Smoky Mountain News | August 10, 2022

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

August 10-16, 2022 Vol. 24 Iss. 11

Schools address staffing shortages Page 4 Q&A with songwriting legend Jim Lauderdale Page 20

CONTENTS On the Cover: It’s been a long time coming, but the U.S. Forest Service is on the cusp of finalizing its management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests.

Following three days of meetings last week, the agency will attempt to resolve thehundreds of objections entered against the plan. (Page 28) A look out over the Linville Gorge in the Pisgah National Forest. Jordan Hill Photography

News School systems still hiring..................................................................................................4 Haywood Builders sold to Southeast Building Supply ............................................5 Edwards will debate only once during NC-11 contest ............................................6 Tribal Council approves $15 million more for golf course hotel project..............8 No applications for Jackson Tourism Capital Project Fund ....................................9 Haywood to receive substantial grant funding for affordable housing..............11 DOJ awards $1 million grant to support students in Haywood ..........................12 BearWaters to host event on anniversary of flood ..................................................13 Cherokee Museum granted permit for future collections facility ...................... 15

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WAYNESVILLE | 144 Montgomery, Waynesville, NC 28786 P: 828.452.4251 | F: 828.452.3585

Let’s have a discussion without hate and anger ......................................................18 The importance of streamside vegetation ..................................................................19

SYLVA | 629 West Main Street, Sylva, NC 28779 P: 828.631.4829 | F: 828.631.0789 INFO & BILLING | P.O. Box 629, Waynesville, NC 28786

A&E Keep it real: A conversation with Jim Lauderdale ....................................................20 Regrets and no regrets: a review of two books ......................................................27

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

August 10-16, 2022

Forest Service aims to satisfy objections to plan revisions ..................................28 Notes from a Plant Nerd: Aster family plants, the stars of summer ..................34

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School systems still hiring

HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER ith the beginning of the school year right around the corner, school systems across North Carolina are struggling to fill a wide range of positions. Schools in the western part of the state are no different, and every school system in The Smoky Mountain News’ coverage area has several positions still open.

Earlier this month, State Board of Education Chairman Eric Davis said the staff shortage in North Carolina schools is a “crisis that is having a significant impact on our students.”

Throughout the pandemic, educators have left the field in record numbers as the occupation changes at breakneck pace. First, teachers were required to pivot completely to online teaching, before moving to a hybrid plan in which they had to teach students both online and in person. What’s more, due to learning loss caused by the pandemic, even more students are in need of additional or remedial services. Now, as inflation causes rising prices, teacher’s in the state continue to make less than their counterparts in other states.

North Carolina teachers make $10,000 below the national average for public school teachers, even when accounting for local supplements. Local supplements do make a difference though, which makes it difficult for rural school systems to compete with counties that have more funding available to offer teachers. On top of all this, fewer people are enrolling in colleges of education.

During the August State Board of Education meeting, Davis and State Superintendent Catherine Truitt defended a plan, not yet in place, to revise the state’s teacher licensure program that they say will help address the shortage of teachers in North Carolina. The plan seeks, among other things, to create multiple pathways in which people without an education degree, or in some cases even a bachelor’s degree, can teach while earning an education degree. The plan would also put in place more mentoring opportunities for teachers, as well as increase teacher pay.

“Teachers are the part that everybody focuses on, but right now it’s getting harder to recruit and retain all staff at all levels,” said Swain County Human Resources Director Thomas Dills during a presentation last school year.

All four counties in the Smoky Mountain News’ coverage area are currently hiring bus drivers, custodians and athletic coaches. Last 4 year’s state-mandated increase to $15 per

Smoky Mountain News

August 10-16, 2022

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This banner hanging on a school bus in Haywood County advertises the need for bus drivers. Hannah McLeod photo hour for all hourly personnel in public schools has done little to help fill these positions.

According to local school job boards, Jackson County Schools currently is hiring for more than 70 positions across the county.

Open positions range from sports coaches to support staff to full-time, classroom educators. However, many of those positions could be filled by the same person, meaning the school system may not need 70 bodies. For example, it is not uncommon for a classroom teacher to fill a coaching role, or a custodian to also drive a school bus.

Both Macon and Swain County Schools are hiring for around 10 positions. Both are hiring for bus drivers, in addition to other support personnel and classroom teachers.

“We do have a shortage of bus drivers, as does every other school system in the entire nation it seems,” said Macon County Schools Superintendent Chris Baldwin during the July school board meeting. “We do have good news from the state, with regard to the minimum hourly rate, which has gone to $15 an hour. That should attract additional folks, but we are currently short two half routes and two full routes. We need to address that prior to Aug. 29.”

Bus driving requires an odd set of hours that is prohibitive to working most other jobs. Drivers need to be available early in the morning and throughout the late afternoon and evening.

“Anything that we can do to attract additional bus drivers would be helpful,” said Baldwin. “We do have a number of clerical workers, custodians and teachers who drive buses. The issues with clerical workers and custodians that drive buses is that we may have to get them to overtime and we have done that in the past.”

According to Baldwin, that overtime comes out of custodian pay, not bus driver pay, which means it comes from local funds.

Some custodians in Macon County who drive school buses have had their custodial hours reduced to remain within the 40-hour work week while driving a bus and doing custodial work. However, this schedule presents its own problems, as that person may drive a school bus in the morning, work as a custodian until lunch, and then be off the clock until they have to come back and drive a bus in the evening.

“That’s a big break in their day. They end up spending money to go home or go somewhere else,” said Baldwin. “They basically

have to drive to work twice. It’s not very attractive to staff. Overtime is obviously a better situation for them and better for us because they are more reliable, but it’s more expensive. And we still have a problem attracting bus drivers.”

Haywood County Schools is hiring for over 50 positions. Several bus drivers are needed, as well as school nutrition workers, in addition to a wide array of classroom teaching and administrative positions.

Again, several of these positions are ones that could be taken on by a person already working another job in the school system.

According to Haywood County Schools Human Resources Director Jason Heinz, some open positions have been filled, but are not removed from advertising until the applicant is completely vetted. While there are a few more support staff positions open right now than what is usually seen this time of year, Heinz says the number of teaching positions is not unusual.

“We expect to have them filled by the end of the month,” said Heinz. “If they are not filled by the start of school, we would have to combine some classes or place a substitute teacher in the room until the position is filled.”

Cornerstone Mercantile

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Haywood Builders sold to Southeast Building Supply

Furniture • Collectibles • Glassware • Clothing Art • Signs & Décor • Lighting • Jewelry

10,000 sq ft • Over 50 Vendors

Haywood Builders Supply, a longtime staple in the county, was sold to Southeast Building Supply Interests.

190 Depot Street WAYNESVI LLE cornerstonemercantile.com (828) 246.9390

Ingles Nutrition Notes written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath

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Q: My elderly mother has lost quite a bit of weight that she couldn’t

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really afford to lose and her doctor is concerned, so I’m trying to think of ways to help her gain some of that weight back.

My mother currently lives alone. Do you have suggestions for food or meals that may help with this?

Finding foods and meals that your mother likes and is interested in eating is the first step. It may also be good for her to eat with someone to encourage her to eat and make meals more of a social occasion. This can also be helpful to monitor what your mother is eating, especially if she lives alone. As long as your mother has no food allergies or health concerns that limit what she can eat: Small but calorie dense snacks between meals.

Suggestions: Cheese cubes, peanut butter crackers, yogurt, cottage cheese, chocolate milk, apple or banana and peanut butter, apple and cheese, canned or fresh fruit and cottage cheese, banana and cottage cheese.

Add nutrient dense ingredients to foods and meals.

For example, if they drink milk (they should do 2% or whole milk) add non-fat dry milk powder. Make cream soups. Make smoothies with Greek yogurt, non-fat dry milk powder, whole milk and fruit and have with meals. Add cheese or cooked eggs to mashed potatoes, grits, or rice. If able to eat yogurt, make sure it is whole milk yogurt and add canned, fresh, or frozen fruit or stir in some jam or jelly.

Try protein drinks.

Make sure existing meals have protein-rich foods: Protein is found in milk (Fairlife has higher than normal milks), eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, chicken, beef, pork, seafood/fish, tofu, beans, nut butters (not as high as animal sources of protein but also have monounsaturated fat so provide more calories)

Smoky Mountain News

day operations.

“All the reasons why customers do business with Haywood Builders Supply remain unchanged,” it reads. “We are committed to our customers’ long-term success through deep relationships that withstand the test of time. Going forward, we want to be even stronger, and better at serving your needs for years to come.”

There is also a section in the FAQ titled “Why is SBSI/Building Industry Partners buying the business?”

“Building Industry Partners’ purpose is to build exceptional and enduring businesses, generate world class investment returns, and contribute to elevating the building industry and its workforce through people-focused investment & business principals,” it reads.

“Partnering with Roger Danny Wingate Farmer and the will continue on Haywood Leadership with Haywood Team to bring Haywood Builders Builders. Supply into the SBSI family of companies is an important step toward fulfilling that purpose. Together, we believe we can establish and maintain a leading company that both adds value to our customers’ businesses, and is an upstanding member of the local business community.”

Wingate himself even offers his thoughts.

“SBSI’s and Building Industry Partners’ regional relationships, talent, and investment will allow us to continue to grow — providing our customers excellent service with quality products,” he’s directly quoted saying in the FAQ. “I’m very excited about the positive impact this partnership will have for our employees, and for our customers who trust us with their business.”

August 10-16, 2022

BY KYLE PERROTTI N EWS E DITOR aywood Builders Supply, a longtime staple in the county, has been sold to Southeast Building Supply Interests — but customers aren’t likely to see too many visible changes.

The announcement was made last month in an open letter from SBSI President Roger Farmer and Haywood Builders Supply President Danny Wingate to customers. In the first paragraph of that letter, it’s made clear that Wingate will continue with the company.

“By joining SBSI we hope to enhance and strengthen Haywood’s ability to serve customers, and to ensure Haywood Builders Supply is a great workplace for our employees for years to come,” it reads.

Haywood Builders Supply has been in operation since 1948, when it was started by W.I. Dooly as a subsidiary of his lumber company in East Tennessee. According to Haywood Builders’ website, ownership of the company stayed in that family until 1993 when an employee stock ownership plan and trust was created that initially purchased 35% of the company’s shares. At the point of the recent sale, majority ownership was held by the employees’ trust.

In the letter, Farmer and Wingate state that the business will continue normal operations under the existing brand name.

“We know this is a people business built on strong relationships, and our team members will continue delivering the great service and quality products you have come to expect,” it reads.

SBSI has nine additional locations across Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina operating under local brands tied to their communities.

In a “frequently asked questions” sheet attached to the letter, it’s noted that there should be no immediate change in day-to-

Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN Ingles Market Corporate Dietitian

@InglesDietitian Leah McGrath - Dietitian Ingles Markets… caring about your health

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news August 10-16, 2022

Edwards will debate only once during NC-11 contest

Chuck Edwards speaks during a Republican Primary Forum in Macon County earlier this year. Cory Vaillancourt photo

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR ith just over 90 days remaining until November’s General Election, Republican nominee and state Sen. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) announced last week that he’d agree to only one joint candidate appearance for the entirety of the campaign, despite attending approximately a dozen Primary Election forums earlier this year and calling out those who did not.

Edwards’ financial relationship with the host of that lone joint candidate appearance raises questions about the event’s provenance and legitimacy.

“As a scheduling reality, Senator Edwards will only be able to participate in one joint candidate debate or forum and therefore will not be able to attend on August 31 and September 1,” said Aubrey Woodard, campaign manager for Edwards, via email on July 28.

Woodard’s message came after weeks of planning and discussions between the 6 Edwards campaign as well as those of his

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opponents, Democrat Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and Libertarian David Coatney, in regard to an upcoming forum hosted by two of the largest independent media outlets in the district — The Smoky Mountain News and Blue Ridge Public Radio.

Beach-Ferrara and Coatney have both confirmed their attendance at the forum, for which details will be announced next week.

“Chuck Edwards is in hiding and it is clear why,” said Beach-Ferrara in a press release issued on Aug. 3. “His extremism is not in line with the values of Western North Carolina.”

Beach-Ferrara repeated the assertion during an Aug. 3 rally in Pack Square Park.

“You know you are winning, up and down the ballot, when your opponent would rather hide than show up to debate you,” she said.

“So let me go on record as saying I will meet Chuck Edwards anywhere, anytime for a debate.”

Libertarian Coatney agreed with BeachFerrara in a statement on Twitter that accompanied a meme of Edwards as a character

from Monty Python’s Holy Grail — “Brave Sir Robin,” a cowardly knight who was known for bravely running away from battle.

“How can we trust [Edwards] to ‘show up’ for WNC in Congress if he can’t be bothered to show up for debates?” Coatney said. “The people have had enough with entitled politicians that don’t bother to show up. WNC deserves better!”

The last part of Coatney’s statement is an apparent dig at current Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-Henderson), who was one of the most absent members of the U.S. House and set a limit of two joint candidate appearances during the spring Republican Primary Election contest that featured eight candidates and approximately a dozen forums across the district.

Once Cawthorn fulfilled his pledge of two appearances, other candidates including Edwards, called him out on Twitter for his absence.

“Thank you, Transylvania and Buncombe GOP, for hosting the #NC11 debate last night,” Edwards wrote on April 12. “I want to com-

mend 6 of my fellow candidates for understanding that half of any job is just showing up.

Those of us who were there care enough about the future of WNC to do just that.”

Edwards’ tweet included a photograph of Cawthorn’s empty chair at the event.

Considered the frontrunner at that time, Cawthorn lost to Edwards on May 17 by 1,319 votes out of more than 88,000 cast, good for a margin of 1.5%. No runoff was needed.

Michele Woodhouse, former NC-11 GOP chair and a candidate in that race, said she’d heard Edwards regularly make similar remarks about “showing up” throughout the Primary Election campaign.

“Sen. Edwards said it at every forum that Rep. Cawthorn was not at,” Woodhouse said.

She also voiced concern about the impact Edwards’ absence would have on constituents.

“All three of those candidates owe it to the voters of Western North Carolina to make themselves available at each and every forum as they try to earn the votes,” Woodhouse said. “It’s a job interview and you can’t choose

Democrat Jasmine Beach-Ferrara said she would debate Edwards “anywhere, anytime.”

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Cory Vaillancourt photo

David Coatney, a Libertarian, wasn’t invited to the Sinclair forum. Coatney for Congress photo Congress as the advertiser, and lays out a $14,917 charge for 24 spots. Another invoice from March 27 lists $18,700 for 30 spots. An additional invoice from the same day shows another $9,265 for 23 spots.

Five separate invoices from April 24 total $115,387 for 220 spots. Another four invoices from May 29 total $88,782 for 170 spots.

Regardless of the financial relationship between Edwards and the host of his only

joint candidate appearance, Woodhouse thinks candidates are doing voters a disservice when they refuse to explain themselves to voters.

“When I served as district chair, I didn’t give Congressman Cawthorn direction and I’d probably be a bit reluctant to give candidate Edwards direction, but what I would tell him is this: when you look at the landscape of the 11th Congressional District, when you look at the increasing number of unaffiliated voters, when you look at the importance of holding this congressional district, every opportunity is an opportunity to differentiate yourself from Joe Biden’s policies,” she said.

“Never miss an opportunity to let constituents in Western North Carolina know where you stand and how you will vote and the ways that you will serve them.”

When Edwards made his WLOS announcement, Beach-Ferrara, who spent less than $80,000 with Sinclair during the 2022 Primary Election, had yet to receive any invitation to any WLOS event. As of press time on Aug. 9, Beach-Ferrara had not confirmed her attendance at any WLOS forum.

When reached by WLOS on Aug, 8, Coatney was told that he wouldn’t be invited to the WLOS event.

Smoky Mountain News

hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising with Sinclair.

On March 8 of this year, FEC records show the Edwards for Congress campaign making a $62,657 payment to Matson Media, a Columbia, South Carolina media buyer. The purpose of the payment, according to Edwards’ campaign finance report, was media buys.

On March 14 and on March 18, the Edwards for Congress campaign made payments to Matson Media totaling $74,483. Again, the purpose is listed as broadcast television ads.

On April 4 and April 14, the Edwards for Congress campaign paid Matson Media more than $162,000 for television media buys.

On April 29, the Edwards for Congress campaign made an $80,663 payment to Matson media for television media buys.

All told, the payments made to Matson by the Edwards for Congress campaign for television media buys during the 2022 Republican Primary Election add up to more than $379,000.

According to FCC disclosures, at least $247,000 of that total ended up with Sinclair and WLOS. A March 13 invoice from WLOS to Matson Media notes Chuck Edwards for

August 10-16, 2022

not to come to every one of the interviews that are put forth as an opportunity to share your ideas, your vision and your platform with constituents.”

Beach-Ferrara, Coatney and Edwards are locked in a contentious race for the 11th, although it’s still an uphill battle for everyone but the Republican.

Nonpartisan mapping resource davesredistricting.org puts the district at 53.6% Republican, based on composite vote totals from 2016 through 2020.

Through June 30 of this year, data from the Federal Election Commission show Beach-Ferrara with a fundraising advantage.

Beach-Ferrara has raised about $1.8 million, and had $237,000 on hand as of the reporting date. Edwards reported raising $1.1 million over the same period — including $250,000 in personal funds loaned to the campaign — and had $117,000 on hand.

Coatney trails both with almost $16,000 raised.

Of course, those totals don’t count eventual spends by PACs and super PACs. In 2020, more than $5 million was spent, most of it to benefit Republicans.

In September 2020, candidates Moe Davis and Madison Cawthorn both appeared at a two-day forum hosted live by SMN, BPR and Mountain Xpress.

The candidates then went on to appear together at a forum hosted by Southwestern Community College in Sylva, another hosted by an Asheville real estate group, and then another pre-taped event hosted by a regional television station owned by a Marylandbased corporate chain.

On Aug. 4, Edwards announced that this coming fall, he’d participate in a joint candidate event hosted by that station, WLOS, which is an affiliate of Sinclair Broadcast Group.

In 2018, Sinclair forced nearly 200 affiliates including WLOS to read a promotional statement on-air.

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflick responded to the message, telling host Mary Louise Kelly that “The message isn’t a dog whistle. It’s more like a cannonball going off. They’re at once attacking their competitors in service of ostensibly praising their own professionalism. And they’re also saying, look; we’re a safe home for those of you who, like strong devotees of President Trump, believe that much of the media is involving fake news, involved in personal bias, is involved in trying to distort what you’re presented as supposedly objective, fair.

Sinclair is contributing directly to that claim in hundreds of markets across the country.”

Reports from the FEC show that Sinclair employees have supported Republican congressional candidates in the past. Since 2016, Sinclair employees have contributed almost $600,000 into congressional races across the nation, with more than 67% going to Republican candidates.

At this point in the 2022 election cycle, Republicans have received almost 59% of $81,403 in contributions, according to finance watchdog opensecrets.org.

It doesn’t appear via campaign disclosures that Edwards has received any of it, however, he has through his campaign spent

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Tribal Council approves $15 million more for golf course hotel project The 18-hole course at Sequoyah National Golf Club in Cherokee completed a bunker renovation and regrassing project in 2020.

August 10-16, 2022

File photo

Smoky Mountain News

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he Cherokee Tribal Council voted 9-3 Aug. 4 to increase the $23.5 million budget for a new hotel on the Sequoyah National Golf Course to $39 million— despite a request from Secretary of Treasury Cory Blankenship that they table the vote for next month.

“We need to look at timing, we need to look at all the other capital commitments — land purchases, things that we’ve contributed to — and to determine the best way to move forward with the project,” Blankenship said.

“It’s not to necessarily hold up the project, but to say, ‘Where does it fall in line with the other capital commitments?’”

The tribe has committed large amounts of money to a range of projects over the last year or two, Blankenship said, and his office is having discussions with banking partners about the tribe’s remaining investment capacity.

However, the majority of Tribal Council was adamant that the project had been delayed long enough and that it was vital to give the Sequoyah National Golf Club Board the green light now.

“We can spend in Indiana; Danville, Virginia; Kentucky; Tennessee, but we don’t want to invest in our own town, our own community,” said Wolfetown Rep. Bill Taylor.

“We’ve got a project right here that’s going to 8 make money right in Cherokee. We’ll invest

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millions elsewhere, but we’re going to question this project. I don’t understand it.”

“Council says where the money goes, not a chief, not a vice chief, not a director of finance,” agreed Big Cove Rep. Teresa McCoy. “The 12 of us at this table need to get control of that.”

Tribal Council first approved the project in 2018, and the Golf Board chose DreamCatcher Hotels as its developer, approving a $25.3 million budget to complete a 125-room facility. However, three years later no ground had yet broken and DreamCatcher Vice President Zeke Cooper told the tribe the hotel would now include only 103 rooms — unless Tribal Council provided $2.5 million to expand to 120 rooms — and that the budget did not include site work.

Bids for the project came in higher than expected, Cooper told Tribal Council at the time, and the pandemic had delayed the project securing necessary zoning approvals from Jackson County.

In September 2021, Tribal Council voted unanimously to withdraw a resolution requesting $3.5 million for Tribal Construction to complete the site work, stalling the project.

The Golf Board and DreamCatcher ultimately parted ways, and now the Golf Board is pursuing the project without a developer.

The tribe has its own project manager, Golf Board President Curtis Wildcatt said, and the Golf Board has hired the other necessary pro-

fessionals, including a general contractor and architect. With those people in place, the project doesn’t necessarily need a developer too, Wildcatt said.

“The initial plan was not budgeted adequately,” Wildcatt told Tribal Council. “The budget that was received, we started discovering that there were minimal amounts of rooms, not what had initially been promised or should be built on this property. When you undertake a facility of this magnitude, of course you want to do it right.”

The new $39 million budget is “not far from what should have originally been sent in,” Wildcatt said. Ultimately, the hotel is a “low risk, high return venture” of a magnitude the tribe is unlikely to see outside of its casino and gaming interests, Wildcatt said.

The sweeping views from the rooms will make it a destination, and it will offer a valuable complement to the golf course’s existing offerings.

Nobody around the horseshoe argued against the project as a concept, but several members said they wanted to see more numbers and ask more questions before approving the funding.

“I really want to see the bottom line, so I want to have this work session so that finance can explain how much debt load that we can continue to carry on that’s based against our reserves and how much borrowing power we have,” said Snowbird/Cherokee County Rep. Adam Wachacha.

“I think we really need to heed what Cory (Blankenship) is telling us here,” agreed Birdtown Rep. Boyd Owle. “I’m certainly all for the golf course. I don’t want to overfill our cup with debt to where we can’t find the money to pay for that. Curt, can you stand one more month on this?”

“Just get authorization,” Wildcatt replied. “We’ll allow finance to explore what they need to explore, strategize. If everything aligns correctly, we’ll proceed with the project in the near future hopefully. Right now, we’re just seeking authorization to expand the budget, get finance to do their creativity and research necessary, come back and give us some options on how we can increase this budget.”

Principal Chief Richard Sneed reminded Tribal Council that part of the delay and the cost increase was due to the body’s 2021 decision not to approve the funding for sitework.

“It’s true that the cost increase on construction right now is mind-blowing,” he said. “I think it’s just good stewardship to pump the brakes here and see where we are, our overall financial picture as a tribe, and what our priorities are as well.”

Ultimately, the body voted to move ahead with the project. Nine members voted to pass the resolution, with Painttown Rep. Tommye Saunooke, Yellowhill Rep. David Wolfe and Wachacha opposed. After a 10-day waiting period, Sneed will have the opportunity to sign it or veto it.

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available in fiscal year 2022-23 for capital projects through the tourism fund.

In June, Jackson County TDA Executive Director Nick Breedlove told The Smoky Mountain News that any money not used during the summer cycle of TCPF would remain allocated for TCPF in an upcoming round of applications set for the new calendar year.

“We’d like to see this program continue to grow,” Breedlove told the county commission back in February. “We will scrutinize these projects to make sure they are really good fits, not just that we use up that pot of money. So if there is money left over from this fiscal year, we will roll it into next fiscal year.”

Future fiscal year allocations will depend on anticipated occupancy tax collections.

According to Breedlove, while there was interest in applying for the funds this cycle, several parties said that applying next year would be more feasible.

Earlier in the year, when the application and process for the Tourism Capital Project Fund was presented to the Jackson County Commission, Commissioner Gayle Woody asked Breedlove whether or not the county would be able to apply for funds. Breedlove told the commission that the county would be eligible to apply for funds, with the appropriate county department acting as the applicant.

In Haywood County, the Tourism Capital Project Fund application deadline ended on April 29, and nine applications were received from local municipalities and Lake Junaluska. The Haywood TDA had allocated $500,000 for the fund and awarded that money to five out of nine projects that submitted applications for the funds.

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BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER he Jackson County Tourism Development Authority created its own Tourism Capital Project Fund this year.

However, when the deadline came around for the first cycle of funding on Aug. 1, no applications had been submitted.

The Tourism Capital Project Fund’s purpose is to “provide leveraged investment in tourism projects that will increase visitation and attendant spending and overall economic impact for Jackson County.”

This allows a process through which stakeholders in the county can apply for money generated through tourism, by way of a room tax, to fund projects that improve the county for residents and tourists alike.

By funding capital projects, tourism bureaus increase the demand for accommodations, local spending and visitor satisfaction, thereby bringing more money into a county.

According to the TDA, “the Tourism Capital Project Fund offers a level of financial support to create sustainable tourism development activities at the local level that maintain and/or create jobs, attract tourists, and enhance the visit experience.”

Capital projects include things like convention and conference centers; arenas and stadiums; sports facilities; performing arts venues; museums; parks; greenways; trails; public art; visitors centers and wayfinding signs.

Up for grabs this cycle was $500,000 which the TDA had allocated for the TCPF during fiscal year 2021-22. Because applications for the funds were not due until Aug. 1, that $500,000 was rolled over into fiscal year 2022-23. An additional $250,000 is being allocated this year for a total of $750,000

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No applications for Jackson Tourism Capital Project Fund

Electric Vehicle Charging Station Now Operational at Town Hall Smoky Mountain News

The new electric vehicle charging location at Franklin’s town hall features a level 3 fastcharging station.

The Town of Franklin partnered with Duke Energy to install a level 3 fast-charging station in the town hall parking lot. Town Planner/IT Director Justin Setser worked closely with Duke to have the installation done without cost to taxpayers.

This is a fast-charging station, and the cost is set through Shell Recharge via the Green Lot App. The fees are paid via a credit card scanning system, and the Town does not receive any funding from the stations.

“The need for EV charging was brought to our attention and we felt that the location would be beneficial for downtown visitation,” Setzer said.

There are two charging stations available with one indicated for handicapped accessibility. The charge time is dependent upon a vehicle’s battery status at the time of charging.

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news This map shows the borders of Haywood County, along with the most impacted and distressed (MID) section. NCORR photo

Haywood to receive substantial grant funding for affordable housing

Smoky Mountain News

August 10-16, 2022

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR n unexpected $8 million windfall from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has the potential to help community stakeholders make significant progress in the fight to bring more affordable housing to Haywood County.

“It was a surprise to us, and a welcome surprise as well,” said David Francis, county program administrator and community and economic development director. “This wasn’t something, per se, that we applied for. It was that FEMA came down and in conjunction with the state looked at the situation and said, here’s how much you deserve. We’ve never had this much money to be able to put towards affordable housing.”

The grant comes as the result of a draft action plan issued by the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

“What this document has is the background information from HUD to the Community Development Block Grants,” said Francis. “They take statistical information that they have to build the case needed to arrive at an amount.”

According to a preliminary damage assessment conducted by FEMA from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2, 2021, 563 residences were impacted in the 11-county disaster region, with almost 10% of them a total loss.

Another 206 residences were deemed to have major damage, defined as “substantial 10 failure to structural elements of residence or

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damage that will take more than 30 days to repair.”

An additional 160 residences received minor damage, meaning they could be made inhabitable with repairs in a short period of time, and 141 residences were designated as “affected” but still habitable.

To help residents find assistance, the North Carolina Office of State Budget Management set up a disaster recovery center in the Historic Haywood County Courthouse. The office received 205 applications for assistance from Haywood County residents, with 45% of them asking for housing repairs.

Two months after President Joe Biden’s Sept. 8 disaster declaration, FEMA had counted more than $18 million in federal grants, flood insurance payments and loans for businesses, homeowners and renters in Buncombe, Haywood and Transylvania counties.

The $18 million included just over $3 million in grants for 673 households, $3.5 million in U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loans and $11.8 million in National Flood Insurance policy claims.

Of the individual assistance rendered by FEMA, 13.3% went to households below the poverty line, 13.9% went to people with disabilities, 16.7% went to seniors 65 and older, and 21.9% went to persons under the age of 18 — some of the region’s most vulnerable groups.

The State of North Carolina also chipped in, to the tune of $44 million across 11 counties.

Be heard The Haywood County Board of Commissioners will call for public comment on potential uses or ideas for the $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A representative from the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency will give a short presentation. Read the entire draft Tropical Storm Fred Public Action Plan online at rebuild.nc.gov/media/2550/open. Those wishing to speak at the meeting should arrive 10 minutes early to sign up for public comment.

• Date: Monday, Aug. 15 • Time: 5:30 p.m.

• Location: History Haywood County Courthouse, 215 N. Main St., Waynesville Even with all that aid, unmet needs remain, according to an assessment from June of this year.

The most impacted area, according to the assessment, is within the Haywood County zip code of 28716.

Totals of unmet needs include $16.2 million for housing and $750,000 for infrastructure, which is where the draft plan for the $8 million in Community Development Block Grants enters the picture.

In May of this year, HUD allocated $2.2 billion in funding to the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program for presidentially declared disasters occurring in 2021.

Of that $2.2 billion, $7,975,000 is expected to be received by a division of the State of North Carolina’s Department of Public Safety, the Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR).

The allocation was made possible through the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, despite an

almost total lack of Republican support on a state and national level.

On Sept. 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution, called H.R. 5305, that included the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. All 220 House Democrats voted yes, and all 211 Republicans, including North Carolina’s entire Republican delegation, voted no.

Nine days later, the bill cleared the senate by a margin of 65 to 35. North Carolina Republican senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis both voted yes.

Later that day, when H.R. 5305 returned to the House, it had gained the support of 43 Republicans and passed by a 254 to 175 margin.

Again, all 220 House Democrats voted yes. Again, every single member of North Carolina’s Republican congressional delegation — except for Patrick McHenry (RLincoln) — voted no.

To meet HUD spending guidelines, the project budget stipulates that 5% of the $7,975,000 grant will be used for administrative costs, and a little over 7% will be used for planning costs.

The rest, exactly $7 million, will be used for affordable housing development, while at least 15% of the total grant must be used for mitigation.

At least 70% of the $7 million must be used to the benefit of low- to moderateincome persons.

Francis said the county could expect to see the money as soon as December, and that he wants to be ready to maximize its impact.

“So what we’re now doing is building our inventory and considering how to deploy that money. We’re working with Mountain Projects. They have Bethel Village, they have Harkins Avenue. We’re acquiring new construction figures for those projects and we’ll now be able to move those along. We’re meeting with Habitat for Humanity and the Waynesville Housing Authority and just recently, Mountain Housing Opportunities has reached out,” he said. “We’re meeting with those folks, and trying to develop a program.

One of the things we definitely want to do is increase affordable housing, but also increase the rental stock here in the county as well.”

Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects, said she had presented several ideas to the county that include Bethel Village and infrastructure and development costs for Harkins Avenue.

“We’re looking at how to maximize assets dedicated to affordable housing that we already own,” Davis said.

Notably, none of these plans are yet set in stone; as part of the granting process, a 30-day public comment window opened on Aug. 1.

Haywood County commissioners will host a representative from NCORR during their regular meeting on Aug. 15 to give a presentation on the grant and the methodology behind it.

The presentation will take place in the context of a public hearing, and all comments will end up back with NCORR, which will then submit a final plan to HUD. For those who can’t make it to the meeting, submit public comments before Aug. 30 to publiccomments@rebuild.nc.gov.

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U. S. Department of Justice awards $1-million-dollar grant to support students in Haywood County recent federal grant award for the Preventing School Violence initiative was awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice to the Thirtieth Judicial District Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Alliance in partnership with Haywood County Schools and the Haywood County Sheriff ’s Office.

The grant award, in the amount of $1 million dollars, will provide training and resources over a three-year cycle for school staff and for law enforcement officers to assist children and youth who have experienced complex trauma or who are at risk for trauma. This can include children and youth who are victims of assault, bullying, or who may live in homes with domestic violence. These training and resources options are supplemental to those currently being provided by Haywood County Schools.

The Alliance, as the lead agency for the grant project, will provide licensed mental health staff, including a bilingual therapist, for the school and law enforcement collaboration. Using an evidence-based approach that assists in reaching children who have a hard time connecting with others, the Alliance will work with the school district to provide specialized training for staff in elementary, middle and

Smoky Mountain News

August 10-16, 2022

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high school levels.

“We entered into this collaboration with our county partners in order to provide additional resources that would strengthen the health and safety programs for our students,” said Dr. Bill Nolte, Haywood County Schools Superintendent. “It is important that we connect to our students and to address their needs to the best of our ability.

Offering additional training to our staff that can make the connection happen is a priority aligned side by side with our academic instruction.”

The Alliance will also work with the Haywood County Sheriff ’s office to provide training in working with and responding to youth in crisis. This training (ACES) includes understanding how adverse childhood experiences impact the behaviors of youth and could assist in law enforcement response to a youth in crisis.

“Our partnership with the school district and with the Alliance is very important to us as we work with youth in need,” said Sheriff Greg Christopher. “Providing our deputies with knowledge and skills that can be offered to them through this grant is an important avenue for crisis response. With all of the challenges cur-

rently being faced by youth, not just in the aftermath of Covid, but in family issues, feelings of isolation, and the need to feel safe in the world, the Office of the Sheriff is committed to this important project.”

Stakeholders said they think Haywood County is fortunate to have this opportunity to build greater resources for youth.

“It was a very competitive application process. We were one of three awards across the state and one of 78 throughout the United States,” says Lynn Carlson, Executive Director, 30th Alliance. “We feel the strength of our application was in our strong collaborative team within our own county, the work being done to date with youth in trauma, and the continued commitment of all of our collaborative partners to find ways to connect with our youth.”

As a supervising therapist, Carlson experiences firsthand and from her staff the complex trauma experienced by many youths within the county.

“Whatever we can do to support them and create a stronger, safer avenue for them is the direction we want to take,” she said.

The implementation of this project with access to training will begin during the upcoming school year.

Haywood Schools superintendent announces retirement Dr. Bill Nolte announced his retirement earlier today in meetings with principals and Central Office staff. His retirement is effective Nov. 1, 2022. The Board of Education will immediately begin the process of hiring a new Superintendent.

Dr. Nolte has worked for 38 years. He came to the school system during the 1984-85 school year. He previously worked at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he served as the Sports Medicine Clinic Coordinator. He has served in many capacities in Haywood County Schools including Central Office Director, Assistant Principal at Pisgah High School, Principal of Bethel Elementary School, Principal of Waynesville Middle School, Associate Superintendent and Superintendent.

"My decision was reached after conversations with my wife and with a great deal of thought and consideration," said Nolte. "I love Haywood County Schools and it has been a great honor to serve as Superintendent. Now it is time for me to spend more time with my family.”

“On behalf of the Haywood County Schools Board of Education, we congratulate Dr. Nolte for his many years of service to our school system,” said Chairman Chuck Francis. “Dr. Nolte has served our administration, teachers, staff and students very well. We appreciate his leadership and the Board wishes him well in his retirement.”

Last summer’s flooding wrought by Tropical Storm Fred severely damaged BearWaters’ basement.

Kevin Sandefur photo

xactly one year after a flash flood killed six people and wreaked havoc in Haywood County, BearWaters Brewing Company is hosting an event to honor the lives lost while also celebrating the strength the community showed amid the disaster.

As the rivers and streams rose on Aug. 17, 2021, folks in Cruso and Canton quickly realized what they were experiencing was no normal rain event. They were about to face destruction not seen since the infamous floods of 2004. Along with the lives lost, the flood ultimately destroyed numerous homes and businesses and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Once the waters receded and folks began to clean up, BearWaters owner Kevin Sandefur was greeted with devastation of his own, especially in the basement of his business where much of the brewing equipment and many kegs are stored.

However, as difficult as that experience was, Sandefur is also quick to point out that the community’s willingness to rally around one another made a quick recovery possible for his business. The brewery reopened less than a month and a half later on Oct. 1.

“Obviously it was very devastating, but it also really galvanized our relationship

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BearWaters to host community event on anniversary of catastrophic flood with the community because they’re who brought us back,” he said. “That’s another reason we want to do this. Without them we wouldn’t be open today.”

For the event, BearWaters will partner with several local churches to host a free spaghetti dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 17 at its Canton location.

“We just wanted to do a free community dinner to let the community come in and have fellowship and visit with each other,” Sandefur said.

In addition to food, Sandefur said they’ll offer free drinks for two hours.

Long’s Chapel Lead Pastor Chris Westmoreland will do a memorial service at 7:30 p.m., then six Chinese lanterns — each bearing the name of a victim whose life was lost in the flood — will be released into the air.

Sandefur said the free event is meant for anyone who was affected by the flood or anyone who aided in the community’s recovery.

“We would like to invite anybody from affected communities and first responders who helped serve,” he said. “That’s who we’re asking to come. Anyone who volunteered or anyone who wants to honor the memory of the lives lost.”

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JCPS more than doubles preschool capacity

BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER ackson County Public Schools has more than doubled its preschool capacity prior to the start of the new school year thanks to donations from the Dogwood Health Trust and the Blue Ridge School Education Foundation.

“I believe, and I think you all do too, that pre-K lays that foundation for a good, successful academic career all the way through,” Superintendent Dr. Dana Ayers told members of the Blue Ridge School Education Foundation at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new preschool classroom at Blue Ridge School Wednesday, Aug. 3.

This is the beginning of Ayers’ second school year as superintendent of Jackson County Schools; she began working to expand preschool opportunities in the county early in her tenure.

“I voted to approve this $115,00 because you and your staff impressed on all of us that the best investment you can make is in preschool, if you want to improve education. It makes an impact from three years old that they carry for the rest of their lives. It really makes an impact. If we have money to spend, that’s the best place to put it,” said Blue Ridge Education Foundation board member Duncan Wheale.

The Blue Ridge School Education Foundation donated $115,000 to Jackson County Schools for the new preschool classroom at Blue Ridge School. The money will cover all supplies and materials in the classroom, capital and maintenance needs, as well as the teacher’s first year salary.

The classroom will serve three-year-olds, a first in Jackson County Public Schools.

Twelve children have already been selected for the year, and two more are on a waiting list. The other preschool classroom that already existed at Blue Ridge School with service 17 four-year-olds and one three-yearold. When public schools get a classroom licensed for preschool, it can serve three-, four- and five-year-olds.

Three other preschool classrooms were added at Cullowhee Valley, Scotts Creek and Fairview schools. Each classroom will serve 18 students. These four classes will increase Jackson County Public Schools preschool capacity from 54 spots to 120.

Smoky Mountain News

August 10-16, 2022

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From left: Principal Kheri Cowan, Superintendent Dana Ayers, Blue Ridge Education Foundation President Carl Hyde, and Director of Elementary Education Laura Dills at the ribbon cutting ceremony for a new pre-K classroom at Blue Ridge School. Hannah McLeod photo Entry into pre-K programs is determined by a ranking system that measures children according to learning, developmental, social, emotional and language skills, among others. Children are scored according to a formula and granted entrance depending on that score.

“Our intention, if families would like to bring their kids here, we welcome that, but we also don’t want to recruit away from other programs; we want as many kids as possible who come to school to have a good pre-K experience,” said Laura Dills, executive director of federal programs and elementary education.

“It was a real eye-opener when Dr. Ayers came to us last year and said we have an opportunity to really expand the pre-K program in the Jackson County school system and if we could get a little support from the foundation, we would like to put a second pre-K classroom here at blue ridge,” said President of the Blue Ridge School Foundation, Carl Hyde.

With the additional capacity for preschool students in Jackson County Schools, the school system is planning to begin collecting data in order to understand how students do in the school system after being a part of public preschool programs.

“We want to have longitudinal data to say, ‘this is why pre-K was important and this is why we do this,’” said Ayers.

This data will not only allow the system to better understand how preschool affects the education of its students, non-profits like Dogwood Health Trust, which donated money to help fund the three new classes at other elementary schools in the district, are also interested in understanding the connection. JCPS will be able to work backward a few years in collecting data with rosters it has for previous preschool classes.

“I think we all understand how important pre-k education is,” said Hyde. “Of course, we think it’s particularly advantageous to this school. As families enroll their kids in pre-K,

WNC counties eligible for the Agricultural Crop Loss Program for damages and losses from Tropical Storm Fred and April 2021 freeze

N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced that farmers in 11 additional counties are eligible for the Western N.C. Agricultural Crop Loss Program for damages and losses due to flooding and excessive rain from Tropical Storm Fred and an April 2021 freeze and frost. The deadline to apply is Aug. 31. A total of $10 million is available.

“We offered a similar program in Western N.C. with an April deadline. This effort 14 expands the reach of that initial program, rec-

ognizing there was additional losses outside the first counties,” Troxler said. “This program only applies to the counties listed, and I encourage farmers to submit their application for assistance quickly to ensure they meet the Aug. 31 deadline.”

For Tropical Storm Fred damage, the program will cover losses of crops, feed, livestock, aquaculture and farm infrastructure for farmers in Cherokee, Clay, Jackson and Macon counties. The agricultural commodi-

ties must have been planted but not harvested, or for aquaculture commodities raised on or before, Aug. 17, 2021.

To be eligible for assistance for freeze damage under the program, a person must have experienced a verifiable loss of agricultural commodities as a result of the April 2021 freeze disaster and the person’s farm must be located in Alexander, Cleveland, Lincoln, McDowell, Mitchell, Wilkes and Yancey counties.

more than likely, if we provide the proper academic achievement opportunities all the way through, they’ll stay here through the 12th, and maybe even go through the 13th grade.”

Ribbon cutting ceremonies for new preschool classrooms at Cullowhee Valley and Scotts Creek will take place Wednesday morning, Aug. 10. Dogwood Health Trust announced its $236,000 donation late last year, which is funding the renovations, classroom supplies, playground upgrades, screening tools and salaries for a teacher at each new site for one year.

Dogwood Health Trust is based in Asheville and seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals in Western North Carolina’s 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary.

“They have several strategic priorities,” Ayers said. “Specifically, they believe in educating early. I wholeheartedly agree, and it does mimic one of my goals for Jackson Public County Schools.”

Commodities in this program include apples, corn, forages, grapes, nursery crops, potatoes, soybeans, sweet corn, tobacco, tomatoes, wheat, specialty crops and other fruits and vegetables. Stored grain is not included in the program. Livestock commodities include aquaculture, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, farmed cervids and bison.

The application and required forms can be downloaded from the NCDA&CS website at ncagr.gov. For questions about the program in general, call 866.747.9823.

Applicants may also reach out to their local cooperative extension or Farm Service Agency offices for application support.

Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed (R) signs a land use permit recently allowing the Museum of the Cherokee Indian to operate an offsite facility housing Museum collections, archives, and Tribal artifacts on land in Swain County. Shown, left to right, back row — Lambert Wilson, Marie Junaluska, Anita Lossiah, Perry Shell, Shana Condill, Cory Blankenship, Myra Cloer, Dawna Paul, Louise Reed; seated Samantha Ferguson and Chief Sneed.

Photo from The Museum of the Cherokee Indian

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Mountain Area Workforce Development will be holding a Work/LifeBalance Job Fair on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the WNC Agricultural Center’s Expo Building (Gate 5), 775 Boylston Highway in Fletcher. The Gate 5 entrance is located across from the Asheville Regional Airport. This job fair will feature over 90 local employers who are offering flexible scheduling, education & training support, paid leave, health, and wellness benefits as well as many other opportunities to help employees enjoy a work-life balance. This job fair will also feature over 2,000 jobs paying more than $19

per hour. To learn more visit mountainareaworks.org.

This job fair follows the “$19 per Hour and Beyond Job Fair” which both attracted over 300 job seekers. To increase awareness of the many career opportunities in the region and the benefits employers are offering they are highlighting work-life balance.

Recent surveys show that as many as 60% of job seekers say a poor work-life balance is a dealbreaker when considering a new job.

To participate, employers must offer benefits that promote a work-life balance.

There is no cost for employers or job seekers to participate. Lunch will not be provided but snacks and drinks will be offered to employers. There will be an employer networking event at 10 a.m. prior to the job fair. Ingles Markets will be sponsoring the breakfast for the networking event.

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Work/Life Balance Job Fair to be held Thursday

Cherokee Indian Board President Samantha Ferguson said. “We are grateful to Chief Sneed, Vice Chief Ensley, and Tribal Council for their continued support in the development of a state-of-the-art home for the Museum’s object and paper archives.”

The location — just over seven miles from Cherokee’s Cultural District and the Museum — bears great cultural significance due to its close proximity to Kituwah, Mother Town of the Cherokee.

“Archaeological evidence exists at Kituwah going back at least 15,000 years, but

August 10-16, 2022

he Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) has issued a land use permit allowing the Museum of the Cherokee Indian to operate an offsite facility housing Museum collections, archives, and Tribal artifacts. The permit follows a February resolution that designated a piece of land in Swain County, near Bryson City, for the future building.

“The MCI Board of Directors is pleased to have completed this next step in the process of constructing an off-site Museum collections and archives facility,” Museum of the

and EBCI Tribal Historic Preservation Office intend to work closely together to return known objects to Cherokee ancestral homelands.

“It’s our responsibility as a Tribe to bring our artifacts back home, so we’ve made it a priority,” EBCI Principal Chief Richard Sneed remarked. “I’m very grateful to Shana for her leadership on this and the Board for their enthusiasm.”

The Museum will share announcements on the project’s progress via its website, mci.org.

“This is an exciting time at MCI,” said Director of Operations Michael Slee.

“Construction planning is in the initial phases for the new collections and archives facility, and timelines will become clearer as we get further along in the process. We have established a talented Construction Committee including MCI Board of Directors representative Perry Shell, Ray Rose, T.W. Saunooke, and Katie Tiger. The knowledge and skillset that these volunteers bring to the table is going to be invaluable as we move forward on this project.”

Established in 1948, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian is one of the longest-operating tribal museums in the United States.

Recognized for its innovative storytelling, the Museum features exhibits, artwork, and hands-on technology that brings 12,000 years of Cherokee history to life. Located in Cherokee, NC, the Museum is open daily except Nov. 23, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. Learn more by visiting mci.org.

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Cherokee museum granted land use permit for future collections facility

we as Cherokees know we are of this place,” said Shana Bushyhead Condill, Executive Director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. “The Museum is honored to continue to protect and steward these cultural objects, work closely with EBCI Tribal Historic Preservation and Natural Resources, and develop a facility that connects Cherokee people to our history and culture through both our collections and location.”

The Museum’s current building at 589 Tsali Boulevard, built in 1978, presently houses its permanent exhibition, temporary exhibition space, Museum store, collections storage, administrative offices, and education facilities. For Museum leadership, the earmarked land near Kituwah is an optimal location for its collections, which include artifacts, documents, books, journals, photographs, maps, and audiovisual materials pertaining to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation, and United Keetowah Band of Cherokee Indians.

In addition to creating needed space for the Museum’s current holdings, a designated facility allows the Museum to grow its collections — with particular attention to works by living Cherokee artists and craftspeople — and efficiently implement a collections care policy that prioritizes Cherokee cultural protocols and American Alliance of Museums’ core standards and ethics. The site also fulfills a critical need for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians: making secure, designated space available for Tribal artifacts repatriated through the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The Museum

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August 10-16, 2022

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Community Almanac

Smoky Mountain News

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Junaluska Leadership Award presented to Long-time supporters Long-time Lake Junaluska supporters Steve Berwager and husband-and-wife Bernie and Snookie Brown are the 2022 recipients of the Junaluska Leadership Award, an honor bestowed annually during Associates Celebration Weekend at Lake Junaluska.

Associates Celebration Weekend is a gathering of charitable supporters of Lake Junaluska, and the award recognizes strong leaders who support the mission and ministry of Lake Junaluska Assembly through their labors of love, service and charitable gifts.

A long-time member of the Lake Junaluska community, Berwager has been part of organizations including the Junaluska Assembly Community Council, Lake Junaluska Assembly Property Owners Organization Inc., and the Junaluskans, for which he serves as treasurer and is a past president. He has given generously of his resources and volunteered in numerous ways. He chaired the Junaluskans’ fundraising flea market committee for four years and continues to chair the event set-up committee. He has helped decorate the Lake Junaluska grounds for the holidays and served as a grant writer and volunteer coordinator. In addition, he helps others whenever he can, assisting with errands, counseling and support, or home and auto repairs, said Frank Stith, a past honoree who co-presented the awards.

“He reflects the ‘Christian hospitality’ of our mission statement at Lake Junaluska,” said Stith.

After a career as a public school educator and principal, Berwager said he retired to the mountains from South Carolina. He said that when he was first introduced to Lake Junaluska, he was moved not only by the scenic beauty, but also by the realization that it was “a community of believers who loved, supported and welcomed others, not only in word but in deed as well.”

“What residents have done for me, I am driven to do for others,” he said. “So many have become a part of my extended

Lake Junaluska to host Choir Music Weekend Lake Junaluska invites church choirs and individuals who love to sing sacred choral music to come together Oct. 14-16 for Choir Music Weekend. Join us for a joyous weekend to expand your musical repertoire, learn new vocal skills and enjoy time for recreation and fellowship.

During the event, experienced choral directors will teach eight anthems and lead workshops on topics from the basics of playing the ukulele to how to turn hymns into anthems for smaller choirs. A new workshop track is offered specifically for the church accompanist.

Choir Music Weekend is especially geared to the choral needs of small- and medium-sized choirs, but all are welcome to attend.

The theme for this year’s event will be “Reflections of Christ — His Life and Mission.”

“It will be a glorious reunion this fall as we gather to sing after a two-year hiatus,” said Ginger Wyrick, who serves on the Choir Music Weekend leadership team. “Don’t miss this opportunity for hearts and voices to unite in song, fellowship and worship.”

The weekend takes place during peak leaf season in Western North Carolina, so attendees can

knowing that many others before us have walked this same path.”

They returned year after year for vacations, and, for 20 years, owned a home at the Lake. They became deeply connected to the community and passionate supporters of Lake Junaluska.

Bernie Brown’s leadership includes previous service with the Associates Council and as the Associates’ representative to the Lake Junaluska Assembly Board of Trustees. Snookie Brown’s leadership roles included service as a trustee on the board, which she described as a “treasured time that I accepted as a sacred trust and responsibility.” In presenting the 2022 awards, past honoree Kathy Geyer McNeil noted the couple also has introduced and helped connect many others to the Lake.

“They have made Lake Junaluska better with their time, talents and resources,” she said.

Bernie Brown said it was especially meaningful to be honored Steve Berwager (from left), Snookie alongside his life partner. “My first Brown and Bernie Brown all received reaction was an elevated heartbeat the Junaluska Leadership Award. from the ‘shock!’,” he said. “This was followed by a sense of humility and gratitude. Nothing could be more special than being Junaluska more than 50 years ago when they attended choir honored along with one’s life partner.” music weekend.

Snookie Brown said receiving an award for something that “We loved the physical beauty of this setting, of course, but has brought them so much joy and fulfillment together was a even more than that, the utter feeling of God’s presence was overwhelming,” said Snookie Brown. “We felt the history here, humbling experience and “truly the icing on the cake.” family and it’s a joy to give back to help this community in any way possible.”

Fellow 2022 Junaluska Leadership Award honorees husband-and-wife Bernie and Snookie Brown first visited Lake

enjoy the artistry of nature as they expand their choral knowledge.

A program fee of $105 includes the anthem packet, worship and workshops. Also available are lodging packages that include two nights of lodging at The Terrace Hotel or Lambuth Inn at Lake Junaluska, six meals and program fees.

To register or for more information, call 800.222.4930 or visit lakejunaluska.com/choirmusic.

Attend the Fall Fling Art and Craft Walk As the mountains transition from Summer to Fall, the unique shops of Dillsboro highlight locally handmade arts and crafts at their Fall Fling Art and Craft Walk on Sept. 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Local artists have been invited to display their work and demonstrate the crafting process. Artist Mary Smith will set up on Webster Street displaying her felted hats and knitted items. Rob Robinette, acrylic and watercolor fine artist, will be painting alongside Pam Judson, a local jewelry maker. Potter, Su Strysko, will demonstrate her pottery skills in front of Blue Ridge Realty on Webster. Nearby, Mandie Knight will have her soaps, lotions, lip balm and more all made from

local beeswax. At the corner of Webster and Front Street, Karen Smyrl will be demonstrating how to assemble baked pieces of her polymer clay jewelry.

In front of Dogwood Crafters, Deborah Freedman will paint barn quilts, and Joyce Lantz will show off her basket making. At Tunnel Mountain Crafts, Trudy Griffin will be displaying her beautiful handmade quilts.

For musical entertainment, Twelfth Fret will perform at 1 p.m. and We Three Swing will play at 2 p.m. on Cannon’s Deck.

Haywood Spay/Neuter hosts ‘Woofstock’ event Hippies at heart can enjoy Woofstock to help Haywood animals.

Haywood Spay/Neuter and Boojum Brewing are teaming together for a Woodstock-inspired party with at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 at The Gem, located downstairs at Boojum.

This feel-good Friday event benefits the work of Haywood Spay/Neuter (HS/N) providing low-cost animal spay/neuter services and animal wellness programs.

Grab some radical threads, maybe some bell bottoms and a tie-dyed shirt, flowers for the hair and have a freaky-deaky time helping Haywood

County animals. There will be a Boojum gift card awarded for the best duds.

Get down with some karaoke, drink specials, some free good and dancing.

The $25 ticket fee goes to (HS/N), an organization that has been working for the community since 1955.

For tickets, visit haywoodspayneuter.org/ticket or stop at the HS/N office, 182 Richland St. in Waynesville.

Used Book Bag Sale starts Aug. 26 The Friends of the Haywood County Library Used Book Shop receives hundreds of books each week in donations, plus all the books the libraries weed out from their collections. Volunteers carefully select books for sale in the book shop and retire them if they have not sold within several months.

This leaves them with thousands of books that need new homes.

To help clear the inventory, they are selling books for $3 per bag or two bags for $5. The sale will be three days only, Aug. 26, Aug. 27, and Aug. 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The bag sale will be held in the lower level of the Waynesville branch of the Haywood County Public Library at 678 Haywood St.

Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

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Let’s have a discussion without hate and anger

LETTERS

To the Editor: The only thing I learned from a letter in a recent edition is that the letter writer doesn’t have a clue as to what socialism actually is.

I am a veteran, and have received medical treatment at the Veterans Administration Hospital, but the VA is socialism, so I guess the previous writer hates the VA. The government owns the VA hospital and hires the VA doctors. I did not have a choice as to what doctor treated me or where I went for treatment. With Medicare, which is not socialism, I chose my doctor, and the government later paid (or partially paid) the doctor bill. That is capitalism.

I attended socialist public schools when I was growing up. The government owns the school and hires the teachers. I did not have any choice as to which school I attended or which teacher would teach me. Today, there are some charter schools, but these are limited in number; there are also private schools, but they are expensive, and not an option for most of us.

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Stephen Wall

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Socialism is a misused word

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If someone runs a red light and destroys your car, you could avoid socialism by hiring a private detective, but the private detective could not charge the at-fault driver. The police and sheriff are, in fact, more examples of socialism. The law enforcement organization that you contact decides who will help you.

The officers are hired by the government and the sheriff ’s office and police department buildings are owned by the government.

Clark Pearson Sylva

Most Americans support abortion rights To the Editor: I read with interest Mr. Crider’s “Another view on Abortion” opinion piece in the Aug. 3 edition of the Smoky Mountain News. Mr. Crider makes several correct points about who is anti-abortion and who is pro- abortion rights, and I appreciate that he admits that he has been hypocritical in his pro-life beliefs. He is not alone. Statistics on abortions in 2019

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A newly fertilized egg is slightly smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.

I do not believe that this tiny potential life outweighs the right of a women to determine her own destiny. I do not want the government to force its control over a woman’s uterus and her future life. That decision should be between a woman and her God. For those who do believe that life begins at conception, their right to express this religious conviction is protected by the Constitution. However, it is not a belief shared by many in the medical, scientific and faith communities nor by many Americans. It is understandable that there are different views on this most profound of questions. Religious teachers, saints (St. Thomas Aquinas for one), philosophers and scientists have pondered this for centuries.

Finally, and tragically, we should remember that one of every five women in the U.S. will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. About one-third will be between the ages of 11 and 17. Many women desperately ask for prescription drugs that can terminate a pregnancy at a very early stage. This can be an emergency, like rape or incest, or just a terribly difficult decision a woman may have to make. At least 22 states are already banning or severely restricting access to these medications and threatening to prosecute women who use them as criminals. Texas has set up a bounty hunter system to track women down and collect a $10,000 reward.

This could be in North Carolina’s future. The coming November election may decide these issues, and citizens who oppose this attack on the human rights of women must make their voices heard.

(Dr. Wall practiced pediatrics in Haywood County for 30 years.

He was a founding member of the KARE child abuse task force and Certified Child Medical Examiner for the county.)

killing infants up to 28 days after birth. No such law exists or is being considered. This untruth spreads hatred and anger. (factcheck.org/2022/04/california-not-poised-to-legalizeinfanticide) The writer reports that he himself suffered hatred and anger — pushed and screamed at — while protesting against abortion in Asheville. I join him in condemning that kind of behavior.

But I hope he doesn’t mean to say that this was the equivalent of a sniper killing Dr. Slepian while he was standing in his kitchen, or the other murders of doctors and clinic workers mentioned in my July 6 column.

When does life begin? There have been many ideas about this throughGuest Columnist out history. Is it when the first breath is taken (an interpretation of God breathing life into Adam’ nostrils in Genesis)? Or perhaps when “quickening” occurs — around 16 weeks, when a woman first feels the baby move. This was a common belief in colonial times. The Catholic Church agreed with ‘quickening’ until 1869. The sperm meets egg story is a recent addition to the discussion. (irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religionand-beliefs/catholic-church-teaching-on-abortion-dates-from1869-1.1449517) Some people believe that life and personhood begin at the moment a sperm penetrates an egg. For them, the use of any emergency medications to end or prevent pregnancy, even after rape or incest, is regarded as killing a person. For them, in-vitro fertilization should also be outlawed, as well as intrauterine devices (IUDs) that prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

s a pediatrician, I spent many years on hospital call in Haywood County and many long hours in the middle of the night trying to keep a newborn alive. So, I do understand and share the passion and concern expressed in the recently published response to my July 6 column in The Mountaineer about political violence and the reproductive rights of American women.

I disagree, however, with several of its main points.

The author writes that I “forget that abortion is the murder of a viable child.” That’s a strong opinion, and factually wrong. For those of us with decades of experience taking care of newborns, it is understood that no baby born before 20 weeks is a “viable child.” Medically this means the baby cannot survive outside the mother’s body.

Fewer than one percent of abortions occur after even possible viability at 21 weeks. Almost all post-viability terminations occur because the mother’s life is in danger or the baby has terrible birth defects that will cause it suffering and death if carried to term. Over 93 percent of abortions are done before 13 weeks, long before the fetus is viable outside the womb. (kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/abortionslater-in-pregnancy).

Certainly no six-week embryo, about the size of a small blueberry, can be thought to be a viable child, although some would say this is still a person. It might instead be said that this embryo, just starting to lose its tail and gills and just starting to develop a brain, has the potential to become a person.

We should discuss this highly emotional issue without hatred and anger and threats of violence.

It is very difficult to have that discussion when people publish untruths that inflame and misinform. The column claimed that some states are passing laws that would legalize

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show that 60% of the women seeking abortions identified as having religious affiliations: 24% identified as Catholic and 13% as evangelical, 17% as other main line denominations and 6% as other. As these stats show, it is easy to be pro-life when it is an abstract concept, but when it is your body or the body of someone you love, it is a whole different perspective.

Mr. Crider also correctly points out that our “current horrible” maternal death rate and infant mortality stats have a been accrued while Roe v Wade was in place. What he may not be old enough to know or has chosen to ignore is the fact that these statistics were worse in the pre-Roe era. If fact one of the main reasons cited for passing Roe was to cut down on the number of women who were dying from illegal botched abortions from providers who were not trained in how to do it safely. It is also worth remembering that in 1973 when Roe was passed, the Supreme Court was all male, the decision to pass was 7 votes for and 2 against, and 5 of the judges voting for Roe were appointed by Republicans.

Mr. Crider also brought up the question of do the unborn have rights. He states, “I think they do, and so do most other people.” Mr.

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Crider certainly has the right to think that the unborn do have rights, but I differ with the “so do most other people” part. As the recent vote in Kansas shows, as do similar votes in three or four other states in recent years, 5560% of voters supported keeping Roe in place, while 40-45% voted to overturn Roe. Recent polling since the Dobbs decision was announced also show 60% favor keeping Roe in place. By my math, 60 is more than 40.

However, the argument isn’t really about being pro- or anti-abortion. The real issue is about who gets to decide about how to handle an unwanted pregnancy or a pregnancy that threatens the life of the person who is pregnant. Having Roe on the books does not prevent anyone who is pro-life from practicing their choice not to have an abortion, nor is there any undue burden in exercising that choice. However, someone wanting to exercise their personal choice to have an abortion could be greatly harmed and be unduly burdened by taking away their right to a safe and legal abortion. By leaving Roe on the books, both sides get to safely exercise the choice that is right for them.

Jane Harrison Haywood County

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The importance of streamside vegetation

BY CAITLIN WORSHAM G UEST COLUMNIST ome people consider streamside vegetation a nuisance in need of being cut back. However, it serves a valuable purpose. It decreases pollution, erosion and keeps sunlight from reaching the stream.

Haywood County freshwaters are considered cold water streams. If there isn’t enough streamside vegetation to reduce sunlight and stormwater runoff, the overall temperature of the water will increase. This puts extreme stress on aquatic life, especially trout, a huge tourist attraction in Haywood County. Additionally, during the summer, parking lots can cause hot runoff to flow directly into nearby streams.

Streamside vegetation often keeps runoff from reaching the water.

Planting native trees and shrubs, and not mowing to the edge of a stream, are simple and affordable ways to improve Haywood County’s beautiful freshwaters.

When stream side vegetation is removed, the stream can become destabilized. This can cause severe damage to property as well as the freshwater ecosystem.

Here are four reasons why streamside vegetation is integral to a healthy waterway.

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EROSION CONTROL

After rainfall, streams fill up fast.

Especially urban streams. The rapid increase in water is a result of the storm-

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POLLUTION CONTROL Trash on the ground can be blown or washed into a stream. Vegetation along a stream will collect trash that would otherwise pollute the water. Another type of pollution is waste runoff from warm-blooded animals, which increases the bacteria known as fecal coliform in the streams.

Increased fecal coliform has led to many streams in North Carolina to be listed on the impaired waterways by the EPA. This increase in bacteria can be an indication of potential health issues for humans as well as depleting oxygen for aquatic life. These pollutants and others including: lawn care chemicals and agricultural activities enter the streams as stormwater runoff.

Stormwater runoff is formed when rain hits a hard surface, like a bare backyard or soil with little cover. As the water flows downhill, it picks up pollutants and washes them into streams. Streamside vegetation slows down polluted stormwater and allows it to infiltrate into the soil. Once the stormwater is absorbed into the soil, the pollutants will biodegrade instead of entering the stream.

Here in Haywood County, Lake Junaluska has implemented “no mow” practices to encourage the growth of vegetative strips, which controls pet waste issues.

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ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE Stream side vegetation provides food and shelter for a variety of aquatic organisms. Leaves and woody debris that fall into a stream provide food for aquatic insects called grazers. Tree roots that become exposed along the stream bank can provide a refuge where fish can hide to avoid being eaten. The canopy overhead reduces sunlight which can cause the water to heat up.

This is especially important here in Western North Carolina’s trout streams.

(Worsham is a project manager for Haywood Waterways Association, a 501(c)(3) memberbased nonprofit organization working to protect and improve surface water quality.)

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Dr. William Banks

Dr. Robert Przynosch

Dr. Robert DelBene

Dr. Dennis Dawson

Smoky Mountain News

RECHARGE THE AQUIFER

Maggie. Between the Blue Ridge

August 10-16, 2022

The top waterway pollutant in Haywood County is sediment, and stream bank erosion is one of the main contributors to this problem. Once in the stream, sediment harms many aquatic organisms, including the beloved trout. Planting vegetative strips along stream banks reduces sedimentation.

During heavy rainfall, bare soil and grass do little to reduce water flow across the ground into the stream. As the surface water travels to the stream, it causes additional erosion.

Simply planting along stream banks can help, but not all vegetation is up to the task of erosion control. Native plants, especially trees and shrubs with vast root systems that extend deep into the soil, provide the best erosion control benefits. Trees and shrubs stabilize stream banks, slow the downward fall of rain and reduce its flow across the landscape into a stream. The slowing of water before it enters a waterway decreases the water’s energy, which reduces its ability to cause erosion as well as allow the water to percolate into the soil where it will slowly enter the stream and recharge the aquifer.

Check out the manual from the NC Cooperative Extension on more helpful tips for small scale eroding streambanks. bae.ncsu.edu/workshops-conferences/wpcontent/uploads/sites/3/2017/07/smallscale-solutions-to-eroding-streambanks.pdf

drain system dumping water directly into the nearby stream. The main function of a storm drain is to collect rainwater as runoff, then divert it from parking lots and streets to the nearest stream. This pulse of additional water into a stream can lead to erosion and flash flooding.

One simple solution is to hold this stormwater back, allowing it to percolate into the groundwater where it will recharge the aquifer. In urban areas, the construction of retention ponds or rain gardens can provide an area for the runoff to recharge groundwater. Trees and shrubs along stream banks can also slow the movement of surface water to allow percolation.

Runoff absorbed into the soil rather than dumped into a stream will reduce erosion, as well as flash flooding events.

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A&E

Smoky Mountain News

KEEP IT REAL A conversation with Jim Lauderdale Jim Lauderdale.

(Simon Simontacci photo)

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR pillar of the Americana, country and bluegrass realms, legendary singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale is one of the few artists who has been able to seamlessly drift between three distinct, sacred genres of music.

With his latest album, “Game Changer” (Sky Crunch Records), Lauderdale offers up a tongue-and-cheek reference to a term that gets thrown around carelessly and frivolously in the music industry. There is no formula or secret to success, where what it really comes down to is the old adage, “a good song is a good song is a good song.”

And that’s something Lauderdale has had in spades throughout his extensive career, which includes two Grammys, 34 full-length albums, and the Americana Music Association’s storied “Wagonmaster Award.”

In conversation, Lauderdale radiates a humbled tone, where one could surmise that he’s sincerely and genuinely happy to still be able to navigate the often-choppy waters of Nashville and beyond.

For Jim Lauderdale, it’s always been about career longevity, to always seek and present authenticity, creative truths, and a hardscrabble work ethic, onstage and off — the true hallmarks of timeless music.

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Smoky Mountain News: You’ve always been a workhorse, whether as a performer or in the studio. Where does that work ethic come from within you?

Jim Lauderdale: Well, a couple of different things. My mom was a choir director and high school chorus teacher. And then, she had all these extracurricular activities. She was a girl scout leader, on all these committees, and did volunteer work. She was always doing something.

And my dad had a church in Troutman, North Carolina, until I was five. After that, he had a job where he was the director of church extension for the Presbyterian church. He was overseeing new churches and sustaining churches that were out there. He traveled a lot.

He was also in the Air Force Reserves and had to travel one weekend a month for that. So, I kind of got the traveling thing from him.

SMN: And that work ethic plays into songwriting, where there’s a spark of inspiration and you write one melody in five minutes. But, at the same time, you have to put in the blood, sweat and tears of just sitting down and doing it.

JL: Yes, that’s right. You know, usually I have to work pretty hard on a song. Occasionally, those very effortless songs come through.

Melodies usually are very effortless for me.

Lyrically, I really have to do the serious work.

SMN: The album title, “Game Changer,” is such a funny term. It gets tossed around a lot.

And the artists that stand the test of time, they try to avoid that term.

JL: Right. Usually when I make a record, I think which one of these songs would be a good title. And I just felt like “Game Changer”

Want to go?

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale will be headlining the upcoming “Songwriters Camp” on Aug. 12-13 at the Smoky Mountain Heritage Center on the property of the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley.

A two-day event of songwriting instruction with world-class musicians, a demo tape produced for each participant, a concert by the Songs From The Road Band on Friday night, and a barbecue dinner and all-star concert on Saturday night. This is a unique event. Space will be limited to ensure individual attention is given to all participants.

There will be a limited amount of tickets available for the concerts Friday and Saturday night. Concert admission is $30.

The price of the camp is $675 dollars per person, which includes all activities, the demo tape, both concerts, and Saturday’s dinner. Special room price packages are offered to include lodging for Friday and Saturday night as well as concerts and all other activities.

To reserve your spot or for more information, call 828.926.1717 or click on meadowlarkmotel.com. would be good. You know, a lot of times when you’re doing stuff these days, there needs to be some kind of handle or moniker for your “whole thing,” your theme or whatever. But,

there isn’t really one for this. I’m not going, “Okay now, for everything I’ve ever done, this one is the one that’s going to change everything for me.”

SMN: Playing devil’s advocate here, maybe if you had big success early on, you might not have ended up with the career longevity and artistic authenticity later on in life.

JL: Well, I think so. At the time, I felt really old because I was about 33 when the first record came out. And that was after the false start of a bluegrass record I did with Roland White not coming out when I was 22. On [my first] record, “Planet of Love” (1991), the ingredients were there. It really did have songs that could have been hits, but it just didn’t happen.

So, that was really disappointing. But, I wasn’t ready. At times, I’ve thought back about it. Hearing [“Planet of Love”] recently, it’s like, “Gosh, that should have really taken off.” But, because of this, that and the other, it didn’t. Things gets really kind of complicated in that world of major [record] labels — why this happens, but that doesn’t happen [kind of thing].

Anyhow, I think if I would’ve had the success I was hoping for back then, I don’t know if I could have handled it, both personally and professionally. And I think with the ups and downs, the hard knocks and things after that, it really just kept making me want to do more.

In some ways, I feel like I’m just going, just starting.

HOT PICKS

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

When the west was wild and the land was free, how a western word would travel for a country mile

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with author

Ronnie Evans

with author

Dr. Bart Ehrman

signing his book,

will be speaking about his books,

SlopeSide Tavern (Sapphire) will host The Get Right Band (rock/soul) at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11.

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A stage production of “The Book of Will” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12-13, 19-20, 25-27 and at 2 p.m. Aug. 14, 21 and 28 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

Yonder Community Market (Franklin) will host Dalton Mills (singer-songwriter) 6 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 13.

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A fictionalized story about the ancestors of the Peake (Peek) families still in the mountains of Virginia & North Carolina.

SATURDAY AUGUST 13 1-3:00PM

Tickets available at

Blue Ridge Books & folkmoot.org $ 10 in advance $ 15 at the door

TUESDAY AUGUST 23 DOORS OPEN 5:30 EVENT STARTS 7PM

There will be a conversation between Chloe Maxmin, Canyon Woodward, and Lilly Knoepp at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

absorb and process, and also not get ahead myself as old-school Irish Catholic guilt and ancient superstitions keep me in check as to take everything in stride, and with sincere gratitude.

And as I made my way down the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, reflecting on the weekend’s shenanigans and in-depth conversations between our trio about the past, present, and unknown future, I remembered one moment in particular.

It was Saturday morning. Probably around 9 a.m. Friday night was a zigzag of people, places and things around downtown Waynesville. Beers. Shots. Laughter. Hearty banter. Our trio ended up back at my humble abode once the bars closed, a nightcap of bourbon and putting a nice bow on top of the round-robin topics of conversation that evening.

I awoke Saturday morning to the sounds of the old-school box fan in my bedroom, the small air-conditioner humming away in the front room. Slowly getting up, I could see my Knoxville friend passed out on his air mattress in the front room, the Waynesville crony in deep slumber on the couch nearby.

And, in that instance, I felt several emotions coursing through my heart and soul.

One of appreciation for being able to have ride-or-die friends like the two dudes who crashed at my place after a wild night. And another of that seemingly mundane scene Saturday morning, where nothing will ever really be the same the next time we all cross paths.

Once everyone wakes up and gets on with their day, the dice of chance and circumstance has been rolled. After Waffle House and strong coffee, we bid farewell and adieu.

See you down the road. New jobs. New chapters. New friends. New adventures. New visions and interactions. Such is life, eh?

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

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Smoky Mountain News

somehow write for them, my name in the same masthead as my heroes: Hunter S. Thompson, David Fricke, Austin Scaggs, Brian Hiatt, Kurt Loder, etc.

And, since Dec. 2018, I’ve been writing for the Rolling Stone website. Numerous articles and features online, but an appearance in the physical publication has remained elusive.

Well, elusive at least until last week, seeing as I received an email from one of the senior editors that two of my recent assignments for them will be printed in the September issue of Rolling Stone. On newsstands, worldwide, and a place in that masthead I’ve been ogling over since middle school (I’m 37 now). Crazy, eh?

Not even a day later, I also received word that I was nominated for “Writer of the Year” by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), with the award show in late September in Raleigh. Shit, a lot to

SIGNING

August 10-16, 2022

nce the paved road turned to dirt, I noticed a small pull-off to the right.

Putting the ole Tacoma in park, I emerged from the vehicle and could hear the sounds of passing cars on the Blue Ridge Parkway just above me and through the nearby tree line on this lazy Monday afternoon.

Leaving the truck behind, I started to jog up the winding dirt road, under an old onelane bridge holding up the Parkway, only to disappear down the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, the path appearing to the left with the only marker of its existence being the small white circular piece of plastic nailed to a large tree looming over the entrance into the woods.

After several switchbacks up the muddy ridge, the trail soon rolled along the contours of the mountains cradling Waynesville and greater Haywood County. Entering the trail at such an off-the-beaten-path point, I had the place to myself for most of the hour and a half trek.

At one juncture, I startled a random older gentleman as I came trotting around a curve in the route towards him. He wasn’t paying attention as I said hello, to which he grunted in his surprise in seeing another human being in the depths of Mother Nature. And yet, I didn’t get a response back, which was odd — where’s your trail solidarity, my brother?

No matter. Even with the switchbacks and such, my legs felt pretty good. I slowly settled into a rhythm of pace and endless thoughts rolling through my restless mind.

Sweating out the numerous beers hoisted high in the air and heavy emotions shared throughout the past weekend between dear friends and strangers soon to become fast friends in the midst of the unknown midnight hour.

It was a truly memorable weekend. One for the books, to say the least. My best friend in all time and space came to town for a couple days. He’s 40, married, with a two-yearold daughter. Nice home. Two new cars in the driveway. All-American family. Good folk, you dig?

He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, but was calling Waynesville home when we first crossed paths almost a decade ago. He had a free weekend and decided to visit. He also just started a new gig after spending most of his adult life in a completely different profession.

The stress of that gig led to this career change — more money, less stress and, most importantly, more time with his young family.

The two of us hit downtown and merged with my other best buddy, a 39-year-old Waynesville native, one who spent 10 years in California before circling back to Haywood County a few years ago.

Back in Carolina, he’s got an incredible girlfriend and beautiful home way up in West Waynesville. He also is entering a new career path, one where he’ll be relocating to Charlotte next month for the better part of a year to complete the training required.

The three of us are thick as thieves when our powers combine for a night of mischief and adult beverages. And there were many reasons to celebrate. They each were in a transitional phase of the next, unwritten chapter of their respective lives. And, for me, it was probably the most surreal crossroads of my 16-year career in journalism, thus far.

Ever since I was 12 years old and first opened a copy of Rolling Stone magazine, my biggest dream in life was to someday,

1

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arts & entertainment

This must be the place

Americana/bluegrass act Ol' Dirty Bathtub will perform as part of the “Friday Night Live” series at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, at Town Square on Main Street in downtown Highlands.

BOOK

*Registration closes August 25th*

274 S. MAIN ST. WAYNESVILLE 828.246.6570 WAYNESVILLEYOGACENTER.COM

21

arts & entertainment

On the beat ‘An Appalachian Evening’ The “An Appalachian Evening” series will continue at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.

The annual summer concert series offers an ever-changing schedule of bluegrass, folk and old-time mountain music by award-winning artists — quality entertainment for the entire family. Rich in cultural heritage, the series continues to be a favorite with locals and visitors alike. All concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the air-conditioned Lynn L. Shields Auditorium.

Performers include Nu-Blu Aug. 13, Pretty Little Goat Aug. 20 and The Kruger

August 10-16, 2022

Highlands gets in the tub Popular Jackson County Americana/bluegrass act Ol’ Dirty Bathtub will perform as part of the “Friday Night Live” series at 6 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 12, at Town Square on Main Street in downtown Highlands.

“We’ve always had energy when playing on someone’s porch, but on several occasions lately we have been able to replicate it live,” said ODB guitarist Jerad Davis. “And that’s

Smoky Mountain News

The Get Right Band.

Nu-Blu.

Brothers Aug. 27 For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or click on stecoahvalleycenter.com.

what makes this fun — people dancing, rooms getting hot, creating an atmosphere that is as fun for those listening as it is for us onstage. That’s why we do it. And that fuels the passion, the creativity. It’s a double positive feedback loop.”

The band’s debut album “Pack Mule” is now available for purchase. To learn more about the band, click on facebook.com/oldirtybathtub.

The show is free and open to the public.

For more information, go to highlandschamber.org.

surprising when you stand there watching them perform, where you’re trying to figure out just how they’re able to get that much sound from a power trio.

Free and open to the public. To learn more, call 828.743.8655 or go to slopesidetavern.com. For more information on The Get Right Band, click on thegetrightband.com.

Franklin Area Folk Festival Rock, soul at SlopeSide

Asheville-based rock/roots group The Get Right Band will perform at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, at the SlopeSide Tavern in Sapphire.

Led by singer/guitarist Silas Durocher, the ensemble also includes Jesse Gentry (bass) and drummer J.C. Mears (drums).

What stands out about this band is the mere fact that nobody around this region sounds like them. Period.

And it’s that “all” factor which puts The 22 Get Right Band into a league of their own. It’s

Rising songwriter rolls into Franklin

The annual Franklin Area Folk Festival, “A Celebration of Appalachian Heritage,” will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center.

Celebrating all things Appalachian, this family-friendly festival features live heritage demonstrations, Appalachian crafts, SEBA jammin’ sessions of old-time mountain and bluegrass music, Civil War reenactors/camp, kids activities, food, textiles, and more.

This free event is co-sponsored annually by the Folk Heritage Association of Macon County and the Cowee School Arts &

Dalton Mills.

Kentucky singer-songwriter Dalton Mills will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, on the side lawn at Yonder Community Market in Franklin.

Originally from Middlesboro, Kentucky, Mills now calls East Tennessee home. With a unique and mesmerizing style of Americana/indie-folk, he’s a rising name in the musical circles of Southern Appalachia and beyond.

Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. Bring a lawn chair. To learn more about Mills, go to facebook.com/daltonmillsmusic. For more information on Yonder, call 828.200.2169 or click on eatrealfoodinc.com.

Heritage Center, with support from the Franklin/Nantahala Tourism Development Committee and the Franklin Tourism Development Authority.

For more information visit franklinfolkfestival.com or call 828.524.6564.

spring, summer, fall.

This program received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment of the Arts.

828.488.3030.

Bryson City community jam

Concerts On The Creek

A community jam will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

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. The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of the Sawmill Creek Porch Band.

The community jams offer a chance for musicians of all ages and levels of ability to share music they have learned over the years or learn old-time mountain songs. The music jams are offered to the public each first and third Thursday of the month —

The 13th season of Concerts On The Creek will continue with Tuxedo Junction (oldies/variety) from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, at Bridge Park in Sylva.

Everyone is encouraged to bring a chair or blanket. These events are free, but donations are encouraged. Dogs must be on a leash. No alcohol, smoking or coolers are allowed in the park. Food trucks will also be available.

These concerts are organized and produced by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Sylva and the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department.

For more information, call the chamber at 828.586.2155, visit mountainlovers.com or Concerts On The Creek’s Facebook page.

On the beat

• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host karaoke at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, trivia at 7 p.m. on Thursdays, Trusty Hucksters Aug. 13 and Day & Dream with Pink Eye Aug. 20. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 or boojumbrewing.com.

• Concerts On The Creek (Sylva) will host Tuxedo Junction (oldies/variety) Aug. 12 and SKA City (ska/indie) Aug. 19 at Bridge Park in Sylva. All shows begin at 7 p.m.

Everyone is encouraged to bring a chair or blanket. These events are free, but donations are encouraged. 828.586.2155 or mountainlovers.com.

ALSO:

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host Macon County Line 7 p.m. Aug. 13. Free and open to the public. 828.634.0078 or curraheebrew.com.

• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host Nicole Witt (singer-songwriter) as part of its “Orchard Sessions” 6 p.m. Aug. 17. Tickets start at $25 per person. To purchase tickets, click on oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.

and The Foreign Landers (Americana) Aug. 19 at Town Square on Main Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host The NeverB’s Aug. 12. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 or froglevelbrewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host an Open Mic Night every Wednesday, Shane Meade (soul/indie) Aug. 11, Mathew Kelly Aug. 18 and Red Zephyr Aug. 20. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Music Bingo” with Hibiscus Sunshine every Wednesday, Tricia Ann Band 2 p.m. Aug. 14 and The Water Kickers 2 p.m. Aug. 21. All events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host The V-8s Aug. 13 and Andrew Thelston Band (Fleetwood Mac tribute) Aug. 20. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Friday Night Live (Highlands) will host Ol’ Dirty Bathtub (Americana/bluegrass) Aug. 12

• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host Granny’s Mason Jar (bluegrass) 7 p.m.

• Moss Valley (Franklin) will host The End (Beatles tribute) Aug. 19. Gates at 6 p.m.

Show from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Free and open to the public. Food trucks and beverages available onsite. Bring a lawn chair. Presented by Drake Software.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Open Mic Night with Ivor Sparks every Wednesday, Twelfth Fret (Americana) Aug. 12, Granny’s Mason Jar (Americana) Aug. 13, George Ausman (singer-songwriter) 5 p.m.

Aug. 14, Steve Heffker (singer-songwriter) Aug. 19, The Dirty French Broads (Americana) Aug. 20 and Zip Robertson (singer-songwriter) 5 p.m. Aug. 21. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.

• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Blue (Americana/bluegrass) Aug. 12 and 19, Beer & Loathing (rock/honky-tonk) Aug. 13 and 20. All shows behind at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Free and open to the public. noc.com.

• Pickin’ In The Park (Canton) will host Country Outlaws and J. Creek Cloggers Aug. 12 and Rick Morris & Appalachian Mountaineers Aug. 19. Shows are 6 to 9 p.m. at the Canton Rec Park located at 77 Penland St. Free and open to the public. cantonnc.com.

• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Jack Mollette (country) Aug. 20. All shows begin at 6 p.m. at the Gazebo in downtown.

Free and open to the public. franklinnc.com/pickin-on-the-square.html.

• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Sonia Brooks (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Aug. 13 and “Open Mic Night” 7 p.m.

Aug. 16. Free and open to the public.

828.586.1717 or facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.

• Saturdays On Pine (Highlands) will host Peggy & Paula (oldies/soul) Aug. 20 at Kelsey-Hutchinson Park on Pine Street. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.

• The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host The Carter Giegerich Trio (Celtic/bluegrass) from 2 to 5 p.m. every Sunday and King Margo (Americana/roots) Aug. 13. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 or scotsmanpublic.com.

• SlopeSide Tavern (Sapphire) will host The Get Right Band (rock/soul) Aug. 11. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.743.8655 or slopesidetavern.com.

• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville) “An Appalachian Evening” live music series will include Nu-Blu Aug. 13, Pretty Little Goat Aug. 20 and The Kruger Brothers Aug. 27. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or click on stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host BlackJack County Aug. 11, Rock Holler Band Aug. 12, Mile High Band Aug. 13, Caribbean Cowboys Aug. 18, Explode The Myth Aug. 19 and Virginia & The Slims Aug. 20. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.538.2488.

August 10-16, 2022

• Fontana Village Resort Wildwood Grill will host Mountain Homecoming Singing 7:30 p.m. Aug. 18. Free and open to the public.

800.849.2258 or fontanavillage.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Trivia Night at 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday, Old Time Jam 6:30 p.m. every Thursday, Sister Ivey Aug. 12 and Aimlessly Dead (Grateful Dead tribute) Aug. 19. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public.

828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.

Aug. 11 and a Community Jam 6 p.m. Aug. 18. Free and open to the public.

828.488.3030 or fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

arts & entertainment

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a semi-regular acoustic jam with the Main Street NoTones from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Free and open to the public. blueridgebeerhub.com.

Smoky Mountain News 23

arts & entertainment

On the wall • “Wine & Workshop” will present a silk painting class at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, at the Haywood Handmade Gallery at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville. Led by artist Pamela Winn, attendees will make a fun piece of art, all while tasting a flight of wine and complimentary charcuterie donated by Bosu’s Wine Store. Class cost is $100. haywoodarts.org/wine-workshop-series.

• WNC Paint Events brings you “Paint & Sip.” This is a two-hour event, and you leave with your painting. Anyone 21 and up are welcome. Events will be held at the following locations once a month: 828 Market on Main (Waynesville), Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva), BearWaters Brewing (Canton), Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) and the Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin). wncpaint.events.

ALSO:

• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood St. in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. Mountainmakersmarket.com.

August 10-16, 2022

• “Thursday Painters” group will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays at The

Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their own project and a bag lunch. For more information, call The Uptown Gallery at 828.349.4607 or contact Pat Mennenger at pm14034@yahoo.com. franklinuptowngallery.com.

• “Foreign Film Series” will be held at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

Each month, on the second and fourth Friday, two movies from around the globe will be shown. This program is in the Community Room and is free of charge.

Masks are required in all Jackson County buildings. To find out what movie will be shown and/or for more information, please call the library at 828.586.2016. This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library. fontanalib.org.

• Farmer’s Market (with artisans) will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays through October at 117 Island St. in Bryson City. Stop by the old barn by the river for local, homegrown produce, as well as baked goods, jellies and preserves, authentic crafts, and more. Food truck, picnic tables and live music. Leashed pets are welcome. Outdoor event.

828.488.7857.

Bring Nature Inside makes a different bird sound each hour!

Bardo Arts Center fall season announced The Bardo Arts Center (BAC) at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee is excited to welcome patrons into its spaces for a dynamic series of events and exhibitions this fall.

Beginning Aug. 16, the WCU Fine Art Museum reopens to the public, filled with exhibits that expand perspectives of our shared humanity. On Sept. 29, the Performance Hall’s season is set to start with modern dance company Pilobolus and continue with many more exciting acts that are sure to ignite the cultural curiosity of the viewer.

• Beginning Aug. 16, the Fine Art Museum will host “We Will Not be Silenced: Standing for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women.” This show will bring voice to the international Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement through the lens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Comanche Nation, Lumbee, and other Native American artists.

• The exhibition “When Was the Last Time You Saw a Miracle? Prints by Corita Kent” will also debut on Aug. 16. It engages the viewer through visually innovative arrangements of quotations, everyday slogans, and biblical scripture.

• Additionally, the exhibit “The Way I’m Wired: Artist Reflections on Neurodiversity” invites artists with a range of cognitive and emotional lived experiences to share how they learn, understand, and experience the world.

• In celebration of the International Year of Glass, the museum is extending the summer exhibition “Cultivating Collections:

Smoky Mountain News

Franklin launches ‘ArtFest’

24

Uptown Gallery’s “ArtFest” will be held Aug. 11-13 at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin.

The event will benefit art programs in Macon County Public Schools. More than 30 sessions with various artists will be held during the three days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, plus special films at 6 p.m.

Thursday and Friday. The activities are free and open to the public.

Local trio Blue Jazz will play for a fundraising concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, at Tartan Hall in Franklin. There

Celebrating

26 Years

affairsoftheheartnc.com

Glass” for continued viewing.

• The BAC Performance Hall opens the Fall 2022 season with a boundary-pushing “Pilobolus: The Big Five-OH!” Audiences will have the opportunity to experience the worldrenowned modern dance company that has performed at events ranging from the Oscars and the Olympics and has appeared on television, in movies, and in advertisements.

Pilobolus will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Sept.

29.

• Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernàndez will perform at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10.

Grammy-nominated band with their proud fifth-generation Mariachi musician, Mastero Hernàndez, who is an internationally recognized musician, composer, and educator. He has recorded with respected names in the industry, including Selena, Vincente Fernandez, Luis Miquel, Bryan Adams, and the Beach Boys.

• The Bardo Arts Center will also host the 13th Annual Handmade Holiday Sale from noon to 7 p.m. Nov. 17. The event features high-quality, handmade gifts created by WCU students, staff, and alumni. Items for sale include artwork, ceramics, sculpture, wearable accessories, and other handmade craft items.

• A stage production of “The Nutcracker” featuring The Ballet Conservatory of Asheville will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 and 3 p.m. Dec. 10. Watch young Clara befriend a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve and wages a battle against the evil Mouse King.

To learn more about all the events listed above, click on arts.wcu.edu/explore. will also be a silent auction and raffle of an original painting by award-winning Macon County Art Association member Carol Conti. Hors d’oeuvres, beverages and birthday cake are included in the ticket price of $25 in advance, $35 at the door.

Macon County Art Association through its Uptown Gallery is sponsoring ArtFest to celebrate MCAA’s 60 anniversary supporting and providing art in Macon County. Concert and Raffle tickets may be purchased at Uptown Gallery located 30 East Main Street in Franklin.

For more information, call 828.349.4607 or visit franklinuptowngallery.com. To reserve tickets, email mtully1001@gmail.com.

@SmokyMtnNews

• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, click on waynesvillewine.com.

ALSO:

Bookstore

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641 North Main Street, WAYN NESVILLE, NC (3/10 Mile North of the Couurthouse)

828-456-HAUS (42287)

509 Asheville Hwy., Suite B, SYLLVVVAA, NC (Located in the NAPPA Auto Parts Center)

828-586-HHAUS (4287)

CHLOE MAXMIN & CANYON WOODWARD in Conversation with

BPR'S LILLY KNOEPP

arts & entertainment

• “Rivers & Brews” small town craft brewers festival will be held from 1 to 5 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in the Nantahala Gorge. Live music, food and craft beer. For more information and ticket pricing, click on noc.com/events/rivers-and-brews.

ThePriintHauss.c . co om m

On the table

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13 at 3 P.M. 828/586-9499 • more@citylightsnc.com 3 EAST JACKSON STREET • SYLVA

• A free wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva.

828.631.3075.

• “Take A Flight” with four new wines every Friday and Saturdays at the Bryson City Wine Market. Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines.

Educational classes and other events are also available. For more information, call 828.538.0420.

On the street

Cherokee Bonfire & Storytelling The Cherokee Bonfire & Storytelling will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through Oct. 31 at the Oconaluftee Islands Park in Cherokee.

Sit by a bonfire, alongside a river, and listen to some of Cherokee’s best storytellers.

The bonfire is free and open to the public.

There will be no bonfire events in September.

For more information, call 800.438.1601 or click on www.visitcherokeenc.com.

Smoky Mountain News

The Cherokee Bonfire is a family-friendly gathering.

August 10-16, 2022

• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first-class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or click on gsmr.com.

25

arts & entertainment

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, INC. • • • • •

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On the stage

HART presents ‘The Book of Will’

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M ONDAY-F RIDAY 7:30-5:00 • WAYNESVILLE P LAZA 828-456-5387 • WAYNESVILLETIRE . COM

August 10-16, 2022

A stage production of “The Book of Will” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12-13, 1920, 25-27 and at 2 p.m. Aug. 14, 21 and 28 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

Set in 1616, “The Book of Will” tells the story of how the lone survivors of William Shakespeare’s acting company worked together to save the plays. In the beginning, we discover that there are no copies to be found. All of Shakespeare’s originals were in the Globe Theatre when it burned to the ground. This is the story of a treasure hunt.

Somewhere in London the plays or parts of them must exist, but where?

The play by Lauren Gunderson uses a handful of actors playing multiple roles to tell the

Smoky Mountain News

‘Unto These Hills’ outdoor drama

FOLLOW US AT

@SMOKYMOUNTAINNEWS 26

The “Unto These Hills” stage production will be held at 8 p.m. nightly throughout the summer at the Cherokee Mountainside Theatre.

This decades-old acclaimed outdoor drama traces the Cherokee people through the eons, through the zenith of their power, through the heartbreak of the Trail of Tears, finally ending, appropriately, in the present day, where the Cherokee people, much like their newly re-scripted drama, continue to rewrite their place in the world — a place based on traditional Cherokee values and modern sensibilities.

For more information on show dates and/or to purchase tickets, go to visitcherokeenc.com and click on the “Events” tab.

• “On This Night Of A Thousand Stars” will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 12-13 at the Smoky

tale. Gunderson has become one of the shining lights in American Theatre and in 2017 and 2019 she was the most produced playwright in America. In “The Book of Will,” she weaves humor, mystery, tragedy and a high spirit of theatricality to tell the compelling story of how the plays we now take for granted were saved.

HART’s production is being directed by Steven Lloyd and the cast features: Dillon Giles, William Ezzell, David Spivey, Kathy O’Connor, Brandi Andrade, Cheyenne Morris, Emily Dake, Dakota Mann, James Cloninger and Aaron Ybarra.

To make reservations, call the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322 from 1 to 5 p.m.

Tuesday through Saturday or click on harttheatre.org.

Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Join the Overlook Theatre Company for a dessert theatre cabaret celebrating the golden age of Broadway. Each ticket includes sweet and savory dessert trio, beverage of choice (coffee or tea), SMCPA souvenir mug, and an evening of live, musical theatre.

All seats are general admission. Space is limited. Tickets are $21 in advance, $25 day of show. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on smokymountainarts.com or call 866.273.4615.

ALSO:

• “Alice in Wonderland” will be held on select dates throughout this spring at the Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee. The production is an original work by Havoc Movement Company that will be joining the Cherokee Historical Association for the spring season. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on cherokeehistorical.org/alice-in-wonderland.

On the shelf aniel Pink’s “The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward” (Riverhead Books, 1922, 256 pages) opens with a brief account of Edith Piaf ’s “Je Ne Regrette Rien,” or “I regret nothing,” a song which includes the lines in English “No, not a thing.” Pink then introduces us to several people wearing the tattoo “No Regrets,” and accounts of men and women ranging from Bob Dylan to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who also recommended kicking remorse to the curb.

Writer Pink then asks “Why rue what we did yesterday when we can dream of the limitless possibilities of tomorrow?”

He continues:

Jeff Minick

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••• On the recommendation of a friend, I

“What does it mean to fly that flag above Lexington Green, when the country it symbolizes has so systemically refused to engage with its history? What does it mean to look up at that cross atop the steeple of the church beside the Green, when that faith it symbolizes has so often embraced the mainstream culture and not the people at whom its message was clearly aimed? What does it mean to enjoy the unprecedented prosperity of the American suburbs when that prosperity now clearly comes at the expense of so many others?”

Like those conservative books I once read, until they all sounded the same onenote bugle of alarm, here is a deeply biased screed against all but the most progressive positions. And though published in 2022, “The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon” is already out of date. McKibben seems unaware that the United States is now $30 trillion dollars in debt and counting, that critical race theory, for better or for worse, is taught in many schools, and that church churchgoers annually donate about three times the amount to charities as nonchurch goers, which does not include funding and staffing of many church-sponsored social services around the country. His slams against so many ordinary Americans — “these are the generations who have given us the troubled country we inhabit — the voters who gave us Reagan and Trump —” have the divisive effect he mourns in other parts of the book.

With the exception of the first 20 pages and the last 10, I skimmed most of this book.

Je ne regrette pas.

(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” minick0301@gmail.com.)

City Lights presents ‘In Conversation with BPR’ There will be a conversation between Chloe Maxmin, Canyon Woodward, and Lilly Knoepp at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

The talk will center around the book Maxmin and Woodward collaborated on, “Dirt Road Revival.” It details the journey of the young Maine politician Chloe Maxmin and her campaign manager, Canyon Woodward, to win two unlikely elections. Throughout “Dirt Road Revival,” Maxmin and Woodward demonstrate how Democrats must radically reorient to re-engage with rural voters.

Knoepp serves as Blue Ridge Public Radio’s first full-time reporter covering Western North Carolina. She is a native of Franklin, who returned to WNC after serving as the assistant editor of Women@Forbes and digital producer of the Forbes podcast network.

To reserve copies of “Dirt Road Revival,” please call City Lights Bookstore at 828.586.9499.

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Pink then spends the rest of his book explaining both the value of regrets and how to handle them. He divides our regrets into four categories: our failure to be responsible or prudent; our failure to take chances, especially in business and love; our moral regrets, when we compromise our beliefs in goodness; and our connection regrets, “fractured or unrealized relationships” with spouses, children, friends, and others who “help establish our own sense of wholeness.”

Throughout “The Power of Regret,” Pink cites numerous studies on regret and its effects. He also quotes scores of people he contacted for this study who were sad or dis-

went to the library and picked up Bill McKibben’s “The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened” (Henry Holt and Company, 2022, 240 pages). There is much in this book I normally enjoy: its readability, the mix of personal anecdotes with statistics and news headlines, the engaging voice.

And yet, as Daniel Pink says about the anti-regret sentiment, “It is dead wrong.”

The thesis can be summed up in the questions McKibben asks at the end of the book:

August 10-16, 2022

This worldview makes intuitive sense.

It seems right. It feels convincing. But it has one not insignificant flaw.

It is dead wrong.

What the antiregret brigades are proposing is not a blueprint for a life well-lived. What they are proposing is — forgive the terminology, but the next word is carefully chose — bullshit.

appointed by some deed done in their past.

A female, age 51, rues the day of her wedding, when she married far from her mother’s home, who was ill and dying. A South African man, 52, regrets having lived his life fearing failure and looking foolish. An Alabama male, 35, says, “Not taking my grandmother candy on her deathbed. She specifically requested it.” Some look with chagrin at their loose sexual practices when young while a 71-year-old woman from Michigan regrets “Not being more sexually active.” (Really? That’s the regret of your life? Perhaps because I am the same age and have plenty of regrets, this one brought a laugh.)

Pink then discusses ways to come to terms with “what I have done and what I have failed to do through my fault,” as the Catholic prayer of confession at Mass states. We can undo our past actions directly by apologies or making amends, pondering even worse scenarios that we might have caused, sharing our regrets with others, and most especially, taking lessons from our harmful words and actions and striving not to repeat them.

Near the end of his book, Pink writes that “Regret offers us the ultimate redemption narrative. It is as powerful and affirming as any positive emotion … If we think about regret like this — looking backward to move forward, seizing what we can control and putting aside what we cannot, crafting our own redemption stories — it can be liberating.”

Aimed at a broad audience, “The Power of Regret” teaches readers how to take this emotion, which we so often associate with the negative, and use it to make our lives better and happier.

arts & entertainment

Regrets and no regrets: a review of two books

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the plan participants objected to and the specific remedies they proposed.

Both during the meetings and in follow-up interviews, participants with varying perspectives expressed appreciation for the thoughtful conversations that unfolded last week and optimism about the final recommendations.

“I was really encouraged by the quality of the dialogue, the attentive listening and thoughtful responses from the Forest Service,” said Will Harlan, who represented the I Heart Pisgah Coalition. “They asked some really great, insightful questions. I’m encouraged.

I’m cautiously hopeful that this will lead to some substantial changes to the plan.”

Nick Biemiller, who as the lead objector for the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society stands opposite Harlan on many forest management issues, also said the meetings went “really well.”

“I was impressed with everyone’s professionalism, with the Forest Service’s professionalism, and their ability to hear a lot of really hard feedback and sometimes pretty accusatory statements about the work they’ve produced,” Biemiller said.

LOGGING AND ROAD-BUILDING Protestors raise homemade signs during the Aug. 1 Protect Pisgah Party + Rally for the Forest at the U.S. Forest Service headquarters in Asheville. Holly Kays photo

‘A Herculean feat’ Forest Service aims to satisfy objections in last round of plan revisions

BY HOLLY KAYS OUTDOORS E DITOR decade of meetings, hearings, comments, debate and disagreement over the future of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests culminated in a three-day meeting marathon last week that aimed to resolve hundreds of objections over the plan’s handling of everything from old growth to drinking water.

“I feel the weight on my shoulders from all the information gained this week,” Deputy Regional Forester Rick Lint said as he closed out the meetings Aug. 4.

Lint is the reviewing officer for the PisgahNantahala Forest Management Plan, meaning that it will be his job to review all 891 written objections, consider feedback from last week’s meetings, and issue a decision on what, if any, changes must be made before the plan’s implementation. It’s bound to be a tough job, he said.

“It seemed like everything we talked about was ‘more’ in some form or fashion,” he said.

“More old growth, more protection, more

A

ephemeral protection, more of everything. I don’t know if we can deliver more of everything unless we made more Pisgah and Nantahala, increased the size of it. That’s some of the weight that I feel.”

Covering a combined 1.04 million acres, the Pisgah-Nantahala encompasses some of the highest peaks and most pristine lands east of the Mississippi, and it’s one of the country’s most visited national forest units. The process to replace the current forest plan, which was finalized in 1987 with significant amendments in 1994, has been ongoing since 2012, eliciting strong feelings, active involvement and robust debate from myriad groups representing an array of interests.

In January, the Forest Service published its final plan, kicking off a formal objection process that culminated with 24 hours’ worth of virtual meetings Aug 2-4. Held via Microsoft Teams, the meetings were open for public viewing, while the dialogue unfolded between Forest Service representatives and the plan’s official objectors and interested parties. During most sessions, 60-70 people were logged in.

Facilitated by consultant Nancy Walters, the meetings followed a careful format aimed at avoiding a circular rehash of old arguments while ensuring Lint and Forest Supervisor James Melonas understood which aspects of

Spread over three days, the meeting agenda included dedicated sessions for issues ranging from recreation to climate change to land management allocations. However, each session bumped up against a tension that ran through the entire schedule — how can the plan better balance timber harvest and young forest creation with preserving old growth and protecting sensitive habitats?

While logging has its critics, it also has its uses. The Pisgah-Nantahala is short on young forest, with most of the land covered by trees that started growing when large-scale logging halted in the 1920s and 1930s — they’re now 80-100 years old. In addition to providing the raw materials for an array of consumer goods, timber harvest allows sunlight to reach the earth, prompting an explosion of growth in recently logged areas that provides vital habitat for an array of species — some of which are in decline as Western North Carolina’s forests continue to age.

But the forest is also lacking in old growth forest, an age class that supports an entirely different suite of species and ecological value.

Nobody who participated in the meetings argued that timber harvest should not occur or that old growth is not important. However, participants felt like the plan shortchanged one or both of those goals in various ways — or that the actions it authorized would incur a wave of collateral damage.

For instance, road construction.

“There just is no way the (logging) activity levels can increase the way the plan describes without expanding the road system far more than what is set forth in the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement), and thus increasing the already dire maintenance backlog,” said Susannah Knox, joining the meeting on behalf of the Southern Environmental Law

What’s next?

With the objection meetings now concluded, Deputy Regional Forester Rick Lint will work with his staff to review written objections and meeting discussions. That feedback will inform his written response to the objections, which may include instructions for changes to the final plan.

Lint will send his response to Forest Supervisor James Melonas, who must incorporate the instructions into the planning documents. Then he will be able to sign and implement the final plan.

While there is no specific timeline to complete this process, the U.S. Forest Service expects the review to extend to late fall, with a final plan out by late 2022 or early 2023.

Should the review conclude that extensive changes are necessary, an additional public comment period is possible.

Videos and transcripts of the Aug. 2-4 objection meetings will be posted at bit.ly/22forestplan once they are processed and available, likely within two weeks.

Center.

Knox showed a map depicting extensive Forest Service lands that are currently inaccessible via road but would be eligible for logging under the plan, saying that “there is simply no way” the land could be reached without building many more road miles than anticipated in the plan.

Road building is a frequent target of criticism associated with logging projects. Poorly built or poorly maintained roads are a major source of sedimentation in streamwater, which in turn causes issues for the aquatic species that require clear, dirt-free water.

Budgetary issues keep the Forest Service from adequately maintaining the roads it already has — how, objectors asked, could it ensure these new roads wouldn’t exacerbate existing issues?

Biemiller suggested that the Forest Service explore stewardship agreements with logging companies in which money from the timber sale would be used to pay for road maintenance. Knox asked that the agency commit to decreasing the maintenance backlog before expanding the road system, while Sutton suggested that the Forest Service consider adding an objective stating that the road maintenance backlog be reduced by incremental amounts, or that the agency create a road bank in which existing roads are maintained or decommissioned as new ones are added.

“The Partnership is such a broad and diverse group of organizations that in order for us to reach agreement on anything, we really had to weave together everything,” Sutton said during the discussion.

In its recommendations, the Partnership created a tied tier system, in which certain elements of the plan could move forward to larger goals as long as criteria in other areas were met first. The Forest

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Service plan uses the tier system but does not make advancing to Tier 2 in one area dependent on achieving Tier 1 in other areas — something that elicited criticism from many stakeholders.

The roads issue was “really critical” to the interdependent agreements the Partnership reached, Sutton said.

PRIORITIZING OLD GROWTH

Facilitator Nancy Walters (from left), Deputy Regional Forester Rick Lint and Forest Supervisor James Melonas speak with objectors during an Aug. 4 session. SMN photo “Our primary concern is that the plan does not go far enough toward resolving conflict and leaves too much decision base to the project and implementation, and we feel that will create inefficiencies,” she said in an interview.

Her suggestions during the objection meeting included settling for a smaller old growth network but incorporating a “cap and trade” approach, with a clear process in the plan for identifying old growth during project planning. When the Forest Service identifies additional old growth patches, they could be “traded” to the network, replacing stands with lackluster old growth characteristics.

The “cap and trade” plan earned unanimous support from those who participated in the conversation, but the Forest Service declined to consider such an approach in detail when developing the final plan. In the “Response to Comments” document on the forest planning page, the Forest Service wrote that it did not consider a cap-andtrade process because there is “strong disagreement” as to the starting point acreage and criteria for adding and removing patches, and because such an approach “is untested, would require additional level

(sic) of project surveys for old growth characteristics, and would likely be regularly challenged.”

Old growth forest also loomed large in a lengthy discussion about the plan’s implications for climate change.

“Mature and old growth forests are our best defense against catastrophic wildfire and flooding. The 1 million acres of the Pisgah-Nantahala provide some important, critical resilience benefits,” said Harlan.

“The carbon storage component cannot be overstated. You are the largest carbon stock manager in the state of North Carolina.”

Old growth trees store much more carbon than young trees do, said Harlan.

While that’s true, Biemiller pointed out that carbon storage and carbon sequestration are two different things — and rapidly growing young forest wins on the sequestration front.

“Anytime we think about forest carbon on the forest level, we need to think about the full life cycle, the way in which that carbon is stored and utilized in wood products and the way it is used as a substitution for more carbon-intensive materials,” Biemiller said.

For example, if a mature oak is cut down

A young rallygoer poses for a photo Aug. 1 in Asheville. Holly Kays photo

and made into a table, the carbon in the oak remains stored until that table either burns or rots. Meanwhile, a seedling planted in its place will begin to vigorously pull additional carbon from the air and turn it into new wood.

“I would tend to agree with Mr. Biemiller that there is a bit of tension between the rate of carbon sequestration, which is very high in young forests, and the maximum storage potential of forests,” Kelly said.

In some forest types, he said, achieving maximum carbon storage is dangerous, because it increases the risk of wildfire — and wildfires output massive amounts of carbon.

“There are abundant opportunities to address species composition issues, structural issues that make our forests less resilient, while also continuing to increase the carbon sequestration,” Kelly said.

Forest cover in the Southern Appalachians has increased dramatically in the lifetimes of everyone on the call, he said, making for one of the world’s greatest forest restoration success stories.

“We should continue to increase the carbon sequestration, and I believe the National Forests in North Carolina will continue so long as we are very intentional about where we pursue our restoration and timber harvest opportunities,” he said.

August 10-16, 2022

The old growth issue also received a lot of airtime.

The final plan designated 265,000 acres, a quarter of the forest, as an Old Growth Network that aims to produce a spine of very old trees representing the variety of ecosystems and elevations present on the forest. While that’s the largest acreage of any of the proposed alternatives, objectors pointed out that much of the acreage in the network — 42%, according to the Chattooga Conservancy’s Nicole Hayler — does not currently contain old growth trees.

Meanwhile, MountainTrue’s Josh Kelly spoke of outstanding old growth stands he’s visited that are not protected within the network.

“In spite of the diverse opinions that we have heard within the Partnership, there has been a strong consensus generally around protecting existing old growth as a way to smooth project implementation,” Sutton said.

Everyone in the Partnership agrees that more young forest — and therefore timber harvest — is needed on the PisgahNantahala, but when the Forest Service issues logging proposals that include lands some organizations believe should be protected, the ensuing dispute can sometimes end up in court and delay a needed project for years.

Sutton said that the Partnership’s objections aimed to smooth out such disagreements ahead of time to prevent controversy from hamstringing project execution over the two decades or so the new plan will remain in effect.

DEBATING MODELING Smoky Mountain News

The rules governing plan revision don’t give any explicit directions or limitations as to the types of changes that Lint, the objection reviewing officer, may issue. While objectors criticized individual plan components over the course of the three-day meeting, they also argued for deeper-level revisions that, if pursued, could delay plan implementation for years.

“The models are the foundation for the EIS, so redoing the models means redoing the EIS. I want to be really clear about that.

That’s not going to be an easy task,” said Sam Evans, speaking on behalf of SELC. “If the Forest Service isn’t prepared to adopt plan components to address the issues today, though, it’s an essential and just

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“I’m not sure that the Partnership would have an answer on that question,” Sutton said when asked whether stakeunavoidable next step.” holders should accept the plan or continMany of the plan’s conclusions rest on ue to push for provisions not included in the outputs of two complex models. The the final document. “I don’t know that Natural Range of Variation model aims to there’s a right or wrong answer on staying show what range of conditions is natural engaged.” on the forest landscape, while the “I think that perfect storm of how to Spectrum model estimates which lands meet all those needs in the objection and are available for various future uses. The prevent overhaul and litigation, it is a consensus around the virtual table was challenging needle to thread,” Biemiller that both models are flawed — though said. “So I hope that they’re able to thread opinions differed as to what those flaws that needle and we’re able to come away from this in the fall with a plan that everyone can live with.

But I think that’s a bit of a Herculean feat, for sure.”

If the Forest Service doesn’t make changes to the plan — including protections for old growth and the Craggy National Scenic Area — “there will be significant public pushback, and they are Representing the inviting decades of Indigenous increased conflict,” said Environmental Harlan.

Network, Eastern The hundreds of peoBand of Cherokee ple who crowded the Indians citizen parking lot outside the Forest Service headquarMary Crowe ters Aug. 1, in a rally addresses the Harlan helped organize, crowd Aug. 1. sent the same message.

Holly Kays photo “If you continue to go forward with this plan, you will meet us in the forest,” Marissa were and which direction they skewed the Percoco, executive director of The Firefly conclusions.

Gathering, said during the rally’s speaking The ensuing discussion led Lint to program. question whether revising the model The crowd of more than 300 cheered would actually end the disagreement. and whistled at her words, some waving “When we don’t like the outcome, we signs alluding to the record for the longest don’t like the model,” he said. “So if we tree sit, set in 1999 when California were to agree on a model, would we actuactivist Julia Butterfly Hill spent 738 days ally agree on a model?” in a 600-year-old coast redwood tree.

Revising the models and the EIS they “It’s going to cost you a lot more to inform could mean another decade of fight us out here than to save the old work, not to mention “probably a lot of growth. I hope you know that, James,” retirements” from people who spent years said Percoco, directing her comments to working on the current plan, Lint said.

Forest Supervisor James Melonas. Later in “That could be 5-10 more years of the rally, attendees were invited to sign up planning, and even then if there’s disfor an email list for those interested in agreement on the results, the model is participating in any necessary “direct easy fodder for disagreement, for critiaction.” cism,” he said.

In a follow-up interview, Melonas maintained that “there are no easy OU WILL MEET US answers” to the complex issues contained IN THE FOREST in the forest plan but that he hopes to end up with a framework that will guide the Like the model, the plan — whatever forest effectively through the next generaits final form may be — will also be a tartion of management. get for criticism.

“I believe that the Forest Service is While Sutton, Biemiller and Harlan all inherently a force for good,” he said as the said they were pleased with how the objecobjection meetings concluded. “We tion meetings went, in follow-up interalways strive to learn to do better, to lisviews none of the three committed to ten, to take into account different viewaccepting the outcome of the review points. I know we don’t always agree, and process without first knowing the result. we can disagree pretty strongly on some A wave of litigation followed completion things, but it always comes from a point of the current plan in 1987, kicking off a of deep dedication to the responsibility we court process that resulted in the 1994 have to try to steward these public lands.” 31 revisions.

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YCC crew members work on a set of rock stairs on the Bartram Trail.

Donated photo

Trail program to prepare youth for outdoor careers

Missing person found dead in park

Man dies in Parkway motorcycle accident

The body of a Knoxville man who went missing while traveling to Charlotte was found Friday, Aug. 5, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Bryce Evans, 23, was last seen Sunday, July 31, and his last known location was the Cherokee area.

Park rangers located his vehicle at the Balsam Mountain Trailhead near Pin Oak Gap on Heintooga Ridge Road at 7:45 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 4. They closed the road and conducted a search of the immediate area with emergency responders.

The next day, responders from NPS and Cherokee’s police, fire and EMS departments conducted a comprehensive search of the area. At about 11:15 a.m., searchers found Evans about 20 yards off the trail, about 1.5 miles from the Balsam Mountain Trailhead.

An Indiana man is dead following a motorcycle accident Aug. 2 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

At about 10:28 p.m., dispatch operators received a call about the collision, which occurred near milepost 358, just south of Mount Mitchell. William Dashiell, 71, of Indianapolis, died on the scene after he braked hard on his trike motorcycle while traveling southbound around a sharp turn to avoid a newly fallen tree. He crashed into a heavily wooded area, coming to rest about 20 feet off the road in the southbound lane culvert.

National Park Service rangers and Reems Creek Fire Department responded to the scene. CPR was provided while the responders were enroute, but Dashiell nevertheless succumbed to his injuries on the scene.

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plished with local high school youth,” said Brent Martin, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy. “We’re excited to expand our program and offer adults valuable conservation skills and federal hiring authorities that will give them a leg up when seeking employment in natural resources, and all while paying them for their time.”

YCC formed in 2021, and this year’s crew completed the program’s second season of trail maintenance projects on the Bartram Trail. Crew members Noah Smith, Estela Acevedo Ruiz, Jacob Riley Rickles, Duggan Benson and Emily Rodman, along with crew leader Taran Branscum, focused on two sections — Lake Nantahala to Sawmill Gap and Tessentee Creek to Jones Gap. Six crew member positions are available for the 16-week crew. To apply, visit jobs.silkroad.com/conservationlegacy/careers/jobs/3503.

August 10-16, 2022

The U.S. Forest Service, Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy and Southeast Conservation Corps are expanding their partnership to offer a natural resources career development program this fall for ages 18-30, or up to 35 for veterans.

The partnership will work with the Nantahala National Forest and the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest to employ and train young adults in safe and effective chainsaw use and trail maintenance on a 16-week crew running Aug. 29 to Dec. 20. Those who complete the program will receive an AmeriCorps Education Award and the USDA Forest Service Public Lands Corps Noncompetitive Hiring Authority, which provides participants more opportunities to apply for positions with the Forest Service.

“This new young adult program is a result of the outstanding work our Youth Conservation Corps program has accom-

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Conservation awards honor WNC achievements The N.C. Wildlife Federation has announced the winners of its 58th annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards, and Western North Carolina residents will take home two of them.

Franklin-based Mainspring Conservation Trust received the NCWF Affiliate of the Year Award for its dedication to conserving land, forest and farms, restoring water, and connecting people to the heritage and natural resources of the Upper Little Tennessee and Hiwassee River Valleys. Mainspring has helped conserved more than 29,000 acres of land, including 1,200 acres in 2021. That same year, it partnered with NCWF on two significant stream restoration plantings to increase shore stabilization and wildlife habitat, and held 43 hands-on educational and community activities.

Burnsville resident Jeff Hunter was named

Wildlife Conservationist of the Year. Hunter is senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, where he uses road ecology projects and wildlife mortality research to create wildlife passages and corridors that preserve the integrity and connectivity of Western North Carolina’s natural landscapes. He is also a leader in the publicprivate collaboration Safe Passage, an initiative aiming to increase wildlife corridors, reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, improve driving conditions and build climate resiliency through restored wildlife connections.

The NCWF will honor all 19 award recipients — including the yet-to-be-announced wildlife enforcement and marine patrol officers of the year — at a banquet Saturday, Sept. 10, in Cary. Learn more at ncwf.org/blog/2022-conservation-achievement-award.

Help available for TS Fred farm losses Farmers in 11 counties are eligible for assistance in recouping damages and losses from Tropical Storm Fred and the April 2021 freeze and frost, with an Aug. 31 deadline to apply.

Jackson, Macon, Cherokee and Clay counties are eligible for damages and losses due to excessive rain and flooding from Tropical Storm Fred. Yancey, McDowell, Mitchell, Wilkes, Alexander, Cleveland and Lincoln counties are eligible for damage and losses due to the April 2021 freeze and frost.

A total of $10 million is available. To qualify for Tropical Storm Fred assistance, agricultural commodities must have been planted but not harvested — or for aquaculture products raised on or before — Aug. 17, 2021.

The application and required forms are available at ncagr.gov. Call 866.747.9823 with questions or reach out to the local Cooperative Extension or Farm Service Agency office.

August 10-16, 2022

Concession proposals open for Standing Indian The current concession permit at Standing Indian Campground Complex expires Dec. 31, and the prospectus is open for proposals to operate and maintain the recreation sites there until Sept.

12.

The campground is located about 10 miles west of Franklin on the Nantahala Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest. An informational meeting and site tour will be offered Thursday, Aug. 18.

For more information, visit bit.ly/3QFfAiv. Contact Viviana Ruiz with questions at viviana.ruiz@usda.gov or 828.524.6441, ext. 424.

Smoky Mountain News

Sylva man graduates wildlife law enforcement training Sylva resident Cole Burch is among the 15 new wildlife law enforcement officers sworn in during the 58th Basic School graduation ceremony July 20.

The seven-month training included a variety of conservationspecific instruction as well as basic law enforcement skills.

Graduates will now begin six months of on-the-job training under the supervision of a veteran wildlife officer. After completing field training, they will be assigned a permanent duty station in North Carolina.

Church Volleyball League forming Registration closes Aug. 12 for the Church Volleyball League in Jackson County.

Games will be played Monday nights at the Cullowhee Recreation Center starting Aug. 22. The team fee is $250. Register at rec.jacksonnc.org or contact Andrew Sherling with questions at 32 828.293.3053, ext. 6, or andrewsherling@jacksonnc.org.

Red spruce seedlings grow in a state-run greenhouse. Donated photo

Plant more trees The N.C. Forest Service is now accepting tree seedling orders for its annual sale.

Conifers and hardwoods are available in units as low as 10 and as high as 100.

The Nursery and Tree Improvement program grows about 15 million seedlings each year, enough to plant 30,000 acres of land.

Tree seedlings are available at buync-

trees.com or by phone at 1.888.628.7337.

A user-friendly catalog is available at the “Tree Seedlings and Nursery Program” link at ncforestservice.gov.

Seedlings will be distributed from December to mid-April and can be shipped to one of 13 distribution centers statewide for a fee. No out-of-state orders are accepted at this time.

Far western lakes pass E. coli tests All seven lake sites on the Hiwassee, Nottely and Chatuge rivers, as well as Fires Creek, have passed MountainTrue’s weekly E. coli testing with flying colors so far this summer.

Since Lake Nottely was fully filled, the Meeks Park II site has also been safe for swimming.

While typically safe for fishing and paddling, the Hiwassee River at Sweetwater Park and the Hargett Access on the Valley River have failed to meet the safe swimming standards more than half the time. Two additional sites on the Valley River have failed most tests.

Full results for swimming spots nationwide are available at theswimguide.org.

See electric vehicles up close An information session and display of electric vehicles will be offered 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville.

The day will begin with an information session in the gym, with vehicles parked in the shaded parking lot outside for inspection afterward. The event is a collaboration between the Blue Ridge EV Club, the WNC Climate action Coalition and Creation Care Alliance.

Contact William Hite with questions at williammhite@gmail.com.

Explore the world of plants and fungi outdoors

Learn about the ancient support networks between plant and fungi during a lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands.

Dr. Paul Manos, a biology professor at Duke University who chairs the Highlands Biological Station Board of Directors, will present “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Biological Dependency: Plant and Fungal Support Networks on the Highlands Plateau.” Several common plant species on the plateau display unusual forms and habits that send signals to even the casual observer that something different is going on here.

But what? A deeper dive reveals ancient support networks with consequences that will alter your perception of basic plant structure and function, both below and above ground.

The lecture is offered as part of the Zahner Conservation Lecture Series, with weekly installments at 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sept. 8. The Aug. 18 program is sponsored by Dollie Swanson. The full lecture lineup is online at highlandsbiological.org.

Asheville man to be first N.C. chair for National Wildlife Federation August 10-16, 2022 Smoky Mountain News

The first North Carolinian to ever be elected as leader of the National Wildlife Federation’s Board of Directors hails from Asheville.

John Robbins, a lifelong conservationist and outdoorsman, has served on the NWF board since 2017 and was elected eastern vice-chairman in 2019. He played a lead role with pioneering conservationist Dr. Mamie Parker in launching the Create Safe Spaces series, a multi-year initiative highlighting and addressing the unique challenges and barriers Black people face in safely accessing and enjoying green spaces. Robbins was elected at NWF’s annual meeting to serve one year as chair-elect and will assume the chairman role in June 2023.

“I’m honored to be elected as chair and look forward to working with NWF and its affiliates across the country as we continue our crucial work to ensure current and future generations can enjoy the outdoors while addressing the increasing challenges faced by wildlife and habitat, and as a result, all of humanity,” Robbins said.

Robbins is retired from a 28-year career with the global strategy, technology and consulting firm Accenture but now spends most of his time working on wildlife and outdoor conservation issues. He joined the N.C. Wildlife Federation board in 2009 and is a past chair of that organization. He also serves on the board of directors of Asheville Greenworks.

The NWF is the country’s largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy agency. It has 6 million members and supporters across 52 state and territorial affiliated organizations, including the NCWF.

33

outdoors

Notes from a Plant Nerd

BY ADAM B IGELOW

Aster Family Plants, the Stars of Summer!

ften, when I am giving my introductory talk on the guided wildflower walks I lead, I invite people to play the “What’s That Plant?” game. This is one of my favorite games to play, and the rules are simple. As we are walking along, if anyone notices a plant or flower that I haven’t seen or taught about yet, they can ask, “Hey Adam, what’s this plant?”

Now, if it has a flower on it, there is a good chance I know it, or we can figure it out together. If it is just a green leaf, then I may or may not be able to identify it. If I don’t know it, my answers can range from, “I don’t know” to more snarky responses and diversionary A pipevine swallowtail butterfly tactics lights on a green-headed like, “This coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata). is a wildAdam Bigelow photo flower class, and the green leaf classes are on Tuesdays.”

Or, “I’m not sure, it kind of looks like… Oh hey, look over there” and we quickly move on known as nectar guides. to the next flower that I do know.

Some members of the aster family, like But I also tell my group that if you hear goldenrods (Solidago spp.) and ironweeds me say, “Oh, it’s in the aster family (Vernonia spp.) have flowers that are all (Asteraceae)” and I don’t say anything else, disc, no rays. Without the ray flowers, it is that this is a full-on cop-out. The aster faminot always obvious to the casual observer ly is the second largest plant family in the that they are in the aster family. I like to world and contains over 32,000 different teach this in the fall by pulling the ray flospecies. In Southern Appalachia, these rets off an aster like frost aster range from the well-known sunflowers (Symphiotrichum pilosum), often while (Helianthus spp.), asters (Symphyotricum chanting “She loves me, she loves me not, spp. and Eurybia spp.) and coneflowers she used to love me, now she doesn’t, and …

(Rudbeckia spp. and Echinacea spp.) to the ” oh, sorry. I get carried away. I then comless obvious members like pussytoes pare this plucked petal flower to a rayless (Antennaria spp.), rattlesnake roots flower like that of goldenrod or white (Nabalus spp.) and thoroughworts snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) to show (Eupatorium spp.) The word aster is from their similarities. ancient Greek, and it means star.

So, remember, if you want to sound Sunflowers are among the most recogsmart (and who doesn’t) the next time nizable members of the aster family, also someone asks you what that plant is, just known as composites, so I use them to say it’s probably in the aster family, and describe the general flower characteristics. walk away. There’s a good chance you’ll be Composite flowers are comprised of many right. small flowers called florets, on a flower (Adam Bigelow lives in Cullowhee and leads head. With sunflowers, there are actually wildflower walks and ecotours through two types of florets, disc flowers and ray Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions. flowers. bigelownc@gmail.com.)

Imagine a kid’s drawing of the sun.

Smoky Mountain News

August 10-16, 2022

O

34

Puzzles can be found on page 38 These are only the answers.

Where the smiley face would go are the disc flowers. These are the fertile florets that produce pollen and nectar and ripen into seeds. The bright, showy rays of the sun are called ray flowers. These florets are sterile, containing no nectar or pollen, and they help insects see the flower from afar, guiding them into the center to find the nectar and help with pollination. I like to describe them as similar to a billboard advertising a restaurant at the next exit. If you go to the billboard, you won’t get lunch. But the billboard will tell you how to get there and get a meal. Often, these ray flowers are very colorful, and if you could see them like many insects do, using ultraviolet light, they would be lit up like an airport runway at night with markings and patterns pointing towards the center of the flower. These are

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • The Jackson Arts Market takes place from 1-5 p.m. every Saturday at 533 West Main St. in Sylva with live music and an array of local artists. Wooly Booger will play Aug. 13, Balsam Hot Club will play Aug. 20, Taylor Knighton will play Aug. 27.

• Cowee School Farmer’s Market will be held from Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m., at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin. The market has produce, plant starts, eggs, baked goods, flowers, food trucks and music. For more information or for an application, visit www.coweeschool.org or call 828.369.4080.

• “Art After Dark” will be held from 6-9 p.m. each first Friday of the month (May-December) in downtown Waynesville. For more information, go to facebook.com/galleriesofhaywoodcounty.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • Caney Fork Community Center will hold its annual BBQ dinner, cake walk and raffle from 4-7 p.m. Aug. 13. For more information call Kristin at 828.226.7253 or Sandra at 828.371.6480 or find Caney Fork CDC on Facebook.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS • Swain County Caring Corner Free Clinic is open Thursday’s 4-9 p.m. at Restoration House (Bryson City United Methodist Church). Office hours are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9 a.m.-noon. Call 828.341.1998 to see if you qualify to receive free medical care from volunteer providers.

KIDS & FAMILIES • Storytime takes place at 10 a.m. every Tuesday at the Macon County Library. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.

• Toddler’s Rock takes place at 10 a.m. every Monday at the Macon County Library. Get ready to rock with songs, books, rhymes and playing with instruments. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.

A&E

• Karaoke takes place at 7 p.m. every Friday at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley. Call 828.926.1717 or visit meadowlarkmotel.com.

• The Mountain Makers Mushrooms and Music Festival will be held from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, in Sylva. There will be more than 70 crafters, live music, lectures, demos, workshops, wild food, footways and more. Information and vendor space available at jacksonartsmarket.com.

• Appalachian Button Jamboree Show will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 17, at The National Guard Armory in Hendersonville. For more information call Julie McMahon at 616.634.8823 or email jmcmahon8@hotmail.com.

• Bridge Park Boogie, an inclusive dance event for children and persons with disabilities, will be held from 26 p.m. Sept. 17, at the Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.

For more information contact bridgeparkboogie@gmail.com.

• Paint and Sip at Waynesville Art School will be held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7-9:30 p.m.

To learn more and register call 828.246.9869 or visit

n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com PaintAndSipWaynesville.com/upcoming-events.

Registration is required, $45.

• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon to 4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood St. in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. mountainmakersmarket.com.

• Mountain Street Dances will be held Aug.12 and Sept.

30 in downtown Waynesville.

• Songwriters Camp will take place Aug. 12 and 13, at the Meadowlark Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, with Darren Nicholson, Clay Mills, Jim Lauderdale, Charles R Humphrey III and Charlie Chamberlain. Admission is free for motel guests and Heritage Club members, $30 per person for guests. For tickets call 828.926.1717 or visit meadowlarkmotel.com.

• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a semiregular acoustic jam with the Main Street NoTones from 7-9 p.m. on Thursdays. Free and open to the public. For more information, click on blueridgebeerhub.com.

• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host Nicole Witt (singer-songwriter) as part of its “Orchard Sessions” 6 p.m. Aug. 17. Tickets start at $25 per person. To purchase tickets, click on oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.

• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host Granny’s Mason Jar (bluegrass) 7 p.m. Aug. 11 and a Community Jam 6 p.m. Aug. 18. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 or fontanalib.org/brysoncity.

• Pickin’ In The Park (Canton) will host Country Outlaws & J. Creek Cloggers Aug. 12 and Rick Morris & Appalachian Mountaineers Aug. 19. Shows are 6-9 p.m. at the Canton Rec Park located at 77 Penland St. Free and open to the public. cantonnc.com.

• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Jack Mollette (country) Aug. 20. All shows begin at 6 p.m. at the Gazebo in downtown. Free and open to the public. franklinnc.com/pickin-on-the-square.html.

• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Sonia Brooks (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Aug. 13 and “Open Mic Night” 7 p.m. Aug. 16. Free and open to the public. 828.586.1717 or facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.

• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Tickets start at $18 per person. smokymountainarts.com or 828.524.1598.

• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville) “An Appalachian Evening” live music series will include Nu-Blu Aug. 13, Pretty Little Goat Aug. 20 and The Kruger Brothers Aug. 27. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or click on stecoahvalleycenter.com.

• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host Rene Russell (singer-songwriter) 5 p.m. Aug. 13. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.

FOOD AND DRINK • “Rivers & Brews” small town craft brewers festival will be held from 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in the Nantahala Gorge. Live music, food and craft beer. For more information and ticket pricing, click on noc.com/events/rivers-and-brews.

Smoky Mountain News

• BBQ and Live Music takes place at 6 p.m. every Saturday at the Meadowlark Motel. Call 828.926.1717 or visit meadowlarkmotel.com.

• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, click on waynesvillewine.com.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 6-8 p.m. every Thursday and 2-5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.

• Take a trip around the world with four different wines every Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday 11a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Bryson City Wine Market. Pick from artisan Charcuterie Foods to enjoy with wines. 828.538.0420.

• Cooking classes take place at the McKinley Edwards Inn from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights. To reserve your spot call 828.488.9626.

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • “On This Night Of A Thousand Stars” will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 12-13 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. All seats are general admission. Space is limited. Tickets are $21 in advance, $25 day of show. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on smokymountainarts.com or call 866.273.4615.

• Asheville Comedy Festival will take place Aug. 10 -13 in downtown Asheville. For more information visit AshevilleComedyFestival.com.

• A stage production of the beloved tale “Alice in Wonderland” will be held on select dates throughout this spring at the Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on cherokeehistorical.org/alice-in-wonderland.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • An Electric Vehicle (EV) Program and Local Owners Show for potential buyers takes place Saturday, Aug. 13, at First United Methodist Church (FUMC) in Waynesville. The program takes place from 10-11:30 a.m. in the gym/auditorium; the show takes place from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the church parking lot. Free and accessible. wncclimateaction.com • North Carolina Museum of Art Take and Make kits will be available Aug. 15, at all Haywood County Library locations. For more information contact Lisa at lisa.hartzell@haywoodcountync.gov or 828.356.2511.

• “Wine & Workshop” will present a silk painting class at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, at the Haywood Handmade Gallery at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville. Led by artist Pamela Winn, attendees will make a fun piece of art, all while tasting a flight of wine and complimentary charcuterie donated by Bosu’s Wine Store. Class cost is $100. To register, click on haywoodarts.org/wine-workshop-series.

• Homeowner information sessions will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Waynesville First United Methodist Church and at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at Longs Chapel Methodist Church. For more information contact Haywood Habitat for Humanity at 828.452.7960.

35

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

Complete listings of local music scene Regional festivals Art gallery events and openings Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers n Civic and social club gatherings • Uptown Gallery, 30 East Main St. Franklin, will be offering Children’s Art Classes Wednesdays afternoons.

Adult workshops in watercolor, acrylic paint pouring, encaustic and glass fusing are also offered. Free painting is available 10 a.m.-3 p.m. every Monday in the classroom. A membership meeting takes place on the second Sunday of the month at 3 p.m. All are welcome.

Call 828.349.4607 for more information.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • Western Carolina Photo Exhibit will take place Aug. 1-Sept. 30, at the Waynesville branch of the Haywood County Public Library. The community’s assistance is needed to identify th epeople and places pictured.

Pictures depict the region during the first half of the 20th century. For more information, contact Kathy at kathleen.olsen@haywoodcountync.gov or 828.356.2507.

• “Thursday Painters” group will be held from 10 a.m.3 p.m. on Thursdays at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin.

Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their own project and a bag lunch. 828.349.4607 or pm14034@yahoo.com.

• The exhibit “Like No Other Place” is open July 16 through Dec. 31, in the Joel Gallery at the The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts. For more information visit thebascom.org.

• The exhibit “Members Challenge: Place” is open July 30 through Sept. 10, in the Thompson Gallery at The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts. For more information visit thebascom.org.

Outdoors

• The annual Zahner Conservation Lectures will take place at 6 p.m. Thursdays from July 7-Sept. 1. To view the full lecture lineup, visit highlandsbiological.org.

• A deer hunting webinar will be held from 7-8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 11, “Practical Deer Processing: From Field to Freezer.” Deer season opens Sept. 10. Register for the webinars at ncwildlife.org/sbs.

• Collaborative ways to achieve large-scale landscape conservation will be the topic of a lecture at 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 11, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands. For a full schedule of lectures, visit highlandsbiological.org.

• Chess 101 takes place from 3:30-4:30 p.m. every Friday in the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Public Library. No registration required, for more information call 828.648.2924.

• A snorkeling adventure will be held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, behind the Jukebox Junction in Bethel on the West Fork Pigeon River. RSVP by 5 p.m.

Aug. 11 to Christine O’Brien at christine.haywoodwaterways@gmail.com or 828.476.4667.

• Wired Wednesday, one-on-one technology help is available at 3-5 p.m. every Wednesday at the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Library. For more information or to register, call 828.648.2924.

• A lecture on the ancient support networks between plant and fungi will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, at the Highlands Nature Center in Highlands. Find the full lecture lineup at highlandsbiological.org.

Market WNC PLACE

MarketPlace information:

The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 copies across 500 locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, including the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County.

Visit www.wncmarketplace.com to place your ad!

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Monday for your ad to run again FREE $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less) Boost Online — Have your ad featured at top of category online $4 Boost in Print Add Photo $6 Bold ad $2 Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4 Border $4

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36

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Haywood Co. Real Estate Agents

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71 NORTH MAIN STREET

WAYNESVILLE

• Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com remax-maggievalleync.com • The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com • Ron Breese - ronbreese.com • Landen Stevenson- landen@landenkstevenson.com • Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com • Mary & Roger Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net • David Willet - davidwillet1@live.com • Sara Sherman - sarashermanncrealtor@gmail.com • David Rogers- davidr@remax-waynesville.com • Judy Meyers - jameyers@charter.net

Rob Roland Realty

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EXECUTIVE

Ron Breese Broker/Owner 71 North Main Street Waynesville, NC 28786 Cell: 828.400.9029 ron@ronbreese.com

www.ronbreese.com Each office independently owned & operated.

August 10-16, 2022

• Rob Roland - 828-400-1923

Smoky Mountain Retreat Realty • Tom Johnson - tomsj7@gmail.com • Sherell Johnson - Sherellwj@aol.com

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828.452.4251

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37

SUPER

CROSSWORD

EVASIVE STATEMENT ACROSS 1 Capital of Kenya 8 Cleared up some space 16 Link up 20 Brought into harmony 21 Sign of a warm welcome 22 Meara of comedy 23 Start of a riddle 26 Cock-a-doodle- -27 Safecracker, informally 28 Vinyl albums, for short 29 Chose, as on a survey 30 Batman player West 33 Peter of "Casablanca" 35 Stare in disbelief 38 Baby's cry 40 Riddle, part 2 44 Filmdom, in France 47 Stephen of "Utopia" 48 Old Russ. state 49 Spring flower 50 Downhiller's gear holder 52 Humane U.S. org.

54 Riddle, part 3 59 Routine-bound 61 Tic-tac-toe winning row 62 Waikiki souvenir 63 Rejoinder to "Not so!"

64 Capital of Qatar 65 In Minnesota or Montana 69 Extra NHL periods 71 Riddle, part 4 78 Supersecret govt. group 79 Tetley tidbit 80 Quite a long time 82 Fine violin, informally 86 Stage design 89 New Year in Hanoi 90 Election turndown 92 Riddle, part 5 97 Allow entry

98 "Ha! I was right!"

99 Thailand, formerly 100 Pal, in Caen 102 -- -Magnon 103 French WWII battle city 104 End of the riddle 110 "Wolf" cable channel 112 Followers: Suffix 113 "You beat me" 114 Gum globs 115 Facility with hot tubs 117 Gamble 119 Subpoena, e.g.

120 Go fast, quaintly 122 Riddle's answer 131 Atoll unit 132 Trip in a "stretch" car 133 Stacked messily 134 It may grow on a rock 135 Reduces to a fine mist 136 Capable of being stretched out DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Earth 10 11 12 13 14 15 sticker 16

Rural refusal Sports-related: Abbr.

Suffix with Seattle "Walk This Way" rap trio Aware of Looks upon Suffix with cyanLawn-Boy products Orbital point farthest from C-H linkup Suffix with butyl Jogged Hobbit's foe Brunch staple Abbr. on a new car's Face part

17 Being displayed 18 Pertaining to 19 Require 24 Novice 25 Chicago-to-Memphis dir.

30 Frightened 31 Fails to 32 Plains tribe 34 -- vez (again, in Spain) 35 Teri of "Tootsie" 36 Disney mermaid name 37 Old hat 39 Etchers' liquids 41 Jacob's twin 42 Bake-off entry 43 That, in Oviedo 45 Small iPod 46 Big name in waffles 51 Jewish deli treat 53 Rugged cliff 55 Zero 56 Way in or out 57 Most awful 58 New York county whose seat is Owego 60 Syllables of rebuke 66 Lunar stage 67 -- kwon do 68 Hilton rival 70 Texter's "Catch ya later" 72 Not finish later than 73 "-- Three Lives" 74 -- pot (sinus clearer) 75 Roof feature 76 "Yeah, understood" 77 Turned in 81 Spanish men 82 Some NCOs 83 Hit the horn 84 Routines to determine who's present 85 Append

87 88 91 93 94 95 96 code 101 105 106 107 108 109 111 115 116 118 119 121 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130

Snaky letters Be snaky Mishmash 7'6" cager Ming "Witness" actor Lukas Novelist Tan Dits' partners, in Morse Biofuel option Birdbrain Fiery lecture Antipasto morsels Carry Annoying sorts Pistons' org.

Be fishy?

Coin of Cali Fitzgerald of song Phenom Tehran's land French article Spanish for "I love" -- Kippur -- Lanka Plum center Half of VI Pipe fitting Visualize

ANSWERS ON PAGE 34

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38

www.smokymountainnews.com

August 10-16, 2022

WNC MarketPlace

Great Smokies

STORAGE LLC Call 828.506.4112 greatsmokiesstorage.com 434 Champion Drive, Canton, NC 28716 21 Hollon Cove Rd, Waynesville, NC 28786 www.wncmarketplace.com

August 10-16, 2022

WNC MarketPlace

39

308 Depot St • Franklin 828.524.2419 or 828.524.3395

Hair Salon & Day Spa

Open Monday-Friday 9-5 Saturday 9-2

Aveda • Paul Mitchell • Matrix • Pureology • Redken EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

Hello, my name is Sarah Fuster. I'm a Master Cosmetologist that has moved to Franklin from Savannah, Ga. I've been actively performing hair services for eight years and have continuously pursued education in the industry. To be the best cosmetologist one can never be complacent; rather, one must continue growing in knowledge and skill sets to provide the best for every client. One of the many services I love to offer is balayage. So many women today love that lived in rooted look, since it requires low maintenance. I also perform many other color and corrective services, which are all passions of mine. Of course, I perform other hair styling and facial services in addition. I look forward to being a part of the Franklin community and servicing each of you in the near future.

ALYSSA SHUMAKER

Smoky Mountain News

August 10-16, 2022

Allyssa is one of the most enthusiastic and energetic people we've ever met.

Alyssa specializes in cuts, color, highlighting, perms, waxing, and make up. She will also be offering bridal and special occasion make up and hair to make your day even more special. She is training to be a manager and shows great leadership skills. Allyssa is one of the most enthusiastic and energetic people we've ever met. She is looking forward to serving Macon County and surrounding areas.

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