Smoky Mountain News | December 11, 2019

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

December 11-17, 2019 Vol. 21 Iss. 28

Cyber attack causes tribal network shutdown Page 5 Emergency shelter operating in Bryson City Page 14

CONTENTS On the Cover: Animal advocacy groups in the region are accusing a Haywood County man of animal cruelty after witnesses and veterinarians came forward with reports of malnourished horses, pigs and other animals living on his farm in Balsam. Caren Harris photo

News Candidate sign-ups continue until Dec. 20 ................................................................4 Cyber attack causes tribal network shutdown ..........................................................5 Tribal Council kills resort proposal ..............................................................................11 Franklin teen finds confidence with visual assist dog ............................................12 N.C. 107 utility plans leave relocation list unchanged ..........................................13 Emergency shelter operating in Bryson City ............................................................14 Penalties assessed in Millennial Apartments project ............................................16 Community Almanac ........................................................................................................19

Opinion ‘OK Boomers,’ let’s just settle down ..........................................................................20

A&E Orchard Coffee welcomes popular songwriters ....................................................22

Outdoors WCU renames collections facility in honor of Cherokee ....................................34

The Naturalist’s Corner

Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

Guilty pleasure ....................................................................................................................47

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CONTACT WAYNESVILLE | 144 Montgomery, Waynesville, NC 28786 P: 828.452.4251 | F: 828.452.3585 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 Copyright 2019 by The Smoky Mountain News.™ Advertising copyright 2019 by The Smoky Mountain News.™ All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The Smoky Mountain News is available for free in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and parts of Buncombe counties. Limit one copy per person.

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December 11-17, 2019

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Plate design courtesy of Micah McClure

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news December 11-17, 2019 Smoky Mountain News 4

Candidate filing continues until Dec. 20 W

SMN STAFF ith the first week of election filing in the books, voters are starting to see what their Primary Election ballots will look like when they head to the polls on March 3.

The Democratic Presidential Preference contest has drawn by far the most candidates to date, including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Obama-era Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, New York businessman Tom Steyer, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and author Marianne Williamson.

President Donald Trump is the only Republican to have filed thus far, but several other parties will also be represented on the presidential primary ballot, including one from the Green Party, two from the Constitution Party, and 16 Libertarians from 15 different states.

In Western North Carolina’s newlyredrawn 11th Congressional District, only Pisgah Forest Democrat Steve Woodsmall and Franklin Green Party member Tamara Zwinak have filed to run, but a number of other Democrats — Gina Collias, Moe Davis and Michael O’Shea — have declared their intent. The 2018 Democratic nominee, Phillip Price, still hasn’t divulged his intent.

Four-term incumbent Republican Rep. Mark Meadows hasn’t yet filed, either.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, D-Rocky Mount, filed as expected last week, and currently has two potential Republican opponents, N.C. Rep. Holly Grange, of Wilmington, and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest.

Five Dems have filed to replace Forest, including Asheville Sen. Terry Van Duyn. Five Republicans have also filed.

Although there have been rumors that incumbent U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis may face a Republican primary challenger, none has yet filed. Four Dems, however, already have — Steve Swenson, Cal Cunningham, Atil Goel

and Erica Smith.

Candidates from both major parties have also filed for other council of state offices including attorney general, auditor, agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner, labor commissioner, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction and treasurer. The same goes for state Supreme Court justice seats, including that of chief justice, as well as a number of court of appeals seats.

The N.C. Senate District 50 seat, which will be vacated by retiring longtime Franklin Republican Jim Davis, is being sought by two Republicans — incumbent District 120 Rep. Kevin Corbin of Franklin, and Highlands physician Sarah Conway. No Dem has yet filed for the contest.

Two Macon County Commission seats are up for grabs this year — a District 2 seat currently held by Republican Karl Gillespie and District 3 seat held by Republican Paul Higdon.

Gillespie will not seek re-election on the county board, since he’s signed up to run for the district’s state representative. Terry Bradley and Don Willis Jr. have both signed up to run for the District 2 seat on the county board.

Higdon nor any challengers have signed up as of Tuesday afternoon for the District 3 seat.

Two Macon County lawyers have also thrown their hats into the ring for the 30th District Court Judgeship — Justin Greene has signed up on the Democrat ticket while Rich Cassidy has signed up to run as a Republican. The Republicans are joined in that race by Hayesville attorney Mitch Brewer and Haywood County attorneys Jim Moore and Kaleb Wingate.

The Swain County Commission also has two seats up for re-election this year.

Commissioner seats are not divided by districts — candidates run at large and the top vote-getters are elected to four-year terms.

Incumbent Democrat commissioner Roger Parsons has signed up to run for a second term on the board while incumbent Republican Commissioner Kenneth Parton has yet to file his paperwork as of Tuesday afternoon.

The only newcomer to sign up so far has been Republican H. Robert Lowe.

Jackson County does not yet have any contested races on the horizon for 2020. There are two seats open on the county commission, currently held by Ron Mau and Mickey Luker. Mau will not run for re-election and will instead face Mike Clampitt in the Republican primary for N.C. House District 119. Current District 119 Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, does not yet have primary opposition.

Luker has not responded to messages asking about his intentions but is seen as unlikely to seek re-election due to widespread criticism stemming from his absence at county meetings in recent months.

On Dec. 5, Cashiers Republican Mark Letson filed to run for the commission seat now held by Luker. Democrat Brad Stillwell signed up to run for Mau’s seat during the first week of filing, but neither had a challenger as of press time.

Two seats are open on the Jackson County School Board, and so far incumbent Wesley Jamison is the only person to file. The seat

currently held by Elizabeth Cooper is up for election as well. The office of Soil and Water Conservation District Officer will be on the 2020 ballot as well, but filing for that contest doesn’t start until June.

In Haywood County’s Rep. Michele Presnell announced Dec. 2 that she wouldn’t be running for reelection to her seat, but Haywood County Commissioner said he would. He’s yet to see a Republican challenger or a Democrat file for the race.

Pless is in the middle of his first term on the commission, and if he wins, someone will likely be appointed to fill his seat, however two other seats are up for election this year — that of Chairman Kevin Ensley, and Brandon Rogers.

They’ve both filed for re-election, and are joined by two other Republicans, Jennifer Best and Terry Ramey. No Democrats have yet filed for the Haywood County Commission.

Candidates still have until 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20, to file for office. For more information, contact your local county board of elections office, or visit the North Carolina State Board of Elections at www.ncsbe.gov.

Night clinic offered in Haywood

SCC to hold fall graduation

Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency will host a night clinic from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month beginning Dec. 12.

Services offered will include annual exams, birth control, child health, lab testing, immunizations and STI/STD exams and counseling.

“We are committed to provide immunizations and birth control options for busy young adults and parents in need of these services after hours,” said Public Health Director Patrick Johnson.

HHSA is located at 157 Paragon Parkway in Clyde next to Tractor Supply. The clinic will be held in the Public Health Services Division (health department).

To schedule an appointment, call 828.452.6675.

Southwestern Community College’s fall commencement will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, in Myers Auditorium in the Balsam Building on SCC’s Jackson Campus.

Around 100 students will receive their degrees, diplomas and certificates after countless hours of study in classrooms, labs and clinical sites.

David Jons, SCC Spanish instructor and the college’s 2019 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching award, will serve as the featured speaker. He was selected as a finalist for the 2020 N.C. Community College System Excellence in Teaching award.

For more information about SCC and the programs it offers, visit www.southwesterncc.edu or call 828.339.4000.

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER omputer systems at the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are down this week after a tribal employee allegedly attacked the network with ransomware on Saturday, Dec. 7.

A suspect has been arrested, according to information the executive office released Dec. 9.

“As a result of the rapid response of our employees, the damage was contained,” Principal Chief Richard Sneed said in a video statement. “However, as a result our servers are now powered down to protect our systems and data. The network will continue to be powered down until the appropriate steps can be taken to ensure the security of our network.”

Emergency services are still functioning, and all departments will continue to operate as normal within the limitations imposed by the downed network, Sneed said. The tribe’s r financial information remains secure r through the tribe’s financial systems softe ware provider. t “There may, however, be a delay in services while we work with the software compae ny to implement temporary access to that t system while preserving the security of our t data,” he said. e Sneed has declared a state of emergency r for the tribal government as a result of the breach, and the attack is being treated as an n act of domestic terrorism, he said. l “It is during trying times such as these that r the character and spirit of the Eastern Band — always shines through,” Sneed said. “Our n community is rallying behind the dedicated professionals working to correct this e issue, and I ask for continued grace as we work t to restore full capacity of our tribal systems.” d It is alleged that a tribal employee who possessed security access not available to the n general public carried out the attack, a press e release from Sneed’s office said. The EBCI d Information Technology Department a

became aware of the attack “immediately,” Sneed said, shut down the network and contacted the Cherokee Indian Police Department, which in turn contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigations and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. These organizations, including the FBI’s Cyber Security Response Team, are assisting the CIPD with the investigation.

TVA proposes new floating cabin rules

of the floating cabins program.

The Proposed Phase II Rule Amendments can be found on the TVA website.

Written comments can be sent to David B. Harrell, Program Manager, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11A-K, Knoxville, TN 37902.

Comments also may be submitted by email to fc@tva.gov or dbharrell@tva.gov Comments must be received on or before March 9, 2020.

TVA invites the public to visit tva.gov/floatingcabins for more information about the proposed amendments.

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Smoky Mountain News

The Cherokee One Feather reported that Benjamin Cody Long, 36, was arrested in connection with the attack and charged with two felonies. He will face a felony tampering with public records charge as well as a felony obstructing government functions charge for allegedly placing ransomware on the tribal network, an action that resulted in a lock on all documents and denied users access.

Due to the attack, The One Feather will not be able to produce a print version of the paper this week, according to a Dec. 9 post to its Facebook page. Materials related to production of the paper, as well as subscription and advertising information, are inaccessible as a result of the breach. However, The One Feather’s website is operational due to a recent change in network hosts and contains PDF versions of all issues of the paper dating back to 2009.

December 11-17, 2019

The Tennessee Valley Authority is inviting the public to review Phase II of its proposed rules governing floating cabins.

The proposed amendments would establish health, safety and environmental standards for floating cabins, including standards for electrical safety, flotation, mooring and wastewater discharge. The proposed amendments also address TVA’s ongoing management and administration

“Our community is rallying behind the dedicated professionals working to correct this issue, and I ask for continued grace as we work to restore full capacity of our tribal systems.”

news

Cyber attack causes tribal computer network shutdown

Open Mon.-Thur. 8 a.m. to Noon

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828.452.7837

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news

Torture, indifference alleged in Haywood horse cruelty case

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER ccusations of animal cruelty have been swirling about Haywood County stable operator James Lunsford for much of the year but finally evolved into formal charges and a civil suit earlier this fall.

Animal welfare groups allege Lunsford mistreated more than a dozen horses in his care, along with a number of other animals, but Lunsford says he’s being unfairly targeted by overzealous nonprofits hoping to use him to raise money.

Those groups also allege that the Lunsford case is a perfect example of how Haywood County mishandles animal cruelty cases.

“This isn’t about Lunsford,” said Denise Brooker, of Haywood-based animal welfare organization 4 Love of Animals. “This is another example in Haywood County where concerned citizens have tried to do the right thing and come to our government officials with complaints about possible animal cruelty or neglect, and we feel we’re not taken seriously. We feel that more has to be done when it comes to enforcing the laws on the books.

The county dropped the ball at every level.”

December 11-17, 2019

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Smoky Mountain News

unsford and his farm, Weeping Cherry Stables, came to the attention of Brooker and her group 4 Love of Animals this past summer.

Brooker said that her group often receives tips from the public on possible cases of animal neglect, and then investigates and follows up on them. When warranted, the tips are relayed to the Haywood County Animal Services Department, which will sometimes then conduct wellness checks and attempt to determine if animal cruelty ordinances have been violated. Brooker’s group then follows the course of the cases to ensure compliance by the responsible party.

On July 25, Brooker and another group volunteer, Sheila Palmer, received just such a tip from a woman named Dominique Medford.

According to Brooker, Medford said she’d been working at Weeping Cherry on weekends and was horrified by the conditions on the farm — dead and dying horses, chickens and goats with open, oozing sores. Medford also told Brooker that a “horse trainer” by the name of Joshua Dailey worked there too, and was abusive to horses. Dailey was recently found guilty of starving a horse to death on his own Haywood County property.

Medford said she’d tried to reach Doyle Teague, then-director of Haywood animal services, without success.

“I cannot stand to see these animals suf6 fer any longer,” Medford said in a written

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statement, “and cannot do anything about it by myself.”

The next day, Brooker reached out to Karen Owens, president of Waynesville-based Star Ranch Horse Rescue, to see if Owens knew anything about Lunsford or his farm.

She said she’d known Lunsford for years and had actually left a donkey with him last year but was shocked at the conditions and at the herd he’d amassed when she went back to check on the donkey this past February. She added that she’d emailed Teague multiple times, complaining about Lunsford’s farm.

While checking her donkey, Owens happened upon a veterinarian, Dr. Mary Coker, who performed services at Lunsford’s farm for a short time, but quickly stopped.

“I advised him to get rid of some horses.

He had far too many for the pasture,” Coker told The Smoky Mountain News. “He didn’t want to take anybody’s advice, mine included. It was becoming clear to me he was more interested in buying and selling than feeding and caring for them. I felt it was a conflict of interest, so that’s why I didn’t want to work with or be associated with him anymore.”

On July 30, Brooker, Palmer and another volunteer, Sharon Boucher, accompanied Medford to the Haywood County Sheriff ’s Office where Medford, the only one with firsthand knowledge of Lunsford’s property, described the alleged conditions to Capt.

Chris Moody.

They also told Moody that they were concerned that the search of Lunsford’s 131-acre property wouldn’t be thorough because they’d heard that Lunsford, who served as Haywood County’s lead animal control officer for about 18 months beginning in 2008, was friends with Teague and Deputy Director of animal services Jeff Stamey.

Less than an hour after the meeting began, Moody phoned Cpl. Daniel Blagg and told him he’d been provided information regarding a possible animal cruelty situation at Lunsford’s.

Blagg and animal services visited Lunsford without a warrant, and asked for permission to conduct a welfare check.

Lunsford refused, so Blagg called Moody.

Moody immediately proceeded to the magistrate’s office to obtain a warrant.

“Most of the time, citizens do cooperate and allow their property to be checked for allegations,” Moody told SMN Dec. 6. “This man did not grant access so we had to go get the administrative warrant.”

Moody’s affidavit for the warrant stated that he had been provided “statements and photographs of equine that are neglected or malnourished” as well as allegations that there were four dead horses on the property.

Reports from a veterinarian say a number of James Lunsford’s horses suffered from chronic malnutrition. Caren Harris photo Magistrate Judge Lisa Kosir signed the warrant at 4:23 p.m.

Blagg returned to Waynesville, picked up the warrant and about an hour after his initial visit to Lunsford’s property, returned to serve him with it and conduct the search.

Around 4:45, Blagg and animal services conducted a search of two barns and a pasture but according to Blagg’s report, “ … did not locate any malnutritioned livestock or deceased horses,” although Lunsford did admit to euthanizing and burying a horse about a week prior.

“He and animal control informed me that they had checked all property that could be checked,” Moody said.

Teague and Stamey denied knowing Lunsford as alleged by Brooker in her July meeting with Moody.

Stamey said he joined animal services in 2013, long after Lunsford was gone, and that his first encounter with Lunsford was on a 2017 criminal complaint for allowing livestock to run at large. That complaint was dismissed without leave.

Teague, who started work at animal services in 2002, said he may have crossed paths with Lunsford when Lunsford was an animal control officer, but Teague left for a stint at the Haywood County Board of Elections, just as Lunsford was joining the department.

Teague returned to animal services in 2015, but again left on Sept. 17 of this year to rejoin the Board of Elections staff.

Another allegation leveled at Teague and Stamey is that they actually used to bring animals from animal services to Lunsford’s farm for care. Teague said he never had, and Stamey said he hadn’t either.

The final allegation directed at the pair was that they’d ignored complaints about Lunsford from Owens, Medford and others, over a period of months.

“The first I heard about it, I was at a conference and on the way back Capt. Moody called me and filled me in that they’d been to see him,” Teague said. ver the next two months, August and September, nothing else happened in regard to the July allegations Medford made against Lunsford and Weeping Cherry Stables.

Then on Oct. 3, an unrelated witness, Mary Theus, complained to an unrelated organization, Buncombe County-based Hope for Horses, about Lunsford.

“We were contacted by an individual who had seen the horses on Lunsford’s property,” said Whitney Wright, director of Hope for Horses. “She mentioned Hope for Horses being an available resource, and Lunsford at

O

news James Lunsford’s Haywood County farm (left) is now devoid of horses. Cory Vaillancourt photo Hope for Horses found some of James Lunsford’s equines (right) at a farm in Sandy Mush. Caren Harris photo overview, “that when hay is being fed in sufficient quantities, left-over strands of hay are visible, even when the hay is mostly gone.”

This wasn’t observed in Lunsford’s pasture, and Lunsford told Beil that each horse had its own feed bucket, but Beil said she didn’t see 15 buckets.

“ … it is my professional opinion that the owner in question is in violation of these statutes and principles by omitting or neglecting to provide adequate care for the horses.”

— Dr. Brittany Beil, veterinarian

During the inspection of each horse, Beil asked Lunsford how recently they’d been dewormed; Lunsford gave dates that were all “fairly recent,” but Beil’s observations again contradicted Lunsford’s assertions. Stool samples found in the barn area displayed “moderate” levels of parasites.

Beil and her team went through Lunsford’s grazing area, horse by horse, and assigned each of them a “body condition score” in accordance with something called the Henneke Scoring System, a scientific method of evaluating equine health across body types, breeds, sexes and ages.

The HSS runs on a scale from 1 through 9, with an ideal score being 5. Numbers 1 through 4 apply to horses that, for whatever

reason, aren’t getting enough nutrition.

Numbers 6 through 9 indicate the opposite — that the horses are obese.

The best score received by any horse on Lunsford’s property was 4.5, according to Beil’s report.

Cookie, a 21-year-old Arabian cross who’d been at Lunsford’s place for six months, was given a score of 2. Summer, a Quarter Horse, had been with Lunsford for 14 months and also received a 2.

Dorothy, a 25-year-old Haflinger, Sophi, a 17–year-old Haflinger and Granny, a 22-yearold Mustang had all been at Lunsford’s for two months, and all received HSS scores of 2.

Willie, a 10-year-old donkey, received a score of 3, and had been on Lunsford’s farm for 14 months.

Miss Scarlett, an 11-year-old Racking Paint horse in Lunsford’s care for 11 months, And Little Man, an 11-year-old mini-horse with 10 months at Lunsford’s, both received an HSS score of 4.

Latte, an 11-year-old Appaloosa at Lunsford’s for four months and General Jackson, a 10-year-old Quarter Horse owned

by Lunsford for almost a decade, also both received a score of 4.

Meadow, a Palomino that couldn’t be caught for examination, had been with Lunsford for 14 months and was estimated to have an HSS score of 4.5.

Beil recorded in her exam notes for each horse that every one of them had adequate dentation that wouldn’t have prevented them from eating and therefore couldn’t be the source of the malnutrition she observed.

She went on to state in her report that since all of the horses had the ability to eat,

Smoky Mountain News

permission from Lunsford on Oct. 8 to have a veterinarian examine the livestock and issue a report.

On Oct. 9, Stamey visited Lunsford’s property accompanied by veterinarian Brittany Beil and assistants from Whiskey River Large Animal Mobile Veterinary Services in Franklin.

When they arrived they found 13 horses, one mini-mule, a donkey, a cow, several pigs, goats, dogs and a cat in a 40-acre grazing area with a stream running through it.

Lunsford explained that in August 2018, he’d inherited the acreage and hoped to start a rescue farm, and that the grazing area was but one of several fenced-off areas. The pasture, according to the report, “lacked sufficient grass, most likely due to the amount of horses grazing and the lack of precipitation over the past few months.”

When Lunsford poured some grain on the ground to attract the horses, four of them “became aggressive to each other” in trying to get to the food. Another horse, in Lunsford’s barn, had difficulty getting up when approached and fell back to the ground during the attempt.

Beil examined all the animals she could — the mini-mule would not submit — and made a report of her findings.

Substantively, Beil’s report says the horses on Lunsford’s property “show signs of chronic, long-term malnutrition arising from lack of food and possibly from lack of veterinary treatment for parasites (worms).”

During the inspection Lunsford told Beil that the horses were fed six square bales of hay each day, but Beil saw no evidence of that.

Instead, she found several damp, musty bales that horses won’t eat.

“It is our experience,” reads Beil’s

December 11-17, 2019

that point was willing to accept resources.”

Wright said she called Stamey that night to let him know her organization was aware of the situation. The next day, Oct. 4, Wright and Caren Harris, another Hope for Horses volunteer, drove out to Lunsford’s farm from Buncombe County, but Lunsford wasn’t there.

“Between that night and the next morning when we arrived, Lunsford completely changed his tune,” she said. “He did not want anything to do with us and was not willing to talk to us.”

While they waited for him to return, Wright conversed with a member of Lunsford’s family and Harris took photos of the animals she could see.

“Sometimes you see one or two horses left in poor condition, but the number of animals that had been neglected and the length of time it must have taken for them to get in this condition is what’s so disturbing,” said Harris, a former animal control officer who worked 20 years in four different states, most recently in Buncombe County.

Another member of Lunsford’s family then arrived, and told Wright and Harris to leave. On their way home, they stopped by Haywood animal services and found Stamey there. They told him they wanted to press criminal charges against Lunsford.

Stamey allegedly told them he would stop

by Lunsford’s farm that night and encourage him to surrender the horses.

According to Wright, “the very next day, all of a sudden, horses just started leaving.”

Meanwhile, Theus had maintained contact with Lunsford and bought four horses from him, which she immediately brought to Hope for Horses.

Subsequently, animal services obtained

S EE HORSES, PAGE 8 7

Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

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HORSES, CONTINUED FROM 7

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and that many of the horses had been with Lunsford for more than a year, “all of these horses would be expected to gain and maintain normal weights and body conditions despite some of their older ages. Evidence such as this leads to the belief that these horses are not receiving adequate food on a regular basis.”

Also noted in Beil’s report is that she had “never noted so many heart murmurs in one farm at the same time.” Heart murmurs can be common among older horses, but can also be caused by emaciation.

“Given the debilitated state of most of these horses, my inclination would rest that a good number of these murmurs would be from lack of nutrition,” Beil said in the report.

Even the goats at Lunsford’s — Zeus, Apollo, Mocha, Mischief and Winnie — appeared thin to Beil. An examination of Winnie’s fecal matter revealed 3,300 parasitic eggs per gram of feces, a level Beil’s report says is “EXTREMELY HIGH.” Two days after Beil’s inspection, Haywood County’s attorney Frank Queen filed on behalf of the county a civil suit against Lunsford with Jeff Stamey, in his official capacity as Deputy Director of Haywood County Animal Services, listed as the plaintiff.

The suit’s stated purpose is to “secure the well-being of at least 14 horses living in cruel conditions on the property occupied by the Defendant” and goes on to lay out a number of allegations against Lunsford. Beil’s report is labeled Exhibit A. Queen’s lawsuit surmises that Lunsford is in violation of both state law and county ordinances because the horses are “without adequate food and nutrition and appear to be malnourished” and that “Lunsford appears to be unable or unwilling” to provide proper food and medical care.

North Carolina General Statute chapter 14-360 defines “torture” in regard to animals as “any act, omission, or neglect causing or permitting unjustifiable pain, suffering, or death.”

Haywood County Ordinance 91.03 declares it unlawful for any person to “ … molest, tease, bait, torture, deprive of necessary sustenance or adequate shelter, cruelly beat, needlessly mutilate or kill, wound,

Ribs and bony protrusions are visible on pigs surrendered by James Lunsford. Caren Harris photo injure, poison, abandon, or subject to conditions detrimental to its health or general welfare” any animal, and specifically includes acts of omission. “ … cruelty by Defendant to animals is taking place at the property and, given the evidence of the long-standing conditions at the property,” reads the suit, “that cruelty is likely to continue unless abated by the court.”

The suit’s first claim for relief asks for a preliminary injunction “authorizing the plaintiff to take immediate custody of the animals to prevent further harm and allowing the plaintiff to place them in foster care pending further proceedings.”

The suit‘s second claim for relief asks for a permanent injunction that would terminate Lunsford’s ownership and right of possession of the animals, because “a substantial risk exists that the animals would be subjected to further cruelty if returned to the possession of the defendant.”

Further requests by the county in Queen’s suit include that Lunsford be enjoined from acquiring new animals for a specified period of time, and that he pay the county’s legal costs associated with the suit.

Beil’s report concludes with a damning assessment of Lunsford. “ … it is my professional opinion that the owner in question is in violation of these statutes and principles by omitting or neglecting to provide adequate care for the

“I’ve been doing this for 22 years now. This is absolutely one of the worst I’ve seen. And not just because of Lunsford, but because of the way Haywood County has handled this.”

— Whitney Wright, director, Hope for Horses

horses. Remediation could be possible but would be difficult to monitor as feeding would need to be done consistently, in adequate amounts for each horse, and in areas where herd competition did not interfere,” she wrote. “At a recommended rate of 50 pounds of weight gain per month some of these horses may take 6 to 8 months before recovery. A few of these horses do not have that amount of time before death would become a serious concern.” ueen’s civil suit was served on Oct. 11 and still hasn’t been heard in court, but by the time animal services began following up with Lunsford six days later, only

Q

two horses remained on his property.

Most of the others, including some of the worst cases, were transferred to another allegedly deplorable farm, this one in Sandy Mush. Hope for Horses attempted to buy two of them from the farm, but were only allowed one.

S Hope for Horses contacted yet another animal welfare organization, Animal Haven of Asheville, which focuses on small farm animal rescues — sheep, goats, fowl, pigs and the like.

H Barbara Bellows didn’t tell Lunsford she was with a rescue group when she convinced Lunsford to sell her two goats and surrender 16 skinny pigs. l “It’s hard to get them to lose weight. i That’s what was so shocking — of any kind of animal out there, a pig, I mean they’ll pretty W much eat anything,” Bellows said. “It’s kind V of hard to starve a pig unless you’re just n absolutely not giving it much of anything.”

Bellows said it wasn’t the worst case of neglect she’d seen, but that it was a particularly bad case due to the number of animals and degree of neglect involved. She’s also L angry — as are the other animal welfare groups — that more wasn’t done by animal services and the county even when Medford H first complained back in July.

“They could’ve gone out there and said, H ‘OK, no animal leaves the property, we’ll bring the food, we’ll oversee this.’ They could have had [Lunsford] put up a bond to help with the cost there. Or, they could have gone to the magistrate. There were other avenues.

They did nothing,” Bellows said. “They more t or less called him and said, ‘You’ve got charges coming,’ and that’s when he called b all his people and started moving them, selling them, giving them away. That should’ve m never happened, because some of the animals that needed immediate attention I L think had to wait way too long. It should have been right away.” b Wright agrees.

“I’ve been doing this for 22 years now,” g she said. “This is absolutely one of the worst I’ve seen. And not just because of Lunsford, but because of the way Haywood County has N handled this.” v Brooker took particular issue with Queen’s decision to pursue a civil suit that f would, in essence, leave the horses under h L

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SMN: So they bring animals here to you?

JL: Yeah.

SMN: How often does that happen?

JL: They don’t have them very often.

SMN: You mean just horses?

JL: No. Horses, pigs, anything.

SMN: You say that you don’t know where they’re getting these allegations from, but they sent a vet [Brittany Beil, of Whiskey River Large Animal Mobile Veterinary Services] out here and she made all these reports of all these animals and said that they were maltreated.

JL: She said some of the older ones needed to put some weight on. I said, OK, that’s a 27-year-old horse, and it’s a rescue. It’s been here for two months. It’s going to take time.

Weeping Cherry Stables operator James Lunsford sits in his barn with one of his dogs, Powder. Cory Vaillancourt photo

SMN: Some of the other horses, though, had been here more than a year.

JL: But there wasn’t nothing wrong with them.

SMN: She said some of them had a Henneke Score of like, 2.

JL: Oh yeah, when my vet scored them a 4.

“They just need to quit falsely accusing me.

They don’t know me.

They never met me. I was the biggest supporter of rescue groups. That’s why I had rescue animals here.”

— James Lunsford

SMN: So you think that her report isn’t accurate?

JL: She knows nothing about horses.

They’re trying to use me as a poster child. And I’m not a poster child. Hope for Horses sent a lady to buy four horses — two for her and two for her dad. My lawyer called that obtaining property under false pretenses, false pretenses to constitute defamation of character or to constitute some other bogus thing to be made up.

SMN: You’re going to file charges against them.

JL: I’m going after them.

SMN: With the civil and maybe the criminal charges, they’re probably going to try to prevent you from owning animals in the future. If you get this all settled and that doesn’t happen, will you get more horses?

JL: No. I told Jeff [Stamey, deputy director of Haywood County Animal Control Services], I mean if I got one for my kids or something like that, but as far as rescues, no.

I was the sheriff ’s department’s person, when they seized horses or livestock, this was where they would come to.

SMN: So you’re saying these animal welfare groups have basically hounded you out of business?

JL: I had Weeping Cherry Stables, and I boarded horses. They put me out of business.

SMN: These animal welfare groups have tried to tell me that you were let go from animal services in 2010 for hoarding animals.

JL: I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and my supervisor found me passed out in the parking lot in the snow, and took me across the street and I woke up in the back of an ambulance. I never got to work a day again. I was in a wheelchair for three years, then my animals got me out of the wheelchair. I hadn’t even used a cane up until all this started in the last two years.

SMN: These groups have also told me that since you worked at animal control that you know Doyle Teague and you know Jeff Stamey so they’ve given you special treatment.

JL: I met Jeff Stamey when he first come up here. I replaced Doyle Teague at [Haywood County Animal Services]. That’s how I met Doyle, and now he’s back to the Board of Elections. They [HCAS] actually called and asked me if I was interested [in Teague’s director position, vacated in September].

SMN: Well, there are two sides to every story.

JL: And I reached out to [WLOS-TV reporter] Rex Hodge because he went and talked to Hope for Horses, and I really appreciated him coming out here and giving everyone my address, because I have four people that live on the property with PTSD and two developmentally disabled children here, and now I’m getting death threats.

SMN: You’re getting death threats? By phone? Text?

JL: Both. They’re going to shoot me. I don’t buy that stuff.

SMN: Do you think the county has handled this situation properly?

JL: Yep. SMN: But you don’t think they should have filed that lawsuit.

JL: The day the county filed that lawsuit, I talked to the director of animal services [Stamey]. I said, “I’m getting older, it’s just me, my girlfriend just had open heart surgery so she’s not able to help. Don’t bring me no more rescues and I’m going to get rid of these others.” And that was on a Friday. I said they’d be gone by Sunday. Well that night, they brought me those summonses, and I just told him we’ll have it took care of in 48 hours. All I had left was a cow and my mom’s donkey and my daughter’s horse and my son’s horse. Then this Animal Haven of Asheville sends a criminal summons that says I was starving to death a cow — Miss February on the North Carolina Farm Bureau calendar.

SMN: What do you hope comes out of this situation? What’s your ideal outcome?

JL: I’ve already contacted the governor’s office. Hope for Horses is listed as an animal shelter and North Carolina animal shelters are required to pay license under the North Carolina Veterinary Association. They’re not a licensed animal shelter. So how are they getting away with that and using their 501(c) money to go buy horses and everything like that? That’s not a rescue group. That’s a bunch of people going — and I dealt with them when I worked at animal services — you can’t go trespassing on people’s property. You can’t go threatening people.

Smoky Mountain News

The Smoky Mountain News: You’ve got a civil suit filed against you, and some criminal charges for mistreating animals. How do you respond to those?

James Lunsford: I don’t know where they get mistreated horses because half of them were rescues, some of them even from this county. I had rescue pigs, rescue horses. I’m the rescue for Haywood County when they have livestock.

SMN: How many horses have you got right now?

JL: None. I sold and gave them away. I even got rid of my cow.

December 11-17, 2019

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER aywood County resident James Lunsford, 65, is currently the subject of an animal cruelty lawsuit filed against him Oct. 11 in and by the county of Haywood.

Lunsford, operator of Weeping Cherry Stables, allegedly failed to provide adequate sustenance to a number of horses and other large and small animals in his care, according to the civil suit.

A report created by Dr. Brittany Beil, of Whiskey River Mobile Large Animal Veterinary Services in Franklin, catalogues a number of Lunsford’s horses and includes dozens of photographs showing equines that appear bony and gaunt.

Several criminal charges alleging the same maltreatment were also lodged against Lunsford by members of animal welfare advocacy groups Animal Haven of Asheville and Buncombe County-based Hope for Horses, after prior complaints to Haywood County Animal Control Services by several Haywood County citizens went nowhere.

The civil suit hasn’t yet been heard in court but did ask for relief in the form of seizing Lunsford’s horses, terminating his ownership rights and preventing him from owning horses in the future. The first two of those points are mostly moot, as Lunsford says he got rid of all his horses right after being served with the suit.

The criminal charges are all Class 2 and 3 misdemeanors, the least serious of the four classes of misdemeanors in North Carolina; Lunsford’s Dec. 9 initial appearance in Superior Court was continued to Jan. 13 because his attorney was unavailable.

Given the breadth and depth of the allegations against Lunsford, a former lead agent with Haywood County Animal Control Services, The Smoky Mountain News requested and was granted an interview with Lunsford at the 131-acre Weeping Cherry Stables on Sunday, Dec. 9. Aside from several affectionate dogs and a few hens, no other animals were observed in Lunsford’s barn or pasture.

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Lunsford refutes cruelty allegations

SMN: So you’ve told me what you think should happen to Hope for Horses. What should happen to you?

JL: They just need to quit falsely accusing me. They don’t know me. They never met me. I was the biggest supporter of rescue groups. That’s why I had rescue animals here.

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Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

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HORSES, CONTINUED FROM 8

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Lunsford’s control as Queen’s suit progressed through the courts.

Consequently, a stampede of criminal charges were soon filed against Lunsford in the aftermath of Queen’s lawsuit.

Lindsay Regner, public information officer for the Haywood County Sheriff ’s Office, said that in 2017 and 2018, the office received 558 animal complaint calls, but the system doesn’t differentiate between allegations of cruelty and matters as mundane as a barking dog. Those 558 calls resulted in six investigations and three arrests.

On Nov. 16, Lunsford was issued a summons for the four separate counts of intentional deprivation of sustenance to horses named Cookie, Granny, Spice and Pumpkin.

The complainants listed are Whitney Wright and Caren Harris, of Hope for Horses.

A week later, Barbara Bellows of Animal Haven of Asheville lodged two more criminal complaints against Lunsford, alleging the same intentional deprivation of sustenance to a cow named Blue Bell as well as six pigs.

“What [Queen] did, it just seems wrong to me,” Brooker said. “Here, citizens had to file criminal charges that should have been done by the county, and then they look at us like we’re the troublemakers.”

Queen defended his decision in a Dec. 6 interview.

“It was my judgment that the fastest way to get the animals’ condition improved was to get the processes of the law in place that would allow us to improve the conditions of

“It was my judgment that the fastest way to get the animals’ condition improved was to get the processes of the law in place that would allow us to improve the conditions of the animals as fast as possible.”

— Frank Queen, Haywood County Attorney

The barn at Weeping Cherry Stables is now empty, and animal welfare groups want to keep it that way. Cory Vaillancourt photo the animals as fast as possible,” said Queen.

The supposition that Lunsford’s animals would continue to be mistreated while they remained in Lunsford’s care during litigation is inaccurate, according to Queen.

“That’s a theoretical assertion that’s not true,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that within 48 hours, the vast majority of the animals were removed from this property. Half of them had been bought by somebody and

their condition improved that way. The other half were apparently removed, given away, whatever Mr. Lunsford did with them, and they’re apparently in better conditions then they would be on James Lunsford’s farm.”

But that’s a theoretical assertion, too; in fact, the farm in Sandy Mush was referenced by several rescue groups as a terrible place, especially for horses in such feeble condition.

“The reason that I judged that I could get

faster improvement in these animals’ conditions by bringing a civil action is that it’s my judgment that the civil action gave me the most flexibility to apply pressure to improve the condition of the animals,” Queen said.

“That was my interest.”

A timeline provided by Queen says that the county continued to visit Lunsford in the days after the suit was filed, logging visits on Oct. 17 and 18, on Oct. 28, on Nov. 21 and on Nov. 25. Notes from those visits say that Lunsford still had two horses, a mini-mule and a donkey, along with assorted goats and pigs.

By the time The Smoky Mountain News caught up with Lunsford at his farm on the morning of Dec. 8, only chickens, dogs and a goat remained.

Tribal Council kills resort proposal

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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER $30 million deal to bring a storythemed resort to Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians-owned land in Sevier County, Tennessee, will not go forward following a unanimous vote from Tribal Council Dec. 5 to kill a resolution Principal Chief Richard Sneed submitted in October.

No discussion preceded the vote, but councilmembers made up their minds following a non-televised work session held at an earlier date.

“To me it was just a lot of money for something that has never been built before, and I don’t think the proper steps were taken,” said Councilmember Albert Rose, of Birdtown, during a Dec. 6 phone call.

Rose said that there were “a lot of unanswered questions” and that he did not feel councilmembers had received enough information to decide in favor of the investment.

“We felt like we were being misled on the information we were given,” added Councilmember Dike Sneed, of Painttown, also via phone. “So we had to look further into it. Some of the things we saw made us leery, so we chose to back away from it.”

Councilmember Sneed said that, because the conversation had occurred in closed session, he could not disclose the exact reasoning that led to council’s decision. However, he and Rose both said, there were concerns about the potential for an infringement lawsuit against Ancient Lore as well as about the large sum of money requested for the investment.

Chief Sneed, however, still believes the project would be a win for the tribe.

“I support the project and believe that it is an excellent investment opportunity,” Sneed said via text message.

Matt Cross, CEO of the company the tribe had hoped to work with — Ancient Lore Villages at Boyd Hollow — said he sympathized with council’s perspective.

“I can support Tribal Council’s decision because they were acting with such limited information,” he said during a phone interview. “We have an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) with Kituwah LLC. That’s who we had provided some of our information, but candidly we’re talking to a bunch of different entities and we only recently got independent analysis for what our resort development would look like using (the tribe’s) location. That information was not available to Tribal Council.”

The resolution called for an initial investment of $2.5 million toward the venture and would have given Chief Sneed the authority to contribute up to $30 million on the tribe’s behalf. When he originally presented the resolution Oct. 31, Sneed said that the $30 million would not be given unless five requirements were met: there would have to be a satisfactory analysis by the tribe and Kituwah LLC with third-party reviews; the tribe would

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Smoky Mountain News

“As our concept and as our team grew and as we added amenities and pieces of the development to ensure its viability and mass market appeal, we reached a point where we had outgrown what Knox County could support,” said Cross.

Ancient Lore plans to retain its 70 acres in Knoxville — just not as a resort. It could house Airbnb dwellings in addition to an already-complete luxury villa and also serve as a wedding venue, Cross said. The company is currently “exploring opportunities” for places to build the first resort, talking with potential partners in Tennessee and at least three other states, Cross said.

While Tribal Council has nixed the current proposal to collaborate with Ancient Lore Villages, it is possible the entities could still work together in the future, with Cross, Councilmember Sneed and Rose all expressing interest during interviews with The Smoky Mountain News in creating a smaller, Cherokee-themed resort on the Qualla Boundary should the storytelling concept first prove successful at other locations.

Ancient Lore has been generating some enthusiasm within the theme park industry, named as one of the top five announcements to come out of the recent International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Conference in Orlando, an event at which more than 1,000 companies made announcements.

Chief Sneed said he plans to continue discussing the possibility of partnership with Kituwah LLC, stating that he has asked the LLC board to review and evaluate Ancient Lore’s pro forma and give an evaluation.

“I could submit a future resolution related to the project with different parameters for the Eastern Band’s involvement,” he said.

“Whether or not that happens will be determined by the information I receive from the LLC board.”

December 11-17, 2019

have to retain 40 to 45 percent ownership of the company; the tribe would have to close on the lands it’s under contract for in Sevier County; Ancient Lore would have to secure its total equity — which must include financing from other partners; and the company’s board would have to include a seat appointed by the tribe and a seat appointed by the LLC. Ancient Lore Village’s original concept called for a $40 million resort in southern Knoxville that would include more than 150 period homes and treehouses, a 150-seat restaurant, a 500-person meeting and event center, and a 1,000-seat outdoor amphitheater, all based on founder Tom Boyd’s debut fantasy novel The Bobbins — Outcast to the Inner Earth.

Since then the plans have evolved, with the latest concept described as a $74 million project employing more than 200 full-time positions for at least $15 per hour and holding up to 550 guests. Instead of revolving around The Bobbins, the development is now billed as a “story resort” capable of incorporating different themes for any given location.

“Our theme is now storytelling itself — and we are allowed with a destination resort model to absorb and reflect new theme concepts as we expand,” Cross said. “Our locations will combine literal, mythical, regional and folklore components into a blend that can feel both familiar and fantastic to guests.”

The company hopes to develop several such resorts in the coming years. However, the inaugural location will not be in Knoxville as originally planned.

Ancient Lore Villages recently pulled its plan development filing, which sought to pave the way for the resort’s development.

The proposal has been controversial in South Knoxville, drawing backlash from residents opposed to Ancient Lore Village’s location in the otherwise agricultural and residential community.

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Teen finds confidence with visual aid dog

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR ristina Masta of Franklin has been searching for a trained visual assist dog for five years with no luck, but thanks to the CBS show “Lucky Dog” she finally found a perfect match in an Anatolian shepherd named Atlas.

In the end, it’s hard to know who got luckier, Kristina or Atlas. Both have had a hard go of it early in life. Kristina, now 15, was born almost four months early and weighed 1 pound and 1 ounce.

“She stayed in the hospital for 163 days and had multiple surgeries including heart surgery. She had every complication you can imagine — she was truly a miracle baby,” said her mother Michelle Masta. “The first five years of her life I had her seeing eight therapists — occupational therapy to learn to swallow and physical therapy to learn to walk. I took her to the Center for the Visually Impaired in downtown Atlanta.

Looking back, I don’t know how I got through it but I just did it.”

All the hard work paid off though — today Kristina is a smart, driven young woman with college and career aspirations.

Her limited vision still holds her back from doing everything she wants to accomplish.

“Her life before Atlas, she was very timid and scared to go out places because of her visual impairment — she can’t see more than 10 feet away — but Atlas gives her more confidence to go out and explore more,” Michelle said. “With stairs or steps or some obstacle in the way, he will notify her and stop so she can assess the problem and move forward.”

Now when the mom and daughter go out shopping, Kristina isn’t holding on to Michelle’s purse for guidance. With Atlas by her side, she has to confidence to explore on her own.

As for Atlas, he’s found a new home and a new purpose in life after being considered a failure at his original mission. Anatolian shepherds are bred to be cattle herders, and Atlas was adopted by a family to herd cattle on a farm in Oregon. Well, turns out he wasn’t that good at it. Apparently, he was “too nice” and the family surrendered him to a shelter. He might not have been cut out for herding cattle on the farm, but dog trainer Brandon McMillion — the host of “Lucky Dog” — knew the shepherd could be a perfect fit for Kristina’s needs.

Michelle wrote to McMillian in a desperate last resort plea for help in finding a dog for her daughter. Another well known dog trainer in Charlotte had told her that finding a visual assist dog would be difficult because the skills the dog would need would be different than the skills of a seeing-eye dog for the blind.

Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

K

12

Left: Kristina Masta, 15, of Franklin, finds confidence in the world with her visual assist dog Atlas. Donated photo Kristina Masta (above, center) meets her new visual assist dog Atlas with her mom Michelle and 'Lucky Dog' host and trainer Brandon McMillian. CBS screenshot “That made my heart sink when he told me. He said that he could take more money to find a dog but that it’s hard to find one and then find a trainer to spend the time training him specifically for my daughter. It was a one in a million chance basically,” Michelle said.

Then she was watching an episode of “Lucky Dog” and decided to reach out to McMillian. She wrote him a letter and then he contacted her to find out more about Kristina’s needs. He also indicated it would be a challenge, but also that he might have a rescue in Oregon that just might work. As McMillian discusses during the episode, he didn’t want to get Michelle and Kristina’s hopes up until he knew for sure Atlas would be a good fit.

The show follows him as he gets Atlas from the shelter, takes him to the veterinarian for a full exam and then takes him home to Lucky Dog Ranch in California to work with the 120-pound shepherd. Immediately McMillian can see that Atlas is a strong and capable dog with a sweet personality. He doesn’t jump, he knew how to sit and heal and roll over for belly rubs, but McMillian had to teach him to follow commands and to lead him up and down stairs. Eventually, McMillian was able to blindfold himself and trust Atlas to get him up and down stairs and across the road successfully.

Then it was time for Michelle and Kristina to fly out to California to meet McMillian and Atlas so they could do some training together. They actually flew out to the west coast four different times throughout the process and the show’s internationally recognized military and law enforcement

trainer, Mike Herstik, flew in to North Carolina to do some training with Kristina and Atlas in her own hometown of Franklin so the dog could get used to her home, school and other surroundings.

Atlas officially became Kristina’s dog in August. It was a proud moment for both of them as Kristina placed the service dog emblem on his vest. A dog with a new purpose and a girl with newfound confidence — they are an unstoppable team.

“Kristina goes to Macon Early College and they had some kind of career day at

“He’s definitely found his mission — when he has the vest on he’s working, but when the vest is off, he’s still a pup at 2 years old.”

— Michelle Masta

Western Carolina University. She had never been on campus before but she and Atlas went on the bus and the college has so many steps but she went through campus flawlessly with his help and that’s good because eventually she wants to go to school there,” Michelle said.

Michelle said her daughter is interested in being an entrepreneur and has several different career goals in mind.

“She wants to study business and economics and be able to obtain businesses and

make money at it. She’s also interested in the stock market and is learning about option trading,” Michelle said. “It’s kind of become a family thing that we’re all learning. It makes it fun to learn and it’s something that even with her visual impairment she can be successful at.”

Kristina and Atlas’ episode of “Lucky Dog” premiered on Nov. 23 and can be viewed at www.cbs.com. The title of the episode is “Atticus” — producers changed the dog’s name because they already had an Atlas on the show before. Now the shepherd will forever be known as “The Mighty Atlas” Atticus to the rest of the world.

Kristina and Michelle are still in contact with the trainer on a regular basis. Because of Kristina’s episode, many others have reached out to McMillion and Herstik about their unique service dog needs, including a 4-year-old boy with cerebral palsy that needs to learn to walk.

“It’s a tough thing to identify the person and teach the dog specifically for that — they understood the gap there,” Michelle said. “So ‘Lucky Dog’ is now focusing on doing something for individuals that don’t fit the box.”

Michelle and Kristina’s experience finding Atlas has also inspired them to write a children’s book about his life and how he found his purpose in life in the least expected of places.

“He’s definitely found his mission — when he has the vest on he’s working, but when the vest is off, he’s still a pup at 2 years old,” Michelle said. “He’s a big teddy bear at home with the family and loves to be cuddled and play in the yard with all his toys.”

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Members of the public look over updated maps at a right-of-way drop-in meeting the N.C. Department of Transportation held Dec. 9 in Sylva. Holly Kays photo

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Open house attendees included elected officials, government leaders, interested members of the public and people who own businesses or property in the affected area.

The event was geared toward that last group of people, said Burch, in hopes of helping them to better understand the process and how it might affect their particular location.

Among the business and property owners who stand to be affected, sentiment about the project varies.

Harriet Shields, a veterinarian whose business Jackson County Veterinary Associates has operated out of the same building for 40 years, said plans show the structure will be demolished and the roadway built straight through it. It’s a bittersweet thing, but she has faith that the road project will ultimately be good for Sylva. She hopes to see the business remain in town but at a newer, better location.

stant braking and accelerating that now characterizes drives on N.C. 107. Kelley still hopes to see the project halted. Say No To The Road has prepared a petition with 5,000 signatures in hopes of prompting a no vote on the bond sale, she said.

After right-of-way, the current timeline calls for the construction contract to let in December 2022 with construction beginning around February 2023. The work is expected to take about 3.5 years to complete, with right-of-way and construction combined costing approximately $100 million.

Smoky Mountain News

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ith updated plans hot off the presses, the N.C. Department of Transportation welcomed well over 100 people to an open house Dec. 9 dedicated to the N.C. 107 project.

While the plans are not yet considered final, they’re close to it. Utility easements have been drawn in with edits made to alreadycompleted sections of the plan as well — and the good news is the list of properties slated for relocation has not grown as a result. The number of relocations could still change, but Division Engineer Brian Burch said that he expects it to land pretty close to the 55 listed on the preliminary relocation list.

“Those numbers have not changed,” said Burch. “I don’t know that we’ll have a revised amount of relocations until after we start the right-of-way process because in some cases, it will be up to the property owner whether they choose to be relocated or not. There may still be some residual value to a building or to a property and we’ll have to negotiate that out.”

Originally slated to begin in January, the right-of-way process will now be delayed until March or April. That’s because the project is to be bond-funded, and the bonds in question won’t sell until May, said Burch. Costs to be paid by those bonds can’t be incurred until 60 days prior to the sale.

“That’s why we’re saying there’s no rush to start it,” he said. “We’ve got until March, April before we can start making offers and settlements.”

The current timeline calls for construction beginning around February 2023. The work is expected to take about 3.5 years to complete, with right-of-way and construction combined costing approximately $100 million.

Digital versions of the maps presented Dec. 9 are available upon request from Jeanette White at JLWhite5@ncdot.gov or Danielle Schwanke at DLSchwanke1@ncdot.gov.

December 11-17, 2019

Right-of-way acquisition to start in spring

“They’re not taking any of the cars off the road,” she said. “There’ll still be cars. I think the U-turns will be backed up many times a day and you’ll probably have more accidents than ever. I would be all for it they were taking stuff off the road, but they aren’t. So I think it’s all for naught.”

Meanwhile, DOT officials have maintained that by restricting where drivers can enter and exit the road, traffic flow will be more steady and predictable, decreasing the number of accidents and reducing the con-

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N.C. 107 utility plans leave relocation list unchanged

“It’s like home, but at the same time it’s getting to the point where because of where it is and how close it is to the highway, it’s a little scary being in that building and having people almost come into the waiting room if there’s a car accident,” she said. “It’ll be like saying goodbye to your childhood home as an adult.”

Patricia Cowen, a Sylva resident who owns rental property along N.C. 107, had a different take. Her property will be inconvenienced during construction, but the DOT won’t need to purchase it to complete the road project.

“I will probably not lose my buildings and I will get everything back still in some functional use, which is of course very good news, although I wish they’d take it all and give me a lot of money,” she said. “But that doesn’t seem to be an option.”

While Cowen didn’t have any real criticisms of the plan as it relates to her property, she was skeptical of the overall vision.

“I think we wanted a boulevard, and they’re giving us a super highway,” she said.

The plan seems an overreaction to the need, she said. The road’s high accident rate has been often brought up as a driving factor in the need for a new road, but most of the accidents there seem to be fender benders, she said.

“That’s not a real viable reason for doing all this in my opinion,” she said.

Jeannie Kelley, who owns Kel-Save Drugs and founded the 1,500-member group Say No To The Road, believes the plan won’t address the core of the issue.

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Emergency shelter operating in Bryson City

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR wain County now has an emergency homeless shelter in downtown Bryson City thanks to a generous donation and the hard work of committed volunteers in the community.

Sweet Dreams Shelter on Academy Street began accepting overnight guests in midNovember and will continue to operate through March to get people through the coldest months of the year.

The shelter house is operated by and conveniently located next door to The Restoration House, a nonprofit offering a free medical clinic and other resources to the community.

Catherine Gantt, president of The Restoration House board of directors, said the goal was to be able to have an emergency shelter within Restoration House, but with the clinic and other programs going on inside, there just wasn’t room to accommodate that goal. However, the board’s prayers were answered in another way when their neighbors — Sweet Thoughts Alzheimer’s Support Group — were disbanding as a nonprofit and wanted to hand their building over to another community nonprofit.

Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

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“They wanted to give the house to another nonprofit because they knew we saw a real need for housing people in the wintertime.

There’s nowhere for them to go around here,” Gantt said.

The Restoration House folks, led by board member Chris Roth, began working toward that goal last spring. The shelter has a room for men and a room for women — both furnished with bunk beds. Gantt said they have a capacity of eight people, but because the old house doesn’t have an alarm and sprinkler system, the fire marshal can’t approve more than five people staying there at one time.

“We’re currently working on getting a grant to help us install those things,” she said.

While it can be difficult for small nonprofits to afford staff to be able to run a homeless shelter facility, Restoration House was able to find an ideal situation by allowing a couple to live on the premises. Alexis Faciane and Ben Barber will live at the house year around and also serve as caretakers of the shelter during the four months it’s open in the winter.

So far the shelter has had a few guests — one family, but mostly single folks looking for a safe and warm place to stay the night. There are a few rules when it comes to staying at

Join local author and Smoky Mountain News columnist, Susanna Shetley, for a meet and greet event on Saturday, December 14 from 3-5PM at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville!

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Event is free and will include refreshments, a kids' art activity and more!

Sweet Dreams Shelter — people have to fill out an application during the day at Restoration House; guests have to be in the house by 9 p.m. at night and gone by 8 a.m. the next morning; no smoking on the premises and guests can stay up to two weeks at a time.

If the shelter reaches capacity there will be a waiting list and priority is given to Swain County residents and women and children.

Guests will need to sign a contract agreeing to their responsibilities in the house and what will be provided to them. They will need some form of ID, preferably photo ID.

“We saw a real need for housing people in the wintertime. There’s nowhere for them to go around here.”

— Catherine Gantt, Restoration House

“If folks are in transit through the area but need to get somewhere else, we have another way of working with those people through a pastor’s fund (at Bryson City First United Methodist Church),” she said.

Gantt also hopes Restoration House can be a valuable resource for the people staying at the shelter. If they’re willing to take advantage of those resources, she said volunteers are willing to get them the help they need.

“That’s the idea. We hope this is the first

step to helping people where they are. Two weeks is not enough time to turn someone’s life around, but it’s a chance for them to stay warm and have a safe space for their belongings. We give them a place to wash their clothes, some toiletries and a shower, hot tea or coffee in the mornings and a breakfast on their way back out,” Gantt said. “It’s hard.

People are not able to think long-term because they have to figure out where to stay that night. For the grace of God, that could be me or you. It could be any of us.”

In the future, she said she’d like to be able to help guests with their “dream sheet” by having them write down what their dreams and goals are and then help them work toward that whether it’s by teaching job skills, going back to school or simply offering public transportation.

“We just want to allow people who maybe haven’t thought that way for a long time to get thinking that way again. We want them to be able to work through it and know someone believes that they can. Some people are in such despair they don’t think they deserve anything,” she said.

The Restoration House is still there to help people with firewood for heating, utility bills and food for those in need. For such a new organization, they’re pretty proud of the fact they served as the Grand Marshall for the Christmas Parade in Bryson City this year as well as the recipient of the Humanitarian Award given by the Jackson County NAACP chapter this year.

For more information on how you can help, visit www.restorationhousewnc.org.

If you have limited mobility, contact us about an in-home visit.

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December 11-17, 2019

All dolls & gangsters are invited! $

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Great Gatsby, 20s throwback-themed party!

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Smoky Mountain News

• Dancing into 2020 with music provided by Spinfire Entertainment • Steak & scallop dinner entrée & late night apps • Champagne toast at midnight

Dinner & Party open to the public

The surface area of the Earth is 197,000,000 square miles let’s keep it clean — please recycle smoky mountain news 15

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Jackson calls for stricter environmental enforcement Penalties assessed in Millennial Apartments development

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER oncerned by ongoing erosion issues at the Western Carolina University Millennial Apartments construction site in Cullowhee, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners has sent a letter to Gov. Roy Cooper and Secretary of Environmental Quality Michael Regan requesting more frequent monitoring on the site.

“Jackson County is urging the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to frequently monitor this project and to strictly enforce the State’s environmental erosion control rules,” reads the letter, which is signed by four of the five commissioners. The letter does not bear a signature or signature line for Commissioner Mickey Luker. “We respectfully request that the State allocate the necessary resources to provide the oversight this project needs.

Please help us protect Jackson County’s environment and the safety of our citizens.”

Construction of a 500-bed student housing complex located on WCU’s Millennial Campus has been causing violations of state environmental standards since June, with

December 11-17, 2019

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the first notice of violation issued June 17.

Additional violation notices were issued June 19, July 31, Nov. 4 and Nov. 13.

The last two violations followed an Oct. 31 mudslide that resulted in the condemnation of one of the 12 student homes included in the Catamount Homes development owned by Sherri Deitz, with evacuation notices placed on an additional five homes until safety could be assured.

“I was scared to death,” Deitz told The Smoky Mountain News following the landslide. “I was yelling. I thought my tenants were in that place, and I was scared to death that they were injured.”

Luckily, the mudslide occurred midday when students were out and about — nobody was hurt. However, the event spurred reaction from the community and resulted in a special-called commissioners meeting in which County Manager Don Adams updated commissioners on the history of violations and complaints surrounding the construction efforts.

The Millennial Apartments project is a public-private partnership between WCU and Wilmington-based Zimmer Development Company, with Zimmer building the housing and operating it independently of WCU through a 40-year ground lease and option to renew for another 10 years.

“University officials are in frequent com-

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Smoky Mountain News

accomplished with minimal effects on the environment and with the least possible inconvenience to the community and neighbors.”

Because construction is occurring on land owned by WCU, environmental compliance is handled through the state, not through the county. In their One of the units at Catamount Homes was condemned letter to Cooper after a mudslide from construction activities at the and Regan, comWestern Carolina University Millennial Apartments missioners hinted knocked it off its foundation Oct. 31. Holly Kays photo at frustration with the way this arrangement has tied their hands in addressing the situation.

“Jackson County is one of several Counties in North Carolina that is designated to provide oversight of erosion control rules within our County,” the letter reads. “We have chosen developer and with Jackson County authorito invest in additional personnel and other ties to develop additional safeguards to prerelated costs because we believe that protectvent future occurrences. It is the university’s ing our environment is extremely important. desire that its construction and renovation Jackson County’s partnership projects, including those undertaken with NCDEQ has enabled us to through public-private partnerships, are munication with Zimmer on this project,” said Shea Browning, general counsel for WCU. “The university’s primary concern is the safety of all members of the university community and of neighbors throughout the Cullowhee area. University officials will continue to collaborate with the project

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Tree planted in memory of Riley Howell

at the shooter who entered his classroom in an attempt to stop him from harming others.

With funding from The Fund of Haywood County and RE/MAX Executive, an oak tree was planted and a plaque installed in the Miller Street Park in Downtown Waynesville as a memorial to Riley Howell. A dedication ceremony was held Friday, Dec. 6, at the park with

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Learn about medical assisting program Haywood Community College’s medical assisting program will hold an open house from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, in building 800, room 807 on the Clyde campus.

This is a great opportunity to meet with instructors and current students to learn more about the program and a career in this health care field. HCC’s medical assisting program incorporates coursework covering scheduling appointments, coding and processing insurance accounts, billing, collections, computer operations; assisting with examinations and treatments, performing routine laboratory procedures, electrocardiography, supervised medication administration; and ethical/legal issues associated with patient care.

According to Medicalassistantadvice.com, HCC's Medical Assisting program was ranked No. 10 in North Carolina for the year 2019.

For more information, call 828.627.4651 or visit www.haywood.edu.

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Smoky Mountain News

remarks given by Riley’s mother Natalie Howell and Waynesville Mayor Gary Caldwell.

Riley, who would have turned 22 this month, was shot and killed during a shooting at the University of North Carolina’s Charlotte campus last May. In an act of bravery, Riley had jumped

Christmas Day Buffet

December 11-17, 2019

resources side of things. They found those clean-up efforts to be satisfactory. However, staff found that Zimmer still needed to address how much sediment was removed and provide an explanation of the inadequate erosion control measures, basin failure and inadequate ground cover that occurred.

Violations from the notices that DWR issued June 19 and July 31 have since been corrected, but nevertheless the agency has issued a $14,610.03 penalty, naming both Zimmer and WCU in the suit. However, said Browning, Zimmer will be the financially responsible party due to a provision in the lease stating that Zimmer will indemnify the WCU Endowment Fund against any claims related to the project.

The penalty includes $8,000 for impacting about 900 linear feet of two unnamed tributaries from sediment deposition, $6,000 for exceeding turbidity standards in two unnamed tributaries and $610.03 in enforcement costs. The violations occurred in June and July, but the penalty was not issued until Nov. 6 with documentation released to SMN after the receipt was signed Dec. 9. It is possible that additional penalties could be assessed for the DWR violation issued Nov. 4. No penalties have yet been assessed by DEMLR, which issued notices of violation on June 17 and Nov. 13.

The WCU Millennial Apartments are slated to be ready to rent by fall 2020, with that timeline key to other pending projects related to student housing at WCU. The university plans to demolish the existing Scott and Walker residence halls beginning in May, taking 1,150 student beds out of commission until new dormitories can be built in their place. The 500-bed Zimmer project, together with a newly completed 600-bed residence hall, would replace most of that capacity if completed in time for the fall semester.

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better protect our natural resources. This designation does not grant Jackson County authority over State projects. So even though a private developer is building these apartments, Jackson County has minimal erosion control authority over this project because the property is owned by Western Carolina University.”

Following the Nov. 7 special-called meeting, Zimmer’s director of development Adam Tucker told SMN that the issues have been “unfortunate” but that the company is “truly doing everything we can” to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

In a Nov. 13 email, WCU Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Mike Byers expressed the university’s confidence that Zimmer would live up to that promise.

“WCU expects no (future) violations on Zimmer’s project,” Byers wrote. “So far, they have complied with their contractual agreement to have plans approved by appropriate governmental agencies. And, so far, their response to violations has brought them back into compliance with the respective agencies, also compliant with their contractual agreement.”

“We are convinced that Zimmer intends to avoid any violations and to respond with urgency and care to problems that arise,” Byers added.

That doesn’t mean that Zimmer will be off the hook financially.

According to public documents, the Division of Energy, Mining and Land Resources has approved Zimmer’s proposed erosion and sediment control plan, with some modifications, to address the latest violation through that office. During a Dec. 2 inspection, staff from the Division of Water Resources’ Asheville Regional Office visited the site to evaluate sediment cleanup for the third notice of violation on the water

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2019 FORD EXPEDITION XLT

2019 FORD F-150 0% APR for 72 mos. w/Ford Credit Financing Not all buyers will qualify for Ford Credit financing. 0% APR financing for 72 months at $13.89 per month per $1,000 financed regardless of down payment (PGM #21084). Not available on Raptor.

Residency restrictions apply. Take new retail delivery from an authorized Ford dealer’s stock by 1/2/20. See dealer for qualifications and complete details.

December 11-17, 2019

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2019 FORD MUSTANG

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0% APR for 72 mos. w/Ford Credit Financing + $1,000 Trade Assist

Smoky Mountain News

$5,550 Cash Back $2,650 Customer Cash (PGM #13608) + $2,900 Bonus Cash (PGM #13616, #13640). Residency restrictions apply. For all offers, take new retail delivery from an authorized Ford dealer’s stock by 1/2/20. See dealer for qualifications and complete details.

$1,000 Trade-In Assistance Bonus Cash (PGM #30500). Not all buyers will qualify for Ford Credit financing. 0% APR financing for 72 months at $13.89 per month per $1,000 financed regardless of down payment (PGM #21094).

Trade Assist available to customers who currently own or lease a 1995 or newer vehicle who trade-in or have a lease expiring from 30 days prior to through 90 days after new retail delivery. Customer must have owned or leased the trade-in vehicle for a minimum of 30 days prior to the sale date of the new vehicle. Not available on Shelby GT350 & Bullitt. Residency restrictions apply. For all offers, take new retail delivery from an authorized Ford dealer’s stock by 1/2/20. See dealer for qualifications and complete details.

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Community Almanac

Smoky Mountain News

tal health difficulties and housing.

Pisgah/Tuscola High First Fruits Ministry received funds to purchase nutritional pre-packaged snacks for Pisgah and Tuscola High students.

Visit www.haywoodhealthcarefoundation.org or call 828.452.8343.

Mountain Mediation gets new director

Family gets Habitat home John and Landy Savage of Whittier will soon be able to move into their new home after losing their mobile home in a fire and spending the past several months living cramped in a camper, thanks to Jackson County Habitat for Humanity and local sponsors like Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.

Arc of Haywood receives $18,500 grant The Evergreen Foundation recently awarded The Arc of Haywood County a grant totaling $18,500 to help purchase a new 12 passenger van for the Solitary Street Group Home.

The Arc of Haywood County is a nonprofit foundation serving individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

For additional information on The Arc of Haywood County, a United Way agency, and its services for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, visit www.arcofhaywood.org.

The mission of the Evergreen Foundation is to improve access to and public awareness of quality prevention, treatment and support services by the provider community to individuals and families with intellectual/developmental disabilities, behavioral health and/or substance abuse needs in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. To learn more about the Evergreen Foundation, call 828.456.8005.

WNC Bridge Foundation awards $3 million WNC Bridge Foundation recently announced that 44 local nonprofits will be the recipients of the Foundation’s 2019 Impact Grants, with awards totaling $3,341,836.

Aligning with the foundation’s goal of being a catalyst for positive change throughout the 18 counties of Western North Carolina, the three focus areas for the 2019 Impact Grants included emergency wellness, elder care, and youth development.

The largest grant of $500,000 was awarded to Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry’s Medical Ministry and will provide operational support to expand access to medical and dental care, at no charge to the patient. The grant will also allow ABCCM to offer greater access for its working patients by offering sessions in the morning and evenings, during non-traditional times.

A detailed list regarding recipients of WNC Bridge Foundation’s 2019 Impact Grants and special initiatives can be found at WNCbridge.org. The Foundation expects to open its next grant cycle in January 2020.

Haywood foundation awards $307,000 The Haywood Healthcare Foundation recently awarded $307,000 in grants to 11 agencies for health care needs in Haywood County.

Haywood County Emergency Services received funding to purchase four portable ventilators and five infusion pumps for their ambulances. Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency received funding to offer Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for individuals identified through DHHS PostOverdose Response Team, female inmates upon their release from Haywood County Detention Center and people on probation.

Town of Waynesville Base Camp on the Go will receive continued support of the free mobile camp for children in Haywood County and to purchase an inflatable obstacle course. Mountain Projects’ Haywood Public Transit will purchase two weather shelters for riders on the fixed bus routes. Haywood Regional Medical Center’ Nurse Navigator Program received funding to purchase gas cards for patients during their cancer care.

Blue Ridge Health received funding to purchase an EKG machine. Clyde Elementary School received funding for the “Second Step” Program that teaches students important mental health coping skills early on in their life.

Arc of Haywood County received funds for the “Steady the Ship on Obesity” Program that will provide lessons on healthy cooking, good choices and portion control.

North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition received funds to support the Post-Overdose Outreach Program.

Haywood Pathways Center received funding to support two peer support specialists dedicated to assisting inmates, pre and post release with guidance in addressing issues of substance abuse, men-

Mountain Mediation Services has served Western North Carolina for the last quarter of a century by educating communities and individuals in conflict resolution skills, and it is the primary mediation service to the criminal district courts in Haywood, Jackson, Swain and Macon Counties as well as the Tribal Court on the Qualla Boundary.

MMS celebrates its 25th anniversary by announcing its appointment of a new executive director, Gabrielle Grant, a native of Macon County, who will guide the nonprofit organization as it expands its programs in new ways.

Grant brings a combination of extensive professional education and experience to her new position.

Since 2016 she has been a member of the faculty at the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and Pannasatra University in Siem Reap, Cambodia. She has also worked as a research consultant in South East Asia on issues related to restorative justice, child welfare, and gender issues and served as an administrator in higher education.

Future plans of Grant and MMS emphasize restorative justice programs which provide an alternative to criminal court for youthful offenders who have made decisions that harm themselves, others, and the community. In the months ahead, Grant and MMS hope to expand restorative justice programs to all seven of the far west counties. Their plans also include working with other organizations dedicated to youths such as HIGHTS and Western Carolina Pacesetters to provide a continuum of care that ensures youth are getting greater access to services and are directed toward positive and sustaining goals.

MMS relies upon community support to maintain its services. For more information, call 828.631.5252, email ggrant@mountainmediation.org or visit www.mountainmediation.org.

Vecinos receives $5,000 in grants Vecinos Farmworker Health Program has received support from Jackson and Macon County Community Foundations, component funds of the North Carolina Community Foundation, to support the mission of improving the wellness of farmworkers and their families with health care, education, community partnership, and advocacy.

With the $5,000 granted collectively, Vecinos is able to provide prescription medication, eyeglasses, and hygiene kits for local farmworkers in need.

Vecinos Farmworker Health Program is the main bridge connecting farmworkers and their families to health care in far western North Carolina.

To learn more about or donate to Vecinos Farmworker Health Program, visit www.vecinos.org.

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• The Macon County Cancer Support Group’s annual Christmas Party will be held at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 12, in the cafeteria of Angel Medical Center, Riverview Street, Franklin. Bring your favorite finger food and an inexpensive gift to exchange.

• The Macon County Public Health’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program is sponsoring “Cookies with Santa” from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Health Department located at 1830 Lakeside Drive, Franklin.

Parents can apply for WIC benefits, renew benefits or get help from the breastfeeding peer counselor. For more information, call 828.349.2448.

ALSO:

• Co-Dependents Anonymous is a support group for those wishing to create more fulfilling relationships with themselves and others. The group meets from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. every Friday evening at the Friendship House, located next to the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville, 566 S. Haywood Street. Find more information at www.coda.org.

• The Jackson County Department of Public Health is hosting a Baby Clothes Drive. From 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, JCDPH is accepting clothing items including sleepers, hats, mittens, and socks in sizes newborn- 3 months. All donations should be new or gently used as well as clean. For more information, call Martha Smith at 828.587.8268.

• Sons of the American Legion in Waynesville present their annual Turkey Shoot at 9 a.m. every Saturday through April at the American Legion Post, 171 Legion Dr. Refreshments provided, weather permitting, $2 per round, family friendly. 828.456.8691.

• The Fines Creek Community Center now has two new stainless steel ovens with ten burners thanks to a grant from the Fund for Haywood County. The Fund for Haywood County also enabled the community center to purchase a new, efficient water heater, new dining tables and the materials needed to construct a wall divider between the kitchen and the dining area in the cafeteria.

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Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

‘OK Boomers,’ let’s just settle down

BY BOB CLARK G UEST COLUMNIST 25-year-old New Zealand legislator, Chloe Swarbrick, was speaking about the environment when an older member of Parliament heckled her. Swarbrick, without missing a beat, replied: “OK, Boomer.” (Read: Sit down and chill, Pops.). Or as a sixth-grader might say: “Nanny, nanny, boo, boo to you.” So, regardless of your age, let’s take a dive into whether “OK, Boomer” is snarky and mean-spirited or understated and on target. (Disclosure: the author was born in 1953).

First the scorecard, derived from a number of sources regarding the breakdown of recent generations. Baby Boomers (born 1944-1964); Gen X (1965-1979); Millennials (1980-1994); Gen Z (1995-2015). Inter-generational labels and skirmishes are nothing new. Beatnik, hippie, yuppie and slacker are examples of naming that has occurred over the past 60 years.

Boomers, when young, either dealt with or fought segregated schools, lunch counters and courtrooms. Many Boomers protested for voter rights and civil rights, against both sexism and a war-time draft that disproportionately selected the economically disadvantaged of all colors. Just

A

Roadside trash hurts our economy To the Editor: I recently sent this letter to Jackson County commissioners.

I am writing because I am dismayed in my daily ride to work to see what seems to be a worsening trash situation on many of the roads in Jackson County. There are two roads in particular that are troublesome with bags of trash and plastic hanging from the trees and they are U.S. 441/23 in Savannah and Greens Creek area and N.C. 107 from the CVS to WCU. I understand that in today’s political climate worrying about trash on the side of the roads is often thought of as being maybe “elitist” or out of touch — which I don’t think I am — but I see it instead as more of a practical economic issue seeing that Jackson County depends on tourism and tourist dollars.

Tourists don’t want to see trash.

As the owner of a successful Airbnb in the area, I am unfortunately on the front lines with conversations from visitors to the area who wonder aloud about how beautiful the area is if only there wasn’t trash everywhere they drive. U.S. 441/23 is one of the main roads into Jackson County, and you would know better than me in your position how many tourists enter Jackson County from this road, and aesthetically (how things look are important to tourists) it looks awful.

Is there no way to use some of the tourist dollars that are coming into the county to rent a billboard (there is an available billboard for rent right now on U.S. 441/23) reminding people who live in the county that trashing their county hurts economically because tourists don’t spend money in areas that look

what are the Millennials, Xs and Zs facing that could be as important as “our” issues?

Younger people of all education levels face a very different economic landscape. Manufacturing jobs are disappearing and those that remain rarely pay middle-class wages. Our generation crushed many unions and allowed, or even encouraged, wages to stagnate while inflation rose. We have created and promoted automation of jobs ranging from secretary to truck driver to lower level management and many more. Companies and governments now often choose to contract out lower level and entry level jobs to temporary hire companies. This has greatly reduced upward mobility opportunities for millions of entry level workers. No longer can you work the company ladder from mail room or factory line to management. And how long will it be before the word “pension” only exists in games of historical trivia?

If you are a Millennial, an X or Z, you have seen Boomers blow up governmental debt to protect the already better off while disproportionately siphoning off Medicare and Social Security. We are living longer while younger workers’ paycheck deductions are having to support more retirees than we had to. I’m not going to discuss the ways that social media also stresses the younger generations. It is a reality that most

LETTERS like trash or visit a place a second time. Or, maybe in some people’s minds an even crazier idea, using some of the tourism money coming into the county to hire crews to clean up these roads more regularly than DOT can?

I know the answer is often “we don’t have the money for that,” but if you are thinking more long term economically how can it not be a good return on investment if it lures more people to visit. I do what I can by stopping and picking up the trash when it is safe to do so, but there has to be a better way, especially if it negatively affects this county economically which trash is definitely now doing.

Tim Holloran Jackson County

Gov. Cooper is red wolf ally To the Editor: Fewer than 20 red wolves persist in the wild in Eastern North Carolina. Although the population has suffered continued declines in the last several years, there is hope for this struggling species.

Gov. Roy Cooper and Susi Hamilton, secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) expressing their full support for the red wolf. Not only did they urge USFWS to recommit to protecting the last remaining individuals, they encouraged the agency to grow the population through pup fostering and introducing new breeding pairs.

These two North Carolina leaders recog-

Boomers likely can’t fully understand but we would be just as caught up in it if we had been born of a newer generation.

As a generation then, how should Boomers respond to an “OK, Boomer”? Are we going to be seasoned elders who show respect by listening before offering advice and empathy? Or will it be: “Well, we had to fight for ours so just buck up and quit whining.”

To the Millennials, Zs and Xs, are you going to continue to distrust institutions as a whole and let them wither? Or will you search for what needs to change and focus your growing economic and electoral power toward those ends?

Millennials, Zs and Xs have forged a broad acceptance of races and sexual identities. Media ads now reflect inter-racial and gay families, workers and friends. Hallelujah and thank you.

So, my fellow Boomers, let’s soften the discourse among ourselves first. Recognize that those coming behind us are setting the table for their futures just as we did. If we get an “OK, Boomer” tossed our way now and then, be gracious. While we blazed and cleared many trails in our years, we also left plenty of obstructions that we shouldn’t have.

(Bob Clark is a retired attorney from Waynesville. bobclarklaw@gmail.com)

nize the benefits of the red wolf. This species represents our natural heritage in the southeastern United States. And despite wide-ranging misconceptions, red wolves receive wide support. The last federal comment period for the red wolf garnered over 100,000 comments, 99.9 percent of which were pro-red wolf.

Both federal and state agencies must support the wishes of North Carolinians to protect this shy wolf. For this under-represented animal to have a chance at survival, it must be touted as a North Carolina treasure — by us and by our elected officials.

Please thank Gov. Cooper for fighting to save North Carolina’s natural heritage. Call (919.814.2000) or email (https://governor.nc.gov/contact/contactgovernor-cooper). Together, we can cultivate a new era in red wolf recovery – starting now.

Christopher Lile Waynesville Wolf Park Programs Coordinator

Thanks for EV charging stations To the Editor: This Thanksgiving season I would like to recognize and thank the towns of Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Sylva and Dillsboro and Ingles Markets for providing electric vehicle chargers. Your EV chargers are great incentives for attracting EV car owners like myself to come and do business in your towns and stores while we charge our cars. As a loyal patron, I appreciate your initiative and look forward to many more visits.

Alan Clark Haywood County

2020 election could be compromised To the Editor: Rachel Carson, legendary scientist and writer, made this profound statement in her 1962 classic environmental book Silent Spring: “We are accustomed to look for the gross and immediate and to ignore all else.

Unless this appears promptly and in such obvious form that it cannot be ignored, we deny the existence of hazard.” This statement is referring to the hazards of exposure to chemicals used unwisely in/on our environment.

To me, a U.S. Navy veteran, this scientific observation can certainly be applied to our current crisis with Russian election meddling.

The least expensive phase of almost all crises is prevention (if prevention is at all possible).

Since we did not prevent Russian meddling we have entered into the more expensive phase — minimization of damage that has already occurred. This phase is severely complicated by the fact that Donald Trump doesn’t just express doubt about the analyses of our intelligence agencies, he steadfastly denies the accuracy of them all. Sadly, he doesn’t even propose deterrence to Ukrainian meddling that he himself falsely alleges. Can you show us any patriotism in that?

Thus, Trump has failed to prevent anyone from meddling and he continues to refuse to spearhead an effort to minimize the Russian damage that has already occurred. We are, therefore, entering into the most difficult and expensive phase of our disaster-correction.

If our democracy is to survive, we must begin vigorous operations to secure our 2020 elections. We must pre-

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I

December 11-17, 2019

announced at last. We couldn’t believe it.

By now, our daughter had moved on to college, but she would be back. There would be other milestones. Bringing home new friends. Passing algebra. Choosing a major.

The rest of us have milestones of our own, the little victories that make a life.

We’d have plenty of reasons to gorge on those hot fudge cakes in days to come, but when the day of the grand opening finally arrived, it was immediately and strikingly apparent that those days would have to be put off yet further. The parking lot was packed to overflowing very minute of every day. Evidently, a lot of people had a lot of pent up Shoney’s angst that had to be worked out over plates of ribs, collard greens, and fried chicken.

Simply put, we are too dignified — and lazy or impatient, take your pick — to wait in line for two or three hours. It is Shoney’s, after all. So we waited a few weeks. And waited some more. Finally, last weekend when our daughter was home, we decided that the line had died down enough for us to chance it.

There were a handful of empty spaces in the parking lot. We chose one and went inside. The maître d’ informed us there would be about a 20-minute wait, which gave us some time to take it all in, the differences between the old and new Shoney’s, the eager expressions of those people waiting with us, and the looks of pure satisfaction on the faces of exiting patrons.

I’ll never forget one gentleman in particular. He must have been in his eighties, maybe even nineties, but he was getting along pretty good with his walking stick. I was sitting near the front door, which for whatever reason was about as hard to open as Al Capone’s vault, so I jumped up to open it for him. The nice lady a step behind him said, “Oh, thank you, but we are waiting here,” reaching for and clutching his arm as he was about to make his way through the door.

“Turn me loose, damn it!” he said, tearing away from her and continuing on through the door, with her in hot pursuit.

They didn’t end up waiting. Wherever he was going, he went there.

We got seated a little earlier than expected. The hot fudge cakes and potato soup were as good as we remembered, but the real surprise was the ribs. The ribs! I have been thinking about them ever since. Who knew? My sincere compliments to the chef.

Still, it’s the man I’ll remember most from our return to Shoney’s, a man who I believe has provided me with words I plan to live by in 2020, words we’d all do well to remember and to heed when we feel discouraged, downtrodden, or otherwise encumbered by the vicissitudes of life.

Simply this: “Turn me loose, damn it.”

(Chris Cox is a writer and teacher who lives in Haywood County. jchriscox@live.com)

opinion

didn’t know how much I would miss Shoney’s biscuits and gravy, potato soup, and hot fudge cake until they were torn cruelly away from me a few years ago.

Locals will remember the day when that bright, shining “Shoney’s on the hill” — as we came to call it — was sacrificed on the altar of road improvements. Indeed, the road has improved, especially now that people have more or less learned how to use the roundabout in a way that they have not over in Jackson County, where many drivers continue to struggle with the concept of “yield.”

More importantly, we lost a key part of our family history, Columnist strange as that may seem. Sometime, somehow, Shoney’s had become our default “celebration location” for all kinds of milestones, large and small: birthdays, dance recitals, chorus concerts, band performances, baseball games, you name it. If somebody in the family did something, we would go on up that hill to honor it with hot fudge cakes or sometimes even a full meal. If somebody in the family did something well, we celebrated their accomplishment. If they did it not so well, we consoled ourselves in a soothing blanket of hot fudge.

Since that Shoney’s was torn down, we have tried to replace, but nothing has really worked, so we have just been freelancing for a few years. Naturally, when we heard that Shoney’s was coming back — not far from its original location, on a slightly smaller hill — naturally we rejoiced.

When it seemed to be just about ready to open, we started a pool for the exact date of the grand opening, and we scoured the local papers for more information. But then a strange and terrible thing happened. It just sat there for months, vacant, mostly finished from all external appearances, with nary a truck in the parking lot and nary a soul anywhere about. It seemed abandoned, like some poor dog taken out somewhere and left by its owner. Day after day, week after week, month after month, it just sat there, mute as a stone, a monument to dashed expectations. All it needed was a few tumbleweeds.

Eventually, we gave up on it. We even laughed about it. The great Shoney’s swindle. We made up stories about what might have happened, why someone would build a replica of Shoney’s — a fake news Shoney’s, if you will — and just let it sit there, teasing people on their way to Lowe’s to pick up a hammer or something.

And then, one day, seemingly out of nowhere, “Help Wanted” signs appeared on the curb and a Grand Opening was

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Carver's

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Daily Specials: Soups, Sandwiches & Southern Dishes

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Breakfast : Omelets, Pancakes, Biscuits & Gravy!

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December 11-17, 2019

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

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

Enjoy world famous hot dogs as well as burgers, seafood, hushpuppies, hot wings and chicken. Be sure to save room for dessert.

The cobbler, pie and cake selections are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slow-simmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts.

Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily.

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

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

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

BOOJUM BREWING COMPANY 50 N Main Street, Waynesville.

828.246.0350. Taproom Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday & Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Gem Bar Open Tuesday through Sunday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Enjoy lunch, dinner or drinks at

Boojum’s Downtown Waynesville restaurant & bar. Choose from 16 taps of our fresh, delicious & ever rotating Boojum Beer plus cider, wine & craft cocktails. The taproom features seasonal pub faire including tasty burgers, sandwiches, shareables and daily specials that pair perfectly with our beer. Cozy up inside or take in the mountain air on our back deck."

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE 454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Lunch daily 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner nightly at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Wine Down Wednesday’s: ½ off wine by the bottle. We specialize in handcut, all natural steaks from local farms, incredible burgers, and other classic american comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available.

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

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

CHURCH STREET DEPOT 34 Church Street, downtown Waynesville.

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

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva.

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

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

Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and

craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m.

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

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

828.926.1820 Winter hours: Wednesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet.

Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

EVERETT HOTEL & BISTRO 16 Everett St.,Bryson City. 828.488.1934.

Open daily for dinner at 4:30 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday Brunch from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; dinner from 4:30-9:30 p.m. Serving fresh and delicious weekday morning lite fare, lunch, dinner, and brunch. Freshly prepared menu offerings range from house-made soups & salads, lite fare & tapas, crepes, specialty sandwiches and burgers. Be sure not to miss the bold flavors and creative combinations that make up the daily Chef Supper Specials. Followed by a tempting selection of desserts prepared daily by our chefs and other local bakers. Enjoy craft beers on tap, as well as our full bar and eclectic wine list.

FERRARA PIZZA & PASTA 243 Paragon Parkway, Clyde.

828.476.5058. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 12 to 8 p.m. Real New Yorkers. Real Italians. Real Pizza. A full service authentic Italian pizzeria and restaurant from New York to the Blue Ridge. Dine in, take out, and delivery. Check out our daily lunch specials plus customer appreciation nights on Monday and Tuesday 5 to 9 p.m. with large cheese pizzas for $9.95.

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

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

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828.926.0201 At the Maggie Valley Inn • 70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley

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

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

Closed Tuesday

Sunday 12-9 p.m.

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

tasteTHE mountains Open Mon.-Sat. 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

p.m. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner.

The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St., Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving dinner 5 to 9 p.m.

Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors.

Reservations accepted. www.frogsleappublichouse.com.

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

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

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

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

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

828.586.3555. Open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with Sunday Brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Handtossed pizza, house-ground burgers, steak sandwiches & fresh salmon all from scratch.

Casual family friendly atmosphere. Craft beer and interesting wine. Free movies Thursday through Saturday. Visit madbatterfoodfilm.com for this week’s shows & events.

HAZELWOOD FARMACY & SODA FOUNTAIN 429 Hazelwood Avenue, Waynesville.

828.246.6996. Open six days a week, closed Wednesday. 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday brunch 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Breakfast until noon, old-fashioned luncheonette and diner comfort food.

Historic full service soda fountain.

JOEY'S PANCAKE HOUSE 4309 Soco Rd Maggie Valley.

828.926.0212. Open seven days a week! 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. Joey’s is a family-friendly restaurant that has been serving breakfast to locals and visitors of Western North Carolina for decades. Featuring a large variety of tempting pancakes, golden waffles, country style cured ham and seasonal specials spiked with flavor, Joey's is sure to please all appetites. Join us for what has become a tradition in these parts, breakfast at Joey’s.

JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel.

828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3

MAGGIE VALLEY RESTAURANT 2804 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

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

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

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

Open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. With music at the Depot. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Life is too short for bad coffee. We feature wonderful breakfast and lunch selections. Bagels, wraps, soups, sandwiches, salads and quiche with a variety of specialty coffees, teas and smoothies. Various desserts.

PIGEON RIVER GRILLE 101 Park St., Canton.

828.492.1422. Open Tuesday through Thursday 3 to 8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday noon to 9 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m. Southerninspired restaurant serving simply prepared, fresh food sourced from top purveyors.

Located riverside at Bearwaters Brewing, enjoy daily specials, sandwiches, wings, fish and chips, flatbreads, soups, salads, and more. Be sure to save room for a slice of the delicious house made cake. Relaxing inside/outside dining and spacious gathering areas for large groups.

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley 828.926.0201 Home of the Maggie Valley Pizzeria. We deliver after 4 p.m. daily to all of Maggie Valley, J-Creek area, and Lake Junaluska.

SALTY DOG'S SEAFOOD & GRILL 3567 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

828.926.9105. Open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Full service bar and restaurant located in the center of Maggie Valley.

Featuring daily $6 lunch specials and daily dinner specials such as $1 Taco Tuesdays and 45¢ Wednesday Wings.

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

Open seven days a week. Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Family-owned for 30 years. Serving hand-tossed pizza made to order, pasta, subs, gourmet salads, calzones and seafood.

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

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

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

VITO’S PIZZA 607 Highlands Rd., Franklin.

828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998. Come to Franklin and enjoy our laid back place, a place you can sit back, relax and enjoy our 62” HDTV. Our Pizza dough, sauce, meatballs, and sausage are all made from scratch by Vito. The recipes have been in the family for 50 years (don't ask for the recipes cuz’ you won't get it!) Each Pizza is hand tossed and made with TLC. You're welcome to watch your pizza being created.

WAYNESVILLE PIZZA COMPANY 32 Felmet Street, Waynesville.

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

MON.-SAT. 11AM–8PM

34 CHURCH ST. WAYNESVILLE 828.246.6505 twitter.com/ChurchStDepot

THANK YOU, HAYWOOD COUNTY,

FOR VOTING US

#1 BURGER! facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot

828-246-6996 429 Hazelwood Avenue Waynesville Monday, Tuesday Wednesday Thursday, Friday Saturday Sunday Brunch

7:30am to 4pm Closed 7:30am to 4pm 8am to 4pm 9am to 3pm

AT BEARWATERS BREWING Tue-Thurs 12- 9 p.m • Fri-Sat: 12- 10 p.m.

Sunday: 12- 9 p.m. • Monday: Closed

101 PARK ST. CANTON 828.492.1422 PIGEONRIVERGRILLE.COM

Wine • Port • Champagne Cigars • Gifts

828-452-6000

20 Church Street Downtown Waynesville

Smoky Mountain News

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

Open for dinner at 4:30 Tuesday through Sunday. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads.

All ABC permits and open year-round.

Children always welcome. Take-out menu.

Excellent service and hospitality.

Reservations appreciated.

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

828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine.

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

SAGEBRUSH STEAKHOUSE 1941 Champion Drive, Canton 828.646.3750 895 Russ Ave., Waynesville 828.452.5822. Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Carry out available.

Sagebrush features hand carved steaks, chicken and award winning BBQ ribs. We have fresh salads, seasonal vegetables and scrumptious deserts. Extensive selection of local craft beers and a full bar. Catering special events is one of our specialties.

December 11-17, 2019

HARMON’S DEN BISTRO 250 Pigeon St., Waynesville 828.456.6322. Harmon’s Den is located in the Fangmeyer Theater at HART. Open 5:309 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday (Bistro closes at 7:30 p.m. on nights when there is a show in the Fangmeyer Theater) with Sunday brunch at 11 a.m. that includes breakfast and lunch items. Harmon’s Den offers a complete menu with cocktails, wine list, and area beers on tap. Enjoy casual dining with the guarantee of making it to the performance in time, then rub shoulders with the cast afterward with post-show food and beverage service. Reservations recommended. www.harmonsden.harttheatre.org

Monday through Wednesday: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. country buffet and salad bar from 5 to 9 p.m. $11.95 with Steve Whiddon on piano.

Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11:30 to 8 p.m. 11:30 to 3 p.m. family style, fried chicken, ham, fried fish, salad bar, along with all the fixings, $11.95.

Check out our events and menu at rendezvousmaggievalley.com

classicwineseller.com MONDAY - SATURDAY

10:00AM - 6:00PM

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Smoky Mountain News

Making the connection Orchard Coffee welcomes popular songwriters

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER ast Saturday evening at Orchard Coffee in Waynesville, two nationally acclaimed singer-songwriters stepped in front of microphones and projected their captivating voices and lyrical aptitude to a silent, spellbound audience.

“I like having that personal connection in a place like this — there’s such a feeling in here,” said Israel Nebeker. “I was rehearing for the show tonight in my hotel room earlier, and I was thinking back on some these songs I wrote, and those coffee shops I played when I was starting out — it’s really a full circle thing.”

Lead singer/guitarist of wildly popular indie act Blind Pilot, Nebeker took part in the solo acoustic showcase alongside Ryan O’Keefe, singer/guitarist for rapidly rising folk group River Whyless.

The two musicians played to a sold-out crowd of around 40 on a chilly December night — shop windows fogged up, with hands wrapped around hot cups of coffee and espresso.

“A setting like this is really freeing and exhilarating because you’re up there by yourself, with nobody looking at you over your back like in a band setup,” O’Keefe said. “And as a songwriter, I feel sometimes the words — and emotions behind the words — can get lost in the bigger production of things, where you’re trying to make enough noise as a band.”

The duo, friends of Orchard co-owner Cabell Tice, were the second show hosted by

L

Nebeker was passing through Western North Carolina en route to his home in Astoria, Oregon. He had recently completed a songwriting retreat by himself in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York. O’Keefe hails from just down the road in Asheville. Both of their bands have made waves in the music industry in recent years, with each ensemble currently working on albums aimed for a 2020 release.

“Songwriting is about making a brighter world,” O’Keefe said. “And so, I think the songwriter just kind of enhances life a little bit.”

Within the performance, O’Keefe and Nebeker were joined by Tice, also an accomplished singer-songwriter. In a round robin fashion, the trio rotated through their poignant material. Soon after, O’Keefe and Nebeker held court separately, rolling through solo works and signature melodies from their beloved bands.

“I’ve always approached Ryan O’Keefe of River Whyless performing last weekend at Orchard Coffee in Waynesville. (photo: Cabell Tice) songwriting in a way that’s the shop, which has quickly become a wel- up to and admire,” Tice said. “So, to have an deeply personal, hoping that the tunes can be comed addition to the town since its opening opportunity to put these great artists in a room deeply personal for other people by having a earlier this year. Orchard plans to feature more like this for people who are fans of them, who message that’s universal,” Nebeker said. “So, might not ever get a chance to see them in whatever triumphs and struggles you might musical events regularly.

“I love sharing music with people, and I space with 30 or 40 people — it’s pretty cool, have, there is somebody that’s going to hear that and connect with it.” have connections with artists that I really look and that’s what it’s all about.”

Coffee shop gets national recognition Orchard Coffee in downtown Waynesville was recently recognized as one of “The Best Coffee Shops in America: 2019” by Food & Wine magazine.

“Getting the honor shows us that we’ve done something really special, not just for ourselves, but for the community, too,” said Orchard co-owner Cabell Tice. “There’s a lot of different coffee shops that do a lot of different things, but I think we have a couple of things that set us apart from other places — we love it.”

Ranked No. 4 in the nation — with number one through three located in Brooklyn, New York; Los Angeles and Santa Cruz, California — Orchard has only been in operation since late spring. Since its launch, you’d be hard-pressed to find a seat in the busy, yet cozy, establishment.

“I’ve always been a people person and I think that everybody is worth investing into, everybody deserves a chance to feel seen. We treat everybody who comes into our door with kindness,” Tice said.

“We’ve gotten so much community support already and we’re sincerely grateful for all of our customers who come in and feel at home here.”

Tice and his extended family (which runs the entire business) found Waynesville by happenstance, only to fall in love with the community — ultimately deciding to extensively renovate the three-story art deco building where the shops stands today.

“When we showed up here, we wanted to add something to this town and to the landscape of the town. Small towns like Waynesville were in a decline for a long time in our country, but that’s all changing,” Tice said. “It’s taken a little bit of belief from people from all over to show up in these towns, to invest in them by putting in businesses that work for the community — we’re all in this together.”

— By Garret K. Woodward

(photo: Brindley Faile)

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

Phish, Charleston. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)

Can’t I live while I’m young?

Country music legend LeAnn Rimes will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

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Smoky Mountain News

t was about halfway into the quirky tune “My Sweet One” when the memories started to flood my field of Susanna Shetley, author of the recently published vision. There I was this past picture book, The Jolt Felt Around the World, will Sunday, surrounded by a sea be hosting an event from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, of over 13,000 people, while Dec. 14, at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville. our band Phish played Arnold Hill will be hitting the stage at 8 p.m. onstage in Charleston, South Friday, Dec. 13, at the Lazy Hiker Brewing Carolina. taproom in Sylva.

Just like the Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers “A Night Before Christmas” downtown holiday and The Rolling Stones, Phish celebration will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, was a musical entity that had Dec. 14, in Waynesville. (and still does have) a massive The youth drama group Kids at HART will presimpact on my musical exploent “Holly Jolly Christmas” at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 rations and appreciation. and 2 p.m. Dec. 15, 21-22 at the Haywood Arts Growing up in the North Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

Country (Upstate New York), folks pretty much come out of the womb with a Phish album then, before streaming services and such. I in hand. It’s just part of the culture, landvividly remember when “Farmhouse” came scape, attitude and lifestyle of the area, seeout in 2000 and this kid in our high school ing as the band started just across Lake who got the first copy in town — all of us Champlain in Burlington, Vermont.

Phish Phreaks jealousy watching him walk I remember being a kid and somebody putdown the hallway with his headphones on, ting on Phish’s 1990 masterpiece album blasting the latest word from our melodic “Lawn Boy” on my parent’s bitchin’ living messengers. room stereo. Cranking the huge volume Partway through the first set in knob, we soaked in the tunes, whether it be Charleston, the quartet pushed into “The “Reba,” “Run Like Antelope” or “Bouncing Curtain,” a storied tune in Phish lore. My Around the Room.” I was young, probably initial encounter with the song performed around 11 or 12, but I felt something shift live was through the extended version within me. I’d never heard music like that known as “The Curtain With,” which was at before — all I knew was that I wanted to the “you had to be there” mess that was the hear more.

Coventry festival in 2004. On a muddy farm A new Phish album was a big deal back

LIVE MUSIC

December 11-17, 2019

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arts & entertainment

This must be the place

in rural Vermont, I attended (what we thought was) the last Phish show with my ex-girlfriend, everyone stuck in the muck thinking our band was done forever.

Kicking off the encore in Charleston, the quartet rolled into “Pebbles and Marbles” from its 2002 release “Round Room.” I was a senior in high school when that album first appeared in the car stereos of our crappy adolescent vehicles.

When “Round Room” came out, my cronies and I skipped school and drove to the nearby record store to buy it, only to cruise around the backroads of Upstate New York, smoking joints and blasting the record, trying to pick it apart and simply immersing ourselves in it.

That following summer in 2003, I was now just a couple weeks away from leaving my hometown for college some 300 miles away. At the last minute, my best friend, Ben, and I took off for Phish’s IT festival in northern Maine.

We drove 12 hours to the gig without tickets (crazy long story) and somehow snuck into the festival by hiding underneath hot dog buns in a bread truck that was going in the service entrance (we traded the driver some weed to give us a ride).

I vividly remember “Pebbles and Marbles” at IT, myself standing in the midst of tens of thousands, realizing that once I left for college that nothing would ever be the same. The line in the sand between my childhood and adulthood was right in front of me, and so were the unknowns of leaving everything familiar behind in hopes of discovering something of greater intrinsic value.

And then there were all those random shows throughout my adult life: Knoxville, Saratoga, Essex, Darien Lake, etc. But, last year was a big one, finally seeing the group in Colorado at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

I wasn’t even planning on going. But, the week of the shows I had found myself back in the Grand Tetons of Eastern Idaho, a place I called home fresh out of college. I hadn’t been back there in a decade. A surreal and cathartic travel experience, I ended up reconnecting with an old friend out there, my buddy Dave.

And as I was trying to find a way to get back to Denver (to fly back to Asheville), Dave was headed to the Mile High City that same day for Phish. I jumped into his van and we took off for Colorado, but not before I sent a last-minute press pass request for Phish at Dick’s — a serendipitous concert that brought the trip out west full circle in my quest to find myself again.

Walking out of the North Charleston Coliseum in Sunday, I realized with my 35th birthday right around the corner, I’ve followed Phish in a live setting for just about half of my life, listening to them for around two-thirds of my existence.

It’s wild to think of all the time that has passed, those countless memories with loved ones seeing this band of weird and incredible musicians bringing together all of us weird and incredible people. And yet, the experience has never come across as nostalgic — it’s always growing and evolving, and from both sides of the microphone.

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

Dec 28 | Bluegrass Jam | 6-9 PM Appalachian Smoke Food Truck

25

arts & entertainment

On the beat Mountain Winds holiday concert

Balsam Range offers ‘Gospel Collection’

The Mountain Winds Community Band will present a concert of your holiday favorites at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, in the Coulter Recital Hall on the campus of Western Carolina University.

Under the direction of Jon Henson and Bob Buckner, The Mountain Winds was founded in 2009. The group is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and looks forward to sharing in some Holiday cheer with all those who attend.

Comprised from members of Jackson and surrounding counties and students from WCU and various high schools in the area the group meets once a week to prepare concerts throughout the year.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

Sylva First Methodist holiday services The First United Methodist Church of Sylva will hold two Candlelight Services on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24.

At the 6 p.m. service, music will be led by the church’s Praise Band. There will be a nursery available for babies and toddlers.

At the 11 p.m. service, music will be led by the church’s Cancel Choir.

Since this service will end after midnight, it will provide an opportunity to be the first to greet Christmas day.

Communion will be offered at both services.

First United Methodist Church is located at 77 Jackson Street in downtown Sylva. 828.586.2358.

Balsam Range.

Acclaimed bluegrass group Balsam Range has reliably featured gospel songs on each of their nine albums, making them an integral part of the band’s sound and a reflection of the members’ personal faith.

Now, they’ve released “The Gospel Collection,” an album that features the very best of those recordings released in just over a decade.Twice named International Bluegrass Music Association “Entertainer of the Year,” Balsam Range has built their reputation not only on stel-

Arnold Hill album release shows Americana/rock act Arnold Hill will be hitting the stage at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, at the Lazy Hiker Brewing taproom in Sylva.

The band will also perform at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Nantahala Brewing outpost in Sylva; and at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, at Elevated Mountain Distilling in Maggie Valley.

With its brand new debut album, “Back to Life,” Arnold Hill sets to change the tone and tempo of what folks might expect on a given night onstage at their nearby bars and breweries in our mountain communities.

lar live performances, but on countless number one radio singles and albums.

And throughout their ascent in the genre, gospel music has been not just a staple, but an essential thread running through the quintet’s entire catalog.

“The Gospel Collection” includes songs that range from the traditional to the original, emerging over time to create a special collection that is both nostalgic and progressive. This album harkens back to familiar paths, yet also keeps pace with the times.

Included are songs familiar to the canon like “The Boat of Love,” “Cryin’ Holy Unto the Lord” and “I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling.”

But it is Balsam Range’s knack for bringing fresh music to bluegrass that has propelled their careers, and their choices in recording gospel music are no exception. The result is the inclusion of “Wide River to Cross,” “Rise and Shine,” “Row by Row” and the awarded a capella “Stacking Up the Rocks.” They even cross genres to include the Southern Gospel hit, “Wish You Were Here.”

Arnold Hill.

Formed in 2011, the Jackson County band is named after a road in Sylva where the musicians lived and practiced. In method, Arnold Hill adheres to the playful nature and creative possibilities that reside in a trio.

The unique formation can be a tricky line to balance, where you have enough space to explore musically, but also the same amount of space to expose vulnerabilities.

For more information on the group, visit www.arnoldhillband.com. You can purchase/stream “Back to Life” on all online streaming services.

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On the beat

Country music legend LeAnn Rimes will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

Rimes is an internationally multi-platinum selling acclaimed singer and ASCAP award-winning songwriter. At 14, Rimes won “Best New Artist” making her the youngest recipient of a Grammy Award.

Globally, she has sold more than 44 million albums, won two Grammy Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, two World Music Awards, three Academy of Country Music Awards, one Country Music Association Award and one Dove Award.

Recently, she inked a worldwide deal with RCA UK who recently released her 16th studio album, “Remnants.” The album dropped in 2017 in the U.S. and debuted at # 4 on Billboard’s Independent Album Chart and peaked at #3 on iTunes overall charts in its first week.

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

• Boojum Brewing Company (Waynesville) will host a bluegrass open mic every Wednesday, an all-genres open mic every Thursday and ‘Round the Fire (jam/folk) Dec. 13. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.boojumbrewing.com.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night Dec. 11 and 18, a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo Dec. 12 and 19, Jazzy Christmas Party 7 p.m. Dec. 19 and Shane Meade 5 p.m. Dec. 22. All events are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com.

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

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

Tickets start at $35 with VIP seating available. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.524.1598 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com.

Hannah Kaminer (country/folk) 7 p.m. Dec. 11, Eric Lee & Andy Ferrell (Americana/folk) 7 p.m. Dec. 12, Ward Hayden & The Outliers (alt-country/Americana) 8:30 p.m. Dec. 13, AmiciMusic (Americana/classical) 7 p.m.

Dec. 14, Matt Nakoa Band w/Logan Marie (acoustic/rock) 8:30 p.m. Dec. 14, Bob Sinclair & The Big Deals (Americana/swing) 6 p.m. Dec. 15, Celtic Christmas w/The Reel Sisters 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15, Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions w/Cane Mill Road 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17 and Haegtessa (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Dec. 18. www.isisasheville.com.

• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host Ronnie Evans Dec. 13-14, Dirty Dave Dec. 20 and George James Dec. 21.

Shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. www.rathskellerfranklin.com.

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

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will

• The Ugly Dog Pub (Cashiers) will host Bluegrass Thursdays w/Benny Queen at 6:30 p.m. and Hustle Souls 9 p.m. Dec. 31 • The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host Bluegrass w/Nitrograss Wednesdays at 7 p.m., April B. & The Cool 9:30 p.m. Dec. 13 and The UpBeats 9:30 Dec. 20.

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

828.456.4750.

• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host Doug Ramsay 5:30 p.m. Dec. 13 and 20. Free and open to the public. 828.743.6000 or www.whitesidebrewing.com.

ALSO:

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host an open mic night at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday, Dustin Martin Dec. 13, Cougar Convention Dec. 14 and Natti Love Joys Dec. 21. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Arnold Hill Dec. 13, Somebody’s Child Dec. 14, Jelly Beet Connection Dec. 20 and Robert Ferguson Dec. 21. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

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

828.926.9464 or www.facebook.com/legendssportsgrillmaggievalley.

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• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Breakfast Cigarette Dec. 14 and Circle Verse Dec. 21. All events are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Mad Anthony’s Taproom & Restaurant (Waynesville) will host Kayo Bacey (rap) 8 p.m. Dec. 13. All shows are free and open to the public. 828.246.9249.

Call us today to learn more at (828) 476-8219 or visit us at:

• Isis Music Hall (West Asheville) will host

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will

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Smoky Mountain News

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Penny Pinchers Dec. 13, Mindframe Dec. 14 and Geoff McBride & Scott Baker Dec. 21. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com.

• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host The Valley Below Dec. 13 and Arnold Hill Dec. 14.

All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com.

• The Strand at 38 Main (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic” night from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. There will also be a special holiday show with flutist Linda Metz & guitarist Dave Stewart at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14, with tickets available for $8. 828.283.0079 or www.38main.com.

December 11-17, 2019

• Andrews Brewing Company (Andrews) will host the “Lounge Series” at its Calaboose location with Zoo Trippin’ Dec. 14, George Ausman 4 p.m. Dec. 15, The Trailer Hippies Dec. 21, Scott Stambaugh 4 p.m. Dec. 22 and Robert Ferguson Dec. 23. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

LeAnn Rimes.

host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic at 6 p.m. on Thursdays and live music on Friday evenings. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com.

arts & entertainment

Franklin welcomes LeAnn Rimes

host the “Stone Soup” open mic night every Tuesday, Scott James Stambaugh (singersongwriter) Dec. 13, Bird in Hand (Americana/folk) Dec. 14, Aly Jordan (singer-songwriter) Dec. 20 and Somebody’s Child (Americana) Dec. 21. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.

Dr. John Highsmith 27

arts & entertainment

Crafted in Carolina

On the street

Local Art & Jewelry

Polar Express returns

We Love Our Locals Sale Continues!

10 am-5pm Wednesday thru Saturday!

Great deals on

The Polar Express train excursion hits the tracks through Dec. 31 at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad train depot in Bryson City.

In 1985, Chris Van Allsburg wrote The Polar Express, a story of a magical train ride on Christmas Eve. The train takes a young boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa Claus.

The excursion comes to life as the train departs the Bryson City depot for a journey through the quiet wilderness for a special visit at the North Pole. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, guests on board will enjoy warm cocoa and a treat while listening and reading along with the magical story. Santa will also be onboard to meet and greet with children and guests.

Ticket prices begin at $42 for adults, $28 for children and free for infants. Prices vary for all groups with other trip packages. For more information or to purchase tickets: 800.872.4681 or www.gsmr.com.

Art & Jewelry for every budget!

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December 11-17, 2019

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‘A Night Before Christmas’

Cookie sale to benefit homeless

The annual downtown holiday celebration, “A Night Before Christmas” will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, in Waynesville.

Hundreds of Luminaries, live music, clogging, church choirs, Santa & Mrs. Claus, storytelling, holiday treats and beverages, and much more.

For a full list of participants and events, visit www.downtownwaynesville.com or call 828.456.3517.

The Episcopal Church Women of Grace Church in the Mountains will be selling a variety of homemade Christmas goodies from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the church in Waynesville.

Lighten your gift-giving load with a tin of homemade cookies, candy or something salty and savory. Give something made with love while supporting those less fortunate.

All proceeds will benefit Pathways Center. 828.456.6029.

‘Lights & Luminaries’ returns to Dillsboro The 36th annual “Lights & Luminaries” will return to the streets of downtown Dillsboro from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 13-14.

Experience the magic as the entire town is transformed into a winter wonderland of lights, candles, laughter and song. Over 2,500 luminaries light your way to shops and studios. Horse and buggy rides available each night. Shopkeepers provide live music and serve holiday treats with hot cider and cocoa. Carolers sing and children visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Live Nativity at Jarrett Memorial Baptist Church.

Free shuttle service from Monteith Park.

For more information, visit www.visitdillsboro.org.

Nick Breedlove photo

• “Otto Children’s Christmas Party” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, at the Otto Community Center. Games, prizes, caroling, crafts, photos with Santa, and more. Sponsored by the Otto Community Development Organization.

ALSO:

• The “Polar Express” will depart on select times through Dec. 31 from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot. For more information on departures or to purchase tickets, visit www.gsmr.com.

On the street

PEACE LOVE

NEW YEAR’S EVE

arts & entertainment

Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

AT The

Rendezvous RESTAURANT & LOUNGE

At the Maggie Valley Inn

139

$

Cherokee Heritage Day

On the table Bosu’s tastings, small plates

NO ROOM

Hors d’Oeuvres Buffet 9 p.m.– Midnight Midnight Champagne Toast

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

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

• A free wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 12 and 19, and 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 14 and 21 at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva.

828.631.3075.

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

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

ALSO:

Dancing and Party Favors Midnight Breakfast Buffet

MUSIC BY

Super 60's

band

70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley 828.926.0201

Smoky Mountain News

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

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

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

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

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

PER PERSON December 11-17, 2019

The monthly “Cherokee Heritage Day” will continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

All day hands-on activities and fun for the whole family. Different activities each month that incorporate Cherokee culture, including storytelling, painting, corn shuck doll making, making clay heart-shaped medallions, stamped card making, dance or music.

Free and open to the public. The “Cherokee Heritage Day” is the second Saturday of every month. For more information, visit www.visitcherokeenc.com.

PER COUPLE

INCLUDES ROOM

35

$

29

arts & entertainment

On the wall

HCC Professional Crafts holiday sale Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts students will host a holi-

day craft sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, in the Mary Cornwell Gallery of the Creative Arts Building.

The sale will feature work by students in fiber, jewelry, clay and woodworking. Pieces available at the holiday sale showcase students’ technical skills learned in the program as well as their individual style and creativity.

HCC’s Professional Crafts programs offer an innovative, affordable, groundbreaking craft education. Through a unique blend of studio experience, classroom education and hands-on business experience, students can achieve the skills necessary to become viable independent studio artists or to become valuable, skilled employees in the expanding craft industry.

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

Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

‘It’s a Small, Small Work’ exhibit ‘Pop-Up Art Gallery’ The “Pop-Up Art Gallery” will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, at the Viva Arts Studio in Sylva.

The gallery is a blending of tradition and modernity in cultural groups. The exhibition will feature artists of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds who offer perspectives on the blending of tradition, culture and modernity from a variety of contexts and experiences.

This project is supported by The N.C. Arts Council and Jackson County Arts Council.

• The “Mistletoe Market” will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Swain Recreation Center in Bryson City.

Local crafters and artisans, with proceeds benefiting the Swain West Elementary PTO. • A showing of new works and a series of prints by Jenean Hornbuckle is currently on display at the Rotunda Gallery in the Sylva library. The show will be up through Jan. 7.

The gallery is open library hours, Monday through Saturday. For more information about the event or the Rotunda Gallery space, contact the Jackson County Arts Council at info@jacksoncountyarts.org or 828.507.9820.

• “Paint & Sip Winter Scene” class will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at 30 Mountain Layers Brewing in Bryson City. For

$30 you get all the supplies and instruction you need to create your own winter scene painting to bring home. sign up in advance by texting WNC Paint Events at 828.400.9560.

• “Glass Ornament Classes” will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Time slots will last 30 minutes and participants will make one ornament in that time.

Glasswork available for pickup 48 hours after class. Fee is $35 per time slot.

Payment due at registration. To register, call 828.631.0271.

ALSO:

• “Wine Glass Painting Party” will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Andrews

The Haywood County Arts Council annual show, “It’s a Small, Small Work,” will be held through Jan. 4 in HCAC Gallery & Gifts in Waynesville.

The 2019 exhibit will feature 60 artists and almost 240 individual works of art for sale.

The show provides a unique opportunity for budding artists to exhibit their work, as well as the opportunity for more seasoned artists to test their boundaries.

All pieces submitted are exactly 12” or smaller in every dimension, including base, matting, and frame. All artwork is for sale, priced at $300 or less, and must have been created in the last two years. Commission will be the gallery’s usual 60 percent (artist) to 40 percent (HCAC) split.

The Haywood County Arts Council’s small work show was launched in 2008 to demonstrate that original artwork is affordable and fun. Most businesses, homes and apartments can accommodate smaller works of art — and the show promotes buying local and regional work to help support artists in Western North Carolina.

For more information, www.haywoodarts.org or 828.452.0593.

Brewing Company in Andrews.

828.550.6190 or email bmk.morgan@yahoo.com.

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

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

The exhibit will run through April.

• The Weekly Open Studio art classes will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville, Instructor will be Betina Morgan. Open to all artists, at any stage of development, and in the medium of your choice. Cost is $25 per class. There will also be a Youth Art Class from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. on Wednesdays. Cost is $15 per class. Contact Morgan at

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

HPAC ‘Live via Satellite’

arts & entertainment

‘Miracle on 34th Street’

The Highlands Performing Arts Center will present a screening of the National Theatre of London’s production of “Small Island” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14.

Andrea Levy’s Orange Prize-winning novel Small Island comes to life in an epic new theatre adaptation. Small Island embarks on a journey from Jamaica to Britain, through the Second World War to 1948 — the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury.

The play follows three intricately connected stories. Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. Hope and humanity meet stubborn reality as the play traces the tangled history of Jamaica and the UK. As part of depicting the experience of Jamaican immigrants to Britain after the Second World War, at times characters in the play use language which is racially offensive.

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

‘Holly Jolly Christmas’

Holiday Gifts...

Can’t go wrong with Jewelry!

ALSO:

• There is free comedy improv class from 7 to 9 p.m. every Thursday at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. No experience necessary, just come to watch or join in the fun. Improv teacher Wayne Porter studied at Sak Comedy Lab in Orlando, Florida, and performed improvisation with several groups. Join Improv WNC on Facebook or call 828.316.8761.

We have Ginger Snaps!

How fun! They’re interchangeable!

Smoky Mountain News

Kids at HART, the youth drama group at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre, will present “Holly Jolly Christmas” at 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 13 and 2 p.m. Dec. 15, 21-22 at HART in Waynesville.

Celebrate the holidays with Kids at HART. You will definitely leave in the spirit of Christmas. Joining the Kids will be Master of Ceremonies Glenn Arnette and performers Stephen Gonya, Jerri Harris and James Bice.

Let the magic of the season surround you with song and excitement.

To make reservations, visit www.harttheatre.org or call 828.456.6322.

• The “Singing Christmas Card” show will be presented by the Overlook Theatre Company at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit www.greatmountainmusic.com or call 828.524.1598.

A special holiday stage production of the classic “Miracle on 34th Street” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13-14, 16, 20-21 and at 4 p.m. Dec. 15 and 22 at the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre in Bryson City.

By chance, Kris Kringle, an old man in a retirement home, gets a job working as Santa for Macy’s. Kris unleashes waves of good will with Macy’s customers and the commercial world of New York City by referring parents to other stores to find exactly the toy their child has asked for.

Seen as deluded and dangerous by

Macy’s vocational counselor, who plots to have Kris shanghaied to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, Kris ends up in a court competency hearing. Especially at stake is one little girl’s belief in Santa. In a dramatic decision, the court confirms Kris as the true Santa, allowing Susan and countless other children to experience the joy of childhood fantasy.

Box office opens one-hour before show time. Only cash is accepted at the door.

There will be a 15-minute intermission with locally made goodies. All concessions are $1. For more information, visit www.smctheatre.com.

Admission is $14 for adults, $8 for children under 17. For advance tickets, click on smctheatre.eventbrite.com.

December 11-17, 2019

s

On the stage

facebook.com/smnews affairsoftheheartnc.com

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arts & entertainment

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Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

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Books

Smoky Mountain News

33

Walking ancient pathways with a gifted writer rowing up, one of my favorite books was H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. In Robert MacFarlane’s The Old Ways, instead of taking us into the distant future, he takes us into the ancient past. He sets off to follow the ancient routes that crisscross both the British landscape and beyond — to the chalk downs of England to the bird islands of the Scottish northwest (and the ‘fells’ where he calls home), from Palestine to the sacred landscapes of Spain and the Himalayas that were traveled by peoWriter ple who only traveled on foot or in crude sailing vessels.

He takes us on foot to places where we are treated to first-hand and on-site details of the land and the landscapes where ancient peoples have trod, lived and fought. “Humans are animals and like all animals we leave tracks as we walk: signs of passage made in snow, sand, mud, grass, dew, earth or moss. The language of hunting has a luminous word for such mark-making: ‘foil.’ A creature’s ‘foil’ is its track. We easily forget that we are track-makers, though, because most of our journeys now occur on asphalt and concrete,” MacFarlane begins his book, and then goes on to propose: “For some time now it has seemed to me that the two questions we should ask of any strong landscape are these: firstly, what do I know when I am in this place that I can know nowhere else? And then, vainly, what does this place know of me that I cannot know of myself?”

MacFarlane’s Scottish brogue and cordial Celto-familiar and unselfconsciously lyrical language puts one in a mindset of being a native of the places and paths he ventures.

“Through the action of water, a hairline crack over time therefore becomes a runnel, which becomes a fracture site, which becomes an escarpment edge,” he writes as we walk with him on an unplanned and spontaneous journey to the wadi hills and plains near Ramalla and the West Bank region of Palestine.

Thomas Crowe

G

Where, as he says, “the rain made the marly soil sticky as treacle and where everything here, including botany, is political.” Or as his

Palestinian friend says, “I look forward to a time when the landscape of my own country has been demilitarized and we in Palestine are able to regard the artifacts of war as museum objects, rather than as live threats.” Here MacFarlane wanders with his friend Raja in

New children’s book about global warming Susanna Shetley, author of the recently published picture book, The Jolt Felt Around the World, will be hosting an event from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville.

A Smoky Mountain News writer and marketing specialist, Shetley was inspired to create the book by a conversation with her two sons one morning as they drove through car line.

The three had listened to an NPR piece on the Paris Climate

what the Palestinian natives call a sarha, which loosely means “to wander,” but has a deeper meaning of being “a walking pilgrimage” and thus having connotations of sauntering or rambling while also connoting a more spiritual journey. He also takes us on a quick trip to Spain along the Camino de Santiago or the old pilgrim routes stretching across Europe and coming together on the old roads to Santiago, which has been the place of pilgrimages for centuries. But the main thrust of MacFarlane’s journeying is done in Great Britain and the histories and landscapes he knows by heart.

Knowing something “by heart” also means knowing it by word. And if MacFarlane is precocious at anything it is with words and language as indicated not only in this book but in his other books such as The Wild Places and The Lost Words. In The Old Ways we are introduced to a plethora of new words and phrases from the Scots language that flow like music from MacFarlane’s

Agreement when her younger son asked, “If we keep putting more and more trash on the earth, will she fall from the sky?” That day, Shetley wrote the first draft of the book.

She later partnered with illustrator Krystal Smith. Wisdom House Books in Chapel Hill published the book. The Jolt Felt Around the World is a timely story and not only highlights global warming but also acceptance, forgiveness and compassion.

The event is free to the public and includes refreshments and an art activity for kids. Blue Ridge Books is located at 428 Hazelwood Avenue in Waynesville.

To learn more, visit www.susannashetleyauthor.com. The book is

pen — including lines from well-known Scottish folk and gospel songs. “The blue islands are pullin’ me away/Their laughter puts the leap upon the lame;/The blue islands from the Skerries to the Lewis/Wi’ heather honey taste upon each name.” And there are descriptive phrases using words like ghillies, plunge-pots, stances, reavers, bindlestiffs, wildlings, wrack-lines, cairns, cloud cauls, waves moshed and milked, corries and caves ... “with history issuing from geography in the same way that water issues from a spring unpredictably but site-specifically.” In his section on the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, he speaks of the water there as whalebacks and the small waves as swithered and the turbulent water as jabbly. “We think of paths as existing only on land, but the sea has it’s paths too,” MacFarlane says. Or as he explains and describes his experience of sailing a slight skiff in the Atlantic between the islands of Lewis to St Kilda: “All maritime cultures have lore about objects and substances that are thrown into the seas to calm them when a craft is in danger. Ale, oil or blood are poured overboard to soothe the waves. Coins, bodies, swords, screeds of wool of gansey are yielded to sate the maelstrom.”

This book is a geo-journey as well as a journey into poetic and descriptive language.

And as a writer and one who has done his fair share of traveling that includes the mainland and the coastal regions of Scotland and Great Britain, I have relished my time on both these journeys on the old pathways with Robert MacFarlane. For those with an adventurous spirit, or those looking to expand their horizons of historical terra firma and a new CeltoEuropean lingua franca, this book qualifies as a must-read. Or, as the well-known nature writer Rick Bass says in his endorsement for The Old Ways: “Luminous ... dreamlike ... hypervigilant. Each sentence can carry an astonishing discovery.”

Thomas Crowe is a regular contributor to Smoky Mountain News. He is the author of Driving the Green Road: Poems from Scotland, Ireland & Wales published in 2019 by Ghost Pony Press in Madison, Wisconsin. He lives in the Tuckasegee community in Jackson County and can be reached at newnativepress@hotmail.com

also available at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, from the author’s website, and through online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart.

• Monthly Poetry Reading at Panacea Coffeehouse in Waynesville. Last Saturdays every month at 2 p.m. Bring your poetry, essays and writings to share. Be sure to order drinks and snacks and tip the staff of Panacea. For more information, contact Morella Poe at poevampyre@gmail.com.

ALSO:

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Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

Participants in WCU’s summer archeology field school work on the Norton Field site. WCU photo

Two Sparrows Town WCU renames renovated collections facility in honor of Cherokee past

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ong before the creation of Western Carolina University, the state of North Carolina or the U.S. Constitution, the valley now known as Cullowhee bore the name Tali Tsisgwayahi — in Cherokee, it meant “Two Sparrows Town.”

Now, that name has returned to a portion of the 600-acre campus with the formal dedication of the Two Sparrows Town Archeological Collections Curation Facility, held Thursday, Dec. 6, at the facility on the ground floor of McKee Building.

“This facility is unique because it stands in the middle of the ancient town and holds collections of Two Sparrows,” Brett Riggs, who holds a doctorate and is the Sequoia Distinguished Professor of Cherokee Studies at WCU, told the approximately 75 people gathered for the event. “Dedicating this facility and naming it Two Sparrows Town, we are bringing that identity back to Western Carolina so that we can celebrate that collectively.”

L

A PLACE IN HISTORY The renaming was the result of a full year of conversation and collaboration between the university and the tribe, with Tribal

Council unanimously approving a resolution during its March 14 meeting to authorize the renaming and the proposed rendering of the Cherokee name.

According to the resolution, a series of letters that Assistant Principal Chief Charles R. Hicks wrote to future Chief John Ross in 1826 relate a migration story from the 1770s that concludes with the Cherokee settling at a place called the Two Sparrows, located near the head of the Tuckasegee River. Another elder giving testimony in the 1830s said that Two Sparrows was a holy place whose surrounding hills were said to contain large villages of immortals. Ethnographer James Mooney in 1887 recorded Cherokee sources who referred to the mound and ancient town on what is now WCU’s central campus as “a place typified by sparrows” — the places described by Mooney and Hicks appear to be the same and were located at the current site of WCU, the resolution states.

“The mound that was the center of town was maybe 150 yards away from here at one time,” said Riggs.

The newly renamed facility, Tali Tsisgwayahi — it sounds like tahli gee squa ya hee — refers only to the ground floor of a single building on campus, but to tribal members who spoke at the dedication the name’s significance expands beyond the building’s physical boundaries.

“It just doesn’t mean a geographical location,” said Tom Belt, a member of the Cherokee Nation and retired coordinator of WCU’s Cherokee language program. “It’s a

place in the history of our people. It’s a place in the history of our hearts and minds and it’s a place in the future of our children and grandchildren. It will always be that. It doesn’t matter if we change it to Cullowhee or Jackson County or the United States of America or North Carolina for more than 8,000 years. It has been Tali Tsisgwayahi, the Two Sparrows Place.”

UNCOVERING THE PAST The history of relations between indigenous people and the American government is a sordid one, with few pleasant chapters. But Joyce Dugan, former Principal Chief of the

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and a current member of the WCU Board of Trustees, said that both the tribe and the university are now benefiting from the positive relationship that the two entities have fostered in recent years, even as tribal members’ cultural awareness and political power have grown.

“Most of this university has been built over a Cherokee town,” she said. “We didn’t know it, and you didn’t know it, because back in the day it didn’t matter. But because of this (cultural) Renaissance or revolution, we know it now and we don’t allow it anymore. We don’t allow buildings to be put up without consultation with us and with other tribes as well. And so I’m happy today to see this because this is something I’ve hoped for, for many years, that there could be a better partnership between this university and the tribe.”

An example of this relatively new cultural awareness at work is the excavation of a 10acre site on campus earlier this year, known as Norton Field. The university plans to cover it with fill dirt and level the surface to build intramural athletic fields, but first students at WCU’s summer archeology field school examined four rectangular excavation pits to extract and catalogue any elements of Cherokee history that might be found there.

In total, the students and faculty working the site recovered 1,465 ceramic shards and 1,290 chipped stone artifacts. An additional 22 possible cultural features were identified, including 18 possible posts, three possible pit features and a large rock cluster or earth oven.

Five of the 22 features, including the rock cluster, were excavated.

The work is not done.

“Ongoing excavations are being conducted

by TRC (Environmental Corporation) and Western Carolina archeologists and students and have revealed evidence of multiple house patterns and features,” reads a research poster hanging outside

F

Joyce Dugan, former Cherokee chief and current member of the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees, speaks at the dedication ceremony. Holly Kays photo

EVENT WITH CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR

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Art activity, giveaway, book signing, & more!

COMPLETELASERCLINIC.COM [828] 482-5030 ASHEVILLE & MURPHY OFFICES

Students make use of the study room at the Two Sparrows Town Archeological Collections Curation Facility. Holly Kays photo the collections center.

The poster concludes that the site is likely eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and that findings suggest domestic structures and graves may be present in the study area.

‘WE ARE STILL HERE’

QUESTION: What are your thoughts about kids having chocolate milk?

Doesn’t it have too much sugar?

ANSWER: 1. The sugar listed on the Nutrition Facts panel of milk is the total sugar which includes the naturally occurring sugar (lactose) in milk as well as added sugar.

2. The amount of added sugar in chocolate milk can vary depending on the brand of chocolate milk so you may see 812 grams (and sometimes more) of added sugar.

One (level) tsp of sugar = 4 gram of sugar = 15 calories. So if chocolate milk has 12 g added sugar that's 45 additional calories from sugar.

3. If you compare milk with sweetened soda ( in which all of the calories are from added sugar), a flavored milk is definitely a better choice.

December 11-17, 2019

BOTTOM LINE: While milk, including flavored milk, is a nutrient dense beverage that contains protein, potassium, calcium, and vitamin D; health experts have a concern about children developing a taste for sweetened beverages if this is all that is offered. For children over the age of 5, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other health organizations recommend plain milk (or soy beverage), water or limited amounts of 100% fruit juices. https://www.aappublications.org/news/2019/09/18/healthybeverages091819

Chocolate milk should be seen as a treat and not a staple beverage. If you are able to make your own chocolate milk at home with powder or syrup or by mixing plain milk with flavored milk you can control and reduce the amount of added sugar.

Smoky Mountain News

The renaming follows an extensive renovation of the collections facility funded through a $175,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service. Completed last year, the renovation increased the facility’s capacity by 80 percent, resulting in a climate-controlled environment where Cherokee archeological collections can be curated, cataloged, organized, conserved and studied in accordance with federal and tribal standards. By accepting the Forest Service grant, WCU became the official repository for Forest Service-owned collections related to the Trail of Tears, in addition to its many university-held artifacts.

“Here you will find objects from the Trail of Tears, which was the forced removal during the 1930s of the Cherokees from their homeland to what is known today as Oklahoma,” said Chancellor Kelli R. Brown.

“And you will find items from a very recent archeological dig on campus near Norton Residence Hall, land that was once a corner of the historic Two Sparrows town. Western Carolina University is truly honored to be permitted to be a keeper of the largest collection of Cherokee-related materials in the Southeast, to be trusted with their care and safekeeping, and to be able to share these significant items with others both far and near.”

Since 1987, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail within the National Park Service has commemorated key places and events along the route exiled Cherokee were forced to walk. Despite its undeniable significance in Cherokee history and central importance to the Trail of Tears tragedy, North Carolina wasn’t added to the historic trail until 2009. That addition — much of

which travels through Forest Service lands — combined with WCU’s robust Cherokee studies program formed the basis for cooperation between the university and the Forest Service.

“One of the items that we came to an agreement upon was that we needed a better place to house the artifacts, and that we knew that we were running out of space at Western Carolina University,” said Melissa Twaroski, coordinator for the Trail of Tears on national forest lands for the Forest Service’s Southern Region. “This area is kind of a linchpin in the Trail of Tears, particularly here in the heart of the homeland of the Cherokee people.”

In WNC, the Trail of Tears followed routes that were in many cases thousands of years old — well-worn paths through the mountains that Cherokee people walked for millennia and are still identifiable today.

“To be out there with some of the representatives from those federally recognized Cherokee tribes when they’re there for the first time, particularly the folks from out in Oklahoma who haven’t been back East — they see it and then say, ‘This is real. This is where our grandmothers walked,’” said Twaroski. “It’s really stirring and moving.”

Belt can speak personally to the importance of that connection, and to the significance a few words in the name of a facility — Tali Tsisgwayahi — can have to a people.

“I cannot and so I will not speak for the Eastern Band. I can’t. We have people here who are qualified to do that, who actually can speak for them. I can’t even speak for the Cherokee Nation or the United Kituwah Band in Oklahoma. I haven’t been given that permission,” said Belt. “But I can speak for my grandmothers and my grandfathers who aren’t here today and who lived in this town, and I would say to you that to hear those words and for it to be acknowledged in any language means that they haven’t gone away. It means that our culture has not died. And it means that we are still here because we remember them, and we remember what they called this place.”

35

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Recertification offered for pesticide users A recertification class for commercial and private pesticide applicators will be offered from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Macon County Extension Office in Franklin.

The course is open to commercial applicators with subcategories A, B, D, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O and T as well as private applicators who need their X credit. It will result in two hours of continuing education credits.

Those who need a pesticide license but don’t have one will have the opportunity to sit for an exam at the Macon County Extension Office in February, with more information after Jan. 1.

For more information, call 828.349.2046 or visit www.ncagr.gov/spcap/ pesticides/license.htm.

Smoky Mountain News

December 11-17, 2019

Hearing planned for Duke industrial landfill permit

36

A public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at Asheville-Buncombe Technical College in Asheville will take comments on a draft permit for Duke Energy Progress to build and operate an industrial landfill at its Asheville Steam Electric Plant. Written comments will also be accepted through Friday, Jan. 10.

Duke submitted an application in June requesting to build an on-site landfill at the facility to hold coal ash removed from onsite ash ponds. Under the draft solid waste permit, other wastes generated onsite would also be eligible for disposal there. The application requests approval to build a 12.5-acre landfill and operate it once the facility is constructed and approved by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

The Division of Waste Management determined that the application meets administrative requirements and prepared a draft permit for public review. The permit seeks to ensure that coal ash is stored in a double-lined landfill away from surface water and calls for a wastewater collection system as well as routine monitoring to ensure the landfill is being properly maintained.

The hearing will be held in Conference Center Room B, with speaker sign-up beginning at 5:30 p.m. The permit application is online at deq.nc.gov/news/events/duke-energyasheville-steam-electric-plant-draft-permit1119-indus-2020. Send written comments to Ed Mussler, N.C. Division of Waste Management, Solid Waste Section, 1646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 276991646 or by email to publiccomments@ncdenr.gov. Â

Standout volunteers are honored at a luncheon hosted by the Blue Ridge Parkway. Donated photo

Wildlife conservationists wanted for award Nominations are wanted for people who have led the way in conserving nongame animals in North Carolina.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is accepting nominations for the Thomas L. Quay Wildlife Diversity Award through Jan. 31.

Nominations must include a completed form and detailed essay explaining the nominee’s contributions to nongame wildlife conservation in North Carolina. In addition to this year’s nominees, nominations submitted in 2019 and 2018 will be considered. Nominations submitted prior

to that will be considered upon request.

The Nongame Wildlife Advisory Committee will recommend final nominees and wildlife commissioners will announce the winner at their July meeting. The award is named for the late Thomas Quay, a professor of zoology at N.C. State University and self-described “full-time volunteer and unpaid environmental activist.”

Download the nomination form at https://bit.ly/2radaCl. Submit nominations to Melinda Huebner, melinda.huebner@ncwildlife.org.

hours of college credit.

For more information, including course costs and scholarship opportunities, visit www.landmarklearning.org.

Smoky Mountain News

access remote locations and record detailed information about each plant, providing great insights as to the health of these populations, which inform conservation efforts. n Linda and Bill Taylor of Johnson Farm near Peaks of Otter received the Enduring Service Award, having served as full-time volunteers from April to October for the past eight years. The Taylors care for Johnson Farm as if it were their own homeplace, completing daily maintenance and making it possible for all to come and learn about the farmstead. n Latane Long from the Humpback Rocks Chapter of Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway received the Individual Volunteer Award for her ability to encourage engagement from others and grow the chapter, demonstrated in her efforts to recruit and train a new chapter chair to continue her legacy of service. n The Nelson County Master Gardeners received the Volunteer Group Award for transforming the Humpback Rocks Farm garden at milepost 5.8 into a centerpiece of the visitor experience that contains crops representative of turn-of-the-century Appalachian mountain farmsteads.

A Landmark Learning student practices CPR. File photo

December 11-17, 2019

Over the past year, 1,380 volunteers contributed more than 48,000 hours of service to the Blue Ridge Parkway, but six people and groups received special recognition with this year’s Parkway Volunteer Awards. n Christ School in Asheville received the Volunteer Youth Group Award for completing multiple projects along the Parkway’s Pisgah District in coordination with Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, helping to address some critical deferred maintenance needs. n The Craggy Rovers received the Volunteer Program Award for their work on the Craggy Pinnacle Trail. In fall 2018 this small but mighty volunteer group was tasked with providing critical resource preservation messages at Craggy Pinnacle, and this past spring the crew grew from eight people to more than 25, providing daily patrols seven days a week. The volunteers provided visitor information to more than 12,000 people this year. n Virginia Ward received the Youth Volunteer Award for the 133 hours she’s contributed to rare plant conservation over the past two years. She scrambles off-trail to

Landmark Learning, a nationally accredited school in Cullowhee offering certification training for outdoor recreation workers, is enrolling for a variety of courses over the coming months. n Wilderness First Responder. This 80-hour curriculum is designed to provide the tools to make critical medical or evaluation decisions in remote locations, combining classroom learning with realistic handson scenarios. Upcoming courses are Jan. 4-12 in Asheville, Jan. 18-26 in Brevard and Dec. 14-22, Feb. 8-16, March 7-15 and March 14-22 in Cullowhee. n Wilderness First Responder recertification.

This three-day scenario-based course is designed as a review and practice of evacuation and decision-making guidelines, also providing current updates in the wilderness medicine field. Courses will be offered in Cullowhee Feb. 28 to March 1 and in Brevard Jan. 10-12. n Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician. This month-long program combines wilderness medicine with urban medical care practices into an intensive course that includes clinical rotations

helping to care for real patients. Western Carolina University will offer up to four hours of college credit. Courses will be offered in Cullowhee Jan. 4-31, May 23-June 19, July 11Aug. 7 and Oct. 3-30.

The Landmark Outdoor Educator Semester will be held May 14-June 30, a 51-day course that immerses students in connected coursework that results in seven nationally recognized certifications including three instructorlevel certifications. WCU will grant up to 12

outdoors

Parkway recognizes all-star volunteers

Outdoor certification courses now enrolling

37

outdoors

Santa Claus prepares to rappel down Chimney Rock. Donated photo

Santa to visit Chimney Rock Old Saint Nick will visit Chimney Rock State Park Saturday, Dec. 14, practicing his chimney-climbing game on the iconic rock as Christmas festivities abound.

Santa will rappel down the Chimney at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., taking a break at the top of every hour to meet visiting children with Mrs. Claus.

The day will also include breakfast with the elves from 8 to 11 a.m., Mrs. Claus read-

ing her favorite Christmas story at 10 a.m., complimentary Santa photos and one-of-akind wish lists typed up on a vintage typewriter.

Christmas music will be performed 11 a.m. to noon, and an assortment of other activities, including animal demonstrations, holiday craft stations and complimentary cookies and hot chocolates will be available.

The event is free with park admission.

Become an A.T. expert December 11-17, 2019

Get the inside scoop on hiking the Appalachian Trail with a workshop 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17, at REI in Asheville.

Offered by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the class is designed for novice long-distance hikers who dream of hiking the A.T. Participants will learn the ins and outs of long-distance hiking while understanding the reality of our collective impacts on the trail.

Free, with sign-ups required at www.rei.com/events.

Hike Sam Knob

Smoky Mountain News

We are excited to have Bill Morris, pharmacist and nutritionist here on Friday’s.

Bill focuses on a holistic approach and specializes in:

Call today to schedule your consultation with Bill!

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828.452-2313 | facebook.com/kimspharmacy

Crest a 6,100-foot peak with a hike to Sam Knob in the Pisgah National Forest on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Organized by the Nantahala Hiking Club, hikers will meet in Waynesville at 9 a.m. and drive 20 miles to the trailhead at Flat Laurel Creek. The 6-mile hike is rated moderate to strenuous with an elevation gain of 1,300 feet to spectacular 360-degree views.

Visitors welcome, but no dogs. RSVP to hike leaders Keith and Carrie Patton, 828.456.8895.

Registration open for 2020 Mountain Ride cycling event Forest City and Rutherford County will host the seventh annual Cycle North Carolina Mountain Ride Aug. 7-9, 2020, and registration is now open.

The ride is a fully supported bicycle event with support vehicles available to aid cyclists with physical or mental breakdowns and rest stops every 10 to 20 miles where riders can get off their bikes and explore while quenching their thirst and

hunger. Indoor and outdoor camping areas with amenities will be provided at Summey Park, just over a mile from the quaint downtown district.

Routes will vary in distance between 15 and 70 miles, offering options for cyclists of all ages and abilities. Cyclists will pass through areas such as Lake Lure, Rutherfordton, Spindale, Ruth, Ellenboro, Sunshine and Hopewell, among others.

Registration is $25 to $170 through Jan. 14, depending on the rider’s age and whether registration is for the full weekend or a single day.

The range will increase from $25 to $200 by the weekend of the event. Register at www.ncsports.org.

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

• The Franklin Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for Citizen of the Year, the Duke Power Citizenship & Service Award, Youth Citizenship Award and Club/Organization of the Year. Nomination letters due by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18: LindaH@FranklinChamber.com or 98 Hyatt Road, Franklin, NC 28734.

• Registration is underway for the spring semester at Haywood Community College in Clyde. www.haywood.edu, hcc-advising@haywood.edu or 627.2821.

• Western Carolina University will hold two commencement ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 14, in the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee. First ceremony is at 10 a.m. for the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education and Allied Professions and Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts. Second is at 3 p.m. for colleges of Business, Health and Human Sciences and Engineering and Technology. Live streaming at commencement.wcu.edu. Info: 227.7216 or registrarsoffice@wcu.edu.

• The African-American Business Association Workshop & Meetup is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month at the Arthur R. Edington Education & Career Center in Asheville.

• RSVPs are being accepted for a Restaurant Enrichment Meeting & Luncheon hosted by the Jackson County Department of Public Health from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Dec. 17 at Southwestern Community College’s Burrell Building. Restaurant owners and staff connect with JCDPH Environmental Health staff, learn about specific topics and network. RSVP: 587.8250. Info: 587.8246 or travismonteith@jacksonnc.org.

• Southwestern Community College’s fall commencement is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, in Myers Auditorium in the Balsam Building on SCC’s Jackson Campus in Sylva. Featured speaker is David Jons, SCC Spanish Instructor and the college’s 2019 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award. www.southwesterncc.edu.

• The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority’s meeting will be held at 1 p.m. on Dec. 18 in Room 102A of the Burrell Building Conference Room at Southwestern Community College in Sylva.

• The Jackson County Planning Board will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Dec. 19 at the Department on Aging, Heritage room, in Sylva. Regarding text amendments to Article IV, Section 4.3.5; Article V, Section 5.3; Article X, Section 10.3; Article XI, Section 11.2.

• The Juvenile Crime Prevention Council will hold a regular meeting at noon on Jan. 9 at the Justice & Administration Building, 401 Grindstaff Cove Rd., Room A227, in Sylva.

• Bingo Night is at 6 p.m. on the second Saturday at the Fines Creek Community Center. 25 cents per game. Info: www.fb.me/finescreekorg or 593.7042.

• Jackson County Planning Board: 6 p.m. second Thursday of the month. Heritage room at the Department of Aging, 100 County Services Park in Sylva. 631.2261.

• The Jackson County Department of Public Health is seeking input from the community: http://health.jacksonnc.org/surveys. Info: 587.8288.

• Haywood Community College’s Workforce Continuing Education Department is offering a wide variety of courses. For a complete listing: www.haywood.edu. Info: 627.4669 or rgmassie@haywood.edu.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • The Jackson County Public Schools Student Support Services will hold its “Stuff the Bus” event from 6-9 p.m. on Dec. 13-14 near Jarrett Memorial Baptist Church in Dillsboro during the Lights and Luminaries festival. Goal is to raise $10,000 and collect food, clothing and toiletries for students in need. This year’s items will be collected in a custom miniature school bus built by students at Jackson Community School. District aims to assemble up to 350 small food bags with snacks and microwavable items to send home with students as needed for the upcoming winter break. 586.2311, ext.

1922, or ataylor@jcpsmail.org.

• Cops & Kids is holding its toy drive from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, at 1200 S. Main St., Waynesville.

Bring a new unwrapped toy to place under the tree for less-fortunate children in Haywood County. Hors d’oeuvres will be served.

• The Episcopal Church Women of Grace Church in the Mountains will hold a fundraiser for local homeless by selling a variety of homemade Christmas goodies from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 394 Haywood St. Proceeds benefit Pathways Center, local homeless shelter. 456.6029.

• Waynesville Pizza Company is holding a basket raffle through Dec. 20 to benefit Haywood County Animal Shelter. Tickets are $5 for 1 or $20 for 5 and can be purchased at Waynesville Pizza. Basket value is more than $500 and includes donations from local businesses and artisans.

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

HEALTH MATTERS

Smoky Mountain News

• Wheels of Life: Deep Dive Into the Chakra System will be offered from 2-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Cost: $15. Info and reservations: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Yoga for Back Care is set for noon-1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 28, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Cost: $15. Info and reservations: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Group Breathwork Healing is set for 5:30-6:45 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 28, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Cost: $15.

Info and reservations: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

stice and the returning of light.

• A Community Acupuncture Clinic is held on the third weekend of each month at 461 Moody Farm Road in Maggie Valley. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and 1-4 p.m. on Sunday. Sliding scale cost is $35-$55.

Offered by Barbara Dennis, a Licensed Acupuncturist and Registered Nurse.

• Sunrise Flow + Ground is set for 7-8:15 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 23, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Cost: $15.

Info and reservations: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Jackson County Department of Public Health is offering diabetes self-management education as well as medical nutrition therapy. Info: 587.8240 or http://health.jacksonnc.org/wic.

• The Haywood County Senior Resource Center holds a dementia caregivers support group from 4:30-6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday each month in Waynesville. 356.2800 or www.haywoodseniors.org.

• “Riding the Waves of Cancer” meets from 2:30-4 p.m. on Thursdays at the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center. Physician referral from an oncologist or cancer doctor is required: Myhaywoodregional.com/yogaforcancer. 452.8691.

• The Jackson County Senior Center will offer a Caregiver Education Class at 10 a.m. on the third Monday of every month in the Board Room of the Department of Aging in Sylva. 586.5494.

• A support group for persons with Multiple Sclerosis as well as family, friends and caregivers meets at 6:45 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the conference room of the Jackson county Public Library in Sylva.

293.2503.

• A support group for anyone with MS, family & friends meets monthly at 6:45 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the conference room of Jackson Co. Library in Sylva. No Fee, sponsored by National MS Society. Local contact: Gordon Gaebel 828-293-2503.

• The Haywood County Health & Human Services Public Health Services Division is offering a Night Clinic from 4-6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of every month in Waynesville. Services include family planning, immunizations, pregnancy testing, STD testing and treatment.

Appointments: 452.6675.

• The Macon County Cancer Support Group’s annual Christmas Party will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, in the cafeteria of Angel Medical Center, Riverview St., in Franklin. Bring a finger food and inexpensive gift to exchange.

• Big Brother/Big Sister, a one-evening preparation class for children who are about to greet a new baby into their family, is offered for children ages 3-10 at Haywood Regional Medical Center. 452.8440 or MyHaywoodRegional.com/ParentClasses.

• Cashiers Area Chamber is seeking feedback to improve visitors’ experiences to the area. Take the survey at: tinyurl.com/y6w4uqyo.

• Sunrise Flow + Ground is set for 7-8:15 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 16, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Cost: $15.

Info and reservations: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Dogwood Insight Center presents health talks at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month.

• Haywood Community College’s medical assisting program will hold an open house from 4:30-7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, in Building 800, Room 807, in Clyde.

Meet with instructors and current students to learn more about the program and a career in the field. 627.4651 or Haywood.edu.

• Buti Yoga + Bubbles is set for 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Cost: $15.

Info and reservations: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• Yoga for Back Care is set for noon-1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Cost: $15. Info and reservations: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings

• A monthly grief support group will meet from noon1:30 p.m. on the first Friday of each month, with complimentary lunch provided, at Haywood Hospice Office, 43 Bowman Dr., in Waynesville. 452.5039 or Melanie.seeger@lhcgroup.com.

• Cat adoption hours are from noon-5 p.m. on Fridays and noon-4 p.m. on Saturdays at 453 Jones Cove Road in Clyde. Adoption fee: $10 for cats one-year and older.

Check out available cats at www.petharbor.com.

452.1329 or 550.3662.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION

39

• Angel Medical Center’s diabetes support group meets at 4 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month in the AMC dining room. 369.4166.

RECREATION AND FITNESS • Sylva Yoga will host a Winter Wonder Yoga Workshop from 3-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, in Sylva.

Relaxing, reflective, joyful practice celebrating the sol-

• Sylva Yoga will hold an Open House and Winter Solstice Celebration from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, in Sylva. Refreshments and live music.

• Sunrise Flow + Ground is set for 7-8:15 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 30, at Waynesville Yoga Center. Cost: $15.

Info and reservations: 246.6570 or WaynesvilleYogaCenter.com.

• An hour yoga class is offered at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays at the Maggie Valley Wellness Center. $15 for a single class, or $55 for a package of four classes. 944.0288 or maggievalleywellness.com.

• Dance Tonight Haywood offers weekly evening classes Foxtrot or Tango (Mondays 6) and Carolina Shag (Mondays 7), Salsa (Tuesdays, Beginners 7 p.m. & Advance 8 to 10 p.m.), Swing (Wednesdays, Beginners 7 p.m. & Advance 8 p.m.) and Waltz (Thursdays, Beginners 7 p.m. & Advance 8 p.m.), Open Ballroom (Fridays, 7 p.m. & practice dance from 8 to 9:30 p.m.), and Argentine Tango Practica/Tea Dance (Sundays, 2 to 5 p.m) at 61 ½ Main Street in Canton. For times, prices and to RSVP, call 316.1344.

• Tai Chi & QiGong classes are being offered at 7 p.m. on Mondays at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde.

450.3741 or paul@pcasper.net.

• A Tai Chi for Arthritis, Level 1, class is being offered at 11:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde. 450.3741 or paul@pcasper.net.

• A Tai Chi for Arthritis, Level 2, class is being offered at 12:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde. 450.3741 or paul@pcasper.net.

• Tai Chi for Beginners is offered at 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde. 450.3741 or paul@pcasper.net.

SPIRITUAL • First United Methodist Church of Sylva will hold candlelight services at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, at 77 Jackson St. in downtown Sylva.

586.2358.

POLITICAL • The Jackson County Board of Commissioners will hold a Public Hearing (Cashiers Ordinance Amendment) at 5:55 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Cashiers Rec Center.

• The Macon County Democratic Men’s Club will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 16, in the Community Room at 486 West Palmer St. in Franklin. 349.3113.

• The Jackson County Board of Commissioners will hold a regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Cashiers Rec Center.

wnc calendar

• The Jackson County Board of Commissioners will hold a regular meeting at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, in Room A201 of the Jackson County Justice Center in Sylva.

• Senior Sale Day is on the third Friday of every month at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore. Patrons 60 and older get 20 percent off all purchases.

Proceeds benefit the Sylva Library.

• Tickets and corporate table reservations are available for the Annual Awards Banquet and Franklin Chamber of Commerce annual meeting, which are at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 16, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Info and reservations: 524.3161.

• Pinochle game is played at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• Tickets are on sale now for the 27th annual Charles Taylor Holiday Dinner, which will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, at the Expo Center at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville. Hosted by Charles Taylor and family. Taylor is the longest-serving Republican Congressman in Western North Carolina history. Hear from national speakers and meet federal, state and local candidates. Tickets: $65 per person. 243.2187 or tasmothers@yahoo.com. Send checks to Taylor, P.O. Box 7587, Asheville, NC 28802.

• A Canasta card game is set for 1 p.m. on Mondays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• The Jackson County NAACP meets at 10 a.m. on the third Saturday each month at Liberty Baptist Church in Sylva.

• Down Home Haywood holds its monthly community meetings at 2:30 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month at Canton Presbyterian Church. Tackling issues like healthcare, wages, housing and more. chelsea@downhomenc.org.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • Susanna Shetley, author of the recently published picture book “The Jolt Felt Around the World,” will hold an author event from 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Blue Ridge Books, 428 Hazelwood Ave. in Waynesville. Refreshments and art activity for kids.

December 11-17, 2019

• A poetry reading is held at 2 p.m. on the last Saturday of each month at Panacea in Waynesville.

Bring poetry, essays and writings. poevampyre@gmail.com.

• The North Carolina Writers' Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month. at the Keith House on the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. This reading is free of charge and open to the public.

SENIOR ACTIVITIES • The Mexican Train Dominoes Group seeks new players to join games at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• Book Club is held at 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800

Smoky Mountain News

• A Hand & Foot card game is held at 1 p.m. on Thursdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

40

• Mah Jongg is played at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• A Parkinson’s Support Group is held at 2 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

KIDS & FAMILIES • Kids’ Night Out for ages 6-14 is set for 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, at Waynesville Art School, 303 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. WaynesvilleArtSchool.com or 246.9869.

• Family Art Making Circle is set for 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Waynesville Art School, 303 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. Dr. Seuss and The Grinch-inspired Christmas crafts.

WaynesvilleArtSchool.com or 246.9869.

• Kids’ Night Out for ages 4-14 is set for 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20, at Waynesville Art School, 303 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. WaynesvilleArtSchool.com or 246.9869.

• Family Art Making Circle is set for 11 a.m.-noon on Saturday, Dec. 21, at Waynesville Art School, 303 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. Whimsical Christmas Decorations. WaynesvilleArtSchool.com or 246.9869.

• Kids’ Night Out for ages 4-14 is set for 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 27, at Waynesville Art School, 303 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. WaynesvilleArtSchool.com or 246.9869.

• Registration is underway for a pair of basketball camps that will be offered this winter at Waynesville Recreation Center. led by former Appalachian State head coach Kevin Cantwell. Camps are held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Dec. 30-31 and Jan. 2-3. $100 per camper, or attend both camps for $175. Applications available at Waynesville Recreation Center; make checks payable to Cantwell. Info: academy7@live.com or www.kevincantwellbasketball.com.

• Registration is underway for the 2020 Region 8 Western Regional Science fair, which is set for Thursday and Friday, Feb. 13-14, in the Ramsey Regional Activity Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. Thursday’s event is for grades 3-5; Friday is for grades 6-12. Info: sciencefair.wcu.edu or 227.7397.

• The “Polar Express” will depart on select times

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, INC. • • • • •

Tires Brakes Alignment Road Service Tractor Tires

through Dec. 31 from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot. www.gsmr.com.

• Mother Goose On the Loose early childhood curriculum will be featured in a Reading Adventures Storytime program that’s offered at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.

Blends rhyming with movement, storytelling, simple songs, music and sensory play. 488.3030.

• Waynesville Art School offers the Young Artist Program in the afternoons for 5-6 year old, 7-8 year old, 9-12 year old. Intro to Printmaking and Evening studies in arts is offered for 13-19 year old. Waynesville Art School is located at 303 N. Haywood Street. Info: 246.9869, info@waynesvilleartschool.com or visit WaynesvilleArtSchool.com for schedule and to register.

• Mountain Wildlife offers wildlife education programs for schools and organizations in Western North Carolina, free of charge. If you are interested in having them visit your group contact them at blackbears66@gmail.com, 743.9648 or visit the website at www.mountainwildlifedays.com.

KIDS FILMS • “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”, will be showing through Dec. 19 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. 38main.com.

• “Frozen II”, is showing through Dec. 19 at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville Plaza. Visit www.fandango.com or http://smokymountaincinema.com/ for showtimes, pricing & tickets. Info. on Facebook or 246.0588.

• “Jumanji: The Next Level”, will be showing on Dec. 12-19 at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville Plaza. Visit www.fandango.com or http://smokymountaincinema.com/ for showtimes, pricing & tickets.

Info. on Facebook or 246.0588.

• The Highlands Biological Foundation will offer a series of nature-themed films and documentaries shown at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of March in Highlands. For info on each show, call 526.2221.

• A family movie will be shown at 10:30 a.m. every Friday at Hudson Library in Highlands.

A&E HOLIDAY • Volunteers will wrap gifts for donations to Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation from through Dec. 24 at Mast General Store in Waynesville. Volunteers are being sought: https://tinyurl.com/w4s6bv6. Info on Sarge’s: 246.9050 or www.sargeanimals.org.

• First United Methodist Church will offer two Advent studies during the Christmas Season: A Sisters Advent Study from 4:45-6 p.m. on Tuesdays, through Dec. 17; and a lunch hour Advent study on Trevor Hudson’s “Pauses for Advent” from noon-1 p.m. on Wednesdays, through Dec. 18, at 66 Harrison Ave., in Franklin. 524.3010 or firstumcfranklin.org.

• The 36th annual “Lights & Luminaries” will return to the streets of downtown Dillsboro from 5 to 9 p.m.

Dec. 13-14. Experience the magic as the entire town is transformed into a winter wonderland of lights, candles, laughter and song. Over 2,500 luminaries light your way to shops and studios. Horse and buggy rides available each night. Shopkeepers provide live music and serve holiday treats with hot cider and cocoa. Carolers sing and children visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Live Nativity at Jarrett Memorial Baptist Church. Free shuttle service from Monteith Park. www.visitdillsboro.org.

• The Mountain Winds Community Band will present a concert of holiday favorites at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 11, in the Coulter Recital Hall at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. Group is comprised of members from Jackson and surrounding counties as well as WCU and area high school students.

• Reservations are being accepted for “Appalachian Christmas,” which is Dec. 12-15 at Lake Junaluska.

Festivities include Handel’s Messiah, featuring the Lake Junaluska Singers, other musical entertainment and a craft show. Lakejunaluska.com/Christmas or 800.222.4930.

• The Otto Children’s Christmas Party is set for 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, at the Otto Community Center, 60 Firehouse Rd., in Otto. Games, prizes, hot chocolate, coffee, tea, crafts, photos with Santa, music, decorations and caroling.

• Twelve days of Christmas will be held from Dec. 1324 in downtown Waynesville.

• Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts students will host a holiday craft sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, in the Mary Cornwell Gallery of the Creative Arts Building. 627.4671 or eareason@haywood.edu.

• The “Mistletoe Market” will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Swain Recreation Center in Bryson City. Local crafters and artisans, with proceeds benefiting the Swain West Elementary PTO. • The WNC Nature Center will host its annual holiday celebration, “A Winter’s Tail,” from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, in Asheville. Crafts, photos with Santa, face painting, games and special education with animals. Wildwnc.org/event/a-winters-tail.

• Chimney Rock State Park will host family friendly, Christmas-themed events on Dec. 14. Santa will rappel down the chimney multiple times. Breakfast with elves from 8-11 a.m. Photos with Santa, and local poet Eddie Cabbage will type out kids’ Christmas wish

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

Authorized Motor Fleet Management Maintenance

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

lists on his vintage typewriter and parchment paper.

ChimneyRockPark.com.

• The Macon County Public Health’s Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program will sponsor “Cookies with Santa” from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19, at 1830 Lakeside Drive in Franklin. Cookies and mile provided; bring your camera for photos with Santa.

Parents can apply for or renew WIC benefits or get help from the breastfeeding peer counselor. 349.2448 or 349.2453 (Espanol).

FOOD & DRINK

A special holiday stage production of the classic “Miracle on 34th Street” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13-14, 16, 20-21 and at 4 p.m. Dec. 15 and 22 at the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre in Bryson City.

Box office opens one-hour before show time. Only cash is accepted at the door. There will be a 15-minute intermission with locally made goodies. All concessions are $1. www.smctheatre.com. Admission is $14 for adults, $8 for children under 17. smctheatre.eventbrite.com.

• LeAnn Rimes will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets start at $35 with VIP seating available. 524.1598 or www.greatmountainmusic.com.

• The “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec 31 at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City.

Full service all-adult first-class car. Wine pairings with a meal and more. 800.872.4681 or www.gsmr.com.

• Tickets are on sale now for the second session of the Mountain Memories Performance Series: “A Mountain Christmas,” set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Queen Auditorium at Folkmoot in Waynesville.

Storytelling, music and dance. Tickets: $20; available at Folkmoot.org.

• Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville is offering lunch on Saturdays, “Lunch with us” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. featuring fresh seasonal menu with outdoor seating weather preminting. 452.0120 or www.waynesvillewine.com.

• The Spirit of Christmas a Christmas sing-along show hosted by Franklin musicians Stewart & Metz will be on stage at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. 38main.com.

• Bryson City Wine Market offers flights from 4-7 p.m. on Fridays and from 2-5 p.m. on Saturdays. Flight of four wines for $5.

• Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville will host five for $5 Wine Tasting from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Come taste five magnificent wines and dine on Chef Bryan’s gourmet cuisine. 452.0120 or www.waynesvillewine.com.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Bosu Wine Shop in Waynesville. 452.0120 or www.waynesvillewine.com.

Bosu’s will host a Cocktails & Lunch on Saturday’s.

Serving house-made champagne cocktails from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. www.waynesvillewine.com • A free wine tasting will be held from 2-5 p.m. on Saturdays at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. www.papouswineshop.com or 631.3075.

• “Brown Bag at the Depot” – an opportunity to gather with neighbors – is at noon every Friday at Sylva’s newest park at the corner of Spring and Mill Street along Railroad Ave. For info, contact Paige Dowling at townmanager@townofsylva.org.

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

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

• A game day will occur from 2-9 p.m. every third Saturday of the month at Papou’s Wine Shop & Bar in Sylva. Bring dice, cards or board games.

586.6300.

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • The Mountain Winds Community Band will present a concert of your holiday favorites at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, in the Coulter Recital Hall on the campus of Western Carolina University. The concert is free and open to the public.

• Americana/rock act Arnold Hill will be hitting the stage at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, at the Lazy Hiker Brewing taproom in Sylva. The band will also perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Nantahala Brewing outpost in Sylva; and at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, at Elevated Mountain Distilling in Maggie Valley. www.arnoldhillband.com. You can purchase/stream “Back to Life” on all online streaming services.

THE BEST CHECKING

is at Mountain Credit Union!

No Fee Checking* when you have at least one direct deposit per month or maintain a $500 balance

• Acoustic guitarist Jim Elenteny will be on stage at 6 p.m. on Dec. 15 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville.

38main.com.

• The “Singing Christmas Card” show will be presented by the Overlook Theatre Company at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $10. www.greatmountainmusic.com or 524.1598.

• Fully Managed Recovery ID Theft Protection At No Cost To You

• Tickets are available now for a performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, which is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13, in the University Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. Tickets: $5 for WCU students, $10 for non-WCU students and WCU faculty and staff and $15 for general admission. Available at bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or 227.2479.

• Free Online access & eStatements

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host an open mic night at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• Earns Dividends

• Pub 319 (Waynesville) will host an open mic night from 8-11 p.m. every Wednesday. Free and open to the public. www.pub319socialhouse.com.

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

• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic at 6 p.m. on Thursdays and live music on Friday evenings. 482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com.

• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host an

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8 Locations Serving you in Western North Carolina 721 North Main Street, Waynesville, NC · 452-2216 219 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC · 252-8234 1453 Sand Hill Road, Candler, NC · 667-7245 3270 Hendersonville Road, Fletcher, NC · 684-9999 746 East Main Street, Franklin, NC · 524-4464 8005 NC Highway 141, Murphy, NC · 837-0460 30 Highway 107, Sylva, NC · 586-0425 3533 US 441 North, Whittier, NC · 497-6211

Smoky Mountain News

• Graceann’s Amazing Breakfast is 8-10 a.m. every Tuesday in the Sapphire Room at the Sapphire Valley Community Center. $8.50 for adults; $5 for children.

Includes coffee and orange juice. 743.7663.

• The Highlands Performing Arts Center will present a screening of the National Theatre of London’s production of “Small Island” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. As part of depicting the experience of Jamaican immigrants to Britain after the Second World War, at times characters in the play use language which is racially offensive. Tickets are available online at www.highlandspac.org or www.highlandsperformingarts.com or at the door.

December 11-17, 2019

• Secret Wine Bar is hosted by Bosu’s in Waynesville on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Contact for more information and make reservations. 452.1020.

wnc calendar

• A NIGHT before CHRISTMAS" will be held from 6-9 p.m. on Dec. 14 in downtown Waynesville. Shops, Galleries & Restaurants will be open with Live Music, Caroling, Bethlehem Market Place, Live Nativity, Oldfashioned Wagon Rides, Santa & Mrs. Claus, Storytelling, Luminaries & more happening on closed streets.

• Kids at HART, the youth drama group at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre, will present “Holly Jolly Christmas” at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 and 2 p.m. Dec. 15, 21-22 at HART in Waynesville. www.harttheatre.org or 456.6322.

*No Fee Checking requires at least one direct deposit per month or maintain a $500 balance.

Learn more when you visit our website: mountaincu.org

41

wnc calendar

open mic night every Thursday. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.

• Boojum Brewing Company (Waynesville) will host a bluegrass open mic every Wednesday and an all-genres open mic every Thursday. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.boojumbrewing.com.

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

283.0079 or www.38main.com.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host live music on Fridays and Saturdays. All shows are free and begin at 7:15 p.m. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• Boojum Brewing Company (Waynesville) will host a bluegrass open mic every Wednesday and an all-genres open mic every Thursday. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.boojumbrewing.com.

• The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic Night” on Mondays and karaoke on Thursdays. All events at 10 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.456.4750.

• Haywood Arts Regional Theatre is opened up its bistro Harmons’ Den for karaoke performance on Saturday nights. It is also open mic night at 8 p.m.. On nights when there’s a theater performance in the Fangmeyer Theater, karaoke begins after the show is over. www.harttheatre.org.

• Open Mic Night is from 7-9 p.m. on Saturdays at The Strand on 38 Main in Waynesville. 283.0079 or www.38main.com.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS

December 11-17, 2019

• Western North Carolina Cribbage Club meets at 6:30 p.m. every Monday. Info: 926.3978.

• The Weekly Open Studio art classes will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville, Instructor will be Betina Morgan. Open to all artists, at any stage of development, and in the medium of your choice. Cost is $25 per class. There will also be a Youth Art Class from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. on Wednesdays. Cost is $15 per class. Contact Morgan at 550.6190 or email bmk.morgan@yahoo.com.

• Brent Martin with Alarka Expeditions and Teresa Bouchonnet with Cowee Textiles will offer a program from 1-3 p.m. on Dec. 13 on WNC River-cane and how the Cherokee Basket Makers have used this material for generations. Program will be held at Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center, 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin.

RSVP: bouchonnet@coweetextiles.com. Cost: $20.

Smoky Mountain News

• Glass ornament classes will be held in 30-minute time slots from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Green Energy Park in Dillsboro. Cost: $35 per time slot. Create one glass art ornament. Register: 631.0271. www.jcgep.org. Walk-ins welcome.

• “Wine Glass Painting Party” will be held at 5 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Andrews Brewing Company in Andrews.

• “Paint & Sip Winter Scene” class will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at Mountain Layers Brewing in Bryson City. For $30 you get all the supplies and instruction you need to create your own winter scene painting to bring home. Please sign up in advance by texting WNC Paint Events at 400.9560.

• Painting Night for adults is set for 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19, at Waynesville Art School, 303 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. WaynesvilleArtSchool.com or 246.9869.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES 42 • Jenean Hornbuckle, a landscape painter, is currently

showing her works, at the Rotunda Gallery in the Sylva library. info@jacksoncountyarts.org or 507.9820.

• The next SADC pop-up gallery, titled “The Blending of Tradition and Modernity in Culture Groups,” will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, at Viva Arts Studio in Sylva. The exhibition will feature artists of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, who offer perspectives on the blending of tradition, culture and modernity from a wide variety of contexts and experiences.

• Acrylic and watercolor painter Linda Blount and acrylic painter Jason Woodard will have their works showing in the auditorium of the Waynesville branch library through January 2020. The showcase is provided by the Haywood County Arts Council/Haywood County Public Library through the collaborative “Art Works @ The Library” program.

• Cherokee Indian Hospital is issuing a “Call to Artists” for the new Analenisgi Inpatient Unit. The mission is to create community pride and ownership using a variety of culturally significant, healing art mediums. Enrolled EBCI members will be given preference. Mediums can include, but are not limited to, paintings (oil, acrylic, pastels, watercolor) photography, fiber arts, metal, mixed media and sculpture.

Please email legendweaverstudios@gmail.com if you want the formal “Call to Artists” application and information.

• The Haywood County Arts Council annual show, “It’s a Small, Small Work,” will be held through Jan. 4 in HCAC Gallery & Gifts in Waynesville. The 2019 exhibit will feature 60 artists and almost 240 individual works of art for sale. www.haywoodarts.org or 452.0593.

• Applications are being accepted for artists who want their work included in monthly gallery exhibits or retail spaces through the Haywood County Arts Council. HaywoodArts.org or GalleryGifts@HaywoodArts.org.

• The Museum of the Cherokee Indian has recently opened a major new exhibit, “People of the Clay: Contemporary Cherokee Potters.” It features more than 60 potters from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation, and more than one hundred works from 1900 to the present. The exhibit will run through April 2020.

• New artist and medium will be featured every month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

FILM & SCREEN • “Midway”, is showing through Dec. 12 at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville Plaza. Visit www.fandango.com or http://smokymountaincinema.com/ for showtimes, pricing & tickets. Info. on Facebook or 246.0588.

• “Knives Out”, is showing through Dec. 19 at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville Plaza. Visit www.fandango.com or http://smokymountaincinema.com/ for showtimes, pricing & tickets. Info. on Facebook or 246.0588.

• “JoJo Rabbit”, is showing at The Strand on Main through Dec. 5 in Waynesville. 38main.com.

• The Second Tuesday Movie Group meets at 2 p.m. in the Waynesville Library Auditorium. For info, including movie title: 452.5169.

MUSIC JAMS AND GROUPS • Golden Aires singing group practices at 9:15 a.m. every fourth Wednesday of the month at Jackson County Department on Aging/Senior Center in Sylva.

Secular and religious music. Performances given at area nursing homes. Musical instruments also welcome. 586.5494.

• Old-time music jam from 1-3 p.m. the first and third Saturday of the month at the Oconaluftee Visitor

Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on U.S. 441 outside Cherokee. November through April is just the third Saturday. 497.1904.

• A community music jam will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month at the Marianna Black Library in Downtown Bryson City.

Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer – anything unplugged – is invited to join.

Singers and listeners are also welcome.

• Cruso Circle Play & Jam, 7 p.m. every Tuesday, Cruso Community Center and Friendship Club in Cruso. www.facebook.com/crusocircleplayjam.

• Karaoke is held at 7 p.m. every other Friday at the American Legion Post 47 in Waynesville. Open to all members and their guests. 456.8691.

• Men Macon Music, canella singing, meets at 5:30 p.m. every Monday in the Chapel of First Presbyterian Church, 26 Church St., Franklin. Visitors welcome.

524.9692.

• Mountain Dulcimer Players Club meets from 2 to 4 p.m. on the first and third Sundays of each month at the Bryson City United Methodist Church. Knowledge of music not required, tablature method used. 488.6697.

• Pick and Play Dulcimer Group of Sylva meets at 1:30 p.m. on the first, third and fifth Saturday of every month in the fellowship hall of St. John’s Episcopal Church. 293.0074.

• The Franklin Early Music Group meets every Monday at 9 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. 369.5192.

• The Nikwasi Dulcimer Players meet every Thursday afternoon from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Franklin. All are welcome.

524.1040 or 524.2294.

ARTS GROUP MEETINGS • Blue Ridge Mountain Quilt Guild, 6 to 9 p.m. fourth Thursday, January through October, and third Thursday, November and December in Canton.

316.1517 or on Facebook at Blue Ridge Mtn. Quilt Guild.

• Smoky Mountain Knitting Guild meets every Wednesday from 1-3 p.m. Blue Ridge Books, Waynesville. 246.0789.

• Nifty Needles group, which meets at First United Methodist Church in Sylva, is seeking new members to help knit and crochet warm, useful items for those in need. Supplies (yarn and needles) and lessons provided.

• The Tuesday Quilters meet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church on N.C. 107. Bring your machine and whatever quilt you are working on.

Cullowhee. Registration is also underway for other upcoming options include a Jan. 14-12 class in Asheville, Jan. 18-26 in Brevard and Feb. 8-16, March 7-15 and March 14-22 in Cullowhee. Info: www.landmarklearning.org.

• A workshop offering insight into hiking the Appalachian Trail will be offered from 6:30-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at REI in Asheville. Sign-up required: www.rei.com/events.

• A public hearing to take comments on a draft permit for Duke Energy Progress is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19, at Asheville-Buncombe Technical College in Asheville. Permit is for Duke Energy Progress to build and operate an industrial landfill at its Asheville Steam Electric Plant. Written comments accepted through Friday, Jan. 10. Permit application at https://tinyurl.com/w9wefks. Send written comments to Ed Mussler, N.C. Div. of Waste Management, Solid Waste Section, 1646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1646 or publiccomments@ncdenr.gov.

• A recertification class for commercial and private pesticide applicators will be offered from 3-5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Macon County Extension Office in Franklin. Info: 349.2046 or https://tinyurl.com/85x9x8c.

• Landmark Learning is offering several options to take a Wilderness First Responder Recertification class, starting with a Jan. 10-12 in Brevard.

Registration is also underway for courses on Feb. 28 in Cullowhee and March 1 in Brevard. www.landmarklearning.org.

• Registration is underway for several options to take a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician program through Landmark Learning, starting with a class from Jan. 4-31 in Cullowhee. Other options include May 23-June 19, July 11-Aug. 7 and Oct. 3-30. www.landmarklearning.org.

• Registration is underway for the Landmark Outdoor Educator Semester, which is offered May 14-June 30, through Landmark Learning. www.landmarklearning.org.

• The Asheville Winter Bike League will offer structured group rides at 10 a.m. every Saturday through Jan. 25. $5 donation requested. Sign up required: https://tinyurl.com/yx5byb8h.

• Sons of the American Legion will present a Turkey Shoot at 9 a.m. every Saturday through April at 171 Legion Dr. in Waynesville. $2 per round; refreshments provided. Weather permitting. 456.8691.

HIKING CLUBS

• The WNC Fiber Folk Group meets weekly from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursdays in the Star Atrium of the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at WCU. 227.2553 or ddrury@wcu.edu.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will hold its annual holiday party from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, at the Franklin Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Bring an hors d’oevres to share and beverage of your choice.

369.7352.

• Thursday Painters meet at the Uptown Gallery in Franklin every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bring your project and a bag lunch and join us for a day of creativity and fun. All artists are welcome. 349.4607.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a six-mile hike with a 1,300-foot elevation gain on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Sam Knob in the Pisgah National Forest. Info and reservations: 456.8895.

• Rug Hooking Group, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, Jackson County Public Library. Beginners welcome.

631.2561.

• Nantahala Hiking Club will take a four-mile hike on Sunday, Dec. 15, around Wallace Branch. Elevation gain of 500 feet. Info and reservations: 524.5298.

• Jackson County Arts Council meets at 5:30 p.m. the first Monday of each month at the Jackson County Library Complex conference room. 293.3407.

• Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate, 4.5mile hike with a 300-foot ascent on Saturday, Dec. 21, at Rhapsody and Aunt Sally Falls in Panthertown Valley. Info and reservations: 743.1079.

Outdoors • Landmark Learning will offer courses in Wilderness First Responder starting with a Dec. 14-22 class in

• Nantahala Hiking Club holds monthly trail maintenance days from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on every fourth Saturday at 173 Carl Slagle Road in Franklin. Info and to register: 369.1983.

• Hike of the Week is at 10 a.m. every Friday at varying locations along the parkway. Led by National Park Service rangers. www.nps.gov/blri or 298.5330, ext.

304.

Market WNC PLACE

Announcements

MarketPlace information:

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

Rates: • • • •

• • • • • • • •

$15 — Classified ads that are 25 words, 25¢ per word after.

Free — Lost or found pet ads. $6 — Residential yard sale ads. $1 — Yard Sale Rain Insurance (if a yard sale is rained out the advertiser must contact SMN by 10 a.m. Monday for their ad to run again for free) Legal Notices — 25¢ per word $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with Boost Online — Featured ad at top of category online $4 Boost in Print Add Photo $6 Bold ad $2 Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4 Border $4

Note: Highlighted ads automatically generate a border so if you’re placing an ad online and select a highlight color, the “add border” feature will not be available on the screen.

Note: Yard Sale ads require an address. This location will be displayed on a map on www.wncmarketplace.com .

p: 828.452.4251 · f:828.452.3585 classads@smokymountainnews.com

PUBLIC NOTICE Mountain Projects Inc. is planning to submit a proposal to the North Carolina Office of Economic Opportunity for a one-year grant under the Community Services Block Grant program.

Public input is requested to utilize funding. The public hearings will be held in Haywood County at 11:00 am on Monday December 23, 2019 at Mountain Projects office located at 2177 Asheville Road, Waynesville, NC 28786 and in Jackson County at 1:30 pm on Monday December 23, 2019 at Mountain Projects office located at 25 Schulman St. Sylva, NC 28779.

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THE JACKSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF Social Services is recruiting for a full-time, temporary Income Maintenance Caseworker to work thru March, 2020. This position is responsible for intake, application processing and review functions in determining eligibility for Public Assistance Programs.

Above average communication skills and work organization is required.

Work involves direct contact with the public. Applicants will be considered who have Income Maintenance Caseworker experience or an Associate’s Degree in human services, business or clerical related field, or graduation from high school and an equivalent combination of training and experience.

The salary is $13.43 per hour.

To apply, submit a NC state application form (PD-107) to the Jackson County Department of Social Services 15 Griffin Street, Sylva, NC 28779 or the NCWorks Career Center by December 20, 2019.

Catherine Proben Cell: 828-734-9157 Office: 828-452-5809

cproben@beverly-hanks.com

74 N. Main St., Waynesville, NC

828.452.5809

Michelle McElroy BROKER ASSOCIATE (828) 400-9463 michelle@beverly-hanks.com Haywood County Real Estate Expert & Top Producing REALTOR®

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828.734.4864

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Employment THE NIKWASI INITIATIVE, A citizen’s collaboration between the EBCI, Macon County, and the Town of Franklin, seeks its first Executive Director. The Initiative provides an umbrella for building regional leadership, protecting key Cherokee cultural sites, undertaking educational efforts, and encouraging place-based economic development. See www. nikwasi-initiative.org for a full job description. Send cover letter, resume and 3 references to nikwasi. initiative@gmail.com.

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45

SUPER

CROSSWORD

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65 Dodge made with no

69 72 73 74 78 81 83 84 85 86 88 89 90 91 94 95 96 97 98 101 102 105 106 107 109 111 114 117 118 119 120 121

cables?

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122

Like finished wood

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55 56 57 59 61 62 66 67 68 69 70 71 75 76 77 79 80 82 86 87 88 90 91 92 93 95 99 100 101 103 104 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 115 116

Orzo, e.g.

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46

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December 11-17, 2019

WNC MarketPlace

The naturalist’s corner

BY DON H ENDERSHOT

Guilty pleasure ast Saturday, Dec. 7, had the makings of a very productive day. Girls were going to Asheville shopping and home would be calm and quite. There was no shortage of correspondence to catch up on — trying to nail down the last particulars of our annual Balsam Christmas Bird Count (CBC), try to figure out how to merge my email accounts (geek I’m not) as my old Bellsouth email had been hacked and I switched over to Gmail, plus enough “honey dos” to last the rest of the year.

So, like any responsible adult I got up early Saturday morning and went to Tessentee Bottomland Preserve for a round of birding. Well, I had looked at the weather report that Friday and Saturday looked like it would be nice. I have the pleasure of joining Brent and Angela Faye Martin next Saturday (Dec. 14) for the annual Franklin CBC and Tessentee is a big part of Brent’s section so surely a little scouting would be prudent, right. Besides I hadn’t been in the field for three weeks or so - wouldn’t know a bird if it flew up and smacked me. I mean c’mon I needed to go birding!

The morning started out a little brisk but

L

clear and sunny. As soon as I walked around the gate at Tessentee I heard the hard double chip of a winter wren, which flew to the edge of the road for good looks. Other birds quickly joined the winter wren. Whitebreasted nuthatches were calling, as were golden-crowned kinglets, downy woodpeckers, Carolina chickadees and a hermit thrush. The thrush also provided good looks. It turned out to be a good day for hermit thrushes, I saw and/or heard at least a half dozen.

Tessentee is always loaded with winter sparrows and last Saturday was no exception. I found, song sparrow, swamp sparrow, field sparrow and white-throated sparrow. I don’t know who will get the pleasure of counting song and field sparrows next Saturday but I hope it’s not me — they were everywhere.

I lacked one woodpecker (hairy, and I know they’re there) having all the common ones for the region. I had downy, red-bellied, northern flicker, pileated and yellow-bellied sapsucker. There were no real rarities. I guess the most uncommon bird was probably a brown thrasher. There are always a few thrashers that overwinter in Western North Carolina but they are not abundant. I was

Trust. And as fate would have it I bumped into Paul Carlson, heart and soul and former director of LTLT, Friday evening. Paul told me Mainspring now owns both sides of Tessentee Creek at it’s confluence with the Little Tennessee. This is great news as Mainspring has White-throated sparrow tan-striped worked hard confrom Tessentee Bottomland Preserve. verting Tessentee back into a creek Don Hendershot photo rather than a dredged ditch.

Owning both sides of the creek will help towards that goal.

Paul also told me of another Mainspring purchase just up river from Tessentee.

I don’t know the particulars at this time but should be great fodder for another column.

And as I look forward to revisiting Tessentee next weekend for Franklin’s CBC, I need to mention our Balsam CBC will be Jan. 4, 2020, and anyone interested in joining us can And it’s always a pleasure to walk email me at ddihen12@gmail.com.

Tessentee as it reverts back to a bottomland (Don Hendershot is a writer and naturalist. hardwoods forest. The property was purHis book, A Year From the Naturalist’s Corner, chased in 1999 by the Land Trust for the Vol. 1, is available at regional bookstores or by Little Tennessee (LTLT), which has since contacting Don at ddihen1@bellsouth.net) morphed into Mainspring Conservation surprised there weren’t more raptors up.

Red-shouldered hawk was the only one I recorded and I didn’t see it, just heard it. I wound up the morning with around 30 species, nothing spectacular but a nice late fall birding adventure.

December 11-17, 2019 Smoky Mountain News 47

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Smoky Mountain News December 11-17, 2019