbershops and changed the subject at family gatherings. I know that eventually, this being an election year with the future of the republic at stake, I will have to put on my waders and trudge back into the primordial muck of politics. But not now. Not today.

Because it is spring, and the world is, as the poet E.E. Cummings said, “mud luscious and puddle wonderful,” a long drink of elixir to rouse us from our Columnist long winter’s naps.

Because every tree, every bush, every dandelion, every blade of grass is alive, alive, alive, as I am alive on my deck with a good book and a glass of red wine filled nearly to the brim, as the children are alive on their bikes and their skateboards and their own sweet adrenaline.

And it is Opening Day of baseball season, which, in a just world, would be a national holiday. Even though I could never play the game a lick, I love baseball for more reasons than I can count, not least because, every spring, it conjures a history that means everything to those who care about it, who participate in it, who swear an allegiance to a team. It is a history of fathers and sons playing catch in the yard. Or fathers and daughters. Or mothers and sons. Or the whole family in the yard playing Wiffle ball, with the dogs playing outfield, chasing down the ball and refusing to bring it back. Another home run for the home team!

It evokes memories of late nights under the covers with a flashlight and two stacks of baseball cards, two 12-year-old boys working out complicated multiplayer deals while Vin Scully provided play-by-play of the Dodgers/Braves game, his mother’s snoring blended with Johnny Carson’s monologue seeping through the wall.

“And there’s a drive off the bat of Garvey, past the diving shortstop and into left field. One run will score, the runner from second being waved home and a play at the plate…”

tasteTHEmountains

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Opening Day brings renewed sense of hope

Opening Day unites the past, the present and the future. The season the Dodgers lost to the Yankees in the World Series after winning the first two games. The season Orel Hershiser, who looked more like a college professor than a professional athlete, dominated every batter he faced and Kirk Gibson, propped up with a pregame cortisone shot, hit a home run on his one good leg to give the Dodgers the win in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, which they would go on to win in five games against the heavily favored Oakland Athletics.

Every fan of every team can recite chapters of their own private “baseball book” from memory. Every fan can show you the path, no matter how circuitous, from here to the World Series, even those fans whose teams are in a “rebuilding mode” — which means that they will be terrible this year, but not in a year or two when their prized prospects are old enough to shave and wise enough to lay off those sliders in the dirt.

One of the very best things about baseball is that you just never know. You can never be sure of anything. Teams that should win often do not. Teams that should not be able to compete often do, whether on the major league level or any other level.

A kid who hasn’t had a hit in a month might take the other team’s ace downtown, squaring up a fastball with his eyes shut tighter than a submarine hatch. You never know.

In baseball, we all live in a town called “Hope.” On Opening Day, everybody has it.

Our records are wiped clean and everyone has the same chance. What you did last year doesn’t matter. What you did in your last atbat doesn’t matter. Because here you are in the batter’s box again, with runners on the corners, the wind at your back, the sun peeking around a band of grayish clouds tinged with gold, the pitcher shaking off the sign from the catcher, the third base coach giving you the green light on a 3-0 count. Got to be a big old fat fastball across the middle of the plate, doesn’t it? He can’t load the bases, can he? You’re going to hit it to the Bojangle’s across the street. You’re going to bring those runners home in a trot. All of those days in the batting cage hitting one ball after another off a tee are about to pay off. You are locked in your stance, eyes sharp, hands steady, your bat waggling like a dog’s tail.

Finally, the pitcher goes into his windup from the stretch, and you can see the doubt in his eyes before he releases the ball.

In baseball, anything can happen. It always does. Now let’s play ball!

(Chris Cox is a writer and teacher who lives in Haywood County. He can be reached at jchriscox@live.com.)

SAGEBRUSH OF CANTON 1941 Champion Dr. Canton

828-646-3750 Sun-Thur 11 AM - 10 PM Fri-Sat 11 AM - 11 PM

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tasteTHEmountains BREAKING BREAD CAFÉ 6147 Hwy 276 S. Bethel (at the Mobil Gas Station) 828.648.3838 Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Chef owned and operated. Our salads are made in house using local seasonal vegetables. Fresh roasted ham, turkey and roast beef used in our hoagies. We hand make our own eggplant and chicken parmesan, pork meatballs and hamburgers. We use 1st quality fresh not preprepared products to make sure you get the best food for a reasonable price. We make vegetarian, gluten free and sugar free items.

Call or go to Facebook (Breaking Bread Café NC) to find out what our specials are.

BRYSON CITY CORK & BEAN A MOUNTAIN SOCIAL HOUSE 16 Everett St.,Bryson City. 828.488.1934.

Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday brunch 9 a.m. to 3p.m., Full Menu 3 to 9 p.m. Serving fresh and delicious weekday morning lite fare, lunch, dinner, and brunch. Freshly prepared menu offerings range from house-made soups & salads, lite fare & tapas, crepes, specialty sandwiches and burgers. Be sure not to miss the bold flavors and creative combinations that make up the daily Chef Supper Specials starting at 5pm every day. Followed by a tempting selection of desserts prepared daily by our chefs and other local bakers. Enjoy craft beers on tap, as well as our full bar and eclectic wine list.

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.

CHURCH STREET DEPOT 34 Church Street, downtown Waynesville.

828.246.6505. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Mouthwatering all beef burgers and dogs, hand-dipped, hand-spun real ice cream shakes and floats, fresh handcut fries. Locally sourced beef. Indoor and outdoor dining. facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot, twitter.com/ChurchStDepot.

CITY BAKERY 18 N. Main St. Waynesville 828.452.3881.

Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Join us in our historic location for scratch made soups and daily specials.

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

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch,

dinner, espresso, beer and wine. Come taste the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more.

Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly.

Live music and lots of events. Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville. 828.452.6000.

Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue.

Kitchen opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday serving freshly prepared small plates, tapas, charcuterie, desserts. Enjoy live music every Friday and Saturday night at 7pm. www.classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter.

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

828.926.1820 Open Wednesday and Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

FILLING STATION DELI 145 Everett St., Bryson City, 828.488.1919.

Open Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sundays (in October) 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Locals always know best, and this is one place they know well. From the high-quality hot pressed sandwiches and the huge por-

Smoky Mountain News

April 6-12, 2016

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REWARDS PROGRAM! 6306 Pigeon Road Canton, NC

(828) 648-4546

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MON-SAT: 7 A.M.-8 P.M. SUN: 8:30 A.M.-3 P.M.

April 24, 2016

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2nd Annual Cheese Fest Highland Brewery, Asheville, NC Get tickets at MountainCheeseFest.com

tions of hand-cut fries to the specialty frozen sandwiches and homemade Southern desserts, you will not leave this top-rated deli hungry.

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

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

Monday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley. frankiestrattoria.com FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St. Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors. www.frogsleappublichouse.com.

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

Winter hours: Thursday through Dunday 12 to 4 p.m. for lunch and 4 p.m. to closing for dinner. Daily luncheon special at $6.99. Worldfamous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round. Children always welcome. Take-out menu. Excellent service and hospitality. Reservations appreciated.

tasteTHEmountains

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

Monday through Saturday; Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

THE LUNCHBOX CAFE 100 Spicewood Dr., Clyde, 828.246.6296 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Serving up scrumptious breakfast, lunch and dinner all made with care in a welcoming environment. Subs, salads, sandwiches and more.

MAD BATTER FOOD & FILM 617 W. Main Street Downtown Sylva.

828.586.3555. Open Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Handtossed pizza, steak sandwiches, wraps, salads and desserts. All made from scratch.

Beer and wine. Free movies with showtimes at 6:30 and 9 p.m. with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Visit madbatterfoodandfilm.com for this week’s shows.

MOUNTAIN PERKS ESPRESSO BAR & CAFÉ 9 Depot St., Bryson City. 828.488.9561.

Open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. With music at the Depot. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Life is too short for bad coffee. We feature wonderful breakfast and lunch selections.

Bagels, wraps, soups, sandwiches, salads and quiche with a variety of specialty coffees, teas and smoothies. Various desserts.

PASQUALE’S 1863 South Main Street, Waynesville. Off exit 98, 828.454.5002. Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.

Classic Italian dishes, exceptional steaks and seafood (available in full and lighter sizes), thin crust pizza, homemade soups, salads hand tossed at your table. Fine wine and beer selection. Casual atmosphere, dine indoors, outside on the patio or at the bar. Reservations appreciated.

SAGEBRUSH STEAKHOUSE 1941 Champion Drive. Canton 828-6463750 Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Carry out available. Sagebrush features hand carved steaks, chicken and award winning BBQ ribs. We have fresh salads, seasonal vegetables and scrumptious deserts. Extensive selection of local craft beers and a full bar. Catering special events is one of our specialties. Local acoustic music on Tuesday nights.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN SUB SHOP 29 Miller Street Waynesville 828.456.3400.

Open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. A Waynesville tradition, the Smoky Mountain Sub Shop has been serving great food for over 20 years. Come in and enjoy the relaxed, casual atmosphere. Sub breads are baked fresh every morning in Waynesville.

Using only the freshest ingredients in homemade soups, salads and sandwiches. Come in and see for yourself why Smoky Mountain Sub Shop was voted # 1 in Haywood County.

Call ahead or walk in Call for delivery info

144 Industrial Park Dr. Ste. D 1 Waynesville

(828) 246-9815

See You at the Sylva Tap Hop! Come Join us for a Bite to Eat!

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Pick Up & Go Lunches 11:30-1:30

3 E JACKSON ST. • SYLVA, NC

www.CityLightsCafe.com

nchbox Café The Lu BREAKFAST & DINNER DAILY SUNDAY LUNCH by reservation

Breakfast Sandwiches Served All Day Daily Specials!

100 SPICEWOOD DR. CLYDE Behind Mountain Medical 828.246.6296 Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-6pm

456.9498 • www.balsaminn.net 339-41

SPEEDY’S PIZZA 285 Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.3800.

Open seven days a week. Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Family-owned for 30 years. Serving hand-tossed pizza made to order, pasta, subs, gourmet salads, calzones and seafood. Also serving excellent prime rib on Thursdays. Dine in or take out available.

TAP ROOM BAR & GRILL 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville.

828.456.3551. Open seven days a week serving lunch and dinner. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Tucked away inside Waynesville Inn, the Tap Room Bar & Grill has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Full bar and wine cellar. www.thewaynesvilleinn.com .

MON.-SAT. 11 A.M.-8 P.M.

34 CHURCH ST. WAYNESVILLE 828.246.6505 Mtwitter.com/ChurchStDepot C facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot 339-38

APPÉTIT Y’AL N L BO

TWIN MAPLES FARMHOUSE 63 North Hill Street, Waynesville.

828.452.7837. Open for Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Located just two blocks from downtown Waynesville, Twin Maples is available for weddings, receptions, family reunions, birthday parties, showers, luncheons, corporate meetings and retreats.

VITO’S PIZZA 607 Highlands Rd., Franklin.

828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998. Our Pizza dough, sauce, meatballs, and sausage are all made from scratch by Vito. The recipes have been in the family for 50 years.

828-456-1997 blueroostersoutherngrill.com

— Real Local People, Real Local Food — 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, North Carolina Monday-Friday Open at 11am

Smoky Mountain News

PAPERTOWN GRILL 153 Main St., Canton. 828.648.1455 Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Serving the local community with great, scratch-made country cooking. Breakfast is served all day. Daily specials including Monday meatloaf, chicken and dumplings on Thursdays and Friday fish.

ROB’S HOT DOG SHACK 42 Montgomery St., Waynesville 828.707.7033. Open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rob’s serves gourmet hot dogs and has homemade side items. Outdoor and indoor dining, café style restaurant. Locally owned and operated.

Family oriented business.

SATURDAY, APRIL 9P.M.

April 6-12, 2016

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.

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 828.926.0201 Open Monday-Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m and Sunday 7:30 a.m to 9 p.m. Full service restaurant serving steaks, prime rib, seafood and dinner specials.

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JOEY'S PANCAKE HOUSE 4309 Soco Rd Maggie Valley.

828.926.0212. Winter hours: FridayMonday 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. Joey’s is a family style restaurant that has been serving breakfast to the locals and visitors of Western North Carolina since 1966.

Featuring a large variety of tempting pancakes, golden waffles, country style cured ham and seasonal specials spiked with flavor, Joey's is sure to please all appetites.

Join us for what has become a tradition in these parts, breakfast at Joey’s.

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Smoky Mountain News

Hammering away at your dreams Blacksmithing program expands Green Energy Park’s vision

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER tepping into the blacksmithing studio at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro last Saturday, the continuous sound of hammers crashing down on metal echoed loudly out of the warehouse and into the high peaks of nearby mountains.

“And when I hear that hammering, I know we’re on the right track,” said Timm Muth, director of the GEP. “It’s a fantastic thing for us to see this, because this is what we’re here for — to give artists a place to work, to bring in people from around the community and far away, people who want to learn these skills.”

Muth walks across the large studio and flags down Brock Martin, a blacksmith and Western Timm Muth Carolina University alumnus, who now teaches an array of courses at the GEP. Martin looks up from his station, filled with handmade tools and a 2,400-degree metal forge that can be felt several feet away before you even realize it’s there.

“It’s pretty much who I am and what I love to do,” Martin modestly said about his passion for the craft. “It has its challenges for sure, but I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life.”

Martin was the first metal intern at the GEP, which runs on methane gas from an old landfill a stone’s throw across the parking lot.

Now 27, Martin came to the GEP when he was a freshman at WCU. He was an entrepreneur and Japanese major, but soon found an enduring love for blacksmithing once his art instructor suggested he checkout the program at the GEP, which has had a long and bountiful partnership with the university.

“I always wanted to do it, but I never had seen it before. And it was pretty intimidating the first time I saw it,” Martin said. “My first day was just awful. [Laughs]. I had such high expectations of myself and what I should be able to accomplish.”

But, with anything worthwhile, practice makes perfect. Martin kept coming back to the GEP. He honed his skills, rigorously studying techniques and fundamentals. After a few years, he felt confident enough in his evolving skillset to start teaching courses around the region. He also hits the road doing demonstrations at cultural festivals, Renaissance fairs and comic conventions (that couples with a rebirth

S

Blacksmith Brock Martin works with his 2,400-degree forge at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Below: Martin instructs his recent class at the JCGEP. Garret K. Woodward photos in Medieval history and fashion in recent years, as seen by the popularity of the television show “Game of Thrones”).

“These skills are important because they’re fundamental to our lives,” Martin said. “It’s a primitive skillset, one that also applies to today, too. It’s very self-reliant. You can make anything you can imagine or improvise. And it’s crucial that we keep these skills and traditions alive.”

Though now based out of Hickory, Martin holds these monthly blacksmithing classes at the GEP, all in an effort to not only share his ancient skills, but to also grow his career as an artist and educator in a space that fosters such intent. Last Saturday, students taking the two-day class were hard at work constructing a set of “spaulders,” which is a 13th14th century style of shoulder armor, consisting of multiple pieces of metal layered in such a way to provide safety and flexibility.

“You’ve always got your flashier aspects of blacksmithing, but what it comes down to is technique,” Martin said.

“One of the biggest misconceptions is about strength, where what’s more important than strength is technique and finesse — less is more.”

Watching Martin instruct the class, Muth can’t help but feel justified in his mission, which is the foundation of the GEP — making a career out of your passion. Whereas some

many see it impossible to pay the bills with your craft in a modern era, the GEP (alongside WCU and other organizations) provides the guidance as to how to find financial footing as an artist, especially when you have a studio available atop a keen interest by outsiders as to what you’re offering to instruct.

“It’s tough to convince people that the arts can be a viable career path, but Brock is proof

aged,” Martin added, when asked about others pursuing their artistic aspirations as a career.

“It’s about finding that balance — you’ve got to find your market, be able to make something that’s not only going to sell, but also something you like to make.”

Meandering around the GEP is Program Assistant Chelsea Miller. Another WCU alumna, she found herself at the GEP one day, and seemingly never left. A “jack-of-all-trades,” she has apprenticed with Martin, becoming one of the few female blacksmiths around the area.

She also has acquired skills in glassblowing, which the GEP offers in the other side of the building. For her, she’s been able to put her art education degree to good use, leading tours of the GEP and also hosting live demonstrations for school groups, children and the curious alike that wander in.

“Doing this, and having the GEP here, gives people a better appreciation for people working with their hands and a better understanding of how things are made,” she said. “It shows how viable the arts are in a Chelsea Miller community, the amount of skill it takes to create these pieces, and the amount of talent the resides within these walls.”

With several blacksmithing classes already lined up at the GEP for the summer, Muth also noted that plans (and fundraising efforts) are

Learn blacksmithing There will be a handful of blacksmithing courses taught by Brock Martin at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro.

They include the following: • Viking Round Shield — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 16-17.

• Bladesmithing: Seax Knife Class — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 14-15.

• Viking Axe Making — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 18-19.

For more information of these workshops, class fees, the JCGEP, and more, click on www.jcgep.org. of that,” Muth said. “It means a lot to have alumni come back and teach courses, and to see folks coming in to learn from these talented artists. It’s hard to not be impressed with that, just with the amount of skill it takes, and then when you figure in that the property is running on gas from this big pile of trash over there — it blows people’s minds.”

“It’ll probably be tough to get started, but you have to be practical. You can’t get discour-

in the works to add a full ceramics studio that will complement the already-impressive resources of the building and its staff.

“There are six schools around this area that are cranking out potters, and all types of other artists and crafters,” Muth said. “And if we want all of these young people to stay here, and thrive here, we need to continue to set the stage and have these studio spaces to ensure their creative and financial futures.”

HOME TECH

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BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

The Kitchen Shop

Have You Set The Date?

You’ll Need:

Cookware • Kitchen Gadgets Table Linens • Cookbooks Small Appliances • Etc., Etc., Etc.

Register with us. We’ll be happy to help you with your selections.

arts & entertainment

This must be the place

Americana singer-songwriters Caleb Caudle and Aaron Lee Tasjan will hit the stage on Friday, April 15, at the Asheville Music Hall. Sammy Guns will open the show at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 in advance, $10 day-of-show. To purchase tickets, visit www.ashevillemusichall.com.

To learn more about Caudle, his current tour, or to purchase his latest record, “Carolina Ghost,” visit www.calebcaudle.com.

5 N. Main Street, Waynesville, NC

(828) 452-7672

f

f

Caleb Caudle.

HOT PICKS 1 2 3 4 5 The Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation “Eat, Drink and Be Giving” fundraising event will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, at Boojum Brewing Company in Waynesville.

The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host The Dirty Soul Revival (rock/blues) at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 9.

The Mud Dauber (Didanisisgi) Pottery Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the Cherokee Fairgrounds.

GKW: What goes through your head when you’re onstage?

CC: It’s not a conscious thing at all. I feel sometimes I kind of get lost in what I’m doing and take myself to place where I mean what I’m doing, where I’m very focused and very deliberate.

At this point, whether its writing or touring, or even merchandise and marketing, there’s not much room for error, so it’s all about planning, and being sober has helped all of that.

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Smoky Mountain News

GKW: What do you want the listener to feel?

CC: I want them to relate to BearWaters Brewing Company (Waynesville) what I’m singing about. It’s nice will host The Darren Nicholson Band to hear what a song means to (Americana/bluegrass) at 6 p.m. Thursday, them. We all take songs and April 14. apply them to our lives. And I think the goal of a songwriter is Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Porch 40 (funk/rock) as part of their Appalachian Trail to write a song in a way that can be applicable to a lot of different “Thru-Hiker Celebration” at 7:30 p.m. situations. I try to not put Saturday, April 9. restrictions on things when I’m writing, but it tends to come warmth found in the works of George Strait, back to what’s going on in my life at that Randy Travis and Merle Haggard and what time. It’s finding that balance between true we all have yearned for these days on our aspects in your life and being able to emphastereo, and onstage, ready to strike a chord sis those situations and emotions. deep within our souls.

GKW: Was there a moment when you Garret K. Woodward: With every musiknew a song could be anything you wanted cian seemingly in, or moving to, Nashville or it to be?

Austin, why Winston-Salem?

CC: The realization I did have, was that Caleb Caudle: It’s just home. And you as time goes on, you think less about a forknow, Nashville is great. I have more mula for writing a song, and more about the friends there than anywhere else, and I people already listening to what you have to already feel like I’m part of that scene. I say. I try to not fit in a mold, because the tour there a lot. But, the last place you want people coming to hear you, they’re coming to go at the end of the tour is somewhere for something real, and you try and keep that you don’t feel really comfortable — doing what you’re doing without forcing it you want to go home.

— being you, openly and honestly.

9:30 to 5 • Sat 9:30 to 5:30 Sun. Noon to 5 p.m.

April 6-12, 2016

They say clarity is found when it becomes your last option.

For Caleb Caudle, clarity was discovered when he put the bottle down and started to pick up the pieces of his life worth holding onto. Closing in on 30, the Winston-Salem singer-songwriter spent most of his early years in a haphazard whirlwind of dive bars, empty backroom stages and endless miles, a state of mind where one begins to wonder just what it all means, or if it was meant to be anything at all, this ole dream held tightly and up to the bright lights of stardom.

Following in the footsteps of Americana/country stars Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell, who both found clarity (and eventual success) once they hit rock bottom, brushed their shoulders off and raised their heads high, Caudle is currently entering a trajectory of sound and audience all his own. He has set down deep roots in his native Winston-Salem, a place he draws not only inspiration from, but also cherishes the further down the road he pushes in his own endeavors.

With the doors kicked open by Simpson and Isbell, and also the recent megastar status achieved by longtime Nashville singersongwriter Chris Stapleton, a wave of nittygritty talent is cresting high on the horizon of Music City, ready to crash down and clean out the stagnant growth and repetitive tone of what country music has become (or lost) in recent years.

On his sixth album, “Carolina Ghost,” Caudle harkens back to the golden age of country music, as lyrical wordplay and musicianship focus on the sincere depths of everyday life, and not the “bro-country” party animal, chasing girls attitude one cringes when overhearing today. This North Carolina troubadour bridges the gap between the 1980s honesty, talent and

GKW: How did this all start for you?

CC: I played my first show when I was 14. It was a lot different back then. I was in a garage band, listening a lot to The Replacements and The Clash. Paul Westerberg (of The Replacement) did a really great job turning people onto more rootsbased music. From Paul, I got into Uncle Tupelo, The Jawhawks and Whiskeytown.

That’s when I started going way back and fell in love with early David Allen Coe and Merle Haggard.

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• Andrews Brewing Company will host Frank Lee (singer-songwriter) April 8, Gold Rose (Americana/folk) April 9, Kevin Fuller (Americana/folk) April 15 and Jubal April 16. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

Civic Orchestra to feature student soloists The Western Carolina Civic Orchestra will play the final concert of its 2015-2016 season on Monday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Coulter Building Recital Hall on the WCU campus.

The soloists will be the winners of the annual Student Solo Competition in February. This competition is sponsored by the Jackson County Arts Council, which funds the awards. WCU students and younger students from Jackson and the surrounding counties are eligible to compete. This year the winners are Anna Lea Rea, and Mark Ewing, both students in the School of Music at Western Carolina University.

Rea, soprano, is a student of Dr. Mary Kay Bauer and will be performing the aria “Donde lieta usci” from La Boheme

by Giacomo Puccini. Ewing, a student in the tuba studio of Dr. Michael Schallock, will perform two movements of the Vaughan Williams Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra.

The full orchestra will perform movements from Schubert’s Fourth Symphony, Bartok’s Romanian Dances, and Antonín Dvorák’s American Suite in A major. Dr. Damon Sink of the School of Music conducts the orchestra.

The Civic Orchestra is sponsored by the Western Carolina University School of Music and by the Jackson County Arts Council, through a Grassroots Grant supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The members of the orchestra include WCU students and faculty, and students and community members from the western counties of North Carolina. www.wcu.edu.

• BearWaters Brewing Company (Waynesville) will host The Darren Nicholson Band (Americana/bluegrass) at 6 p.m. April 14. www.bwbrewing.com or 828.246.0602.

The Afters will perform on April 10 in Franklin.

A day of celebration, Christian pop/rock The Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts has teamed up with Compassion International to present “The Time of My Life” tour at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 10, in Franklin.

The event includes four acclaimed artists: The Afters, Chris August, Unspoken, and Among the Thirsty.

The Afters have now released six albums and their music has been featured in both movies and television. They have toured with MercyMe and won multiple Dove awards.

Chris August toured with greats such as Newsboys and Francesa Battistelli, and has won multiple Dove awards, including Male Vocalist and New Artist of the Year in 2011.

Unspoken have toured alongside Big Daddy Weave and Sanctus Real, and some of

their most popular songs include, “Who You Are,” “Start A Fire” and “Lift My Life Up.” Among the Thirsty has released two albums so far with fan favorites such as, “What Love Looks Like,” “Who You Say I Am” and “You Are My Worship.” They have been described as “The Beatles of Christian Music,” and have received many rave reviews.

Compassion International is a Christian organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty. It is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and function in 26 countries around the world, providing aid to more than 1,700,000 children.

Tickets start at $17 each. www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615.

SOLDIER’S HEART IN BRYSON CITY ‘Honest porch-n-soul’ act Soldier’s Heart will be performing at 8 p.m.

Saturday, April 9, at Nantahala Brewing Company in Bryson City. Free. www.nantahalabrewing.com or www.soldiersheart.com.

• The Canton Public Library will host Richard Hurley (bluegrass/Americana) at 3 p.m. April 17. Free. www.haywoodarts.org.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Jay Brown (Americana) April 8, Joe Cruz (piano/pop) April 9 and 16, and Kevin Lorenz April 15. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

ALSO:

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Ben Morgan & Jesse Stephens 6 p.m. April 15 and Heidi Holton (blues/folk) 8 p.m.

April 16. All shows are free. 828.454.5664 or www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night April 6 and 13, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo April 7 and 14. All events begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Jackson County Public Library (Sylva) will host a community dance at 2:30 p.m.

April 10. Circle and contra dances. All styles will be taught and walked through beforehand. No previous experience needed. A community dinner will follow at 5 p.m. ronandcathy71@frontier.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Porch 40 (funk/rock) as part of their Appalachian Trail “Thru-Hiker Celebration” on April 9 and The Big Deal Band April 16. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com or 828.349.2337.

Smoky Mountain News

April 6-12, 2016

arts & entertainment

On the beat

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On the beat

Wild-n-out blues/rock band The Dirty Soul Revival will be performing at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 9, at The Ugly Dog Pub in Highlands. www.theuglydogpub.com.

• Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden will host Bohemian Jean and Sandra Hess (singer/songwriters) Friday, April 8. www.madanthonys.bar or 828.246.9249.

• Mad Batter Food & Film (Sylva) will host The Buchanan Boys (country/rock) album release party and performance at 8:30 p.m. April 16. $10 per person. www.madbatterfoodfilm.com.

• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will hold community music jam from 6 to 7:30 p.m. April 7. Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer, anything unplugged, are invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen. Free. 828.488.3030.

• No Name Sports Pub (Sylva) will host Alex Culberth & Alison Voodoo (jive) April 8, If Birds Could Fly (Americana) April 9, Russ T. Nutz & The Punknecks (Americana/punk) April 15 and Profits of Time (jam/funk) April 16. All shows are free and begin at 9 p.m. www.nonamesportspub.com.

• The Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Cherokee) will host a back porch old-time music jam from 1 to 3 p.m. April 16. All are welcome to come play or simply sit and listen to sounds of Southern Appalachia.

• Sagebrush Steakhouse (Canton) will host Tommy Payne April 12 and Wyze Guys April 19. All shows begin at 7 p.m. 828.646.3750.

• Salty Dog’s (Maggie Valley) will have Karaoke with Jason Wyatt on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Mile High (rock) at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Andrew Rickman (rock/acoustic) will also perform on Saturdays. All events begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic with Jimandi at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays, “Funky Friday” with Bud Davis at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Isaish Breedlove (Americana) at 7 p.m. on Saturdays. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com.

• The Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host Travis LeDoyt, “World’s Best Tribute to Young Elvis,” at 7:30 p.m. April 8. Tickets start at $20. www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615.

• Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host a jazz evening with the Tyler Kittle & Michael Colling Duo (with special guests) every other Tuesday starting at 7 p.m. April 12. www.soulinfusion.com or 828.586.1717.

• Tipping Point Brewing (Waynesville) will host ‘Round the Fire (Grateful Dead tribute) April 8 and Ashli Rose (singer-songwriter) April 15. Both shows are free and begin at 9 p.m. www.tippingpointtavern.com.

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host The Dirty Soul Revival (blues/rock) April 9 and Grandpa’s Cough Medicine (outlaw/bluegrass) April 16. All shows are at 9:30 p.m.

There is also a weekly Appalachian music night from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays with Nitrograss.

188 W. Main St., Franklin NC 28734 | 828.349.BEER

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• The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host Tonology (rock) April 8, Spearfinger (metal) April 9, Dirty Soul Revival (blues/rock) April 15 and Ashli Rose (singer-songwriter) April 16. All shows begin at 9 p.m.

• The Waynesville Public Library will host the Lightning Bugs (Americana) at 3 p.m. April 9. Free. www.haywoodarts.org.

• Western Carolina University (Cullowhee) will host a Percussion Ensemble on April 7, The Daniel Myers Senior Recital April 9, The Civic Orchestra April 11, Ian Jeffress (saxophone) April 12, Phi Mu Alpha Recital April 18 and a Faculty Composition Recital with Damon Sink April 19. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. in the Coulter Building. The First Thursday OldTime and Bluegrass Jam Series will also continue with Buncombe Turnpike at 7 p.m. April 7 in the Mountain Heritage Center. All events are free and open to the public. www.wcu.edu.

progressive funk rock

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April Taproom Shows Shows start at 7:30pm Free Admission

APRIL 16

The Big Deal Band

APRIL 23

The Get Right Band

APRIL 30

Smoky Mountain News

• The Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host Gary Carter (singer-songwriter) April 9, John Phillip Brooks (singersongwriter) April 15 and Herb & Hanson (Americana) April 16. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.rathskellerfranklin.com.

828.456.3211 smokymtneye.com

April 6-12, 2016

• Nantahala Brewing Company (Bryson City) will host Stolen Rhodes (Americana) April 8, Soldier’s Heart (Americana/rock) April 9, The Paper Crowns (Americana) April 15 and Fritz Beer & The Crooked Beat (rock/folk) April 16.

All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.nantahalabrewing.com.

Call today to learn more about your specific coverage

arts & entertainment

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We are proud to accept insurance plans from these local employers:

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On the street arts & entertainment

Celebrate spring with Habitat for Humanity

WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT ®

HARRAH’S CHEROKEE CASINO RESORT

With winter long gone, the Macon County/Jackson County Habitat for Humanity’s second annual Spring Bloom and Build festival will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the Great Smoky Mountain Depot in Dillsboro.

The event offers a way to engage in a day of family, fun filled activities and giving back. Planned by Western Carolina University students in Hospitality & Tourism, Communications, and Entrepreneurship programs, the events and entertainment will include a 5k run/walk, silent auction, face painting, scavenger hunt (throughout businesses in Dillsboro), meeting Paws the WCU Football mascot, live music, and a variety of vendors Hotdogs and burgers will be grilled on site. Other food and drink choices are also available from vendors such as City Lights (dairy free/vegan) and Innovation Brewing.

Jackson celebrates NC Beer Month Whether you enjoy sipping a smooth golden ale, something hoppy or a dark IPA, Jackson County’s craft breweries have you covered for NC Beer Month this April.

Multiple Dates: April 6-12, 2016

• April 11, 18, 25 – Sneak E Squirrel Brewery IPA Mondays • April 10, 18, 25 – Sneak E Squirrel Homebrewing class • Throughout April – Pint and a Pie. Enjoy a pint of beer and an individual size pizza for only $10 at Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company located at the Sapphire National Golf Club.

Get in on the game for a chance to win a share of $2.4 million in guaranteed prize money and a WSOP Circuit Ring. For midweek rates as low as $99, call 844-777-7711 and mention code WSOP16 to book now.

Smoky Mountain News

Visit WSOP.com for additional event details.

Caesars.com

Subject to change. Must be 21 or older to enter casino floor and to gamble, and must present a valid state or federal photo ID upon request. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700.

An Enterprise of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. ©2016, Caesars License Company, LLC.

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Events: • April 7 – Live Music and Brews at Heinzelmännchen. Performance by Henry Wong on the guitar.

International Festival at WCU Western Carolina University will celebrate the diverse cultures and traditions of its international student population during the university’s 37th annual International Festival on Wednesday, April 13.

Hosted by WCU’s Office of International Programs and Services, the festival is designed to foster cultural awareness, appreciation and understanding of the world’s diversity through music, food, dance, arts and crafts.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. on the lawn of A.K. Hinds University Center with a world flag parade. Brandon Schwab, associate provost for academic affairs, and Ling

Established in 1993, Macon County/Jackson County Habitat for Humanity serves the towns of Franklin, Highlands and Sylva. In addition, WCU has established a campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The Macon/Jackson Habitat for Humanity is also working with WCU's Center for Service Learning, the Entrepreneurial consulting class offered by the Entrepreneurship Program, and the Tourism planning and development class offered by the Hospitality and Tourism Management program. Both programs are located in the College of Business.

The Macon County/Jackson County Habitat for Humanity has built and refurbished 20 homes in the Jackson/Macon county area. There are opportunities to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to help bloom and build your community one household at a time.

• April 9 – Brew Hop. In honor of NC Beer Month, join Innovation Brewing, Heinzelmännchen Brewery, City Lights Café, Sneak E Squirrel and Evolution Wine Kitchen for the Sylva Brew Hop. Tickets include a souvenir Sylva tap glass, two 6 oz. pours at each location and a chance to win prizes during the hop challenge. Then, enjoy a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) show at Bridge Park for the after-party.

Tickets can be purchased in-store at Evolution or online at www.evolutionwinekitchen.com. 5 to 11 p.m.

• April 13 - Sierra Nevada Beer and Cheese Pairing Event. Evolution Wine Kitchen is hosting a beer and cheese pairing with Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Tickets include a selection of artisan cheeses expertly paired with a variety of Sierra Nevada beers. Tickets can be purchased in-store at Evolution or online at www.evolutionwinekitchen.com closer to the event. 6 to 11 p.m.

• April 16 – Murder Mystery Dinner at Sneak E Squirrel

LeBeau, director of international programs and services, will welcome attendees at 11:15 a.m., and performances will begin at 11:30 a.m. with Whimzik providing Celtic, New Zealand and Scandinavian music.

Other performances will be Japanese Bon Odori folk dance at noon, Sri Lankan and northern Indian music at 12:30 p.m., traditional Saudi dance at 1 p.m., and Latin dance by the Latino Appreciation Student Organization at 2 p.m.

The festival also will offer about 25 internationally flavored booths staffed by food and craft vendors, campus organizations and international students.

Activities will conclude at 2:30 p.m. The event is free and open to everyone.

828.227.7494. www.wcu.edu.

On the street

• Bosu’s Wine Shop and Feline Urgent Rescue (FUR) present the “If I have not but nine lives, let me fill them with wine” event from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 22, at the shop in Waynesville. Wine tasting and finger foods.

Tickets are $30 and available at Bosu’s, which all proceeds going to FUR. Buy wine that night and get a 15-percent discount per case, 10-percent per bottle or a free cat.

828.452.0120.

wine will also be available for purchase. All proceeds go to WuzBug’s fund. Tickets available at Sarge’s and Boojum.

• The “Eat, Drink and Be Giving” event will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, at Boojum Brewing Company in Waynesville.

Hosted by Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation and Boojum, the evening aims to raise monies for the WuzBug’s Special Needs Fund, which was created in memory of the beloved pet. The funds go to providing medical care for deserving pets, who are also looking for good homes. Tickets are $20 per person, which included two signature pasta dishes, bread, salad and dessert. Beer and

• “Midget Wrestling” will hit the ring at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at Cherokee High School. $12 for floor seats and a pre-show meet-and-greet. $10 for general admission and a post-show meet-and-greet. Cash only.

ALSO:

• The next installment of the “Murder Mystery Dinners” will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at The Sneak E Squirrel brewery in Sylva. Because it’s NC Beer Month, the dinner will be craft beer themed alongside a three-course meal. Vegetarian options available. There will be eight roles to play. For reservations, call 828.586.6440.

• A “Sacred Dance” with Amai Clarice Munchus will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Want to improve your hospitality skills?

Oconaluftee Indian Village now open

There will be a training workshop for those looking to hone their hospitality and tourism-related customer service skills. The class will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in the Student Center Auditorium at Haywood Community College in Clyde.

Tourism is a major economic driver for the mostly rural 25 westernmost counties of North Carolina, with a total economic impact of $2.39 billion. Attracting visitors is important to our region and our businesses. Serving those visitors appropriately, ensuring they have a quality visit, extending their stays and fostering repeat visitation is equally important.

Take a step back in time as the Oconaluftee Indian Village kicks off the 2016 season on Tuesday, April 12, located next to the Oconaluftee Visitors Center in Cherokee.

Witness the challenges of Cherokee life at a time of rapid cultural change. Tour guides help you explore the historic events and figures of the 1760s. Visitors can interact with villagers as they participate in their daily activities. The village also hosts live reenactments, interactive demonstrations, and hands-on Cherokee pottery for kids’ classes.

The village is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. www.visitcherokeenc.com.

April 15-17 at the Illuminated Heart Sanctuary in Whittier. A movement ritualist and facilitator for Venus Rising Association for Transformation, the class also offers a weekend workshop and certification course.

678.628.6548 or amai.clarice@gmail.com.

• The “Mines and Mining in Western North Carolina” presentation will be held by the Franklin Gem & Mineral Society at 7 p.m.

Thursday, April 14, at the Franklin Gem & Mineral Museum. www.fgmm.org.

• The “Release the Rose — A Spring Wine Dinner” will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8, at The Farm at Old Edwards in Highlands. Live music, food tastings and spring wine releases. $125 per person. To RSVP, call 828.787.2625 or www.oldedwardsinn.com/rosewinedinner.

• The “Lessons in Mindfulness” presentation will be held from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at the Waynesville Public Library.

The introductory workshop will be hosted by Dodi Christiano, LPC, which is designed to improve overall mental and physical wellbeing. Free. To register, 828.356.2507.

• A wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m.

April 9 and 16 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. $5 per person. www.papouswineshop.com or 828.586.6300.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. April 9 and 16 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 828.452.0120.

Smoky Mountain News

torical points and interesting facts about #1702. All steam excursion passengers will receive a commemorative #1702 souvenir ticket and lapel pin to celebrate the locomotive’s return to the rails. Upon return to Bryson City, a live demonstration of the turntable will also be on exhibit. A few lucky guests will be selected each day to be an active participant in the manual turning of the locomotive.

In addition to the regular excursion schedule, #1702 will also be leading six special event trains. The popular, family friendly Fontana Trestle Train featuring BBQ & Brews service and THE POLAR EXPRESS train ride will be operating with the steam engine on select dates. #1702 will also pull two new event trains in 2016: the Railroad Reserve, a wine and rail pairing dinner train; and the Photo Special, an 8-hour roundtrip excursion to the Nantahala Gorge departing from Dillsboro, stopping for two run by photo opportunities and a short steam shop tour.

Booking is now available for the variety of steam-powered options. Pricing and details can be found at www.gsmr.com or by calling 800.872.4681.

Author, historian, storyteller, and Jackson County native, Curtis Blanton will lead the “Mountain Stories by Mountain People” discussion at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

As part of the Jackson County Genealogical Society’s program, Blanton will share his knowledge of storytelling as a form of preservation, communication, and entertainment. Blanton is the author of three books with a fourth scheduled for release in May. The program will be in the Community Room in the courthouse wing of the library.

Refreshments will be served and JCGS activities will be discussed at the beginning, followed by the program starting at 7 p.m. All JCGS events are free of charge and the public is welcome.

828.631.2646.

Biltmore, which has developed a highly successful customer service-training program, is partnering with BRNHA to offer “Blue Ridge Hospitality Training” specifically designed for employees in the fields of hospitality and tourism in Western North Carolina. The training will include Biltmore’s program along with a component of regional heritage and history content that will provide workers with more indepth knowledge of their region, which they can share with visitors.

The goal of the training is to help support your organization or business in delivering exceptional customer service.

Businesses who participate will have a competitive edge and employees will feel a greater sense of pride in this region and in their work, key components of job satisfaction and employee retention.

Cost is $35 per person, which includes lunch, a reference manual and prizes. Check in starts at 9 a.m. www.blueridgeheritage.com or www.haywood.edu.

April 6-12, 2016

After long awaited anticipation Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR) is excited to announce that the historic #1702 Steam Engine will return for the 2016 excursion season.

Thanks to the innovative private/public partnership between Swain County commissioners, Tourism Development Authority and GSMR, #1702 is revived and ready to roll on the rails.

Steam excursions will depart from the historic Bryson City Depot beginning July 22 with a variety of options. Throughout the season 39 excursions will follow the Nantahala Gorge route and 22 excursions will follow the Tuckasegee River route. All general excursions will offer the full variety of seating options including our most popular First Class seating. Before departure, passengers may arrive early to enjoy a meet and greet with one of GSMR’s star conductors along with the engine crew. As it prepares for its journey, #1702 will be on display allowing for photos opportunities and an up close and personal view of the impressive equipment.

On board, passengers will enjoy interacting with staff and hearing about various his-

Blanton to discuss mountain storytelling

arts & entertainment

Beloved locomotive returns to Bryson City

• A wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.

April 6 and 13 at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. Free with dinner ($15 minimum). 828.452.6000.

• There will be a “Tasty Tuesday: Winter Seasonals” at 7 p.m. April 12 and 19 at Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden.

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On the wall arts & entertainment

Haywood art entities come together

Smoky Mountain News

April 6-12, 2016

New sculpture at The Bascom Artist John Kenneth Melvin will break ground on a new site-specific sculpture at the entrance of The Bascom art center’s campus on Friday, April 15, in Highlands.

As a result of focusing to extend further into the local communities, The Bascom is now offering artist residencies in a variety of mediums. Melvin is the first ever Sculpture Resident Artist at The Bascom and will be at the visual arts center for one month to install the sculpture.

Melvin is an international artist whose work is a study of the social implications of ecology. He is reputed for building sculptures with “up-cycled” materials that have passed their traditional use.

Generated primarily through commissions and artist residencies, his sculptures and installations can be found around the world both in public displays and private collections.

In addition to his sculpture installation at The Bascom, Melvin will also be traveling to

• The next meeting of the Western North Carolina Woodturners Club, Inc. will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday April 5, 2016, at the Alternative School in Sylva. The school is located on Skyland Drive. Drive to the back of the school to the woodworking shop. The club meets the first Tuesday of every month.

• “Soft & Stitched: Textile Artists from Haywood Community College” will open on April 8 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville. www.haywood.edu or www.haywoodarts.org.

• The “Come Paint with Charles Kidz Program” will be at 4 p.m. April 7 and 14 at the Charles Heath Gallery in Bryson City. $20 per child. Materials and snacks includ34 ed. 828.538.2054.

Cullowhee to give studio visits to Western Carolina University’s Master of Fine Arts students. He will be available to meet with school children and community groups visiting The Bascom, as well. A large focus of the Sculpture Residency program is community involvement and The Bascom is inviting community members to schedule time to meet with Melvin or to volunteer to assist with the construction of the sculpture, which is a 16-foot by 20-foot “Mountain” constructed from reclaimed lumber.

The 1,500+ board feet of lumber which will be used for the sculpture was generously contributed and delivered to The Bascom by Antique Reclaimed Lumber, www.pricelesswood.com, in Nebo, owned by Michelle and Phillip Price. Woodturner and Bascom instructor, Don Marks, as well as local woodworker, Alex Bolden, and El Azteca Mexican Restaurant owner, Enrique Gaona, have already committed to volunteer their time and encourage other community members to do so as well.

To learn more about this sculpture, or to schedule a time to volunteer, contact Director of Community Outreach, Will Barclift at 828.787.2897. www.thebascom.org.

The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) recently solidified partnerships with Haywood Arts Regional Theatre (HART) and The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville to show work in the lobby of each facility.

Shows at HART will open in conjunction with shows on the Performing Arts Center Main Stage. Exhibits at The Strand will change approximately twice a year.

The first show in HART’s Rodwell Gallery, “Soft and Stitched: Textile Artists from HCC,” opens April 8 and closes May 9.

This show from the Haywood Community College Continuing Education Creative Arts Department will feature local fiber artists.

Works of art from the Creative Arts Quilting and Upholstery classes as well as pieces from instructors who are fiber artists will be on display during the HART’s Red Velvet Cake War play. Haywood Community College’s Creative Arts programming offers an innovative, affordable, groundbreaking craft education. More information on classes can be found at creativearts.haywood.edu.

An emerging artist, Jared Schwartz, is currently being featured at The Strand.

Fascinated by the human face, he presents viewers with interpretations of Native Americans, celebrities and others. Movies and comic books are influential to his art, and he utilizes light, shadow and the manipulation of color to make powerful images. www.haywoodarts.org.

Cherokee pottery festival The Mud Dauber (Didanisisgi) Pottery Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, April 16, at the Cherokee Fairgrounds.

The event will feature Cherokee potters who will be selling their work as well as participating in a variety of roundtable discus-

Josef Albers. This exhibition celebrates modern and contemporary artist who explore meaning and the use of color in art.

• A “Superhero Poster” contest is currently underway at the Canton Public Library. You can use the library supplies to create your own poster. Deadline to submit a creation is Wednesday, April 20, with winners announced during “Library-Con” on Saturday, April 30. All ages welcome to attend. 828.648.2924.

• “Stitch,” the community gathering of those interested in crochet, knit and needlepoint, meet at 2:30 p.m. every first Sunday of the month at the Canton Public Library. All ages and skill levels welcome. www.haywoodlibrary.org.

• Odili Donald Odita will give an artist talk at 5 p.m. April 7 in the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University. In conjunction with the Fine Art Museum's exhibit, “Color + Theory,” he will talk about his work. Although color theory principles first appeared in the early 15th century, major advances were made by the German Bauhaus by artists like

• The fourth annual Birdhouse Bash is currently underway. Bring complete birdhouses to the Second Blessing Thrift Shop in the Frog Level District of Waynesville by May 5.

The birdhouses will be part of the silent auction at the “Whole Bloomin’ Thing” festival.

For more information, call 828.476.4231 or 828.734.1570.

ALSO:

sions about Cherokee pottery including: family traditions, tools used, patterns, etc.

Food will be available for purchase. Open to the public, this is a great opportunity for Cherokee art collectors and pottery enthusiasts to meet and talk with potters.

423.930.5837.

WCU arts fundraiser features benefit, gala

Western Carolina University’s Friends of the Arts annual fundraiser will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center in Cullowhee.

The event benefits scholarships and programming for students in WCU’s College of Fine and Performing Arts. This year’s event provides two opportunities to participate in fundraising activities: a free, public benefit and an invitational gala, both of which center around the Broadway musical “Gypsy,” performed by WCU students and featuring such notable tunes as “Let Me Entertain You” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.”

The benefit, free and open to the public, begins at 5 p.m. with a silent auction, wine cork pull, raffle, appetizers and cash bar.

Tickets for “Gypsy” are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $10 for students. Curtain is 7:45 p.m. Tickets are available through the Bardo Arts Center box office by calling 828.227.2479 or by visiting foa.wcu.edu.

The invitational gala also begins at 5 p.m. with a complimentary cocktail hour, silent auction, wine cork pull and raffle, followed by a gourmet dinner and live auction at 6 p.m., plus premier seating for “Gypsy” at 7:45 p.m.

Tickets for the gala are $125 per person and are available by invitation only due to limited seating. To request an invitation, call 828.227.7028 or visit foa@wcu.edu.

Raffle tickets are $25 each, or five for $100. Raffle winners will be announced at “Gypsy” and tickets can be purchased anytime leading up to the event through the Bardo Arts Center box office at 828.227.2479. www.wcu.edu.

• A community art group meets at 10 a.m. every Wednesday at the Hudson Library in Highlands. 828.526.3031.

• The film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be screened at 7 p.m. April 6-8, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 9, and 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. April 10 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. There will also be a free screening of “The Peanuts Movie” at noon and 2 p.m. April 9 and 16. www.38main.com.

• The film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (April 6-9, 14-16) will be screened at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Screenings are at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. with a special 2 p.m. matinee on Saturdays. Free. www.madbatterfoodfilm.com.

On the stage The MET Opera “Live via Satellite” presents “Roberto Devereux” at 12:55 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the Highlands Performing Arts Center.

England, 1599. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, is sent to Ireland to defeat the rebellious Irish chieftains. After an unsuccessful campaign he returns to England, where his actions are deemed a desertion of duty. The opera is inspired by a love triangle, forced marriage, secrecy and jealousy.

A pre-opera discussion lead by Beverly Wichman will begin at 12:30pm. Tickets are available online at www.highlandspac.org or at the door or by calling 828.526.9047.

Vaudeville musical at WCU

WCU Road Works for organizations, communities

• The southern dark comedy “Dearly Departed” will be performed by the Paper Mill Players at 6:30 p.m. April 10 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Tickets are $10. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com or papermillplayers@gmail.com.

ALSO:

A GUAR ANTEED G R E AT N I G H T O U T MAN IN THE MIRROR

A TRIBUTE TO THE KING OF POP

APRIL 30

CHRIS YOUNG MAY 7

Dysfunctional family reunion hits HART The production of acclaimed southern comedy “The Red Velvet Cake War” will be held at 7:30 p.m. April 8-9, 14-16 and at 2 p.m. April 10 and 17 at the Haywood Regional Arts Theatre in Waynesville.

This uproarious work is by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, the team that created “Dearly Departed” and a string of other hits all set in the small town of Sweetgum, Texas. It is a southern fried fast paced romp that barrels toward an uproarious climax at the most dysfunctional family reunion you’re ever likely to attend.

Special discount tickets are available for Thursday performances throughout the season. Ticket reservations can be made through the box office by calling 828.456.6322, Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m., or by going online to www.harttheatre.org.

HALESTORM

WITH L ACUNA COIL A N D C I LV E R

MAY 14

CH I PPEN DAL ES JUNE 11 TWO SHOWS

Visit ticketmaster.com or call 1-800-745-3000 to purchase tickets.

Smoky Mountain News

Western Carolina University has a new free outreach program called WCU Road Works that will present theatrical, music, film and visual arts events to organizations and communities throughout the region.

“To host, all anyone needs is a place for us to perform and to promote the event in their community or with their membership,” said George Brown, dean of WCU’s College of Fine and Performing Arts and director of the program.

This summer, the first offering will be a family-friendly production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged and Revised,” a parody of the Bard known for comically shortened scenes, pop culture references and occasional audience participation.

The production is completely self-contained and available to be performed either indoors or outdoors, Brown said.

Performances can be scheduled any afternoon or evening on unscheduled weekdays in June.

Any interested community or organization that wants to book a production should select a date and contact the College of Fine

and Performing Arts at 828.227.7028 to receive a confirmation sheet to detail information about the performance site. Once confirmed, the group will receive additional support materials to help with marketing of the event.

To showcase the musical and vocal talents of our children, 4-H in association with Catch the Spirit of Appalachia will again produce the Mountain Youth Talent Contest during the Greening Up the Mountains Festival at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 23, on the Signature Brew Stage in downtown Sylva.

Participants must exhibit a talent that wreflects the heritage and old ways of the region and adhere to the rules set up by the organizers of the contest.

Categories of the contest include: • Poetry/Storytelling (writings about heritage, items of historical significance, old timey ways) • Vocal Performance — Individual or

April 6-12, 2016

“Gypsy,” a musical loosely based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. April 14-16 and at 3 p.m. April 17 in the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University.

This musical fable about family and show business depicts Mama Rose propelling her younger daughter June toward a successful vaudeville career. After June elopes, Mama turns all her attention on her older, less talented daughter, Louise. As the vaudeville era fades, Louise ends up blossoming in its seedier version: burlesque.

Single event tickets are $21 for adults; $15 for senior citizens, faculty and staff; and for students, $10 day of show or $7 in advance.

For more information about the Mainstage season and special events, contact WCU’s School of Stage and Screen at 828.227.7491 or click on bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

Youth talent sought for Greening Up

Group (old timey songs, old gospel songs, bluegrass, heritage tunes from the turn of the century) • Instrumentalists — Individual or Group (feature instruments such as banjo, fiddle, guitar, dulcimer, mandolin playing old timey songs, old gospel songs, bluegrass, heritage tunes) • Dance — Individual or Group (Clogging, Square Dance, Irish Folk Dance, Native American Dance) To enter, complete an on-line entry form

by April 15. Information, guidelines and entry form available at the Jackson County 4-H blog: jackson4-h.blogspot.com.

For more information contact Kerri Rayburn, 4-H Administrative Assistant, 828.586.4009 or kerri_rayburn@ncsu.edu or Heather Gordon, Jackson County 4-H at 828.586.4009 or heather_gordon@ncsu.edu.

arts & entertainment

MET Opera to screen in Highlands

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Books

Smoky Mountain News

New light on Salem Witch Trials ack in 1954, when I was a freshman at Western Carolina Teachers College (now WCU), the college’s drama department launched a production of The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

My English instructor told her classes that the play, allegedly about the notorious Salem witch trials, was “really” about the McCarthy hearings, which were called “The UnAmerican Activities Committee.”

McCarthy had origiWriter nally set out to identify and expose “200 known communists” in the military in 1950 but eventually widened his search to include Hollywood.

The hearings were televised (April-June, 1954). McCarthy gave a list of accused; a list in which hundreds of Hollywood’s actors and writers had been branded “communists.”

Many were imprisoned and/or lost their jobs as friends turned on friends, accusing each other in a desperate attempt to save themselves ...in much the same manner as the people of Salem did in 1692.

I managed to get a minor role as Rev. Hale and thoroughly enjoyed the rehearsals and the productions, although I managed to anger the director in one production in which I mispronounced a word. I had a dramatic speech in which I held forth on the plague of events in Salem during the hangings. Someone was burning the fields of Salem farmers who had been accused of witchcraft.

“The stench of burning crouch hangs everywhere,” I proclaimed. It got a laugh.

In the 60 years that has passed since The

Gary Carden

B

Crucible, the names are still with me. Tituba, the Jamaican slave who survived by confessing. She apparently had a talent for storytelling and she held the attention of her accusers as she described how she flew to midnight meetings on her broom. She also pointed to the poor souls who flew with her. Now, 60 years later, I remember many of the names of the accused, their accusers and their neighbors: Martha Cory, Sarah Good, Giles Cory, John Proctor, Martha Carrier, Abigail Williams, Judge John Hathorne, Rev. Cotton Mather, Dorcas Hoar. These are real people.

Some are ignorant, vicious, given to falsehood, and capable of bearing a grudge for a lifetime. All are frightened and some will hang.

Stacy Schiff, the author of The Witches, is also the author of my favorite biography, Cleopatra, which won a Pulitzer. In The Witches she takes her extraordinary gift for painstaking research and turns the results into a kind of murder mystery in which the ultimate question is not “who?” but “why.”

In 1692, the Massachusetts Bay Colony executed 14 women, five men and two dogs for witchcraft. The accusations began in

The Witches by Stacy Schiff. Little, Brown & Company, 2015. 496 pages January. The first hanging took place in June and the last in September, leaving the people of Salem stunned by the consequences. What have we done? Why did we do it? Schiff devotes almost 500 pages to answering those questions. Among the victims were Harvard educated ministers.

There were what the lawyers refer to as “mitigating circumstances.” Indian attacks were still common and many of the residents

Celebrate National Library Week

of Salem had survived the horrors of nighttime attacks in which they saw their parents and/or their brothers and sisters scalped and murdered. The forest that surrounded them was filled with incomprehensible sounds and wolves prowled the streets at night. The weather proved unpredictable with winter storms and freezing temperatures.

It is disheartening to learn that in the years following the trials, many of the accusations were prompted by greed as neighbors denounced neighbors in the hope of acquiring additional land and property. Many of the accused were either wealthy with hundreds of acres of fertile land and houses that rivaled English estates, or they were beggars and poverty-stricken widows. In addition, many of the families resembled clans, which struggled for control of political positions. Also, just beneath the surface, there were bitter grudges and unpaid debts that had rankled for generations. The Colony was filled with ministers who were without churches or served as pastors to churches that failed to pay their salaries, which was usually paid in firewood and hay. Lawsuits were common and churches spent much time in wrangling and discontent.

The research in The Witches is amazing.

Schiff delves into family histories and compares the Salem trials to similar witch hunts in Europe (especially in Germany and Scotland). It is noted that Salem never condemned any of the convicted to burning at the stake. However, Giles Corey died by being pressed to death by having stones placed on him as he lay on the ground. (Corey is the only victim in American history to die in this manner.) In reviewing this book, I found it necessary to speak in generalities since the information is so extensive.

Somewhere between 144 and 185 were

such as the Seed Library located at the Waynesville Library, where library patrons can check out seeds to plant at home; or the Giving Garden behind the Canton Library, which is used to During National Library Week, April 10-16, Haywood County Public Library will join libraries nationwide in celebrat- teach various aspects of gardening; or Plug In and Read digital story time, ing the dynamic changes that are happening in • Author Liberty Crouch will present her recent work where kids learn today’s libraries.

Demons Release Trilogies at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 9, important early Libraries today are more about what they do, at Blue Ridge Books in literacy skills for and with library users as opposed to what Waynesville. Through years of jourwith the help of they have for patrons. Libraries aren’t only a naling her way to a confession of technology. place of quiet study, but also creative and engaghealing and recovery from a Haywood ing community centers where people can collabodeeply rooted lifelong drug abuse career and mental County Public rate on projects, learn to use new technologies or illness, she expresses unique insight with an array of Library is celejust relax. Our library offers a variety of print and full color digital personal artwork with the illustrations brating National digital resources, including the N.C. Digital provided throughout the entirety of this book.

Library Week by Library (e-books and more), Freegal (digital offering raffle music), Flipster (e-magazines) and more, all of tickets to anyone who attends a library program that week. which can be accessed for free with your library card.

The tickets will make program participants eligible for prizes.

Libraries of all types are evolving to meet the needs of the There will be prizes for both children and adults. Events that communities they serve. At the Haywood County Public week will include “Gardening with Kids,” “Beginning Organic Library, they’re transforming by offering innovative programs

ALSO:

named in 25 villages and towns before the hysteria abated. According to the testimony in all of the courts, more than 700 witches flew about Massachusetts. The youngest of the witches was 5, and the eldest was nearing 80.

In one instance, a daughter accused her mother, who, in turn accused her mother who accused a neighbor and a minister. In the community of Andover, one of every 15 people living there was accused.

But I am neglecting the most important factor in this book. That is, the accusers.

They were mostly children who were “possessed.” When they demonstrated evidence of being possessed, they were given to an amazing variety of actions: they took fits, fell to the floor and writhed, barked like dogs and galloped about the courtroom at the bidding of invisible tormentors. They often claimed to be bitten by witches and would exhibit the bites teeth marks. When their behavior became well known, the judges who conducted the investigations took them to the homes of the accused to see how the children behaved.

Why did they do it? Answers range from simple boredom to mental illness and as many of them admitted after the trials, once they started, they were unable to stop. Witnesses who kept accounts of the trials often noted that the mayhem created by the children made it impossible to conduct the trials.

One interesting bit of literary history — the judge who appeared all too eager to hang the accused, Judge John Hathorne was held accountable for the tragic consequences. His descendants actually changed the spelling of their name in an attempt to distance themselves from Hathorne. In fact, the old man’s great-grandson, Nathaniel Hawthorne is an example.

(Gary Carden is a writer and storyteller who lives in Sylva. He can be reached at gcarden498@aol.com.)

Gardening”, movie screenings, an Interview Skills Workshop, “Practicing Mindfulness,” Beginners Chess Club, story times and much more. Library events are always free to attend and open to all.

For a listing of events happening during National Library Week and all other upcoming events, visit www.haywoodlibrary.libguides.com/events.

NYT bestseller to read in Sylva City Lights Bookstore and The Jackson County Public Library will co-sponsor a reading with New York Times bestselling author Ann B. Ross at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 16, in the Community Room of the library.

Ross will present her new Miss Julia novel, Miss Julia Inherits a Mess. Miss Julia finds herself an executrix on a desperate hunt for a valuable collectible amid a jumble of the estate’s antiques, and if she finds a prize she can honor Miss Mattie’s last wishes.

828.586.9499 or www.citylightnc.com.

April 6-12, 2016

Smoky Mountain News

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38

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

The outdoors have been a powerful force in the lives of Jim Parham and MaryEllen Hammond.

The Nantahala River was what first drew them in, Hammond in 1978 for a job with Nantahala Outdoor Center and Parham later, in 1990, when NOC bought the rafting company he’d been working for previously.

The two met, married and decided that exploring the outdoors should always be part of their lives — personal and professional. They settled in Swain County and in 1991 founded Milestone Press, an independent publishing company focused on creating high-quality trail guides for the Southeast. The first book published in 1992.

Milestone is now 25 years old, and the company is still going strong, having just released three new books on hiking and mountain biking the Pisgah National Forest and DuPont State Forest. Parham handles the research and writing,though Milestone does publish other authors as well, and Hammond takes charge of the copyediting and production side of things.

When it comes to WNC, there’s plenty of material for a trail guide publisher to draw from.

“We have so much beauty that it’s hard to fathom how people or why people live in other places,” Parham said. “I’m kind of glad they do, though, because we would have so many people around here!”

In the shadow of the country’s most-visited national park, many of the trails Parham writes about snake through some of the most-used national forest areas in the region. Even in the backcountry, solitude isn’t always a given. But it exists, for those willing to seek it out.

That’s where Milestone Press comes in.

THEN AND NOW In the early 90s, when the company was first born, the world of backcountry exploration in WNC was a lot different. Mountain biking was just catching on in a big way, and notoriety was new to many of WNC’s trails.

“The retail part of it wasn’t ready for the number of people that were all of a sudden showing up with bicycles wondering where on earth they were supposed to ride these things they had bought,” Parham said.

There were fewer outdoor stores then, too, and the stores that did exist “were just overwhelmed with people showing up at their doorstep wondering where to go ride,” Parham said. “The employees would spend a lot of time describing how to get to certain places.”

Thus, the business opportunity that allowed Milestone Press to surge into being.

Things are different now. People in the market for a guidebook can peruse a seeming multitude of options on bookstore shelves — but there are also more people in that market, more stores catering to the outdoors crowd.

The changing of the times manifests on the trail, as well. When Parham first began his life as a guidebook author, a new trailhead was a gateway to a veritable unknown. In the 1990s, there wasn’t too much online pre-hike reading available.

A life of exploration Swain County trail guide duo reflects on 25 years in business

MaryEllen Hammond takes a break from the trail alongside Slickrock Creek. Milestone Press photo

“The root of it is we’ve chosen this path because it allows us to do and be what we want most of the time, and live where we want to live. I guess that’s it in a nutshell.”

— Jim Parham

“When I first started, I would go out in the woods and sure, people had been there before, but unless I had actually spoken to them, it was totally new information,” Parham said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into.”

There’s also the prevalence of cell phones, a trend that unfortunately — in Parham’s view, at least — extends to the backcountry. He recalls seeing people, for instance, playing bird calls from their phones only to come face to face with a group of disappointed birders, who had thought the sound they were chasing belonged to an actual avian. Or hikers chugging along a path while working on a text at the same time.

“I think it’s offensive to people to be around other people who are using that

kind of technology (on the trail),” Parham said.

ON THE JOB If anyone’s likely to have a read on backcountry users’ sensibilities, it’s Parham. In 24 years, he’s logged a formidable number of days and miles in the woods, especially given his commitment to extensive ground-truthing before publishing even the simplest hike.

“I pretty much refuse to put anything in print that I haven’t been there in person, physically, a number of times so that I feel like I know the area, I know the trail, I know the terrain, I know the plants that are growing there, the animals you’re going to see, what the creeks are like at

high water and low water,” Parham said.

“He actually will spend weeks and sometimes months doing fieldwork,” Hammond said. When completing his most recent mountain biking guide, for example, Parham would head out for a week of biking and sleeping in a vehicle at the trailhead in his Subaru, come home for the weekend, and then ship out again on Monday for the same routine.

“Oftentimes people will say, ‘That sounds like a great job,’” Parham said. “’You go out in the woods and have fun all the time.’ And in a way they’re right, but when you’re out there and it’s about 33 degrees and raining, you’re not exactly what you’d call enjoying yourself.”

Deadlines are deadlines, and the weather doesn’t always wait.

And Parham’s guidebook author mode of hiking and biking is a lot different than his just-for-fun mode.

When working, he said, “I’ll just be walking along coming up with idea. I can see how something is going to look on a page, and I’ll sit down and write that part. I would never do that if

F

Jim’s top picks Trail guide author Jim Parham has explored a lot of trails in his day. But when asked his favorite spots in Western North Carolina, he had a handful of top picks ready to name.

■ The Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness. “Not many people get back in there because it’s so rugged.”

■ Slate Rock. “It’s one of those places where it’s quiet. You can hear the wind blowing.”

■ Linville Gorge. “Very rugged, but beautiful.”

■ DuPont State Forest. “DuPont to me doesn’t feel like being in the backcountry, it’s so at the heart of development,” but it’s “a really unique area.”

New titles to explore

GPS in hand, Jim Parham does some trailside research. Milestone Press photo

STORIES OF DOING AND BEING

S EE EXPLORATION, PAGE 40

Mountain bikers roll down a trail in Dupont State Forest. Milestone Press photo

People have all kinds of preconceived notions of what it’s like to write a trail guidebook. How many times have I heard, “That must be really cool, you just get to go out and ride your bike or hike all day!” Yes, that is what I do all day — sometimes. But it’s not quite what you might imagine. I ride everything I write about, and that’s time-consuming.

Efficient trail research typically demands several days of riding at a time, getting in several long trails per day. Here’s a page out of my trail log from last April.

4 a.m. Up early and out the door. I packed lunch last night, so I just boil some water and make a pot of tea to pour into a thermos. I’ll drink most of it en route to the first trailhead (two hours away), washing down that waffle that thawed on the kitchen counter overnight.

6:30 a.m. Arrive just as the sun is coming up.

Fortunately it’s a beautiful morning and the sunrise through the trees is pretty much gorgeous. I’d like to get in three big mountain bike rides today, so I’m racing daylight on both ends. I’ll also be shooting photos as I go, and the light will only be good until around 10 or 11 a.m. I hit the trail, alone.

All the other early birds are chirping louder than me.

1 p.m. Finish the first ride — Heartbreak Ridge outside of Black Mountain, 25 miles long, and pretty darn difficult. It climbed forever. That waffle is long gone and I’m starving. I was having so much fun on the long downhill that I didn’t stop for a snack. I’ve been taking notes as I go, but I take a break to save my GPS route and write out impressions of the trails I’ve just been on. Then I chow down on the lunch I made last night — good old PB&J. 1:40 p.m. Back on my bike and riding Kitsuma from the same trailhead. My legs are still post toasties from this morning and this route starts with a steep half-mile climb.

Great — now my legs are really screaming. Another fun downhill follows, and I forget my legs for a while.

3:30 p.m. Finished Kitsuma. I write up my notes and save the GPS — can’t forget that. Feeling pretty good, though I’ve sweated off several pounds. Load up the car and drive back around Asheville, heading for the Coleman Boundary near Barnardsville. It’s a beautiful drive, but I’m extremely disappointed when I find the ice cream joint in Barnardsville is now a thrift store. I was excited about that ice cream.

4:30 p.m. Coleman Boundary trailhead. I’d planned on spending the night in a nearby dispersed-use Forest Service campsite, but it’s too early to camp now. The ride is 14 miles. Even though I didn’t get the ice cream, I decide to go for it.

7 p.m. Coleman Boundary ended up being fairly easy.

Good thing, or I’d have had to bail and do it again in the morning. After finishing up my notes I head over to Hot Springs to find a place to sleep near tomorrow’s first ride.

7:30 p.m. Downtown Marshall. I ditch the dehydrated dinner I brought with me and eat a huge pizza instead — good decision.

9 p.m. Grand total for today: 45 miles on the bike, four hours in the car — but who’s counting? Right now I’m curled up in a sleeping bag in the back of my 1995 Subaru wagon, parked right at the trailhead. There’s a whippoorwill about two inches from the window next to my head and I think he got into someone’s coffee supply — he’s pretty hyped up.

Doesn’t matter, I’m zonked. Up for tomorrow: more riding — about 21 miles on the bike and three hours in the car.

This piece was originally published in June 2015 at www.milestonepress.com/blog.

Smoky Mountain News

Though she’s certainly a lover of the outdoors herself — the family, which includes the couple’s college-age son, has hiked together in Europe, biked along Hadrian’s Wall in England and paddled the Grand Canyon — Hammond doesn’t often go along on Parham’s research trips.

But she does get to hear his sometimes-harrowing tales when he returns.

Like, for instance, the time he was biking Laurel Mountain Trail in the Pisgah National Forest and the bolt holding his seat down broke.

“For a while, I was actually able to find another bolt that held on something else that wasn’t as important and get it in there, and that worked for a little while even though the seat was at a crazy angle,” he recalled. But then the substitute bolt broke, so he just had to complete the ride without a seat. There were no cell phones in those days. He had no choice but to make it work.

BY J IM PARHAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

April 6-12, 2016

I’m just out having fun.”

Parham the guide author carries a couple of cameras, a pair of GPS units and a notebook in addition to all his outdoors gear. He stops frequently to take notes, ensures he has all the GPS information he’ll need to painstakingly draw his maps later, and he’s almost always alone. Parham the outdoor enthusiast, meanwhile, leaves the equipment at home, takes no notes and often has company on the trail.

The process has gotten easier over the years. In more than two decades, Parham’s gotten to know the backcountry trails and terrain pretty well, so the individual projects aren’t quite as timeconsuming as they used to be.

But he’s also gotten better at seeing the trails through the eyes of those less experienced than himself. Now, he finds himself leading a lot of rides for kids at camps, and while that’s fun, not work, it’s been pretty educational.

“You start realizing not everybody can ride a 15-mile loop before lunch,” he said. Those refined sensibilities can help inform his work later on.

“Very few people are the mountain biker that Jim is,” Hammond said.

outdoors

Milestone Press, an independent publishing company based in Swain County, has recently released three new guides to explore the backcountry of Western North Carolina.

■ Mountain Bike Trails: North Carolina Mountains, South Carolina Upstate by Jim Parham is a 216-page full-color guide with detailed descriptions and maps of trails in areas ranging from Issaqueena in South Carolina to Bent Creek and Jackrabbit in North Carolina.

■ Hiking and Mountain Biking Pisgah Forest by Jim Parham is a 191-page two-color pocket guide with maps and descriptions for 20 day hikes, 12 overnight hikes, 29 mountain biking routes, 21 waterfall routes and 18 trailheads.

■ Hiking and Mountain Biking DuPont State Forest by Scott Lynch is a 119-page pocket guide including maps and descriptions for both popular and lightly used trails in the waterfall-rich area.

The books are available at local bookstores or online at www.milestonepress.com.

A day in the life of a mountain bike guidebook author

39

Google the name of almost any trailhead in Western North Carolina, and you’re likely to come up with pages of links to a plethora of online mentions and trail descriptions aimed at helping readers do just the hike you’re looking for.

So, with all that information out there for free, why plunk down hard-earned money on a printed trail guide?

Ask those in the biz, and you’ll hear plenty of reasons.

“My sense is that people remain committed to getting their information about the outdoors from print,” said Chris Wilcox, owner of City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. “We’ve sold e-books too for many, many years, and it has always struck me that they’re finicky and the technology is not reliable.”

When you’re navigating the backcountry, the last thing you want is for the resource you’re depending on to guide you safely home to suddenly fail.

Service in the mountains is iffy, and even the apps that let users download map PDFs to their phones — negating the need for service — can have their drawbacks. Those maps take up a lot of memory, and battery drain is an ever-present possibility.

“I have never been asked to provide technical support for a print book,” Wilcox said.

Maybe the technology will get there someday, but for now it’s likely a long ways from becoming something that’s “going to replace a

Smoky Mountain News

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good ole reliable trail guide,” Wilcox said.

On the other hand, acknowledged Swain County trail guide author Jim Parham, there’s the abundance of free online resources that backcountry users can easily print out. But those have their limitations, too.

“That can be good information or bad information,” Parham said. “People have to learn to navigate their way through it.”

A higher degree of trust goes with a bonafide trail guide written by a bonafide trail guide author. Parham, for instance, doesn’t write word one of his trail descriptions before he’s been to the location several times, enough to really get a feel for the place, the variables it’s subject to and the difficulty of the terrain.

“It’s a lot of work to go and get 60 or 100 trails of information on the internet,” Parham said. “It would take somebody weeks, and whether that’s valid information or not is another thing.”

For now, Wilcox said, it appears that inkand-paper trail guides are here to stay. All the time, new ones are being written, old ones are being updated and large, national-scale trail guide companies like Falcon continue to invest in guides for WNC. “Their spreadsheets apparently tell them it’s a good investment,” Wilcox said.

— By Holly Kays, staff writer

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April 6-12, 2016

outdoors

Long live the hard copy trail guide

research, I went for three or four days with him and rode on the back of a motorcycle,” Hammond said. “The cover photo of Oddly enough, Hammond said, it seems that book was taken from the back of a she worries more about Parham’s on-trail motorcycle.” well-being now than she did in those preFor the couple, one of the hardest things cell phone years. about the job is picking a favorite. Which is better — hiking, mountain biking, A waterfall on Slickrock Creek waterfall spotting? makes for a beautiful view.

“It’s a flavor of the Milestone Press photo month thing,” Parham said.

“We’re doing waterfalls now, I love waterfalls. We’re doing mountain biking, I love mountain biking.

We’re doing backpacking, now this is awesome. My love of the outdoors is just being out there — the mode that gets me out there is not so much important. It’s just being out there and seeing and experiencing what there is.”

Which is why, despite the chilly, rainy days on trail, the stress of “I think I get more anxious now than I working under deadline and paychecks that used to,” Hammond said. “I don’t know, I don’t measure up to what a person could just have always had faith that he would be earn climbing through the corporate world, fine. I want to say I almost wish you hadn’t Parham and Hammond are grateful to have told me those stories.” been doing what they’re doing for so long.

Not that Hammond doesn’t have stories “The root of it is we’ve chosen this path of her own. Milestone publishes titles by because it allows us to do and be what we other authors in addition to Parham, want most of the time, and live where we including three books on motorcycle advenwant to live,” Parham said. “I guess that’s it tures by Hawk Hagebak. in a nutshell.”

“For his third book while he was doing

EXPLORATION, CONTINUED FROM 39

Get your 5K on April 16

■ Don a pair of bunny ears and prepare to run through bubbles at the Mountain Discovery Charter School Bunny Fun Run, slated for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 16, in the Village of Forest Hills. Proceeds will benefit athletic, music and art programs at the school as well as its capital campaign. Cost ranges from free to $25. www.active.com ■ Support South Macon Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Organization with the South Macon Wildcats ROARING! 5K Run/Walk at 10 a.m.

Saturday, April 16, in Franklin. Raffle tickets will be available before the awards ceremony for prizes supplied by local businesses. $30. www.active.com.

■ A race through downtown Dillsboro will accompany the Spring Bloom & Build Festival at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 16. $20 or $30 day of. 828.369.3716 or www.active.com.

April 23

Franklin

Haywood County

■ A ride for beginners starts at 6:15 p.m.

Tuesdays at Macon Middle School, with a goal to work up to an 18-mile roundtrip to the waterfall on Ellijay as the season progresses.

The group stays together. Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles, 828.369.2881 or info@smokymtnbikes.com.

■ A ride leaves at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, with alternating starts at Smoky Mountain Bicycles and South Macon Elementary School.

Routes vary. Road bikes only. A no drop ride.

Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles, 828.369.2881 or info@smokymtnbikes.com.

■ Beginning bikers can always find help from the folks at Bicycle Haywood N.C., which has members willing to arrange one-on-one instruction. Bob Clark, bobclarklaw@gmail.com.

Sylva

Asheville

■ A 25-mile ride covering the back roads from Sylva to Balsam leaves at 6 p.m.

Tuesdays from Motion Makers Bicycle Shop in Sylva. The route includes flat stretches, lots of climbing and a descent on the return of the out-and-back ride, which includes 1,600 feet of elevation gain. Organized by Motion Makers, 828.586.6925.

Canton ■ An easy ride aiming to help people ease into a healthier lifestyle through cycling leaves

Bryson City ■ Nantahala Area Southern Off Road Bicycling Association is still finalizing its schedule of spring off-road rides. Up-to-date information will be posted at www.facebook.com/NantahalaAreaSORBA/?fref =ts.

■ A beginner-friendly social ride will begin at 6:15 p.m. Mondays from the Bent Creek Ledford Parking Lot, covering 5 to 8 miles of mountain bike trails. Organized by Motion Makers Bicycle Shop. 828.633.2227.

■ A training ride for women who know how to handle a mountain bike but want to go faster will start at 6:15 p.m. Wednesdays from the Ledford parking lot at Bent Creek. The rides will cover 8 to 12 miles and use more technical trails than the beginner’s ride. Organized

by Motion Makers Bicycle Shop. 828.633.2227.

April 6-12, 2016

■ Celebrate springtime with Sylva’s annual Greening up the Mountains 5K at 9 a.m.

Saturday, April 23, starting from Mark Watson Park. The Greening up the Mountains Festival will be held in Sylva afterward. $15 with registration open

Marching Band, beginning 10 a.m.

Saturday, April 23, in Bryson City. $15-$30, depending on registration type. Theresa Carroll, 828.488.2152 or tcarroll@swainmail.org. www.runsignup.com.

■ A run commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 23, at the Acquoni Expo Center in Cherokee. Hosted simultaneously in various locations worldwide, the 100th Anniversary Fun Run will allow JROTC units to raise funds for their service learning projects. $24 or free for JROTC and ROTC cadets. www.active.com.

Cycling weather is here, and bikers looking to scratch the cycling itch with like-minded individuals have plenty of options to do so.

at 9:30 a.m. Thursdays from the Canton Recreation Park, beginning April 21 and covering 8-10 miles. Road bikes are preferred.

Nobody will be left behind. A partnership of Bicycle Haywood N.C., the Blue Ridge Bike Club and MountainWise. Michele Trantham, mttrantham@hotmail.com.

Cycle Western North Carolina

outdoors

Springtime is here, and opportunities to show off your running game with a casual 5K abound. Grab a calendar, mark your dates, and get running.

through April 20. www.runsignup.com.

■ Help underprivileged Pisgah High School students access food, clothing and other necessities by running in the Pisgah Pavement Pounder at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 23, at the high school. Funds will go to students confidentially identified by the school social worker. $25 through April 21. www.iamathlete.com.

■ Find your favorite costume, throw on a pair of running or walking shoes and get moving in the Costume Clash Stroll & Dash supporting the Swain County High School

Whitewater coming to Glenville

Take the Cashiers cycling challenge It’s time to ramp up the training for the Tour de Cashiers Mountain Cycling Experience, an annual challenge that traverses the scenic — and mountainous — byways of Jackson, Macon and Transylvania counties.

Slated to kick off at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 14, the three routes offered in the Tour de Cashiers feature more than 10,000 feet of elevation change on steep climbs and fast ascents through granite-faced mountains, flowery valleys and running rivers.

Riders can choose from 25-, 62- and 100mile routes.

“Throughout the ride it seems like you are always clawing your way up the next short, medium, or (several) interminably long climbs,” said Scott Baker, a Jackson County resident who’s a seasoned Tour de Cashiers participant. “Try not to judge yourself by others on this route. Just finishing is an outstanding accomplishment on its own.”

The ride attracts about 300 riders each year who have traveled from as far away as Idaho to participate, with ages ranging from 18 to 72. $45. www.tourdecashiers.com.

Smoky Mountain News

Paddlers will get their fill of adrenaline with the first of seven Glenville Dam releases scheduled for this year, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 16 and 17.

Additional release days are June 4, June 18, July 2, July 30 and Aug. 20.

High Falls will be roaring, and those not willing to grab a paddle themselves can hike in to watch experienced kayakers launch at the base for a wild ride down the West Fork of the Tuckasegee River.

The trail, accessed from the Pines Recreation Area, is a three-quarter-mile jaunt that descends 650 feet in elevation.

41

outdoors

WNC land trusts surpass conservation goal In the past five years, the 10 land trusts of Western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Forever coalition have collectively completed 280 new conservation projects, protecting more than 31,000 acres and surpassing their 30,000-acre, five-year goal. “Land trusts protect land and water for present and future generations, forever,� said Jess Laggis, director of the Blue Ridge Forever collaboration. “When a land trust protects property near a stream or river, the effects trickle downstream to people in the form of clean water from the faucet.�

An inch of rainfall equates to about one gallon of water per square foot of land area, meaning the acres protected over the past five years protect about 53 billion gallons of clean water each year.

Included in Blue Ridge Forever’s 10-organization roster are the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Mainspring Conservation Trust (formerly

Fish the Nantahala A full-day fly-fishing trip on the Nantahala River will carpool from Waynesville at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 16.

Organized by Trout Unlimited Cataloochee, the trip will feature a group lunch along the river and buddy system fishing. $5 to cover the cost of lunch with RSVPs required to tucataloochee427@gmail.com .

Help kids enjoy the Appalachian Trail

April 6-12, 2016

Hike leaders are wanted to help kids get out in nature during a pair of programs planned for Friday, April 8, in Macon County, led by the Nantahala Hiking Club.

Mountain View Intermediate School students — 160 of them — will be embarking on day hikes in the Standing Indian area near Franklin that day. Additional adult leaders are needed to help 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

828.369.1983.

De-muck the Tuck The nation’s largest single-day effort to remove trash from a river will sweep 27 miles of the Tuckasegee River on Saturday, April 16, in Cullowhee.

The Tuck River Cleanup, hosted by Western Carolina University’s Base Camp Cullowhee, is now in its 32nd year, featuring upwards of 1,000 volunteers paddling in rafts and walking the

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Roaring Creek, part of a Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy conservation project, is one of the many headwaters streams protected by land trusts in Western North Carolina. Donated photo known as Land Trust for the Little Tennessee), Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Conservation Trust for North Carolina and

the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina.

The group formed in 2005 to collaborate on their goal so safeguard land and water resources in the Southern Blue Ridge.

riverbanks to root out litter.

Registration will be held 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the lawn of A.K. Hinds University Center on WCU’s campus. From there, volunteers will be outfitted with a life jacket and paddle and sent out to collect litter.

All rafters must weigh at least 40 pounds and wear shoes that won’t come off in the water. Rafts are self-guided and no coolers or alcohol are allowed. Volunteers should eat lunch beforehand.

The day will end at 4 p.m. with a picnic featuring live entertainment, yard games and a chance to win prizes donated by local businesses.

A $1,250 grant from Clif Bar Flowing Rivers Campaign by American Whitewater and $1,200 from the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority helped defray expenses for the event, with Aramark and WCU’s Division of Student Affairs donating food for the picnic.

828.228.8813.

Wilderness in the modern era

outdoors

What does “wilderness” mean in the midst of the Anthropocene era, the current geologic time period that’s defined by human activity?

That’s the question The Wilderness Society will discuss with the help of the region’s foremost writers and scientists in a panel presentation, “Wilderness and the Anthropocene,” 6-9 p.m. Friday, April 15, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville.

Panelists include Wofford College environmental studies professor John Lane; Catherine Reid, a professor in the creative writing program at Warren Wilson College; Drew Lanham, a master teacher and alumni distinguished professor in wildlife ecology

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at Clemson University; and Jennifer FrickRuppert, professor of biology and environmental science at Brevard College.

“This is an important topic to consider as we continue to see all of the ways in which humanity impacts nature and the Earth,” says Brent Martin, Wilderness Society Regional Director. “The writers and scientists on this panel are among the best-equipped to consider these questions as we look toward what the future of the Anthropocene may hold.”

Free, but space is limited. RSVP at http://bit.ly/1qaf1Ba. 828.587.9453.

For those who can’t make the Asheville event, Martin will give a reprise of the presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at the Macon County Library in Franklin.

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Stargazing on tap at WCU

More than 2,000 people are expected to attend a day of kid-friendly tinkering and experimentation at the Mountain Science Expo 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville.

Over 30 exhibitors will be on-site, with hands-on demonstrations and experiments from organizations including Balsam Mountain Trust, Bricks 4 Kids, RiverLink

and the WNC Nature Center. In addition, exhibits from 25 WNC students who participated in the arboretum’s Project EXPLORE program will be on display.

The event, in its fifth year, is part of the statewide N.C. Science Festival focusing on how science, technology, engineering, art and math are part of everyday life.

Free with the standard $12 parking fee.

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Take in the nighttime sky with a telescope viewing 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, April 8, at the Jackson County Airport.

Hosted by Western Carolina University’s Department of Chemistry and Physics, the event will feature a presentation on identifying planets and spring constellations, with faculty on hand to help viewers hone in on the sights.

The event is part of the 2016 North Carolina Science Festival’s Statewide Star Party. The festival, which spans from April 8 to April 24, includes more than 300 public science events across the state, listed at www.ncsciencefestival.org.

Free. In case of completely overcast skies, the event will be canceled.

828.227.2718.

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April 6-12, 2016

Bug-loving photographers will get the inside scoop on photographing insects through a presentation from Kefyn Catley, a biology professor at Western Carolina University, at 2 p.m.

Saturday, April 9, at the Cullowhee Methodist Church.

Catley will discuss macro photography equipment, shooting techniques, field craft, postproduction methods and the importance of knowing your subject. His images are well known for their sharpness, clarity and distinction.

Attendees are encouraged to bring bug-related photographs for a show and tell after the presentation.

Part of the Sylva Photo Club’s monthly meeting. Free for members and $5 for non-members. sylvaphotoclub@gmail.com Tiger beetle. Kefyn Catley photo or 828.226.3840.

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outdoors

The Wildflower Pilgrimage is back

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many books, Landry has spent nearly 30 Smoky Mountain splendor will be on years sharing the rich history of the full display during the Spring Wildflower Southern Appalachians.

Pilgrimage, a five-day celebration of the Register at www.springwildflowerpilpark’s wonders April 19 to 23 in Gatlinburg, grimage.org.

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A full schedule of professionally guided programs exploring the Wildflowers abound in the Smokies region’s rich wildflowers, wildlife, this time of year. Donated photo ecology, culture and natural history through walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes and indoor seminars will offer something for everybody inclined to make the trip.

Participants will also have the opportunity to hear nationally recognized speakers, such as Emmyaward winning producer and author Bill Landry, the event’s featured speaker. Host of the Heartland series and author of

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Spring bird spotting has begin

Getting you there is what we do.

Spring bird walks have begun for the Franklin Bird Club, with excursions held along the Little Tennessee River Greenway in Franklin each Wednesday beginning at 8 a.m.

Birders of all experience levels — including none — are welcome to accompany the more seasoned avian spotters on their weekly walks.

Meeting locations vary. 828.524.5234.

Operational Hours Mon-Fri 6am - 5:30 pm Reservations are required — Call 24 hours in advance

828.565.0362

All trips are coordinated with others while in the general area.

We are not a last minute taxi service! Wheelchair Services are available.

Smoky Mountain News

April 6-12, 2016

339-83

Get some pro tips on growing fruits and veggies in the backyard with a pair of programs offered through the Macon County Cooperative Extension Center.

■ At 2 p.m. Monday, April 11, the Growing Backyard Fruit program will cover cultivation of apples, peaches, pears, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and grapes.

■ At 2 p.m. Thursday, April 14, the Vegetable Gardening class will cover selecting a garden site, soil testing, fertilizer, varieties and disease and insect management.

Free, with pre-registration required at 828.349.2046.

If you spend time in the backcountry you need to be prepared. Fast paced and hands-on, this two or three-day Wilderness First Aid course covers a wide range of wilderness medicine topics for people who travel and work in the outdoors.

APRIL 16TH - 17TH

Programs offered for cattlemen

The Wilderness StarGuard® is a cutting edge aquatic rescue course designed to meet the needs of wilderness trip leaders with a focus on prevention. Wilderness First Aid is a Prerequisite for Star Guard.

APRIL 23RD - 24TH

Register Now at landmarklearning.edu For more information, call the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department at 456-2030 or email tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov

PARKS AND RECREATION 828.456.2030 or email tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov

A pair of programs aiming to help cattlemen better take advantage of the area’s cattle-friendly topography and climate will be offered through Jackson County Cooperative Extension on April 12 and 23.

■ From 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, cattlemen will learn about beef quality assurance principles, which are production practices that maximize consumer confidence through proper vaccinations and animal care — and can lead to an improved bot-

tom line, decreased animal care costs and better records.

■ A pasture management field day will provide a first-person look at quality pasture management, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday, April 23, in Glenville. A caravan will leave at 8 a.m. from the Jackson Extension Center to drive to the site. The program will explain how to improve profitability, animal well-being and environmental sustainability through pasture management practices.

Free. Register with Robert Hawk at 828.586.4009, 828.488.3848 or robert_hawk@ncsu.edu.

Prepare to survive no matter what

WAYNESVILLE 44

Grow a tasty backyard

336-22

Grasp the tools needed to survive no matter the circumstances with Heritage Life Skills, a collection of classes in everything from blacksmithing to bread making offered April 29 to May 1 at the Haywood County Fair Grounds.

The three-day event is packed full of classes, including some new offerings like land navigation, pallet-building and community patrolling. Participants can learn outdoor skills like building emergency shelters and tanning hides as well as homesteading skills such as emergency childbirth, food preservation and beekeeping. Prepper-specific skills such as community patrolling — including a field exercise — global intelligence and basic family prepping are also offered.

Cost is $100 for adults, with single-day admission and student admission available for $50.

Organized by Carolina Readiness Supply.

828.456.5310. www.carolinareadiness.com.

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Oconaluftee Indian Village kicks off the 2016 season on Tuesday, April 12, located next to the Oconaluftee Visitors Center in Cherokee. Witness the challenges of Cherokee life at a time of rapid cultural change. Tour guides help you explore the historic events and figures of the 1760’s. Visitors can interact with villagers as they participate in their daily activities. The village also hosts live reenactments, interactive demonstrations, and hands-on Cherokee pottery for kids classes. The village is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. www.visitcherokeenc.com.

• A special ceremony honoring Scottish Americans will be held to celebrate National Tartan Day for the U.S. and Canada at 1 p.m. on April 6 at the downtown gazebo in Franklin. All are welcome.

• On Track Financial Education & Counseling will offer “Dreaming of Debt-Free Living?” at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, in the main auditorium classroom at Haywood Community College in Clyde. Co-sponsored by Haywood Habitat for Humanity and Haywood County Board of Realtors. Free, open to the public. Registration required: 452.7960. Info: www.haywoodhabitat.org.

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

Center hours are from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays on a first-come, first-serve basis. No charge.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Haywood Community College’s summer and fall registration is underway through April 22 for new and continuing students. 627.4500.

• Issues and Eggs will be from 8-9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 6, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville.

456.3021. Guest speaker is Joe Stewart, executive director of the N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation.

• A free small business seminar entitled “Proactive Grant Research – Capitalize on Your Time and Energy” will be offered by Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center from 9 a.m.-noon on Wednesday, April 6, at SCC’s Jackson Campus. Registration required: www.southwesterncc.edu/sbc. Info: t_henry@southwesterncc.edu or 339.4211.

• “Growing up in Hazelwood” will be presented by Mary Ann Enloe from 4-5 p.m. on April 7 at the Folkmoot Center as part of the Haywood Ramblings speaker series. Hosted by the Waynesville Historic Commission.

Snow date is the following Thursday. Light refreshments. 456.8647.

• “The Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project at the University of Tennessee Library: A Look at the First Permanent Camp on Mount Le Conte” presented by Ken Wise is the topic of the next presentation at the Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society meeting, which is at 6:30 p.m. on April 7 at the SCGH Museum in Bryson City. Free; open to the public.

• A Mountain Science Expo will be held from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on April 9 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. Focus is on how science, technology, engineering, art and math are incorporated into everyday lives. www.ncarboretum.org.

• A small business seminar entitled “Your Small Business Taxes” will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 2-4 p.m. on April 7 in Clyde. For more info or to register, visit SBC.Haywood.edu or call 627.4512.

• The third annual Buckle-Up Baby event will be hosted

by Safe Kids Macon County from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, at the Factory in Franklin. Free giveaways, games and activities as well as tips to help adults ensure car seats are used and installed properly.

421.7950.

• A small business seminar entitled “Basics of Bookkeeping” will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 6-9 p.m. on April 12 in Clyde. For more info or to register, visit SBC.Haywood.edu or call 627.4512.

• A seminar entitled “Shifting Gears to Your Life & Work After Retirement is being offered for retirees and those approaching or planning ahead for retirement from: 8:30-5 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, at Southwestern Community College’s Jackson Campus. Instructor is Deborah Aiton, who spent 40 years as a registered nurse. $65. Register at www.southwesterncc.edu (choose “Class Schedule” from upper menu, then select “Personal Enrichment,” or call 338.4497 or email j_williams@southwesterncc.edu.

• Beaverdam community Center will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 11. Guest speaker is Kendra Thompson with Rite Aid. 648.0552 or judysellars1067@att.net.

• “Back Porch Old-Time Music Jam,” two hours of traditional Appalachian music, will return at 2 p.m. on April 16, May 7 and May 21 at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

Visitors with an acoustic instrument to play are welcome to join this old-time jam.

• Western Carolina University is offering a program called WCU Road Works to organization, communities thatneeda place to preform a self -contained event. Any interested community or organization that wants to book a production should select a date and contact the College of Fine and Performing Arts at 227.7028 to receive a confirmation sheet to detail information about the performance site.

• Free tax preparation will be available through April 15 at the Jackson County Public Library and Jackson County Senior Center in Sylva. Library hours are 3-6:45 p.m. on Tuesdays or by appointment (586.2016). Senior

• Western Carolina University will host a Global Spotlight Series event on “Africa in World Affairs” from 4-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in the Multipurpose Room of A.K. Hinds University Center in Cullowhee. Free; open to the public. Sponsored by the Political Science and Public Affairs Department, History Department and the International Studies Program. Info: 227.3336 or michelsen@email.wcu.edu.

• A free seminar series for nonprofits entitled “The Three Pillars to Transforming YOUR Nonprofit” will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Thursdays, April 14-28, in Room 1510 on the HCC campus in Clyde.

For info or to register: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512.

• A “Women in Business” luncheon is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 14, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. Presented by the Haywood Chamber of Commerce. Members and community at large invited. Guest speaker is Taylor Foss, senior vice president of organizational transformation at Mission Health. Tickets: $25 for chamber members; $30 for nonmembers. Details and reservations: 456.3021 or Series is sponsored by HaywoodChamber.com. Sponsored by Stanberry Insurance Agency, Inc. • Registration deadline is April 15 for the N.C. Safe Plates Food Safety Manager certification course, which will be offered April 25-26 in Haywood County. Class meets from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. each day. Exam is administered from 3-5 p.m. on April 26. Course fee is $125.

For info or to register: 456.3575 or julie_sawyer@ncsu.edu.

• Tickets are on sale for the Swain Chamber of

Smoky Mountain News

Commerce’s annual banquet, which is scheduled for 69 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, at the Fryemont Inn. Advance tickets are $30 per person. Week of the event, tickets are $35. Tickets available at the chamber.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • An indoor yard sale will be held from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, in Clyde Central United Methodist Church’s Fellowship Hall. Fundraiser benefits outreach work in the community; 60 percent will be used locally and 40 percent goes to an international project.

627.2287, 648.7676 or prask4@bellsouth.net.

• The Cruso United Methodist Church Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser is set for 4:45-7 p.m. on Friday, April 15. $7 a plate. Eat-in or take-out.

• MPP’s Relay for Life team will hold a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 15, at Macon Program for Progress in Franklin. Adult trays are $7; children $5.

• The second annual Good Samaritan Cycle, benefitting the Good Samaritan Clinic of Jackson County, is scheduled for noon on April 15. Donations may be made online at www.goodsamcares.org/donate. Info: 631.8711 or www.goodsamcares.org.

• Western Carolina University’s School of Stage and Screen continues its spring Mainstage theatre season when the musical “Gypsy” opens Thursday, April 14.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on April 14-April 16 and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 17. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for senior citizens and WCU faculty and staff and $10 for students. Tickets available by calling 227.2479 or online at bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

• An Autism Awareness Golf Tournament, 18-hole, captain’s choice style, is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on April 12 at Maggie Valley Club. $500 per foursome; boxed lunch and four tickets to TASTE event included.

RichiesAlliance.org or louisaperrone@gmail.com.

VENDORS • Greening Up the Mountains Festival is seeking artists, mountain crafters, environmental and food vendors to apply for booths in the upcoming 19th annual event, which is April 23 in Sylva. www.greeningupthemountains.com, 586.2719 or at Sylva’s Town Hall. Info: 631.4587.

HEALTH MATTERS • A free demonstration on Vibrational Raindrop Technique will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 6, and at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, in Maggie Valley.

Learn how the technique balances your body’s energy, reduces stress and more. Register or get more info: 508.0904.

• Swain Community Hospital will host an American Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Monday, April 11, in Bryson City. Appointments: 800.733.2767 or www.redcrossblood.org.

• A free diabetes prevention program will be offered starting April 11 at the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency. Info and registration at www.healthyhaywood.com.

• A Multiple Sclerosis support group for persons with MS, family and friends will meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, in the Heritage Room at the Jackson County Senior Center in Sylva. Info and confidential sharing.

Sponsored by Greater NC Chapter of National MS Society. All are welcome. Info: 293.2503.

• The event leadership team meeting for Relay for Life of Franklin will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, in the Depot Room of The Factory in Franklin. Team

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Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings Captains’ meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m.

• A free introductory workshop on mindfulness, presented by Dodi Christiano, LPC, will be offered from 1-2:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 14, at the Waynesville Library.

Learn skills to improve overall mental and physical well-being. Sign-up required: 356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net.

• The Macon County Cancer Support Group will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 14, in the cafeteria of Angel Medical Center. Melanie Seeger, volunteer coordinator and bereavement coordinator of Angel Hospice, will be the guest speaker. Free gifts and light refreshments.

• The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday, April 16, at the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee. Make an appointment at https://www.redcrossblood.org/give/drive/driveSearchList .jsp?zipSponsor=Jackson or 800.733.2767.

RECREATION AND FITNESS • Registration is underway for Appalachian Dance Class 101, which will be offered at Folkmoot in Waynesville. Instruction on square dance formation and basic flat-foot and clogging styles unique to Haywood County will be provided by Kim Rose, director of the J. Creek Cloggers. Four-week classes cost $40 and are offered from 6-7 p.m. at the Folkmoot Community Center. Classes start April 19 for ages 6-up; and May 17 for Ages 16-up. Register: 452.2997 or elizabeth@folkmoot.org.

• Jackson County Public Library (Sylva) will host a community dance at 2:30 p.m. April 10. Circle and contra dances. Ron Arps will be the caller, with live music by Out of the Woodwork. All styles will be taught and walked through beforehand. No previous experience needed. A community dinner will follow at 5 p.m. ronandcathy71@frontier.com.

• A Swim Clinic will be offered for six consecutive weeks starting April 11 at the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center in Clyde. Available for swimmers age 18 and older who wish to improve on their current abilities, particularly triathlon competitors, competition swim event participants and anyone wishing to utilize swimming more effectively for exercise. Clinic will be led by longtime coach and swimming competitor Robin Batchelor. Sessions are from 6:15-7:15 a.m. on Mondays and 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Register at the front desk. Info: 452.8056 or myhaywoodregional.com/fitness.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • BookLovers Anonymous, an opportunity to discuss good books you’ve read and to hear about ones others have read, meets at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at Canton Library. 648.2924.

• The Coffee with the Poet series is cosponsored by the Netwest program of the North Carolina Writers Network and gathers the third Thursday of each month at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva. 586.9499.

wnc calendar

• Local author Carly Robbins will have a book signing and reading from 2-4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, at Western Carolina University’s Catamount Bookstore in Cullowhee. Robbins has written two books: “Secrets of Those That Are” and “Secrets of the Untold.”

• The book launch of “Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey Through the National Parks of the South” is set for 7 p.m. on April 8 at Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville. www.malaprops.com.

• Author Liberty Crouch will read from her new book “Demons Release” at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville. 456.6000 or www.blueridgebooksnc.com.

• City Lights Bookstore and The Jackson County Public Library will co-sponsor a reading with New York Times bestselling author Ann B. Ross at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 16, in the Community Room of the library.

586.9499 or www.citylightnc.com.

KIDS & FAMILIES • The “Come Paint with Charles Kidz Program” will be at 4 p.m. April 7 and 14 at the Charles Heath Gallery in Bryson City. $20 per child. Materials and snacks included. 828.538.2054.

KIDS MOVIES • Free screening of “The Peanuts Movie” at noon and 2 p.m. April 9 and 16 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. www.38main.com.

• The film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be screened at 7 p.m. April 6-8, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 9, and 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. April 10 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. www.38main.com.

• A free family movie will be shown at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Movie is a Disney animated adventure about a sultan who gives his daughter three days to find a husband; she escapes the palace and meets a genie. Info, including movie title: 488.3030.

A&E FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL EVENTS • A reception celebration Western Carolina University’s 14th Annual Spring Literary Festival is set for 5:30-7 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, on the third floor of the A.K. Hinds University Center in Cullowhee. Event includes a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg.

Other events from April 4-7 associated with the festival are listed at http://litfestival.org along with more info.

• Western Carolina University will celebrate the diverse cultures and traditions of its international student population during the university’s 37th annual International Festival starting at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 13, on the lawn of the A.K. Hinds University Center. Free; open to everyone. 227.7494.

• The 18th annual Asheville Orchid Festival is scheduled for April 15-17 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville, which is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. $5 per person; children 12 and under are free. Nonmembers will also be required to pay $12 parking fee. Info: www.wncos.org.

April 6-12, 2016

• The film “Star Wars – The Force Awakens” (April 69, 14-16) will be screened at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Screenings are at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

with a special 2 p.m. matinee on Saturdays. Free. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

• Habitat for Humanity’s second-annual Spring Bloom and Build festival is from 2-7 p.m. on April 16 at the Great Smoky Mountain Depot in Dillsboro. Events and entertainment include 5K run/walk, silent auction, face painting, scavenger hunt, live music, food vendors and more.

• A Healthy Living Festival is scheduled for 9 a.m.noon on Saturday, April 16, at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. Free event for all ages. Screenings to be announced; various health and wellness related booths. American Red Cross Blood Drive Blood Mobile available from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

• The Mud Dauber (Didanisisgi) Pottery Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the Cherokee Fairgrounds. The event will feature Cherokee potters who will be selling their work as well as participating in a variety of roundtable discussions about Cherokee pottery including: family traditions, tools used, patterns, etc. Food will be available for purchase. Open to the public, this is a great opportunity for Cherokee art collectors and pottery enthusiasts to meet and talk with potters. 423.930.5837.

FOOD & DRINK • Jackson County’s craft breweries are celebrating N.C. Beer Month throughout April. Breweries include Sneak E. Squirrel, Heinzelmännchen and Innovation.

For more information about each one’s promotions in April, visit: www.yourgnometownbrewery.com; www.innovation-brewing.com and www.facebook.com/TheSneakESquirrel.

• In honor of NC Beer Month, join Innovation Brewing, Heinzelmännchen Brewery, City Lights Café, Sneak E Squirrel and Evolution Wine Kitchen for the Sylva Brew Hop in Jackson County on April 9 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.. Tickets include a souvenir Sylva tap glass, two 6 oz. pours at each location and a chance to win prizes during the hop challenge. Then, enjoy a Positive

Mental Attitude (PMA) show at Bridge Park for the after-party. Tickets can be purchased in-store at Evolution or online at www.evolutionwinekitchen.com.

• The “Release the Rose — A Spring Wine Dinner” will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8, at The Farm at Old Edwards in Highlands. Live music, food tastings and spring wine releases. $125 per person. To RSVP, call 828.787.2625 or www.oldedwardsinn.com/rosewinedinner.

• Throughout April enjoy a pint of beer and an individual size pizza for only $10 at Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company located at the Sapphire National Golf Club.

• Chef Ricardo Fernandez will be hosting a Mountain Cooking Club class from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday, April 9, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville. Class fee is $65 plus a $1 Mountain Cooking Club 2016 membership fee. To reserve your space, please mail a check (payable to Ricardo Fernandez) to Suzanne Fernandez at 3553 Panther Creek Road, Clyde, North Carolina 28721.

Reservations confirmed upon receipt of payment.

246.7465 or chefricardos@gmail.com.

• Frankie’s Italian Trattoria in Maggie Valley will be hosting a benefit for autism on Monday, April 11.

Frankie’s would like to extend an invitation to chamber members who may want to be involved with this great event. Restaurants can either donate a percentage of their revenue to the Olsen Huff Center, provide gift certificates (or any sort of other silent auction items) that can be used to raise money. As you may or may not know, the Perrone’s (owners of Frankie’s) son, Richie, has autism, as this benefit affects them directly. The Olsen Huff Center in Asheville is where Richie visits once a month. https://www.facebook.com/frankiestrattoria or 926.6216 or 954.609.3502.

• Dine Out for Autism is scheduled for April 12-13 in

A

bi-monthly magazine that covers the southern Appalachian mountains and celebrates the area’s environmental riches, its people, culture, music, art, crafts and special places. Each issue relies on regional writers and photographers to bring the Appalachians to life.

Smoky Mountain News

In this issue: Redefining the Flavor of Southern Appalachia Have a Taste of the Big Easy in Brevard Fires Foster Community Connections Love in the Digital Age and Praise for Moss PLUS ADVENTURE, CUISINE, READING, MUSIC, ARTS & MORE

SUBSCRIBE: www.smliv.com OR

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866.452.2251

• Sierra Nevada Beer and Cheese Pairing Event will be held on April 13 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Evolution Wine Kitchen is hosting a beer and cheese pairing with Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Tickets include a selection of artisan cheeses expertly paired with a variety of Sierra Nevada beers. A Sierra Nevada expert will be conducting the pairing. Tickets can be purchased in-store at Evolution or online at www.evolutionwinekitchen.com closer to the event.

• TASTE – an evening of food, wine and local beers – is scheduled for April 13 at Maggie Valley Club.

Benefits go toward Autism charity. Advance tickets are $35 or $40 at the door. RichiesAlliance.org • The next installment of the “Murder Mystery Dinners” will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at The Sneak E Squirrel brewery in Sylva. Because it’s NC Beer Month, the dinner will be craft beer themed alongside a three-course meal. Vegetarian options available. There will be eight roles to play. For reservations, call 586.6440 • Tickets are available for a wine-tasting and fingerfood event presented by Bosu’s and FUR from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, April 22, at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. 15 percent discount per case; 10 percent per bottle or a free cat. Tickets are $30 each; available at Bosu’s 421.1290, 452.0120 or look up FUR of WNC on Facebook.

• Bakers are being sought for the 17th annual Taste of Chocolate Plus event, which is on April 23 and sponsored by the Maggie Valley Country Club.

Categories are: Amateur, Bed & Breakfast, Professional and Baker’s Choice. 356.2833 or jchicoine@mountainprojects.org.

• Graceann’s Amazing Breakfast is 8-10 a.m. every Tuesday in the Sapphire Room at the Sapphire Valley Community Center. $8.50 for adults; $5 for children.

Includes coffee and orange juice. 743.7663.

• There will be a free tasting and cooking demonstration from 5-7 p.m. every Saturday at Country Traditions in Dillsboro. Try a wide variety of wines while a gourmet chef prepares delicious treats that are available for purchase. Free. www.dillsborowineandgourmet.net.

• A game day will occur from 2 to 9 p.m. every third Saturday of the month at Papou’s Wine Shop & Bar in Sylva. Bring dice, cards or board games.

586.6300.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 1 to 5 p.m.

April 9 and 16 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 452.0120.

• A wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. April 6 and 13 at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. Free with dinner ($15 minimum). 452.6000.

• There will be a “Tasty Tuesday: Winter Seasonals” at 7 p.m. on April 12 and 19 at Mad Anthony’s Bottle Shop & Beer Garden.

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • The North Carolina Symphony, led by Associate Conductor David Glover, will perform a program of classical favorites at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, at

• Western Carolina University’s Percussion Studio will present a concert of chamber and ensemble music at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, in the recital hall of the Coulter Building on the WCU campus in Cullowhee. Free; open to the public. Info: 227.7242.

• The 2015-16 First Thursday Old-Time and Bluegrass Series at Western Carolina University will conclude at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 7, with a concert featuring the bluegrass band Buncombe Turnpike in the groundfloor auditorium of H.F. Robinson Administration Building in Cullowhee. Free; open to the public. Jam session follows at 8 p.m.; local musicians invited to participate. 227.7129.

• HART Theatre will kick off its main stage season on April 18 with the Southern Comedy “The Red Velvet Cake War” in Waynesville. Comedy. Performances at 7:30 p.m. on April 8-9; 14-16; and at 2 p.m. on April 10 and 17. 456.6322 or www.harttheatre.org.

• Singer-songwriter Jay Brown (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals) performs at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 8, at the Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. 452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Travis LeDoyt will present a tribute to Elvis Presley at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 8, at Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets start at $20 each. To purchase tickets are get more info, visit www.GreatMountainMusic.com or call 866.273.4615.

• Western Carolina University (Cullowhee) will host The Daniel Myers Senior Recital April 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Coulter Building. www.wcu.edu.

• “Midget Wrestling” will hit the ring at 6 p.m.

Saturday, April 9, at Cherokee High School. $12 for floor seats and a pre-show meet-and-greet. $10 for general admission and a post-show meet-and-greet.

Cash only.

• Joe Cruz (piano) performs music of the Beatles, Elton John, James Taylor and Simon and Garfunkel at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, at the Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. 452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• “The Magic Flute” will be performed by the Asheville Lyric Opera at 8 p.m. on April 8 and at 3 p.m. on April 10 at the Diana Wortham Theatre in Asheville. http://ashevillelyric.org.

• The southern dark comedy “Dearly Departed” will be performed by the Paper Mill Players at 6:30 p.m. April 10 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Tickets are $10. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com or papermillplayers@gmail.com.

• “The Time of My Life Tour,” featuring four contemporary Christian artists, is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 10, at the Smoky Mountain Center for Performing Arts in Franklin. Featured artists are The Afters, Chris August, Unspoken and Among the Thirsty.

Tickets start at $17 each. To purchase tickets are get more info, visit www.GreatMountainMusic.com or call 866.273.4615.

• The Waynesville Public Library will host the Lightning Bugs (Americana) at 3 p.m. April 9. Free. www.haywoodarts.org.

Smoky Mountain News

• A wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. April 9 and 16 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. $5 per person. www.papouswineshop.com or 586.6300.

• The North Carolina Symphony, led by associate conductor David Glover, will perform a free concert at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Free tickets available at 10 a.m. on the show date at the box office.

April 6-12, 2016

• “Brown Bag at the Depot” – an opportunity to gather with neighbors – is at noon every Friday at Sylva’s newest park at the corner of Spring and Mill Street along Railroad Ave. For info, contact Paige Dowling at townmanager@townofsylva.org.

the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Event tickets are free and will be available at the theatre box office beginning at 10 a.m. the day of the concert. www.greatmountainmusic.com.

wnc calendar

Haywood County. Restaurants can donate a percentage of revenue earned that night to the Olsen Huff Center, provide gift certificates (or a percentage of other silent auction items that can be used to raise money. For info, visit RichiesAlliance.org, www.frankiestrattoria.com or www.facebook.com/frankiestrattoria.

• The Western Carolina Civic Orchestra will play the final concert of its 2015-2016 season at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 11, in the Coulter Building Recital Hall on the WCU campus.

• Western Carolina University (Cullowhee) will host Ian Jeffress (saxophone) April 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Coulter Building. www.wcu.edu.

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wnc calendar April 6-12, 2016 Smoky Mountain News

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Log on. Plan a trip.

And start kicking back.

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• Soul Infusion Tea House & Bistro (Sylva) will host a jazz evening with the Tyler Kittle & Michael Colling Duo (with special guests) every other Tuesday starting at 7 p.m. April 12. www.soulinfusion.com or 586.1717.

• A “Sacred Dance” with Amai Clarice Munchus will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 15-17 at the Illuminated Heart Sanctuary in Whittier. A movement ritualist and facilitator for Venus Rising Association for Transformation, the class also offers a weekend workshop and also a full certification course. To register, 678.628.6548 or amai.clarice@gmail.com.

• Tickets are on sale for a Sandy Patty concert, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on April 16 in Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska. Packages include lodging, meals and reserved concert seats. http://lakejunaluska.com/sandipatty.

• A pine needle basket class will be held by Dogwood Crafters from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, April 15, at the Masonic Lodge in Dillsboro. Joyce Lantz will lead the workshop. Participants will make a small pine needle basket using a walnut slice as its center. Cost of class is $25. To register, 828.586.2435 or junettapell@hotmail.com.

• A three-part series of seminars designed to help craft artists develop their own professional material for an artist portfolio will be offered by Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center at 6 p.m. on consecutive Tuesdays from April 5-19 at SCC’s Swain Center near Bryson City. Free. Registration required: www.southwesterncc.edu/sbc. Info: t_henry@southwesterncc.edu or 339.4211.

• The MET Opera’s presentation of “Roberto Devereux” will be shown live via satellite at 12:55 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, at the Highlands Performing Arts.

Pre-opera discussion will be led by Beverly Wichman starting at 12:30 p.m. Tickets: highlandspac.org, at the door or 526.9047.

• “Stitch,” the community gathering of those interested in crochet, knit and needlepoint, meet at 2:30 p.m. every first Sunday of the month at the Canton Public Library. All ages and skill levels welcome. www.haywoodlibrary.org.

• Soldier’s Heart (Southern Appalachian Folk/roots) will perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, at The Strand in Waynesville. Tickets: $15 advance/$18 day of show. www.38main.com.

• A two-day workshop on Calligraphy will be offered

by Dogwood Crafters from 10 a.m.-noon on consecutive Tuesdays, April 12-19. Class will be taught by Cheryl Thompson. Cost: $14. Register: 586.2435 or junettapell@hotmail.com.

• Joe Cruz (piano) performs the music of the Beatles, Elton John, James Taylor and Simon and Garfunkel at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, at the Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. 452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS

• A free Pandora and Spotify class will be offered at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. 90 minutes. Pandora and Spotify are free media streaming services that offer options for paid upgrades. Taught by Tim Tweed and Laura Chapman. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. Register: 586.2016.

• A rummage/plan sale will be held by the Holly Springs Community Club from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday, April 9, at the community building in Franklin. 369.2254.

• The ‘Whee Market, offering locally produced crafts and food, is from 4-7 p.m. every Tuesday at the intersection of North and South Country Club Drives in Cullowhee. Info: cullowheemarket@gmail.com.

• The Mud Dauber (Didanisisgi) Pottery Festival, featuring Cherokee potters who sell their work and participate in roundtable discussions, is set for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on April 16 at the Cherokee Fairgrounds. Open to the public. 423.930.5837.

• The Jackson Rangers Camp 1917 will hold monthly meetings (except July) at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Barkers Creek Community Center. Members are being sought to participate in honor guard graveside events and honor Confederate soldiers. The Confederate Rose, a ladies auxiliary group that supports active members, meets at the same time and location. 736.6222 or jrcamp1917@hotmail.com.

GALLERIES • An exhibition entitled “This is a Photograph: Exploring Contemporary Applications of Photographic Chemistry” is on display at Penland School of Crafts near Spruce Pine. 765.6211 or penland.org/gallery.

• Odili Donald Odita will give an artist talk at 5 p.m.

April 7 in the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University. In conjunction with the Fine Art Museum’s exhibit, “Color + Theory,” • Western Carolina University’s Fine Art Museum will host an exhibition exploring the use and meaning of color in art till May 6 in Cullowhee. Museum is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays with extended hours to 7 p.m. on Thursdays. Admission and parking are free. Reception is from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, April 7.

Fineartmuseum.wcu.edu or 227.3591.

• “Soft & Stitched: Textile Artists from Haywood Community College” will open on April 8 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville. www.haywood.edu or www.haywoodarts.org.

• Artist John Kenneth Melvin will break ground on a new site-specific sculpture at the entrance of The Bascom art center’s campus on Friday, April 15, in Highlands. To learn more about this sculpture, or to schedule a time to volunteer, please contact Director of Community Outreach, Will Barclift at 787.2897. www.thebascom.org.

FILM & SCREEN • The film “Star Wars – The Force Awakens” (April 69, 14-16) will be screened at Mad Batter Food & Film

Outdoors • Bird walks along the greenway begin at 8 a.m. on April 6. Meet at the Macon County Public Library parking area. Sponsored by Franklin Bird Club. 524.5234.

• Trout Unlimited Cataloochee will hold its annual “Stocking the West Fork of the Pigeon Delayed Harvest” event on April 7. Meet at the West Fork upper parking lot at 10:30 a.m.; bring a clean five-gallon bucket and a friend or two. Public invited.

• Western Carolina University’s Department of Chemistry and Physics will host a viewing of the nighttime sky with telescopes from 7:30-10:30 p.m. on Friday, April 8, at the Jackson County Airport. Free; open to the public. Info: 227.2718.

• An all-day training is available for anyone interested in becoming a member of the Landbird Steward Team on April 9 at Highlands Biological Station in Highlands. Free; lunch provided; registration required: 526.2633.

• Nantahala Area Southern Off Road Bicycling Association is still finalizing its schedule of spring off-road rides. Up-to-date information will be posted at www.facebook.com/NantahalaAreaSORBA/?fref=ts.

• The Franklin Appalachian Trail Community Council meets at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 12, at the Rathskeller Coffee Haus and Pub in Franklin. Anyone interested in supporting the A.T. and local outdoor community is welcome.

• N.C. Beef Quality Assurance Training is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. on April 12 at the Jackson Extension Center. Presented by JMS Cattlemen’s Association and Extension.

• “On the Water” East Fork French Broad” will be offered for ages 12-up from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on April 12 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Transylvania County. Free. Practice fly-fishing skills and learn about Delayed Harvest regulations, wading, reading the water and more. Offered by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Registration required: http://tinyurl.com/jq4r6x3.

• “Return of the Elk,” a 90-minute program telling the story of the elk’s return to the Smokies after a 200-year absence, will be held at 3 p.m. April 12 and 19 and May 3 at the Rough Fork Trailhead of Cataloochee Valley in Haywood County. The excursion will include a hike of less than 1 mile to the elk acclimation pen and is not handicapped-accessible.

• Bird walk along the greenway is set for 8 a.m. on April 13. Meet at Salali Lane in Franklin. Sponsored by Franklin Bird Club. 524.5234.

• The Cradle of Forestry in America historic site will begin its season with a living history event entitled “Old Time Plowing and Folkways” on April 9 in Pisgah Forest. The Cradle of Forestry is open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. from April 9-Nov. 6. Info: www.cradleofforestry.com.

• A Franklin Gem and Mineral Society Program will have a presentation entitled “Mines and Mining in Western North Carolina, How Gem Stones are Cut & Polished, and What is The Gem & Mineral Society” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 14, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. 524.3600.

• “Birdhouse Basics” will be offered for ages 7-up from 2-3:30 p.m. on April 9 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Transylvania County. Free. Get ready for spring by building a birdhouse to take home and learn some basics about birds and their habitat requirements. Offered by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Registration required: http://tinyurl.com/jq4r6x3.

• The 18th annual Asheville Orchid Festival is from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on April 15-17 at the N.C. Arboretum’s Education Center in Asheville. $5 admission fee in addition to Arboretum’s standard parking fees. www.ncarboretum.org.

• A cycling ride for beginners starts at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Macon Middle School in Franklin with a goal of working up to an 18-mile roundtrip to the waterfall on Ellijay. Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles. 369.2881 or info@smokymtnbikes.com.

• A cycling ride leaves at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays with alternating starts at Smoky Mountain Bicycles and South Macon Elementary School in Franklin. Rotes vary. Road bikes only. A no-drop ride. Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles or info@smokymtnbikes.com.

• A 25-mile ride covering the back roads from Sylva to Balsam leaves at 6 p.m. Tuesdays from Motion Makers Bicycle Shop in Sylva. The route includes flat stretches, lots of climbing and a descent on the return of the out-and-back ride, which includes 1,600 feet of elevation gain. Organized by Motion Makers, 586.6925.

• Beginning bikers can always find help from the folks at Bicycle Haywood N.C., which has members willing to arrange one-on-one instruction. Bob Clark, bobclarklaw@gmail.com.

• A beginner-friendly social ride will begin at 6:15 p.m. Mondays from the Bent Creek Ledford Parking Lot in Asheville, covering 5 to 8 miles of mountain bike trails. Organized By Motion Makers Bicycle Shop.

633.2227.

• A training ride for women who know how to handle a mountain bike but want to go faster will start at 6:15 p.m. Wednesdays from the Ledford parking lot at Bent Creek in Asheville. The rides will cover 8 to 12 miles

• “Wilderness & The Anthropocene,” an evening of discussion with a panel of the region’s foremost writers and scientists, will be presented by the Southern Appalachian Office of the Wilderness Society from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, April 15, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville. Free; open to the first 100 attendees. RSVP https://wilderness-and-the-anthropocene.eventbrite.com. Info:587.9453.

FARM AND GARDEN • A Square Foot Gardening program will be presented by master gardener Hughes Roberts from 2-3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, at the Waynesville Library.

356.2507.

• The inaugural Spring Garden Fair is set for April 8-9 at the Cherokee Fair Grounds on the Qualla Boundary.

Learn about composting, beekeeping, raised-bed gardening and more. Photo contest of children in fruit, flower or vegetable costumes. An initiative of Principal Chief Patrick Lambert. For info or to enter the photo contest, write: legendweaverstudios@gmail.com.

• The Macon County Community Garden Committee is now taking applications for garden space in the 2016 Community Garden. For an application or info, call 349.2046.

Smoky Mountain News

• The “Mines and Mining in Western North Carolina” presentation will be held by the Franklin Gem & Mineral Society at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at the Franklin Gem & Mineral Museum. www.fgmm.org.

ART SHOWINGS AND

• The film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be screened at 7 p.m. April 6-8, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 9, and 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. April 10 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. www.38main.com.

and use more technical trails than the beginner’s ride.

Organized by Motion Makers Bicycle Shop. 633.2227.

April 6-12, 2016

• The Western North Carolina Civil War Round Table will present a program by Chris Meekins about “Naval Action on the Outer Banks of North Carolina” at 7 p.m. on April 11 at HF Robinson Auditorium on Western Carolina University’s campus in Cullowhee. Meet and eat with Meekins at 5 p.m. at Bogarts in Sylva; social at 6:30 p.m. at the Robinson Building. 648.2488 or 293.5924.

• Cullowhee Mountain ARTS, a nonprofit organization hosting artist and writer workshops and retreats located near Asheville, will be hosting its second annual retreat with artist workshops on April 16-22 at the Mabel Dodge Luhand House in Taos, New Mexico.

The local commuter price is $950. The price includes breakfast and lunch, workshop, artist presentations and optional evening salons. Materials will include drawing media, water media as well as cold wax and pigment sticks. For more info, contact CMA Executive Director Norma Hendrix at 828.342.6913 or norma@cullowheemountainarts.org or www.cullowheemountainarts.org.

in Sylva. Screenings are at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. with a special 2 p.m. matinee on Saturdays. Free. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

wnc calendar

• Guitarist Kevin Lorenz will perform pop, jazz, Bossa nova and Latin tunes at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 15, at the Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. 452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Submissions are being accepted from professional artists through April 15 who wish to participate in “Artists Count” – a project of Jackson County Arts Council to document the vibrancy of visual arts in Jackson County. Application available from ArtistsCount@gmail.com.

• “Ask a Gardener” plant clinics, provided by Buncombe Master Gardeners, are scheduled for 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on second and fourth Saturdays of each month starting April 9 in the breezeway area between two retail buildings on the south side entering the Farmers Market. http://buncombemastergardener.org or 255.5522.

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wnc calendar

• The Macon County Poultry Club of Franklin meets at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Cooperative Extension Office on Thomas Heights Rd,.

Open to the public. 369.3916.

• The Share & Serve Garden, a community garden project sponsored by the Franklin First United Methodist Church, will host a Fruit Trees and Berries workshop from 2-3 p.m. on Sunday, April 10, at the Outreach Center in Franklin. Free; open to anyone. 524.3010.

• A “Growing Backyard Fruit” class will be presented by the N.C. Cooperative Extension in Macon County at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 11, at the Cooperative Extension Center in Franklin. Topics include apples, peaches, pears, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and grapes. Pre-register: 349.2046.

• “Gardening from the Ground Up: The Organic Way,” will be presented by Kathleen Lamont from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, at the Waynesville Library.

Topics include the benefits of raised-bed gardening, how, where and what to grow; the basics of composting and more. 356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net.

• A class on “Vegetable Gardening” is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 14, at the Cooperative Extension Center in Franklin. Presented by N.C. Cooperative Extension in Macon County. Topics include selecting a garden site, soil testing, and fertilizer, varieties and disease and insect management. Free; preregistration required: 349.2046.

COMPETITIVE EDGE

April 6-12, 2016

• Mountain Discovery Charter School and the Village of Forest Hills will host the second annual Bubble Bunny 5K Fun Run/Walk on Saturday, April 16. Registration is underway: www.active.com or www.mountaindiscovery.org.

• A seven-mile, difficult Grandfather’s Profile Hike is being offered through the Waynesville Recreation Department on April 15. $8 for members; $10 for nonmembers. 456.2030 or www.waynesvillenc.gov/hikingopportunities • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a very strenuous 10.5-mile hike with an elevation change of 2,200 feet on Saturday, April 16, from Wesser Creek to Wesser Tower on the Appalachian Trail to Nantahala Outdoor Center. For reservations, call leader Don O’Neal at 586.5723.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate 3.5mile hike with wildflowers possible along the way from Wayah Bald on Sunday, April 17. Elevation change is 500 feet. For reservations, call leader Gail Lehman at 524.5298.

• A moderate hike of Hickory Nut Falls is being offered through the Waynesville Recreation Department on April 19. $5 for members; $7 for nonmembers.

456.2030 or www.waynesvillenc.gov/hiking-opportunities

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 three-phase 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.

• An RV camping club, the Vagabonds, camps one weekend per month from April through November. All ages welcome. No dues or structured activities. For details, write lilnau@aol.com or call 369.6669.

• Cold Mountain Photographic Society is a camera/photography club for amateurs and professionals who want to learn about and share their knowledge of photography with others. Must be 18 or older to join.

Meetings are held at 7 p.m. the second Monday of each month in the conference room of MedWest Health and Fitness Center, 262 Leroy George Drive in Clyde. More information at www.cmpsnc.org or info@cmpsnc.org.

• 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

• The Cherokee Runners meets each month on the 1st and 15th of the month (if the first falls on Sunday, the group meets on the 2nd), at the Age Link Conference Room. Group runs are being held each Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. starting at the Flame. www.cherokeerunners.com.

• A race through downtown Dillsboro will accompany the Spring Bloom & Build Festival at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 16. $20 or $30 day of. 369.3716 or www.active.com.

• 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.

• Mountain Wild, the local chapter of the N.C. Wildlife Federation works to preserve and increase wildlife and wildlife habitat of the region. Free programs and guest speakers held periodically at the WNC Nature Center in Asheville. Call 338.0035.

• Carolina Mountain Club hosts more than 150 hikes a year, including options for full days on weekends, full days on Wednesdays and half days on Sundays. Nonmembers contact event leaders. www.carolinamountainclub.org

• The Jackson-Swain Master Gardeners’ Association meets at 9:30 a.m. every second Wednesday at the Jackson Community Services Building on Scotts Creek Road in Sylva. Mike Glover at 736.2768 or lmgofish@gmail.com.

• Mountain High Hikers, based in Young Harris, Ga., leads several hikes per week. Guests should contact hike leader. www.mountainhighhikers.org.

• Pigeon Valley Bassmasters Club will meet at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at J&S Cafeteria, Enka, Exit 44 off I-40. 712.2846.

• 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.

• Macon County Horse Association meets at 7:30 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at the Macon County Fairgrounds Alumni Building. Education program and business meeting. ddoster@fs.fed.us.

HIKING CLUBS • Reservations are due by April 6 for a Spring Wildflower Hike in Big Creek Watershed of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The event is Saturday, April 9, Led by Donna Machen. RSVP to haywoodwaterways@gmail.com or 476.4667. Info on Haywood Waterways: www.haywoodwaterways.org or 550.4869.

• The Macon County Beekeepers Association meets at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at the extension office located on Thomas Heights Road next to Jim Brown Chrysler on Highlands Road. New members welcome.

• Haywood Bee Keepers Association meets at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the NC Ag center on Raccoon Road. hcbees.org.

• Smoky Mountain Beekeepers meet at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at the SCC Swain Center in Bryson City on Almond School Road. Open to anyone interested in honeybees. 554.6935.

• The Franklin Walking Club meets at 10 a.m. every Saturday (weather permitting) at the Tassee picnic shelter on the Greenway at the corner of Wells Grove Road and Ulco Drive. All fitness levels are welcome, call Linda at 421.7613.

• Swain County Trail Runners. Long run group meets 8 a.m. Saturdays at the Deep Creek Trailhead Parking Area in Bryson City. All runs are on trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or Tsali Recreation Area. All distances, paces, ages welcome. More information at 399.0989, 488.6769 or wdtreern@yahoo.com.

• The Sylva Garden Club meets at 9:30 a.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the Presbyterian Church in Sylva. cindyrparker@gmail.com.

• WNC Sportsman’s Club meets at 6:30 p.m. the first Monday night of each month at the Juke Box Junction Restaurant located in Bethel at the junction of US 276 and N.C. 110 wncsportsmansclub.com

Ongoing BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Free GED test-preparation classes offered by Southwestern Community College, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Mondays through Thursdays and 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Wednesdays and Fridays, SCC Swain Center, Room 101.

Instruction in other college and career readiness activities including computer skills, resume writing, filling out job applications, job searches, college entrance exam prep, college applications, financial aid and more. 366.2000 or stop by the Swain Center.

• Guidance on looking for a job or gaining basic job skills will be available from 1-4 p.m. each Wednesday at the Macon County Public Library. One-on-one help from a Southwestern Community College employability instructor. 524.3600.

• Tech-savvy questions will be answered from 10 a.m.8 p.m. every Tuesday in the month of January at the Jackson County Library. 586.2016.

339-44

Great Smokies Storage 10’x20’ $

92

20’x20’ $

160

ONE MONTH

FREE WITH 12-MONTH CONTRACT

828.506.4112 or 828.507.8828

50

• Diamond Brand’s Women’s Hiking Group meets on the third Saturday of every month. For more information, email awilliams@diamondbrand.com or 684.6262.

• The South Macon Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Organization is holding the South Macon Wildcats ROARING! 5K Run/Walk at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 16, in Franklin. Raffle tickets available before the awards ceremony; prizes supplied by local businesses. $30. www.active.com.

• Nantahala Hiking Club will take a 7.6-mile, strenuous hike with an elevation change of 1,800 feet on Saturday, April 9, on Art Loeb Trail from Daniel Boone Camp to Deep Gap. Able visitors welcome; no dogs.

Reservations: 369.1983.

Smoky Mountain News

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings

• Benton MacKaye Trail Association incorporates outings for hikes, trail maintenance and other work trips.

No experience is necessary to participate. www.bmta.org.

Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction

Puzzles can be found on page 54.

These are only the answers.

PRIME REAL ESTATE Advertise in The Smoky Mountain News

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MarketPlace information:

ANTIQUE SPRING FESTIVAL Sat. April 9th, 9:00 a.m.

FEATURING Antiques • Furniture • Toys Tools • Glassware • Quilts Primitives • Radios • Old Signs Costume Jewelry Want your own booth at our Festival for only $10? Give us a call 828.452.6225 ANTIQUE ANTICS 1497 S. Main St., Waynesville.

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

Rates:

■ Free — Lost or found pet ads.

■ $5 — Residential yard sale ads, ■ $5 — Non-business items that sell for less than $150.

■ $15 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2.

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

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

■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold.

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

■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

AUCTION AUCTIONS (2) Online Bidding. Sale 1 - HUGE Woodworking Machinery Sale. Bid through 4/12 @ 11am. Sale 2 HUGE Forklift Realignment Auction.

Bid through 4/13 @ 11am. Items Located: Richmond, VA. www.motleys.com - 804.232.3300x4 VAAL#16.

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

ABSOLUTE AUCTION 114 Guns, Tractors & Farm Equipment, Shop Tools & Equipment, Personal Property. Saturday, April 9, 10 a.m. 1035 Highway 18 North, Sparta, NC. BOYER REALTY & AUCTION. 336.372.8888 boyerrealty@skybest.com. Col. James R. Boyer. NCAL1792.

336.572.2323

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, COO

INC.

R

DI

SC OV ER E

ATR

PE

Serving Haywood, Jackson & Surrounding Counties

ROLLING STOCK AUCTION City of Charlotte & Mecklenburg Co. Apr 16th, 10am, 5550 Wilkinson Blvd. Bldg A., Charlotte, NC 336.789.2926. RogersAuctionGroup.com NCAL#685. 5% Admin Fee.

Offering:

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

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

MON-FRI 7:30-5:00 • WAYNESVILLE PLAZA

828-456-5387

339-60

YOUR AD COULD REACH 1.6 MILLION HOMES ACROSS NC! Your classified ad could be reaching over 1.6 Million Homes across North Carolina! Place your ad with The Smoky Mountain News on the NC Statewide Classified Ad Network- 118 NC newspapers for a low cost of $330 for 25-word ad to appear in each paper! Additional words are $10 each. The whole state at your fingertips! It's a smart advertising buy! Call Scott Collier at 828.452.4251 or for more information visit the N.C. Press Association's website at www.ncpress.com

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING

ALL THINGS BASEMENTY! Basement Systems Inc. Call us for all of your basement needs! Waterproofing, Finishing, Structural Repairs, Humidity and Mold Control.

FREE ESTIMATES! Call 1.800.698.9217 DAVE’S CUSTOM HOMES OF WNC, INC Free Estimates & Competitive rates. References avail. upon request. Specializing in: Log Homes, remodeling, decks, new construction, repairs & additions.

Owner/Builder: Dave Donaldson.

Licensed/Insured. 828.631.0747 or 828.508.0316 FIND THE RIGHT CARPET, Flooring & Window Treatments. Ask about our 50% off specials & our Low Price Guarantee. Offer Expires Soon. Call now 888.546.0135 SAPA SAFE STEP WALK-IN TUB. Alert for Seniors. Bathroom falls can be fatal. Approved by Arthritis Foundation. Therapeutic Jets. Less Than 4 Inch Step-In. Wide Door.

Anti-Slip Floors. American Made.

Installation Included. Call 800.807.7219 for $750 Off. SAWMILLS From only $4397.00- Make & Save Money with your own bandmillCut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship! FREE Info/DVD: www.NorwoodSawmills.com.

1.800.578.1363 Ext.300N HAYWOOD BUILDERS Garage Doors, New Installations Service & Repairs, 828.456.6051 100 Charles St. Waynesville Employee Owned.

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING

ACORN STAIRLIFTS. The Affordable solution to your stairs! **Limited time -$250 Off Your Stairlift Purchase!** Buy Direct & SAVE. Please call 1.800.291.2712 for FREE DVD and brochure.

SULLIVAN HARDWOOD FLOORS Installation- Finish - Refinish 828.399.1847.

PAINTING JAMISON CUSTOM PAINTING & PRESSURE WASHING Interior, exterior, all your pressure washing needs and more.

Specialize in Removal of Carpenter Bees - Cedar or Log Homes or Painted or Siding!

Call or Text Now for a Free Estimate at 828.508.9727

CARS -

A-1 DONATE YOUR CAR For Breast Cancer! Help United Breast Foundation education, prevention, & support programs. Fast Free Pickup - 24 Hr Response Tax Deduction 855.306.7348 SAPA DONATE YOUR CAR, Truck Or Boat To Heritage For The Blind. Free 3 Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. CALL 1.800.416.1496 SAPA WE BUY DAMAGED VEHICLES! Top Dollar Offer. From Anywhere.

All Makes/Models 2000-2015 Wanted. America’s Top Car Buyer!

Call Now: 1.800.761.9396 SAPA

R

WNC MarketPlace

CARS -

MOTORCYCLES

DOES YOUR AUTO CLUB Offer no hassle service and rewards? Call American Auto Club (ACA) & Get $200 in ACARewards! (new members only) Roadside Assistance & Monthly Rewards.

Call 800.867.3193.

SAPA DONATE YOUR CAR, Truck Or Boat To Heritage For The Blind. Free 3 Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. CALL 1.800.416.1496

CRAZY BOB’S BIKER STUFF Jackets, Chaps, Vests, Helmets, Rain Gear, Saddlebags, Sissy Bar Bags, Tool Bags, Stickers, Patches. We also got you covered with 50 Sizes of Tarps: Heavy Duty Silver, Brown & Green, Blue & Silver, Blue & Camo.

1880 Dellwood Rd., Waynesville 828.926.1177 RUN YOUR CLASSIFIED In 101 North Carolina newspapers for only $375 for a 25-word ad.

Call this newspaper for details.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES **WORK FROM HOME** Generate $500 to $1,000 WEEKLY Helping me return phone calls.

Listen 24/7 1.800.794.7326 Money247system.com

EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCED AUTO MECHANIC Needed for Light Mechanic Work.

Must Have Own Tools. For more info come to Performance Auto Repair, 57 East Sylva Cir., Sylva or call Larry at 828.631.1957 ATTN: DRIVERS $2K Sign-On Bonus. Love your $60K+ Job! We Put Drivers First!

Pet & Rider. Avg $1200 Weekly.

CDL-A Req - 877.258.8782 drive4melton.com

ZOEY A LOVELY BLUE-GRAY AND WHITE KITTY, ABOUT FIVE YEARS OLD, WEIGHING ABOUT 10 LBS. SHE LOVES TO BE PETTED AND HAVE EAR SCRATCHES, BUT ISN'T CRAZY ABOUT BEING HELD, SO A HOME WITH OLDER KIDS AND ADULTS WOULD BE BEST.

www.smokymountainnews.com

April 6-12, 2016

PISTACHIO A FOUR-YEAR-OLD CHIHUAHUA MALE WHOSE OWNER PASSED AWAY. HE IS A GREAT LITTLE GUY, WEIGHS A PORTABLE 13 LBS., AND IS VERY POLITE AND FRIENDLY TO EVERYONE.

AVIATION GRADS Work With Jetblue, Boeing, Delta And Others - Start Here With Hands On Training For FAA Certification.

Financial Aid If Qualified. Call Aviation Institute Of Maintenance 1.866.724.5403 SAPA BUDDY MOORE TRUCKING Is looking for OTR drivers to deliver various freight in the Southeast and Midwest regions. Must have 2 years experience in Van or Flatbed. $2,500 sign on bonus. Call 1.800.241.1468. SAPA CREATIVE AND ARTISTIC RETAIL Shop, Seeks Energetic & Cheerful Sales Associate. Jewelry and Fashion Experience a Plus. Call 828.926.1877 DRIVER TRAINEES Paid CDL Training! Stevens Transport will cover all costs! No Experience Needed! Earn $800 per week!

Local CDL Training!

1.888.748.4137 drive4stevens.com ENTRY LEVEL Heavy Equipment Operator Career.

Get Trained - Get Certified - Get Hired! Bulldozers, Backhoes and Excavators. Immediate Lifetime Job Placement. VA Benefits. National Average $18-$22. 1.866.362.6497.

NOW HIRING Class A CDL Drivers! - Free Healthcare! Regional & OTR positions open. Pay starting at 40cpm. 1yr. experience required. Call 864.649.2063 or visit Drive4JGR.com. EOE.

EMPLOYMENT

JONATHAN CREEK INN In Maggie Valley, is searching for dependable, friendly Housekeepers. Baic cleaning skills & Valid Driver’s License Req. Weekends are a must as is the ability to pass a background check.

Apply in person at 4234 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley.

SOUS CHEFS & LINE COOKS Seeking Experienced and Creative Chefs/Cooks to Work in a Professional Team Oriented Kitchen. Our Restaurant Features Contemporary American Cuisine with a Southern Flare. Our Executive Chef is Looking to Add a Sous Chef and Line Cook to an Already Growing Successful Kitchen. Local Qualified Applicants Please Apply in Person.

Out of Town Applicants Please Reply to: jndaniels7@gmail.com and Attach a Resume.

We are Located at 16 Everett St., Bryson City, NC 28713 If Your Passionate about Cooking Please Apply!

HUDDLE HOUSE - NOW HIRING Restaurant Manager, Waynesville, NC Area. Competitive Pay (DOE), Insurance, Paid Vacation, Premium Holiday Pay, Bonus & Incentives Program, Meal Benefits, $300 Sign-On Bonus. Submit Your Resume Via Email to: HHJOBSLINE@GMAIL.COM JONATHAN CREEK INN In Maggie Valley, Is Looking for a General Maintenance/Grounds Worker. Basic All-Around Skills + Pool, Hot tub & Landscaping.

Valid Driver's License & Reliable Transportation. Weekend & Background check required. Apply in person at 4234 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

MAPLE TREE VETERINARY Hospital is seeking a FT Client Care Specialist. Bring Resume & Briefly Interview with Management Team 4/13/16, 1:00-1:45. Send name to: staff@mapletreevet.com if you plan to attend.

NEED MEDICAL BILLING TRAINEES! Doctors & Hospitals need Medical Office Staff! No Experience Needed! Online Training gets you job ready! HS Diploma/GED & Computer needed. Careertechnical.edu/nc.

1.888.512.7122 REAL ESTATE - SALES Seeking a Full-Time SelfMotivated Sales Professional for In-House Timeshare Sales at an Established Resort in Maggie Valley, NC. We are a Timeshare Management Company with a Great Reputation and Over 30 yrs. exp. Flexible Hours, Generous Commission Rate with a BiWeekly Base Draw and Minimal Supervision if You Have What it Takes to be the Best. NC Real Estate License Required.

Please email your resume to: pnimphius@spmresorts.com 339-57

NUCLEAR POWER Paid Training, great salary, benefits, $ for school. Gain valued skills. No exp needed. HS grads ages 17-34. Call Mon-Fri 800.662.7419.

FINANCIAL BEWARE OF LOAN FRAUD. Please check with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection Agency before sending any money to any loan company.

SAPA SELL YOUR STRUCTURED Settlement or annuity payments for CASH NOW. You don't have to wait for your future payments any longer! Call 1.800.316.0271.

SOCIAL SECURITY Disability Benefits. Unable to work? Denied benefits? We Can Help! WIN or Pay Nothing! Contact Bill Gordon & Associates at 1.800.670.4805 to start your application today! SAPA STRUGGLING TO PAY THE BILLS? FDR could reduce your CC debt.

We have helped over 150k people settle $4 billion dollars in CC debt.

CALL TODAY for a Free Consultation! 1.844.254.7474 SAPA

FURNITURE COMPARE QUALITY & PRICE Shop Tupelo’s, 828.926.8778.

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT PUBLISHER’S NOTICE All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18 This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All dwellings advertised on an equal opportunity basis.

MOUNTAIN CABIN NEAR Lake Lure, NC. $154,900 2 bed/2 bath on 1.68 acres w/stone fpl, large deck, mtn views, loft.

828.286.1666 broker.

LEASE TO OWN 1/2 Acre Lots with Mobile Homes & Empty 1/2 Acre + Lots!

Located Next to Cherokee Indian Reservation, 2.5 Miles from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

For More Information Please Call 828.506.0578

REAL ESTATE WANTED TO BUY WANTED: OLD BARN, HOUSE, OR Other Building to Salvage, or Tear Down, for Lumber/Building Materials; Terms Negotiable.

Licensed & Insured. Call or Text John 828.380.1232 or email: john@ashevillepropertyservices. com

NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Offering 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments, Starting at $400 Section 8 Accepted - Handicapped Accessible Units When Available

Mountain Realty

Ron Breese Broker/Owner

2177 Russ Ave. Waynesville, NC 28786 Cell: 828.400.9029 ron@ronbreese.com

www.ronbreese.com 52

EMPLOYMENT

Each office independently owned & operated.

OFFICE HOURS: Tues. & Wed. 10:00am - 5:00pm & Thurs. 10:00am- 12:00pm 168 E. Nicol Arms Road Sylva, NC 28779

Phone# 1.828.586.3346 TDD# 1.800.725.2962 Equal Housing Opportunity

HOMES FOR SALE

STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT 1 Month Free with 12 Month Rental. Maggie Valley, Hwy. 19, 1106 Soco Rd. For more information call Torry

828.734.6500, 828.734.6700 maggievalleyselfstorage.com GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE Conveniently located off 19/23

by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160.

Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.

LAWN & GARDEN HEMLOCK HEALERS, INC. Dedicated to Saving Our Hemlocks. Owner/Operator Frank Varvoutis, NC Pesticide Applicator’s License #22864. 48 Spruce St. Maggie Valley, NC 828.734.7819 828.926.7883, Email: hemlockhealers@yahoo.com

HAYWOOD SPAY/NEUTER 828.452.1329

Hours:

Tuesday-Friday, 12 Noon - 6 pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville

FOR SALE CHAMPION SUPPLY Janitorial supplies. Professional cleaning products, vacuums, janitorial paper products, swimming pool chemicals, environmentally friendly chemicals, indoor & outdoor light bulbs, odor elimination products, equipment repair including household vacuums. Free delivery across WNC. www.championsupply.com 800.222.0581, 828.225.1075.

HAYWOOD BEDDING, INC. The best bedding at the best price!

533 Hazelwood Ave. Waynesville 828.456.4240

WANTED TO BUY CASH PAID For Unexpired, Sealed Diabetic Test Strips - Highest Prices! Shipping prepaid. 1 Day Payment.

1.888.366.0958. www.Cash4DiabeticSupplies.com SAPA

Haywood County Real Estate Agents

147 Walnut Street • WayneSville

828.506.7137

aspivey@sunburstrealty.com

www.amyspivey.com 339-54

Mike Stamey mstamey@beverly-hanks.com

828-508-9607

MEDICAL A PLACE FOR MOM. The nation’s largest senior living referral service. Contact our trusted, local experts today! Our service is FREE/no obligation. CALL 1.800.319.8705 SAPA GOT KNEE PAIN? Back Pain? Shoulder Pain? Get a pain-relieving brace at little or NO cost to you. Medicare Patients Call Health Hotline Now! 800.480.7503 SAPA

74 NORTH MAIN ST. • WAYNESVILLE, NC

www.beverly-hanks.com

$GM GMMD DFHQ QW WR :D :D\QHVVY YLOO OOOHH &RX XQWU\ QWU &OXE X 9LLLVVX 9LVXDO 9 XDO D 7 7RRXU DW 7RXU D VVKDPUR VKDP KDPURFN FRP RRFN FRP

SAFE STEP WALK-IN TUB: Alert for Seniors. Bathroom falls can be fatal. Approved by Arthritis Foundation. Therapeutic Jets. Less Than 4 Inch Step-In. Wide Door.

Anti-Slip Floors. American Made.

Installation Included.Call 800.701.9850 for $750 Off. SAPA STOP OVERPAYING For your prescriptions! Save up to 93%! Call our licensed Canadian and International pharmacy service to compare prices and get $15.00 off your first prescription and FREE Shipping. 800.265.0768 SAPA STRUGGLING WITH DRUGS Or Alcohol? Addicted to Pills? Talk to someone who cares. Call The Addiction Hope & Help Line for a free Assessment. 800.511.6075 SAPA VIAGRA!!

52 Pills only $99.00! The Original Little Blue Pill, your #1 Trusted Provider for 10 years. Insured and Guaranteed Delivery. Call today 1.888.410.1767.

SAPA

• Margie MacDonald - margie@4smokys.com

Beverly Hanks & Associates • • • • • • • •

beverly-hanks.com Michelle McElroy - MichelleMcElroy@beverly-hanks.com Marilynn Obrig - MarilynnObrig@beverly-hanks.com Mike Stamey - MikeStamey@beverly-hanks.com Ellen Sither - EllenSither@beverly-hanks.com Brooke Parrott - BrookeParrott@beverly-hanks.com Randy Flanigan - RandyFlanigan@beverly-hanks.com Pamela Williams - PamelaWilliams@beverly-hanks.com Ann Eavenson - AnnEavenson@beverly-hanks.com

Emerson Group • George Escaravage — george@emersongroupus.com

ERA Sunburst Realty — sunburstrealty.com • Amy Spivey — sunburstrealty.com

KILL BED BUGS & THEIR EGGS! Buy Harris Bed Bug Killers/KIT Complete Treatment System. Hardware Stores, The Home Depot, homedepot.com LUNG CANCER? AND AGE 60+?

You And Your Family May Be Entitled To Significant Cash Award.

Call 1.866.590.3140 for Information. No Risk. No Money Out Of Pocket. SAPA

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Lifestyle Properties — vistasofwestfield.com Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Great Smokys Realty

Haywood Properties — haywoodproperties.com • Steve Cox — info@haywoodproperties.com

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Keller Williams Realty

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kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • Sam Hopkins — samhopkins.kwrealty.com

Lakeshore Realty • Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

339-53

Mountain Home Properties mountaindream.com • Sammie Powell — smokiesproperty.com

MOUNTAIN REALTY

Mieko

Thomson ROKER/R /REALTOR EALTORÂŽÂŽ BBROKER

Cell (828) 226-2298 Cell

mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com www.ncsmokies.com www.ncsmokies.com

2177 Russ Avenue Waynesville NC 28786

EMERSON ——————————————

GROUP

George Escaravage BROKER/REALTOR PO BOX 54

|

46 SOUTH MAIN STREET

WAYNESVILLE, NC 28786 | WWW.EMERSONGROUPUS.COM

828.400.0901 • 828.456.7705 george@emersongroupus.com

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern — shamrock13.com

Realty World Heritage Realty realtyworldheritage.com • Carolyn Lauter realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7766 • Martha Sawyer realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7769

RE/MAX — Mountain Realty • • • • • • •

remax-waynesvillenc.com | remax-maggievalleync.com Brian K. Noland — brianknoland.com Mieko Thomson — ncsmokies.com The Morris Team — maggievalleyproperty.com The Real Team — the-real-team.com Ron Breese — ronbreese.com Dan Womack — womackdan@aol.com Catherine Proben — cp@catherineproben.com

smokymountainnews.com

Prevent Unwanted Litters!

The Heat Is On! Spay/Neuter For Haywood Pets As Low As $10.

Operation Pit is in Effect!

Free Spay/Neuter, Microchip & Vaccines For Haywood Pitbull Types & Mixes!

SFR, ECO, GREEN

April 6-12, 2016

PETS

BORING/CARPENTER BEE TRAPS No Chemicals, Poisons or Anything to Harm the Environment.

Handmade in Haywood County. 1 for $20, 2 or More for $15 each.

828.593.8321

339-63

CLIMATE CONTROLLED STORAGE FOR YOU

FOR SALE WNC MarketPlace

BRUCE MCGOVERN A Full Service Realtor, Locally Owned and Operated mcgovernpropertymgt@gmail.com McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112.

The Seller’s Agency — listwithphil.com • Phil Ferguson — philferguson@bellsouth.net

TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com 53

www.smokymountainnews.com

April 6-12, 2016

WNC MarketPlace

Super

54

GOLD-TRIMMED

CROSSWORD

68 Baby kangaroo living on a Pacific island nation?

ACROSS 70 “Friday the 13th” vil1 In boots, e.g. lain 5 Accident 71 Arial is one 11 Leaf-cutting little 72 Potter’s dirt colonist 73 Shred up 14 Lend - (assist) 74 Most darling 19 Roof border 75 Very breezy summer 20 Pungent yellow cheese month?

21 Corp. leader 78 Jay replaced by Jimmy 22 Go-kart, say Fallon 23 Nickname for a really 79 Greek letter strong novelist?

80 Min. fraction 26 The Carolinas, e.g., in 81 Handed out playing Caen cards 27 Wings for women 83 Item in a nest 28 Many a flower girl 86 Dunce 29 Fen plant 90 Convertible carriage 30 Wilhelm’s “the” used to transport popes?

31 Return to get H.G. 94 Suffix in sugar names Wells’ title Dr.?

95 Give support 36 Eschew 97 Port in Italy 38 Topped party appetizer 98 Greasy 39 “- won’t!”

99 Boyfriend who’s always 40 Prefix with 81-Across upbeat? or 31-Down 104 - -rock (music style) 41 British poet as a young 105 Hebrew letters after badge earner? alephs 45 “The Streak” singer 106 Exit opposite Ray 107 Pilot planes 48 “- a living” 110 Opinions offered 49 Company IDs 111 Singer Gene who 50 Arthur of old TV should never be forgotten?

52 Sister record co. of 116 Black, in Bordeaux Virgin 117 Blvd. or rd.

53 Nudge 118 Limited release?

54 Neoprene produced at 119 - Sous-le-Vent (the an Alabama university?

Leewards) 60 Italicize, e.g.

120 Affirm 63 Whitman or Disney 121 Cold War-era state: 65 Some HDTVs Abbr.

66 Singular 122 Train base 67 Chicago airport 123 Safari shelter

DOWN 1 Late-night host Meyers 2 “How funny!”

3 Adds vocals to, maybe 4 Denigrates 5 Cosmo, O and GQ 6 Suffix with fool 7 Grab a chair 8 Stable feed 9 Turkish title 10 Attacked like a lion 11 “The Mind of -” (PBS cooking series) 12 Former liberal, briefly 13 Many “Olé!” recipients 14 “Am not!” rejoinder 15 Spiteful sort 16 College life 17 Final profit 18 Creator of the Lorax 24 Private AOL exchanges 25 “- ToK” (Kesha hit) 31 Estimate 32 Not falling for 33 Ovine calls 34 Springfield storekeeper 35 Bishops’ hats 36 - -fi film 37 Crude home 38 Diner hirees 42 Almost there 43 Dwindle 44 Axon’s place 46 Aussie bird 47 Tremolo’s kin 51 Bowed 53 Fluster 54 Resembling 55 One-eighty 56 Con’s vote 57 Groundwork 58 Greek Cupid 59 Pay to live at

60 Large couch 61 What you used to be?

62 Bonged 63 Ragamuffins 64 100% wrong 68 - -bah 69 Pa Clampett of TV 70 Interim ruling group 72 11th-cen. king of Norway 74 Prison parts 76 Mu - shrimp 77 Wilhelm’s “I” 78 Cake tier 81 Dunce 82 Allure rival 83 Fit to print, after revisions 84 Missy 85 84-Down’s counterpart 86 Working farm horses 87 “It’s finally clear to me” 88 Pork-filled pastry, e.g.

89 Rabbit head features 91 Put in cipher 92 “I knew it!”

93 Absence of restriction 96 Krispy Kreme inventory 100 One of Kirk’s lieutenants 101 Blender brand 102 Ferret’s kin 103 Wilhelm’s “the” 104 Parade place: Abbr.

107 City in Iowa 108 Driving exam taker, often 109 Lead-in to “while” 112 Road topper 113 “... Mac - PC?” 114 Fabled flier 115 Reindeer cousin

answers on page 50

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Graceful ferns a fiddling

F

And the one that’s said to be particularly tasty is also thought to be dangerous.

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is distributed worldwide, being commonly found along roadsides and in disturbed areas with poor soil. They display exquisite silvery-gray fiddleheads shaped like an eagle’s claw.

Bracken is reputed to be delicious, but the species contains a number of toxic substances that Columnist readily kill livestock and cause stomach cancers in human populations (as in Japan and China) that eat substantial amounts of the plant.

Unfortunately, for us, the North American fern species bearing fiddleheads that are reputed to be both delicious and safe doesn’t grow wild in our region. That’s the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris).

Its distribution range is circumpolar, extending only as far south as Virginia in eastern North America.

The good news is that Ostrich fern grows just fine when propagated in damp shade in Western North Carolina. Some years ago, my wife, Elizabeth, who is an artist, and Murray Evans (then the fern expert at the University of Tennessee) agreed on a swap.

When back home in his native state of Vermont, Murray dug up 20 ostrich ferns, which were prolific on his farm, and shipped them to Elizabeth in exchange for a painting.

The transplanted ferns are prospering (as ornamentals) in our yard. And like everything else in the universe, ostrich ferns are available from various vendors on the Internet, if you want to give them a try.

Now, we get to the part about the fiddlehead spirals.

According to Robin C. Moran, “The first kind of spiral is the equable spiral, or the spiral of Archimedes ... which can be illus-

1638 … Spiraling outward, each whorl is wider than the one preceding it … A fern fiddlehead has this type of spiral because its midrib widens at a constant rate as it spirals toward the base of the stalk.”

Subsequent mathematicians referred to the equiangular spiral as the “spira mirabilis” or wonderful spiral because of its unchanging shape as it grows.” That is, “the larger spirals are just expanded versions of the smallFiddlehead fern. Donated photo er spirals within.” trated by the way a sailor coils a rope upon These are the patterns that please us a ship’s deck. Because the rope is uniform in when we see them in shells of Nautilus, in thickness, each whorl is the same breadth as the way forget-me-not uncoils as it flowers, the one that precedes or follows it. in the curvature of a ram’s horn, and in The second type of spiral — the one many other spirals that appear in the natufound in fiddleheads — is the equiangular. ral world.

It was first described by the French philoso(George Ellison is a naturalist and writer. pher and mathematician Rene Descartes in He can be reached at info@georgeellison.com.)

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erns lend an always-graceful sometimes-ethereal touch to our mountain landscapes year round. Even in winter there are evergreen species that provide welcome splotches of greenery.

The fiddleheads of ferns are emerging right now from the leaf litter. Even those not especially interested in wild plants have heard of “fiddlehead ferns” and often think they’re a specific kind of fern.

But fiddleheads aren’t a species of fern.

They’re a growth strategy. All ferns — to a greater or lesser extent — display the characteristic fiddlehead shape as they unfurl from their underground rhizomes.

The “fern leaf ” (frond) differs from the “true leaf ” of the flowering plants in its manner of expanding from the bud. The frond unrolls from its tip rather than expanding from a folded condition.

This unfurling strategy helps the immature frond (crozier) make its way upward through the soil and leaf litter. It also protects the developing leaflets (pinna and pinnules) that will comprise the leafy portion of the mature frond.

In addition to being highly functional, the emerging fiddleheads of some fern species are quite beautiful. Those of cinnamon fern (Osmundia cinnamomea) are a pale lime green and can stand a two feet or more high before unfurling. Species in the wood fern genus (Dryopteris) display wooly greenish-brown fiddleheads.

When most people bring up fiddleheads, they do so because they’ve looking for something to eat. They want to know which ones can be harvested for consumption. My answer is that few of the ferns in the southeastern United States are choice edibles.

BACK THEN

George Ellison

“Marvel for a moment at the fern fiddlehead. It stands like a watch spring coiled and ready to unwind … What many do not realize, however, is that the fiddlehead has some unusual mathematical properties. It represents one of two kinds of spirals commonly found in nature, and this spiral results from a particular kind of growth.”

— Robin C. Moran, A Natural History of Ferns (2004)

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