Sylva nabs grant for Pinnacle Park trail expansion Page 24
On the Cover:
Overall, the rebuilding of I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge after Hurricane Helene is estimated to cost $1 billion, and the hard reality is that more floods and landslides are guaranteed over the coming years, which will lead to more costly repairs. John Boyle of Asheville Watchdog breaks down the history of the highway and just how it ended up going through such a precarious area. (Page 6) NCDOT photo
News
Municipal candidate filing period ends on Friday......................................................4 Waynesville seeks forgivable loans for storm-damaged utilities............................5 Fontana Regional Library addresses upcoming issues ahead of split................8 Sylva’s Brown regrets ‘rookie mistake’ on Fontana library resolution................10 Canton to purchase former ABC store parcel..........................................................12 Community briefs..............................................................................................................13
Opinion
The basis of moral behavior is innate..........................................................................14 Nothing beautiful about this bill....................................................................................14
A&E
The Black Crowes land at Harrah’s Cherokee........................................................16 Haywood Arts presents ‘Form’......................................................................................18
Outdoors
Sylva accepts state grant for trail expansion at Pinnacle Park............................24 The Joyful Botanist: Snakes in the grass..................................................................27
ART D IRECTOR: Micah McClure.
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C ONTRIBUTING: Jeff Minick (writing), Susanna Shetley (writing), Adam Bigelow (writing), Thomas Crowe (writing)
shelf tags which can identify products that are gluten-free, but always oduct packaging itself. Ther double check by looking at the prro re e may be various labels on food or language or terms used on packaging or in e trying to pur estaurants that can be a bit confusing if you ar r re re rcchase foods e ar e safe for someone with celiac disease. Her that arre re re e some examples:
• Gluten-Reduced — Often you will see this on beer. Not safe for someone with celiac disease
• Gluten-Removed — This product could be safe for someone with celiac disease but check with the company to understand their testing process.
ee Friendly
• Gluten-Frre y — Not sure what this means!
• Wheat-Free this prrooduct may not be safe for someone with celiac disease since other grains like barley and rye also contain gluten.
• oduces wheat pr oduced in a facility that also pr Prro ro rooducts — ocedur proceed with caution! Depends on their testing pr rees
• oduced on machinery also used for pr Prro rooducts with wheat — probably not safe.
What is safe for someone with celiac disease?
Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN
Ingles Market Corporate Dietitian
Leah McGrath - Dietitian
Municipal candidate filing period ends on Friday
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT
OLITICS E DITOR
Candidates across Western North Carolina have begun filing for the 2025 municipal elections, which will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4, but there are still a few days left until the lists become final.
Last month, The Smoky Mountain News conducted a survey across its four-county core coverage area to determine who plans to run again, and who doesn’t. Now that the filing period is open, the picture is becoming clearer as officeholders and first-time candidates alike travel to their local boards of elections to fill out the paperwork that will put their names on ballots across the region.
Information in this report was current as of noon on Tuesday, July 15, and reflects candidate lists provided by the North Carolina Board of Elections. To see updated lists in real time, visit ncsbe.gov/resultsdata/candidate-lists#current.
has Commissioner Jon Brown. Two others, Brooklyn Joan Brownie and Sarah Hirsch, have also filed for commission seats. No one has yet filed for mayor except Mayor Johnnie Phillips.
In the Village of Forest Hills, three seats are up for election. Mayor Marcia Almond and Council Member Daniel Shields, who serves as mayor pro tem, have both filed. Robert Kehrberg, who stepped in to fill a vacancy on Council, will not seek to hold the seat this fall. Planning Board member Amy Bollinger has also filed for Council.
In-person early voting begins on Oct. 16. As of July 8, Election Day is only 119 days away.
The final day to file to run in the 2025 municipal elections is Friday, July 18, by noon.
HAYWOOD COUNTY
In Clyde, two seats on the Board of Alderman are up for reelection. Alderman Frank Lay confirmed he’ll run again while Alderman Diane Fore didn’t respond to messages asking if she’ll run again. Neither have yet filed, however Kathy Cogburn Johnson, who ran last time, has.
In Maggie Valley, Aldermen Jim Owens and John Hinton have both filed for reelection to their seats. No other candidates have yet emerged.
Waynesville’s Town Council used to be elected all at once, but the town has recently adopted a staggered system that means Julia Freeman and Anthony Sutton are up this year. Freeman and Sutton both said they plan to seek reelection. Sutton is the only candidate to file thus far.
Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers has filed for his third term as mayor, and Alderman Tim Shepard and Alderwoman Kristina Proctor have both filed to keep their seats as well.
JACKSON COUNTY
In the Town of Sylva, longtime Commissioner Mary Gelbaugh said she was stepping back after 12 years of service. Commissioner Joe Waldrum has filed for reelection, as
Webster Mayor Tracy Rodes is done after 10 years of service, but Commissioner Leigh Ann Young has filed to replace Rodes. Danell Moses said she’s running to retain her own seat but hasn’t yet filed. Contact info for Commissioner Dale Collins was not available, and Collins hasn’t filed. Sarah Stallman and Daniel Riggs are also seeking seats on commission.
Dillsboro is unique in that it still doesn’t have staggered terms — meaning the mayor and all five aldermen are up for reelection this year. Mayor Tim Parris and aldermen Keith Clark, David Gates and John Miele will all try to hold their seats. Fellow incumbents Jim Cochran and Gladys Pilarski did not respond, but Cochran, Gates and Miele have all filed.
There are only a handful of voters in the Jackson County side of Highlands, with most of them residing in the Macon County side. Together, they’ll decide who will fill three seats in the remote mountain enclave. Mayor Patrick Taylor and Commissioners Amy Patterson have both filed, but Eric Pierson did not respond and has not filed.
MACON COUNTY
Franklin Mayor Jack Horton will not seek another term, opening up an opportunity for Council Member Stacy Guffey — or someone else — to succeed Horton. Guffey filed on July 7.
Guffey’s move opens up his Town Council seat, and along with the departure of David Culpepper, who will not seek reelection, the board will see some changes come November whether Guffey wins or not. Council Member Rita Salain is in, as are newcomers Jeff Berry, Tim Cook and Travis Higdon.
SWAIN COUNTY
Bryson City Alderman Tim Hines has said he’s running again, while Alderman Ben King remains undecided. Neither
have filed, but W. Kent Maxey has. For more information on running for office, registering to vote or voting, visit the North Carolina State Board of Elections at ncsbe.gov.
File photo
Waynesville seeks forgivable loans for storm-damaged utilities
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT
P OLITICS E DITOR
Facing aging infrastructure and costly repairs made worse by Hurricane Helene, the Town of Waynesville is preparing to apply for state funding that could cover the tab for several major water and wastewater projects — at no cost to utility customers.
“This loan should turn into a grant, if the state is good to its word,” Town Manager Rob Hites told Town Council members during the July 8 meeting.
has long needed major investment. Overflow incidents from the Little Champion station have affected Richland Creek, but the RAS/WAS project could not be completed due to the expense of the town’s new $29 million wastewater treatment plant coming online later this year.
Hites said that communities that are both distressed and Helene-damaged would be eligible for 100% principal forgiveness. The loans carry 0% interest and payback periods of 20 to 30 years.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has designated Waynesville as a “distressed” community, making the town eligible for 100% principal forgiveness through the State Revolving Fund program, funded by President Joe Biden’s 2025 American Relief Act. North Carolina has set aside $409 million for water projects and $253 million for wastewater projects.
Council’s vote came just minutes after Hites provided an update on the town’s second round of 0% cashflow loans offered by the state treasurer’s office to help cover immediate post-Helene recovery expenses in anticipation of FEMA reimbursements down the road. Waynesville has already come out-of-pocket for at least one major stormrelated expenditure it just couldn’t wait on anymore — the Depot Street bridge, which reopened in April.
During the first round, the town asked the state treasurer’s office for $1.5 million but only received $503,000. During the second round, the town upped its estimate to $2.1 million and requested the balance of that figure from the treasurer but only got an additional $332,000.
“Clearly, that doesn’t make us whole,” Hites said.
Combined, the two loans provide approximately $836,000 in short-term budget relief for the water and sewer fund and must be repaid over four years regardless of FEMA reimbursement. For the first
Combined, the two loans provide approximately $836,000 in short-term budget relief for the water and sewer fund and must be repaid over four years regardless of FEMA reimbursement.
In a unanimous vote July 8, the Waynesville Town Council approved two resolutions allowing town staff to apply for funding under the SRF program.
The first is for a water project, the Browning Branch booster pump station, which is aging past its expected service life and could fail without significant refurbishment. Its replacement would ensure consistent water pressure and delivery across the system.
The second is for three wastewater projects — sewer improvements at “Little Champion,” reconstruction of the returnactivated sludge/waste-activated sludge pump station and redesign of the chlorine contact chamber at the wastewater treatment plant.
The wastewater system, in particular,
year, the Town owes only $1. In the second year, it must pay 10%. In the third year, it must pay 20% and in the fourth year, the remaining balance — with the expectation that somewhere along the line, FEMA will have reimbursed the town. That’s not guaranteed, but if even if it doesn’t happen, Hites said the town is in a good position to pay off the loan, if it must.
“We could pay the state back in 2029 that entire amount,” Hites said. “So I’m not real concerned.”
The resolutions will now be transmitted to NCDEQ as part of the formal application process. The town will await response from NCDEQ on whether the projects will be accepted — and whether the full amount of each loan will indeed be forgiven.
Waynesville sewer plant. File photo
Locating I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge was
a bad idea, but we’re stuck with it
BY JOHN BOYLE ASHEVILLE WATCHDOG
If you’re like me, you avoid driving I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge like warm beer on a hot summer day.
Hey, if I have to circle through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas to enter Tennessee from the west and then drive east back to Knoxville, I’ll do it. Perhaps I exaggerate, but that drive through the gorge to Knoxville has always been one of white knuckles, clinched orifices and prayers that speeding semis don’t topple over on you in a curve.
is creating so much consternation and harm to the region. Did it have to be designed this way?”
It’s a salient point, mainly because in the 30 years I’ve been here, slides in the gorge have been about as commonplace as someone firing up a spliff on an Asheville sidewalk.
Neither gorge nor French Broad River routes were great.
Not surprisingly, much has been written about all of this, including a 2009 story I wrote for the Citizen Times in which I quoted several sources who said the Pigeon River
While many have assailed the Pigeon River Gorge as a terrible choice because of its geology, Kuehne told me in 2009 that neither route presented a good option.
“The Hot Springs-French Broad River route has crazy geologic (stuff) you can’t even wrap your mind around,” he said, explaining that it has rounded quartz rock.
noted that, “I-40’s route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921.”
Prince wrote:
“A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a ‘…waterlevel road down [the] Pigeon River to the
It also has just as much lowto medium-grade metamorphic rock — which is more prone to slides — as the Pigeon River Gorge. In fact, 25-70 also has been prone to slides, but they don’t get noticed as much because of its lower traffic volume, Kuehne said.
I also interviewed retired NCDOT District Engineer Stan Hyatt for that story.
“I would say today, if we had no road through Haywood, with the advances in geotechnology, we would never try to build an interstate type road down there, unless there was just no place else to put it,” Hyatt said. “It’s just an area that’s full of nothing but fractured rock waiting to fall off.”
It’s a terrible road — windy, steep in places and remarkably prone to rockslides and landslides, as we’ve seen over the past 10 months.
Last September, Tropical Storm Helene caused the Pigeon River to swell into a raging torrent, which undermined the interstate’s lanes and caused it to shut down for five months. The NCDOT noted that the storm “washed away about 3 million cubic yards of dirt, rock and material from the side of I-40.”
It reopened with one lane in each direction March 1, but that was short-lived. Heavy rain June 18 caused a rockslide near the North Carolina-Tennessee line, and the road was closed until June 27.
These slides conjured memories for a regular correspondent of mine, who emailed me this:
“I’ve always heard that I-40 through the gorge from North Carolina to Tennessee was originally planned for a different location, but that business people in Waynesville urged that it go where it is today — despite geo-engineers concluding that route was not optimal and potentially dangerous. Is that version true, or a myth that’s seeped into local lore? Please help us all with the history and backstory of the current route, one that
Gorge posed known geologic problems and was prone to sliding even during construction. Jody Kuhne, a state engineering geologist with the NCDOT, provided a particularly colorful interview.
“Lots of people these days will say highway decisions are all politics — well, hell yes, they are,’” Kuehne said. “Back at that time, Haywood County had a large paper mill, major railroad access and other industry, and Madison County just didn’t have that, except some in Hot Springs. So sure, they out-politicked Madison. The road went where the action was.”
Ever since North Carolina had passed a law in 1921 stating that all counties should have a road that connects their county seat to neighboring county seats, people in Haywood had pushed for a road to the next county west, in Tennessee. Initially, the proposal was for a two-lane road, but that changed when Dwight Eisenhower became president in the 1950s and pushed for the interstate program we have today.
Haywood business leaders and politicians wanted the interstate to come their way; leaders and politicians in Buncombe and Madison counties wanted the road to follow the French Broad River where 25/70 runs today.
An October 1968 Raleigh News & Observer article about the imminent “conquest” of the Pigeon River Gorge described the 23-mile portion of I-40 from near Dellwood to the North Carolina-Tennessee state line as “one of the most expensive stretches of highway ever built in the eastern United States.”
This was well known during construction and in 1968 when I-40 opened. An October 1968 Citizen-Times article quoted a Tennessee engineer who said, “It seemed like the rock and dirt had been oiled. We would blast it out, level it, ditch it, and then it would slide almost before we could get the machinery out of the way.”
An October 1968 Raleigh News & Observer article about the imminent “conquest” of the Pigeon River Gorge described the 23-mile portion of I-40 from near Dellwood to the North Carolina-Tennessee state line as “one of the most expensive stretches of highway ever built in the eastern United States.” From Raleigh News & Observer
The reporter noted presciently, “Engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina said that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years.”
And they have been. The area has seen dozens of slides over the years, including some that shut I-40 down for months. Was it political? Yes, no, maybe, probably… Sussing out the politics of all this is more difficult, as they go back to the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s.
Adam Prince, who runs the blog Gribblenation, wrote a fine, wellfootnoted piece about the gorge and I-40’s troubled history a month after Helene. He
Prince found that a Pigeon River Gorge study, “along with a study on improving the existing US 25/70 corridor through Madison County via a water-level route along the French Broad River, was completed in late 1948.”
“The French Broad Route of US 25/70 through Marshall and Hot Springs had been the long-established travel route between Asheville and Eastern Tennessee,” Prince wrote. “Confusion on whether or not the two studies were related to each other was amplified when in December of that year, outgoing North Carolina Governor R. Gregg Cherry awarded $450,000 in surplus highway funding for the construction of the Pigeon River route.” F
The rain-swollen Pigeon River eroded the base of I-40 lanes through the Pigeon River Gorge during Tropical Storm Helene last September. The NCDOT and its contractors have had to rebuild the embankment to get travel lanes back open. NCDOT photo
Construction did not follow, though, because as Prince pointed out, “it was also unknown how the route would be built.” Summer 1951 was a turning point, Prince states, as in that June “a public hearing in Asheville was held to discuss the two corridors. It was questioned if a survey of the French Broad River corridor had occurred, and the backers of that route requested another.”
In July, Gov. W. Kerr Scott awarded $500,000 toward the construction of the Pigeon River Route.
“The award cemented the eventuality of a Waynesville-to-Tennessee highway,” Prince writes. “Yet, French Broad River backers continued to push for an improved water-level US 25/70 route along that corridor.”
Two years later, the first construction project in the gorge was awarded, $1.3 million to grade 6.5 miles of “eventual roadway from the Tennessee line to Cold Springs Creek Road (Exit 7 on today’s I-40).”
Next came Eisenhower’s interstate system and lots of federal money — and more squabbling. Tennessee wanted the Haywood route, too. Prince writes:
“In 1954, Harry E. Buchanan, commissioner of the 14th Highway Division, met with Tennessee officials on how best to link the two states between the French Broad and Pigeon River routes. At a meeting of the Southeastern Association of Highway Officials in Nashville, Buchanan met with Tennessee officials — who wanted to shift the proposed Asheville-Knoxville Interstate Corridor to follow the Pigeon River.”
exerted strong influence.
“However, I have yet to find any information about Champion Papers publicly or privately lobbying for I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge,” Prince said.
Mark Barrett, who worked for the Citizen Times for more than three decades, covering both the state house as well as local growth and development, also delved into the I-40 politics-at-play issue, particularly in a 1989 article.
just decided on technical grounds.”
When I wrote that 2009 story, I noted that “at least 10 landslides have shut down the highway since 1972.”
Barrett wrote another story in July 1997 that listed 20 between 1969 and 1997, including one that involved a fatality in 1977.
NCDOT’s Helene repair project page states the estimated cost of the fix to I-40 after Helene over a 12-mile stretch at the gorge at $1 billion.
Tennessee officials urged the North Carolina Highway Commission to propose the changed corridor to the Bureau of Public Roads.
“The announcement immediately sparked the ire of Madison and Buncombe Counties and City of Asheville officials. The published 1947 map of proposed Interstate corridors had the Asheville-Knoxville link follow the existing US 25/70 French Broad River route.”
But, as Prince reported, “by April 1955, the North Carolina State Highway Commission had ‘tentatively confirmed’ the Pigeon River route for the new Interstate; backers of the French Broad Route then successfully delayed the final decision by urging the commission to undertake a complete study of the French Broad River corridor. The reprieve did not last long.”
Asheville engineer T.M. Howerton completed a study of two possible French Broad routes, but in June 1956 the State Highway Commission voted for the Pigeon River route. Prince states:
“While Howerton’s study pointed to a lower cost for the French Broad route by 50 percent ($15 million vs. $30 million), SHC officials estimated that the financials were the reverse, with the Pigeon River route being less expensive. They also stated the French Broad Route ‘was not feasible.’ Suspicions rose throughout the state about the Highway Commission’s decision to award without a fully sanctioned study completed.”
Ultimately, the Pigeon River route cost $33 million, Prince notes.
The road opened in October 1968. The first rockslide that would close the interstate occurred Feb. 12, 1969. With all the maneuvering and machinations of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, it’s no surprise the notion lingered that the route choice was all political. But I haven’t found anything suggesting anything particularly nefarious or illegal transpired, although I’d suspect some smoke-filled, backroom shenanigans came into play.
Prince told me via email that he’s “pretty much in general agreement with (me) that most of this was out in the open,” although he did note that he had received a few “very adamant” comments that Canton’s Champion paper mill
Barrett quoted the late Zeno Ponder, a Democratic political kingpin in Madison County for decades, who said the I-40 decision revolved around political allegiances, particularly those of former Democratic Gov. Cherry.
“Madison County was really a Republican county…and all the counties from Haywood west were solidly Democrat. And Gregg Cherry had put up the money for the surveys,” Ponder said.
Barrett said he’s heard rumblings about outsized influence of a governor or two over the years, but nothing that screamed “scandal.”
“Was it a political decision? Maybe, maybe not,” Barrett told me last week. “There was a political battle over it at the time, but it’s hard to tell from this distance whether one side was more influential than the other, or if engineers
Does the future hold more slides?
The state has spent plenty of money over the years battling these slides. Barrett’s 1997 article mentioned that the NCDOT spent $14 million in 1982 on stabilizing slopes, erecting barriers and shifting portions of travel lanes farther from slopes on the four miles of I-40 closest to the Tennessee state line.
Periodic projects have recurred since.
Last October, after Helene, the NCDOT issued a brief geologic synopsis of the I-40 area from the Tennessee line to mile marker 5 in North Carolina. It first notes that the I-40 corridor through the gorge “has had a troubled history.”
“The terrain and geology of the area have proved difficult barriers to developing a resilient roadway facility, causing problems that have persisted from construction to today,” the report states. “The steep, sometimes vertical, narrow valley provides little area to establish a sound embankment, and the geology underlying the slopes proves too complex to develop stable tall, rock cuts.
“Detrimental rockfall is a common occurrence in the study area and is exacerbated by the geographically and proprietarily constricted facility corridor,” it continues. It also mentions the fixes, which have included rock anchors, rock nets, expanded catchment areas, retaining walls and scaling of loose and unstable material.
Still, unstable slopes have led to large rock falls at mile markers .4, 2.5, and 4.5, “with many smaller ones occurring over the same length of highway at differing times or the same time,” according to the report.
It gets even more dire.
“Adding to the difficulty of unstable slopes is the limited area on which the supporting embankment has as a foundation,” the report states. “Embankment with steep slopes is oftentimes founded directly on bedrock which commonly has a steeply sloping surface. Channel morphology of the Pigeon River has also played a large part in the instability of certain sections of the embankment.”
In other words, it’s a river gorge with rocks that formed in an unstable way, and they’re prone to sliding.
“Erosion is accelerated in areas where the channel bends sharply against the east side of the gorge, flowing directly into the foundation of the I-40 facility,” the report states.
In that 2009 story, I mentioned that a 1997 study found 49 places along I-40 near Tennessee that were potential slide problems. Workers had installed rock bolts to stabilize the slopes, but another retired engineer said they knew at the time the bolts were not a permanent solution.
“There’s only one way to fix it so it won’t slide, and that’s to just flatten the slope out,” the engineer said. “And you might have to blast all the way to Tennessee to do that.”
In the meantime, keep an eye out when you travel through the gorge.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at 828.337.0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
Part of a travel lane on I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge collapsed last December as work was ongoing to rebuild the highway. NCDOT photo
The headline on an Asheville Citizen-Times article from Mark Barrett reads as though it could have been written the day after Tropical Storm Helene. From Asheville-Citizen Times
Fontana Regional Library addresses upcoming issues ahead of split
BY KYLE P ERROTTI
N EWS E DITOR
As the Fontana Regional Library sizes up a monumental change coming into the focus over the hill like a band of Vandals looking to sack Rome, its outgoing attorney, Rady Large, offers a simple piece of advice.
“You guys need to have counsel from a multi-partner firm that is going to be able to possibly field potential lawsuits that could possibly come from all this,” he told the board during its July 8 meeting.
The ”all of this” Large referred to is the complicated process the board has now been forced into as it prepares to lose one third of its libraries, including the employees that have operated those institutions for decades.
The FRL board meets six times per year, once at each of its libraries that span Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. The July 8 meeting was at the Nantahala Community Library, the system’s smallest, which serves a community with little to no cell phone access, meaning the services it provides, including free WiFi access, are all the more vital.
THE VOTE TO LEAVE
The meeting was the board’s first since Jackson County Commissioners voted 4-1 late last month to withdraw from the agreement it’d had with the system for the last 81 years. At the June 3 county commission meeting, held at Southwestern Community College, County Manager Kevin King informed the board that the move will cost the county about $300,000 initially and about a half-million per year thereafter.
“… we see that Fontana has policies in place for child safety, for content, for all of the things that we’ve brought up as concerns,” Commission Chair Mark Letson, the lone dissenter, pleaded ahead of the vote.
“Just from what we’ve gathered initially, it’s going to cost us more in the long run than it will if we remain within Fontana,” he added. “We’ve got some immediate things that are going to have to happen, and it may leave us short-handed at the libraries.”
system, according to Womble.
For FRL, the letter triggers actions that must be taken by both the library system and the county before the split.
“The latest I have read is that Jackson County is exploring hiring a consultant to assist with that process because it will form a new department,” Womble said, adding that
FRL Chair Cynthia Womble said that while she received the physical, “wet-ink signature” copy of the letter from Jackson County officially notifying the board of its withdrawal from the system on July 2, she’d received a copy via email on June 30. Jackson County has also already notified Macon and Swain, the two other county members of the
Regional Library Systems across the state were established during a time decades ago when counties didn’t necessarily have enough resources to provide library services, so they created multi-county systems. While counties still provide the funds, the regional library boards handle administrative functions.
FRL was formed in 1944 when the Tennessee Valley Authority sponsored a bookmobile to visit remote areas of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.
But like with school boards, in recent years, a large movement led by Christian conservatives has challenged local and regional libraries across the nation, accusing them of pushing LGBTQ and other progressive ideologies and offering books that some consider offensive. As the book bans began, so too did the lawsuits.
The ACLU filed a federal suit against the Greenville County Library in South Carolina for removing books, citing systemic discrimination. In Tennessee, plaintiffs are challenging the ban of more than 100 books by a local school board.
Closer to home, residents of Yancey County were prepared to file suit over the county’s withdrawal from its regional library system last year over similar concerns.
PUBLIC PUSHBACK
Ahead of Jackson County’s vote to withdraw, public comments at commissioner meetings reflected an overwhelming desire among residents to see the county stay in library system. At last week’s FRL meeting, Womble noted that board members received 43 emails and handwritten letters, the majority of which voiced support for the library system and/or shock at Jackson County’s decision to withdraw.
Those sentiments were echoed in one sense or another by the four people who addressed the FRL board at the Nantahala Community Library. Some offered praise for Womble’s performance when conducting meetings; others chastised Jackson County commissioners and even some of the members of the library board.
Jackson County resident Tom Downey passionately read a prepared statement. His ultimate point was to elaborate on a relatively F
The meeting drew enough of a crowd to fill the small room at the Nantahala Community Center, which is attached to the Nantahala Community Library. Kyle Perrotti photo
simple fear. It’s wasn’t that he’s concerned about banning books now; he’s concerned about freedom dying a slow death in area libraries.
“I have a feeling that challenging books, which is what was talked about by the Jackson commissioners, based on alleged pornography grounds, is just the beginning with our new members that we have from some of the counties” he said.
Downey said that some board members, whom he referred to as “the morality police,” will simply change policies to stop buying books that don’t conform to their views.
“I think we’re in a world of trouble, madam chair, because you have some zealots on this board right now,” he said.
BUDGETARY CONCERNS
During a discussion on the budget, Womble noted that the upcoming changes require the board to look closely at its own financial future. FRL operates on a tight budget with $4.03 million in revenue against $3.98 million in expenses.
Perhaps the biggest budgetary concern regards personnel, considering salaries, compensation and benefits for its 81 listed employees account for $2.85 million annually.
“That’s very difficult because Jackson County literally has until June 30 (2026) to decide whether they’re going to go through with it, so we can’t let people go ahead of time,” Fitzmaurice told the board. “We can’t just walk in and say, ‘you don’t have a job anymore’ on July 1, so that will be up to the board to figure out the best way to do that.”
rent employees to work at its future countyrun library system, that isn’t guaranteed; in Yancey County, none of the employees of the AMY (named for Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties) were kept onboard. An idea was floated that the board could approve some kind of bonus for employees in Jackson County that stick it out until June 30, 2026, but there was hesitation, and the matter was ultimately referred to the personnel committee.
“That does put a lot of fear and uncertainty in our staff, and I did get an email I sent out to our board after the decision was made asking to continue to give encouragement to our staff because they do work hard for not a lot of money,” Fitzmaurice said.
Another concern that is easier to address is the booking of events at the Jackson County Library in Sylva. According to Fitzmaurice, finding the right performers and musicians is like finding “gold,” and they must be booked about a year in advance, meaning the process has already begun for summer 2026. However, that shouldn’t be too big of a deal since Fitzmaurice, in conjunction with King, is now booking acts with the caveat that the county will have to pay them if it indeed completes its planned withdrawal from FRL.
NEW FACES, NEW COMMITTEES
Only two board members have served the entirety of the last year, Womble and Tony Monnat, who both represent Swain County. Last week’s meeting was the first for board member Cheryl Taylor, of Swain County.
One of the newer members is Marva Jennigs, who was appointed by a unanimous vote of Jackson County Commissioners, including her brother, Commissioner Michael Jennings. Following the July 8 meeting, she confirmed to The Smoky Mountain News that Commissioner Jennings is her brother but that she didn’t think he voted; however, meeting minutes indicate that the commission vote to appoint her was unanimous.
eat up quite a bit of time, and Fitzmaurice must attend all committee meetings. During the July 8 meeting, Monnat leaned back in his chair and marveled at how many committees have been formed. “I don’t know how you all have so much time,” he said with a chuckle. By the time the vote came around to form the final committee of the night — which will aim to amend the public comment policy — the vote was 8-1 with only Monnat opposing.
Large, who said it had been an honor to give legal services to FRL, put it bluntly. With all the moving parts — personnel issues, dividing property and resources and potential First Amendment issues that could come with moving or banning books, should the board choose to do that — high-level legal services are necessary. He said he’d be
toward the end of the meeting, Womble asked for Large to offer his advice, first thanking him for his pro-bono service over the last couple of years. His donation of time also helps FRL because it can be considered an in-kind donation, which helps when applying for grants.
The abrupt end of the partnership could create a mass exodus of employees, which puts the board on the hook for paying out a lot of leave and vacation days, as well as potential unemployment for several people, all at once.
Later in the meeting, Fitzmaurice noted that FRL staffers in Jackson County, some of whom have worked for FRL for over 25 years, are “really anxious,” adding that she expects some may look for jobs.
“That will impact service,” Fitzmaurice said.
While Jackson County could hire the cur-
At the July 8 meeting, the board elected new officers. The two most experienced, Womble and Monnat, were appointed Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, and Macon County’s Bill McGaha was voted in as Secretary.
In addition to naming officers, the board established six committees to handle a number of different issues, including items that newer members wanted to tackle, such as amending the ethics statement, the collection development policy and the circulation policy. But this means that board members are all on multiple committees, which can
senting a library board would not address. There’s a lot of municipal law and constitutional law that you guys are going to be advised on, and so my biggest piece of advice is, it would be in your best interest to get on retaining legal counsel ASAP.”
The Nantahala Community Library is the smallest in the Fontana Regional Library System. Kyle Perrotti photo
Jackson County resident Tom Downey addressing the board.
Kyle Perrotti photo
Sylva’s Brown regrets ‘rookie mistake’ on Fontana
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT
Two weeks after instigating the removal of a resolution supporting the Fontana Regional Library from a Sylva Board of Commissioners meeting agenda — and just moments after scorching public comments delivered by a longtime local — a first-term Sylva commissioner says he regrets his decision and hopes to move forward.
“Call it a rookie mistake,” said Sylva Commissioner Jon Brown. “I’m still learning what I do here.”
Luther Jones was the only person to speak during the public comment portion of the July 10 Sylva Board of Commissioners meeting and delivered a rebuke of the board’s June 12 vote to remove a proposed resolution supporting FRL from its agenda.
“There are times when I have not agreed with the actions of the of the town board, but I can tell you now, in all these years, this is the first time that I have been ashamed of it,” Jones said.
The resolution was to be heard just before commissioners were preparing to vote to withdraw from the library system over LGBTQ+ content, which they did on June 24. Along the way, critics of withdrawal warned of diminishing service, increasing expense and legal exposure.
But as the June 12 Sylva meeting was called to order, Brown moved to strike the resolution from the agenda. Brown’s motion was made all the more puzzling when he later added that he hoped the Jackson County Public Library would remain part of the FRL and that he was still open to discuss a resolution of support.
Commissioners Brad Waldrop and Joe Waldrum opposed the motion but were outvoted by Brown and commissioners Blitz Eldridge and Mary Gelbaugh, so the respective merits or deficiencies of the resolution were neither
heard nor voted on.
At the time, Brown said he didn’t think it was the board’s job to present a public statement on a polarizing issue that’s the responsibility of county commissioners to decide, and that the resolution — which had previously been passed by county municipalities Forest Hills and Webster — hadn’t been crafted, vetted or discussed by his board.
“That is why it was on the agenda — to be vetted and discussed prior to taking the vote. You could have vetted the statement as a committee, as a board. You didn’t have to like the resolution as it was written. You could have had your hand in crafting it to your liking. You could have voted for it or not, as per your personal conscience,” Jones said, going on to call the move “shameful” and “an act of censorship.”
Jones, who’s unsuccessfully run for the board several times, ended his comments with a warning to those — namely, Brown — seeking reelection in November.
“The residents of Sylva have not been able to ascertain the positions of council members because of the silence,” he said. “Perhaps they should step down or be replaced by voters the next time they are up for reelection.”
regrets the commissioners’ decision to withdraw.
After Jones concluded his remarks, Brown responded earnestly.
“I appreciate Mr. Jones’ comments,” he said. “What we do here as a board should be transparent. It should be discussed. And what we what we did last meeting in removing that from the agenda was probably not the best way to handle that. I’ll admit that, and I think that was a learning experience for me.”
Brown added that he maintains the position that the Sylva board should not be “taking a side” on a divisive issues.
“Having said that, I do feel that we can make a resolution in favor and support of our library, and we’re working on that, and we will put that forth. That will speak to more of where most of our constituents are,” he said.
Acknowledging concerns on both sides, Brown again said he would “love to see the library stay part of the FRL” and that a forthcoming resolution of support could include a clause indicating that the library has existing mechanisms whereby patrons can challenge library materials.
“I think that’s appropriate, and I think the board will agree to a resolution that’s more encompassing of where many of our constituents stand,” he said.
Gelbaugh told The Smoky Mountain News she would step back after more than a decade of service, while Waldrum said he was undecided. Mayor Johnnie Phillips, who is also seeking reelection, only votes in the case of a tie. Brown said July 1 he planned to run again and doesn’t think the Jackson County commission’s FRL decision will have much impact on the Sylva races this year. He also said he
Although Jackson County did vote in favor of withdrawal, disentangling processes and resources from the FRL system will take place over the course of a year, so it’s theoretically possible for Jackson commissioners to reverse their decision.
The next meeting of the Sylva Board of Commissioners will take place at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 24.
Sylva Commissioner
Jon Brown. Town of Sylva photo
Canton to purchase former ABC store parcel
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT
DITOR
Aland purchase approved by Canton’s governing board July 10 will bring more parking to the town’s increasingly popular downtown area near Sorrells Street Park while also marking another milestone in the town’s flood mitigation strategy.
“It was actually offered to us by the ABC store. They came to us. They felt it was best to move, and they had the ability to get out of the floodplain and to a larger space, which they wanted,” said Zeb Smathers, Canton’s mayor.
Located on the corner of Main Street and Pisgah Drive right across the street from the park, the Canton ABC store sat in close proximity to the Pigeon River and was located in the floodplain. During both Tropical Storm Fred in 2021 and Hurricane Helene in 2024, the store was about as close to the epicenter of the flooding as any structure could be, and suffered tremendous damage.
After Helene hit on Sept. 27, 2024, the store never reopened and was torn down two weeks ago.
The parcel, nearly half an acre, is assessed at $340,000 but with a significant caveat — it’s practically unbuildable, due to FEMA regulations about repeated flooding. According to the purchase agreement, the town will pay $156,300 and “support the relocation of the ABC store to a more suitable location.”
Hugh Williams has served as general manager of the Canton ABC store since July 1, 2013.
“The main purpose for the ABC boards is to service the communities they are in, both county and town,” Williams said. “The situation was, the property we had being in a floodway, it’s been flooded four times in the last 20 years and twice last three years. In consultation with the town, we
felt its best use would be for parking.”
The unanimous vote to purchase by Canton’s Board of Aldermen/women came a day after Canton’s ABC Board ratified the agreement on July 9.
In a typical fiscal year, Canton’s ABC store collects about $2.5 million in gross revenue, which in turn generates a substantial amount of sales tax revenue. Last fiscal year, however, the store was only open for three months. Williams said he’s looking forward to beginning construction at a new location, the former Tru-Value Hardware store at 70 New Clyde Highway, any day now. Contractors project an opening date sometime this fall.
For the town, purchasing the ABC is easy as 1, 2, 3 — and so is paying for it. Typically, the store contributes about $40,000 of its gross profits to the town’s budget on an annual basis. Per the agreement, the Canton Alcoholic Beverage Control Board will be allowed to keep up to $39,075 per year over the next four years to count toward the purchase price. No interest on the outstanding balance will be charged to the town over those four years. If gross profits drop below the $39,075 figure, the ABC Board will cut a check to the town for the difference. If gross profits exceed that figure, the overage will go into the town’s general fund as normal. By the time the four years is up, the town will have paid off the purchase without excessive strain on its budget, without taking on any debt and with the ABC store retaining signifiant revenue to help with its relocation.
There are, however, four additional parcels behind the store, bordering South Main Street. Three of them, totaling nearly a third of an acre, already belong to the town. The westernmost, a tenth of an acre bordering Pisgah Drive, is owned by Jason Redd and Haley Mann and appears to be a warehouse.
Once the former ABC store becomes a parking lot, that warehouse will be one of few structures remaining near the particularly problematic intersection of the Pigeon and the Main Street bridge. Indeed, Sorrells Street Park came into being after flooding in 2004 wiped out structures there. Moving north through the park, Canton’s old town hall and fire department are both slated for demolition, to give the Pigeon a wide berth and to give the town some flexibility in future development or mitigation strategies.
Smathers said that there was some discussion about the possibility of using the former ABC space as a food truck corral on Mondays, when most restaurants aren’t open.
Debris sits piled (foreground) near the Main Street Bridge in Canton on Sept. 28, 2024, with the nearby ABC store (background) right in the path of destruction. Cory Vaillancourt photo
Franklin hosts lecture on history of Cowee School
Speakers will present the history of the Cowee School, from the days of the site as a CCC camp, construction by the WPA during the 1940s, over 60 decades as a public school, to its present as a thriving community and arts center. Donated photo
cycle. The Health Foundation’s LIFT Grants will support and fund programs that focus on one or more of their three strategic priorities: access to primary care, access to behavioral health, and the well-being of infants, children and adolescents.
The Health Foundation has awarded 153 grants totaling $10.2 million to 88 organizations since 2019. The 2025 LIFT grant cycle will continue to support transformative programs that align with the mission to enhance the health and wellbeing of everyone in our communities.
The pre-application period for the LIFT Grant cycle will end at 5 p.m. on July 30.
Invitations to complete full applications will follow, with grant awards anticipated in November. For more information about the full grant process and schedule, or if your organization is interested in submitting a pre-application to start the grant process, please visit HCHealthFnd.org/grantmaking.
Marcus reunion held this weekend
Members of Dogwood Crafters in Dillsboro will demonstrate bead work and basketry while Mountain Heritage Center staff will show Western Carolina College’s old beanies and lead participants in making corn shuck dolls.
This festival is similar to the style of Mountain Heritage Day, now known as Mountain Heritage Days, which will be held this year on Saturday, Sept. 27, culminating a week-long celebration of newly added programming such as evening faculty-led lectures with hands-on involvement, heritage demonstrators on the plaza and a Friday night concert at Bridge Park in Sylva.
During the July 17 event, the Mountain Heritage Center will be open, with its exhibit “A Stranger No More: George Masa and His Art” which introduces the life and photography of George Masa and focuses attention on an under-recognized yet impactful voice in early conservation efforts of the Smoky Mountains. The Center is located in the Hunter Library building and the exhibit is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday until Aug. 15.
The event is sponsored by the Mountain Heritage Center, the Office of Mentoring and Persistence to Success and Hunter Library.
For more information, contact the Mountain Heritage Center at 828.227.7129.
On Monday, July 21, the series “Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture,” will present a program on the history of Cowee School, now the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center. Speakers will be Bill Dyar, long-time principal of the school; Stacy Guffey, founding director of the Arts and Heritage Center; and Laura Brooks, current director. They will present the history of the school, from the days of the site as a camp, construction by the WPA during the 1940s, over 60 decades as a public school, to its present as a thriving community and arts center.
HRMC to host free lunch and learn on diabetes and nutrition
Haywood Regional Medical Center invites the community to a free Lunch & Learn event focused on Diabetes and Nutrition from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, July 21 at the Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center.
The session will be led by Kathryn Darsillo, a licensed outpatient nutritionist at Haywood Regional who specializes in working with individuals managing chronic conditions such as diabetes and prediabetes. During the hour-long session, Darsillo will guide attendees through the essential role nutrition plays in blood sugar management and overall wellness. She will discuss practical approaches to meal planning, understanding food labels, and making sustainable dietary changes that support long-term health.
This Lunch & Learn is ideal for individuals living with diabetes, those newly diagnosed, caregivers, or anyone interested in improving their nutrition to support better health outcomes. The goal is to provide useful, real-world information that participants can begin applying immediately in their daily lives. Lunch will be provided, and registration is encouraged.
The program will take place at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin. The program will begin at 6:30 pm.
To register or request more information, contact Lilly Ferguson at 770.776.7291 or lillian.ferguson@lifepointhealth.net.
Franklin Chamber of Commerce holds information meeting for 2026 trip to Spain
At 5:30 p.m. Aug. 6, there will be an informational meeting regarding the Franklin Chamber’s upcoming trip to Spain and the sunny Costa del Sol. Trip dates are March 17-25, 2026. Meeting is free and will be held at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce, 98 Hyatt Road. For more information call Linda at 828.5243161.
Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation announces 2025 LIFT grant cycle
The Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation has announced the start of its 2025 LIFT Grant
A reunion for descendants of Dallas E. Marcus (b. 1841) or his grandfather Ellis D. Marcus (b. 1790), or any other Marcus ancestor who had roots in Western North Carolina, the upstate of South Carolina, North Georgia and East Tennessee are invited to the Marcus reunion which will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 19, at the Panther Creek Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, Graham County.
Lunch will be “potluck” at about noon.
The church is on Upper Panther Creek Road, Almond, although the address may also be listed as Robbinsville.
Please bring any old pictures of our ancestors for all to see. For those who are willing, these can be published in an upcoming photo book on the Marcus family.
For more information, send an email to kmarcusgenie16@gmail.com.
WCU Mountain Heritage Center to host Mini-Mountain Heritage Day July 17
The Mountain Heritage Center, a museum of Appalachian culture at Western Carolina University, will hold a crafts demonstration and music performance from 2-4 p.m. on Thursday, July 17.
The event will be held on the lawn between the Forsyth and Killian Annex buildings. The event is free and open to the public.
Among the scheduled performers are traditional musician Sarah Elizabeth Burkey. Crafters include Cassie Dickson with flax culture and weaving, Mattie Davenport with weaving, Windy Gordon with Scottish tartans and discussing historical influences and Richard Tichich showing quilting and old-time sewing machines.
Legal Aid of North Carolina receives $510,000 to assist Helene Survivors
Legal Services Corporation announced June 23 that Legal Aid of North Carolina will receive a $510,000 disaster relief grant to support survivors of Tropical Storm Helene.
LANC is one of four LSC-funded organizations across the United States awarded a grant to support legal services for survivors of significant natural disasters over the past year.
Tropical Storm Helene, which struck North Carolina in September 2024, caused an estimated $59 billion in damages statewide. More than 8,800 low-income homes were destroyed and over 73,000 homes were damaged. Of the homes affected, 92.5% were uninsured. The storm also caused widespread damage to private roads and bridges and intensified complications related to heir property and title issues.
LANC has remained on the ground assisting low-income North Carolinians with storm-related legal needs. Since October 2024, the organization has handled more than 530 Helene-specific cases and fielded over 1,600 calls through its dedicated Helene Hotline. LANC has also hosted or participated in more than 150 outreach events, reaching more than 26,000 people across in-person and virtual statewide gatherings. Additional events are scheduled in the coming months.
The grant will help strengthen LANC’s disaster relief initiatives, including expanding mobile technology-based legal support in remote areas and partnering with state agencies to assist with the Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
The basis of moral behavior is innate
To the Editor:
What I dislike about the American Christian Right is what I dislike about Jeff Minick’s book re-view in last week’s edition of The Smoky Mountain News, which is less a book review as it is a chance for Mr. Minick to display his own religious views using the passages he quotes from the book as support. Believers have always tended to take religious ideas and expand those perspectives across the broad swath of human concerns, venturing into no end of nooks and crannies of the human experience, and by doing so, providing various types of analyses, untethered from reality but consistent with theology.
And so we find Andrew Klaven, the author of the book Jeff reviews and endorses, offering the tired and false view that without Christian morality, humankind will devolve into a few crazy guys in positions of political power who decide that they can just do as they like, unrestrained by a willful ignorance of the dictates of an all-powerful and perfectly moral Christian god. This nefarious process, or so the view goes, leads inevitably to the enslavement of the many, for the personal and pervading narcissistic pleasures of the elitist few, as dictated by whims.
The detailing of this process, according to Klaven, is provided by a 19th century philosopher named Friedrich Nietzsche, and you will be forgiven if you never heard of him or why anyone should take him seriously. That Klaven and
Letter’s hypocrisy was hilarious
To the Editor:
I’m not finding many things to laugh about these days, so I want to give a shout out to the author of the letter “Harassing public officials is wrong” in the July 9 issue.
His letter was hilarious. I laughed each time I read it ... four times.
He wrote in reference to the commissioners vote on leaving the Fontana Regional Library System, and some responses he “saw” or “heard about,” many quotes with no noted documentation.
Putting that aside, it’s important to note that the library controversy is nonpartisan, as much as some want to make it partisan. Many, many people from different political viewpoints are against leaving the FRL. So, he should stop fanning the flame of division on every issue.
Among other “points” he tried to make was this: “Too often, the far-left individuals who, when they do not win at the ballot box or in the arena of ideas, resort to the types of behavior and worse.”
And then there was this gem:
“This type of behavior is bullying and thuggish and should be beneath any responsible adult. When did we go from hating an idea to hating the person who holds the idea?”
He’s joking, right?
First, well, I do not know why but, Jan. 6, 2021, comes to mind. Second, the childish name-calling and bullying at the administration level of the United States every single day also comes to mind. And it’s trickling down to
Minick do is perhaps because they are aware that Christianity in America is on the cusp of losing its majority grip on the minds of the citizens and are very concerned that we are only a few decades away from the minds of the citizenry catching up to our Constitution, which established a secular nation even though most were religious at the time. It is indisputable and quite telling that a deity is not mentioned once in our governing document.
In addition, an objective view of nations worldwide shows that the highest quality of life belongs to countries that are populated by overwhelmingly secular citizens (U.S. News & World Report). The United States would do well to look to such countries as Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, England, and many others, if what is wanted is a high standard of living, job opportunity, excellent health care, affordable housing, etc. The inescapable fact is that nations that govern with the secular values related to human flourishing, which means providing the people with the greatest opportunity to live and prosper, have better records historically than do those nations peopled with religious adherents insisting that behavior be aligned with the dictates of a favored god. (Of which there are many in the world, all backed by their own different sacred writings, of course.)
And then there are those pesky real facts about the world: overall, progress continues to be made in every arena of human concern. From poverty to genocide, from health con-
LETTERS
us all. The author of that letter has repeatedly tried to intimidate and bully those us who do not agree with his views.
Again, thank you so much, letter writer, for providing such humor in these troubling times, much of which you helped create. Your letter positively dripped with irony and hypocrisy.
Allison Padgett Sylva
Nothing beautiful about this bill
To the Editor:
The big beautiful bill is neither. Tax cuts take effect this year. While the cuts for the highest earners are permanent, most cuts expire in 2030. Sixty percent of the total tax savings will go to people with incomes greater than $217,000 per year. For the next five years, the rest of us will see between $3,000 (high earners) and $156 (lowest earners) in annual tax savings. For many people, any tax savings will be canceled by the loss of Medicaid support. And, if you got an email from the Social Security Administration praising Trump for tax cuts to Social Security payments, understand those cuts don’t apply to everyone and expire in 2028.
Medicaid changes take effect in 2027, after the mid-term elections. In House District 11, 196,000 people depend on Medicaid or Obamacare (kkf.org). Although regulations to implement the cuts don’t yet exist, they will include eliminating coverage for some people,
cerns to the standard of living, from disease to freedom, humans are on a roll from bad to good, from less to more. If you want to know what’s going on in the world in exacting terms, I would suggest Harvard scientist Steven Pinker’s excellent and comprehensive book, Enlightenment Now, The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress, (Penguin, 2018). Give that book a read, and I promise that you will gain an educated appreciation for how far humankind has come, and how it is likely to continue to make progress.
Much of what Klaven, Minick and I have written sounds ponderous and intellectual. You don’t have to go there at all to know where morality has its origin. Just notice yourself. Humans have evolved within the last 300,000 years or so to be social animals who possess individually and collectively a moral sense. I have been an atheist for 60 some years, and I can be trusted to feed your animals when you are away, without making off with your stereo or your tractor. You see, I know better, and all human moral character is of that sort. And that is why we are able to have societies that are functional and thriving all over the world. A moral sense can be damaged or beaten out of you if you are young enough and unfortunate enough to have that kind of upbringing, but it is there from the jump because of your very nature and has nothing to do with God or Nietzsche.
Rick Wirth Bryson City
providing fewer services, lowering payments to providers and increasing requirements to prove eligibility. Part of every medical bill covers overhead — salaries and benefits, opera-
for Customs checkpoints, $6 billion to train/retain border patrol agents and border protections’ field support, and $3 billion for immigration courts (Axios.com).
tions and maintenance. The loss of Medicaid/Obamacare contributions to overhead means people with private insurance and/or Medicare will have to make up the difference, so everyone’s medical costs will rise. Why did Congress gut Medicaid? In addition to funding tax cuts to the obscenely wealthy, they had to increase the Department of Homeland Security budget. The ICE budget is $170 billion over the next five years. Higher than the combined budgets for DEA, FBI, ATF, Secret Service and Marshal Services! (Newsweek.com) Higher than the defense budgets of all but 15 countries! (Democracynow.org) It includes $46.5 billion for the border wall, $45 billion for internment camps, $30 billion for ICE training, $5 billion
This administration has provided permanent tax cuts to the obscenely wealthy and will spend billions illegally seizing and deporting so far only brown people, most of whom are law-abiding people here legally or even U.S citizens with jobs and careers. Conversely, this administration won’t support people who need basic health care. Our government is beyond cruel. And they call themselves Christians! They are anything but. Poll after poll makes clear that far fewer than half of us agree with these allocations of tax dollars. At this point, the bill has become law. We need to quickly develop plans to take care of family and friends about to lose their health care safety net, adjust household budgets to meet rising health care costs, and ensure these clowns are not reelected in 2026.
Additional sources for this letter include articles in national newspapers; responses to Google searches for “big beautiful budget bill” plus key words such as Medicaid, ICE, polls; and columnists Robert Hubbell, retired attorney; Joyce White Vance, retired U.S. attorney; and Heather Cox Richardson, U.S. historian. Karen Patterson Highlands
Horizon behind me, no more pain
The Black Crowes land at Harrah’s Cherokee
Want to go?
ARRET K. WOODWARD NTERTAINMENT E DITOR
hen it comes to American rock music, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more talented and sonically important act than The Black Crowes. Thankfully, in recent years, the Robinson brothers (Chris and Rich) have patched things up and put their storied music right back where it belongs — in front of a raucous live audience.
Formed in Atlanta in 1984, the Crowes became a juggernaut rock outfit through the end of the 20th century — a heady blend of southern rock and the blues — only to parlay that into a legacy of poignant lyrics, razor-sharp guitar licks and thunderous drums-n-bass that has stood the test of time for over 40 years and
And in a modern era where playing actual instruments and rockin’ out at a mainstream level seems all but lost, it is the Crowes that remain the inspiration (the ways and means) by which current and future generations of rock-nrollers will embrace and set their own course through that same template of melodic blood, sweat and tears.
With the Crowes touring again, The Smoky Mountain News is looking back at some conversations we’ve had with the siblings over the years. This includes in-depth interviews with Rich (2014) and Chris (2016), with both interactions talking about their solo projects at the time.
Smoky Mountain News: With the current popularity of EDM (electronic dance music), what do you think about an audience that is focused more on gimmicks than on real musicianship?
Rich Robinson: It doesn’t worry me — kids are going to like what they like. You can’t force anyone to like something. The bummer is that they’re missing out on something that is far more authentic and sincere. For me, and this is just my opinion, these people get up there and take other people’s music and speed it up or slow it down and add really shitty beats and bad lighting to it.
SMN: And the audience can lose that sense of musicianship, where the beauty of live performance is patience and tension as you watch a band jam out. There’s no such thing as musicianship [with EDM]. There was this DJ playing after a show recently and I’m like, “This is what you’ve chosen to do?”
By quantizing the beats per minute, it’s just becoming mathematical and there’s no ebb and flow. They’re not picking any deep songs, and even if they did they’d mess it up by putting some shit over it. You’re not exposing anyone to anything greater than yourself. It’s just really the lowest common denominator.
In some ways, I think rock and roll is becoming rebellious again. That getting up there and playing a loud guitar is offensive again. It’s really interesting to see that the most rebellious music, which was rock and roll on a worldwide scale, when that music came out it created a huge shift, then it became bought out and “Who cares?” and was in kid’s shows and in commercials, and it now has slid into this niche market
where nobody really gets it but “Who cares?”
But, there are some rock and roll bands out there, like Rival Sons and Blackberry Smoke, and it is coming back and it is rebellious again.
SMN: It feels like you’re in a place where folks are either on the Chris Robinson Brotherhood train or they’re not, and you’ll keep doing what you’re doing, regardless.
Chris Robinson: I’m the luckiest person in the world to have had any commercial success early. But, yeah, you’re right, I didn’t set out in my life to build a wooden ship. We’re at the end of five years touring, and now that we have our rhythm section down, I think we feel we did build a table, and now we need to get the tablecloth, the candles and the chairs.
With this new [CRB] record, we kind of discussed it being a little more laid back, acoustic and earthy. But, it’s funny, because I think the more-earthy we go, the more outer space we get. And I’m always writing or working on some song. If you stop paying your due respect to the muse, the muse will leave you, and you’ll have nothing to say.
SMN: It’s like that Steve Prefontaine quote, “To give less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.”
CR: I totally hear you. At the end of the day, I don’t take it lightly. And what I mean by that is, I respect and I understand and listen. I like songwriting and it’s important to me. Being a musician, being part of this tradition, is a deep humbling experience because of the people who have moved me in great times of joy, and in great times of pain. That continues to be part of my life, which is besides making music, I also continue to be inspired by it.
SMN: And with The Black Crowes, the band did slowly shift more towards to the jam scene as it went along. But now, with CRB, it seems you have been completely embraced by that scene…
CR: For me, it was about more music. I could see as I was getting older, I didn’t feel like that person I was in my 20s, or even in my 30s, with what I wanted to do with my music.
You know, one of the main things that inspired me about the Grateful Dead was the ability to exist outside the mainstream. They were like a tribe that had good relationships with the conquering people. But, they made their own decisions and did it their own way. It was a place they invented — in the physical world and in their minds.
Their music and message was a way to get away from those depressing things, and for me back then it was living in big suburban Atlanta.
SMN: What has a life immersed in music taught you about what it means to be a human being?
CR: To me, it has taught me about being full circle. It reinvigorates my initial belief that we’re all part of the same sort of cosmic consciousness. We’re all part of this living organism that is the surrounding universe. Even on a rainy night in Davenport, Iowa, with not many people there at the show, you can have your own moment of sweet bliss.
Rich and Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes. Courtesy of Red Light Management
This must be the place
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
‘Boots, bullets, britches, bologna’
Hello from the outdoor patio area at the Brady Hotel in New Florence, Missouri (population: 641). It’s 11:26 p.m. (Central Standard Time). I’m within earshot of Interstate 70, which is all hustle and bustle, even at this hour. Tractor-trailers zoom by to destinations unknown.
The headlights and taillights of America in motion nearing midnight.
This morning, I awoke in the basement guest room of my best friend’s home on the outskirts of Knoxville, Tennessee. It was around 9 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) when I got up. I then received a message from my publisher, who texted to see if I was going to make the 9 a.m. editorial meeting via Zoom. The text was sent at 9:09 a.m.
table under a lone overhead light and slowtwirling fan. The urge to write always remains close to the surface of my absolute being, especially on the road. Thoughts ricochet around my heart and soul.
The last time I saw “The Arch” in-person
Shit. I thought the meeting was the usual 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning roll call. Not this go-round. The other editors had other stories to track down and tackle ahead of schedule for this week’s publication. By 9:15 a.m. I was in the meeting and figuring out what the upcoming newspaper would look like and what it would feature for subjects/topics.
Nail down the stories for the impending week. Say goodbye. Shut up the laptop. Pack up my things in the basement. Pack up my truck sitting outside in from of the suburban home in West Knoxville. Say goodbye to my best buddy. Head to Waffle House for a quick breakfast. Texas toast, bacon, egg and cheese melt with hash-browns smothered. Coffee, too.
Fuel up the truck and merge onto Interstate 40 West towards Nashville. Onward up I-24 West through Kentucky and Illinois, over onto I-57 North, then I-64 West, then I70 West, across the Mighty Mississippi River and into St. Louis, Missouri. It was sunset when I caught a glimpse of “The Arch” gleaming in the last rays of the day.
And there I was, once again in the “Heartland of America.” The Midwest. Rocketing down the highway towards the Under the Big Sky Music Festival in Whitefish, Montana. The gathering doesn’t take place for another week, but it’ll take me just as long to make the long trek up and over and around to the desolation of Northwestern Montana (aka: one of the beautiful places on God’s green earth). I remain excited.
Late-night fast food orders at the McDonald’s across the parking lot from the Brady Hotel. The vehicles in the drive-thru are anonymous, so is the mysterious person typing away wildly on his laptop at a small patio
ing her hand in her parent’s living room when we watched 9/11 unfold on TV.
I suppose there’s no actual point or bow to tie in this week’s column. Is there ever, eh? This is just how my mind works. Constantly lost in thought, memories conjured by the simplest of things, like a corporate fast-food sign or the sounds of a big-rig blasting down the road. I’ve always found the rattle of those 18-wheelers soothing. The rhythm of the road lulls me into a peaceful slumber of self, and of purpose.
There will surely be more to say and write as this trip shows itself to me, the miles ticking away with each passing hour en route to Big Sky Country. I find the whole thing as mesmerizing and inspiring in this moment as I ever did, even as a starry-eyed journalist looking to make my mark in Eastern Idaho, the heaviness of the East Coast in the rearview mirror. That heaviness still lingers in that damn mirror.
was in the spring of 2022 heading east from Bozeman, Montana, in a fast-paced U-Haul, helping my aunt move from her home in the West to be closer to family in Charlotte. Within a few months, her son, my cousin Nate, who was like the older brother I never had, would passed away from substance abuse in my hometown of Rouses Point, New York. But, at that juncture in St. Louis, all seemed steady and on autopilot somewhere, for her and myself.
The time before that seeing “The Arch”? I was heading back and forth to visit her in Bozeman. Summer 2020. My parents flew out and met us there for a week running around the mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. It was in the midst of the shutdown and I was on a solo cross-country trip trying to make sense of a world seemingly gone mad. Five years later? More questions than answers are still floating in the ether.
The time before that seeing “The Arch”? December 2007. I was 22 years old and had recently accepted a rookie reporter position at the Teton Valley News in Driggs, Idaho. I’d just graduated college in Connecticut, daydreaming about hitting the open road and seeking my destiny in those glorious Rocky Mountains. My ole buddy from home jumped in the truck with me. He was jobless, and also looking for a fresh start.
As I type this, one of the McDonald’s employees across the way is bringing out the garbage to the dumpster. I remember doing the same thing when I was teenager working for Ronald McDonald on the Canadian Border in the summer of 2001. I was 16 and my future seemed so far down the line along the road of life. I was a star track athlete and dating a nice girl from the next town over. I remember hold-
Oh, and the title of this column? It comes from a large billboard for some store that caught my eye earlier this evening on I-70. I found it quite amusing and couldn’t help but write it down as my old truck was holding pace at 75 miles per hour on cruise control. In truth, I find most things in this existence amusing, which is why I ended up, perhaps by happenstance (or serendipitously), in this job. Whatever resides just beyond the horizon of my intent remains as elusive as ever. And yet, I’ll always be game to run towards that unknown line in the distance. Montana is somewhere out there, a long way away, in the vast blanket of darkness covering the Midwest right now. There’s lot to ponder until I put the truck in park in Whitefish. And I’ll be sure to send y’all a postcard via this column soon enough.
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
HOT PICKS
1
A stage production of the Broadway classic “Anything Goes” will be held at 7:30 p.m. July 18-19, 24-26, 31, Aug. 1-2, 7-9 and 2 p.m. July 20, 27, Aug. 3,10 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
2
“An Appalachian Evening” series will continue with a performance by The Kruger Brothers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 19, in Lynn L. Shields Auditorium at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.
3
The annual Front Street Arts & Crafts Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 19, in downtown Dillsboro.
4
Regional rock/jam group Arnold Hill will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 19, at The Scotsman Public House in Waynesville.
5
Americana/bluegrass act, Granny’s Mason Jar will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 24, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.
Interstate 64 in rural Illinois at sunset. Garret K. Woodward photo
‘Concerts on the Creek’
The Town of Sylva, Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department and Jackson County Chamber of Commerce are proud to present the 16th season of the annual “Concerts on the Creek” music series.
Ska City will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Friday, July 18, at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva.
“Concerts on the Creek” are held every Friday night from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Everyone is encouraged to bring
‘An Appalachian Evening’
The “An Appalachian Evening” series will continue with a performance by The Kruger Brothers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 19, in Lynn L. Shields Auditorium at the Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville.
Since their formal introduction to American audiences in 1997, The Kruger Brothers’ remarkable discipline, creativity and their ability to infuse classical music into folk music has resulted in a unique sound that has made them a fixture within the world of acoustic music.
In their ever-expanding body of work — featuring Swiss brothers Jens Kruger (banjo and vocals) and Uwe Kruger (guitar and lead vocals), and Joel Landsberg (bass and vocals) — The Kruger Brothers personify the spirit of exploration and innovation that forms the core of the American musical tradition. Their original music
a chair or blanket. These events are free, with donations encouraged. Dogs must be on a leash. No smoking, vaping, coolers or tents are allowed. Bring a chair or blanket. There will be food trucks on select nights. For more information, call the chamber at 828.586.2155, visit mountainlovers.com/concerts-on-thecreek or go to the “Concerts on the Creek” Facebook page.
Bryson City community jam
A community jam will be held from 67:30 p.m. Thursday, July 17, on the front patio of the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.
Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer or anything unplugged is invited to join. Singers are also welcomed to join in or you can just stop by and listen. The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of the Sawmill Creek Porch Band.
The community jams offer a chance for musicians of all ages and levels of ability to
share music they have learned over the years or learn old-time mountain songs. The music jams are offered to the public each first and third Thursday of the month — spring, summer, fall.
This program received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment of the Arts.
For more information, call 828.488.3030.
is crafted around their discerning taste — the result unpretentious, cultivated and delightfully fresh.
The annual summer concert series offers an ever-changing schedule of bluegrass, folk and old-time mountain music by award-winning artists — quality entertainment for the entire family.
Rich in cultural heritage, the series continues to be a favorite with locals and visitors alike. The concert will be held in the air-conditioned Lynn L. Shields Auditorium.
Tickets are $30 for adults, $10 for students grade K-12. Dinner will also be available for purchase in the Schoolhouse Cafe starting at 6 p.m. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.479.3364 or visit stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host Doug & Lisa July 19 and Rick Yates (singersongwriter) July 26. All shows begin at 5 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9320 / blueridgebeerhub.com.
ALSO:
• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host “Karaoke Night” 9 p.m. Wednesdays, “Trivia” 7 p.m. Thursdays, “Open Jam” 10 p.m. Thursdays, Smooth Goose (rock/jam) July 19 and The Dan Clare Collective July 26. All shows are located in The Gem downstairs taproom and begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.0350 / boojumbrewing.com.
• Bryson City Brewing (Bryson City) will host Bad Romeo (classic rock) 7 p.m. July 19 and Johnny Blackwell Band July 26. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0085 / brysoncitybrewing.com.
• Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Bob Zullo (singer-songwriter) 7:15 p.m. July 18 and James Hammel (pop/jazz) 7:15 p.m. July 26. 828.452.6000 or classicwineseller.com.
• Concerts On The Creek (Sylva) will host Ska City July 18 and Sun Of Stars July 25. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Everyone is encouraged to bring a chair or blanket. These events are free, but donations are encouraged. 828.586.2155 / mountainlovers.com/concerts-on-the-creek.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host The Asheville Mountain Boys (bluegrass/ country) 6 p.m. July 26. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7.50 students. 828.369.4080 / coweeschool.org/music.
• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host the “Orchard Sessions” with Tennessee Bluegrass Band (Americana/bluegrass) July 16. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Admission is $50 per person, with discounts rates available for hotel guests and members. 866.526.8008 / oldedwardshospitality.com/orchard-sessions.
• Cataloochee Ranch (Maggie Valley) will host Brian Ashley Jones & Melanie Jean (Americana/ country) July 16 and Kelly Morris (singer-songwriter) July 23. All shows begin at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For tickets and reservations, visit cataloocheeranch.com/ranch-events/live-music.
Kruger Brother will play Stecoah July 19. File photo
On the beat
• Folkmoot Friendship Center (Waynesville) will host “World Drum Classes” every Friday at 2:30 p.m. (adults) and 4 p.m. (family friendly, all ages) and “Waynesville Acoustic Guitar Group” 2-4 p.m. every second and fourth Saturday of the month. Free and open to the public. 828.452.2997 / folkmoot.org.
• Friday Night Live Concert Series (Highlands) will host Johnny Webb Band July 18 and ABC Combo July 25. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host “Jazz On The Level” 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Asheville Junction July 18, Stomper Kitty (Americana) July 19, Simple Folk Quartet (Americana) 3 p.m. July 20, Sleeping Dogz July 23, JR Williams (singersongwriter) July 25, Crystal Fountains July 26 and Paul Edelman (singer-songwriter) 3 p.m. July 27. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 / froglevelbrewing.com.
• Happ’s Place (Glenville) will host Kody Paul (singer-songwriter) July 16, Doug Ramsay (singer-songwriter) July 17, Corey Stevenson Band July 18, Blue Jazz (blues/jazz) July 19, Corey Stevenson (singer-songwriter) July 23, Dillon & Company July 24, Charles Walker July 25 and The Remnants July 26. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.742.5700 / happsplace.com.
• High Country Wine & Provisions (Highlands) will host Zorki (singer-songwriter) 6 p.m. July 18 and Dan Hickman (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. July 25. Free and open to the public. 828.482.4502 / highcountrywineandprovisions.com.
• Highlander Mountain House (Highlands) will host “Blues & Brews” 6-9 p.m. Thursdays ($5 cover), Zorki (singer-songwriter) 1-3 p.m. Saturdays, “Bluegrass Brunch” 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sundays (free), the “Salon Series” with Iris & Ross Copperman (Americana) 8 p.m. July 17 ($39.19 per person, tax included) and Justin Osborne (singer-songwriter) 8:30 p.m. July 24 ($39.19 per person, tax included). 828.526.2590 / highlandermountainhouse.com.
• Highlands Performing Arts Center will host Rodney Marsalis & The Philadelphia Big Brass (jazz) 7:30 p.m. July 18 and Modern Gentlemen (pop/soul) 4 p.m. July 20. 828.526.9047 / highlandsperformingarts.com.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host “Monday Night Trivia” every week, “Open Mic with Phil” on Wednesdays, The Fuzzy Peppers July 19 and Mike Hollon 6 p.m. July 26. All shows and events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.586.9678/ innovation-brewing.com.
• Macon County Public Library (Franklin) will host The Vagabonds (Americana) at 2 p.m. the first and third Monday and a “Song Circle” open jam from 3-6 p.m. the first Tuesday each month. Free and open to the public. 828.524.3600 or fontanalib.org/franklin.
• Meadowlark Motel (Maggie Valley) will host a “Bluegrass Jam” 5-7 p.m. Sundays, Woolybooger (blues/folk) 7 p.m. July 24 and Bridget Gossett (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. July 26. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.926.1717 / meadowlarkmotel.com.
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host “Open Mic Night” with Frank Lee every Thursday, Bird In Hand (Americana/indie) July 18, Granny’s Mason Jar (Americana/bluegrass) July 19, Mountain Gypsy (Americana) July 25, Ron Neill (singer-songwriter) July 26 and Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) 5 p.m. July 27. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 / mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.
• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host Ryan B. Jazz Trio 5 p.m. July 18, Mike Hollon 2 p.m. July 19, The Hillclimbers 5 p.m. July 19, Blue (Americana) 2 p.m. July 20, River Pickin’ 5 p.m. July 25, Phibian 2 p.m. July 26, Beer & Loathing 5 p.m. July 26 and Blue (Americana) 2 p.m. July 27. Free and open to the public. 828.785.5082 / noc.com.
• Old Edwards Inn (Highlands) will host live music in the Hummingbird Lounge at 5:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday. Free and open to the public. 866.526.8008 / oldedwardshospitality.com.
• Otto Community Center (Otto) will host James Thompson (Americana) 5 p.m. July 18. Bring a beverage and snack of your choice. Free and open to the public. 770.335.0967 / go2ottonc.com.
• Pickin’ On The Square (Franklin) will host Tribe Called Praise (Christian/contemporary) July 26. All shows begin at 6 p.m. at the Gazebo in downtown. Free and open to the public. franklinnc.com/pickin-on-the-square.html.
• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host “Karaoke” 7 p.m. Wednesdays, “Trivia Night” 6:30 p.m. Thursdays, “Open Mic” 6:30 p.m. Fridays, Paul Bowman (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. July 16, Steve Vaclavik (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. July 18, Michael Kitchens (singersongwriter) 7 p.m. July 19 and Jamie Rasso (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. July 26. Free and open to the public. 828.369.6796 / facebook.com/rathskellercoffeebarandpub.
• Saturdays On Pine Concert Series (Highlands) will host The Breakfast Club July 19 and The Boomers July 26. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. highlandschamber.org.
• Scotsman (Waynesville) will host Arnold Hill (rock/jam) July 19, Emily Dawson (singer-songwriter) July 24 and Natti Love Joys July 26. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 / scotsmanpublic.com.
• Slanted Window Tasting Station (Franklin) will host Mick Kyte (singer-songwriter) 6 p.m. July 18 and Steve Vaclavik (singersongwriter) 4 p.m. July 20. 828.276.9463 / slantedwindow.com.
Chamber music returns to Waynesville
The popular Chamber Music Society of the Carolinas will continue its annual summer residency at 4 p.m. July 20, 27 and Aug. 3 at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville.
Featuring the Jasper String Quartet and other talented special guests, performances are creative, joyful, up-close and intimate.
“It’s music that transcends sitting in your seat,” said J Freivogel, founding and current first violinist of the Jasper String Quartet. “Experience the thrilling nature of live performance during the CMSC con-
certs. Come hear top-notch musicians and see their craft up close. Watch the way they create — and hear the musical ‘conversation’ between instruments.”
Tickets are $35 per person. Students and youth will be admitted free. Donations to the CMSC can be made online and are appreciated to support these performances.
For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visit cms-carolinas.com. Tickets are also available at the door by cash/check.
Marianna goes Americana
A regional Americana/bluegrass act, Granny’s Mason Jar will perform at 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 24, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City.
Following in the footsteps of Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Clarence White and Tony Rice, Granny’s Mason Jar brings together the talents of Jared “Blue” Smith (The Blue Revue, Bluegrass Lumber Company) and Aaron Plantenberg (Commonfolk, Big House Radio) — the duo continuing the tradition of flatpicking and other traditional acoustic guitar styles. Free and open to the public. For more information, call 828.488.3030 or visit fontanalib.org.
Granny’s Mason Jar. File photo
On the beat
• Stubborn Bull (Highlands) will host semiregular “Live Music Mondays” with local/regional singer-songwriters featuring Zorki July 21. All shows begin at 5:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.200.0813 / the-stubborn-bull.com.
• Trailborn (Highlands) will host its “Carolina Concert Series” with Melissa McKinney (Americana/soul) July 17 and Remedy 58 (blues/soul) July 24. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.482.1581 or trailborn.com/highlands.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host Rich Manz Trio (oldies/acoustic) 2 p.m. July 20, Amos Jackson (soul/funk) 6 p.m. July 25 and Dick Dickerson (indie/acoustic) 2 p.m. July 27. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 / valleycigarandwineco.com.
• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host “Karaoke with Jason” Tuesdays, “Tom’s Trivia Night” 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Misbehavin 6 p.m. July 24. All shows and events begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.926.7440 / valley-tavern.com.
• Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 5202 (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.456.9356 / vfw5202.org.
On the street
Rock rolls into Scotsman
Regional rock/jam group Arnold Hill will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 19, at The Scotsman Public House in Waynesville.
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 the rock quartet.
The show is free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 or scotsmanpublic.com.
• Vineyard At High Holly (Scaly Mountain) will host Zorki (singer-songwriter) 3 p.m. July 25 and Breeze Cable (singer-songwriter) July 27. All shows begin at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.482.5573 / thevineyardathighholly.com.
• Wells Events & Reception Center (Waynesville) will host “Beach Music” with DJ Jeanne Naber 6 p.m. July 25. 828.476.5070 / wellseventcenter.simpletix.com.
• Western Carolina Brew & Wine (Highlands) will host live music 4-6 p.m. Saturdays, “Music Bingo” 6-8 p.m. Saturdays, Katie & Ezra (Americana/folk) 5 p.m. July 18 and Christian Jones (singer-songwriter) 1 p.m. July 20. 828.342.6707 / wcbrewandwine.com.
• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host Jason Lyles (singer-songwriter) July 18, Shane Meade (indie/folk) July 19, Kid Billy (singersongwriter) July 25 and Back Dirt Road July 26. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.743.6000 / whitesidebrewing.com.
• Yonder Community Market (Franklin) will host “Country Thursdays” (Americana/country) 6 p.m. Thursdays and Tyler Ramsey (Americana/indie) 4 p.m. July 27. Family/dog friendly. 828.200.2169 / eatrealfoodinc.com.
On the stage
‘Anything Goes’ at HART
A special stage production of the Broadway classic “Anything Goes” will be held at 7:30 p.m. July 18-19, 24-26, 31, Aug. 1-2, 7-9 and 2 p.m. July 20, 27, Aug. 3,10 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
“Anything Goes” is a story that sparkles with Cole Porter’s unforgettable score and dazzling dance numbers. Set aboard the S.S. American, this Tony Award-winning musical is a whirlwind of mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, and slapstick comedy.
Billy Crocker stows away to win the heart of his true love, Hope Harcourt, while Reno Sweeney, a famous nightclub singer, and Moonface Martin, Public Enemy #13, get caught up in a whirlwind of mischief and romance. Featuring some of the most iconic show tunes ever written, like “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Anything Goes” and more, this timeless musical is packed with high-energy tap numbers and a shipload of laughs.
Suitable for all audiences. Tickets start at $19 with seating upgrades and discounts for seniors/students available. For more information, call the box office at 828.456.6322 or visit harttheatre.org.
• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort (Cherokee) will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. For tickets, visit caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.
• Highlands Performing Arts Center (Highlands) will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. mountaintheatre.com / 828.526.9047.
• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. smokymountainarts.com / 866.273.4615.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. 828.369.4080 / coweeschool.org/music.
• Peacock Performing Arts Center (Hayesville) will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. thepeacocknc.org / 828.389.ARTS.
Front Street Arts & Crafts is July 19
The annual Front Street Arts & Crafts Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 19, in downtown Dillsboro.
Dozens of booths lining Front Street will display handmade items from regional artists and crafters. There will also be live music throughout the day.
The event is free and open to the public. You can even bring your dog (on a leash).
For more information, visit dillsboronc.org.
• “Farmers & Artisans Market” will be every Friday morning (May-October) at 117 Island St. in Bryson City. Stop by the old barn along the river for local, homegrown produce, as well as baked goods, jellies/preserves, authentic crafts and more. Picnic tables onsite. There will also be live music. Leashed pets are welcome. This is an outdoor event. 828.488.7857.
HART presents ‘Anything Goes’ on select dates. File photo
Arnold Hill. Garret K. Woodward photo
Front Street festival will be July 19 in Dillsboro. File photo
• “Art After Dark” will be held from 6-9 p.m. each first Friday of the month (MayDecember) in downtown Waynesville. Main Street transforms into an evening of art, live music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors alike. The event is free and open to the public. downtownwaynesville.com.
• WNC Paint Events will host painting sessions throughout the region on select dates. For more information and/or to sign up, visit wncpaint.events.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host “ArtWorks” at 1 p.m. every second Thursday of the month. Come create your own masterpiece. The materials for art works are supplied and participants are welcome to bring ideas and supplies to share with each other. Ages 16 and up. Space limited to 10 participants. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 / vroberson@fontanalib.org.
• CRE828 (Waynesville) will offer a selection of art classes and workshops at its studio located at 1283 Asheville Road. Workshops will include art journaling, watercoloring, mixed media, acrylic painting and more. 828.283.0523 / cre828.com.
• Gallery Zella (Bryson City) will be hosting an array of artist receptions, exhibits and showcases. 517.881.0959 / galleryzella.com.
Cherokee pottery exhibition
A special showcase, “Didanisisgi Gadagwatli: A Showcase of Pottery from the Mud Dauber Community Workshop,” is now on display at the Museum of the Cherokee People in
On view through May 2026, the exhibition features works by students of Tara McCoy (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) handcrafted during an intensive three-month workshop. Renowned for her pottery, McCoy began making crafts at 12 years old. She honed her skills while taking arts and crafts classes with Alyne Stamper (EBCI) and has won numerous awards at the Cherokee Fall Festival and at Southwestern Association of Indian Arts Santa Fe Indian Market. Today, she shares her knowledge with others. Designed
• Waynesville Photography Club meets at 7 p.m. every third Monday each month on the second floor of the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center in Clyde. The club is a nonprofit organization that exists for the enjoyment of photography and the improvement of one’s skills. The club welcomes photographers of all skill levels to share ideas and images at the monthly meetings. waynesvillephotoclub@charter.net.
• Haywood County Arts Council (Waynesville) will offer a wide range of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. 828.452.0593 / haywoodarts.org.
• Jackson County Green Energy Park (Dillsboro) will be offering a slew of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. 828.631.0271 / jcgep.org.
• Southwestern Community College Swain Arts Center (Bryson City) will host an array of workshops for adults and kids. 828.339.4000 / southwesterncc.edu/scclocations/swain-center.
• Dogwood Crafters in Dillsboro will offer a selection of upcoming art classes and workshops. 828.586.2248 / dogwoodcrafters.com.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host semi-regular arts and crafts workshops. 828.369.4080 / coweeschool.org.
to increase and uplift pottery making among members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, McCoy’s workshop uses a hands-on approach, empowering first-time potters to bring their own personal style to ancestral techniques and methods.
The artists exhibited include Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (EBCI), Barbara Jones (EBCI), Paula Wojtkowski (EBCI), Marisa “Sis” Cabe (EBCI), Lisa Howell (EBCI, Pawnee Nation) Malia Crowe Skulski (EBCI), Samantha Cole-Daniels (EBCI), Elvia Walkingstick (EBCI), Maggie Jackson (EBCI), Michelle Lynn Long (EBCI, Mvskoke Creek Nation) and Tara McCoy (EBCI).
For more information, visit motcp.org.
Haywood Arts presents ‘Form’
The Haywood County Arts Council is currently showcasing “Form,” its newest themed exhibit on display at the Haywood Handmade Gallery, located at the HCAC in downtown Waynesville.
This engaging show features work from local artist members and explores the concept of form — how artists use shape, volume and physical presence to express ideas across a variety of mediums.
From sculpture and ceramics to paint-
On the table
• Balsam Mountain Inn (Balsam) will host “Wind Down Wine Flight” 6 p.m. Thursdays. 828.283.0145 / thebalsammountaininn.com.
• Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will have its wine bar open 4-8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. 828.452.6000 / classicwineseller.com.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host semi-regular tap-takeovers from local and regional breweries on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9320 / blueridgebeerhub.com.
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s
ing and photography, “Form” highlights how artists across a variety of media interpret structure, depth and volume. The exhibit invites viewers to consider the many ways form shapes their experience of art, both literally and emotionally. It is free and open to the public.
For more information about the showcase and/or other events at the HCAC, visit haywoodarts.org.
Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. 828.452.0120 / waynesvillewine.com.
• “Take A Flight” with four new wines every Friday and Saturdays at the Bryson City Wine Market. Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines. Educational classes and other events are also available. 828.538.0420.
• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. There will also be a special “Beer Train” on select dates. 800.872.4681 / gsmr.com.
MOTCP is located in Cherokee. Donated photo
On the shelf
Chris Cox’s warm, witty book about family
Search online, or in a library or bookshop, and you’ll find how-to books about parenting. Recent popular titles include “Simplicity Parenting,” “The Five Principles of Parenting” and “How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk.” There are even books about how not to parent, like Leonard Sax’s “The Collapse of Parenting.”
There are also books and resources for building strong families, like “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families” and “The Intentional Family.”
Organizations like the Institute of Family Studies and Families of Character try to strengthen families with articles and podcasts.
Then there are those books that drop us into the middle of a family and give us a reallife version of its ups and downs, its struggles and triumphs, its comedies and tragedies.
In “We Didn’t Miss a Thing (2025, 428 pages),” writer Chris Cox opens the door to his home, his marriage and fatherhood, and takes readers on guided tour of the Cox family life. Right away, we are with him when he sees a stranger at a meeting of college employees and announces to his friend Owen, “I’m going to marry her.” We then meet this attractive woman’s toddler Kayden, whom Cox quickly dubs “The Princess.” Soon the couple add another member to this song of life, a baby they name Jack, and so become a quartet.
Weaving together columns that appeared in The Smoky Mountain News as well as other publications, Cox then puts together a tapestry of one family’s life in the 21st century: a Christmas Day when little Kayden was sick and feverish, three-year-old Jack’s infatuation with bulldozers, backhoes and big trucks, days spent at home with the kids because of a Smokies snowfall, the time his middle-school daughter feel in love with Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.” On we go through this journey as the kids grow up and Tammy and Chris meet the challenges of marriage and parenting.
To these travels through time Cox brings his trademark wry sense of humor. Here’s one example: when Kayden is about to turn 15, she keeps reminding her dad that she’ll be driving in another year, though so far she has saved only $7.56 for the purchase of a car. Cox then writes:
“Because my wife and I are awesome parents, we agreed long ago to match whatever she is able to save by her sixteenth birthday to buy a car. If this were her sixteenth birthday, we would now be scanning used car lots all over Western North Carolina and beyond for the very best car you can find for $7.56.
Unless her mother takes her anywhere near a Starbucks today, that is, in which case our budget might be down to roughly the price of a gas station hot dog.”
Marriage also brings out Cox’s wit and humor. In his “Wedding Announcement” chapter, he writes that the couple were married “in an impossibly small, curiously intimate and strangely romantic setting — the
Check it out
good parents and marriage partners. Truths known to many parents, particularly dads, pop up unexpectedly here as well. When Kayden, age six, is wondering aloud whether Cox will like his Father’s Day present, clearly baffled as to why any adult would prefer clothing to a toy, Cox observes, “There is no point in trying to explain to her, or any other kid, that dad already has what he wants, which is his kids, his family.” A near-identical thought came to me this year on Father’s Day, when one of my younger grandchildren asked me what I wanted for Father’s Day.
Though much of what readers learn about parenting from “We Didn’t Miss a Thing” comes via osmosis, Cox does offer some direct advice as well. One bit of this wisdom made me laugh aloud, only because it’s so true:
Chris Cox will be doing a reading/signing from “We Didn’t Miss a Thing” from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, at Smoky Mountain Roasters in Hazelwood. The event is co-sponsored by Smoky Mountain Roasters and Blue Ridge Books.
magistrate’s office in the Haywood County Detention Center…” There, “the bride wore a stunning brown skirt with a subtle southwestern design and a black top the groom picked out himself for her birthday at Goody’s “Moonlight Madness” sale. As for the groom, he “wore a charcoal-colored jacket he won on eBay, with matching pants, belt, shoes and socks. Later, he would describe his ensemble as ‘unpretentious and not too shabby.’”
All of these incidents, and dozens of more, carry a lesson with them: those with an appreciation of irony, a tolerance of absurdity and the gift of laughter make for
“Part of becoming a parent is making peace with the proposition that virtually everyone in the world except you knows best how to discipline your children.” Surely most parents have listened to a relative, a friend or even some stranger offering advice on improving a child’s manners, habits or character. They’re not always wrong, those critics, but even the intrusion can still sting. As Cox adds, “Trying to find the ‘right’ discipline for your child is like trying to tie your shoes with a strand of cooked spaghetti for a shoelace.”
Finally, besides its entertainment value, “We Didn’t Miss a Thing” is worth reading because it shows rather than tells readers what it’s like to raise kids. Veteran parents will find scenes where they identify with Cox as he and Tammy pick their way through the strange, messy land of parenthood. Those thinking about becoming parents will receive a pep talk encouraging them to take a step in that direction.
(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” minick0301@gmail.com.)
Writer
Jeff Minick
Holding secrets can prove slippery
Kayden is doing her very best not to tell me about the preparations she and mom and Jack have made for Father’s Day, but she is six years old, and at this age especially, secrets are like little, wet bars of soap. The harder you try to hold onto them, the more likely they are to slip out of your grip. And she is trying so hard to hold on to what she knows, her knuckles are white.
“Daddy, I bet you are wondering what you’re getting for Father’s Day,” she says. “But I can’t tell you. It’s going to be a surprise.”
“That’s wonderful, honey,” I say.
“I love surprises.”
“Don’t ask me where we hid your presents,” she persists. “Just try not to look around my room. You shouldn’t look in the closet.”
“Right,” I say. “I definitely will not look in the closet.”
I can see her grimace a little. Oops, that one got away somehow. She’ll just try harder next time. She fiddles with a string on her shirt, trying to act nonchalant, as if she is not keeping the lid shut tight on her enormous secrets, but just making conversation to pass the time.
“I hope you’re going to like your presents, Daddy,” she says. “Both of them.”
“I’m sure I will, princess.”
“I hope they fit you…”
She hesitates for just a moment, sitting on the bed next to me. Did she give anything away? Has she said too much already? Nah.
“You know, Dad, some people LIKE to get clothes for presents,” she says, pretending to study a piece of paper with some scribbles on it.
“Oh, yes, I would imagine so.”
“Do you like clothes, Daddy?” she asks, a bit tentatively. I can tell a lot is riding on this answer, and I’d better be careful.
“Goodness yes,” I say. “I wear them all the time.”
She brightens immediately, as if this news surprises her. I can picture her frowning in the department store as mom examines shirts in the men’s big and tall section. Presents are supposed to be fun, not functional. Why isn’t she getting me a toy, or a game, or a pet lizard? Who wants a stupid shirt?
Kayden is at an age now when she cannot imagine an adult wanting anything different than a kid would want. In two or three years, when she begins noticing that adults just do not get fun gifts very often, she can begin the annual agonizing process that all kids go through in trying to figure out what dad wants for Father’s Day — and Christmas, and his birthday.
There is no point in trying to explain to her, or any other kid, that dad already has what he wants, which is his kids, his family. Kids are not that crazy about abstract gifts. It has got to be something tangible, something that can be wrapped up in colorful paper and scotch-taped and put on a table to be discovered on Father’s Day morning by sleepyeyed dad as he stumbles into the kitchen to begin the morning coffee-making ritual.
I remember sweating out every decision I ever made about what to get my dad. After a year or two of settling for aftershave or cologne, I intuitively felt those gifts were too
mundane, not much better than getting him a shirt, or three pairs of black socks.
So, I got creative. One year I got him his own nameplate, with his name engraved, even though as a truck driver he didn’t really have a desk to put it on. Maybe I figured he would have the most distinguished looking dashboard on the highways. Another year I got him a wallet with his initials engraved on it. Evidently, I was really into engraving. There were assorted other items, all of which we found in a box in his closet after he died, years of presents gathered, a collection of memories, preserved. He never really found any practical use for the things we got him, but he also never dreamed of throwing or giving any of it away.
“Did you hear me, Daddy?” Kayden breaks through my reverie. “What are you staring at?”
“Nothing, baby,” I say, snapping back to the present. “I’m sorry, what were you telling me?”
“We got you some other stuff, too. Jack and I made you something.”
I know I have to stop her now. I have to protect her from herself, so that I will be genuinely surprised and not “fake surprised,” which any kid can spot at 40 paces. If she gives it all away, which she most certainly will if we keep talking — the secrets are just too deliciously slippery — it will dampen their excitement later when I am opening the presents. Her secrets remain safe. I don’t know what I’m getting. But whatever it is, I do know that I will never, ever give it away.
(Chris Cox is a teacher and writer who lives in Haywood County. You can subscribe to Chris’ essay and columns on Substack and email him at jchriscox@live.com.)
Columnist
Chris Cox
Sylva accepts grant for Pinnacle Park
BY C ORY VAILLANCOURT
P OLITICS E DITOR
Apopular hiking destination in Jackson County will soon see expanded access and new trail construction, thanks state funding awarded to the Town of Sylva.
At its July 10 meeting, the Sylva Board of Commissioners approved a resolution authorizing town staff to accept a $92,000 grant from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Recreational Trails Program. The money will fund construction of a 1.9-mile section of trail and a new creek crossing at Pinnacle Park, part of a broader effort to implement long-planned improvements to the park’s trail system.
According to the resolution, the trail expansion will provide access to what had been an unreachable waterfall and connect the existing West Fork and East Fork trails to form a loop.
At least part of the trail would follow an old logging road, said Jay Coward, a Sylva attorney and longtime park advocate.
“With an old logging road like that, you’re disturbing much less ground,” said Sylva Mayor Johnnie Phillips.
To complete the project, Sylva must also contribute $23,000 in matching funds, which the board has already allocated in the town’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget. The local match will come from the Fisher Creek Fund — a revenue stream designated for projects within the Pinnacle Park area, much of which lies in the Fisher Creek watershed.
The project is a continuation of the Pinnacle Park Master Plan, which lays out a phased strategy for upgrading the 1,800-acre park located just a few miles from downtown Sylva. Created in 2024, the plan was developed through public input and technical guidance from trail designers and land manage-
ment experts. It calls for the addition of looped trail networks, improved signage, water crossings, erosion mitigation and expanded public access to unique features — including the waterfall.
That waterfall, until now, has remained inaccessible due to a lack of established trails. The new construction will make it
available to hikers for the first time, providing a draw for both local outdoor enthusiasts and visiting tourists.
Although much of Pinnacle Park’s terrain is rugged and steep, the new 1.9-mile segment will be sustainably built — a term used in trail design to describe routes that minimize erosion, manage water runoff and limit ecological disruption while remaining durable under heavy foot traffic. This approach has become a best practice among public land managers who aim to strike a balance between conservation and recreation.
The Recreational Trails Program, administered by the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, is funded through the Federal Highway Administration and provides financial assistance to develop and maintain motorized and non-motorized trails across the state. Projects funded through RTP often focus on improving access, safety and connectivity, particularly in rural or underserved areas.
Securing such a competitive grant is considered difficult. Applicants must demonstrate not only a compelling need for trail improvements but also a capacity to manage grant funds and deliver projects according to environmental standards.
Sylva’s award comes amid a broader state and national push to support outdoor recreation as a driver of both health and economic development. According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, outdoor recreation has a $16 billion impact on the state’s economy — just over 2% of the state’s GDP — and supports more than 145,000 jobs.
Locally, Pinnacle Park plays a role in that economy — drawing hikers, backpackers, trail runners and nature photographers to an area known for its sweeping views and biodiversity.
Once a municipal watershed, the park has grad- F
The Town of Sylva owns one of the most unique pieces of real estate in all of Western North Carolina. File photo
File photo
Highlands hosts lecture on ‘Helene as a Geologic Event’
The Highlands Biological Foundation invites the public to continue exploring the forces that shape our region with the next installment of the 2025 Zahner Conservation Lecture Series. At 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dr. Philip S. Prince, Project Geologist with Appalachian Landslide Consultants and researcher with Virginia Tech’s Department of Geosciences, will present “Understanding Helene as a Geologic Event in Southern Appalachia...and What is a ‘Geologic Event’ Anyway?” at the Highlands Nature Center. The program is free and open to the public, with a small reception to follow.
In this lecture, Prince will examine the extraordinary impacts of Helene, which caused unprecedented flooding and landslides across the southern Appalachians. From Haywood County to southwest Virginia, Helene’s effects outpaced all previously
ually evolved into a beloved public amenity since opening to the public in the 1990s and now hosts events such as the popular “Assault on BlackRock,” a seven-mile trail race with a staggering half-mile of elevation gain taking runners more than 5,800 feet above sea level.
While the July 10 resolution focuses on this single 1.9-mile trail segment and footbridge, town leaders view it as a key milestone in a larger vision for Pinnacle Park’s future.
recorded storm damage. Dr. Prince will explain how the storm’s unique interaction with the region’s southeast-facing slopes intensified its power, and why southern Appalachian topography played a key role in shaping the storm’s impact.
By combining fieldwork with remote sensing techniques like LiDAR, Prince will show what Helene actually did to the landscape — how it changed river channels, carved scars into slopes, and left lasting marks on the mountains. His talk will also explore how similar storms throughout history may have helped form the rugged topography we see today.
The Zahner Conservation Lecture Series is a long-standing Highlands tradition that brings scientists, researchers and environmental leaders to the plateau each summer to share their expertise with the public. Lectures take place every Thursday evening at 6 p.m. from June 12 through August 14 at the Highlands Nature Center (930 Horse Cove Road).
To view the full lecture schedule, please visit highlandsbiological.org/zahner.
the meeting, commissioners gave town administrators permission to bypass the usual qualification-based selection process of finding a firm to oversee the grant and handle bidding.
“We pretty much have decided that Eqinox [Environmental, an Asheville-based landscape architecture firm] is going to be the one that designs how we do this and contracts out for professional trail builders,” Coward said, adding that members of the Pinnacle Park Foundation, which manages
Proposed trail expansion will make a loop, offering an alternative other than just an out-and-back. File photo
In this lecture, Prince will examine the extraordinary impacts of Helene, which caused unprecedented flooding and landslides across the southern Appalachians. Donated photo
Audubon welcomes Dana Sargent as community building director
Audubon North Carolina has named Dana Sargent as the organization’s new Community Building Director. Sargent comes to Audubon after serving as executive director of Wilmington-based Cape Fear River Watch for the past seven years, where her work included leading high-profile campaigns against PFAS and forever chemical pollution. A seasoned
advocate, Sargent has built deep ties across eastern North Carolina and beyond, working to protect clean water and promote sustainable environmental solutions.
In her new role, Sargent will partner with Audubon chapters and members, supporting their on-the-ground work and organizing advocates to pursue policy change and conservation solutions across the state. She will play a critical role in strengthening grassroots power and advancing Audubon’s mission to protect birds and the places they need.
In past meetings, commissioners have expressed support for expanding access to the park while preserving its natural beauty. Long-range plans also include potential educational components and the addition of interpretive signage to help visitors better understand the area’s ecological and cultural significance.
Construction timelines for the new trail segment have not yet been announced, but the resolution directs the town manager to begin formal steps toward hiring a trail builder. Once that occurs, permitting and environmental review processes may follow, depending on the final design and route.
In a separate resolution passed later in
the town-owned park, would help direct the trail builder though sensitive areas that had been identified in a 2023 botanical survey.
“It’s not only plants. There’s some old ancient sites where people actually lived that are archaeological sites that we want to protect as well,” Coward said. “It’s just going to make it a whole lot better, a streamlined process, to do it this way than it is to go through the rigamarole.”
Equinox conducted the recent master planning process and also submitted the $92,000 grant application on the town’s behalf.
“They’re very familiar with the project,” said Town Manager Paige Dowling.
Dana Sargent. Dana Sargent photo
The Joyful Botanist
BY ADAM B IGELOW
Snakes in the grass
Snakes tend to scare people. Believe me, I get it. Being named Adam and being an avid gardener, stories of snakes and apples and Eve have followed me my whole life. Snakes have been demonized by biblical references and the general fear of wild things. This fear tends to keep many people from exploring the woods and meadows around them, unfortunately.
Rattlesnake master is not a typical form of the carrot family. It has flowers that form a dense globe with multiple small white flowers that smell of honey. There are as many as 10 flower globes in a cluster on each plant. They are beautiful and covered in pollinating insects while in bloom, including bees, wasps, flies, moths, butterflies, skippers and beetles of all kinds.
You can learn to master your fear of snakes and walk safely and confidently in the tall grass and forest edges, especially if you want to go get up close and personal with some of the many beautiful wildflowers that hang out in grassy meadows. Among the oddest and most beautiful meadow plants you’ll encounter is rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium).
Rattlesnake master is a member of the Apiaceae Family of plants, commonly known as the carrot family. You wouldn’t be able to tell that from either its flowers or leaves, however. Most members of the carrot family have flowers displayed in a wide, flat umbel, like the structure of Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota) and leaves that are usually dissected and lacy like those of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and dill (Antheum graveolens).
The leaves of rattlesnake master are also not typical of the carrot family, and more closely resemble leaves of the yucca, including the native Adam’s needle (Yucca filamentosa). This resemblance gives us the specific epithet of yuccifolium, which translates to “yucca-like leaves.”
These leaves are thick and leathery and have been used by people in North America for thousands of years. Among the different traditional uses of rattlesnake master making fibrous threads and ropes for clothes, bags, belts and shoes. Archeologists have documented the use of rattlesnake master by indigenous people going back as far as 8,000 years. Modern use of rattlesnake master is as an ornamental flowering plant in native plant landscaping and meadowscaping, the planting and tending of meadows. Meadowscaping is a great alternative to having a large expansive lawn around your home and around municipal buildings. It is a much more beautiful and ecologically friendly way of landscaping that requires much less maintenance and care than a traditional turfgrass lawn.
A meadow is really a type of grassland that is made up of many different species of native grasses and sedges, as well as different native wildflowers. While many wildflowers like purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), bee balm (Monarda spp.) and rattlesnake master tend to flop over in typical flower gardens, when planted in a diverse mass the other wildflowers, grasses and sedges will act as support to help hold up the taller flowers.
Rattlesnake master is a tough enough plant to not only survive but thrive when crowded by other plants in a meadow or small prairie planting. Remember that these plants are so tough that their leaves were used to make shoes.
I encourage you to walk slowly among the wildflowers and wade into grasslands and meadows to look for the rattlesnake master. Fear not the snakes in the grass, for they are more afraid of you than you are of them.
(The Joyful Botanist leads weekly wildflower walks most Fridays and offers consultations and private group tours through Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions. bigelownc@gmail.com)
Among the oddest and most beautiful meadow plants you’ll encounter is rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium). Adam Bigelow photo
Lake Junaluska announces summer programming
Each Thursday evening at 8 p.m. through Aug. 7, Lake Junaluska will feature a family-friendly storyteller and music at the fire pit just below Shackleford Hall. Bring a chair or blanket and sit on the hillside. Afterward, enjoy s’mores under the stars. This event is free.
Lake Junaluska’s Summer Activities Program, which offers free and low-cost activities that celebrate faith, recreation, arts and education, has kicked off the season with a slate of activities for all ages, plus a recreation area for guests and an awardwinning playground. Recent improvements to the recreation area were made possible by charitable giving in support of the mission and ministry of Lake Junaluska.
Here is the schedule for Lake Junaluska’s Summer Activities Program:
Rent canoes, kayaks and paddleboards as well as recreation equipment at Lake Junaluska Outfitters. Donated photo
Summer Storytelling by the Fire Pit, 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fire Pit below Shackford Hall:
• July 17 – Dan Martin and Mark Shultz
• July 24 – Jennifer Armstrong
National Park seeks ‘Elk Rover’ volunteers
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is seeking individuals to join the Elk Rover volunteer team for the upcoming 2025 season. Elk Rovers share information with visitors about safe wildlife viewing and help keep elk and visitors safe. Elk Rovers will be stationed at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Volunteer duties include:
• Standing and walking for extended periods.
• Assisting with traffic management along US 441/Newfound Gap Road.
• Assisting and guiding visitors.
• Educating visitors about wildlife safety and etiquette.
• Answering general questions about the park. Interested volunteers should commit to one, fourhour afternoon shift per week on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday starting in July and continuing through midNovember.
• July 31 – Jody Lipscomb
• Aug. 7 – John Scott
Qigong for Energy and Vitality, 9:30-10:30 a.m., Wednesdays and Fridays through Aug. 22, near the Prayer Labyrinth: All levels welcome.
Axis Yoga at Inspiration Point, 8 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through Aug. 21, at Inspiration Point. Bring your own mat and register online. The cost of the class is $15 per person. Soulpower Dance, 9-10 a.m. Tuesday, July 29 and Aug. 26, near the Prayer Labyrinth: The class is free, but donations are welcome.
Summer Worship Series and Theologians-in-Residence program, 9 a.m. Sundays through Aug. 10, Lakeside White Tent: Sunday outdoor worship service.
• July 20–Rev. Rachel Billups
• July 27–Bishop David Wilson
• Aug. 3–Rev. Dr. Uiyeon Kim
• Aug. 10–Brian McLaren
Learn about beekeeping at the Marianna Black Library
All new Elk Rovers are required to attend a mandatory in-person training session in July. Additionally, volunteers will have the opportunity to learn alongside a dedicated team of experienced rovers and park rangers who will provide on-the-job training. Learn more at nps.gov/grsm/getinvolved/volunteer.htm.
Parks Service to improve 7 miles of Newfound Gap Road
Starting July 14, Great Smoky Mountains National Park will kick off a rehabilitation of a 7-mile stretch of Newfound Gap Road on the North Carolina side of the park.
The roadwork will include repaving the roadway from milepost 20.90 to 27.90, as well as repaving six primary parking areas along this section.
Volunteers will assist with traffic management and guiding visitors. Donated photo
will take place overnight (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) Sunday night through Friday morning (excluding federal holidays) until Aug. 15. Single-lane closures will be in place overnight.
The roadwork will include repaving the roadway from milepost 20.90 to 27.90, as well as repaving six primary parking areas along this section. Donated photo
Visitors will see signs of construction but are unlikely to experience any traffic delays for the first stage of the project. All construction work
Starting Aug. 15, construction will take place during the day. The park will share updates on any changes to traffic in early August. This rehabilitation project is expected to be completed by Sept. 30. Visitors are advised to drive with caution and anticipate delays due to single-lane closures during the repaving process. This project is funded by recreation fee dollars (from parking tags, campgrounds, and backcountry camping) and the Federal Lands Transportation Program. More than 1.5 million vehicles travel on Newfound Gap Road annually.
The Marianna Black Library in Bryson City will be hosting The Wonderful World of Bees from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 19. Fred Crawford, local beekeeper, will be presenting on bee conservation and pollination. The lecture topics will include: Explore the World of Honey Bees; Discover what Happens Inside a Bee Hive; Learn about the Colony’s Social Structure; Demystify the Art of Beekeeping; and Recognizing the Gardener’s Role in
Protecting Pollinators. This program is free for all ages. Marianna Black Library, a member of the Fontana Regional Library, is located in Bryson City at the corner of Academy and Rector. For more information or driving directions please call the library 828.488.3030.
MarketPlace information:
The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 copies across 500 locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, including the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. Visit www.wncmarketplace.com to place your ad!
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 Yard sale rained out? Call us by 10a.m. Monday for your ad to run again FREE
• $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less)
• Boost Online — Have your ad featured at top of category online $4
• Boost in Print
• Add Photo $6
• Bold ad $2
• Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4
• Border $4
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
Executor of the Estate of Karl Rickert Benson, Jr.
notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them
before Sep 25 2025, or in bar of their recovery.
Executor
9319 Caroline Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20901
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.23E000169-430
Estate of Krista Diane Cogburn
this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them
before Sep 25 2025, or in bar of their recovery.
Administrator 95 Depot Street Waynesville, NC 28786
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.25E000388-430
Patricia F. Bryson, having of the Estate of Georgia H. Forney
this is to notify all persons
having claims against the Estate to present them
before Sep 25 2025, or in bar of their recovery.
Executor
753 Holtzclaw Rd Canton, NC 28716
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.25E000221-490
95 Depot Street Waynesville, NC 28786
Announcements
HOOPER REUNIONJULY 26TH Hiawasseetives of brothers Absalom Susan Hooper Stephens luncheon at noon. 954 N. Main St. Hiawassee, GA 30546. Any questions text 706-581-2016
tate of Malcolm Stewart Burgess, Jr.
this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them
before Oct 09 2025, or in bar of their recovery.
Co-Executors
705 W Main Street Sylva, NC 28779
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.24E001701-430
Barbara A. Mills, having -
istrator of the Estate of Ronald E. Mills of
all persons having claims against the Estate to present them to the Sep 25 2025, or this in bar of their recovery.
Administrator
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21 Shoelace tips
22 Feeling sick
23 Luciano Pavarotti had a famous one
25 Verity or falsity of a proposition
27 Gershwin or Glass
28 Physics Nobelist Niels
29 Maine city
30 Camera part
31 Choosing a "lesser evil" candidate at the polls
35 Central
--" (2017 biopic) 68 Lassos 69 Up to such time as
Hook-and-ladder co.
Canoeist's challenge
Scam
Bible book after Exod.
Foe of Liston
Enkindled
-- the finish
Wider than local 87 Saluted prior to drinking
Interweave 89 Tag anew
Florida port
Filmmaker -- von Trier
Cleveland hoopster
Chem., e.g.
Pennsylvania resort range 96 Not lawful
Really must
Once, once
Ex-senator Lott 103 Poet Heinrich 104 Kemper of "The Office"
105 Sam of "Dead Calm"
106 Thompson of "Selma" 108 Broiler, e.g. 112 African viper 113 False story
114 Bygone Pan Am rival 115 Wet/dry -116 "As I see it," to a texter
ANSWERS ON PAGE 26
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